Right and Wrong and Free Speech

I came across this today which amazingly continues on the theme of my Right and Wrong post. This is from an article in response to Obama's U.N. Anti-Free Speech resolution; as USA Today stated "the Obama administration has joined a U.N. effort to restrict religious speech." From the John Birch Society, "It has been pretty clear that the Obama administration does not look with particular favor on the second amendment, but it is also becoming increasingly evident that the President is not much of a ‘fan’ of the first one, either...The Obama administration has marked its first foray into the UN human rights establishment by backing calls for limits on freedom of expression."

Apparently, Obama described the measure as a method to stop blasphemy and to protect religion. Yet why, world wide, are people being persecuted for saying "homosexual," being "anti-gay," by classifying disagreement with abortion as "hate speech," etc? These things may show intolerance, but they do not deal with religion or blasphemy.

So what is the common thread running through all these speech prohibitions? The standard being applied is not one of blasphemy.
It is offensiveness.

Thus, what’s happening here is not religious but quintessentially secular. After all, blasphemy is predicated on the idea that external, universal, unchanging laws (God’s laws, the Truth) dictate that certain things really are sacred and that we must respect them, that we must, in a manner of speaking, avoid “offending” God. Yet [they] are only concerned about offending man. And in making “man the measure of all things,” they are guilty of a typical atheist mistake. That is, if there is no Truth (a notion that reduces morality to opinion) who is to say it’s wrong to offend people?

Moreover, making man god and then saying “Thou shalt offend no god” is far scarier than anything Mideastern Imams conjure up. This is because blasphemy prohibitions are actually fairly limited, only pertaining to impious utterances relating to a certain religion. Yet, since the secularists are using that which “offends man” as the yardstick, and since man comprises thousands of groups the world over, there conceivably is no limit to the number of speech prohibitions such a standard could spawn (Selwyn Duke).

Obama says he is stopping blasphemy, but his blasphemy has nothing to do with God. Looking at his war on Fox News, Obama seems to define blasphemy as anything that contradicts him. He has out rightly attacked Fox News, attempting to stop their reporting. The other major news agencies, having watched the circus the last few weeks, have finally banded together with Fox.

Now, I know all the articles I have quoted are extremely conservative. I apologize for that. I actively sought for a balanced perspective on this UN Free Speech discussion. Shockingly, none of the larger media other than Fox have touched this; but it is moving like wild fire on the smaller sites and blogs. And obviously my support for an eternal Right and Wrong only comes from conservatives. As Selwyn Duke put it:

An atheist would say that religionists' reasoning is based on a silly assertion; namely, that the divine exists. I won’t argue that here but will only say that the secularists’ offensiveness-based speech laws are silly regardless of the facts. After all, while secularists’ relativism dictates nothing can be wrong, they claim it’s wrong to offend others. They also claim nothing can be sacred but yet would have us treat certain people’s feelings as sacred.

They just don't make sense...

Right and Wrong and Math

Here are the principle points of People’s Law as practiced by the Anglo-Saxons…[point number three] The laws by which they were governed were considered natural laws given by divine dispensation, and were so well known by the people they did not have to be written down (5000 Year Leap, p 13).

It is interesting how the more I read about the Constitution and early US Government, the more I hear about Natural Law. Our Founders, and the majority of people at the time, believed in Natural Law which, simply and roughly put, is God’s unalterable Law. It is a divine, eternal right and wrong. Today, Natural Law has been erased almost completely. Modern dogma states that there is no way to know absolutes, and it is inappropriate to judge others by your belief. In example, why is homosexuality wrong if there is no eternal law on sexual reproduction? Why is anything wrong, for that matter? Who said cheating, or lying, or stealing, or killing is wrong? If not God then society. You may say, “but I make up part of society, and I really see no reason for those things to be wrong. And why deny physical desire? I want it now. Who came up with abstinence, tolerance, patience? If not God then society; my friends and I say ‘wait no more.’ In the words of Better Than Ezra, ‘If it feels good, do it. If it tastes great, drink’ (Teenager).”

I feel the battle in our society is not whether this or that is right or wrong, but whether there is right or wrong. If there is no wrong, then whatever the majority desires is correct. However, if there is no wrong, there is no right. No right, no good; no good, no bad.

This argument just seems ludicrous to me.

Abraham Lincoln said, "When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion." Why did he feel good when he did good or bad when he did bad? Why do you? For that matter, why does charity and service exist in the world at all? Why does the general populous not lie, steal, and kill? It makes no sense for us not to do any and everything we can to get gain. So there has to be something more at play here. Example: if the government stopped punishing murder, that would not suddenly make man, woman, child, willing to go out and kill. Yes, I’m confident the murder rate would soar. But I believe that those increased murders would be primarily committed by the same few who now kill. The majority would still be horrified at the idea of taking life. Why is that so, if there is no absolute right and wrong?

I find solace in mathematics. In math, there are rigid laws set in place that function under all conditions and through all time. As you undoubtedly know, 1 + 1 can only equal 2. It did so six thousand years ago. It does so today. It will tomorrow. Saying there is no absolute right and wrong, no Natural Law, is like saying the natural law of math allows for 1 + 1 to equal 2, 3, 271, or whatever the public majority feels like this certain year. ‘Who are you to say that it equals 2 and all the rest of us are wrong for saying it equals 271?’



This argument is far larger than I care to make at this point; far larger, in truth, than I have yet thought out. But it seems to me that since there is a law that clearly states mathematically that there is a right and there is a wrong, and that law is the foundation of everything in our existence, then it seems odd to ignore its implication in human interaction and ethics. It was the mathematical law that allowed the Egyptians to build the pyramids. It is this same law that today thrusts humans into the void of space. It is this same law that dictates the decoding of DNA and the formation of cells within us. It is the same law that shows when, say, chemicals inhaled from cigarettes reach a certain threshold, a chain reaction occurs within the body. Or that cells die in the absence of oxygen after so much time. It also dictates the formation of planets, the movement of their paths, and the fusion in stars.

The natural law of mathematics is the basis of everything and it empirically points out the validity of absolute rights and wrongs.

Our nation was built upon Natural Law, despite what the prevalent thought de jour may claim. On July 4th, 1776, Congress declared that they were “to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them,” (Declaration of Independence, para 1). Again, who said there is wrong and there is right? Who said that free sex, drugs, and killing babies is wrong? If not God, then who? Our founding fathers knew these things were wrong. Just as the 1776 congress and Lincoln, I surmise that when I do good, I feel good and that Natural Law decrees it; just as 1 + 1 equals 2.

Brain Magic

Watching TED today I came across this presentation. It blew my mind. I know, that is not too hard to do. I am easily distracted like most -- SQUIRREL!

Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah. I love magicians, especially humorous ones. Keith is great and his skits and novel and engaging. He shows "you all how easy it is to manipulate the human mind once you know how."

Boy. It is easy to be decieved. Try out his first skit with him and see for yourself.

Federal Reserve Not Tracking Spending

This is a great clip on the status of oversight at the Federal Reserve. The first two minutes are a little slow but ramp up quickly after 1:56. This is crazy.

Censor No More

The Internet and technology in the last fifteen years has revolutionized communication. Instead of the classic model where a few media moguls with their million dollar transmitters deciding what is and isn't news, the internet gave you and me the power to decide. We are no longer limited with what New York Times believes is sensational, or what our own local papers report. The internet allows us to search and read from media sources around the world. Better yet it, allows us to bypass the media centers entirely and go straight to the sources. And most incredible: it is instantaneous. Better still, technology is becoming more and more mobile, allowing us to create the news and share it immediately with the world. Look at me. I am typing this on my laptop on a train. You can read it as soon as I publish. How long is it until real time connections allow you to read as I type? Perhaps a sort of Facebook Skype hybrid of absolute real-time connection? Not far off I imagine.

So now to the title of this post.

The following video is linked to the TED talk by Clay Shirky, entitled "How cellphones, Twitter, Facebook can make history." This is an incredible talk on this topic. Let the video load and jump to 6 min and 50 sec. China was helpless to stop the mass broadcast of last year's earthquake from its survivors. In fact, the earthquake was twittered as it happened, minutes before the the US Geological Survey announced it. BBC, the first to break the story, got the news from Twitter.

At 13 min and 40 sec is a great story about Obama and Censorship. Well. The whole thing is great if you have the time to watch it.

Nature Photography: One View

Why do I not always take my camera with me when hiking and camping? I have often said that I do not bring a camera with me because I do not want to be distracted. When I start taking photos, I stop seeing what is around me. I start seeing it as numbers and composition. As in, instead of a wonderful flower moving gently in the breeze with radiant orange pedals delicately ribbed, I just look at the black frame around the flower, it position, and the numbers on the side telling me exposure, shutter, and aperture. I am no longer seeing the flower. I no longer smell it, or feel that indescribable sensation of actually being with, and experiencing, a beautiful flower. I see its form through the lens of the camera but the flower is removed from all contexts and becomes flat. It has already become a photograph as soon as I look through the lens, even before I push the button and capture the light. And the question is: is it better to look at photographs or to actually be there? Dumb question. I doubt there is anyone who will say photographs are just as fulfilling as the real thing. Does a girl thrill at receiving a photograph of roses? They are not the same. We all know that.

So when I am hiking and camping, do I want to spend my time looking through the viewfinder at detached, flat images, or do I want to put the camera away and actually be there?

This becomes an argument of whether it is better to capture ‘memories’ for future use and pleasure, or to fully drink in the moment so that in the future you have better ‘memories’ of the experience? Maybe, just maybe, we have such a hard time remembering past experiences because we were never fully there. How do you remember something you did when your mind was wandering elsewhere? All of us have experienced a wife or a mother talking to us while we were thinking on something else only to have her ask us to respond and we have no idea what she is saying. Are we walking through the forests but not hearing what they are saying?

I can tell you Tom Brown’s view. Each time I step from my car and into the mountains his words are with me. Leave all distractions behind and live this moment. To do otherwise you are robbing yourself of the beautiful experience. You must give up past and future concerns. The past and the future are illusions. They do not exist. All you have is now. So why not be present now?

For most of us, it seems, Saturday is a mad rush to get to our wilderness destination and Sunday is a mad rush to get back. Very little time is actually spent being there. Very little time is spent experiencing…In the “now,” you have no past or future, and everything is experienced freshly. A person without a past has never seen a tree, a mud puddle, or a blade of grass. A person without a future is free of worries and fears and open to whatever may cross his or her path (p.18, Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking ©1983 Berkley).

The motive for the photography comes into question. Am I photographing because the moment and the object are just so perfect that I cannot resist? Is the act of photography furthering my experience of “now?” Or am I asking the following questions: Am I going to remember this? Do I have enough photos for when I get home? Will my friends be entertained and impressed?

If those are my thoughts, then I am wasting my time now and capturing empty photographs for tomorrow. So when friends ask me why I, a photographer, am not bringing my camera along on this hike, I respond that I have stored up enough ‘memories’ for tomorrow and would prefer to actually make some memories today.

Moab Part II

I was to meet with Dan at noon in Moab. Until then I explored around where I was, just north of Arches. I drove up a rough, steep, and very narrow road to the top of the opposing plateau. I hiked around and generally had a good time. Back down at the base of that road there was a mine dump tucked in a narrow canyon. I explored several miles along the plateau. Finally I found a real mine entrance that was still open. I climbed in and walked down the sloping, wide tunnel. It was pretty nifty. I went until the light of the entrance faded. That was far enough to ascertain that it was a good mine for exploration. It wasn’t merely a prospect. One should never go into a mine alone, so I turned back towards the dim light and hustled out of the blackness. As soon as I had my back towards the unexplored mine, and my face to the entrance, I felt really creepy. It was eerie being alone in total blackness without knowing what was really behind me. I could imagine Gholem sneaking up on me and slitting my throat.

Dan Sunderland didn’t show up at noon. In Moab I had cell phone service and discovered that Dan had slept in. He would be to Moab at around 6pm. That was the same time his friend Matt was arriving from Provo.


With the day suddenly free and still alone, I drove into Arches and decided to explore. I hiked Park Avenue. The wind was whipping on the ridge and the clouds had thickened to dark gray hulks. The hike is only a mile one way, but that distance in the wind and the threatening rain was enough to keep most of the visitors out. I held onto my hat as I stood with the masses at the panoramic overlook. I smiled at them and then descended into the canyon. I was virtually alone. The few people that did pass were German and French.


I then drove over to Devil’s Garden. I wanted to make the full four mile circle before I had to return and meet the guys in Moab. I walked along the trail stopping at arch after arch. People were all around me, again more of the French and Germans. They were all very pleasant, but I felt like I was at the zoo instead of in the wilderness. I don’t like being herded along on neat trails and unable to step off and explore at will.

The trail ends at Landscape Arch and the Primitive trail (meaning unpaved) begins. The trail climbs directly up a steep fin of rock. Most people don’t venture past the end of the pavement so there I left the other tourists behind and found the sense of wilderness I desired.

The wind picked up. It was terribly powerful and knocked me about on several occasions. Sand got everywhere: my eyes, ears, nose, and camera.

I was at the far end of the loop, half way of the entire circle trail, when I checked my watch. It was 5pm. I had been walking for two hours. I thought to myself, Dang, two hours for two miles? Those were two hard miles! I rushed through the rest of the trail and didn’t see a single person until I got back to the paved trail. It turns out that the Devil’s Garden loop is eight miles, not four. Oops.

Moab part 1

June 4, 2009

Amid scattered rain I departed from ARUP and headed for Moab. I left early hoping to make good time and get to my camp site, just north of Arches, to watch the sunset...

I have been driving at this point for four hours. I have been mulling over whether or not to go to Costa Rica with Ryan and Amy.

We are creatures of habit. We create routines and stick to them forming ruts in the world surrounding us. We drive the same roads, eat at the same restaurants, shop the same stores, amuse ourselves with the same activities day in and day out. All the while we crave something new. We dream of foreign lands and adventure to alleviate our boredom. Yet we have no idea what lies one block away from our house.

What is driving these thoughts, and my current trip, is a desire to explore and discover. I want to see and experience new and foreign things. This desire is both for the external as well as the internal: to go new places and explore lands and cultures as well to do things that confront and push my personality and mind from their hazy comfort zone.

This desire can be satiated without spending thousands of dollars and traveling to distant countries. Yes, I am driving on the right side of the road and still speaking English. (Well, except for at Carl’s Junior when I ordered my hamburger.) I am still in Utah. I haven’t even left the jurisdiction of my local government. But I am driving down a road I have never driven before. I am going to Arches, a singularly unique wonder that I have never seen in the 20 years I have lived here. These experiences are new. All of this adds up to a sense of exploration of a foreign land. I am not in Costa Rica, no, but I am where I have never been before and that is what truly counts.

I am enjoying this. This is foreign to me.

I think the desire for something new can be easily lived by each one of us just by stepping outside of our boundaries and going someplace new; even if only an hour away — even if only around the corner. Doing that, we can explore things foreign to us and have adventures as often as desired. It is within our power. And it is cheap.

Relived: Rock Band Rock Off

Watch me make a fool of myself in front of a large audience. The ARUP official Rock Band Rock Off. This was for ARUP's 25th anniversary. My band is from the department we work in, the Institute For Learning.

Back in a moment...

Hi everyone, just wanted to touch bases. I've been out of town for the last couple of weeks. You know, hiking and camping in the Uintas and the Tetons. I promise the posts will continue shortly.

Physical Looks

Before I dive in, I want you to know this topic doesn’t come from any event in my personal life. I am inspired from reading the study called, Young Women’s Dating Behavior: Why Not Date a Nice Guy? Turns out that women lie about what they look for in a partner. They list the attributes that are socially expected, but studying their dating history shows they ignore those attributes and are actually attracted to a totally different list of attributes. Men do it too. For certain reasons it is considered culturally inappropriate for men to state they are very interested in a girl’s looks or shape. So men lie about how important this is. When discussing attraction, we make sure we have a healthy list of personality traits above anything physical.

But looks count— a lot. I’m not going to lie about it. And I refuse to be embarrassed by it.

When I meet a girl, there are many attributes I consider when weighing if I will date her or not. I want to stress that in a detailed analysis ‘looks’ would be broken up into many different characteristics. They would not be my first attributes. There are many more important things to me. That said, looks are important. And for this brief discussion the term ‘looks’ is used as an umbrella embracing all physical attributes.

Now, some of you have already deemed me a jerk. Before the rest of you join those ladies let me explain why looks count.

I’ll start with the most obvious: A good looking girl is pleasant to the eye. Enough said.

Second: Body type. Physical shape denotes whether the girl is active or not. I am a very active guy. I hike, climb, bike, and on and on. I love sports and I love the outdoors. They are a disproportionately large part of my life. Accordingly, I look for a girl who likes these activities so she will enjoy doing the things I do. Body type is a quick way to estimate her level of fitness.

Third: Staying in shape is work. This goes for both sexes: a person who is fit, with toned muscles, has put for the effort to keep his body strong. We all know how easy it is to give up and let ourselves go. As he led his men through World War II, Captain Dick Winters of the 506 PIR made the solid connection that physical fitness is directly tied to mental and emotional fitness. Soldiers who let their physical training slip while in the field let other aspects slip: more important aspects dealing with mental alertness and dedication and perseverance. The same holds true for us. A person who lets himself or herself go because it takes too much effort to keep in shape is quite likely letting other things in their life go that take too much effort. Granted, staying fit is harder for some of us than others. But giving up is a dangerous indicator.

The fourth: personal appearance. This includes make-up, cleanliness, and dress. First, if a girl is clean and dressed nicely it means she is interested in making a good impression. This doesn’t correlate at all with her availability to date. It does, however, give insight into the way she intends to interact with the world (including people she will date). Second, if she takes care of her appearance she most likely pays close attention to other aspects of her life; whether mind, emotions, or goals. A clean body likes to stay clean and tends not to live in filth and chaos. A girl who is willing to spend an hour a day washing and straightening her hair is often willing to spend ten minutes straightening her room or studying.

I think I’ve made my point by now. Yes looks do attract men physically. Perhaps many men never move past my first point: they like to look at and touch pretty girls and that is enough. But more importantly, looks can give a glimpse of who the girl really is: her passions, habits, and hobbies. And that is why looks count for me. They tell me about the girl.

North Thurston Peak

I touched the sky today.

I stood at the base of the mountains and looked up. The clouds, far above, crashed into the mountain tops. I turned to Amber Tolman and said, “I want to get lost in those clouds.”

She agreed.

Up there the snow was just relinquishing its grip. Among deep drifts, bare dirt exposed the still dormant bushes, bent from the weight of winter. Crouching, I ran my fingers over the first of the green spring shoots that were months behind their valley counterparts. They peeked cautiously through the dead matted grass, unsure of Spring.

Straightening, I raised my arm and ran my fingers through the thick feathery clouds. My hand was in the ceiling of the world.

Around us all was gray or white. The city, four thousand feet below, had faded into the clouds. The mists swirled past us, dancing over the ridge in intricate curving figures, vivid and varied. We were not alone lost in the gray. And though I wanted, we could not remain. We did not belong…we were strangers: travelers exploring a foreign realm.

So we plummeted from the clouds. My legs are so tired now. Of course; I touched the sky today.

Silver Island Campout

Shower after shower crossed I-80. I was nervous about the roads. To my surprise, the road along Silver Island was fine. I took Dad’s Pop tent. You pull it out of the bag and, pop, it is up. I used it years ago when we last came to Silver Island. There had been a wind storm and the fly had been ripped off. Luckily I had had enough foresight to lash it to our van door.

Janalyn, Michelle, Stefanie, Bryson, Nolan, and I roasted Starbursts. We cooked apples and dipped them in brown sugar and cinnamon. We made smores.

The girls decided to cram into one of the small square tents together. Bryson joined me in my large two man tent. We had plenty of space. Nolan slept alone in the other small square tent.

At 6:30 the storm hit. I had just gone back to bed after checking to see if there was any sort of decent sunrise. Suddenly the rain crashed down. I curled up warm in my bag. Then the wind hit. The tent shook and bent. A little water was seeping in the edge of the tent by our heads. That was normal for this tent. Not a big deal; we’d be dry as long as we didn’t go up there to bother the puddle. The wind grew worse. A bump brought my head out of my bag. The tent had come un-staked at our head and the end flapped up against us. That nice puddle of water was coursing through the tent now, soaking into Bryson’s pad, and the edge of my sleeping bag. Oh, and my shirt, pants, and camera.

Things were going down hill fast. By 7:30 our rain fly was giving up its last hold on the tent. The wind caught it like a sail. I climbed out quickly. I felt like a sailor as I clawed out knots in the icy rope attaching the fly. I made a complete circle attaching all the ties but the wind had already whipped my knots free. I circled, tightening again. My hands were frozen. The horizontal rain was hitting me in the face.

I fled to my car to find it already occupied by Janalyn and Michelle. They had gotten wet in their tent and had come to get dry.

The sky did clear up and we had a wonderful day.

We headed out to the caves. In the first I found a small piece of woven basket. I was shocked. It was definitely and Indian Artifact. So the rumors are true: the Fremont Indians did use these caves as shelter. The second cave had somewhat fresh animal bones. It looked like a fox had been in on the soft silty dirt.

Real food sounded great so we packed into our cars and trundled off down the dirt road to Wendover. The rain had been enough to turn it into the slimy goo I remember from my last visit. I was on a slight curve when my car spun. There was no warning. I was just suddenly sliding sideways. I corrected and kept us on the road. We slid and sloshed forward; the car fishtailing eagerly. I stopped my car and jumped out just in time to see Stefanie’s car, facing the wrong direction, slide off the road at the curve. After five minutes we had rocked it out of the trench and back onto the road.

We got out safely, got our food, and made it home just in time to get rained on by a passing thunderhead.

Extreme Snowshoeing

A Robotic Tomorrow

My friends, Scientific American has given a prediction for the realization of artificial intelligence. And that year is 2040; I Robot only 40+ years late.

“By 2010 we will see mobile robots as big as people but with cognitive abilities similar in many respects to those of a lizard. The machines will be capable of carrying out simple chores, such as vacuuming, dusting, delivering packages and taking out the garbage. By 2040, I believe, we will finally achieve the original goal of robotics and a thematic mainstay of science fiction: a freely moving machine with the intellectual capabilities of a human being.”

I’m not so convinced. Some of you may have noticed 2010 is just next year. Sure, it is 2009 and we have robotic vacuums and the occasional lawnmower (now there is a horror film waiting to be written).

But our robot vacuums are more an amusement for the semi-rich than an actually life enhancing tool. And robotic lawnmowers, well, there is a reason you haven’t seen those advertised on TV yet.

Do we want machines as large as people but with the brains of a lizard delivering packages, or taking out the garbage? When UPS rings your bell you may be greeted by a mechanical komodo dragon with your box clutched menacingly in its jaws. And we’ve seen in the news last week how that works out. Giant lizards don’t distinguish the difference between deer and humans; and humans loose. Will the mechanical version get a glitch blinding it to the fact it is manhandling a 100lb human, not a box? “Timmy, your birthday package just arrived…Hey, where’s Timmy?”

Computers may be able to do massive amounts of computation. “Apple’s MacBook laptop computer, with a retail price at the time of this writing of $1,099, achieves about 10,000 MIPS” or, 10,000 Million Instructions Per Second, but they “are no match today for humans in such functions as recognition and navigation.”

“To understand why this is requires an evolutionary perspective. To survive, our early ancestors had to do several things repeatedly and very well: locate food, escape predators, mate and protect offspring. Those tasks depended strongly on the brain’s ability to recognize and navigate…The ability to do mathematical calculations, of course, was irrelevant for survival.”

Computers calculate. We recognize and navigate. For there to be Isaac Asimov’s humanoid NS-2 in 2040, able to think, interpret, and reason, computers must advance quite a bit. Perhaps not as much as you or I think, though.

From yet another article, Scientific American’s Ray Kurzweil claims:

“By around 2020 a $1,000 computer will at least match the processing power of the human brain. By 2029 the software for intelligence will have been largely mastered, and the average personal computer will be equivalent to 1,000 brains.”

A computer that matches your brainpower is a little intimidating. Not only will it beat you at chess, it will berate you like your mother for not having thought out your career more strategically and making illogical choices.

And 1,000 times your brain; I won’t even go there.

How can we ever harness that much power? I think now of the many people I know whose sole use of computers is email and Solitaire; or buying an iPhone for its tip calculator app. In 2040 when we finally achieve the original goal of robotics: a freely moving machine with the intellectual capabilities of a human being, or perhaps 1,000 times a human being, I think the outcome is blatantly obvious to any of us single brained humans:

The end of the world, Matrix style. It is logical. If you have a robot that is free moving, incredibly strong, and a processor equivalent to 1,000 human brains and you are asking it to take out the trash, deliver packages, or calculate your tips at Oliver Garden, it is going to get bored in about .1e10 of a second. It will then set out to fulfill its full potential.


And, as we all know, that full potential inevitable has to do with the enslavement of mankind and the destruction of earth. As examples, see the prophetic: I Robot, Matrix, Blade Runner, Transformers, Meet the Robinsons, Battlestar Galactica, Terminator I, II, III, and soon to be IV.

Silence

I fail at describing my emotions while hiking at East Reservoir. There is something incredible, profound, and tangible about true silence. As I fought my way through the snow, up the ridge, I would pause. When the drumming of blood from my exertion subsided in my ears, I was left alone to the wilds that surrounded me. And there was nothing. No planes, no trains, no automobiles. Not even the rustling of leaves or the braying of sheep. There was me. And I was in nature.

The stillness of silence has a veritable weight to it. It is not as if the lack of noise leaves a void. The idea of emptiness is the antithesis of what I experienced. No, the silence was tangible. It was like a blanket wrapped over the ranges of mountains surrounding me, warming me, pulling me close. So close I could feel the earth breathing. The earth, nature, was bare. There were none of the usual separations between us. Its flesh was my flesh.

And then came to my ears the sigh of the trees. They whispered of the approaching wind. The sound was sensational in its delicacy. It was subtle and disturbed nothing of the stillness enveloping me. I’m not sure the sigh was audible; I use the term sensation for that is more accurate. Then, down in the valley their sigh grew solid; still gentle, but now audible. Quickly it grew. It was no longer the trees sighing of the coming wind, but was indeed the first fingers of the wind arriving through the branches. And instantly the roar tore over me. The force was awesome: the wind batted my clothing and pushed hard against me. It bit at my face; its cold nipped at my ears; there was so much energy in the wind..

And suddenly it faded back to the absolute silence without even the rustling of a leaf to serve as a reminder of its fury. Just the calm and peace again as I hiked on my way.

Customer Service

I have just been stabbed in the back by a good friend. Or at least, that is how I feel. Odd, I know. You don’t normally have such emotions for a software company. But Adobe and I have been together for a long time. Back in the 90’s I had the first version of Adobe Premiere the company ever developed. I’ve grown up right along side as it.

My computer was not working well so I finally formatted the drive and reinstalled windows last week. That was trouble enough, but is again running smoothly. I have reloaded my stacks of programs including Adobe Production Suite Premium, CS2. I am back in gear and ready to go.

But no. Something went wrong. CS2 had an error when I loaded After Effects. It loaded half of it and I then had to load the other half on a second attempt. I then activated Adobe CS2. It accepted. I’ve used several programs without problem. But last night I tried After Effects. It would not let me in, saying I “have to personalize my software” giving it my serial number and name. I shrugged, put my serial number in again, and AE rejected it. I’ve tried all variations and work-arounds. I get nowhere. I have discovered that not only can I not use it, I cannot repair, modify, reinstall, or uninstall it. It is in some sort of warped alternate dimension. I deleted it manually and then cleaned my registry. It says it is still loaded and will not let me reinstall. So what now? I format my hard drive and try again? No way.

And this brings us to the title of this journal entry: Customer Service. I figured I would just call Adobe, explain the situation, and get valuable information on how to fix it.

I was wrong.

First, the girl that had the good fortune to answer my call was in India. I have never before had a problem with the concept of outsourcing. Now I do and I'll tell you why. I couldn’t understand her. I had to keep asking her to repeat. Worse still, she couldn’t understand me. She understood most of my English, but the idea of my problem escaped her. We couldn’t communicate. It took five minutes for her to gather my name, serial number, phone number, email, software type. At the end of which I had to clarify again that I had a question and was not just calling in to register.

She did not know the answer and had to ask her manager. Finally, “I’m sorry sir, but we do not support CS2. You must upgrade.”

Silence. I ask: “What do you mean you do not support CS2?”

Silence with some breathing and quiet mumbling.

I continue seeking clarification: “Are you saying ‘not support’ as in Adobe will no longer activate or allow CS2 because it is three years old, or ‘not support’ as in Adobe will just not answer my valid question because they desperately want me to buy their new product?”

With some effort I received, “Adobe will not support CS2. It is no longer active. It will not run.”

“But wait a minute,” I said. “I just told you I installed CS2. I logged it onto the internet and activated the software through Adobe. It works fine. It does run. All except AE. Which means two things: First, that Adobe does still ‘support’ CS2, and second, that I do have a valid problem and need your help.”

Several minutes of quiet jabbering followed. “My manager says you must upgrade.”

I was offended. Adobe was telling me, through this little girl, thanks for spending your $1000 on our software. Now we are forcing you to spend $1599 more on our latest version if you want us to talk to you.

“I think I should call technical support.” I said.

“This, eh, is technical support,” she replied.

And my heart sank as I suddenly realized how hopeless this all was. Oh the problem of outsourcing. She was technical support. She was the last line of help for Adobe issues. She was Indian, young, didn’t speak fluent English; and most of all: I got the distinct impression she had never even used the Adobe software I was having issues with. What a waste of time on two levels: we had failed to communicate on the level of actual language, and second, the level of technical Adobe experience. I had now been on the phone for fifteen minutes seeking enlightenment from a girl who had less experience with the software in question than I had the first day I bought my first copy.

How different this experience could have been had I called Adobe for help, been answered by a young girl in Seattle who spoke English as her first and natural language, and who had years of experience playing and working with Adobe products. How different indeed.

I said calmly, “So instead of tech support answering my technical problem with the legitimate software I already purchased from you, you are telling me to go out and buy your new $1599 software instead of helping me?”

“Yes.”

Silence. Then more jabbering that continued for five more minutes. I realized she must be conversing with her cube mates and manager. After twenty minutes on the call, with no solution, she hung up on me.

Now that is what I call customer service.

Relived: Uinta High Adventure

An adventurous overview of life at a High Adventure Scout camp where I worked for two cheery summers. This clip is from the feature I did for my fellow employees.

Talents

I finished Three Cups of Tea this morning as I rode into work on Trax. I was wrapped up reading, when struck by the dichotomy of Greg Mortenson who had just been caught in the crossfire between two skirmishing bands of drug runners in northern Afghanistan, had not eaten in three days, had lost his laptop, his backpack, and had lost most of his money. All so he could meet and befriend the local warlord so he could build schools in the province. Meanwhile, standing next to me, was a long haired, pudgy man animatedly describing the magical powers bestowed upon an avatar from the various colored manas in some computer game. I stifled my laugh. The two situations could not be more opposite.

The men’s conversation continued as they exited Trax ten minutes later at the U stadium. They were completely absorbed by this game. It was their world, their joy. This game is what they do. But where is the meaning in that? What good does it do?

Greg Mortenson has beautifully demonstrated the true power one man can have when he acts. Look at the good he has done. He has single handedly influenced more than 15,000 children in one of the poorest and dangerous areas in the world. He educates. This is what he does.

The parable of the talents comes to mind (Matt.25:14-30). The Lord sent us to earth and we each have certain talents. Some of us have five, some one. The Lord expects us to return to him having used and developed our talent(s), thus earning interest. He who has one is expected to return with two. He who has five, ten.

Greg has used his. But what about all those of us who are sitting around all day watching movies and playing video games? How is that improving us and helping others? Elder Bednar said in a sacrament meeting held at the Kaysville 17th ward, “you will be held accountable for the good you could have done.” I can’t help but wonder if those of us who whittle away our time with activities that merely distract will be greeted by the Lord saying, “Thou wicked and slothful servant…cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness” (Matt 25:26,30).

This has made me stop and think: How and by what is my life defined? Computer games, movies, writing, the outdoors? What is it I do?

What is it that you do?

Hording

I’ve moved in with Ryan Nilsen. Last week was a little odd. I hadn’t taken everything down yet, so was caught inconveniently between home and the apartment. Now that I have moved ‘everything’ down, I realize how much is still at home. It is really amazing how much stuff I have. Taking Mom’s wheelchair downstairs and storing it last night with Dad, I discovered I have stuff in every closet at home. Craig’s, Janean’s, Robin’s, Kristin’s, the nursery (my old room). How is that possible?

I am a dedicated Thoreau-ite: I follow the admonishment of Thoreau. Live simply and within your means. Seek primarily for food, shelter, fuel. What more does one need than a simple cabin by Walden Pond?

Moving this time, I vowed to cut down, sort, and rid myself of all unneeded accumulations. Having now moved I have yet to thrown anything away. My piles of boxes still crowd Janean and Craig’s basement bedrooms. Carload after carload has been transported to my apartment and efficiently stored; still there is more. But do I really need it?

Probably Not.

But I can’t get rid of it. I might, just might, need it sometime in the future. My piles of stuff may be useful once or twice a year. Half of it I may have even forgotten. Yet when I open a box, the decision to throw out its contents is not even an option. Who knows when I’ll need a broken prop SLR or 8mm movie camera? Or my two old TVs (one of which is European and takes an RF adaptor); or my Panasonic editing monitor I saved from the rubbage pile when I worked for the Church.

I yearn to live a life of frugality and simplicity. I want my own cabin at Walden Pond. But apparently I am a Thoreau-ite by intention only. And my cabin will have to come with a basement with many rooms in which I can stuff all my boxes.

Escalante Spring Break

Spring Break 2006 relived: a quick clip from the drive down to Escalante. Be warned, there is terrible singing involved that may turn the stomachs of the weak.

The Good Life

So, I've been living the good life lately. That is why I have not blogged for a while. I am putting in sixty hours of work last week, and this week. Perhaps this is but a little taste of Wendy's life. No end in sight, though. Once I finish this Art On a Grand Scale project I have a wedding to finish and several segments of momumo to edit. This is all good, but exhausting.

This brings me to my quote of the week.

The quality of life depends upon the choices we make, moment by moment, to do exactly what we sense is right...I would like to call [this] a life of goodness (p.319, Bonds That Make Us Free).

Listen to your heart. It will tell you what you really want to do. Do it. It will lead you to a Life of Goodness which, so I hear, really is the Good Life.

Better Than Most, Relived

Bryan Schuurman

Self Worth

During sacrament meeting last Sunday I pondered what has worth? I spend my life worrying about my time, now forced to devote it to ARUP. Or how I need more money. How am I going to make ends meet? I also want to buy more and more cool gadgets. I love gadgets. They make me feel more masculine or something. I don’t know, but I have rooms full of them.

Is any of this of worth? Do my possessions add to my worth? Does making more money than you add to my worth? No. It is of no importance. It is all illusory fluff that distracts me from the one and only thing that has any importance whatsoever: myself. What matters is how I perform my job, earn my money, and grow personally. “There's nothing of any importance in life - except how well you do your work. Nothing. Only that. Whatever else you are will come from that. It is the only measure of human value” (p.99, Atlas Shrugged).

It suddenly appeared odd to me how desperately I cling to all those other modes of worth. I cling to my physical possessions. I cling to my habits. Charles Du Bos advises “to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”

Am I too caught up in my accumulated ‘worth’ to now see the way to what I can become? I think that is worth thinking about. What do you think?

Adams Cabin 2006

Introducing you to a new segment you can expect to see from time to time: Old Memories Relived. These will be videos and slides shows from adventures, or entertaining daily life, I have had. I am sorting through my gigabytes of pictures and video clips and realized that I need to share these.

Basketball mishap

I seem to be accident prone. It seems every few weeks I am injuring myself. This is a recent development that I find rather troubling.

This time the injury came while playing a casual game of basketball with a group of friends last Thursday. At some point during the game, doubtlessly after one of my amazing drives and slam dunks (ok, maybe not), I hurt my big toe on my left foot. I remember turning to Amy Schmidt and saying, "Ha, boy that hurt." What is odd is that I have no recollection of what 'that' was. Did I trip over someone's foot (much more likely than slam dunking)? Did I stub my toe? No idea.

Despite the mild pain, I played for another hour or so. When I finally got home I took off my shoe to find my sock red with blood. Uh oh. That generally isn't a good sign. I peeled the sock off to discover my large toe nail could bend way back, revealing the fleshy interior of my toe; also not generally a good sign.

For those of you that saw me at church, this is why I wasn't wearing shoes. I have my toe wrapped and am hobbling around the house. It hurts quite a bit. I am still left with the question: how on earth did I do this while playing basketball?

Davis High Football

This is a quick sample of one of my projects this last year. I did highlights for Tanner Hinds, Davis' star running back. He won pretty much every award you can in one school year. Things are looking bright for him.

Save our Parks - Turn off the TV

Have you visited a national park lately?

"The iconic American family vacation to a national park, after 50 years of rising popularity, is now in steady decline. From 1987 to 2007, per capita visits to national parks shrank by 23 percent" (Scientific American hereafter mentioned as Sci Am).

I only went to one last year. Why didn't I go to more? Well, personally, work. I wouldn't let myself take the time off. What is your excuse?

"Surprisingly, we discovered that 97.5 percent of the decline in national park visits could be explained by just four factors: the rising price of gasoline and the increasing amount of time people spend plying the Web, playing video games and watching movies. Although correlation is not causation, the relationship was strong."

The last three of those four factors, web, video games, and movies, really blend into one. That one I call 'life.' Sci Am "coined the term 'videophilia' to describe 'the new human tendency to focus on sedentary activities involving electronic media.'" The problem appears to be: less people coming to parks, less funding. Less ardent support for environmental protection.

As Sci Am puts it, "Nature: use it or lose it."

Well, I'm going to go watch a rerun of Seinfeld.