Mormon.org

Technology is not inherently good or bad.  It is a platform with which people can do either good or bad things. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints has developed a website called Mormon.org.  As a member of the church I was able to create a profile on Mormon.org and see it get published.  Creating a profile allows you to answer questions from the FAQ, share experiences in your life, and post information about yourself.  I answered the question "What is a ward/stake/branch?"  It was neat to see it included in the list of answers for the question.  If you haven't made a Mormon.org profile I encourage you to do so.  If you are not a member of the church, I encourage you to visit Mormon.org to learn more about the members and beliefs of the church.

The Price of Software Piracy

Downloading commercial software without paying for it (software piracy) is not truly free.  Software piracy is not new either.  It didn't start with Napster, Kazaa, or Bittorent, and it is certainly not limited to music, movies, and video games.  In February of 1976, Bill Gates wrote a famous message titled An Open Letter to Hobbyists in which he accused software-sharing communities of stealing his products.  Gates pointed out that hobbyists who didn't pay for Microsoft's commercial software were preventing future products from being developed.  As a software developer of the present day I will echo his words yet again:  downloading commercial software without paying for it hurts the software development company and prevents better products from being created.  If you truly enjoy the software (or music, movies, games) you download for free, you would spend the money to purchase them legally.  You can pay the price its worth now, or you can pay the price of lower-budget, lower-quality products in the future.



External Link:  An Open Letter to Hobbyists
Download: Microsoft's official version of the letter.

Cyber Security: What's the number for the Cyber Police?

The Internet needs more heroic users.  In the book titled The Cuckoo's Egg, Cliff Stoll finds a way to catch an elusive hacker who has been stealing classified information.  His key actions that stopped the wrong-doer were his persistent effort and his contacting the right authorities.  Although we might never run across hackers doing malicious things on the websites we use, there are many situations that we can get involved in to help make the internet a better, safer place.   What should we do if we see bullying happening on someone's Facebook account?  What should we do if we find mature topics posted on forums intended for a younger audience?  What should we do if we notice someone using a school computer to view inappropriate content?  The best solution is to follow Stoll's actions and report the person to the correct authorities.  Whether its parents, forum moderators, or school employees there is some authority that we can find to inform of the situations we've discovered.





Book inspired post: The Cuckoo's Egg.