Random Thought #103

I wonder why the keys on a computer keyboard are setup the way they are. There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason for it. I mean why wouldn't you just set them up in order? I think I recall that the most common keys are placed so that your fingers had to do the least amount of reaching and it does seem that most of us have adapted to this model fairly well but it's interesting nonetheless. I wonder what a predecessor keyboard layout to the standard QWERTY looked like

Random Thought #102

You know how in the scriptures we read of a principal prophet that is kind of the main focus of any story or event. I was reading the Book of Mormon the other night and found myself thinking we not only have 1 prophet, we have 15. I started wondering about the other prophets that were around during the time of Lehi or amongst the Jaredites or even during the time of Abraham. Just thinking about Lehi, he was a contemporary of Jeremiah in the Old Testament and they likely knew each other and even Uriah which was fleeing to Egypt, but we didn't really find out about him until the discovery of the Lachish Letters. The search for the whole story is fun and fascinating but we must be willing to search and have a firm testimony

Random Thought #101

I had an interesting thought come into my head. What are the 3 most common degrees pursued in the university or professions in the workplace? 1. Business 2. Law 3. Medicine Those are my three. You hardly see anyone going into education, or art, or history, or science because there is no payout at the other end. People don't follow their passions because it doesn't make sense financially. I can't say I blame them. It's in our nature to survive and be comfortable but there was a comic in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago from a comic strip artist that I usually hate but he made an excellent point. http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2012/05/06 Decisions about what to pursue in life are driven by money. Its sad really. Dreams and passions are lost and left to rot. I can't say as though I'm any better as I graduated from business school and work for a big corporation and we're financially secure but I can't say that there isn't something deep inside of me that is frustrated and festering, an itch that needs to be scratched. I try to satiate it with Ted talks and books but it still there. I know it seems cliche' but follow your dreams and your passions. Don't let money or a certain lifestyle get in your way. Be Happy and feed your soul!

Random Thought #100

To celebrate my 100th random thought on this blog, I thought I would post a video looking at the human race and the creation as a review and then looking at what we see now in the current generation and how the two might relate. Lots of interesting stats, lots of interesting science, lots of interesting technological innovation, and a little bit of humor. Makes you think a little bit. Consider much of this in terms of the creation and scriptural passages. I thought it was interesting. I hope you think some of these things are interesting too. http://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_will_our_kids_be_a_different_species.html Thanks to all for following my blog. I hope you find it interesting and look forward to many more of my random thoughts in the future.

Random Thought #99

Did you ever wonder why we use the letter 'X' to represent the unknown or some kind of variable? Of course not. We tried to forget about algebra and quadratic equations as soon as we passed the class. Well I personally have never wondered about this (I suppose it would have been a matter of time) but this guy did and this short little history lesson about how 'X' came to represent the unknown is quite fascinating and is yet another example of learning something from expanding your horizons. There is much we didn't invent and borrowed from another place and another time. I'll give you a hint.....it originates in the Middle East. Enjoy!! http://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_why_is_x_the_unknown.html

Random Thought #98

This is quite fascinating, well for nerds like me it is. I especially like how they used various disciplines and technologies to restore and revive the original text (particle accelerator shooting off x-ray radiation).....pretty cool!!! Making it open source at the end of all of that effort is definitely a labor of love. This is like a fairy tale love story to me. I know...I'm weird. http://www.ted.com/talks/william_noel_revealing_the_lost_codex_of_archimedes.html

Random Thought #97

This guy is an entertaining display of what goes on in my head on a daily basis. Wouldn't it be fun to live inside my head? HAHA http://www.ted.com/talks/reggie_watts_disorients_you_in_the_most_entertaining_way.html

Random Thought #96

Think the invention of the LEGO was cool, these cool little toys are like an electrical engineer's LEGOs. I thought these were really cool and I would love some of these. They are called littleBits. Check it out http://www.ted.com/talks/ayah_bdeir_building_blocks_that_blink_beep_and_teach.html Here is their website: http://littlebits.cc/