Spooky Camera

Every time I stop and ponder the mystery and seemingly magic powers of computers and cell phones, I always end up thinking about just how far they've come since they were first invented.  I wasn't alive to see the first one, and I won't be alive to see the last either.  This mindset and set of ideas got me wandering the internet looking for news about cell phones, and I came across something rather interesting.  Apparently, the high definition camera in the iPhone 4S is the same camera that is used by Predator Drones.  Yikes!  These cameras record about one terabyte of information per day.  This camera's name is: "Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System" or ARGUS-IS for short.  But this camera is actually the result of putting 368 cell phone camera's together.  This camera is also what they call the best surveillance camera in the whole world.  It's a little creepy, isn't it?  The same camera that you may very well be taking pictures with is also taking pictures in enemy territory.  It makes me feel closer to the battlefield, but in a very odd way.  Another thing, what if they start monitoring these cameras? They will be able to see what you see.  I know this is poppycock, considering the fact that it's probably against the law, but let the conspiracy theories begin!  You can find out about this camera in the news for yourself at: http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-camera-tech-in-darpa-argus-drone-2013-1#ixzz2JLkUtNku.

Questions

I wish I could say that this had been just an ordinary day, but I would have been kidding myself.  I heard one of the most interesting sets of ideas this morning.  This set of ideas belongs to Michael Wesch, a leader in the research field of Social Media.  He made and shared the connection between the word "quest" and "question".  And it's true, to answer a good, solid question, you need to go on a quest.  Questions challenge you on a deep level, and could potentially contradict, re-iterate, or completely annihilate your current standing on any issue.  Unfortunately, The more you learn, the more you want to learn, which in turn leads you to learn more, so you want to learn more etc. So you never finish learning, your quest for answers never finishes, you never find your "Holy Grail" so to speak.  But, it didn't stop King Arthur, and it shouldn't stop you.  But unlike King Arthur, you should be willing to accept the fact that there might not be a Holy Grail, or the Holy Grail is a chair instead.  Don't get too attached to your ideas, it will only make you a dumber person, you may feel smarter, but the reality is you're not.  So ask questions!

Hello world.  Does that seem appropriate in this case?  Regardless, I say hello to you, reader, and wish you a good morning and a good evening tonight.  Speaking of evenings, yesterday I came across an interesting little tidbit of information, it got me thinking, which does not happen much.  It was an article (talk) written by Dallin H. Oaks entitled: "Focus and Priorities".  One thing he mentioned towards the end that made me take a metaphorical step back was when he quoted someone who said that there are three things that can never be recovered:  "Three things never come back- the spent arrow, the spoken word, and the lost opportunity."  I was a boy-scout, so I used to shoot arrows all the time, and I always get them back, but, I think this more refers to Legolas and his seemingly infinite quiver.  The spoken word, once you say something, you can never unsay it, unless you're in Men in Black with that device that wipes people's memories.  That might come close to the same effect.  But lastly, and greatest of them in my opinion, is the lost opportunity.  Unless you have a time machine, you cannot give yourself a second chance to do something you should have already done.  This is not the case with character and behavioral attributes, repentance (if that word confuses you, let me know in the comments so we can discuss it) covers that.  These opportunities are the deeds like saying hello to a stranger that needs it, calling your sister when she is in need of comfort (on a side note, my sister is currently in labor, about to have her son in about an hour), or taking that job in Los Angeles!  The most important of these (because I mentioned my sister) to me are the opportunities with family.  We are not here very long, in fact, in average it's about one hour and forty seven minutes to God.  Half the time of taking a final, and about the same time as a Book of Mormon midterm.  So, to get my point out there, I support Oaks in his saying of spending the time with our family wiser.  My family loves to watch T.V. with each other, but, there are other things such as Scripture Study that we could have put a lot more time into, even going to the park is a better way to get to know your family than watching T.V. So, to you, my readers, if you are just starting a family, take his advice, don't lose the opportunity to have the best relationship with your family you could ever have.  Thank you.