Charity Never Fails Us

Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, once said, "he who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own." When we are too invested in what we want, we lose track of what is really important, our relationship. Loneliness brings so much sadness into this world. If we looked after one another the world would be a happier place.

Cat Walk

Open Source Vs. Commercial Software

Efficient Inefficiency

Brother Dean R. Cannon said, concerning using technology in the church, “we must first understand the technology and know how it can be used.” Technology can save and waste time depending on how we use them. Some technologies help us plan church projects, meetings, and events. Though, if we spend more time planning how we will spend our time than how we actually do spend our time, then this technology has not been used properly. Technology is there to make our lives easier and we should know how it can make our lives easier. Just because technology is applied science, doesn’t mean it applies to you or applies to you in the way you may think it does. We must know how these management tools can help, if at all, before we utilize them.

Brilliant Minds Working Together

Two minds are usually better than one. This seems to be the case with Linux and APACHE. Looking at these two examples of team collaboration, it is amazing what can be accomplished. The motivation behind their collaboration is more amazing. Software of the caliber of Linux and APACHE are usually motivated by monetary gain. Although, the motivation of freeware seem to have little to do with monetary gain and has much to do with taking pride in what they accomplish. If we can have this sense of pride in all that we do, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.

It's a Small World After All

Could we survive reliving the 80’s knowing what we know now? Think about all the technology we take for granted. I am reminded of a movie preview of “Hot Tub Time Machine”, a movie about four friends that travel back in time through a hot tub time machine. In this preview one of the four friends is dancing with a girl from the 80’s, and he asked her if he could reach her by email, text, or some means of contact. Of course if we revisit what existed in the 80’s, concerning technology, we would already have guessed the confusion on this girls face. She answered by telling him that he could just come find her as a means of contact. Of course, his reply was, “that sounds exhausting.”
We sometimes forget what we have until we lose it. These days we have so many things available to put us in contact with others. We have cell phones, instant messaging, email, V.O.I.P. (Voice over Internet Protocol), and social networks like facebook.com. We have so many means of communication. If we were to list them all, we would have to stop to think for a while. These days a cell phone is another appendage of our body. Once we lose it, we feel disoriented and lost. We have no idea how we ever got by without a cell phone.
Now that we have these advantages, if we are not careful, we could turn these advantages into disadvantages. The technology might bring us together virtually, but in many instances they pull us apart physically. We need social interaction, and these advances help us to interact. Face to face interaction is a vital part of social interaction. Having virtual friends is good, but to have no physical friendships is a waste of life. Balance is a key in obtaining a meaningful life. So, as you use technology to better your life, make sure you don’t back track your progress with the same means that provided that progression.

Shooting Yourself in the Foot

It’s amazing how easy our decisions can bring us the exact misfortune we were, most desperately, trying to avoid. Self sabotage can come swiftly upon us if we do not see the big picture. We see this form of sabotage in the movie and music industry as producers lash out at their customer demographic. They fear even the slightest sight of mercy will lead to the destruction of their company. So in their rage, these producer wage war against the slightest degree of copy right infringement and slap on the maximum penalty possible by law. What these producers don’t realize is they are punishing the people who may have become their own form of free advertisement. No need to mention, but I will, they have paid good money for bad publicity. Everyone should always weigh the consequences of their action before they act, or they may shoot themselves in the foot.

“People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.” -Eric Hoffer