Sixteen Small Stones » links

New Official LDS Tech website

J. Max Wilson — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 01:32:00 +0000

The LDS church has created an exciting new official website for LDS technology at ldstech.lds.org . Not only does it have information about upcoming technology use in the church, but it sports a forum where those interested in technology and the church can participate and interact.

They are also holding a free Tech Talk in Provo on Tuesday January 23rd for system engineers, software developers and testers, interaction designers, and other techies to discuss how the church uses technology to build the kingdom.

I plan to attend the tech talk. if any of you will be going, let me know and we can meet up.

Timewasters & Interesting Links

J. Max Wilson — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 06:32:16 +0000

Over time I run into links that I would like to blog about but don’t find the time. So here is a random list of timewasters and interesting links that I would have blogged about had I had the time:

1. Wordy
Wordy is a fascinating and addictive online macromedia flash game that combines the classic word-finding game Bloggle with the falling tile action of Tetris. The only thing that is annoying about it is that it doesn’t recognize a some words that I know are valid. I guess they need to expand the game’s dictionary. Check it out.

2. Javascript Visual Wordnet
This website is interesting on two levels. If you are interested in language, it generates an animated, visual relationship cloud for any word for which you search. Yo can click on any word in the cloud to generate its cloud. From a Javascript programming standpoint it is also fascinating.

3. Same Language Subtitling
Dr. Brij Kothari has an interesting idea for improving literacy through same-language subtitling for T.V. and Movies. I’m curious about the effectiveness of this approach.

4. Zelda Classic
If you loved the original classic video game The Legend of Zelda, this free reproduction for the PC is wonderful. Download it and enjoy!

5. Finding Mudbugs in Utah
An article about how to catch crayfish in Utah (something I wish I had known when I was a kid!).

6. Scientists Say They’ve Found a Code Beyond Genetics in DNA
Check out this article from the NY Times on a possible additional code superimposed on the already familiar DNA code.

7. Death and Taxes
A visual guide to where your federal tax dollars go. It is both captivating and repulsive at the same time!

8. Online Collections at BYU
Too many great resources to describe. Just check it out.

Blog Recommendation: ldsWebguy.com

J. Max Wilson — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 10:07:45 +0000

Brother Larry Richman is the director of the Internet Coordination Group for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has started a blog called ldsWebguy. While not officially sponsored by the church, if you want some insight into how the church is using the Internet, and even more importantly, if you want to learn about what you can do to use the Internet to help build the kingdom, go check it out.

Human Puppetry: Matrix Ping Pong Video

J. Max Wilson — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 06:06:00 +0000

I helped found the Maxed Out Puppet Comedy Troupe about seven years ago, and have been performing puppetry ever since. We performed two holiday shows on Saturday, and another one last night.

It is always fun to see what other people come up with in the realm of puppetry. Sometimes real people can be used as puppets. In one of our first puppet related skits, I played the part of a puppet. With that background, I was blown away by this video of a Japanese “human puppet” act.

The puppeteers are dressed all in black, and stand right on the stage while they manipulate their living puppets and the inanimate objects. Hilarious and absolutely amazing:

Watch the video:

Matrix Ping Pong (Windows Media)