Happy Christmas, Intex is over

During the first semester of my ISYS classes we have a major project called Intex, or Integrated Exercise. This assignment lasts all week long, and is critical part of our grades for this semester. Monday morning we are given an eight page case to study, and then we need to make a report and presentation on it. Now our report is not just any only report, it is FULLY comprehnesive report o' evilness. It is full of things I don't even want to speak of right now, but I will let you know that our report was 85 pages long. Then, we were thrown from the frying pan and into the fire, and we had to present this saturday morning. Not only did we have to present, but we had to present to a faculty memember, a grad student, and a high-level manager from Accenture Consulting. That's the bad news, now here is the good news:

First off, we as a group were told that we did an "exceptional job," and coming from those people that is quite the complement.

Second, the Manager from Accenture singled me out from of my team and told me that I was an impressive speaker. He told me I was confident, clear, conscise, and I did a great job. I was really honored by the compliments from him, as well as the compliments from my team. In all honesty thought, I my team did so much for this assignment, infact, I want to publicly thank my group for all the hard work that they put in. They did so many of the tasks that I did not have the ability to do. I truly blessed to have such a great team.

So that is that. This assignment is done. After 12-13 hour days for a week I think it is time to relax. (or at least do the rest of the homework that I need to get done today :P)

My poem...

I was bored today during some presentations that I had to attend, so this is what I came up with to pass a bit of the time:

AS TIRED AS TIRED CAN BE

I'm as tired as I can be,
though that is easy for you to see,
and I wish I could sleep,
a slumber so deep,
and awake when I'm 33.

Thank you, thank you. I will be here all week.

Favored.....

I have been missing my yale hoodie for a few weeks now. It was a christmas gift from my dad a few years ago, and it means a lot to me.
Well today was the opening social of the Masters of Information Systems Management (MISM) lounge. Normally I don't go in there much but I went there today for the free pizza and to celebrate the new lounge. So I grabbed some pizza and bottled water, and they watched some guys play super smash brothers for a bit. Then, I just happened to look on the couch and there was a yale hoodie just laying there. I went over and sure enough it was mine.
I'm so grateful to have it back. The most awesome thing is that I had not even prayed about finding it, but heaven still smiled down on me today. Heavenly Father is awesome.

Proposition 8

On November 4th, 2008, Californians will vote on a subject that is the foundation of this Great country--the family. If the definition of marriage changes the the foundation of this great country will weaken. Then--like a house built on a poor foundation--when the hurricanes and tempests blow the foundation will crack and the house will crumble.

We as upstanding citizens of this great country need to do all we can to further the cause of proposition 8. If we succeed we can stem the advancing tide against the family. If we fail, a domino effect will occur where other states will follow the example California. If this happens eventually America will fall.

May heaven help us all in keeping America the way the founding fathers designed it--on the bedrock of morality.

Stephen Reed Godfrey

To learn more about proposition 8 please go to http://www.preservingmarriage.org/

Feel free link to this post in your blog and help support proposition 8. The link to the video can be found at the preserving marriage website above. Look for where it says "Embed in your blog"

Faith over fear....

This conference we heard a lot about how the world is in a tough spot. The economy is falling apart, housing market is failing, and overall things are a little scary. On the other hand a definite-resounding theme of this conference is not to fear. From multiple talks we heard that we need not fear as long as we rely on Heavenly Father, and personally, I have a firm belief that everything will be okay. I feel comforted that my Savior stands besides me, ready and able to help me when I am in need.
I wish to tell the world to "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" 2 Kings 16. I hope that we can have the confidence that everything will work out--because it will. All that is left for us to do is to get to work, and "lift where you stand."

Winning is great, sleep deprivation is not

So apart from doing homework until 10 pm EVERY night I decided that I would sign up for the omniture web analytics competition.
Yes I know, I'm crazy.

Feel good....

So it turns out that my buddy Gordon liked the bread I made him. It is always nice to be appreciated. Link

What a neat idea...

I was surfing the web and I came across this site: http://www.hiddenpassageway.com/ it's a company that designs hidden door or passage ways. They can do pretty much anything that you see in the movies or that you could even dream about. Anyway, I thought that was neat.

Two weeks notice...

I gave my two weeks today to the Plant Wildlife Sciences department. I have worked there as a web designer since late winter, but recently I have felt that it is time to go. Working there was a great stepping stone, and I am grateful that I could learn HTML, CSS, photoshop, flash, fireworks, and working with a content management system. I also learned about web design, and increased my understanding of the web design process.

Now I can focus on my other job at the Religious Studies Center, where I can better share the gospel with the world. So far I have built the main website rsc.byu.edu in english, spanish, and portuguese. I am sure that french will follow in a few months.

So I am looking forward to the change. They have treated my well at PWS, but it is time to move onward and upward.

A request...

Today I was told by a good friend that I needed to make a post on my blog. Now the possibilities of the things that I could blog about are infinite. I could write about the horrible assignment that I just did that took me 25 hours to finish and the 5 days I had to do it. Perhaps I could write about work and the feelings that I have about working there. I could write about graduating in April, the rain, or even sharks, but I feel that I should write about the most awesomest subject of all--Benjamin Crowder. Ladies, if there ever was a man comparable to Brunelleschi's dome in Florence Italy Ben would be it. He is the epitome of creativity and technology. He makes websites and does graphic design. He writes computer programs as well as books. He publishes magazines, blogs, and plays. In my opinion Ben Crowder is the true renaissance man, and I wish that we all had the drive, determiniation, and work ethic that this man has. Granted he has flaws and quirks, but it is his integrity and creativity that make him a role model for us all--as well as a fun subject to blog about.

Man, he is so going to ask me to delete this.

Too Bad for him. :)


some of his work:
http://www.topofthemountains.net/
http://mormonartist.net/
http://www.blankslate.net/
http://www.riverglenpress.net/

Danny's Song

Some years ago I was approached by some good friends who were getting married. They asked me to write a song for them, and with a lot of divine help I did. Then when I moved away for school I forgot to copy the lyrics off of my parent's computer and I kept meaning to do so. The other day I thought about the song and happened to find the lyrics in an email I had sent a long time ago. The issue now was that I had forgotten the music part of the song. Well I worked at it and the melody came after awhile, but for the life of me I could not remember the chorus. Well tonight I worked on the chorus and I was about to put the guitar down and a little voice told me to try a little more. Well I did and I found the long-lost chorus.

I am grateful that with divine assistance I remembered a song--the same song that was written with divine assistance a long, long time ago.

Heroes on a Quest

A bunch of guys and I got together tonight and we played an awesome round of Hero Quest. This is an old school board game that was made by Hasbro in 1989. I used to play this game a lot as a kid, and it was great to play it again. Ahhh, such a fun night.

The Chaco

I bought a pair of chocos yesterday and I love them--absolutely love them. They have arch support, are fully customizable, and they just feel great. I tell you that you should try them out.

Sarah and I at Lagoon

My wife and I went to lagoon the other day and had a blast. Check out this vid from the Flyin Aces

A very tall mountain...

In may I decided that I wanted to take my required business law course via independent study. As soon as I bought it I realized how much work lay ahead. It seems that even if I think about doing the course that I lose steam and end up doing something else. Now I have 7 working days until fall semester and I still have 16 lessons to go. Even if I do two a day I will still be into fall semester without being finished.
However, I know that I can get this done. I just need a little help and a massive dose of inner motivation, and.... to stop writing in this blog and go do my homework. :)

Fun with Electromagnetism

For a school Project I decided to have some fun with electromagnetism. First I took a Computer power supply, cut the ends off the wires, and then grouped the wires together. Then I drilled some holes for binding posts. Then I took some wire and wrapped it around an iron core. This effectively made an electromagnet.

Then I decided this wasn't good enough so I thought I would put it in a gun and call it the "Volt .45 Maggun."
I installed the switch in the trigger area so that you can turn off the "gun" with the "trigger"
And as a finishing touch I painted the power supply.