Mormon Blogs on Science and Technology

Facebook Power Users

Karen Trifiletti at feedproxy.google.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:25:05 +0000

Facebook affinity isn’t waning. Keith Hampton’s Pew Internet report team highlights and indicates its continued growth and a discovered dispersion of what they have referred to as ”power-users”–those whose level of activity is higher than the average user’s in a given month. 20-30% of the Facebook users fall in this category, but their profile changes depending on whether or not we’re talking about photo-tagging, status-updating, sending private messages, or “liking” social media materials. The reach of Facebook is continually astounding.

A few interesting remarks and findings from the recent Pew Study on Facebook, Why Most Facebook Users Get More Than They Give, follows:

Facebook users can reach an average of more than 150,000 Facebook users through their Facebook friends; the median user can reach about 31,000 others

At two degrees of separation (friends-of-friends), Facebook users in our sample can on average reach 156,569 other Facebook users. However, the relatively small number of users with very large friends lists, who also tended to have lists that are less interconnected, overstates the reach of the typical Facebook user. In our sample, the maximum reach was 7,821,772 other Facebook users. The median user (the middle user from our sample) can reach 31,170 people through their friends-of-friends.

There is little evidence of Facebook fatigue

We found no evidence among our sample that length of time using Facebook is associated with a decline in Facebook activity. On the contrary, the more time that has passed since a user started using Facebook, the more frequently he/she makes status updates, uses the “like” button, comments on friends’ content, and tags friends in photos. Similarly, the more Facebook friends someone has, the more frequently they contribute all forms of Facebook content and the more friend requests they tend to send and accept.

Power Users

Only 5% of Facebook users were power users on all of these activities, 9% on three, and 11% on two. Because of these power users, and their tendency to specialize on specific Facebook activities, there is a consistent pattern in our sample where Facebook users across activities tend to receive more from friends than they give to others.

General Activity

And the new findings show that over a one-month period:

40% of Facebook users in our sample made a friend request, but 63% received at least one request
Users in our sample pressed the like button next to friends’ content an average of 14 times, but had their content “liked” an average of 20 times
Users sent 9 personal messages, but received 12
12% of users tagged a friend in a photo, but 35% were themselves tagged in a photo

This study comes on the heels of its announcement regarding filed for a $5 billion initial public offering of stock that could eventually value the company at 100 billion.

Adding MLS Functionality to LDS.org

JohnsonTH@ldschurch.org (Riley Hamilton) at feeds.lds.org — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:33:16 +0000

Historically, clerks and other Church leaders have been required to be at their respective meetinghouse to perform administrative work because the Member and Leader Services (MLS) software could only be accessed from the clerk’s PC located at the meetinghouse. As a result, many clerks and leaders complete their administrative work on Sunday to avoid travelling to the meetinghouse during the week. Simple reports like the New Member Report can only be viewed or printed at the meetinghouse.

In order to ease the administrative burden of Church leaders, MLS functions are being added to LDS.org. Church leaders and clerks can now access records, reports, and other helpful resources from any computer connected to the Internet. This effort supports access from home or other locations, decreasing travel costs and time commitments. Making it easier for leaders and clerks to perform their administrative responsibilities will allow them to spend more time ministering to members.

Access to these MLS functions is through the Leader Resources and Clerk Resources pages on LDS.org and is dependent on members having an LDS Account and being assigned the correct Church calling in MLS. For example, a bishop will be able to access confidential membership information and reports whereas his counselor will not.

Adding all MLS functions to LDS.org will take time, with the initial focus being on those that are membership record-keeping related. During this transition, MLS can still be used at the local unit and the two systems will be synchronized. In the future, quorum and auxiliary leaders will also be able to access on LDS.org the MLS functions that relate to their callings.

Leaders are encouraged to explore LDS.org > Tools > Leader Resources or Clerk Resources for a complete list of what is available. Four examples are shared below.

Quarterly Report: Quarterly report information can now be recorded and submitted. Past Quarterly Reports can also be viewed.

Key Indicators: A chart of key statistics, such as sacrament meeting attendance, home teaching, and endowed adults with temple recommends is now available. The Quarterly Report is the source of this Key Indicators information.

Action and Interview List: The list identifies actions that need to be taken by priesthood leaders, such as interview those coming of age for baptism and confirmation or Aaronic priesthood ordinations.

New Member Report: This report provides details about members assigned to a unit who were baptized and confirmed within the last 24 months and used to help nurture these new members.

For those interested in more information about MLS functionality being added to LDS.org, a series of training webinars will be offered in February. In addition, Church leaders can learn more by visiting the Clerk Wiki or the Leader Portal article on LDSTech. Additional support, including questions and interactive discussions, on clerk’s responsibilities and MLS can be found on the Clerk and Technology Support Forum. Leaders can also contact their Local Unit Support.

For more information, you are invited to attend an online training on this topic. The first broadcast will take place on February 3, 2012. For more information on training broadcast times, see Training Sessions for MLS Functionality on LDS.org.

Cognitive Aging – the Perils

Clark at www.libertypages.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:29:52 +0000

I don’t want to get too excited about this but there’s a very promising study about Alzheimer’s that may have found the cause. I’m cautious as there’s been hype about previous supposed discoveries of what’s behind Alzheimer’s that ended up being wrong. This one, from my outsider perspective, does sound promising though.

I don’t know if it is just being in my 40′s now and noticing the deterioration of my body (primarily the dreaded far sightedness that’s started to show) but I am starting to pay a lot closer attention to a lot of these studies. I’d really like it if I could be in my 60′s and be as healthy as now. The biggest excitement were those mouse studies that may have found a way to reverse a lot of aging effects. Now of course lots of things look great in mice studies that don’t work in humans. And this relies of stem cells and scientists really have found a good way to produce the massive quantities of stem cells all these stem cell therapies need. (In a few cases you can harvest them from the patient – but in general getting stem cells is still the biggest issue)

Of course this is all an area where there’s more hype than results. Further even if drugs and treatments get on the market there’s not guarantee they’ll be widely dispersed. Rather once approved they’ll probably be limited to more narrow treatments whether people want it that way or not.

There’s lots of stuff that has looked very fruitful. Even if they are limited you have to hope that some will have success with minimal side effects in larger human studies.

Updated Duty to God Website

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:44:44 +0000

An updated version of the Duty to God website (DutyToGod.lds.org) is now available for the young men of the Church.

Through this website, young men can create and save Duty to God plans, record journal entries, and watch videos. It also provides instructions to quorum presidencies, leaders, and parents.

New Lesson Schedules Application Now in Beta

JohnsonTH@ldschurch.org (Tom Johnson) at feeds.lds.org — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:28:16 +0000

Lesson Schedules, an LDS.org application that allows you to schedule lessons for Sunday School classes and priesthood and auxiliary organizations, is now in beta. Lesson Schedules replaces the old lesson scheduling features that were available on the Classic.lds.org site. Members are invited to test out the beta Lesson Schedules application and provide feedback.

You can visit the beta site for Lesson Schedules by going to https://lds.org/lesson. Log in with your LDS Account. Note that any data you enter into this beta site will be erased when the site goes live.

Lesson Schedules requires some initial setup. Once set up, when you visit Lesson Schedules, you can select the check boxes next to the classes you want to see. The scheduled lesson for that class appears, with direct links to the lesson material.

Lesson Schedules not only helps members know what lessons are planned each week, it helps leaders organize and coordinate lesson topics and teachers.

Administrative rights

Lesson Schedules is available at the ward level only. As such, bishoprics, clerks, and secretaries are administrators by default. Organization leaders (including their counselors and secretaries) have administrative rights to create classes and lesson schedules for their organization.

Submitting feedback

To submit feedback about Lesson Schedules, go to the LDSTech Forum. Under Current and Future Technologies, in the LDS.org Web Site section, click the Beta Testing sub-forum. Then click the Lesson Schedules sub-forum there.

Joining the Local Unit Beta Testing Project

For more information about beta testing opportunities, join the Local Unit Beta Testing Project in LDSTech. Joining this group allows technology leaders at Church headquarters to communicate with you through e-mail about testing efforts for local unit apps.

To join the Local Unit Beta Testing project, sign into LDSTech. Click Projects in the top navigation bar. Then click the Projects subtab, scroll down, click the Local Unit Beta Testing link, and then click Join. If this is your first time signing in, you will need to complete the Skills and Profile subtabs.

The beta period for Lesson Schedules is expected to run several weeks before the application goes live. For more information about Lesson Schedules, see the Lesson Schedules Help. If you have questions, comments, or other feedback about Lesson Schedules, please post it in the LDSTech forum.

LDS Mobile Apps for Kindle Fire & Nook

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:38:13 +0000

LDS Tech has published an article that explains how to get the LDS mobile applications onto a Kindle Fire, Nook Color, Nook Tablet, or a generic Android tablet.

The Android applications will work on these devices, but it takes a few steps to get them loaded, since they are only available in the Google Android Market and these devices can’t access the market place directly.

Until the Church is able to distribute the applications through alternative markets, you can install them through a process called Sideloading. The article “Android sideloading” explains how to do this.

Create.lds.org Video Contest

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:53:12 +0000

Create.lds.org has announced a video contest. The challenge is to create a 1-minute or shorter video to introduce the site. For complete details, visit create.lds.org. Contest ends February 20.

Help your friends and family discover how to contribute their talents.

LDS Gospel Library Android Mobile App

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:44:37 +0000

Watch a video introduction to using the LDS Gospel Library mobile app version 2.1 for the Android platform.

Learn more about the official LDS mobile applications from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Should You Use Twitter?

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:59:26 +0000

This infographic is courtesy of Flowtown.

Victories for Religious Liberty, Freedom of Conscience

Karen Trifiletti at feedproxy.google.com — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:10:23 +0000

Religious Freedom Under Attack

David French, Julea Ward and Jeremy Tedesco celebrate new Sixth Circuit court victories. We applaud their tenacity and ability to present to a knowing judge the high stakes of the Michigan University case. Essentially, the team set out to reverse a trial-court ruling that essentially allowed Eastern Michigan University to erect a “no Christians allowed” sign outside its graduate counseling program. As French aptly remarks, “Had the university prevailed, students would truly have been at the mercy of ad hoc ideological demands reformulated as “curricular requirements.” We’re seeing this kind of reverse discrimination and depletion of religious freedoms coming at us from all directions, as more and more groups see themselves as constructs and laws unto themselves.

Another Win for Religious Freedom

Another recent 2012 key victory for religious freedom occurred a few weeks ago the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that religious organizations have a First Amendment right to choose their ministers — even in the face of federal nondiscrimination policies. This is a huge win–though the fact that it’s an issue contested shows where we’ve come in our understanding of freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and religious exemptions.

In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the court reversed the Sixth Circuit and ruled, even unanimously ruled, in fact, that the First Amendment’s Free Exercise and Establishment clauses bar suits brought by ministers against their churches for violations of nondiscrimination laws. This case “re-affirmed the exception as fundamental to religious liberty.”

At the ACLJ David French and others filed an amicus brief (along with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship) in support of Hosanna-Tabor, which he states “was vital in maintaining a firewall against active government attempts to encroach into a church’s most sacred and vital religious decisions — the decision as to who ministers to the faithful”.

Additional Resources:

Learn more about religious freedom at the official site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

Religious freedom is essential for a healthy society.

Attend a local meetinghouse.

On Marriage & Family

Karen Trifiletti at feedproxy.google.com — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:51:16 +0000

Marriage and Family:

Meet the Marriage Killer

It’s More Common Than Adultery and Potentially As Toxic, So Why Is It So Hard to Stop Nagging? Nagging–the interaction in which one person repeatedly makes a request, the other person repeatedly ignores it and both become increasingly annoyed–is an issue every couple will grapple with at some point. While the word itself can provoke chuckles and eye-rolling, the dynamic can potentially be as dangerous to a marriage as adultery or bad finances. Experts say it is exactly the type of toxic communication that can eventually sink a relationship. Read more …

Adolescents From Unstable Families Lose Ground in Rigorous High Schools

Research continues to support a connection between instability in the home and school performance in adolescents, but a new study in the January issue of Sociology of Education takes the research a step further by exploring how the relationship between family structure change and adolescent academic careers is also affected by the kinds of schools they attend. According to study co-author Shannon Cavanagh, a professor in The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Sociology, schools vary considerably in terms of socio-demographic composition and “academic press,” measured by whether the school is defined by academic, achievement-oriented values, goals, and norms and by specific standards of achievement. Read more …

The New American Divide

America is coming apart. For most of our nation’s history, whatever the inequality in wealth between the richest and poorest citizens, we maintained a cultural equality known nowhere else in the world–for whites, anyway. “The more opulent citizens take great care not to stand aloof from the people,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville, the great chronicler of American democracy, in the 1830s. “On the contrary, they constantly keep on easy terms with the lower classes: They listen to them, they speak to them every day.” Americans love to see themselves this way. But there’s a problem: It’s not true anymore, and it has been progressively less true since the 1960s. Read more…

Additional Resources:

Learn more about the critical nature of families to society at the official site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

Families are the fundamental unit in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Request a free Book of Mormon today.

Humor U: Clean Stand-up Comedy

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:31:57 +0000

Humor U is the largest comedy club between New York and Los Angeles, and the cleanest in the world. Humor U is made up of over two dozen stand-up comedians who are all BYU students or alumni.

Humor U performs over 40 shows a year and wins comedy competitions around the country and is featured in national television and YouTube commercials. It provides BYU students focused opportunities to develop the gift of humor through writing, rehearsing, and performing stand-up comedy. They produce a new show approximately every six weeks and then perform it multiple times in a given week.

Most Humor U shows feature 12 comedians performing original stand-up comedy. All shows are for family audiences. All performers are BYU students or alumni who volunteer their time and talents without compensation or class credit.

One of the comedians is Stephen Jones, the man in the promo video “New Spice Video: Study Like a Scholar” created for the BYU Harold B. Lee Library. The video has been viewed nearly 3 million times! It’s hilarious.

My favorite among the comedians who have clips online is Devan Butler. Here’s a “best of Devan Butler.”

Read my previous article “Clean Stand-up Comedy.”

What other clean comedians do you enjoy?

Training Sessions for MLS Functionality on LDS.org

JohnsonTH@ldschurch.org (Ben Hutchins) at feeds.lds.org — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:19:04 +0000

"Using MLS Functionality on LDS.org" is the topic for our next LDSTech Broadcast, scheduled for February 3 and February 7, 2012. You can attend a live or recorded broadcast at the times listed below.

Using MLS Functionality on LDS.org

Many MLS (Member Leaders Services application) features are now available in a web format through “Leader and Clerk Resources” on LDS.org. These web resources provide information and reports about priesthood quorum, auxiliary, and general membership; organization and calling lists; and other tools. By providing these resources in a secure, online location, leaders and clerks can spend less time managing administrative duties and more time ministering to members.

Choose your training session now

Click the Attend button on the day of the event. Try to join fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time. You will be asked to fill out a five-question survey before being directed to the training session.

Friday, February 3 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM MST	Live Broadcast Live Chat	Attend
Tuesday, February 7 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM MST	Pre-recorded Live Chat	Attend
Tuesday, February 7 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM MST	Pre-recorded Live Chat	Attend

If you're interested in attending the training in-person, come to the Zion room of the Riverton Office Building (ROB) for the Feb 3 live broadcast. The ROB is located at 3740 West Market Drive, Riverton, UT (see map).

Who can attend

Anyone is welcome to attend. This training will be most useful for:

Stake and district presidents and counselors
Bishops, branch presidents and counselors
Stake, district, ward and branch:

Executive secretaries
Clerks
Assistant clerks
Assistant clerk for members

Mission presidents
Members interested in learning more about LDS technology

Additional Details

During the training, you can submit questions through the LDSTech IRC Chat Feed. Depending on the number of questions, some may not be answered until after the webinar. For more information, contact mhtechtraining@ldschurch.org.

Feb 4, 2012 Update: The recording of the MLS Training broadcast has been posted on the LDSTech Broadcast page on the wiki.

Additional Features in Reading Scriptures on LDS.org

JohnsonTH@ldschurch.org (Curtis Palmer) at feeds.lds.org — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:03:11 +0000

While many of us enjoy reading our printed set of scriptures and hand-writing notes in the margins, the online scriptures on LDS.org provide the same text as the print version and have additional features, such as pop-up footnotes, My Study Notebook, and audio playback, that might be helpful in a number of ways.

You can access the scriptures on LDS.org by clicking on Menu, and then under the Study, click Scriptures. The scriptures homepage shows links to the standard works in the sidebar.

Listen rather than read

While you’re viewing a chapter online, you can listen to the scriptures like an audio book by clicking Listen in the right-hand navigation list.

This option not only helps those who are seeing impaired; if you’re too tired to read, or traveling in the car, or if you just prefer to hear the words, listening can be a welcome switch from reading. You can also choose the Listen option during family scripture study, or in other settings.

Share with friends

Another feature while reading scriptures online is the ability to share chapters with your friends through social media. Clicking the Share button while viewing a chapter makes it easy to be a member missionary. Share options include Email, Twitter, Facebook, and Delicious.

Posting your favorite chapter on Facebook or Twitter is an easy way to invite others to learn about the gospel. Also, your sphere of influence online may be a much larger group than in your immediate physical location. When you share content on Facebook, others can also share the same content you posted, expanding the influence.

Navigate to scriptures quickly

When you’re reading scriptures online, you can click links to jump quickly from passage to passage. This can be especially helpful if you’re studying a topic and moving through a list of references to the topic. Rather than searching out each passage — an exercise that not only tests your knowledge of where each book is, but also your dexterity to turn pages and navigate chapters and verses — you simply click a link and go straight to the highlighted passage.

As an example, in the sidebar of the Scriptures page on LDS.org, click Study Helps, and then click Topical Guide. Choose a topic, such as Last Days, and then quickly click through each of the references to that topic.

Filter your search results

When you search for words in the scriptures, you can use the filters on the left to narrow the results to the sources you want to see.

For example, suppose you search for living water. After the search results appear, use the links under "Refine Your Search" to narrow the list of results to the category you select. If you select Old Testament, you will see only results for “living water” that appear in the Old Testament.

You can further limit the filters by expanding the Old Testament link and selecting a sub-link, such as Genesis. Parentheses after each link show you the number of times the word appears in that book.

To cancel the filter, click the X next to the filter you selected. Overall, these filters make it easy to sort and narrow search results based on the sources you want to see.

View footnotes without losing your place

Like the scriptures in print, the online scriptures have footnotes embedded throughout the text, but instead of flipping back-and-forth to find the reference in print scriptures, you can just click the footnote.

When you click a footnote, a small window pops up containing references to other scriptures, related topics in the topical guide, and Greek or Hebrew translations. When you click links in the footnote to read a cross reference, the reference appears directly within the footnote window, rather than directing you to a new page. This makes it easy to explore footnotes without losing your place.

If you don’t want footnotes cluttering up your view of verses, you can also turn footnotes off entirely with one click by clicking Hide Footnotes in the sidebar. This turns off all the footnote references in the verses so you can focus more clearly on the words. When you’re ready to turn them back on, click Show Footnotes.

View your highlights and notes in one place

When you’re reading content on LDS.org, you can make notes about verses, bookmark chapters you want to remember, and save the content to a personal, private space on LDS.org called My Study Notebook.

My Study Notebook can be especially helpful if you’re preparing a topic or lesson. For example, suppose you’re preparing a lesson on the Word of Wisdom, and you’re searching for stories, quotations, doctrine, and media to use. You’ll be searching a large number of pages on LDS.org. How will you keep track of everything you find? How will you organize all the content into a useful set of notes for your lesson?

My Study Notebook can help. First make sure you sign into LDS.org. Then navigate to a scripture, lesson, conference talk, or magazine article. At the bottom, look for a black toolbar that includes buttons to share, bookmark, and write journal entries.

Now highlight a passage. In the black pop-up window that appears, click Add note/tag. Then add a note and select a notebook to add it to.

Once you’ve gathered your content, you can view it all by going to Tools > My Study Notebook. When you select a notebook folder, you can drag your notes into different arrangements.

For a more detailed tutorial using My Study Notebook, click the Help link in My Study Notebook’s sidebar.

Study anywhere at any time

Through the Gospel Library app, you can easily fit the digital version of the scriptures in your pocket and take the scriptures anywhere you go. Any highlights, notes, and other bookmarks you created on LDS.org through My Study Notebook automatically sync to your mobile device.

With your scriptures ever present and available, you can study the scriptures at almost any spare opportunity — while standing in line at the grocery store, waiting for the bus, at the dentist’s office, at the beach, in bed late at night when you can’t sleep, riding the elevator, traveling as a passenger in the car, and so on.

In the Gospel Library app, when you tap and hold a verse, you’re prompted with a Study toolbar that allows you to highlight and add notes to the verse. Your highlights and notes sync with Study Notebook on LDS.org, integrating the experience across both online and mobile formats.

Conclusion

The online format for the scriptures goes beyond merely arranging the same scriptural content on a web page. The online experience for studying scriptures allows you to do all of the following:

Listen rather than read
Share with friends
Navigate to scriptures quickly
View footnotes without losing your place
View your highlights and notes in one place
Study anywhere at any time

By no means are we suggesting that the online version of scriptures is superior to reading the printed formats. There’s an immeasurable benefit to isolating yourself from online distractions and focusing on words on a page in front of you. But in some scenarios, the online features may be helpful, and if so, you can make use of the resources available.

Batman, Hebrew, and Genesis

Jared* at ldsscience.blogspot.com — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:45:00 +0000

The semester at BYU following my mission was an exploratory one. I left on my mission knowing that I did not want to continue in the major I started in. However, as I returned I didn't know what major to choose, so I decided to have a little bit of fun. I had always been interested in the facsimiles of the Book of Abraham, so I took a Pearl of Great Price (PofGP) class from Michael Rhodes because he was the only religion professor that I knew could translate them. At the same time I took an introductory class in biblical Hebrew. My Hebrew was never advanced; I did alright in the class, but the height of my ability was to translate some very simple sentences.

One day in PofGP class, I realized that there were honest-to-goodness Hebrew words in the Book of Abraham. Words like Kokob, Kokaubeam, and Shaumahyeem were words that I was learning in my Hebrew class. I also knew enough Church history to know that Joseph Smith had studied Hebrew in Kirtland. At some point it occurred to me that the reason there were Hebrew words in the Book of Abraham was probably because Joseph had studied Hebrew, not because they were revealed to him.

It turns out that, of course, I'm not the only one to have noticed this. For example, a 1981 article in Sunstone, "Professor Seixas, the Hebrew Bible, and the Book of Abraham," explains how wording in the Book of Abraham creation account reflects Joseph's studies of Hebrew. In some cases, the word choices are more aligned with the Hebrew text of Genesis than the Book of Moses, which was Joseph's inspired, pre-Hebrew, rendition of the same material. At a minimum this calls into question simplistic notions that any of these versions represent the original text. Over at Times and Seasons, Ben S. is posting notes for his Institute class where he lays out the same basic argument. He makes some great points, and I suggest you go read what he has to say.

So how do the Genesis, the Book of Moses, Book of Abraham, and temple creation accounts relate to each other? I think it's obvious that the Genesis text is the touchstone for the rest. But why have more than one? I'm chewing on a different way of thinking about them, and here's where Batman comes in.

Compare the 1989 movie Batman (with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson) to The Dark Night (with Christian Bale and Heath Ledger). Both movies cover the same basic story--the battle between Batman and the Joker--but do so with different details and interpretation of character. If you broaden the scope to include the various television series and comic books, you see a variety of interpretations of Batman, but they remain unified by constant elements of his character. Similar things could be said of the James Bond movies; there is a certain consistency between the movies with respect to the characters and elements of the storyline. However, there is usually not any attempt to maintain continuity between movies. Or if we switch to music, we could speak of different versions of the same jazz song, or re-mixes of pop songs. In each case the movie or song stands on its own, while at the same time being intimately tied to others.

That's kind of how I view the various creation accounts. Each is a re-mix of the Genesis story, but with novel elements that reflect Joseph's changing understanding and sensibilities, which gives each a different flavor. In this view, the question of which version is the "correct" or "original" is largely irrelevant. Each stands on its own, but you can't get too attached to the details because they are flexible.

Making the Most of Church Curriculum

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:55:28 +0000

We’re almost at the end of January–the first month of a new curriculum year in the Church. It’s a good time to ask ourselves if we’re making the most of our study of the Book of Mormon.

Many years ago, at the beginning of a curriculum year, Elder Carlos E. Asay wrote about the purposes of Church curriculum and the blessings of gospel study. (Carlos E. Asay, “For the Perfecting of the Saints: A Look at Church Curriculum“, Ensign, Jan. 1986, 14). He explained five ways we can take advantage of the Church’s instructional program. I summarize them below:

1. Understanding the premises upon which the curriculum is based. This will enable you to see purpose in the classes you attend and the materials you read. It will also enable you to harmonize more effectively personal, family, and quorum or class study. If you understand the purpose of something, you will generally be more inclined to become actively involved. Read the article referenced above to better understand the purposes behind the Church’s curriculum.

2. Becoming acquainted with the instructional resources provided by the Church. Many excellent teaching aids are available for family and classroom use, such as manuals, magazines, pictures, videos, and websites. But first and foremost among all the resources is the LDS edition of the scriptures. Here are sources to find out about new Church materials as they become available:

LDS.org home page
Church News and Events section of LDS.org (news.lds.org)
LDSMediaTalk blog (LDSMediaTalk.com)
Church News (LDSChurchNews.com)
Mormon Times (MormonTimes.com)
Church Public Affairs Newsroom (newsroom.lds.org) and the Newsroom blog (newsroom.lds.org/blog)
Church Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and YouTube channels

3. Attending regularly the classes and activities sponsored by family, priesthood, and auxiliary groups. The Church curriculum has been correlated carefully; each course has its purpose and place. Lessons taught in Relief Society are associated with lessons taught in Sunday School. Both the Relief Society and Sunday School lessons have bearing upon that taught in the home. All are important and all should be received to have a balanced spiritual diet of gospel teachings.

4. Making your home a “real” learning center. A learning center is more than a collection of books and pencils and desks. It is a place where truth is cherished, honest inquiry encouraged, and uplifting dialogue exchanged in a congenial atmosphere. Some consider the teaching in the home complete if family home evening is held routinely. Actually, family home evening is only a part of the teaching that needs to take place if learning is to become centered in the home. Some very important teaching occurs when family members discuss a Sunday School lesson around the dinner table, when parents assist a child in preparing a talk or fulfilling an assignment, when someone seizes an opportunity to teach a spontaneous, practical lesson, and when all within the household take delight in reading a good book in some quiet corner.

5. Developing a genuine love for the scriptures. Much has been said about classes, courses of study, family activities, and other group-oriented aspects of Church curriculum. All of these are important. However, the central purpose of the curriculum is left unrealized unless individual members of the Church develop a genuine love for the scriptures. The Prophet Nephi declared: “My soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children. Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord.” (2 Ne. 4:15–16.) Is this not the real intent of all that is done in the Church through established programs of study?

Conference Notebook in Ensign and Liahona

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:38:00 +0000

The new Conference Notebook section in the Ensign and Liahona magazines will help you study and apply teachings from recent conference addresses. This new section will appear in 10 issues throughout the year (excluding the May and November issues, which have all the conference addresses).

Beginning with the January issue, this new section will have short summaries, colorful illustrations, study tips, related scriptures, and simple activities. It will also include member stories or gospel questions answered by conference addresses.

See the January Conference Notebook

Online at the Church magazines website in text or PDF formats.
See it in your printed magazine on pages 8–9 in the Liahona or pages 70–71 in the Ensign.

Learn more in the article “Conference Notebook Gives Readers Look at Conference Highlights.”

Intelligence, Math and Field

Clark at www.libertypages.com — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:35:05 +0000

Razib has up a really interesting post on different fields and how intelligent people are in those fields. Specifically he focuses in on verbal skills and math skills on the GRE tests. The graph of verbal vs. math was quite interesting – especially with physicists out in the corner. More interesting to me was the comparison between how biased towards one or the other one was versus intelligence. (Be careful not to confuse the graphs – I embarrassed myself doing that)

Physicists are surprisingly good in the verbal area. Not the top but quite high. I’m not sure why that is. My theory is that the way physicists solve problems ends up utilizing a lot of verbal rather than mathematical reasoning. Typically the hard part in physics is figuring out the problem so you can make it mathematical. The math phase is often the easiest part. (To a physicist anyway)

New Features in The Friend Magazine

Larry Richman at feedproxy.google.com — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:29:55 +0000

The Friend magazine is introducing new features in the magazines in 2012. These new features will help children and leaders improve gospel study at home and at church. The following will be available in 2012:

Scripture Figures – 10 issues of the magazine will include cutout figures of Book of Mormon prophets and stories, including Nephi and Captain Moroni. These stories correspond to lessons found in the Primary 4: Book of Mormon manual, which is used this year in Primary.
Question Corner – Children’s answers to questions such as how to be a good friend or how to be a missionary will be found every other month in the Friend magazine.
I can play it! – This new department will feature simplified large-note versions of songs from the Children’s Songbook.
For older kids – This 4-page deparment will include stories on topics of interest to preteens.
Follow the Prophet – Starting in August, this new section will highlight stories from the life of President Thomas S. Monson.

Learn more in the article “New Features Kick Off Issues of the 2012 Friend Magazine.”

If you would like to renew your Friend magazine subscription or gift one to a friend, visit the online store. You can also read the Friend magazine online (friend.lds.org).

How Are You Using the Gospel Library App?

JohnsonTH@ldschurch.org (Whitney Denney) at feeds.lds.org — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:28:05 +0000

The Gospel Library App helps bring the scriptures, conference addresses, and other gospel works into members’ lives. In this article, a few members share their experiences using Gospel Library.

On The Road

“My husband and I were stopping for lunch on our way to Las Vegas. We went into a fast food restaurant. Near the end of our meal, I noticed there was a scripture reference on the bottom of my cup inside the edge. There was another scripture reference on the burger wrapper. So when we got back on the road, I was curious what scriptures they thought were important to covertly share with the world. I pulled out my iPod and looked at my Gospel Library and read the scriptures out loud. Then we had a little discussion about the scriptures and the restaurant. It actually helped us get through the heavy, construction backed-up traffic by giving us interesting conversation and putting our mind set on a calmer plane.

“It is nice to be young enough to be able to learn some of the new technology and old enough to appreciate it. It’s amazing how things are changing. I am wowed by what I know, which isn't that much, and look forward to learning and exploring new things.”

— Jennifer Wallace, Salt Lake City, Utah

In the Car

"The Gospel Library App on the iPhone is absolutely wonderful! There are two things I always carry with me: my keys and my phone. Crazy enough, I sometimes leave the house without my wallet, but I always have my phone. Having the Gospel Library App on my phone gives me access to the scriptures and other study materials whether I am waiting in a doctor’s office, taking a break at work, or traveling in the car.

"It is exciting to me to have this much access to the scriptures wherever I am, even though I am totally blind. Just to illustrate, my family and I were on our way to visit my parents and siblings for Christmas. The trip takes about six hours by car, and while traveling in the car I was able to use my iPhone with the built-in voice over feature and open the Gospel Library App. I then found the manual I would be teaching out of in the next couple of weeks. I was able to easily review and read the lesson during the trip down.

"Often, I do my scripture study on a laptop using the LDS.org website and I find it extremely useful and convenient to have the notes and other markings I make on my online account sync with the Gospel Library App on my phone. One of my favorite features is the dictation option while searching the database. I love how easy it is to tell the phone a phrase and have the Gospel Library App give me several options where that phrase or those words are found. It searches through its entire library and organizes the results in a way that makes it fast and easy for me to find the desired reference. I also enjoy watching, or hearing the church videos, and am excited to share them with my family.

The app offers a great deal of access to the blind, though it is not completely accessible. A few of the features that have not worked for me include activating the links for footnotes, highlighting text, or navigating by headings in the manuals. With that being said, I am excited for the continued improvements to this app and feel blessed to have access to the scriptures all the time."

— Adam Rushforth, Orem, Utah

At Home

“Nearly every morning before I get up to start the day, I read a few chapters of scripture on my smart phone (Android). The phone is right there on the night stand, it's much easier to hold than my large scriptures, I can read without turning the lights on and disturbing my wife, AND I can quickly link to the cross references.

“Having the library on my phone has really helped me start each day in a good way. Without the app, I probably wouldn't be doing this each day.

“I like to use the hard copy scriptures when teaching or speaking, but when studying for teaching I like to use the library because of the hot links from the lesson manual to the references.

“I love the app. In fact, I should volunteer to help work on it.”

— Geoff Barton, Borrego Springs, California

With Kids

“The Gospel Library app makes it much easier for my ten-year-old to find books in the scriptures. She navigates the app almost as if she were born with innate knowledge to use it. My wife prefers to bring Gospel Library to church because she can easily slip it into the diaper bag and can reference scriptures even if she’s holding or nursing our baby."

— Tom Johnson, Lehi, Utah

At Bedtime

“I use the Gospel Library iPhone app to read the scriptures to my kids while I am putting them to bed (as part of my personal study). They love to see the screen and my soft reading voice puts them to bed fairly quickly. On nights where they have a bit more trouble going to sleep, it is all good because I am getting extra scripture reading in and they are hearing even more from the scriptures. This has made bedtime a much more pleasant experience. Sometimes I will combine this with soft music playing from the Mormon Channel as well.”

— Dave Martin, Herriman, Utah

During Personal Study

“I use gospel library to read with my 5- and 2-year old before they go off to bed.

"I used the app for lessons until recently, as the option to copy has gone. This makes creating keynote presentations much more time consuming and cumbersome.

"I love using the app for personal study. It allows me to look quickly at cross references and make notes where needed."

— Wayne Herridge, Portsmouth, England

At Church

“I used to get a little annoyed when I would see people with their phones out at church. I always thought, 'Why don't you just use the manual or scriptures?' Then, I got my phone, and it's really handy if I forget my book or something. And if you're looking at the lesson it's really cool because you can just click on a scripture reference and it's right there.”

— Nancy Fox, Glenns Ferry, Idaho

While Teaching

“I use the app on my iPad to prepare and give my Sunday lessons. I add my notes and comments right into the lesson/talk and highlight the portions that I want to cover. With the sync feature I always have my iPhone as a backup should I forget the iPad or the battery die.

“We also use the app for Duty to God each Sunday. I have a lot more YM that have scriptures they can read and follow along when doing Duty to God, since they all have the app.”

— bsgillis

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If you haven’t tried the Gospel Library app, you can download it by searching for “LDS Gospel Library” in your mobile application’s store. Gospel Library is available for Apple, Android, Palm, BlackBerry, and feature phones. Gospel Library gives you a mobile version of the standard works, general conference addresses, Church magazines, Hymnbook and Children’s Songbook, and other Gospel content right at your fingertips. Recent updates have eased the way for members to use this tool by synchronizing annotations with My Study Notebook, integrating media playback, and adding other content.

How are you using the Gospel Library app? Feel free to add your experience in the comments below.