I was a bit surprised to learn the other day that it is possible to “confess” online. Now, I must say that I do not know much about confessions in other Churches, but I think that confessing online is a bit silly. It’s one thing to go into a Church and confess to a priest or father (whatever the case may be); it’s a completely different thing to confess anonymously online. Granted, some people post video confessions for the world to see and therefore it’s a little less anonymous. It’s hard to say how many of these confessions are real and legitimate, but hopefully these people are truly sorry for whatever wrong they have done.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, people generally confess their sins before God and to whomever they have wronged. In the case of very serious sins, these are resolved through local ecclesiastical leaders.

While confessing online may help some individuals feel the burden/guilt lifted from their shoulders, it is best that each individual seek his/her local religious leader and confess in the proper way. Does anybody have something to say regarding this matter?

Since BYU doesn’t have spring break, they decided to throw an “Unofficial Spring Break Party” in the WSC Ballroom on Friday evening. You were supposed to dress up in a touristy outfit (totally missed that memo) and spend the evening dancing, walking around the various booths, etc.

As Diane and I arrived, we ran into few familiar faces and chatted for a bit before entering. Since we happened to time our arrival exactly with the start of the event (complete conincidence), we were first in line for the caricatures. Both students were from the Visual Arts program here on campus, but I must admit that I don’t think there is too much of a resemblance. Take a look:

Caricature #1

Caricature #2

Even though it was a stereotypical BYU party, it was fun and I’m glad I went.

What do these three things have in common? Yes, they’re all made by Apple (I’m not that dumb). But what else do they have in common? If you know me, then you might already know what I’m hinting at: they’re all items that I have won at various raffles at BYU. It’s true! I just won an iPod Shuffle today. I plan on keeping it (unlike the past prizes, which I have semi-successfully sold).

So, here’s the nerdy side of me coming out. Nonetheless, I loved playing Dungeons & Dragons as a kid. It was during the days of the glorious NES and it gave me a chance to explore the creatives caverns of my mind. It’s too bad to hear that Ernest Gygax died at the young age of 69. May he rest in peace.

Today has been crazy. I had to finished writing a Spanish literature paper (which was poorly written), I had a phone interview, went to class, and most importantly, I got a class substituted for my Computer Science minor. I still have to write a 5-10 page paper, complete a midterm, and prepare my presentation for tomorrow. Anyway, it is the last of three minors that I will be graduating with in April. I’ve literally been trying for months to get this professor to approve this class (no really, since November). I’ve stopped by his office on countless occasions. He has always said to email him and then he would contact the advisement center in the Marriott School of Management. No luck. Finally, I decided to get some form from the advisement center and have him sign it right there in front of me…and it worked! I no longer have to worry about not receiving my CS minor. It’s official!

P.S. In case you’re wondering how many credits it takes to graduate with a BSIS, MISM, and three minors, it’s a lot. I’m hovering around 263.5 credits when it’s all said and done.

[3 Mar 6:15pm] I went ahead and purchased 4GB from NewEgg.com.

On the IS mailing list there has been a lot of talk about Trent’s new laptop (MacBook Pro or Lenovo). Other than being a little jealous, I am here to proclaim to my disdain for my current tablet PC. With only 1GB of RAM, this machine is so freaking slow! I can’t stand it at times. It takes up to 10 minutes to boot up and then crawls after that. Companies should be held accountable for producing such poor pieces of equipment that cost people countless hours of productivity (or playing Scrabulous for that matter). If I only had 2-4GB of RAM in this machine, then I might consider it useful. A 7200RPM hard drive would be nice as well.

So, I’m not one who likes to buy counterfeit goods, just to show off. You’ll never see me snatching up D&G sunglasses down on Canal Street for $20 a pop (oh wait, they’re gone now–sorta). My philosophy is buy the real thing and be proud. Knowing that something is a fake generally kills it for me. It’s a total waste of money in my opinion. That said, I thought it was pretty ingenious of this Italian chop shop to sell counterfeit Ferraris!

If you want to hear about some more crazy stories, check out Reuter’s Oddly Enough series. Here are a couple more funny and slightly disturbing stories:

• Bikers say wrong night for a robbery
• Pregnant woman uses train toilet, baby slips out

Today in my Japanese Literature class, a student showed us this amazing Firefox plug-in called Rikaichan. It has got to be one of the best Japanese plug-ins that I’ve seen. You hover over any word and it breaks the kanji down to its basic reading plus the English definition. Talk about a time saver!

Many of you have asked that Diane and I put some photos of ourselves on our wedding website. Your wish has finally been granted. We took our engagement pictures in Downtown Salt Lake earlier this month. It was freezing, but we tried to make the best of it. We hope that you enjoy them. Go to http://www.dianeandfernando.com for more info.

OK, so two minister stories in one day. I actually came across this one first, but I couldn’t remember the link. It’s also a lot less fun and positive than the previous post. Anyway, here’s the gist of this CNN story.

• At age 16, he robs a convenience store and stabs the clerk with a knife
• 14 years later, he confesses to police
• Congregation now praises minister for being a role model

A role model? The man killed an innocent person. I know that the Bible teaches that we must forgive, but I’m flabbergasted to think that people would call this man a role model.

Quotes

• “He’s a hero, really,” said Kelley Graham, 24. “I don’t know how many people would do what he did. The Bible says you just need to confess to God. Calvin took an extra step.”
• “To lock him away someplace and say he owes it to society is robbing the next generation of a mentor.”
• “I am thrilled my son has a role model to accept responsibility the way Calvin has”

This is a bit ludicrous. The man still owes a debt to society and especially the family of the victim. To call him a role model for children is unreal. It may be considered laudable that he did come and confess his crime, but that doesn’t automatically forgive him of what he did. Justice must be served.