I would like to use what little social capital I have to address a major problem emerging in our society: a lack of reasoning, a willingness to follow others blindly, and then most dangerously, a willingness to shame anyone who doesn't believe as you do.

Yes, I'm talking about you. I'm talking to myself too. We must all step up, because...

Setting up a database server is the kind of infrequent operation you seldom do as an application developer, so you always forget. Yes, I know you can read the documentation to figure this out, but that takes longer than having a quick reference guide on what you need to do to get up and running quickly.

OS: Ubuntu 18

Install Postgres
This will...

Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind, written by Annaka Harris is quite the mind bender, especially if you haven't been exposed to thinking about consciousness before. Consciousness is how we experience the world and all that is happening around us. I'm excited to share some of the main takeaways I had from reading this book.

Harris...

Reposted from the CIS NOVA Blog

The economic benefits of ensuring access to high quality education are difficult to exaggerate. Many societal problems could be solved if people had access to the educational resources they need.

My own educational opportunities have provided me with the freedom to pursue an exciting career, explore interesting hobbies, understand finances, and even cook delicious food....

This is my tried and true bread recipe. It was originally adapted from Mark Bittman's no knead bread, but I have made it my own at this point. I make it most weeks during fall, winter and spring (summer is too hot). The only things you might not have for this recipe are instant yeast, a deepish cast iron pot...

July 24^th is a Pioneer Day. On that day, Utah celebrates the Mormon pioneers who settled the state, a process that formally started with the arrival of Brigham Young in the Salt Lake Valley. Some of my ancestors were among those who crossed the plains because of their deeply held religious beliefs. Others crossed the ocean in pursuit of religious...

Following recipes is the way a lot of people cook, especially those who like to explore new cuisine in a guided manner. A recipe book is a tried and true friend, but does it present information in a way that naturally flows with the process of cooking? Because of the limitations of the static format of a book, the text...

Do you enjoy contemplating the demise of your loved ones or your own inevitable journey towards the grave? Well, nobody does really, but the book Being Mortal by Atul Gwande does an excellent job of asking thought-provoking questions about how we deal with the end of life. When people are very sick or very old, does the instinct simply to...

Everyone has recipe books. They swear by them and love them. They contain a treasure trove of material, but that wealth of deliciousness is often underutilized. Why? Because it's difficult to determine which recipes to try and to remember which recipes are worth repeating again and again.

Using recipes online and the power of search is one way to get around...

I like cooking (and eating), but it can be a messy business. What better application for the Amazon Echo than a kitchen assistant? Through voice commands, Alexa can guide users through recipes alleviating the problem of consulting cookbooks or unlocking smart phones. That's what I set out to do with The Audio Chef. Below is a diagram that illustrates...

Today for hour of code, I will demo a simple Alexa app (skill) using the Amazon Echo. While the app seems really simple from the user's point of view, it is really cool to think about everything that is going on behind the scenes.

As a user, you simply ask the service for something and it responds back to...

With security breaches happening almost constantly, I thought it would be a fun project to put together a purposefully vulnerable application and then demonstrate how it could be defended against some common security vulnerabilities. You can download the application to run on your local machine from my github.

In the process of creating this sample application, I became more aware...

If you say web blogging technology, I say Wordpress. While Wordpress is a great platform, I have chosen to explore the world of the static Content Management System (CMS) to build this particular blog.

In the post I will discuss the static CMS blog architecture and its benefits. I will also show you how to set up a blog of your...

I have put together a Spotify playlist that I think fairly accurately represents the music that I listened to in high school and early college. Every so often it's fun to take a walk down memory lane and listen to the music that both reflects my personality and played a part in shaping it. Enjoy!

I've recently been listening to an audio recording of the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. The book presents truths in a direct and unpolished way, which is why it is so endearing. One of the ideas in the book is that happiness results from having good values and good metrics. This involves placing value on interesting...

Two years ago, I sent a brief email to immediate family members indicating that I had decided to make a life change. After a great deal of thought and consideration, Bethanie (my wife) and I had decided to stop participating in the Mormon church.

The backstory is long, complicated, and arduous. Though I was raised Mormon it just wasn't working for...

Hey all, I have rebuilt my blog for probably the 4th or 5th time. I'm really not sure at this point. Haha. Am I a failure at blogging? Probably, but really I just like wiring things together. And that's what I've done again. Will I once again get bored of this version? Probably. But it's fun right now! And this...

Over the past few years, there have been an increasing number of initiatives to provide kids with the opportunity to learn how to code. I have heard a number of reasons for these efforts, some more compelling than others. The least compelling of all: there will be loads of high-paying coding jobs in the future. Like most sure-fire ways to...

The SI measurement system (metric) makes physical sense, and yet, the United State continues to persist in using confusing units of measurement. But that doesn't mean you have to participate.

A couple of months back I switched my GPS running tracker to kilometers and it's great. My pace looks faster (km/min), I can easily benchmark myself against popular races like 5K...

There is a lot of random chance that factors into where a person ends up in life. Genetics, place of birth, family life, personal grit, gender, race, sexual orientation, and the list could go on forever. We are all products of these undeserved circumstances, our experiences, and how we interpret and act on these. While we cannot influence the random...

Listening to NPR on my way to work, I've been hearing a lot lately about economic indicators that seem to indicate an impoverishment of the “middle” class and a widening of the wealth gap. I recall one interviewee saying something like “there is no law that guarantees the presence of a middle class.” And when you look at human history,...