Do Record Companies Benefit Musicians?

UPDATE: I have since learned that many pop musicians actually don't write their own music. Record companies supply them with what to sing, and thus record companies need to subsist to have musicians perform new music. I have since change my stance on this issue.

Information Theory

According to "The Information", people didn't have the same concept of information before the use of computers. People used the word information for different purposes much like the word force was used differently before Newton. "We can see now that information is what our world runs on: the blood and the fuel, the vital principal." Information has been defined as what is communicated between two entities. This line of thinking has permeated over the sciences, and it is hard to imagine their existence without information theory. For example, in Biology we think of DNA storing information and passing this information along to other parts of the body and to future generations. African drummers of the nineteenth century and earlier were able to communicate much faster than than anything the West had before the telegraph. An interesting aspect of information is that it can be compacted and have still have the same meaning. However, when there is redundancy, the communication is much clearer. African drummers compacted language to beats by taking out words and then added redundancy to the drum beat so that other people could understand what they were saying. Information theory has revolutionized our society so much so that we don't know what it is like without Information Theory's impact.

Women and Computer Science

I have overheard several conversations between male Computer Scientists and a female Computer Scientists where the male tries to underscore to the female how hard Computer Science is.  To me, it almost appears that males are unconsciously trying to deter females from studying Computer Science.  I think that this constant bombardment from male Computer Scientists is detrimental and should stop.  Of course, if a female doesn't want to study Computer Science, I don't think she should.  During my stay at Brigham Young University, I have noticed that many female Computer Scientists start the program only to drop out of it.  It is my hope that they may be encouraged in their desires to program.  Women have much to contribute to Computer Science.  For example, there are studies that show that women are much better at multitasking, and this would be invaluable in studying the higher programming principles of parallel programming.  In an article from Elder Samuelson,  we learn that individuals should make their own decision about what they will study.  For example we shouldn't generally tell women that they have to have more of them studying Computer Science.  It is my belief that people should be encouraged in their chosen areas of study.

Open Source: A Sustainable Development Model?

     The open source model of programming has shown that high quality software doesn't need to be written by paid employees.  It is exciting that open source communities can turn out software with fewer bugs than software written by companies.  What it does show, however, is that the high-quality, open source software needs to be tested and used by programmers.  As explained in the article, some feel that all software should be written in the open source environment.  This raises a concern of sustainability.  Volunteer programmers can write software that out-paces software from companies, but these volunteers will still need to earn a salary.  It is beneficial for both programming models to work in synergy.  Programmers can use the open-source software they write to do exceptional work in their paid jobs, while doing volunteer work that benefits all programmers on off-duty time.

Technology and the Church of Jesus Christ

Technology can and will be used for both good and evil purposes.  If we sit idly by, and do not use it for good, who else will?  We need to use it for good to make a positive impact in the world.  It is our responsibility and a charge of  stewardship to use these new technologies wisely.  It is important to know that we can gauge our use of new technologies by asking ourselves if it helps us be more loving and helpful to other people.  Another aspect of measurement is to see if the invention is drawing us closer to Christ.  The internet is one of the most important inventions of the past few decades.  This is a major opportunity for the church of Jesus Christ and its members to make a mark of good in the world.  We can do this by not being anonymous and doing things online that are in tune with our standards.  Some members of the Church of Jesus Christ have used blogs, and others have used social media to share their beliefs and personalities.  This will help those not of our faith as well as our own families as they see our true faithfulness on the web.