David May 21st, 2009
No, the LDS Church hasn’t released the source code for its internal applications to Open Source, but it is looking for help from the community. They need help with project management, design, development, and testing (QA). From the blog of Joel Dehlin, the LDS CIO,
The Church has been working to figure out a way to allow folks who want to contribute to its missions to do so. We’re ready for help!
We now have applications you can work on, a sandbox with web services, source control, bug tracking and even a requirements for participation. 
The most immediate need is the re-write of the stake and ward web site. We are working on an International web site (10 languages to start with) which will allow members to log in, and view or print their stake/ward directory, see a list of ward leaders, read the ward/stake blog, edit & view the ward/stake/Church calendar, and so forth.
Interested?
Read more here.
The first component you can start on immediately is the calendar portion. It’s built on our Java stack, which you can read about here. You can also read up on our “community development best practices.”
Even though the Stake and Ward Web Site project will be using Java, there are other projects mentioned on the site which are architected around web services for more flexibility in the actual implementation of the project.
David April 28th, 2009
It can be so difficult to visualize exactly how widespread a health risk is but when you see it plotted on a map relevant to your current location, it suddenly becomes real. Here is the H1N1 Swine Flu plotted on Google Maps. Before you let a growing sense of dread overwhelm you, what can you do? Help get the word out about preparing now while supplies are still available. The Totally Ready blog has some great ideas about how to stay hydrated when you have the flu and setting up a recovery room to limit the spread of the flu when it hits your household. There are other posts about how to prevent getting it in the first place, but you get the idea.
Google Maps was also used with tracking disasters such as earthquake and forest fires. Like any emergency preparedness pursuit, are you prepared to integrate disaster data with a mapping service such as Google Maps or Live Search Maps? A little time to prepare now opens whole realms of possibilities that wouldn’t be available without that preparation.
David February 2nd, 2009
Today Google released Google Earth 5.0 which includes new 3D features including navigating the ocean floor, historical imagery (viewing landscape changes over time), user-created tours of landmarks, and a 3D view of the surface of Mars.
From Google Blog,
We were joined at the Academy by many of the dozens of ocean scientists and advocates who helped make this project a reality: friends from National Geographic, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the US Navy, Scripps Oceanography, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to name just a few. Above all, I would like to acknowledge the work of Dr. Sylvia Earle, who cornered me at a conference three years ago and told me that Google Earth was great but that it wasn’t finished (you can read more about that encounter on the Lat Long blog). As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. We on the Google Earth team had been working hard to build a rich 3D map of the world, but we had largely ignored the oceans — two thirds of the planet. Inspired by Sylvia, the team got to work. I hope you are as excited as I am to explore our new Ocean and all of the fascinating stories and images our partners have contributed.
David January 4th, 2009
Five to ten years ago the PC industry was really pushing anti-virus software, even as the most popular versions became large and bloated, taking up scarce computer resources. Just a couple years ago anti-popup and anti-spyware software were all the rage. With free alternatives to the expensive Norton and McAfee software services, the focus seems to be less on installing the expensive versions of this software. But with more people not keeping their computers protected, that leaves open the opportunity for new viruses and trojans to spread across the internet.
Some computers have been compromised by just visiting compromised web sites. Recently Microsoft published warnings that Internet Explorer was particularly susceptible to attack, prompting a massive migration to other browsers. In some cases the trojan software won’t even prompt you for confirmation to installation. If you discover that your PC is running slower that it has in the past even without you installing new software, you may have a virus or be hacked by a trojan.
Here are a few resources: (anyone out there have other favorites?)
Trend Micro online virus scanner
Do You Run Antivirus Software?
Avast (popular virus checker… a free version is available)
AVG (another popular free virus checker)
David October 31st, 2008
I believe that we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg where there will be opportunities in our communities where good people can make a real difference. Our society is going to continue its downward spiral if we just sit back and watch those that have an agenda or who want to make a quick buck control the media, influence legislation benefiting special interest groups (instead of the majority), and good people fail to make a stand.
What am I trying to say? Take an opportunity to make a difference, even if it is very small. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.
- Are you passionate about a political issue? Make a stand, start a blog, contribute to political causes, research and vote! Do something other than just let the other guys make the decision for you. (Find your polling location at http://maps.google.com/vote)
- Have some talent or interest in software? Set aside some time in your busy schedule to contribute to the community in whatever cause you feel to be important. (Check out the LDSTech or FamilySearch Dev communities, if you are so inclined)
- Enjoy reading or writing but tired of all the graphic or immoral material out in the market? Join an online community to share what you have learned and to learn from others (LibraryThing is a good one, but be careful about some of the discussion groups). Even if you haven’t ever written a novel before, now is a good time to start. November 1 starts the National Writing Month and there are whole support communities to help you write. My friend, Ty, got me interested and even though I wouldn’t call myself a "writer" I’m going to give it a shot this year. Wish me luck!
This is just a start. There are a whole multitude of areas where good people can make a difference for themselves, their families, and their communities. If you have any ideas or links, share them in the comments!
David October 29th, 2008
For its inaugural meeting, the Utah Mobile Developers Group will be meeting tonight at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Rather than focusing on a specific platform or technology, this group is open to all mobile technologies. Tonight, there will be presentations on Google’s Android mobile platform and Apple’s iPhone.
Personally, I haven’t done development for any mobile devices, but with more and more people with mobile internet access, this is bound to be a huge growth area for businesses. What do you tell your boss when he wants you to start a new project that requires a mobile interface component?
David October 14th, 2008
There are three community development projects currently managed by the LDS Church. Rather than calling them "open source" projects, these are still Church projects but offer an opportunity for the development community to serve in a meaningful way. Existing Church resources are limited from many possible projects because of limited time and money but external resources can be leveraged where possible. Here are the current projects currently under way:
General information regarding volunteering and additional opportunities can be found at LDSTech Wiki.
David June 19th, 2008
This week the LDS Church has launched a beta for the new meeting house locator at http://beta.maps.lds.org. The current site at http://www.lds.org/basicbeliefs/meetinghouse has been adequate, but the new site utilizes both Microsoft and Google mapping technologies to provide the kind of mapping experience that most of us have come to expect from online maps. Here are a few features that really seemed to stand out, beyond the expected address lookup, mapping, and directions:
- Ability to switch between Google and Microsoft maps. Some locations are more current with one map versus the other.
- Ability to switch to Microsoft 3D view of the current location if Virtual Earth 3D is installed (also in beta)
- Even if you don’t know the address or your address isn’t found, you can use your mouse to place a marker on the map to identify your location.
- Not only will the application return the closest meeting locations, congregations and times, but it will provide a local contact name and number if you have questions.
I noticed a few bugs switching between maps, particularly when my connection was running slow, but for a beta launch it looks very promising!
David May 20th, 2008
The LDS Church has received great appreciation for its efforts from Hurricane Katrina. President Henry B. Eyring even mentioned a personal phone call from Pres George W. Bush to Gordon B. Hinckley at a recent multi-Stake Conference address, admiring the quick and effective efforts of local church members. But even the best organizations would be amiss if they didn’t take advantage of what they may learn from others.
With thousands of people affected by the Sichuan, China earthquake, Google China staff members rolled up their sleeves and joined other rescue organizations.
At the request of the government, we obtained new satellite images of Sichuan province (Earth KML) to help them better focus their recovery efforts. We developed and launched a “lost loved one” search based on our Custom Search Engine (CSE). To populate the CSE index, hundreds of Googlers worked around the clock looking through published tables, hospital records, news reports, and community sites. We tuned our Chinese news search, video search, image search, blog search, and oneboxes. We also partnered to build community sites, and launched both homepage promotions and a map-based information page. Google China has an extremely dedicated and passionate team and I am deeply honored to work alongside them.
Google has also set up a donation page so that you can donate directly towards recovery efforts. Similarly, donations can be made on the LDS Philanthropies donation page for any of the humanitarian projects around the world or using a donation slip at your local congregation.
kbaker May 16th, 2008
There are many technologies and gadgets I like. But one of the most fascinating to me is Global Positioning. I’m still amazed by the fact that Global Position Systems (GPS) work, and work as well as they do. Maybe its my love of clocks and timepieces, maybe its the thought of receiving messages from a satellite orbiting the earth. Whatever it is, I love GPS.
But what is it good for? There are many, many uses for a GPS and I hope to be able to get into some of them in future posts. But the first thing I did when I bought my GPS was I used it to determine the latitude and longitude of some special places and locations. Using the GPS I recorded the lat/long of the grave sites of my ancestors and added the location data to the genealogical information I already had about them.
Now the lat/long coordinates given by a GPS are on average accurate to about 20 feet. On a good day I’ve gotten the accuracy down to around 8 feet. So armed with the lat/long from my notes and a few digital pictures of the area, any one of my children or grandchildren could easily find the grave site of my great-grandfather. This offers a great way to enable family and friends to find important personal landmarks.
And I don’t believe GPS is going away any time soon. Many industries use GPS as part of their daily operations. Even the new flight control systems in development today will use GPS information as their primary way of knowing where the planes are in the sky.
A GPS is not for everyone. It’s a fun gadget with few uses in your daily routine. But as GPS enabled phones and cameras become commonplace, you will have more opportunities to take advantage of this new type of information.