At the beginning of the month, I posted on the 2007 Mutual Theme for the Church, "Let Virtue Garnish Thy Thoughts Unceasingly..." We are going to provide content throughout the year in an effort to help individuals garnish their thoughts with virtue. In the original post, I included an audio reading of the Foreward and first section of James Allen's "As a Man Thinketh." Well, I am not a professional reader, so forgive any mistakes, coughs, or mouse clicks, or page turns that you might hear. But this content is public domain and so there is no copyright violation. I've finally finished the rest of the book. You can download it from this page and also find a lot more content in our Readings and Podcasts section of LDS Teen Help and Help for Guys. Undoubtedly, I will one day move these mp3s into a different folder called books/AsaManThinketh or Asamanthinketh or jamesallen or something to better organize them so that I don't have lots of mp3s sitting around unorganized. I will then probably update the Readings and Podcasts section links but forget about this post. When that happens, check the Readings section.

As a Man Thinketh

• Foreward
  
• Thought and Character
  
• Effect of Thought on Circumstance
  
• Effect of Thought on Health and the Body
  
• Thought and Purpose
  
• The Thought Factor in Achievement
  
• Visions and Ideals
  
• Serenity
  

Thanks, and keep looking back for more content.

Labels: books, lds, MP3

I carry my portable music in my Creative Zen, which can also be used as a calendar organizer, alarm clock, flash drive, contact manager, and task manager. I know simple is the new way of doing things, but I like the extras on this product and I use them often. This will change on Dec. 25th when I will begin using my new Creative Zen Vision W which is also a video player (60GB). I'm very excited for it. I've seen the new satellite portable players that can dock to a stereo station in your house and we've all seen the iHome and other stereo equipment where you can dock your iPod. Maybe what I'm looking for is out there, but I haven't seen it yet so I'll ask the question here. Why can't I dock my MP3 player in my car? Why do we spend a couple hundred dollars to have music with us everywhere we go on a portable device, but then spend a couple hundred more to have music in our car where most of us plug in our portable device to play through our stereo? What I'm imagining is a stereo with an MP3 player face plate. Think about it, you don't need your MP3 player and car stereo at the same time, there's no reason to pay for two separate devices. I plug my Zen into the stereo's audio in plug, but I hate that wire and I don't want an FM transmitter. Plus, I paid money for a CD player that would not be needing if I could just dock my player there. Most people remove the face plate anyways when they leave the car, why not remove the face plate and have it be your MP3 player? It just seems to make sense. I sent my suggestion to Creative because I like their customer support. I imagine it will end up like my other ideas that companies seem to shoot down. Like Kraft's Lunchables. I still can't figure out why they give you the same number of crackers as they do cheese and meat. The point of the whole thing is to make a cracker sandwich, meaning you need twice as many crackers. Crackers are the cheapest part and no body wants to touch the meat while they're eating it. Kraft shot me down as did Dole and countless others. Nobody listens to the customer.

Labels: creative, customer service, MP3

I made a list for a family member of sites that I like to visit that have good content, especially for Latter-day Saints. Most of the sites have material that you can download for free. I gave directions on how to access the material in, what I thought to be, very easy to understand language. I'm just copying and pasting into this post. If you have other sites that you think should be listed, let me know. I know that I don't know about all the good sites out there.

1.Starting from http://www.lds.org, you can:
a. Download MP3s for free (Conference talks, scriptures, church magazines, hymns). On the left side, click on Gospel Library and then click on Audio.
b. Search the scriptures (word, phrase, or topic). On the left side, click on Gospel Library and then click on The Scriptures. At the top click on Search.
c. Search conference talks (word or phrase). On the top, click on "Search." In the bottom menu, select Ensign and then type in your word or phrase and search.

2.Starting from http://speeches.byu.edu, you can:
a. Download MP3s for free (BYU Devotional Addresses). On the left, search or browse by speaker, topic, media type, and/or year. After finding a devotional, you can read it and/or download an MP3.
b. Build a DVD of up to three talks for $12.95. On the left, click on Build a Custom DVD. Add up to three talks using the menu options.

3.Starting from www.byubroadcasting.org, you can:
a. Download MP3s for free (an almost endless variety from talks to television programs). On the left, you can either click on "Find a talk" at the top to search for someone or something specific or you can use the menu "All Links" at the bottom left to find MP3s from a particular conference or program. If you choose a recurring program, such as BYU Education Week, you will need to click on Media Archive after getting to the page of that program.
b. Watch BYU TV or listen to BYU Radio. In the upper right corner of the page, there is a golden menu called "Live Streams." Click on whatever you would like to watch or listen to.

4. Starting from www.byu.tv, you can:
a. Watch any program from BYU TV that aired in the last few weeks.

5. Starting from www.ldsaudio.com, you can:
a. Purchase MP3 books, music, and talks. You can search for an authors, singers, topics, titles, etc. This is a for-profit company not run by the Church.

6. Starting from www.ldsces.org, you can:
a. Read any Institute or Seminary Manual. Click on either "Seminary Study Guides" or "Institute Manuals" in the top menu. Underneath the picture of each manual, you can select PDF or HTML. If you are just browsing, you will probably select HTML. You can click on the chapter in the new popup window and read what the manual has to say.

7. Starting from www.deseretbook.com/mormon-life, you can:
a. Find supporting information for lessons. On the right side of the page is a section called "Gospel Study." Underneath each section, you will find a list of the quorums and auxiliary organizations of the Church and the lesson each is scheduled to be giving that week. You can click on the link to read more information for that lesson. If the website is on a different schedule than your class, you can click on your organization name on the very right side, (For example, Relief Society) and you will find all past lessons and information.

8. Starting from http://scriptures.byu.edu, you can:
a. Find and read all General Conference references to any scripture.

Labels: internet content, lds, MP3