Alright, I’ve gotten multiple comments on my new, and blank Confucian blog.  I guess I should’ve posted my previous post after I had already created a post.  But go ahead and take a peek at my first blog post on the writings of Confucius.  Again, I’m taking a business ethics class so all of my posts (or most of them) will be centered around how a Confucian would reason and analyze an ethical dilemma.  I admit, I’m not an expert at Confucian thought so if anyone out there (KORY!) knows more about Confucius, by all means, comment away and steer me in the right direction.

This semester I’m taking a Business Ethics class. Part of the class deals with choosing piece of literature or theater that deals with ethics. I have always had a passion for Eastern thought and believed that this would be a perfect opportunity to learn and understand about the Chinese Classic, The Analects by Confucius. Together with a friend, Daniela Cisternas, we will be reading the Analects and posting frequent comments about our findings. I hope that some of you will visit this new blog and make comments as this will help us gain a better grade in the class. I also think it will have some extremely interesting content. The site is at confucius.corralesonline.com.

I was really impressed with Sony’s stand with the Adult Film Industry.  Sony once again refuses to reproduce films on their Blue Ray discs if the films are above a certain rating, though the specifics on their filtering criteria have not been discussed publicly.  It seems that the industry can purchase the discs and find another place to do the reproduction, however.

In the past, Sony lost the war between Betamax and VHS, largely because back then Sony also refused to do business with the Adult Film Industry.  Some critics now believe that Sony will lose the war between Blue Ray and HD format.  Already, many big adult film producers are chooseing the HD format to avoid the barriers Sony is placing on them.

I hope that history does not repeat itself.  I think it would be awesome if Sony was rewarded for their stance for moral values.  It’s such a rare thing to see such a large company stand up for true moral principles over profit.   Here is a great example that there are good companies out there who believe there are goals above maximizing profits.

Since August, I’ve been working with 42Co building TagJungle.  Beginning this semester I’m no longer working for 42Co.  TagJungle has informally launched and its basic functionality is working.  A co-worker from 42Co, Jimmy Zimmerman and I have decided to create our own web development company, specializing in rapid development through well-known MVC frameworks such as Ruby on Rails and CAKE PHP.  Jimmy and I have worked well together in the past.  Him and I are both graduating in April, me with a BS in Information Systems and him a MS in Information Systems.  This is a unique degree that combines both business and technology.  We have taken quite a few accounting and other business-related classes to familiarize ourselves with how businesses function.  We have also taken many classes in technology, including software design and implementation.  I’m excited for this new chapter in my life.  If anyone knows of any web development work that needs doing, feel free to contact me.

This is a great link for anyone interested in understanding more about the future of Ruby on Rails.  Hear it from the creator himself!  For me, this interview was really really informative.  Anyone who is into agile, iterative development, would really benefit from RAILS.  Here’s the link:  http://www.infoq.com/interviews/David-Hansson

I’ve been tagged by Jimmy Zimmerman for the blog tag game. Apparently, it’s been going around the blogosphere lately. Here’s the 5 things you don’t yet know about me:

1. Entrepreneur at 15. When I started my freshman year in high school, I decided to build my own martial arts school business. My current instructor, Oliver Whitcomb lived 2 and a half hours away. I lived in Challis, Idaho at the time. With his permission, I opened a branch school, which I fully operated for four years. Throughout high school, I was able to maintain a positive cash flow. I taught immediately after school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday I would drive 5 hours round trip to seek instruction from my instructor. Teaching martial arts is actually my first passion in life. I am currently a third degree black belt in Soo Bahk Do and a certified instructor under the US Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation.
2. Hollywood Moment. I actually got to know a real Hollywood actress. My martial arts instructor began dating this actress around 2000. When I would visit my mentor, his girlfriend would allow me to stay at her place in the guest room. She even attended my second degree black belt test and gave me a hug on the occasion. From the experience, I found out that most actors and actresses are very driven and hard-working people.
3. Outdoorsy. In the summer, there’s nothing I like better than to be in the mountains. Growing up in small town Idaho, I gained a love early on for the outdoors. I love to fish both with a pole and a fly rod. I’ve even learned to tie my own flies. Honestly, there’s no better sense of fulfillment than tying your own fly, catching a fish with the fly you tied, and cooking that fish over an open campfire. Though I’ve found quite a few good spots here in Utah to fish, nothing compares to some of the remote lakes I used to fish in Idaho. Besides fishing, I love to go backpacking. My first backpacking trip was when I was about 9. I remember taking the toilet paper and the snacks. I remember growing up, my dad and I would take 3 to 4 days and backpack into the heartland of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Those are probably some of my favorite memories.
4. World Traveler. During my life, I’ve visited 3 additional continents to North America. In 2000, I went with a group of martial artists to Korea to represent the Northern Rocky Mountain States in a countryside tour and demonstration of Soo Bahk Do. I spent two weeks there and absolutely loved it! I’m of Korean decent, so it was a rather emotional trip for me as well. Between 2003 and 2005, I served a volunteer mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil. I served in the most southern state called the Rio Grande do Sul. I loved the time and learned to speak fluent Portuguese and learned to love the culture and people down there. Finally, I was fortunate enough to find my sweet wife, Helena, in my astronomy class at BYU. She happens to be a Swiss citizen and her father still lives there. After we got married, he flew us out there to visit. I spent two wonderful weeks there getting to know Helena’s family and hiking some incredibly tall mountains. Her dad lives in St. Gallen, near the Santis Mountain range. Neither the Italian or Swiss Alps were close to where we were but the terrain there is absolutely beautiful!
5. Stargate Addict. Yup, maybe you haven’t even heard of Stargate but it’s a TV series that plays on the SCI-FI channel. It all started with a movie that was released back in the 90’s. I think it was such a big hit that they made a series out of it, but who knows. It’s been airing for 10 years now and I haven’t missed an episode. OK, there were two years where I didn’t watch it at all while I was in Brazil, but don’t you worry, when I came back, I made sure I had time to catch up. When Stargate is on, you’ll know where to find me.

So to keep this going, I tag Jeff Rosenbaugh. Oh, and btw, HAPPY NEW YEAR!