Well friends, another year has past and it's now time for some reflections on operating this site. Whenever I think of something lasting 2 years I think of a mission. Unlike a mission that ends after 2 years, mormonsandscience will go on for now. I know this is disappointing to those of you who would like to see mormonsandscience permanently released (ha), but mormonsandscience is turning out to be something more like Stake Seventies who were never released. (Back in the day when sacrament meetings were in the evening, Stake Seventies were called from the ward membership.)

Sometimes I feel like I am running out of ideas to post on, which is silly because there are many more interesting topics to explore. It is not that I am lazy, it’s just that I have other things vying for my attention like kids, writing a book, writing another book after the previous book is written, and work. However, I am committed to providing thought provoking posts on science (and occasionally politics) on a regular basis.

Thanks to those who are regular visitors. According to the stats meter, mormonsandscience receives an average of 200 hits per day. That is nothing to boast about and half of those are probably bots, but at least 100 of you find the site worthwhile.  

Thanks to those who post comments. I welcome all comments except, of course, those that are mean spirited. Unfortunately 2 months ago I was compelled to turn on the “approve comments” setting. Some of the comments were not appropriate while others were auto comments selling tennis shoes or whatever else. Several of the good comments I receive express views that are contrary to mine. If I had to choose between (A) mormonsandscience being a ‘group think’ forum where everyone pats each other on the back and we all see things the same way, or (B) mormonsandscience being a forum where people explore and express divergent viewpoints with the goal of uncovering truth and bringing it to Zion, I would choose B. 

I’ve added some resources to mormonsandscience to help LDS students and researchers. There is a page for asking statistical and research design questions, a page on how to use G*Power (a free power and sample size calculation program), and a page on how to use R (a free statistical analysis program). These R and G*Power pages are meaningless (and perhaps nauseating) to many of you, but to students and researchers they can be very useful, so please tell others if you think they might be interested.

Finally, when an acquaintance at the BYU Salt Lake Center told me that he was making $200 a month on Google ads, I thought, “Hey, my personal slush fund could benefit from a $200 cash injection every month.”  So I set up Google ads and . . . well, they aren’t there anymore. Too many advertisements like “Click here to discover the shocking truth about Mormons” and “Click here to learn more about Joe Smith’s Mormon bible” kept popping up. Ergo, advertisements are gonzo.

As always, thanks for dropping by.

Sincerely,

Dave