Imagine that you're driving leisurely, enjoying the countryside, not really on your way to anywhere. You see an inviting road and turn off, excited to make some new discoveries. Similarly, you can be browsing the Bloggernacle, reading interesting LDS discussions when you see a side link that diverts your attention to something totally unrelated, but nonetheless proves to be fun or fascinating.I love those little buzzes of knowledge and this column is dedicated to those blog administrators who pull in links of articles, polls, photos, games and other wonderful and worthwhile online bits of stuff found across the Internet.Sideblogs in the sidebars are the main resource for these diversions. While some sideblogs are totally dedicated to relevant-to-the-blog information, others are more random. Mormon Mentality and Times & Seasons title their sideblogs "Notes from All Over." And By Common Consent's Sideblog has fun with titles such as "Your food storage is lame," which links to a newspaper article on a master gardener preparing for disaster, or "What was the Montauk Monster? A sadly curelom-free story" that you just need to click on over to understand.Sometimes a post will be a diversion from a normally LDS-themed blog. For example, I enjoyed the list of "50 Things New Teachers Need to Know." Or a whole blog will be featured in the Bloggernacle aggregators, but seemingly unrelated to anything LDS. Like Kulturblog, which I love to divert to for such entertaining topics as "5 saddest movies," "SYTYCD Top 6" and "Super Mario Brothers or Super Mario Brothers 3." And in enjoying the comments, I found a link to an online version of Super Mario Brothers 3!So look for diversions on your favorite LDS blog. Who knows, you might enjoy a laugh, learn something new, or be accidentally edified.And now for some of the other fun posts from the Bloggernacle:Power Pick — If you're not a Star Trek fan, you still
might enjoy this post, but the title itself, "God is a Star Trek Fan: The Kobayashi-Maru = Plan of Salvation", likely will
perk up any Star Trekkie. It's a fun/thoughtful discussion that looks at the
problems in life of picking the better of two wrongs, or choosing the best of
two rights and how hard these choices can be. And scroll through the wonderful
insights in the comments. Although I had to laugh that some people went beyond
the original intent to just make sure the Star Trek references were correct.Background Check — In April 2008, The Mormon Organon entered cyberspace, urged in by BYU students, Al Gore's writings and an overwhelming desire to attempt to unravel misunderstandings about science and faith. BYU biology professor Steven L. Peck (and read the bio, it's hilarious!) is "especially interested in suggesting that evolution and Mormonism are completely and fully compatible … in recent years there has been some great bridge work from faithful scientists between evolutionary biology and religion. I want to use my blog as a forum to explore these ideas and hopefully reconcile some of the ill feelings that exist between some members of the church and evolution." He jokes that the response has been "some shock and horror, but for the most part people have been willing to entertain that the two might work together. One of the things that people are most surprised by is that I attack 'Intelligent Design' which isn't really about the creator being intelligent as much as it is an attempt to get Christian fundamentalism agendas in the public schools … however, suggesting that climate change is real has gotten the strongest reaction. And by some lights a blog from a BYU professor that supports both evolution and global warming has been seen as a sign that the last days are truly upon us."Two of the most commented entries include "Why the Lamanite-DNA Question is Irrelevant (and why this means you should believe in evolution)" and "The Great Global Warming Hoax Hoax." And be sure to check out the delightful "Take the Worldwide Flood Literally…A short short story." Alas, he laments that in writing his blog "my ability to edit my own writing is a hopeless, quixotic quest. I've got a blog coming on my inability to edit. Of course, despite my best efforts it will be filled with unintentional examples of what I'm talking about." But through it all, this BYU professor hopes that The Mormon Organon "will continue to be a place of discussion and exploration of Mormon faith and science."Upcoming Conferences — FAIR and Sunstone are coming up this week! Check out this outline for the FAIR conference and the 2008 Sunstone symposium preview. If you can't make it, then tune into the FAIR Web site for live streaming or the FAIR blog for live blogging. If you are in town and vacillating on which one to attend, I like the advice that "you can go to Sunstone on Wednesday and Saturday, and attend FAIR on Thursday and Friday!" Or, you can check out my column next week for coverage on the Bloggernacle reports of both conferences. And as a bonus, check out this interesting comparison of "Sunstone, LDS Publishing and the Signaturi," that navel gazes at blogging as a new way of discussing intellectual topics.Techie Tip — "P-A-Y A-T-T-E-N-T-I-O-N" is the most important thing parents can do in regards to what types of TV programs they allow their children to watch. Check out more great counsel in both the post and subsequent comments on how to be careful with "Television" in your home.