Blogs

This Is A Test Blog Post

By: Administrator

This is an initial test

Some things are hard to imlement properly.

...But hopefully this works?!

I am so hopeful this formats correctly without extra paragraph elements.

Does A No-JS Test For This Blog Actually Work? And What Does That Mean For Users?

By: Aaron Bechtel - Web Designer

To start things off, this blog post was made with JavaScript turned off. I wanted to see how this could work for the ~1% of global users that have it turned off. JavaScript is nice, but we have to account for all sorts of users. I wanted to make this site as user-friendly as possible.

Currently, I can see the footer doesn't have a copyright year associated, because I dynamically add that in based on the current year. I think it's okay for that to disappear, because the copyright is essentially tied to the authors/creators of the website and their pages, and, generally, I and authorized posters (i.e., Maggie Bechtel, currently) are (as it's currently planned) to be the only posters to this site. The reasoning behind this is to limit unintended content, protect users, and just display things we have enjoyed, completed, learned, developed... You get the idea, right? It is meant for US to share with the world our knowledge. I may, later, upon further learning of legal requirements and limitations, add the ability for other logged-in users to create their own posts. I will stick with the basic stuff for now.

Another thing I have noticed is the little messages that may or may not show up, depending if you use the (groan) Safari browser, would otherwise not have a clickable "X" button, so I had to add a no-script CSS rule to make it essentially disappear after a set amount of time. Personally, I think it worked very well, but I am looking forward to the scripting CSS media query and when the global population is compatible with it. Even Android Chrome isn't fully compatible with this yet, at the time of this post's writing (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/@media/scripting, may have to select, copy, and paste the link text).

Another thing I observed, my rich-text editor to create this post is nonexistent! This makes it really hard to add custom styles to the post, with headings, links, etc. Who would have thought how essential JavaScript is to provide a bunch of convenient functionality on MANY websites! I certainly hope this post is as readable for you as it is for me, but I don't want you to get bored with its lack of bolds, italics, and fancy styles.

So, now here's the question: did you notice anything different about the site, with JavaScript enabled and disabled? Did I miss anything? And is there anything that you think would be a user-focused feature? Feel free to let me know at this email!

Ciao, for now!

The Reason I Made This Site's Domain

By: The White Ninja MC

Why Did I Make This Site's Domain "fsixninja.dev"?

I want something catchy, memorable, and most of all, personable or relatable to me. My gamer tag and Minecraft player skin describes of a "ninja" dressed in white, but I wanted more than that. I thought, "Why not create a website, showing all my professional skills, recreational skills, and hobbies?" And thus, the fsixninja.dev domain was born.

What Does FSIXNINJA Mean?

Looking at it, you may be confused if you don't know hexadecimal codes. To simplify, #FFFFFF (F 6 TIMES) is white. That was my creative thought process of picking my domain. It also means that I will eventually be posting some of my YouTube channel content on a different subdomain, so that will be something to look forward to. But this site comes first.

What Kind of Things Should People Looking At My Sites Professionally Be Aware Of?

Depending on the type of subdomain, I have some pointers:

• Gaming content:
  • More than likely going to be in dark mode, so prepare for a lot of dark colors. I love my black!
  • There may be ads on this subdomain, as YouTube is pretty generous with these, even for non-paid content creators. 🙄
  • Currently contemplating adding a comment section to this, because I know YouTube has this. It is a thought... but there are some things I (and the viewer) have to be watchful for if that does end up happening!
• Blogs:
  • This is mainly to share my (and my wife's) professional opinions, experiences, and grow a user group. We want to be seen, heard, acknowledged and queried.
  • We want people to actually think and learn.
  • We want to show, from a starting point, how far we've grown in our career paths. Think of it as a diary?
• The wonderful www subdomain:
  • This is intentionally meant for me, not my wife, because it is what I would share with colleagues and peers and recruiters. But I can definitely help Maggie with her own, if she needs one!
  • This "root" subdomain will be where I post multiple links to many projects, like our solar system created with just CSS animations, or what projects I have made in school.
  • The homepage has a pretty big emphasis on animations, it's the first thing you see! 🥷

But At the End of the Day...

I want the end user to have fun! I want to have fun! And I want us to enjoy the content we read, view, share, and for us to grow. You may not agree with some of my experiences and opinions, but that is perfectly fine. You may not like my content. That's okay too! 👍 Please don't be rude to others, remember they have rights too, and privileges, and, ultimately, the Administrator for this website will definitely be keeping aware of all content going on this site. So don't abuse it! Those rules even apply to myself. If you have any grievances, please feel free to email the Administrator.

I Have Plans

By: The White Ninja MC

Hey, reader!

How you doin'? Good? Good. How am I? I'm okay, but...

Some things have happened since I last made any content on my YouTube channel, and there is also more to come, but I still enjoy playing Minecraft and creating content for my viewers; however, I feel the need to make a post to reflect on the past, present, and future expectations of my channel.

-- The Past --

Before, I was making basic content with Minecraft, things like vanilla survival and modded survival plays, cruddy farms with new blocks and mechanics, and talking about my equipment and showing it off. I had an ad campaign for one of my favorite videos I created, a villager breeder, and it helped me boost my channel views. The sequel video was for an iron farm and switching to normal difficulty, and as a result of the previous video's campaign, that video garnered 1,800 (or something of the like) views. Later, I showed some attempts at hack-y Nether Fortress finding methods: I believe those were failures (I need to rewatch and see if they worked). That whole series did pretty well for my "first" (complete?) playlist (you can see it here).

-- The Present --

Currently, I am making some content very similar to a video I thought I was going to continue, the Better Minecraft Modpack Survival. I have Forge mods such as Dragon Mounts: Legacy, More Villagers, Biomes O' Plenty, and others, but also the Fabric mod Better End. This was possible because of the glorious and new Forgified Fabric API. I am loving it so far! It makes many impossible things possible!

-- The Future --

Based off of how previous videos went, I think I will start a new world with these mods, once I finish the playthrough I am currently on. As reflection goes, I saw a lot of viewers seemed to like when I showed my progression in "real-time", didn't really like me making farms as content, but also liked to see me take on harder and harder challenges.

**If you are interested in seeing my progression and would like to support me in my endeavors, please look at my channel (linked above⬆️), leave a like on any videos you enjoyed, leave comments...**

Compassion and Readiness: Lessons from Jesus's Ministry

By: The White Ninja MC

In this blog entry of my inspirations and growing testimony of His ministry, I will be referencing the texts from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of Matthew 21-24, Mark 11-13, Luke 19-21, John 12, as well as Joseph Smith's translations of Matthew.

Throughout these records of His ministry, we read of how Jesus was received by many different people: the Pharisees, Saudecees, and other high-ranking figures within the Jewish community at the time were distasteful of his teachings, demanding what authority he had to teach what he was, and who gave it to him. His challenge was pretty marvelous and well-designed:

"The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?" - Matthew 21:23-27

These elders and priests were hard-pressed into succumbing to him; they had no answer to fit their agenda and just admitted they couldn't answer appropriately. Jesus here demonstrated that he had the authority to teach, and his authority was given by our Heavenly Father. Nothing these highly educated people could do would throw him for a loop! Likewise, we also see another foiled attempt by the Pharisees in Matthew 22:15-22:

"And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not?"

These first few words were deceptive: I would argue they did not know his words as truth. However, it sure was nice to see they marvelled at his words afterword.

Dear reader, I hope so far I haven't lost you. Thus far, we see Jesus as renowned for being intelligent by chief people. Now let's look at how the general population received him.

In John 12:12-23 and Luke 19:47-48, the people so loved him and his teachings that the chief priests and scribes couldn't remove or destroy him!

Later in the passages, we also come to know that we should be ready for His Second Coming. In Mark 13 and in JST-Matthew, it is very telling what will happen and have to happen before His return. There would be false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, and fighting among nations, among other things. However, he promises that these things will come to pass, as the end wouldn't have arrived yet. The gospel of His ministry and teachings would "first be published among all nations." He promises us as we endure to the very end, we will be saved. He symbolizes the likeness of us knowing when the end of days is upon us to a fig tree blooming in summer: when we know that the events he mentions have come to pass, the end of days is very close at hand. He even seems to say that not even he knows when exactly it will happen: only His Father does! Interesting thought!

This post was not meant to be as a reprimanding of my brothers and sisters, but as a reminder to do good deeds and be compassionate for each other. Hopefully this post was enlightening to you, and I hope you will continue to considerate and compassionate to your fellow neighbor!

Thankful For This, Thankful For That

By: The White Ninja MC

What are you thankful for?

Is it your dog, cat, or home? Is it your friends? Family? Are you thankful to be alive?

What are you not thankful for? The worldly drama? Your siblings? Your personal problems?

... But should you be thankful for them?

My life has recently been a struggle: I am just ending my junior year of college; the semester is halfway over. My start has been rocky. I mean, REALLY rocky. Change of insurances, new medicines for my wife, new doctors, having to meet them in person, job-related news seeming... poor, for lack of a less family-friendly term, and school starting midweek with a lot of courses missing material or having seemingly disrespectful instructors. First-world problems, am I right? All while trying to find internships and entry-level jobs for web development (basically scams, scams, and more fake jobs).

Normally, one would be spiteful, harboring animosity towards those avenues, those stressors, but that changed for me when I realized a different perspective: empathy is best realized in two directions.

Empathy in two directions?

Empathy can be described as "putting yourself in someone else's shoes." You know there are people around you who are struggling, right? I assume you responded to that with a "yes."

What would be the other direction, then? Simply put them in your shoes! How would you observe them? How would you think they would feel in your predicament? And, how can you remain objective while remaining aware of your emotions in this figurative position?

I really only want to focus on the first two points, as the third is more of a personal realization.

I was reading from the scriptures of Matthew 26:26-29, where we can know of the first Sacrament being passed between Jesus Christ and His disciples during the passover celebration. I was asked to use some study skills to better understand these passages, and substituting myself in with "the disciples" when I read he was passing the broken bread has allowed me to realize more personally of His atoning sacrifice. His love is hard to describe, but the best I can describe now is that it is so complete, so full, that a simple act, yet so personal, so understanding of our faults and fears, our struggles... oh, the tears! I could observe the other disciples feeling awe and extreme love for the Savior, as I felt it then in my mind.

Then I imagined what they would feel in my shoes.

First, the struggles of daily life would have almost been mute, but they would have remained significant. Realizing this, I would not be able to grow to who I am today, let alone who I aim to be, if not for these trials and tribulations. I would not be as loving towards my wife, my family. I would be less grateful for the blessings that came from those problems: I wouldn't have met my friends, gained a social presence, or a love for helping people. I wouldn't feel accomplished despite the greater odds. I know those disciples would have felt happy, knowing what they did with Jesus there. Feeling this — oh, what's the word? Grace? Compassion? Love? — coming from this scenario has helped me feel grateful for the lessons they have taught me.