Probstisms

Tim Probst
Tim Probst
@Tim@www.timprobst.com

Early adopting super geek, musician, father, resident tech guru.

1,069 posts
6 followers

  • The Smashing Pumpkins

    My college-aged son and many of his friends have discovered The Smashing Pumpkins. They’re going through their Smashing Pumpkins phase much like I and many of my friends went through a Led Zeppelin phase at some point in middle or high school. You know the “phase.” It’s the journey of discovering a band from before we were born and thinking, at least for a brief time, that it may be the greatest band of all time.

    I have to admit, I have been thoroughly enjoying this moment. The Smashing Pumpkins is one of my favorite bands, and I distinctly remember listening to their albums non-stop in my college dorm and apartments in the ’90s. There was something about their music that spoke to me and my friends at the time. Perhaps my son and his friends are experiencing the same thing now. Perhaps it is the age or the environment that makes college the best time to get into the Pumpkins, or maybe it is just really good music.

    My son asked about my favorite albums and songs, and of course I mentioned Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. But then I pulled out a wild card – Mary Star of the Sea.

    You might be thinking – Tim, that’s not a Pumpkins album, and you would be correct. It’s an album that came out in 2003 by a band named Zwan after the Pumpkins broke up the first time. Zwan included Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin and was basically just another version of The Smashing Pumpkins with a few other musicians. If you are lucky enough to have the CD (or ripped it back in the 2000’s like I did), you have my third favorite Smashing Pumpkins album in your library. Hopefully, Mary Star of the Sea and other Zwan content will be released on digital platforms soon. I suspect all of the 20-somethings discovering The Smashing Pumpkins would immediately take to Zwan at the same time.

    Rock on!

  • Paying $4/gallon for gas yesterday was super fun.

  • I’ve been spending some quality time integrating Aha! and Jira this week. I’ve been integrating systems for most of my professional career, and I have to say that Aha! has created an absolutely incredible user experience for something that is usually very technical and very difficult. It’s like a master class in how system integration should work.

    Now I have to figure out how to do this for financial technology systems.

  • Portillo’s is delicious wherever it might be. There’s no reason Portillo’s should slow down their expansion plans. Here’s the key – go to where the Chicagoans go.

    Start with expanding to college campuses. Tons of kids from Chicago go to Big Ten universities. Put a Portillo’s in every Big Ten city from coast to coast. An Italian beef after a night at the bars would have been delicious!

    A lot of those Chicago kids go back to Chicago for work, but a lot of them end up in cities like Denver, San Diego, Indianapolis, Kansas City, etc.

    Again, follow the Chicagoans. Land and expand!

    Portillo’s slowing national expansion plans amid weaker sales – Chicago Sun-Times

  • Jesse Jackson

    Growing up in Chicago during the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s, it was impossible to not know Reverend Jesse Jackson and his work. He was a massive figure in Chicago and nationally thanks to his work with Dr. King, Operation Breadbasket, and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. He spoke with rhythm, passion, and joy. It was hard to not pay attention to him.

    The world has rightfully offered its thanks and memorials to Rev. Jackson since his passing like the following from Sesame Street (one of my all-time favorites).

    Thankfully, we have a record of other great examples of the Country Preacher telling it like it is like the introduction to Walk Tall on Cannonball Adderley Quintet’s Country Preacher – Live at Operation Breadbasket.

    As Rev. Jackson would often remind us, we all are somebody, and we should all walk tall. He certainly did.

    Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader and Chicago icon, dead at 84

  • As a father, I feel like I can say this with a certain level of authority at this point in my life:

    The President of the United States is experiencing what some might call a temper tantrum.

    Trump says he will raise US global tariff rate from 10% to 15%

  • I got really excited about this until I read the linked Developers Guide. If you’ve gone all-in with the Alexa or Google Assistant ecosystem, how cool would it be to open the Alexa or Google Assistant app in CarPlay and have it play any music, radio, or podcast sources you want even when they don’t also support Siri? Now, that would be pretty sweet!

    Unfortunately, it appears the voice-based apps can “Only hold an audio session open when voice features are actively being used.” Such a bummer of a limitation!

    iOS 26.4 Brings CarPlay Support for ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini

  • Just watched the PBS News Hour interview with Senator Johnson of Wisconsin.

    All I can say is wow. Senator Johnson’s comments on ICE are completely tone deaf and delusional. Wisconsin deserves better representation and leadership.

  • Even the Chinese military had the sense and humanity to stop when a person stood in front of a column of tanks.

    Not the United States Trump SS!

  • It is difficult to listen to the words in our national anthem today before the NFL playoff games. We have fellow citizens from a major city that are experiencing such conflicting versions of what the anthem says America is supposed to be.

    I am 100% confident that the citizens of Minneapolis do not feel free today. They are under siege by our own government. They have masked invaders hunting down their neighbors. Imagine how you would feel in their shoes just for a moment.

    On the flip side, we can see in every video made public that the citizens of Minneapolis are proving over and over again that Minneapolis is indeed the home of the brave. They are standing up to a corrupt government and putting their lives on the line.

    Be brave, be free. The future is brighter than today.