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I am very excited to announce that Probstisms now supports Facebook Connect through the Disqus comment system. This means that when you write a comment on Probstisms, you can log in using your Facebook account. Not only will the comment appear on Probstisms, it will also appear in your Facebook news feed. Disqus has indicated that we can expect more great Facebook integration in the future.
Happy commenting everybody!
I kind of expected this, but I managed to lose the holiday pounds I gained over the couple weeks I completely ignored the food I ate. I weighed in this morning at 178 pounds, and of course WeightWatchers yelled at me for losing more than 2 pounds. I’m hoping to get back to losing a more predictable 1 to 2 pounds per week now that the holidays are over.
Next Update: January 19, 2009
On Tuesday, Apple announced the next version of their iLife suite. I have been using iLife since the very first version and have faithfully upgraded with the availability of each new version. While each version has had its own nice new enhancements, I am drawn to this newest iteration more than its predecessors.
What is so special about iLife ’09? Well, let’s start with iPhoto. The features that interest me the most are Faces and Online Sharing. Apple has included face detection and face recognition functionality in iPhoto for the first time, and I could not be more excited. Almost all of our photos are of our kids or friends and family, and I spend a significant amount of time tagging and categorizing our photos by person. The Faces feature will make it so much easier for me to manage out photos that I might actually be able to post new photos before they’re old and dated.
Going along with the Faces feature is the new ability to share photos on Flickr and Facebook directly from iPhoto. I have been using FlickrExport from Connected Flow for quite some time, and it is a great iPhoto plugin, but I am excited to see Apple embracing online sharing sites other than its own MobileMe. Both Flickr and Facebook offer APIs that Apple has been able to use (I assume), and it also appears that Apple has worked directly with both of these companies because the functionality seems to go beyond functionality created by other companies. As a Flickr and Facebook user, I am excited to try the new integration with iPhoto. I have avoided posting any photos on Facebook because I already use Flickr, but now I should be able to share the same iPhoto albums or events in Flickr and Facebook with a click or two. What’s really cool is that the Faces feature in iPhoto works with the tag feature in Facebook. Cool stuff.
I am also excited to give the new GarageBand a shot. With the new MacBook, I will finally be able to connect our Roland digital piano to a Mac via MIDI to see what kind of music I can create. It should be fun to see what I can do. It’s been a long time, but I’m sure it will all come back to me. The piano and guitar lessons will help me along, I’m sure. Plus, how cool will it be to learn Roxanne from Sting and Proud Mary from John Fogerty? I’ll post anything cool I come up with.
Once I get my hands on iLife ’09, I will report back and let you know if it lives up to my expectations. Based on what I saw in the keynote, it certainly looks like an upgrade that everyone will find useful.
As expected, I gained a few pounds while enjoying the company of family and friends over the holidays. I weighed in at 182 pounds this morning so I have some work to do to get back to where I was two weeks ago. Time to track my Points.
Next update: January 12, 2009
My wife, Donnell, has been an incredible advocate for our daughter who has a medical diagnosis of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified). As I’m sure you can imagine, our daughter’s diagnosis translates into significant social, behavioral, and educational issues at school and at home.
Donnell has taken the lead with our daughter’s therapy and doctors’ appointments and also works with our daughter’s school to make sure she is receiving all of the services she needs to have a successful education. Donnell takes classes from the Special School District here in Saint Louis and has also become involved with the Parent Advisory Council.
On top of all of that, I am very excited to report that Donnell has been accepted into the Partners in Policymaking program. The program provides leadership training designed for adults with developmental disabilities and parents of young children with developmental disabilities. I cannot put into words how proud I am of her. I know she will do an incredible job in the program and will become an even stronger advocate for our daughter and other children with special needs. I am a very lucky man to be married to such an incredible woman.
Please join me in congratulating Donnell on this extraordinary opportunity.
Thanks to helping my wife, Donnell, eat through two pregnancies and an overall lack of control over my taste buds, I am back on WeightWatchers. Donnell and I used WeightWatchers before our wedding, and it worked incredibly well. It turns out if you actually pay attention to what you eat, you can lose weight. Crazy concept, huh?
Well, we’re back at it again. Donnell worked her butt off in 2008 and earned a cruise for two from lia sophia. We’re very excited about getting a week to ourselves and are very motivated to lose a few pounds.
To share in the fun, I have decided to update all of you every week on my progress. I have been at this for several weeks already so here is a little history. My first official weigh in was on November 7th at 190 pounds. I actually started watching what I was eating a week before that, and I weighted 193 pounds so I tend to think of that as my starting weight. My progress for the subsequent weeks was as follows:
I have to admit that I am very scared to look at the scale on Monday. We have been traveling since last Friday, and we pretty much went crazy with food. With the holidays and family and food like Portillo’s, how can anyone possibly not partake? Anyway, we’ll see where I’m at on Monday, and I’ll provide an update. My guess is that I gained several pounds, but I’ll wait until Monday to weigh in.
If you have any good WeightWatchers stories or opinions, please feel free to leave a comment. It should be interesting to see how things go by the end of March. Stay tuned.
Well hello everyone. I know it’s been quite a while since I posted anything new here. Once the election was over, I needed break. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Probstisms Election Night Conversation. We had a lot of fun, and it made election night that much more special.
I have been trying to figure out what I was going to say about the election of Barack Obama, but words cannot convey how excited I am that the American people chose such a capable leader to direct us out of the funk President Bush will leave behind. The electorate decided to ignore the fear mongering that has unfortunately become so ingrained in our political campaigns and backed Obama and Biden and their vision of hope and change.
The road ahead will not be easy. For all of those parents out there that have been watching Wall-E on DVD over and over again, the mess Obama and his team are inheriting is just as enormous as the futuristic Earth portrayed in the movie. I have been very impressed with the team that Obama has put together so far, and I have great confidence that over time, Obama and his team will put us on a course that will lead us to prosperity once again.
You can expect more posting from me in 2009. I will do my best to diversify my topics a bit more this coming year because I know I focused a lot on politics in 2008. Expect me to get back to writing about technology again, and hopefully, the Cubbies will give me something good to write about this summer.
I would like to thank everyone who read my blog in 2008 and hope you stick with me through yet another year.
Happy New Year!
Good morning everyone, and Happy Election Day!
Now, get out and vote!
Obama/Biden 2008
As is said, there’s the high road, and then there’s the low road, but now we’re seeing the subterranean road. I honestly thought it could not get lower, but the Republicans have unleashed one of the most negative, fear-mongering, hate-filled, deceptive television ads I have ever seen. Apparently, John McCain decided it was time to play the Wright card. Being in Missouri, I am lucky enough to have to experience the ad over and over again. Thanks to some nice Photoshop work, they took Obama’s usual signage and replaced “Change” with “Hate.” The voice-over spews fear and hate. The intention of the ad is clear; smear Obama and hope it sticks. I haven’t thrown anything through my television . . . yet.
What really bothers me is that these types of ads still work with people. Case in point – our neighbor came over the other day and spoke to my wife for a bit. After seeing our Obama/Biden sign, she says “Barack Obama is the Antichrist” while performing the sign of the cross. Then she says “He’s been groomed.” What in the world does that even mean? How in the world do you respond to such stupidity? These are the types of people that most likely elected Bush twice. These are the types of people that will help McCain win on Tuesday if he wins. I just don’t get it.
I am writing about this to let all of you know what the McCain campaign is doing in the battleground states. He’s not offering ideas. He’s not providing solutions. He’s spreading fear and hate in the hopes that enough people like my neighbor will take the bait. I want all of you to ask yourself what kind of leader you want for our country. Do you want someone who offers solutions, ideas, hope, and change, or do you want someone who uses fear and hate to win at all costs? It is time for a new politics. It is time for a new direction. It is time for Obama and Biden to lead our country.
Obama/Biden 2008