Author: Tim Probst

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

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A buddy of mine, who will remain nameless, is a huge Oklahoma fan. He started a website called VoidGame.com after Oklahoma was robbed of a win over Oregon. The officials really goofed up at the end of the game, and they’ve admitted it. Now, they’re only human, and I can understand that. We’ve all messed up something in our lives at some point. One of the biggest problems is there is no rule in college football that indicates what to do in this situation. What happens when a call is so blatantly wrong? As far as I’m concerned, the game is over when the whistle blows. Unfortunately, people will be talking about these blown calls for years.

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Okay, it’s time to vent a bit. I have spent many hours in the last two days pulling weeds and grass from the flower beds around the house that we rent. They just keep coming back with a vengeance. One of the biggest problems I have is that the area around the plants is bare soil. There is no mulch or wood chips to block out the sun to stop the weeds from coming back. Anyway, I’m blogging now because I can barely grip the weeds to pull them out. I think it’s time to go out and get a cultivator and go to town on these bad boys. No more Mr. Niceguy! Okay, I feel better now.

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Ever since Microsoft and PC makers started marketing and selling Windows Media Center PCs, I’ve thought that they were just taking the wrong approach. While a geek like me would want a PC in their living room, the average person most likely does not want to have a PC as the centerpiece of their entertainment center. Using a computer is a very active form of entertainment whether a person is surfing the Internet or playing games. Watching television, on the other hand, is a very passive activity. People just want to relax and enjoy the show, and they want it to be very easy. As Aerosmith once said, “Just Push Play.”

In comes Apple with the iTV. They’re going to change the name before the official release, and my bet is that it will be part of the Mac family rather than the iPod family. I’m sure Steve Jobs and co. will come up with a snappy, marketable name. The iTV allows users to stream movies and media from their Mac or PC that’s sitting anywhere in their house through a wireless or wired connection. There will be no need to have a computer sitting next to the TV. Using the handy little remote included with the iTV, users will be able to browse through their media and select the movie or media they want to watch.

Apple once again has taken something insanely complex and made it accessible to the average person. That’s how they won the MP3 player market and the digital download market. It is also how they will continue their dominance in the digital media age by bringing the media into the living room. Congrats Apple! I can’t wait to see the finished product.

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For those of you that keep track of my blog and read the comments posted here, you know that my buddy, Scott, has been pestering me about writing more. Well, I’m going to do my best to write more about everything that is going on around me. That’s the problem, really. I have too much going on in my life. If all goes as planned, I’ll have more time to write, but only time will tell.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Scott, who happens to be a really great writer, has finally broken down and started a blog. In his posts so far, he has related real life experiences to technology projects and working life in general. His blog almost has an Office Space kind of feel to it. It is most definitely worth a visit.

I found one post to be just vintage Scott. In the post, he writes about the first six days of a new job. It’s one of those it’s-funny-because-it’s-true moments working in corporate America. Anyway, check out his post and the rest of his blog. I think you’ll find it amusing to say the least.

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Well hello there everybody! It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I wanted to let you know about changes I’ve been making to my website. I’ve decided to make my blog the centerpiece of the site so it is more visible to the rest of the world. One of these days, I’m going to get serious about writing something everyday, and this reorganization helps make those writings more visible.

I have also added a new email subscription feature for my blog feed. You can click on the Email Subscription link in the sidebar of my blog or simply click here.

I’m excited about these new features, and I hope you like them too. There will be more changes to come as I incorporate some of the web’s latest capabilities into my site.

Thanks for stopping by!

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So, I was in Atlanta a couple weeks ago for work, and I was there the week of the primary or runoff elections for Congress. I remembered some great comments my brother made several months ago regarding Congresswoman McKinney. Well, we can all celebrate her loss and hope that someone with more intelligence and class will represent that district and our country. Well, we can at least hope whoever ends up representing that district will bother to where his Congress pin when walking through security.

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Kyah

Here’s that picture of my babe. If you know her, this picture will make perfect sense to you. Some day, I’ll pull this picture out and show her friends to embarrass her. Can’t wait!

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Noah

I know it’s been quite a while since my last post so I decided to write about my kids. Here’s a great picture of my little buddy. My wife took the picture one afternoon along with some great pictures of my daughter. I’ll post a great picture of her shortly.

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Okay, so I’ve been meaning to blog about this for quite some time. Being a relatively new California resident, I have noticed that the California State Legislature tends to push all of the tough political decisions back to the people of the state. I’m talking about the proposition process.

A large number of propositions have made it onto the ballots since we’ve moved out here. These propositions represent very difficult decisions that should be made by well informed, professional lawmakers.

Based on my observations of California politics so far, these propositions usually turn into huge advertising opportunities for the special interest groups that represent each side of the issue. The result of the proposition comes down to which side had the most effective advertising.

Average voters do not have the time or expertise to make educated decisions about these propositions. The lawmakers in Sacramento should do the job of the people and make the tough decisions that will determine the future of the state. Deferring to the advertising muscle of special interest groups is no way to run a state.

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Kyah and Noah

Hi everybody! As promised, I finally have some new photos of the kids for you to check out. Now that summer is almost here, and school will be out, I’m sure the picture taking will increase exponentially. Check back often for updates.