I'm moving over to Wordpress

Nothing against Blogger, I actually like the service. But, I have a couple reasons for the move:

• With an impending trip, I have a good opportunity to mo-blog or blog on the go. Wordpress' iPhone app is simply awesome, in my opinion.


• While Wordpress' free service doesn't offer many options, upon using Wordpress on a personal domain, the amount of customization and plug-ins for the service are incredible. I plan on having a personal domain in the coming months, so, switching now will make the transition go a little more smoothly.

I hope this doesn't cause too much confusion. In any case, you'll find me over at http://skoo402.wordpress.com/.

Thanks.

Same as last year

Well, it's 2009. I know we're all supposed to make resolutions, but I'm not going to do that. Actually, I hear it's bad for your mental health to do so.

My new year will start out like most; anticipating a college football bowl game (in this case two, with Nebraska and Florida playing in 2009), and looking forward to news from the Macworld Expo (which will be 100% Steve Jobs free this year).

One major change will come, however. Within the next two weeks, I look to be back living in Nebraska. As it turns out, things aren't what I anticipated them being in Pensacola. My section of town has seen it's crime rate rise in the past few years, which many believe is an after effect of the displacement Hurricane Katrina caused. That's a situation I don't feel comfortable with, especially when given the option to not live in that situation.

I also haven't been able to find work. I've grown tired of simply sitting around and waiting. Upon calling my old job in Lincoln, the thought I could go right back to work up there was confirmed.

Not having work not only affects my pocket, but affects my social life. I've met nobody since moving here, and frankly, I don't really feel like making new friends. I'm perfectly content with the ones I had in Lincoln. Those friends don't have to work through the trust issues I have with people in general.

Also, on the topic of work, I have career connections at my disposal in Lincoln, something I can't say for Florida. My dad & step-mom gave me Final Cut Express, a industry standard video editing application, for Christmas. So, all I need now is a camera to shoot video with that I can chop up.

I'm able to move back in to my mom's, where I'm only going to be responsible for buying food, so I'll be able to save up money for a lot of the things I need, such as a new camera and a car, and to be able to save up for furniture when the time comes for me to leave the house again. However, unless the job takes me somewhere else, I don't anticipate leaving Lincoln for a long time.

Upon adding everything up and weighing my pros and cons, if the cold weather is the only thing I have to complain about, then that's not much. I find job security and good friends too valuable now.

Million Dollar Arms

Some of you may have heard about the two Indian pitchers who were signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. What you may not realize is exactly what they went through to get there.

This makes me curious to see how the sport carries over in India and abroad. For the most part, the sport is only on the radar in the western hemisphere. In any case, it's a good story and I wish these two guys the best.

Dogs love snow!!!

[via CuteOverload]

iChat, sorry I've neglected you

A couple weeks I sent a message out to everyone on my list on Adium that I would be moving to AIM and if anyone needed to find me, that's where I'd be.

Not one person switched over.

It's not that I'm not liked. I usually end up talking to someone online during the day. It's more of a stubbornness to switch. People I talk to have built up such a base on Yahoo, nobody's going to move. I went through these same trials with another individual with Skype about a month ago.

The problem I have is that Yahoo Messenger on the Mac is a sad excuse for a program of any kind. It's buggy (still in beta), eats memory, and just feels bulky. Further, even after over two years of work on the current version, there's a poor form of voice support and nothing for conferences.

Meanwhile, I have this app that came with my Mac, iChat, that sits dormant for the most part. I'd much rather use this slice of technology for many reasons.

iChat's voice support is by far the best available on the Mac. Further, I can get a multi-person voice conference going in seconds, which I can then import into Garage Band and start a radio-style podcast if I like. Video chats are also awesome on iChat, with some neat features embedded into that option. I can share photos and video in full screen as well as start a video conference in full screen with up to three other people, all in the H.264 codec, giving near HD quality.

Further, iChat just feels like part of my system, where other applications feel, well, like they're from a third party. I've managed to work with Adium, the great multi-client IM client for the Mac, but it offers no video or voice.

So, I'm taking this time to appoligize to iChat for never using you. It's nothing personal.