While the day began cool and overcast, it warmed up to be a wonderful day last Saturday to head out, meet some friends and their kids (and shhh - dogs) at the festival. The parade was, as always, the highlight. And Sam had a great time on the kiddie slide. Check out the photo gallery here.
technorati tags: inman park festival, atlanta, photography, gallery, parade
]]>
It's been almost ten years since I picked up a camera to earn a living on a daily basis, back when I was in Savannah, Georgia as a staff photographer for The Savannah Morning News and Evening Press. I was recently doing some housecleaning and found an old Kodak PhotoCD I'd created from my best chromes and black-and-white negatives when I was job hunting in 1994. I posted the collection of images on Flickr, seen in the photo gallery here. I was trying to be so bleeding edge - I remember sending out portfolios on a floppy disk (yeah, a 1.4 dual-sided deal) and I put together a slick one-page dye-sub print from this collection of images using all the gusto our office Mac IIcx could muster. Meanwhile, we shot all our color images on Fujichrome 100 or 400 - talk about challenging. Later that year I took on my next job at Morris Communication's Augusta Chronicle as photo editor, and cut way back on daily shoots - and at least had the chance to shoot color neg film! I do miss those days, chasing news on the scanner, trying to produce something compelling from otherwise mundane assignments. Today's work has it's own set of challenges, and thinking on my feet - but at least I'm not working nights anymore!
technorati tags: photography, photojournalism, portfolio, savannah morning news
]]>
Just weeks after closing their deal to buy Meedio, a software developer of a 'roll-your-own' digital entertinament solution akin to Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition, Yahoo! has put a branded version of the software out for free download. called Yahoo! Go. Download the software here and give it a spin. It includes features to access video, music and photos on your local PC, as well as TV tuner integration should you have one, including DVR features. I do wish the Flickr piece was a bit more feature-rich; currently there's no way to select your own photos or specify a tag to view, it simply includes a half-dozen or so pre-selected tags/groups to view as slideshows. One nice bit of integration is the 'Video' area - with Yahoo video content presented alongside your own, as well as search features for other video content. Overall, a very nice UI with a ton of features.
technorati tags: yahoo, mediacenter, mce, meedio
]]>Two big bits of news today - first that Apple unveiled the new 17" Intel MacBookPro just in time for the kickoff of the NAB show out in Vegas (via TUAW). Along with that, there's an interesting article discussing efforts between ESPN (and most likely other members of the Disney Internet Group) and Apple to integrate advertising in a more significant way (reg. required at Advertising Age). Two rants as a result - where is my 12" MacBook Pro? My back cannot deal with the 6.8 pounds of computer in that 17-incher. And on the ads front, I'm all for it. With the size of the podcasting audience today, there is a real market for ad-supported content for those of us who just don't want to pay for premium materials. Bring on the tracking and reporting, and Madison Ave will beat a path to your door.
technorati tags: apple, macintosh, macbook, 17, ipod, advertising
]]>
As you can see in the photo above, Sam had a fabulous time during our visit yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday, so we headed out to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. On display were sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle, featuring glittering mosaics of glass, stones and mirrors. Sam loved these, and we enjoyed all the flora. See the full gallery here.
technorati tags: botanical_garden, sam, flowers, photography
]]>
It was time for the dads to attend the monthly Saturday installment of the Grant Park Kangaroos playgroup, held at Joanna, Scott and Amelia's home. In the photo above (a composite of three separate images), all the kids gather on the couch at the same time. More pictures in the photo gallery above.
]]>technorati tags: baseball, nintendo, redsox, mets, rbibaseball, retro
]]>
Rochester for a reminder that Spring has not fully sprung across the entire country - as well as a great visit with Amy's extended family. My mom also joined us for the trip. We've had some rain earlier in the week, and it's been quite chilly - especially today as we prepare to head back to the A-T-L. In the 40s here, expected to hit 85 today at home. Now there's a contrast for ya. Sam had a fab time with all his grandparents in attendance, and thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Seneca Park Zoo (photo of Amy, Sam and a playful polar bear at right) and the Strong Museum. He also took to singing along with the crowd at both Seders. Zoo gallery here. Passover/Family gallery is here. 
I never really understood what that saying meant, but I'm beginning to comprehend now. Sammy celebrated his first birthday in style yesterday with lots of friends. At Sam's request, we acquired a Sesame Street-themed cake for the adults, and a frosting-filled 'smash cake' for his personal enjoyment. He wasn't that interested in eating it, but did seem to get into the textures of frosting and cake-filled hands. A grand time was had by all. Here is the photo gallery.
technorati tags: sam, baby, birthday, first_time
]]>
The Grant Park Kangaroos Playgroup gathered at Chez Trotz this past week to celebrate the first birthdays for Sam, Henry and Shoshana. Photos are all by Amy (and they're great!). Click here to check out the gallery. Check here shortly for more pics from Sam's first birthday that we're celebrating today! Amazing to think it was one year ago today that our little guy came into our lives.
technorati tags: sam, grant park, playgroup, birthday, kangaroos, first
]]>
Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today.
Apple announced today official support for running WinXP on the Intel Mac. I can't effing believe it.
technorati tags: winxp, mac, apple, hell freezes over
]]>technorati tags: singularity, meme, 01:02:03 04/05/06, 010203040506
]]>
The entire family is now safely back in pollen-filled Atlanta, GA after a week in sometimes-sunny, but mostly-chilly Florida. I had a conference in St. Pete Beach with Solbright last Wednesday through Friday, then we headed down to Sarasota for quality time with Sam's grandparents. Sam had a great time at his first business conference, networking like a pro. For a couple of days, we mostly hung out and relaxed at home, which is exactly what I needed. We explored the beautiful Marie Selby Botanical Gardens while Sam was taking a nap one day (hoorah for macro lenses), and as you can see above, took Sam to the beach for the very first time. He absolutely LOVED it. I continue to be amazed by our little guy - he's babling and talking more than ever before, and surprised the heck out of dear old dad when we were flying home. I was trying to coax him to take a nap and we were putting his blanket over our heads. All on his own, he started playing peek-a-boo with me, pulling the blanket over his head and then back down, cackling like a little crazy boy when he'd show his face. Cute, cute, cute!
technorati tags: vacation, gallery, photography, sam
]]>