Another year has passed and it has been a busy one for ValpoLife. As we looked back on this momentous first year, we revisited some of the top articles in each section. Here are some of the most viewed articles in Blogs:
Good Morning Valpo! by Chris Mahlmann
It's Friday morning the 27th, and we are running hard to close out a fantastic first week live on the web connecting with so many of you in Valpo. It has been awesome to meet so many folks in town over the last few weeks, that each are involved in Valpo in some significant way, and hear how many share my enthusiasm for telling the stories about the people in Valpo. A brief intro to ValpoLife.com went out to most everyone we know yesterday afternoon, and I would encourage everyone to do a quick free sign up to be a member of ValpoLife.com to ensure that they get the weekly Best of Valpo newsletter that will go out for the first time this afternoon Quick Sign Up.
To view the blog, click here.
Remembering the Sweet Sixteen Team by Brett Fuller
This past weekend, as a part of ValpoLife.com's ongoing coverage of All Things Great About Valpo, I had the privilege of covering the Valparaiso University's Hall of Fame Class of 2009 induction ceremony. This year's inductees included Cyndi (Norman) Kiper, Stephanie (Greer) McCalment, Robert Skaitsas, and Tim Weidner. Most notably, to me anyway, was the induction of the 1997-98 Men's Basketball Team. Why is so notable to me? Well, as a twelve year old, I watched nearly every game this team played, because one of my friend's parents had season tickets and never really went all that often. When they did go, we would get to the gym hours before the game would start so we could get in without paying. I think tickets at the time were something like $4 a piece, but hey, I was twelve. There was one game, however, that I didn't get to see: The Shot.
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The ABC's of Being Grateful by Cathy Brown
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder I am usually a pretty optimistic person, but sometimes the weather, ignorant people, and small nuisances make a good day go bad, and so on days like those, I have to mentally remember what I am thankful for. Here is that list, in ABC order of course!
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My Life is Sweet by Cathy Brown
I'm sooooo bored...NOT! “Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those who are billed to death, those who are worried to death and those who are bored to death”...Winston Churchill I just can't take this anymore. For the fifth time in 2 weeks on Facebook, I see numerous kids saying "I'm bored". I can't stop pondering this comment. Are they saying it because they are, in fact, bored? Do they even know what it means? I mean, boredom keeps company with words such as dissatisfaction, restlessness, frustration, lethargy, tedium, dullness, monotony, flatness, dreariness. Horrible, depressing words if you ask me. I am so perplexed as to how these highly intelligent kids could be bored, so I have spent all week taking notes on my own life to see if perhaps there would be just one moment in which I was bored.
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Here Comes the Sun by Cathy Brown
Today, like the last 5 days, started with melancholy. Gloomy, cold, GRAY, and sad. You see, a close friend of mine named Scot passed away last week, and grief was completely governing my mood for more consecutive days than I have ever remembered in my life. The day started with chaos as usual; the middle school bus never showed up, my daughter was coughing so badly, I hated to send her to school, my son wouldn't let the chickens out of the coop, no lunch money for the kids, forgotton Swine Flu shot permission slips...etc...
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Links of the Week: ESPN, Google, AIG, and (of course) Michael Jackson
A lot can happen in a week’s time. This week alone, just in Valparaiso, there are five big events, put on by the city, charities, or the Parks Department. But outside of our little bubble known as Valparaiso, there has been a lot going on as well. And it got me thinking, what have we missed out on this week? Well, have no fear, for I have gathered a few of what I think are some of the best links of the week. Not all of these are from the world of sports, believe it or not, but who are we kidding, most of them are. So, without further ado, here are, the Links of the Week: ESPN announced a new project this week, one that actually sounds interesting!
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The Squirrels Can Teach Us by Christine Hisick
Squirrels--they have so much to teach us, if only we'd stop for a minute and pay attention. According to a Nov. 16, 2009 New York Times article, hunger in the U.S. is at a 14-year high. One in seven households in our country is struggling to put enough food on the table to feed their families. The percentage of households struggling has quickly risen from 11.1% in 2008, to 14.6% in our current year of 2009. So, What Are Numbers?
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The F Word by Chrsitine Hisick
You’re fired. Your ideas suck. We’re sorry, but you’re just not good enough to make the team. You screwed it up again. Can’t you ever get it right? You flunked. You lose. You don’t have enough experience. You didn’t get the promotion. What good are you? Sound familiar? Oh come on, admit it. We’ve all been there before, and we’ve all heard the words. Well, maybe not all of the words, that may be a bit much. But every single one of us has royally screwed up something, somewhere, at some point in our lives. Isn’t it great? We failed It’s time to get our party hats on and get to celebrating because this is the best thing that could ever happen to any of us—failing, and failing big.
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Reading 2-D Barcodes with Your Cell Phone by Kyle Granat
Most everyone is familiar with the 1-dimensional barcode. It's that little strip of black bars that we find on ID cards and UPC labels at the store. This label is designed to be easily read by a computer for fast data entry. Think of how slow your grocery shopping would be if the cashier had to hand input the UPC numbers in for every item in your cart! (Interestingly enough, with a bit of work you can teach yourself to read 1-dimension barcodes) 2-d barcodes are the same in principle- a pattern designed for computers to easily read. The advantage of a 2-d barcode over a 1-d barcode is data density. While a normal barcode can usually holds around 10 characters, some 2-d barcodes can hold upwards of 3000 characters in a similar physical space. 2-d barcodes are all around you. Look at your mail or even on the back of your driver's license! Some banks use these codes to track documents, and many electronics manufactuers are moving from 1-d barcode to 2-d barcode for serial number recognition. One great thing is that with the right kind of cell phone and the right software, you can read these codes!
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Wedding Photos by Kristel Messer Tippins
I just had to share these as we are so pleased with how they came out! Click here, to see our photographer's blog featuring photos from our June 10th wedding in California! Can you spot the ValpoLife gear that made it into our wedding photos?? They do travel, but if you need a photographer in Valparaiso (with a studio), a personal favorite of mine is Air One. They have a great studio set up for formal, traditional shots. They have the equipment to restore older photographs and negatives. And, my personal favorite thing they offer are canvas wrappings- any photograph can be printed on canvas and wrapped like an original painting! So, if you've never been into the Air One studio, stop in and check it out! They have samples on display of what they can do, and have aeiral photographs available for purchase (they make a very unique gift). Plus, they're in a great location- right on Lincolnway just off the square. Don't forget to mention that you read about them on ValpoLife!
To view the blog, click here.