• Total Posts: 147
• Total Comments: 376
• Total Visitors: 54,679
• Number of Visiting Countries: 154
• Number of Sites Linking Here: 364
• Busiest Traffic Day: Sept. 21 (10,285 views)

Here are some of the most popular posts from our first year:

• Lock Down Your Ubuntu Computer with A Bluetooth Cellphone and BlueProximity
• How-to: Enable Surround Sound on Ubuntu Hardy
• Organize Your ToDo List in Ubuntu with Remember The Milk and Tasque
• Electric Sheep: A Screen Saver That Learns (and is the best I’ve ever seen)
• How To: Host a Subversion Repository in Ubuntu Hardy
• Comcast Blocking DD-WRT?
• Void My Firefox Warranty?
• How-to: Mount a Network drive in Ubuntu
• Customize Your Dual-boot: GUI Frontend to GRUB
• Easy Subversion GUI for Nautilus and Ubuntu

And as the New Year is upon us, I’d also like to make some personal goals for myself.  I don’t believe in New Years resolutions, but I do have a few things I’d like to improve in the upcoming year:

• Run More: Last year I started excersing and running regularly, and even did a half-marathon in the Fall.  I’d like to keep it up, and push even harder this year.  If all goes well, I’ll be running the Chicago Marathon with a friend later this year.
• Study More: I’m coming up on my last semester as an undergraduate, but it really doesn’t end there for me.  I just applied for graduate school, and hope to pursue a Masters in machine learning starting next Fall.  I want to end this year strong, and get ready for harder classes and more research in graduate school.
• Revive automaticable: You may have notices lulls in posting during our first year.  This is mostly due to my own lack of time and motivation, but I’d like to fix that in 2009.  Brian has already alluded to a few changes we are planning in the site layout, and there’s a few other things we have planned as well.  Stay tuned.

These are my goals for 2009.  Have you made any for yourself?  And as we begin a new year for automaticable, what would you like to see more of on the blog?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

• Happy 1 Month Anniversary!
• Organize Your ToDo List in Ubuntu with Remember The Milk and Tasque

So, I’m sitting here thinking, and I realize I only have about 32 more hours before I’m off on a flight, leaving the U.S.A. to go be in warm, 85 degree weather during some of the most brutal snow storms Chicago’s had in quite a while.  The family and I (yes, all automaticable bloggers) are taking a GLORIOUS trip down to Jamaica for my parent’s 25th wedding anniversary.  This is a trip that has been in the makings for about six months now, and I’m as gitty as a school girl.  With a brand new camera, and skin as white as the snow we’re leaving behind, I’m fully prepared for a 7 day, all expenses paid vacation in the Caribbean.  Our resort includes a poolside bar, sailboats at our leisure, a beach, and endless amount of sunshine.  I don’t want to brag or anything, but it’s supposed to be 85 degrees EVERY day that we’re there.

Now, being it the holiday season, we were torn at first, at what to do about “The Big C” (Christmas), but in the end, we decided…..we’re skipping Christmas.  Yes, I know, shocking, because every year we have Christmas Eve at our place, and 45 people will all be disappointed this year because Santa will be coming down the stairs this year, instead of the elevator.  The fact that we’re skipping Christmas this year, is kind of difficult.  All my friends are asking me what I want for Christmas, and the only good answer I have come up with is “A Tan.”  I’m saving a bunch of money for not having to buy any gifts this year, but I can’t seem to put a close to 2008, even with New Years on its way.  Without Christmas, my year just doesn’t seem to be complete.  Oh well, Jamaica will still be fun, and I’ll be tan for my arrival in Orlando.

So here’s the deal, starting January 7th, I’m leaving the cold once again to live in Orlando, Florida for 5 months.  I have been offered (and I graciously accepted) an internship at Walt Disney World.  I will be working in Quick Service Food and Beverage, but I won’t know which exact park or where IN the park until I arrive down there.  The new tab I was talking about is for the Coop-Internship side of things, where I have to keep in contact with a faculty member at my college so they know I’m actually doing something down there instead of just enjoying the warm weather.  I’ll try to post ATLEAST once a week, and there will also be pictures to support my posts.  This is an exciting thing for me, because it’s an opportunity of a life time, and will give me direction and motivation on what I really want my future to hold.  With that being said, it’s now close to midnight on Saturday and I only have 30 more hours, before my flight leaves for Jamaica.

A Bon Voyage to you all, as well as a Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah with a Jolly good New Year!

• The Princess Stole My Identity
• Wishes Do Come True

PS: In case you weren’t following, yes, Kyle does owe me 22.22 beers this vacation.  And yes, I did make my 50 mile goal.  And yes, I am doing the Chicago Half Marathon in September (more on that later).  I’m not really sure what kind of beer it’ll be yet– any suggestions?

• Mountain Man Competition #1: Grow a Beard
• Summer Workout Plan

For the first aspect of the Mountain Man Competition, we are going to have a beard growing contest. I’m not sure what the state of all the participants’ facial hair is, but for everyone participating we will have a final clean shave Friday morning and document our spikey growth over the entire week. Expect a photo-blog of our facial evolution when we get back. The winner gets to bask in his (or her?) manly glory as the most masculine (and hairy) person of the bunch.

Help us come up with more ideas!

How do you want to see the Wegner brothers compete over a week in the mountains? Leave your ideas in the comments. We only have a few days left, but any great ideas will have their own post created (which includes a link to your site, if you have one) and the competition photo-documented if possible.

This is open to everyone: automaticable readers, vacation attendees, random extended family members…anyone really. There is only 1 rule: no running competitions! (grrr…)

• Mountain Man Competition #2: Whittling
• Peace Out, Illinois

• Mountain Man Competition #1: Grow a Beard
• Peace Out, Illinois

• Did You Download Firefox 3? Show it Off!
• Firefox 3 Download Leaked Early in Ubuntu Hardy

Our first ever Chicken Cook Off was a smashing success. The idea being born during the cold dreary days of late winter, planning through the weeks and months anticipating the arrival of summer, and finally Memorial Weekend is here and we started it off right!

I recently discovered Evite, a wonderful tool for getting an event together, but a dangerous toy for a party planner like me. With my Evite address book preloaded with all my buddies’ contact information, it’s a snap to choose a theme, whip up a cute invitation and click–you’re having a party! Evite allows people to publicly RSVP to the web based invitation with the option of leaving a comment or not… a fun little thing that creates interest and excitement about the party. Since most of my parties are pot luck type dinners, I love the convenience of loading in the menu categories and allowing people to choose what they’d like to bring. If we’ll need 3 main dishes and 3 side dishes, those options will fall off the list as people choose them, thereby satisfying those categories without duplication. I love evite…but someone please tell me if I’m having too many parties!

We had about 40 people attend yesterday and 9 chicken cookers competing for First Prize. (the most eggcellent recipe won!) It was a fury of activity here with people at the grill, the electric smoker, the outdoor stove, indoor stove, oven, and outdoor propane fryer, all getting ready for the 6 pm buffet. Luckily I was on the outdoor stove frying my birds and didn’t get too mixed up in the indoor chaos… but I heard there were a LOT of people in the kitchen!

The incredibly delicious Cheesy Chicken recipe was the winner (ingredients by order must have been something like: cheese, more cheese, chicken, cheese, butter) with Rosemary Chicken coming in 2nd. We also had chicken chili, honey lavender grilled chicken, beer can chicken, fried chicken, smoked chicken, tandori chicken, and chicken and sausage. All incredibly delicious and real crowd pleasers!

There was a chicken joke telling contest… first place won a package of chicken feet!

Here’s the winning joke:

An old guy approaches the window of the movie theater with a chicken on his shoulder, and asks for two tickets. The girl at the counter wants to know who is going in with him. He replies, “Well, my pet chicken, of course!”

The girl tells him that he can’t take a chicken into the theater, so he goes around the corner, and stuffs the chicken into his pants. He returns to the window, buys his ticket and goes in.
Inside the theater, the chicken starts to get hot and begins to squirm, so the man unzips his pants so the chicken can stick its head out and watch the movie.

Sitting next to him are two old women. The one closest to the old guy nudges her companion and whispers, “Lucy, this man over here has just unzipped his pants!”

Her companion whispers back, “Oh, don’t worry about it. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”

“I know, but this one’s eating my popcorn!!”

If you’re ever looking for a great party theme, I’d highly recommend The Chicken Cook Off. And don’t forget to make Paula Deen’s incredibly delicious, yummy biscuits infused with melted butter and honey!

Bawk.

• Cooking Cheap Snacks 101: Granola Bars
• Movie Review: Iron Man

According to this excerpt from the Telegraph Herald, St. Patty’s was actually on Saturday, March 15th this year. The reason? The Catholic Church traditionally moves the date of this celebration if it ever falls within Holy Week, which has not happened since 1940.

So put away your clovers and hide that green shirt because you are starting to embarrass me! Oh, and if you are worried about missing St. Patty’s again sometime soon, don’t be; we shouldn’t have this problem again until the year 2160.

• Test the Waters with Teeter Totters
• Take the Green Pen