Typically, Macworld’s keynote is a day of super angst and tons of bloggers creating huge rumors that swirl inside their heads. This Macworld, the last one where Apple will be an official partner, was a bit of a let down, if you ask me. Sure, the updates to iLife are great.  Lord knows we need a better iMovie and the personal music lessons from today’s biggest stars for Garage Band are pretty cool, too. But I guess I was hoping for something huge to happen and it never did. But then again, maybe that has more to do with Steve Jobs’ not delivering the keynote more than anything else.

So for those three of you who haven’t heard the latest Apple announcements, I’ll do a quick summary for you:

(1) iTunes, by April, will be 100% DRM free. Basically this means (for you non-geeks) that when you purchase an iTunes song, you will be able to copy it and play it almost anywhere. That’s a good thing, me thinks. Another potentially huge announcement is iTunes will also now have 3-tiered music prices: some songs will be $0.69, some songs will stay $0.99 and other songs (the huge hits) will raise to $1.29!

(2) iLife ’09, iWork ’09 – to me, this is the coolest news of the entire keynote. iLife (which is the heart of Mac) updated Garageband, iMovie and iPhoto. iPhoto ’09 will have an awesome facial recognition technology that will be able to scan your photos and then tag the photo with the person in it. For example, I upload a photo from my iPhone into my Mac with my Mom and Dad. I tell my Mac who my Dad is in the picture, and then iPhoto will scan every single photo on my Mac and will then tag him in every picture I have. Facial recognition technology is amazingly awesome. You can read exact updates of iMovie and Garageband here. I’m happy for iWork ’09 but I really don’t use it that much, but if you want to read more about iWork ’09, click here.

(3) 17″ Macbook Pro – the only hardware announcement made in yesterday’s keynote is for the Macbook Pro. A new 17 inch, very powerful and very sleek Macbook Pro has officially been released. A nice and hefty pricetag as well – $2,800. Wow, things I wish I could have…

And that was it. It was, by all accounts, a very short and sweet keynote. It’s not bad, but it by no means rivaled the keynotes of past when the iPhone was announced to the world or when Apple TV was announced.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m very excited for the software updates. I want them here now. If you’re a current Mac owner, the upgrade is only $79.

Today is the last day of 2008. I must say I’m pretty darn glad to say goodbye to 2008. It hasn’t been the best year for me, but I also know it could have been a lot worse. I have a lot to be grateful for and I am grateful.

I’ve had a hard year in some areas of my life, a real hard year. But in other areas, I’m blessed and thankful. My online life has definitely taken off in 2008. My blog became more popular and although the last couple of months, it’s dipped in visits, it’s beginning to pick back up again. I started the Moxie Mo Show on July 14th of this year, and I have a great number of subscribers and followers every single episode. I’ve been able to hone my social networking expertise with my job and that’s paid off quite well too.

So what are my resolutions for 2009? Well, let me take a shot at them and why not make them public? That way, my audience (you) can hold me accountable.

1. Make the Moxie Mo Show the best podcast it can be. I hope 2009 makes it quite popular and I hope I continue growing. I hope I can even get sponsorships and get paid for the hard work that I put into it.

2. Continue being the best son, boyfriend, friend and coworker I can be. I take my personal relationships quite seriously because I know how fragile life can truly be (after the passing of my brother in 2005). I want to be a great son, boyfriend, friend and coworker to the people that are special to me.

3. Get back into shape. Isn’t this everyone’s resolution? I’ll add a brief caveat to this one, though: I’m not looking to be a marathon runner, but I’d like to be fit again. Healthy. Lose a few LBs. That’d be nice. And stick to it this time.

4. Learn some new things this year. Technologies, video editing (more professionally) and maybe even brush up on my French.

5. Stop worrying. I am a constant worrier. I care too much, in fact. I need to learn that there will be people who just won’t like me and for reasons unsaid (which is their problem, not mine). I hope 2009 will be a time to cut the fat so to speak – those people that I’ve continued trying to reach out to in friendship and that never respond or take the time that I take to keeping the relationship going. Friends come and go, sadly… and that’s ok.

6. Become financially stronger. The last few years, I’ve done a fairly good job in paying back debt and managing my expenses much better than in previous years. This year, I want to continue that trend while putting more money into savings for that rainy day (or for a spur of the moment vacation!)

7. Be happier professionally. I love recruiting, it’s the job I’ve chosen to do since I graduated. I want to become the best I can be and continue to learn and grow. The last few months have gotten real scary in regards to job security and I pray and hope that 2009 will continue to bring me the blessing of a stable job and paycheck.

8. Grow. No explanation needed.

9. One of my favorite quotes will end my resolution list (9 for 2009, ps) – “Sing like no one’s listening, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching, and live like its heaven on earth.”

I wish you all a very happy and successful 2009. Thank you for being here on my journey and I appreciate your visit.

Want to share your NY’s resolutions? Leave a comment below…