Here are my resolutions for the new year. It isn't a long list so I have some chance of achieving my goals but I reserve the right to pretend like I never wrote this post approximately five minutes after posting it.

  • Be a Better Dad and Husband. To be clear, I don't think I'm a bad dad or husband. I think I'm pretty good. But I also think reminding myself what my number one priority is can't hurt. Everything else below is secondary to this.
  • Write Three Stories. Like most avid readers, I took a stab at creative writing in high school and college. What I produced wasn't worth discussing. But for over a year now I've been kicking around a few ideas and I'd like to make some time this year to put them down to paper. I've got two ideas now so I figure setting my resolution to three gives me some incentive to really give this a shot. I'll probably produce crap but I'll be happy to get the stories written down and out of my already too noisy head.
  • Give Hangouts on Air a Chance. Last year I did multiple presentations online with Adobe Connect. Connect is really good for presentations. A buddy of mine has suggested, multiple times, that I try Google's Hangouts on Air feature. I like Hangouts, but I'm not convinced they are appropriate for presentations. The biggest issue I see is handling questions. I've had folks say that you can use the comments on YouTube or Twitter, but that seems pretty lame to me. As a presenter, I don't want to be reloading YouTube or watching a Twitter search column. Despite that - I want to give it a shot. In general, I think online presentations can work very well. They aren't as good as being there in person, but I probably interacted with as many people online as I did in person last year. If I can run an hour long session at lunch on Friday for 50 people and no cost, I think that is a big win.
  • Kiss and Make Up with Angular. I really liked Angular when it first came out. But then it hit 1.0 and it just pissed me off. I didn't like any of the changes. I decided Backbone was my thing and I was happy with it (although I didn't get many opportunities to use it), but after seeing my coworkers have success with Angular and PhoneGap, I think it is time to bite the bullet and really give it a shot again.

I think that's it. As I said, not a long list, but hopefully one I can actually achieve. I hope everyone has a great 2014!

Photo Credit: Chris Phutully