Happy New Year to all my readers!  2009 was quite an emotional year: the first batch of my close friends got married, a death in the family, the ups and downs of dating, professional life and all that jazz.  Last year I’ve felt I’ve grown like no other year.  I started work in 2008.  But 2009 was the year that I feel I kicked off the sneakers, t-shirt and shorts laid-back attitude of  a university undergrad, and donned the look and feel of a professional.  I definitely feel the change was for the better.  Also last year I rolled up my sleeves and told myself to do the things I wanted to do, but kept on putting off.  True, I came up with some grandiose plans that I couldn’t of finished realistically.  Still I  managed to tie up most of the loose ends of previous years.  My projects moved forward by a bit.  My organizational skills improved, and I no longer procrastinate on tasks for months.  I still leave things off, but only for a few days.  At most a month, if something is a bit more complicated or delicate.  Come to think of it, most of the tasks that hang around are ones that will take hours to do.

Now the new year, nah new decade begins.  I feel I’m a better professional, writer, programmer, businessman, outdoorsmans and well… man than a year ago.  Ditto for 10 years ago.  So whats next for 2010?  Lets hope no massive shift in society occurs (and that I fear more and more is a possibility to no-one can simply ignore) and God willing that nothing crazy happens in this upcoming decade.  I’d hate to live the life of a Snake Plissken, Mad Max or an Afghani.  Assuming that nothing happens, my new years resolutions come from a modified version of last year’s:  (Which yes stems from goals of 2007…)

• Become a Senior Software Developer/Consultant
  • 2009:  Learnt the Spring MVC framework, EJBs, AJAX, ExtJS and other Web 2.0 technologies.
  • 2009: Advanced in my skills in databases and Python scripting.
  • Learn and become a Qt/C++ developer.
  • Learn to manage risks, estimates, costs and client expectations as a consultant.
  • Advance my knowledge of Python, PHP and Javascript web frameworks.
• Become a Published Writer
  • 2009: Started work on a number of novel ideas.  In total wrote about seven or eight separate chapters.
  • Finish and publish at least one novel.
  • Read a finished piece at The Totally Unknown Writers Festival 2010.
  • Publish my university articles in novel or series form.
• Start a Masters in HCI Design
  • This is a blue skies idea.  But I do plan to go back to university and start working on a Masters degree on HCI (Human -Computer Interface) Design.
• Become a Libre Software contributer
  • Continue work on justCheckers.  Possibly create and release the mythical version 1.0.
  • Get involved with the KDE or Maemo projects.
• Build out my stealth mode start-up
  • 2009: Created a business plan and strategy.  Now I just need to execute on it.
  • Build an initial product offering, that will fund future development.
  • Add finances into the mix.
• Personal
  • Get a full driving license.
  • Date that awesome girl. (Ladies a bit of help with that one? You know who you are.)
  • Get more involved with outdoor sports.
  • Deepen my faith and my knowledge of the world around me.
  • Learn to use a “freaking” calendar, rather than ignoring it.
  • Clean up the mess that is my home computing system.
  • Regular exercise and fitness.

And thats about it… Time to take on 2010.  I’m disappointed by the general lack of robotic servants, flying cars, jetpacks and moon bases.  Still I’m thankful for no nuclear war, giant mutant predatory creatures wandering the streets,  grey goo accidents or human-unfriendly singularity AIs too.  So 2010 probably won’t mean a radically different future for humanity.  But that doesn’t mean we don’t all have something look forward to this year. 🙂