2007 In Review
I think I’ve finally closed the last of the holes that hackers have been using to deface this site. It is truly a pain in the arse to have to patch all of the software, change passwords, scrub all of the html pages for rogue script, etc., but I think things are back to normal now.
For the last few years, I’ve tried to do recaps of the year on a personal note. It seems like everyone blogging is doing that tonight. Before I begin, I wanted to look back at the last 10 years of the world (at least from my perspective) and see what new things have changed our lives.
- High-speed Internet into the home. I had this at Uni in 1995, but I first got it at home in 2000. It’s hard to imagine life without it. Not to mention WiFi.
- iPod. You cannot go to a gym and not find a hoard of these strapped to people’s arms.
- Google. We had search ten years ago, but we didn’t know how good it could be until Google came around.
- Tivo. Watching TV without it is painful.
- DVD. Wow, ten years ago we used VHS tape? Ewe.
- Cell phones. We had cell phones ten years ago, but they really came into vogue in recent years. Everyone and their teen has one. They are in color, keep our numbers, and even do email and Internet. Get on a bus and count the number of folks whose head is buried in one (same goes for iPod, PSP, or Nintendo DS).
- Robots. We got Aibo, BattleBots, and even Roomba. Maybe not world changing, unless you ask those who have one.
- Find a hybrid car on the road ten years ago…
- X-Prize. Some guy in the desert shot himself into space. Oye.
- Anime. It’s been building momentum since the early 80’s, but by around 2000, you could start finding these in U.S. stores. Also fueled by Kazaa, BitTorrent, and other inventions…
There are other things, like the social norms that are different. We have the Fab Four and the rise (and fall) of the metro-sexual. We have civil unions now, except where prohibited by law. Reality game shows, Lord of the Rings, and people camping for weeks to be the first in line for Star Wars. Oh yeah, and ten years ago Duke Nukem Forever was supposed to come out. Dance Dance Revolution was it’s own revolution, as long as you were a part of this subculture. Britney took over the world, got rid of Justin, got married, got annulled, got pregnant, got married, got pregnant, got divorced, got shaved, and ran someone over in her car, in roughly that order.
Then there is the group of things fueled by the Internet that we simply can’t live without anymore. I mean stuff like MapQuest, Amazon, Travelocity, YouTube, Flickr, FaceBook, Myspace, Twitter, Linkedin, other social networking sites and RSS, blogs, etc. Many have gone in and out of vogue quickly like the Atkins diet. Great software like Trillian, and Firefox came and sometimes stayed. Phenoms like Xbox Live and Halo were non-existant ten years ago. ilikebees anyone? And All Your Base Are Belong To Us.
What have I done this year?
- Acted as a witness in a trial over billions of dollars. Wow. That was an amazing experience, but I wouldn’t recommend it for the faint of heart.
- San Diego rocks. Especially the Keating Hotel. That has completely changed the way I think hotels should look.
- Wrote a Firefox plug-in, which got Slashdotted, and millions of downloads.
- Had the best year of work I think I’ve ever had. We also bought companies worked at by my wife, my sister-in-law, and a friend.
- Gave Steve Ballmer a high-five.
- Turned 30. It’s the new 20. Seriously, it feels like it.
- Won the lottery. Bought me an HDTV with it.
Last year, my goal was to produce more than I consume. I think I succeeded, but I don’t think I spent as much time on the things I wanted to do as opposed to the things I thought I had to do.
This next year, my goals are pretty modest. I want to eat better. I eat well now, but not nearly often enough. I want to exercise “better.” I’m at the gym three times a week now, but I’ll be changing up my program to try to get better results. And I want to spend more time doing stuff I enjoy. You know, less time getting caught up in the daily grind. That’s hard, and it takes a lot of conscious diligence. Sometimes even forcing yourself to do stuff you want to do. Like blog.
Happy New Year’s Everyone!