This year is going to be different. I resolve to change my ways — at
least my tech ways — and make the world a better place for me and
everyone who knows me. This is my goal. These are my 2012 New Year’s resolutions.
1) No More One-Word Email Responses
Email is an
overwhelming digital flood that washes over virtually every part of my
life. This is because it’s always with me: on my laptop, scrolling
through my iPad and hiding in my pocket on my smartphone. It’s unlikely
I’ll ever fully gain control of all my email, but I think I can cut it
down by maybe 15% if I do one simple thing: Stop sending one-word
responses. No more “Okay!” “Thanks!” “Yup!” I may even stop two-word
responses. That would mean the end of “You bet.” “Of course” and the
double affirmative, “Yes, okay.” Three-word responses will be held to
one or two a week and only if I have no choice.
For those who communicate with me via email, this could prove a bit
confusing, since some of your email messages to me will be met with
silence. I assure you, even if I do not email it, I am thinking, “Yup,”
“You bet,” and “Okay!”
2) Look Up
With all my gadgets I am constantly in touch with everyone and
virtually anything I can know. There is always a new news story, email
message, tweet, Facebook friend request or Google+ conversation to
attend to. I typically attend to all of them — non-stop. This means my
head is forever tipped forward at roughly a 45-degree angle. Most people
I know are usually greeted by the top of my bald head. I therefore
resolve to look up. Now, how I do this is still a puzzle to me.
Should I
schedule these upward glances? Every 5 minutes I will look up and
straight ahead, whether or not someone is in front of me. This could
make me look like I have a nervous twitch.
Perhaps I can just make sure
to look up when someone is in front of me. Even if they aren’t talking
to me, this upward glance could force them to do the same and engage in
real conversation. I’m starting now, so I’ll take a momentary break from
writing this post to look at my wife….Hello, Linda.
3) Double My Twitter Audience
I know some people think the quest for more Twitter
followers is crass, but I really don’t understand why. If your job is
to communicate, wouldn’t you want to communicate with the largest
audience possible? I truly appreciate all 37,000 people who have chosen
to follow my Twitter account’s
daily tech posts, space and science links, random musings and humor. I
would like more people to know about the things that interest me. I have
no idea how to grow my account more quickly. I do not want to run a
contest or do anything that will change or somehow diminish the quality
of my account. I guess I just have to do more of the same and hope for
the best. So this is a resolution over which I have no control. Yet it
stays on the list.
4) Finally Recover All My Old Data
Look, I’m no archivist, but I love history and think I have a
wicked-good memory. The reality, though, is that while I love the past,
it is becoming a hazy memory, rapidly receding into the distance in my
rear-view mirror. I cannot depend on myself to remember everything, to
close my eyes and see my children as they were when they were two years
old or recall that drawing I did on my first Mac in 1987 or a short
story I wrote on an old Epson computer in 1990. My old storage media,
though, remembers everything. Unfortunately, most of that media is about
as useful as a coaster. I no longer have the old computers or drives to
read the files. My old 8MM video tapes are trapped and can only be
played back through an ancient Sony camcorder. In 2012, I will stop
procrastinating and begin the arduous process of transferring everything
to my computer and network-attached storage and media drive. Soon I’ll
be able to relive it all. That is as long as I can successfully read the
data. That’s a big if. Please wish me luck.
5) Fill in My Facebook Timeline
I’ve been a big fan of Mark Zuckerberg’s latest invention ever since Facebook unveiled Timeline
in September of last year. I even set up my Timeline using the
developers’ instructions. That was fun. However, I have a confession to
make: I’m really not a Facebook user. I’ve never tagged anyone in a post
or photo, I never played a game on the service and, in all the years
I’ve been a member, I have poked just one person (stop snickering). Yes,
I’m on the service and have lots of friends and some subscribers, but
virtually all of my Facebook posts come directly from Twitter. I am what
you’d call a lazy Facebook user. That will change in 2012. I will
become more active on the world’s most popular social network and will
do the legwork necessary to fill in my Timeline (the same kind of work I
once did to fill in my LinkedIn profile). It shouldn’t be too hard. In fact, it may even be fun.
These are my resolutions and when we all look back a year from now, I
hope to have accomplished them all. If not, send me a note telling me
how I failed. I will surely reply, via email, “Of course.”
What about you? What have you resolved to make so in the new year? Share with me in the comments.
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