Year Of The Project

Welcome to 2010, please watch your step as you board the new decade!

Unlike previous years, I’ve decided to skip my predictions for IT, other than to say that things will likely tick along as they have thus far – no big shifts in tech. I think the lack of predictions is mainly because I don’t see anything coming that really fires me up in IT – doesn’t feel like there are any big new things on the immediate horizon.

Instead, this year I’m going to talk about the things that I’m looking forward to in 2010. I’ve got some projects in mind that definitely qualify as personal development, and you never know where these kinds of projects can lead.

Make my own beer and/or cider: I’ve got a couple of friends who make their own fermented beverages, and both make some pretty high quality stuff! This year, I want to start making my own for a few reasons:

Cheaper per glass than the store-bought stuff

Make interesting concotions

Better information about the source of the ingredients

Get an Arduino and start playing around with electronics: This one might have somewhat less practical application than the first, but I’ve been wanting to try out this platform for a while. I think it probably stems from my childhood fascination with robots, and other automated devices. Plus, I can learn about electronics in general this way, and that might be a handy skill!


Join Jamie’s Food Revolution with Virginia: My wife and I saw Jamie Oliver speak when he was in Toronto, and has inspired us to take on the challenge he put out in his book “Jamie’s Food Revolution”. We’re planning on each making a different dish from each chapter, then blogging about our own dishes as well as each others.


Test for 5th Kyu in Aikido: Now that my schedule has become a little more sane again, I’m getting back in the dojo regularly. I don’t know if I’ll pass or not, but I’m going to work my butt off to get ready for my next test.


Learn how to can food: Living in Ontario, we get a lot of awesome produce (especially tomatoes!), and I want to start preserving the harvest for the colder parts of the year.

Now, I turn the microphone over to you: what are your exciting 2010 projects.