Mike Cohen

The biggest story of 2007 of course is the iPhone. It offers the best balance of features in any mobile device. Even though I can’t fit my entire music and video library on it, I use it instead of my 80G video iPod wherever I go. I like being able to carry only one device instead of an iPod and a cell phone.

Twitter also became one of the fastest growing web services in 2007. I first heard of events like Bhutto’s assassination from Twitter, not the TV, radio, or newspaper. I also met a lot of interesting people through Twitter.

The OLPC XO Laptop has the potential to make a big difference in many parts of the world, if the distribution is done right. A lot of people argue that we should be sending food & water to developing countries, but all we’ll be doing is making them dependent on handouts. A big problem is lack of education, so anything that can help educate the children will help those nations become self-sufficient.

Another way to help developing nations is with small loans to individual businesses. Kiva allows anyone to get involved, for as little as $25. A small business will help the entire area’s economy and also help them become self-sufficient.

I know it’s a cliche, but children are the future. Young bloggers and podcasters like Daniel Brusilovsky, Taylor McNeil, Chris Thompson, and too many others to mention are making their mark and sparking innovation.

The Mac market share grew to its largest ever and continues to grow. Several of my friends who never would have considered a Mac at one time bought one last year. Unless Apple stumbles badly, I expect it to continue.

We made it through another year! I had a quiet new years eve, since nobody around here really felt like having a party. We’re all still sort of burned out from the big Christmas Eve party.

My goals for 2008:

1. Get Organized and get rid of clutter. When mail arrives, instead of just putting it down somewhere to deal with later, I’ll deal with it immediately. I will stop using every horizontal surface in my office to stack books & papers.
2. Learn Ruby On Rails and get deeper into Python
3. Turn my websites into a source of income
4. Turn techblast.tv into a major network by getting a few major podcasters to sign up, getting sponsors, and hosting a few popular podcasts.
5. Improve my2unz.com. Among other things, I hope to add a Facebook application to let you publish playlists to your profile.
6. Rewrite Mii Transfer. I’d like to eliminate the WiiRemote framework, since the DarwiinRemote project is stagnating and I think it would be more solid if I used a standard Bluetooth HID driver. I’d also like to add some editing capabilities.