Another year has passed. I learned a lot. At my day job I learned how to code full-stack Java applications, from JSF pages straight to EJB taking data directly from a database or from a JAX-WS web service. I used both JBoss and IBM WebSphere. I used Eclipse. I learned my fair share of Javascript and JQuery (and grew to love Javascript for some strange reasons). I also learned to work with another team other than my own and located approx. 200 km from my office.
In my spare time I tried to learn both scheme and OCaml. They're very different from C and Java (the languages I worked with the most).
After the summer I started taking a look at Firefox OS. I bought a Geeksphones Peak and, since my LG L9 was stolen last November, it is now my main driver. And I'm starting to understand the point of Firefox OS. I also tried developing a simple app for it (Overtime).
It's been an unusually productive year by my standards, and I plan to do the same, if not more, for next year. So, here are my resolutions for 2014, in no particular order, as far as the spare-time department goes.
Continue developing for Firefox OS
Since it's been a fun experience, I plan to develop something a bit less simple for this fantastic mobile operating system.
My hope is that, if there are a lot of apps for it, people will start using it more and more. Since I feel Mozilla's mission has value, I want to do my best to further it.
Contribute to Mozilla
As I said, I find Mozilla is an important project. I want to help them further their goals, as best as I can. I already started contributing to a little string-correction bug on Gaia (the UI part of Firefox OS) to get an idea on how the process goes. So far, the mentor for that bug has been really helpful and patient (as I'm learning git by doing this, I made a real mess with my commits and pull requests).
Build a wearable
I have to admit, I'm absolutely mesmerized by the idea of project Glass. But only the always-in-front-of-the-eye-screen idea, not the camera part or the fact that it connects to the Google ecosystem. Actually, I'm more attracted by the first experiments made by That Starner (now working on project glass).
My idea would be very similar. An always on computer running some flavour of GNU/Linux (probably a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian), with an HUD in front of my eyes and a chorded keyboard for input. The main problem is microdisplays cost too much. We'll see if there will be a price drop next year.
So, I hope I can reach my goals for next year. The hardest part is to start, and I'm sure having laid down them is a good start.
Happy new year and happy hacking