1. My desktop is littered with different todo lists (Work, Home, Consulting, etc…). I’m going to get these cleaned off my desktop and into a comprehensive list where I can then focus on completing one of these tasks at a time.
2. The open source community has a saying “Release early and release often”. I’m going to take this saying to heart but in the form of communication. I’m going to communicate early and often. Expect to see a lot more blog posts, tweets, status updates and the like from me in 2011. My goal is 1 blog post and 3 tweets a day.
3. I want to work more. This seems like a strange goal since most people make resolutions to work less. I plan to work an extra 14 hours a week for the next 4 months. There are a couple of really simple explanations for this goal:
   • We are in the process of building a new house and I want to make sure to cover the expenses until our old house is sold.
   • I have a couple of personal projects that I’ve been meaning to work on but just haven’t found the time to do.
   • I want to finish up some of the projects I’m working on so I can focus on my next resolution.
4. Spend more time with my family is always a perennial resolution for most people and it’s made my list as well. If I can pull off my previous resolution then I’ll have more free time. That free time is going to be spent with my wife and kids. I’m going to take those extra 2ish hours a day to play with my kids.
5. I’ve lost close to 40 pounds before. I’m about 15 pounds heavier now then I was after that first weight lose. My next goal is 4 fold and must go hand in hand to achieve it.
   • Walk on the treadmill at least 3 times a week.
   • Eat at least 2 fruits and vegetables a day.
   • Decrease my portion sizes by 1/3.
   • Lose 40 pounds by the end of the year. Sticking with these first 3 goals will get me down those 40 pounds. That would put me on or about where my original weight lose goal was.
6. At this point in my life I’ve been a smoker longer than I haven’t been. Once we’ve settled into the new house and things have calmed down it’s time to come up with a working quit plan that I can stick with.

These are some lofty goals for the next year, but they should be eminently doable with a strong commitment on my part and support from friends and family.

That made me curious if this was an overall trend or just localized to our immediate group of friends and family. The most recent data I was able to find on the subject came from a 2007 Gallup Poll. Different articles I’ve read that reference this poll and others state that two is still what people believe is the ideal number. However, there are some interesting trends.

Professional moms have twice as many kids at home, on average, than their high-powered counterparts did back in 1977, according to a 2002 report from the Families and Work Institute. And in a 2000 study, sociologist Martin found that college-educated women who put off motherhood until their 30s are suddenly having families almost as big as everyone else’s. “That’s historically unprecedented,” he says. babycenter

Americans also had different opinions depending on what generation they belonged to. A larger part of Americans (61%) between 35 and 54 years of age responded that having 2 or less children was optimal. Interestingly, less than half (48%) of 18 to 34 year olds agreed with this idea. associated content

Since Rachel and I fit into the 18 to 34 year old group it may explain why we are seeing larger families.

The graph below from the article Trends in ideal family size really illustrates these trends.

So what do you think. Is three the new two? Are large families making a comeback? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Things like these have all kinds of hidden cost, but here is one you might not think about. Most modern equipment needs an internet connection to function properly. What many people may not know is that lots of Blue Ray players and DVRs do not come with built in WIFI. You could wire you house for Ethernet to get these online, but who really wants to do that? That means you have to buy a proprietary USB network adapter. An adapter you can only get from the manufacturer. These adapters usually run between $50 and $80 dollars.

If you do consider getting one of these "Home Entertainment" devices just make sure you know how it connects to the internet and if you will need one of these adapters.

** Update ** Chris Finke suggests purchasing an apple airport express instead of a network adapter. It doesn’t cost much more and gives you the opportunity to network some speakers.

Apparently two-thirds of all divorces are initiated by women. With that fact and our musings about divorce I wanted to ask these questions: What shifts in society need to occur so that women are happy in marriage? What can be done to help combat the Twilight Effect, Princess Syndrome, and Unrealistic Marriage Expectations?

In an aside. While researching this post I thought I coined a new term "Princess Syndrome". A quick search proved me wrong though.

I feel sorry for the parents of the kids that did this. If the vandals are caught, what do you think is an appropriate punishment?

• Mediacom is not available in my area.
• Qwest dial-up service is the only thing available.
• Verizon is not available in my area.
• Verizon mobile broadband is available for $59.99 a month with a maximum 5GB per month.
• Iowa Telecom needs a phone number to find out if it’s available.
• Hughes Net costs 7 times as much for a comparable package.
• Wild Blue offers a package for $79.95 that is 1/5th the speed and has a maximum 17GB per month.

View House Locations in a larger map

An interesting side note: I started working on this post over the weekend. OM Malik has two stories today about the state of broadband in the US.

• Broadband Growth Falls Sharply in the U.S.
• What My Daughter’s Broken Leg Taught Me About Broadband
• Update: Another great story about rural broadband.
  Rural broadband = more jobs, better salaries

With that in mind, I set off to find the answer on google. The only study I found that had information I thought was relevant contradicted my thoughts on the subject. So now I’m asking you the lazy web what you experience is. Are left handed people less dexterous than right handed people? Please leave a comment and let me know.