Happy New Year December 31, 2009March 16, 2017 Well, it’s been a great year — at least in some ways — and here’s to the even better one upcoming. Resolutions include: back up your data, eradicate disease, embrace diversity, keep hope alive (stem cell research could work a miracle for you, too!) – and more (be even nicer to those around you, although in your case, there’s virtually no room left for improvement). DROPBOX.COM This is certainly the weekend to be sure you’ve got a good system for backing up your data, and happy as I am with Mozy, I am thinking of switching to Dropbox. That’s largely because I own more than one computer, and in more than one physical location. Dropbox lets you put any or all your documents or folders under one giant folder which it then keeps synched across all your computers. Writes the estimable Bryan Norcross: “I put almost everything in the Dropbox and use that instead of the Documents folder. I then put the Dropbox and some key subfolders on my Start Menu and/or tray for fast access. The files physically reside on all computers, so no more Mozy.” Check it out. DEPT. OF HOPEFUL SIGNS James Musters: “Man in UK gets eyesight restored after stem cell treatment.” What a great story! I’m telling you: Ray Kurzweil is onto something. DEPT. OF HOPEFUL SIGNS Twenty-five years ago there were, worldwide, more than 3 million cases of guinea worm. Today, just 3,500 – headed quite possibly to zero. It’s something we Americans – who have never suffered its misery – can feel very good about, as it is largely our leadership (most particularly Jimmy Carter’s) and our resources (significantly including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) that have made it possible. DEPT. OF HOPEFUL SIGNS “I think this generation has grown up with the realization that the planet is dying and that its survival is a little more important than whom people sleep with.” – Matthew Fox, Episcopal priest quoted in The Advocate. GOOGLE APP Ted Graham: “As you may have figured out [since you wrote about this yesterday], you don’t even have to touch the microphone button. The motion of bringing your phone to your ear triggers voice search; you’ll hear a beep and then you speak. Wow!” ☞ I am having so much fun with this. I got to show it off to Jim Wallis. I showed him my iPhone as I touched the Google icon, then jerked the phone up to my ear, got the beep, and said, “Jim Wallis,” whose new book, Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street, just came out. The common spelling would be “Wallace” – that’s how it sounds – but within seconds, Google was showing us this list of info on Jim Wallis. “How does it do that?” marveled the theologian. “It’s a miracle!” replied the atheist. (Later, wanting to know the nearest FedEx location, I jerked the phone to my ear and said “FedEx Locations.” The phone, knowing where Charles and I are, almost immediately came up with the address and phone number of the nearest location, its hours of operation, and a map to get there.) # Lots more to say; another year ahead to say it. Whether you’re celebrating tonight quietly alone, reorganizing your back-up system and contemplating our collective good fortune (we have hot water!), listening to Beethoven’s Eroica* – or noisily, in the thick of the mayhem (also a good choice if you’re unable to avoid it) – have a safe, happy, healthy New Year. *I thought it was spelled with an H, and the name of his Ninth Symphony, but jerked my phone to my ear, said “Beethoven’s Heroica,” and three seconds later found out the truth.