My tech resolutions for 2014 [Mark]

Well, that's another year out of the way! It's customary at this time of year to make resolutions... for some people at least. It's something I've always shied away from, but this year is going to be different.

I don’t smoke anymore, I don’t need to lose weight, and I'm unlikely to take over the world in the next twelve months. But when it comes to tech, there is room for improvement, so here are my New Year's resolution that I will, truly, try to stick to.

Backing up stuff

Working as a tech journalist for the last 13 years, I've lost count of the number of times I tell people to ensure that make regular backups of their data. Do I practice what I preach? Er... no. But this year, this will change. My network drive will be put to better use. I'll need to invest in a couple (a few?) terabyte drives to hook up as extra storage, but I will -- I promise -- back up all of my computers on a schedule. And my phones and tablets.

Stop slagging off Windows Phone

I've bitched and moaned about Windows Phone. Quite a lot actually. My opinion hasn’t changed, but now I'll shut up until Windows Phone 8.1 is released. It is what it is for now, and hopefully it will get better.

Stop pretending I'm going to use Linux

My desktop PC is set up to dual boot between Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu. The number of times I've felt the need or urge to boot into Linux can be counted on one hand. Now is the time to wipe out that OS, eliminate the boot menu that I almost always forget is there and stick to using Windows. That particular PC didn’t play too nicely with Ubuntu anyway.

Embrace Chromebook

I don’t know quite why, but I don't use my Chromebook anywhere near as much as I should. I've managed to accumulate three different machines through 2013 and none of them are used enough. The Chromebook 11 is lovely and deserves to be pulled out more frequently. I shall endeavor to do so.

Sort out my passwords

This is kind of like my backing up. There is a distinct lack of practicing what I preach here too. I used to have a solid password policy in place and, while I was not perfect at changing passwords on a regular basis it did at least happen every now and then. I've got out of this habit and this needs to change. Facebook and Google are two that needs particular attention -- I make use of Facebook and Google login whenever it's an option, so I really should try to bolster my security here.

There are probably more, but I think five resolutions will do for now -- I don’t want to set myself up for failure! How about you? What are your resolutions for 2014, both tech and non-tech?

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