[Zeke]

[color=#000000ost_uid0][January 1-2 update]


Well, this was an interesting update. I've been trying to decide what to say at the start of the new year, and I've gone back and forth between saying a lot and saying a little. For a while I was even going to write a whole article. I had a great title, too. "2004: A Clarke Analogy."


Ultimately, I've decided to keep it brief. (This after taking so long to decide I missed yesterday's update....) What I basically wanted to explain is that 2003 wasn't 5MV's best year in a number of ways. There were highlights, to be sure, but we were plagued with server problems, and our overall output wasn't as high as in previous years. I know a lot of the blame for the latter is mine, and I'm sorry about that. It's been a difficult year for me personally, and while the problems haven't gone away, I hope I'm starting to deal with them better.


On the other hand, I think the daily-updates experiment has been a major success. It's kept things interesting for you readers and kept me from vanishing for long periods again. So that will most certainly continue into the new year. There are a few resolutions I could make, and maybe should: things like getting the updates out earlier in the day, keeping current with Enterprise, catching up on other series, answering my mail faster... but I don't really think it would make much difference. I already [iost_uid0]know[/iost_uid0] I should be doing those things, and I do try to do them, though I may not always succeed.


So basically this year I'm going to do my best to build on the success of the last few months. I'll keep the new material coming as steadily as I can, and I'll let you know why when I can't. We on staff have got several major events in planning, too. So here's to 2004 being -- as Standback would put it -- a year of many fivers.[/colorost_uid0]