1. Blog more
   This blog is horribly neglected. I am a constant writer on the corporate blog, yet my personal blog could do with some new content as well, even though some authors claim that “blogging is dead” in the social age. Also I suspect there is one Spanish reader who might like to see more posts here.
2. Work out more
   Not driving to work by bicycle anymore (too far/clothing demands) took my daily workout away. There is an opportunity for weekly badminton with the colleagues as well as a slot for swimming. Would be great and healthy if I manage both.
3. Lose weight
   Goes in line with #2
4. Digitize my physical media
   I barely listen to my CD’s anymore – only to the songs I have on the various electronic devices. There’s several hundred of CD’s waiting to be digitized and tagged. Not sure what to do about the boxes full of audio cassettes.
5. Make photobooks
   Then again, sitting back and browsing through an actual physical album with photos is quite relaxing. A best-of for each year of digital photography would be cool.
6. Improve my guitar skills
   My guitar skills have not really improved in years. Taking lessons a few years ago did not really work out, mostly due to my busy schedule. So I need to think of a strategy how I can play more often and improve. Maybe the new gadget I gave myself for Christmas helps?
7. Spend more time with friends
   I’ve been something of a hermit the past years (people who know me know why). Gladly I made some new friends in 2010/2010 and I would enjoy spending more time with them. The old friends are scattered all over, but there is car and train. An exception might be my friends in Kiwiland.
8. Geocaching
   Finally the equipment is all here, so caches in the vicinity – beware!

Well, quite a list already. Welcome, 2012!

In a funny coincidence, I stumbled across an article with public speaking tricks today. I support most of the tricks mentioned. They work well. Here are my three secret soup ingredients when it comes to public speaking:

1. Speak LOUD
   In smaller rooms and with smaller audiences, I usually do not need amplification, because I talk significantly louder than many other speakers I have met. The trick is to find a volume where you are not shouting yet and still have full control over the nuances of your voice. Not only will speaking loud help the audience to understand you. The main effect is that a loud and clear and steady voice will give you an aura of authority and expertship. As a side effect, it will force you to breathe regularly, which helps you to relax and makes your thoughts more clear.
2. Speak SLOW
   Some people suggest you should treat your audience as if they were a bunch of 5 year olds. I do not like the implications of that – it’s a disregard of your audience. However, what works for me, is to speak slow. Real slow. And then a bit. Of course you need to adjust to your audience, but still – speak slower than you would normally do in a conversation. Again, this helps your audience to follow you, but it also helps YOU to plan your sentence ahead, in order to avoid gaps. Especially useful in a Q&A track.
3. Make eye contact
   Secret sauce ingredient #3 is equally important. I usually pick 2-5 people from the audience, and keep eye contact with them. It’s really not important who you chose, but if there are important people in the audience (prospective clients for example), pick them. Otherwise pick the ones you think look most sympathic or attractive. Members of the audience you will NOT pick, won’t realize they were not picked, but WILL realize you keep eye contact with the audience. Shift your eye-contact among the people you picked in a random pattern. Actually, don’t think too much of it, it will happen automatically. The effect is that the audience gets the impression that you CARE about them, and that you want them to take something home with them from your presentation.

Those are my 3 golden rules for presentations. More general rules include to be well prepared, to know what you talk about, the make a full body presentation, with walking, gesticulation, leaning against things. I even sat down on stage edges occasionally, to address the audience.

Public speaking can be great fun and is definitely a rewarding experience. Next time you have to do it, remember my 3 suggestions.

Have fun!

I always loved flying. I won a balloon ride as a teenager and my father sponsored me a short helicopter ride as well. My first commercial airline flight was to go visit Microsoft in Redmond, and over the past two decades I amassed quite a lot of flight miles. While flying became routine for me, it still never ceased to hold some fascination.

Now the sky is clear. The image above is a montage of some shots out of my window. Being located close to 3 commercial and one military airport, the sky usually holds 2-3 condesation trails at any time. Those white, kilometer long stripes are such a common sight, that their absence rings a chord. A clear sky is a strange sight.

I spoke to a friend briefly this morning, and we spun the idea that if the ash cloud from iceland blocks air traffic for another 3-4 weeks, how would it change our behaviour and our perception of air travel?

“From what we know, the device is one of the original Rebel cameras, probably a 350D, and given that they’ve been out for three years, it’s likely the owner would have had it cleaned or repaired in that time.”

Pardon? You must be kidding, don’t you? In a 3 year timeframe, that camera had to be sent in for maintenance at least one time?

I just replaced my old analog Canon camera – which I had for 10 years – with a Fuji digital camera. My old Canon NEVER got maintenanced in all these years!

Michael: What resolution does your phone have?
Sean: 3 Megapixels