Welcome to 2014

I'm not a fan of "year in review" articles, at least not until the year is properly over! But now it's 2014, everything looks so fresh and new. Flying cars are expected any day. Big Data is going to be elected president. Web 4.0 will come this year, you mark my words.

(incase you're wondering, Web 4.0 is the internet of babies and great-grandparents)

2013 was a great year for If We Assume. I started the year wondering if I'd be able to recapture the excitement that was generated by the United States of Starbucks. I'm grateful that two other posts generated lots of interesting conversations/interactions: Airports of the World, and the (De-)evolution of My Laptop Battery.

I spent my summer as a stranger in a strange (but wonderful) land, as an intern at MSR. Looking back on it now after a few months, this internship was one of the most interesting experiences of my life.

I also launched a new project, Mock Twain. This ridiculous bot is already in to Chapter 2 of tweeting the entirety of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It's a combination of art and technology, and I'd love to chat with you about it.

2014 promises to be action packed, and likely more Astronomy focused. I'm about 1.5 years from finishing the PhD, have about a half dozen conferences/trips planned, and hopefully will start seriously shopping my "science brand" around.

On the blog/data/project side, my New Year's Resolution is to write more. Not just more blog posts (though that would be good) but more of everything. I'm exited by this new website Medium and I have a few cool blog post ideas that I've been sitting on for several months.

So here's to productive and exciting new adventures, hoping the third year of If We Assume is as fun as the last two, and that you all have a grand 2014.