Looking back on 2011

As each new year approaches, I like to look back and see what was accomplished and what goals remain unfinished. In the past year I moved to another State and bought a new house. Still haven't sold the old one, so that remains a goal for the coming year.

My job as a data specialist in the electronics industry is still not without worry, as another economic downturn or company takeover could spell trouble. As they say these days, there are no guarantees that your job is safe.

I hope to migrate the Midwest Machine Shop Network website to a new domain, which will take advantage of the "Buy American" trend that is helping the economic recovery. I also need to get back to editing my girlfriends next book, so I probably won't be accepting any new web clients during the next year.

After a very turbulent investment year, I don't feel like I've made any progress. As bond fund prices dropped, the value of my portfolio went down with it. But, things seem to have recovered a bit since this summer. I've tried to chronicle some of this on my investment forum. But, that too has been a disappointment as I had to disable new members because of the bogus foreign accounts that were being added.

I've been able to get back to posting tech reviews and hope to continue doing that in 2012. This past year was definitely "the year of the smart phone". Facebook continues to dominate the social network scene, and streaming media is still having growing pains. I'm going to try and keep my eyes open for the next online trends in the coming year and report on them here.