New Year’s Techie Resolutions

2015 is officially here. It’s time to think ahead to what you want to accomplish this upcoming year.

Technology is always changing. Most of us are already anticipating what will be the next big thing for 2015. It may be difficult to keep up with this ever-changing cycle, so we’ve compiled a list of ideas that you can go through and create your own list of New Year’s resolutions. Many of these ideas will keep you prepared for whatever new technology comes your way.

1. Start at square one. One thing you’ll want to do in the new year is clean everything up. You may have 50 icons on your desktop or 3,201 unread e-mails. Perhaps your iCloud restore is still not done, even after three months of having your new iPhone 6. And don’t forget about that software update! Start out the year fresh. Clean out that inbox, organize your computer and make room for new advancements in technology.
2. Learn a new programming language. A good place to start may be HTML as many other languages build off of it. Other good options to learn once you have a grasp on HTML are Python, PHP, C++, and JavaScript. Lynda.com and codeacademy are both great sources to broaden your programming knowledge.
3. Change/Improve your passwords. 2015 is sure to bring new advancements throughout the internet. Unfortunately, hackers will be taking advantage of these advancements as well. Be sure to have secure passwords. Your dog’s name is not a secure password… Your passwords should be compiled of letters (no actual words that you’d find in a dictionary), numbers and symbols. We suggest using a password manager such as LastPass to keep everything together.
4. Security. There is more to security than a secure password. Ensure your antivirus software is up to date and working properly. Be aware of the content you open on your email; if you don’t recognize who an email is from, it’s best to ignore and delete it. Run a scan on everything that you download from the internet. If using Linux, changing your SSH port to something other than 22 can be an easy way to secure your server.
5. Read techie blogs more often. One of the best ways to stay informed about technology is by reading a couple of blog posts everyday. If you have a couple of minutes on the train or subway, pull out your phone and do some light reading. Some of my favorites are Smashing Magazine, Mashable, and Gizmodo. VPS.net/blog is a great resource for staying up to date with web hosting. Downloading a news aggregator app such as Feedly is a great way to manage all of the blogs you read. Don’t use this as a time waster, but rather a resource for learning.
6. Improve your website. If you designed your own website, go back and look at little things that you could improve. If your site seems cluttered, see what you can do to clean things up. Don’t be afraid to experiment a little with a test site to see what you’re capable of designing.
7. Design a new website/personal portfolio. If you didn’t design your own site, think about learning some basic coding and develop your own new site! A good place to start is to create a personal portfolio website. Use this portfolio to show off your design skills and accomplishments. This could end up landing you a job in the long run!
8. Get on LinkedIn. If you’re not using LinkedIn, go make a profile ASAP! LinkedIn is one of the rare social media platforms that could really benefit you professionally. In fact, 1 out of 3 business professionals in the world are on LinkedIn. If you’re already on there, update your profile. You may be surprised how much you’ve improved in only a few short months, so update any new skills on LinkedIn.
9. Explore Raspberry Pi. One of the recent advancements in technology is Raspberry PI. This credit card-sized computer can help people of all ages with different projects such as learning Scratch and Python. Raspberry Pi is perfect for anyone who wants to get more involved with programming.
10. Learn more about photography. One of my personal resolutions is to improve my photography skills. I’m an amateur photographer at best, usually using my iPhone as my camera. Photography is a great way to go places you wouldn’t otherwise explore.
11. Adobe. Going along with photography, improving your Adobe Creative Cloud knowledge is a great way to bring out your creative side. Start with Photoshop, explore Illustrator, then move onto more complex programs such as Edge Code.
12. Explore new web hosting options. Experience first hand the benefits of a Virtual Private Server. VPS.net offers many web hosting products that cater to different needs. Auto Healing, Auto Scaling, and redundancy are just a few of the features of VPS cloud hosting.
13. Put away your device.  Sometimes it’s best just to put away your mobile device. Many of us get carried away with time spent glued to a screen. Try to find a new hobby where you can disconnect for a few hours such as fishing or skiing. These hobbies can be therapeutic and can actually free your mind, helping you work more effectively down the road.

There you have it, 13 ideas for New Year’s resolutions. Don’t let your techie resolutions go unaccomplished; consider downloading an app to keep you motivated! We’d love to know what some of your resolutions are for the upcoming year. Send us a tweet @vpsnet to let us know!