We have celebrated the six year anniversary of the site in October, and the fourth annual Christmas Giveaway in December. I’m happy that I can give something back, besides the content that is posted daily on Ghacks of course.

Looking forward I can only hope that Ghacks continues to growth in the same pace as it did the last years. I still think that this is incredible considering that the site does not have the backing of a big company that pays hundreds of thousands of Dollars for optimization, advertisement and content.

Being independent does have its advantages though, as we do not follow a corporate agenda or have to report to an executive who does not care about the site’s user base or reputation as much as we do. Can I manage to keep the site independent in the coming years? I honestly do not know. As much as I like writing and managing the site on my own, I feel pressure every day running it.

Enough with the babbling. On behalf of the Ghacks.net team I wish each and everyone of you a happy New Year and all the best for the year to come. I personally hope that I see you again here on the site in the new year, maybe even more than in the old. And if you could bring a friend or colleague along, that would be awesome.

This is the last post of the year, we’ll start posting again tomorrow on the first of January. Ghacks out.

I have big plans for next year, not only concerning Ghacks but other existing sites and a new project that I’m currently developing together with former Ghacks writer Daniel.

It will be webmaster related, and something that is not there yet. Best thing about it? I want it for myself to ease some administration woes that I have. There will be an alpha and beta phase and I have plans to give away some invites when the time comes here at Ghacks.

I’m still looking through your suggestions to see what I can and want to add or change here at Ghacks. You can still leave feedback there which is highly appreciated.

This is my last post of the year and I wish everyone a happy new year.. What’s left to say? See you in 2011. I hope you continue being a visitor here at Ghacks.

As for me, I plan to save money in a lot of ways in the coming new year. I don’t want to make a bunch of resolutions that are only going to get broken, but I can tell you for certain that I’m going to be spending more money next year and I’m probably going to be getting less for it. That means I need to start planning my budget cuts right now.

First to go is going to be golfing. What a waste of money and time. If I were to count all the hours I’ve wasted chasing that little white ball around the big green fields, it would probably be more of my life than I’ve spent working. Not only that but the greens fees average out to about $60 per round and when you play three times a week that adds up to about $750 a month. Way too much. Then you add in the lunches, the beers afterwards, and the cost of new irons, drivers, and putters and it is just ridiculous.

Next, I’m going to get rid of my SUV. Gas is just too expensive and as much as I love driving my vintage hummer around town, I’ve started to feel a little guilty about burning all that oil. It’s not the environment so much as the fact that I’ve started having dreams where I am filling up the tank with the blood of Iraqi kids and American troops. Damn liberal media has finally gotten to me. Besides $3 a gallon is just too much. I’m getting a Harley instead. The way I look at it, I can spend the time I used to go golfing riding my hog around on poker runs.

No more gym membership either. I’m tired of seeing all those spandex clad hotties making eyes at the guys who don’t have a pot belly and a back covered in hair. Instead of the gym, I’m going to start running and I’ve bought a yoga mat for stretching and exercise at home. The truth is the gym hasn’t been as successful for me as I expected. From my original 435 pounds I’ve barely shrunk at all and now I’m weighing in at just 430. That’s over ten years. Maintenance isn’t the solution. I want to be the 160 pound guy I was back in college.

And that brings me to the biggest place I’m going to save money. Food. I’ve decided that the reason I’m so big is because I eat so much. It’s not that I don’t exercise. Plain and simple it’s that I eat six meals a day and each of them are enough for three people. I’m going to limit myself to just four meals a day. Breakfast can be regular size. Lunch will be half a sandwich and a bowl of soup. Dinner will be just a salad. And I’ll allow myself one late night snack. That’s it. No more soda or beer with meals either.

These aren’t so much resolutions as they are things that have to be done in order to keep me happy. I considered slashing my internet access too, but when I though about it, it’s probably the best value of anything I spend money on. After all, I use it to communicate via email and phone, I send faxes, I download music and movies, I shop, I watch the news, television, and more on it. I even keep a daily journal of my progress towards my goals.

If I were to cut the internet, I think my life would actually suffer since I use it to keep in touch with friends, do business, and entertain myself. Instead, I think a nice thing to get rid of is cable television. What a waste. I don’t even watch it any longer. In fact, the last time I watched it was when Friends was still a new show. Yeah, that’s definitely going to go. I’ve got no time for television these days anyway.

In fact, when I imagine cutting the internet, it makes me shiver since I think that would mean severing my connection with my friends and colleagues on Facebook. In addition, I would lose access to the website I am planning on using to get my diet in shape. I wouldn’t be able to shop for the best deal on my new Harley or to list my Hummer on Ebay auto auctions so that I can get the best possible price for it. i would have to give up playing cyber golf (which I admit is more addictive than the real game) and my online journal would no longer be available for the world to read it. Okay, I have another admission, the whole world doesn’t read my journal but it usually gets five or six visits a day. I would have to give up watching Ugly Betty, downloading Shakira songs, and watching Youtube Star Wars parodies.

Nope, I’m not giving up my high speed connection. That’s my resolution for 2011. I resolve to remain connected to the internet, no matter what. Never mind the rest of the resolutions, those are really just a way of giving myself good advice, this is the necessity I need to remain focused on. The internet is my friend and life. I will not give it up.

I would especially like to say thanks to the writers here at Ghacks who contribute to the success with their articles. They add to the diversity of articles here at Ghacks. The addition of Jack who is writing regularly about Linux is another step in the right direction and we will continue with all writers into 2009.

All new year resolutions related to Ghacks came true. I managed to raise the RSS subscriber count to more than 10000, finally got more than 1 million unique visitors per month and made some great progress earning wise. Goals motivate and although I would be be happy to stay on this level throughout the year I want to raise the bar and set a motivating goal this time.

I’d like to raise the RSS subscribers count to 20000 subscribers. I’d also like to raise the unique visitors per month from 1 million to 2 million. That’s a pretty tough goal but it motivates me enough to keep going.

My last wish is that you will continue to post comments on my blog and that you will continue to tell your friends, coworkers and relatives about my site. I hope you will continue to enjoy coming to my website as much as you enjoyed it in 2008.

Have a nice, rewarding and peaceful 2009.

I wish every single one that visited my blog throughout this year a wonderful new years eve and a great 2007. May the best things in 2006 be the worst in 2007 for each and everyone. Thanks for visiting my website. If I could wish for something for 2007 it would be that even more users would add their useful comments to my articles. I learned so much from the comments, probably as much as everyone else from my articles. Thanks for this opportunity.

Martin