I’ve decided that I need to broadcast some goals for 2010.
In the past, I’ve had a lot of ideas for projects that I wanted to work on and I’ve not followed through with them. In 2010, I’m making it known what I want to accomplish. If I don’t come through with these things, I want you to call me out on it. (I think I could use some public peer pressure to get some of this going.)

Contribute to Open Source Projects

I’ve been using and benefiting from open source software a lot over the past decade. I’ve not given back to the community. I plan to change that in 2010.
I’ve selected a couple of open source projects that I’m going to contribute to in 2010:

Ajellito

We’re moving to Agile development methodologies at work. I want to help ensure that there are high quality tools available for people that are managing Agile projects. Ajellito uses django and python (so it has to be dominant, right?!?!). If you don’t see me contributing to Ajellito in 2010, call me out on it!

feedparser

In 2009, I did a lot of screen scraping and feed parsing.
This is so easy in python. A lot of that comes from good libraries like feedparser. They’ve recently restarted development on it and I want to help them close out open issues. If you don’t see me contributing to feedparser (in some way) in 2010, call me out on it!

Publish a couple of iPhone Apps

I’ve spent some time in 2009 working on a couple of app ideas. I want to bring those ideas to the AppStore in 2010.
(The first app I developed for the iPhone OS is now on the AppStore: icyou Health Video. I did this project for my employer. It’s a free download. Check it out!)

iRocKnots

This is the app that has been rolling around in the back of my head since the iPhone debuted. (Yet I have nothing in the AppStore to show for it…) My tie collection doesn’t grow fast enough to provide new fat knots each week. I plan to empower the people in 2010 to document their knots in real time. Dressed up for an important business meeting, church event, wedding, special occasion, or just a regular work day… post your neck wear on irocknots.com! If irocknots.com is not online or you don’t see iRocKnots in the AppStore in the first quarter of 2010, call me out on it!

RxGadget

For the last six months or so, I’ve been managing my father’s medication. Dad needed help keeping track of his meds, so he started using the MedReady timer.
This device has been great for him. It secures his medication and it ensures that he’s reminded to take the appropriate meds at the appropriate time. If he misses a dose, the tray prevents him from double dosing. RxGadget is an iPhone app that will provide caregivers with a powerful tool for tracking medications for their loved ones/patients. If you don’t see RxGadget in the AppStore by the second quarter of 2010, call me out on it!

Python

I want to get more involved with the python programming community in general. I’ll be attending PyCon 2010 in February. I’ll be looking for ways to get more involved at that conference. I’m specifically looking to promote python’s use more in South Carolina.

Blog and Tweet more

My blog was rarely updated in 2009. In 2010, I want to write more. Looking back over the last year, there’s a lot of stuff I come across each day that could benefit others. If I write it down, it might help someone and it might help me to remember it.
If I’m not blogging a couple of times a week and tweeting daily, call me out on it!

Happy New Year!!!

Rock the Fat Knot in 2010.

Robert Mercorelli sent me this image of him rocking a fat knot. Merc travels a lot and interacts with a lot of clients in important meetings. His years of experience have taught him that rocking the fat knot is the way to go. Good work, Merc! Just try not to impress too many people at once. I’d like to sleep a couple of hours next week!

Today’s my brother’s birthday. So, it’s fitting that I wrap up the series of “Birthday Fat Knots” with this post. I really like this tie. Combined with the poplin suit, it’s a dominant fat knot.

Another tie from my birthday!

My wife got me some ties for my birthday. I’ll be rocking them over the next few weeks. Here’s the first in the series…

It’s Easter and the ‘Easter Bunny’ brought me a new tie in my “Easter basket!” Check out the new version of the S.C. Fat Knot. Clemson orange with the SC palmetto tree and crescent. I had planned to wear a seer sucker tie today, but I couldn’t let the Easter Bunny down! I’ll rock the seer sucker tie in a week or so.

Today I rocked a bow tie in honor of Zach Hyleman and Collins McCraw. I think I’ll stick to Fat Knots(tm), though. If you’re interested in Rocking a Bow Tie, check out this video for some good instructions for tying a bow tie. (Video from South Carolina, even! True Southern Players!)

Chris Gause sent in this Polka Dot Fat Knot. It is from the Perry Ellis Portfolio Collection and he found it on sale at Dillard’s. Price was $25 with tax. Dominant fat knot, Chris G!

I thought it’d be cool to try out Animoto with a set of Fat Knots that have been posted over the last year or so. Check it out:

Happy Thanksgiving from rockthefatknot.com! Even our turkey rocked a fat knot (made from bacon)!