New years resolutions
As the year increments ‘year++’, that triggers an interrupt in my mind about what I want to do this year. As a tongue in cheek thing I’ve said in the past that my new years resolution is ‘1920 by 1080’ being the pixel resolution of my monitor. Now in 2026, I’ve realised that its the same and thought ‘That’s a bit sad’.
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Better than sad
Having that emotion makes you consider the ‘why’ of it, and what you can do so that you’re not. What can I change so that this is not the case? Or is it that I have found contentment in what I know and have no need to change but rather employ the time with the skill set I have?
Thinking about this more and recent thoughts, I’m still sceptical about AI (e.g. moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=471021), especially when it comes to generating code. AI seems to be the ‘current hype’ that will solve all of societies woes and allow software engineers to be more ‘productive’. But will it? I feel more confident in myself with the code that I create, knowing that if I make a mistake then I’m responsible for solving it in some shape or form. If AI makes a mistake then it is at fault, but then by a human making the decision to use it in the first place then the chain of responsibility passes upwards. Therefore I’m reluctant to learn the skills to create the ‘prompts’ that orchestrate an AI driven answer.
If not AI, then what?
In myself I know that if I don’t improve then I will stagnate and become out of date. Software engineering moves at a rapid pace, at least the technology does, the principles appear to have a longer cycle duration. To attempt to resolve the is problem, I have been revisiting my past with C and C++ as a hobby. To see what it can bring in terms of inspiration to new and existing things.
There is a saying ‘If in doubt, do nowt’ – en.wiktionary.org/wiki/when_in_doubt,_do_nowt and www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095728423. But this contradicts what I’ve just stated. Therefore perhaps, the best course of action is not to stagnate but rather keep an open mind and seek out the new and how it could be employed to make improvements to what already is.
Coming back to ‘resolution’, what I would like to achieve is 4K (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution). Not in terms of entertainment, but in terms of my Railfan (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railfan) hobby. To revisit making railway videos but at a higher degree of granularity. The ‘quality’ really depends on the overall consistency of focus, light and framing.
You
What are your resolutions? Have you made any? Or are you not concerned?
- New years resolutions – 16th January 2026
- Gource – 16th December 2025
- Dynamic lines – 16th November 2025
