I started working on a new project and had a pleasure to work with a few exciting new tools and technologies. I also had a couple of car trips across Thailand, visited a few Russian cities and spent a week in Spain. Spain, I must say, was the nicest destination of all previously mentioned. I completely switched to Linux and most of the software I use is now open source. I also made a significant effort to cut Google and Apple from my life. It wasn’t easy, but it’s totally worth it. My thoughts were mostly occupied with the ideas of individual sovereignty and the tools we can use to increase it. Those are global issues of course and our thoughts do not change the reality, so I guess it makes sense to concentrate on small and clearly solvable things that are parts of those bigger problems and that’s what I’ll continue to do during the next year.

I don’t like plans and commitments, especially public ones, so I’ll refrain from them, but I have a few wishes. I have no power to make them true, but I’ll do my part, where possible:

• It would be nice to see a cleaner and faster web without countless trackers and ads.
• More visa-free countries and more ways to stay in different countries for longer than a usual vacation, please.
• Woldn’t it be great for people to be less dependent on nasty intermediaries? Our financial system is too centralized, and I hope that we’ll see some traction on the cryptocurrency front. In the ideal world, our financial data should be private and in our total control, and we should be able to authorize our transactions by ourselves. It’s not the case now, unfortunately, and I have to rely on my bank and my broker. I consider such a development a logical next step in order to take back control of our data.
• Less JavaScript. Generally, and especially on mobile.
• More progress on efficient tools that respect both programmers and machines.
• Less Google Service dependencies in Android apps. Google Play isn’t the only store around!