101 in 1001: Round 2!

As I alluded to at the end of my follow-up post on the topic, I’ve decided to take the plunge again, taking a stab at accomplishing 101 discrete tasks in 1001 days. Some clever IPython manipulation (ok, a grand total of 2 lines of Python, one of which is an import statement) tells me that 1001 days from now is September 10, 2016. What will the world look like then, I wonder?

As if there was any doubt.

Just in case a refresher is needed on the general rules:

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple challenges such as New Year’s resolutions or a ‘Bucket List’. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.

I didn’t fully update my previous list, but I knocked off 47 of 101 items, for a relatively paltry 46.5% completion rate. A good portion of the missing 53% can be explained by points 1 and 2 in the aforementioned follow-up post, but there were even more that I simply didn’t get to. So as always, there is room for improvement! Let’s begin.

For this particular iteration, I’m combining my utter lack of creativity with a new approach: rather than try to fill the last few items with things I really have no interest in accomplishing just for the sake of having 101 items, I’m leaving the last several blank to be filled in and completed sometime before the aforementioned deadline. Suggestions are also welcome!

Note: I’m marking items with a blue + that are holdovers from my last list.

Projects

1. Get BertramBot up and running: able to respond to simple conditions. (+)
2. Finish up the process forking and database back-end of the super-secret PyBot project and publicly release it.
3. Get the sentiment bot up and running for PyBot.
4. Create a Django-based visualization front-end for the sentiment bot.
5. Also replace the current PHP-based version of my twitter bot with a PyBot back-end.
6. Make it to the 2nd round of a Google Codejam competition (scheduling conflicts notwithstanding, of course). (+)
7. Do some CUDA programming! (+)
8. Resurrect the C HTTP server for funzies, perhaps rewriting it to be a little more stable. (+)
9. Rewrite the WordPress Synchronizer. (+)
10. Play around with Apache Spark and Scala.
11. Deploy a Hive and Titan setup on my home machine.
12. Become a member of the Mahout PMC.
13. Become a committer in at least one other open source project.
14. Build another desktop computer. Bonus if it’s liquid-cooled.
15. Run a modded L4D2 gaming server!
16. Set up some simple home automation (Raspberry Pi? other route?) with the help of OpenCV.
17. A home NAS would be cool, too.

Career

18. Be published in one of the following: Nature, Science, or NIPS. (+)
19. Publish on work with Apache Mahout.
20. Successfully defend dissertation by September or October 2014.
21. Co-publish at least one paper with my Dad. (+)
22. Implement the same algorithm in Apache Mahout, Apache Giraph, and GraphLab for comparison.
23. Post 3 more blog updates about computer vision using the IPython Notebook.
24. Publicly release source code used in a future computer vision / machine learning publication.
25. Snag a wicked awesome job before my graduation.
26. Kick ass at said wicked awesome job: get a glowing review within my first year (or whatever the first evaluation period is).
27. Present at another conference.
28. Win the program’s research award at the next retreat.
29. Implement changes needed to commit new semi-supervised learning algorithm to the scikit-learn project.
30. Read, on average, two research papers each month.

Travel

31. Visit at least one country outside the U.S. that I’ve visited before. (+)
32. Visit at least one country outside the U.S. that I haven’t visited before.
33. Visit at least 3 states I haven’t visited before (for any significant amount of time).
34. Visit another continent I haven’t visited before (Asia, South America, or Antarctica).
35. Attend a live showing of Wait, wait, don’t tell me! (+)
36. Attend ComicCon: San Diego. (+)
37. Go camping again!
38. Go skiing. (+)
39. Go river rafting (tubing doesn’t count). (+)
40. Visit my elder sister in her new digs (post-relocation back to the United States, of course).
41. Visit my younger sister in her new digs (post-graduation from UGA, of course).

Spirituality

42. Attend mass at least six times in a single month. (+)
43. Attend at least four youth group meetings.
44. Get involved at my church: reader, usher, etc.
45. Tithe for at least a month.

Health

46. Run a marathon under 3:45.
47. Run a half-marathon under 1:35.
48. Run a 5K under 20 minutes. (+)
49. Run 1.5 miles under 9 minutes. (+)
50. Bench at least 250 pounds.
51. Go for a 40+ mile bike ride.
52. Get weight under 215 during the next marathon training cycle.
53. Row 75 km in a month (roughly 2500 meters/day).
54. Swim as a workout at least 3 times (minimum 30 minutes each).
55. Run a race in another country.
56. Do a beer mile.
57. Test out the Pro accounts at either DailyMile or Strava.
58. 5x/week yoga sessions for 1 month.

Personal

59. Pay off at least 20% of my principal + interest over all my loans.
60. Open up a 2nd Vanguard account. (+)
61. Get a PA driver’s license. (+)
62. Go dancing with The Lady (lessons or socially; wedding doesn’t count!). (+)
63. Knock more than 47 items off this list, beating the total from the previous incarnation! (achieving 48 immediately results in achieving 49!)
64. Donate blood at least twice.
65. Participate in some sort of super-cool Kickstarter campaign.
66. Marry the love of my life. (yeah I know, a little bit of a freebie, but I don’t care 🙂 )
67. Make homemade margaritas.
68. Go to a theme park!
69. Go to a water park!
70. Ride the Duquesne Incline.
71. Hit up 3 restaurants in Pittsburgh we’ve never eaten at before.
72. Perma-delete my Facebook account with extreme prejudice (this isn’t a joke).
73. Open an Instagram account (only after deleting Facebook).
74. Go to an Atlanta Falcons game with Colin.
75. Bake a delicious dessert from scratch (of course we must first invent the universe).
76. Journal (handwritten!) at least monthly.
77. Fill in the rest of these!
78. Come up with an awesome groomsmen gift (the bar has been set pretty high).
79. Go to the shooting range with the family (hey, they live near UGA).
80. [EMPTY]
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100. [EMPTY]
101. Make yet another “101 in 1001” list in 2016!