2024 in Review
It's super exciting looking back at 2024. So much has happened! I haven't been very active on this blog lately, mainly because I've been super busy in other areas of life.
The biggest change for me this year is one that I can cross off of my impossible list: We bought a house! I've been wanting to write post about this for a few weeks, and now that things are settling in, I might have the time to do that. In short: We moved from Brunswick (Germany) back to a more rural town just outside Brunswick. It's closer to my girlfriends workplace, closer to my family and overall way cheaper than properties in Brunswick. We're super happy about the house and have yet to find any major annoyances. The neighbors are nice, and the community is incredibly wholesome.
As for other personal projects, there hasn’t been as much traction as there used to be. My interests have partially shifted to hobbies that don’t involve a computer, which I’m grateful for. I still love building software projects – especially now that it’s become so easy to get started with a project using an AI brainstorming companion – I just do it less often. I picked up running as a hobby (more on that later), gather with friends to play Dungeons & Dragons and work on stuff in my new basement.
Goal Results
These are the goals I set myself for 2024:
Build a side project that generated at least 100€ of value
That’s a bust. As mentioned, I haven’t really spent a lot of time building side projects. And the ones I did build, I consider tools rather than an income stream.
Get a scuba diving license
I’m a certified PADI Open Water Diver! You can see some impressions here and here.
Do a 10 km run (I really need to start moving again)
I ran three 10k runs this year. The first in May, then in June and finally, in September, I improved my 2018 personal best by a few minutes!
Sell my car
Check. More infos here.
Write at least 50 blog posts
I didn’t reach this goal, but I’m also not disappointed by it. The frequency of my posts varies, and this year it was just lower than before.
2025 Goals
Here are some new goals for this year:
- Build a side project that generated at least 100€ of value (I’m keeping this goal until I reach it!)
- Run a half marathon (and optionally beat my PB)
- Learn woodworking and build something that takes at least 3 days to complete
Prediction Results
The results for last years predictions:
Bitcoin will at last reach a value of 100,000$, following the halving likely happening in 2024
Bitcoin did reach 100,000$, though not following the halving event. Still, I’d call this a pass!
SpaceX will use a Starship prototype to launch Starlink satellites into orbit
Nope, they didn’t. But they made incredible leaps.
Tesla cars a still not fully self driving (reference)
They claim to launch it in Europe earlier next year. It’s currently in closed testing. Still, I wouldn’t give it a pass.
Google will replace their main search with an AI chat bot (see Bard)
Not sure if I’d call Gemini a full replacement, but it does have a wrapper around their traditional search engine. The product is shit compared to Anthropic and OpenAI, but I would call this a pass, since you can use Gemini instead of Google Search.
2025 Predictions
- Apple will not ship a successor to the Apple Vision Pro
- At least one country will mandate AI watermarking for all AI-generated content used in commercial applications
- Russia and Ukraine will come to a consensus and end the war. Ukraine will have lost territory
And that's a wrap. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (if celebrated), and are as excited as I am for the new year!