New publicity: I was a guest on Jesse’s Secret Stash, a radio show on San Diego’s ESPN 1700 AM, for a discussion about online privacy (recorded live on December 23, 2014 and posted on December 25, 2014; here’s the direct YouTube link)

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a weird and exhausting year. Nothing went quite the way I expected it to, except in the predictable sense that half the things on my “Must Accomplish in 2014 No Matter What” list will still be waiting for me in 2015. But numerous signs suggest that next year will be more prosperous, less weird, and perhaps not quite so tiring. That would be very nice indeed.

My 4-year-old son asked me a few weeks ago what I want for Christmas, and I answered him in the traditional way: “Two good kids.” In fact, my kids are fantastic already, and really the only thing I could ask of them is to let Daddy sleep a wee bit later in the mornings. As if. Of course I’d love to have a little more time and a little more money too. That will probably always be true. But I couldn’t wish for a better family, and that’s the best gift of all.

It’s 72° and sunny in San Diego on Christmas Eve. The presents are (almost all) wrapped, I hear no crying at the moment, and we have alcohol. So I think we’re pretty well set for a merry Christmas. Whatever holidays you celebrate (or tolerate) at this time of year, I wish you all a feeling of contentment and joy.

New Macworld article: How to Use Benchmarks to Cut through Marketing Hype (December 22, 2014)

New MacVoices interview: I appeared on MacVoices (video and audio) to discuss Take Control of Apple Mail, Second Edition. (December 19, 2014)