Motherboard

The double-0’s are double-over, and with all the kerfuffle that’s gone on in the past 365 earth rotations, there’s never been a better time to re-assess your role on this lonely planet of ours as you hurtle unceasingly towards your own demise.

Google will tell you that 2010 was a year of oil spills, particle collisions and Justin Bieber. But it was also a year where many of us realized that the world is slowly spiraling out of our control: Information leaks, weaponized computer viruses and government-sponsored hacking are things we’ve seen first-hand this year that will shape the future of life on this planet. So when deciding on your New Years resolutions, consider the following. Or risk devolving into obsolescent protoplasm.

5. Beef Up Your Data Security

Seriously, quit putting it off. More so than ever before, 2010 showed us just how unguarded our personal info truly is. It’s never been more important to check your Facebook privacy settings and make sure your stuff is hack-proof. And what’s more, it’s super easy to do: We’ve even given you this handy guide on ensuring dominion over your tiny little slice of the global information gestalt.

4. Don’t Join the Army; Learn To Program C

DDoS attacks might seem like small potatoes for self-styled internet revolutionaries, but even governments are (likely) using them — as the Wikileaks saga has demonstrated — along with various other methods that will change the nature of human conflict in the years that follow.

2010 might very well come to be known as the year Stuxnet opened its pandora’s box, showing the world the deadly effectiveness and very real danger that can be presented by a team of well-trained computer programmers. When the new age of cyber warfare begins (or maybe it already has), our hopes will rest squarely on those trained to defend against this new form of digital incursion. Suit up.

3. Build Your Own Electronics

This year we’ve seen tech giant Microsoft yield to electronic tinkerers, saying that it’s A-OK to play around with their new motion gaming peripheral (even after saying it wasn’t). The results can be seen all over the web in the form of 3-D holographic web cams, gesture-based navigation and other incredible feats of DIY hackery.

But the Kinect is just the beginning. If organizations like PrimeSense have their way, we could be entering into a new age of device openness where the corporate-imposed barriers that exist between us and our technology (DRM, proprietary software, etc) simply disappear into ether. If this gadget-human symbiosis occurs, consumer electronics would be rendered obsolete, and the power of the technologies we use would become dependent on our ability to shape and control them.

If you still haven’t taken some time to train yourself into an amateur engineer, now might be a good time to start.

2. Learn To Speak Chinese

You don’t need to read any leaked embassy cables to know that the U.S. is severely lagging behind in the development of new and sustainable technologies. But you know who isn’t? China. Quantum teleportation, cold fusion, renewable energy, supercomputers… You name it and the Peoples Republic more than likely has already gotten their hands dirty.

Meanwhile, the good ‘ol US of A finds itself faced with a 21st century Sputnik, and with possible setbacks like crowd-sourced NSF funding cuts looming on the horizon, it would seem there’s still no Apollo in sight.

Should we be scared? Does the U.S. stand a chance, or is it living out the final days of its dominion over the world’s technology? Better brush up on your Mandarin just in case.

1. Go Quantum

Want to take a look at the true future of computing? Well, you can’t. Not because just because it’s currently based in theory, but because, much to our bamboozlement, the functions which make make it possible collapse whenever they’re being observed. Yes, it’s totally weird and beyond our understanding. But that hasn’t stopped some of the world’s most talented hackers from figuring out ways that quantum communications can be intercepted. It involves using a laser to “blind” the detector that would normal observe the quantum transmission, then capturing it and re-broadcasting through a non-quantum channel without anyone being alerted.

So why should this inspire your need to get familiar with the nebulous theories behind quantum tech? Well for one, the FBI wants to make it illegal, essentially meaning that encrypting your own files, even on a now barely-understood quantum level, could be a practice labeled criminal. Moreover, understanding quantum will likely change everything we’ve ever known about physics, computing and the universe at large. Give your noggin some exercise and read up. You’ll be glad you did later.