
One more year has passed and we made it so far after the deadly 2012 end-of-the-world incident. Kudos to us.

As I usually do at the end of each year ([2008](https://veerasundar.com/blog/a-very-happy-new-year-to-all-the-readers-of-dreamz/), [2009](https://veerasundar.com/blog/so-long-2009-welcome-2010/), [2010](https://veerasundar.com/blog/so-long-2010-welcome-2011/), [2011](https://veerasundar.com/blog/looking-back-and-forward/), [2012](https://veerasundar.com/blog/looking-back-and-forward-2012/)), here's the retro post about how things went in 2013 for myself/this blog.

## Last year resolutions

Last time, I decided on three things to do in 2013.

1. **Release treesk.com** - Nope. Didn't do it. Damn, its hard to focus and launch something. But as a consolation, released [countrack.me](http://countrack.me), so _yay!_ for that. :)
2. **Write more** - Kinda worked on it. Started writing few technical articles again in this blog. But not much as I would have liked. Should do better.
3. **Open source timethetask.com** - [Nailed it](https://github.com/vraa/timethetask)! :)

## 2014 Resolutions

1. Stop writing 2013 at first and then correcting it to 2014.

Neh, just kidding. This year, there are no specific resolutions. Instead, there's going to be one objective that I'm gonna apply at all things that I do - be it personal life, career, dreams. That'll be:

> **Go to next level**.

You know, once you get confortable with something, it is hard to get out of that comfort zone. But it is very, very important to move on, try new things, fail and learn. So, 2014 is going to be one such year, where I am gonna try new things and see how they work.

That'll be it. Though it's little late, I take this moment to wish each and every one of you a happy and successfull new year!


Looking back and forward (2013)


Ever since I started blogging, during end of the year I used to write a [retrospection of things][1] I did in that year. It has kinda become a tradition to me and an excuse for a new post. As the year **2012 **has only a day of fuel left in it, let me stop and look back.

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/tag/new-year/ "New year retrospection"

## Last year resolutions:

You follow them or not, but you must make a list of new years resolutions. So, did I. For 2012, I had [three things][2] in my mind.

[2]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/looking-back-and-forward "Looking back and forward (2011)"

1.  Release **treesk.com **- it's my web app that I've started working on during the first quarter of 2012. Initially I planned to release it before 2012, but due to some personnel setbacks (definitely not because of _Mayans's_), I couldn't. But I'm quite happy with its current progress. The 0.9 version of it 'Ëœ*almost*'Ëœ ready and I'm hoping that the 1.0 version will see the light before first quarter of 2013.
2.  Get a new job - I did kinda get a *new *job. I mean, I joined *PayPal *again. Even though I worked at PayPal for last 2 years, I was a CSC employee then. Last year, I directly joined PayPal. Not sure what 2013 has in its store for my career! ![:)][3]
3.  Improve skills in photography - totally nuked this. I hardly took out my Camera last year (apart from the time when I was in [San Jose/San Francisco][4]). Next year, SHOULD.GO.FOR.PHOTO.WALKS.

[3]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
[4]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/walking-from-pier-39-to-golden-gate-bridge-photos

## New year resolutions:

1.  Release **treesk**. Make it reach people.
2.  Write. A lot. Get back to blogging. And, possibly an eBook.
3.  Open source [**timethetask**][5].

[5]: http://www.timethetask.com "task management app"

## Some important events:

1.  [Launched][6] and [open sourced][7] **Twikural**.
2.  Became a [DZone Most Valuable Blogger][8] (MVB).
3.  This blog crossed **1 million **page views.

[6]: http://twikural.veerasundar.com/ "Twikural"
[7]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/open-sourcing-twikural-an-app-engine-project
[8]: http://java.dzone.com/users/veerasundark "Dzone MVB"

## Stats for veerasundar.com/blog:

![2012 statistics][9]

[9]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2012/12/2012-stats.png

## Happy new year!

I take this moment to wish every one of you and your family a **happy and prosperous new year!**

So, screw you **_Mayans _**and what's up **_2013_?**


Looking back and forward (2012)


Well, well, well, I completely forgot that I started this blog on this same month, three years ago. Yes! Now this blog completes **3 years **and steps into the fourth year.

Of course, without your support and feedback, this wouldn't have happened. So, **thank you one and all **for reading my blog and encouraging me through comments.

Its time for some retrospection. Let's see  how this blog performed till now (thanks to WordPress Stats and Google Analytics for tracking the data)

## Number of visitors:

![visitor data for my blog][1]

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2011/06/stats-2011.png "stats-2011"

The total number of page views is now stands at **587,916** a healthy number for a blog like mine. Now, on an average, my blog gets close to 30K page views per month (twice it crossed 30K recently). Not bad!

## Traffic sources:

![traffic sources for the year of 2011][2]

[2]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2011/06/traffic-sources-2011.png "traffic-sources-2011"

## Other Metrics:

- Alexa Rank: **248, 372** [[check ][3]]
- Page Rank: **2**
- Subscribers: **351 **[ [subscribe ][4]]
- Google Connect: **95 members **[ join below ? ]
- Affiliate Ads: **~Rs 20K** [ [interested?][5] ]

[3]: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/veerasundar.com# "Alexa ranking for veerasundar.com"
[4]: http://feeds.feedburner.com/veerasundar/dreamz "subscribe to this blog feed"
[5]: https://veerasundar.com/contact "Contact me for any offers"

## Thank you:

Thank you once again for keeping this blog alive. I know I have considerably reduced my posting frequency. But, I'm trying to improve that now (5 posts in 6 days now! ![:)][6] ).

[6]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

Do let me know your comments which will definitely help me to improve on.


Thank you friends! This blog is now 3 years old.


![firefoworks][1]First of all, let me wish you a **happy holidays** and advanced wishes for the **wonderful new year**!

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/12/fireworks.jpg "fireworks"

While we are so busy with our work and other stuff, the clock never stopped ticking and yet another year has passed away in-front of our eyes. To compensate this, the Time (not that _[Time][2]_!) has gifted us a brand new year - **2011**. So, lets start live in the present than worry about the past.

[2]: http://www.time.com/time/ "Time magazine"

Enough of philosophies and preaching. Lets come to the point of this post. That is, sharing my stats, as I did on [last year][3].

[3]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/so-long-2009-welcome-2010 "so long 2009, welcome 2010"

## Last year resolutions:

Last year I had [three resolutions][4].

[4]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/happy-birthday-2010 "Happy Birthday, 2010!"

- Build a better blog - Which, I think, is accomplished by looking at the [stats below][5]. But, the mission does not end here. ![:)][6]
- Learn a new language (Scala, Python) - unfortunately, this one is still open. But, I did learn new (markup) languages after joining PayPal. But still, Scala is in my mind always.
- Learn photography and buy a DSLR - Done. Bought one DSLR and learnt some basics of photography. But a long way to go. Here are some clicks for you: [Photos 1][7] , [Photos 2][8] and [Flickr][9].

[5]: #stats
[6]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
[7]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/few-photos-from-my-nikon-d3000 "Photos collection 1"
[8]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/when-the-shutter-opened-photos "Photo collection 2"
[9]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veerasundar/ "Flickr photo stream of me"

## New year resolutions for 2011:

Time to set some new goals.

- To release the new website that I'm currently working on.
- To learn a new language (Rails and Scala are in, as of now).
- To network with more and more people in my field.

I think three is enough. So, what are your resolutions? Do share it in comments and leave a link to your blog post.

## Important events for veerasundar.com/blog:

- Last year, this blog fetched some good advertisement offers. I spent that money again for improving this blog itself: [Bought the Thesis theme][10] and setup an [additional monitor][11] (and btw,  If you like to advertise here, do [contact me][12] ![:)][6] )
- The total number of page views crossed **4,00,000** and as of today it is 4,24,140. That's some number! (source: wordpress.com stats)
- A total of **61** posts have been published in this year (238 posts overall).
- Google Friend connect members count is grown to **69** while feed subscribers count is at **314 **now.

[10]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/switching-to-thesis-wordpress-theme "Switching to Thesis wordpress theme"
[11]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/dual-monitors "Dual monitor"
[12]: https://veerasundar.com/contact/ "contact me"

## Visitor trend for the year 2010:

[![visitor trend][14]][14]

[]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/12/stats-visits.png

## Traffic source stats for the year 2010:

[![traffic source][15]][15]

[]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/12/stats-source.png

## Thank you my blog readers!

Of course, with out you, nothing above was possible. So, I **thank you very much** for the continued support and wish you all a wonderful and happy new year.

See you all in new year with more and more posts about Java and Web development!

And, please share your thought about my blog in the comments. That'll help me to improve. ![:)][6]


So long 2010, Welcome 2011


First of all, let me say a BIG THANKS to all my readers who visited, read my posts, commented,  sent me emails, joined my network, subscribed to my posts  (and _some times_ clicked on the ads ![:)][1] ). Because of all your positive feedback, this blog turns **2 year old** in this month (June 3rd to be exact) . Thank you again, my readers.

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

![second birthday][2]

[2]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/06/second-birthday.jpg "second-birthday"

It was a wonderful experience to be blogging for the past 2 years. It earned me several good friends and it gave an unique identity for myself in the cyberspace. I used to be so happy when people read my tutorials and email me to clarify their doubts. I hope I responded to all of them usefully. At that time I used to feel like I built something that is \*little\* useful to other folks. I pledge that I'll continue to do the same.

## Time for some numbers:

![blog stats for veerasundar.com/blog][3]

[3]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/06/blog-stats-2010.png "blog-stats-2010"

category

1st year

2nd year

Extra

Page views

64379

272,614

(_Source_: WordPress Stats)

Alexa rank

350, 468

276,900

[Alexa Link][4]

Feed subscribers

68

276

[Subscribe][5]

Google Page Rank

3

2

(_Source:_ Google)

Thank you once again. Please let me know what do you feel about my blog and how I can improve from here. Your comments are well appreciated.

[4]: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/veerasundar.com "Alexa stats for veerasundar.com"
[5]: https://veerasundar.com/feed.xml "Subscribe to my blog!"


Thank you my readers! This blog turns 2 year old!!


It was June 2008, when I decided to go for my own website. Before that, I was having my blog  at [Blogger.com][1]. But, I was always looking forward to a own a domain, mainly for building a identity for myself in web. So, I started this website and the blog, during the month of June 2008. From then, this website has grown from zero to what it is now. In this month, this blog has **completed one year** of existence. So, it's time to look back and analyze how this blog has been performing.

[1]: http://blogger.com

## Some statistics for **veerasundar.com/blog**

From the time I started using WordPress as my blogging platform, I've integrated WordPress Stats plug-in to track my website readers. Below is a snapshot of my reader's trend from WordPress Stats.

![stats for Veerasundar.com/blog][2]

[2]: http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x201/talktoveera/veerasundar-com-stats.png

- **Total Number of Visitors : 64,379** (till June '09)
- **Google Page Rank : 3**
- **Alexa Traffic Rank : 350,468** [[link]][3]
- **Number of RSS Subscribers: 68** (as per Jun 27 '09) [[Subscribe]][4]

[3]: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/veerasundar.com "Alexa traffic rank for veerasundar.com/blog"
[4]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/feed "Subscribe to this blog"

As you can see, even though there are some spikes and lows, my blog readership numbers are increasing steadily, which is a good news to me. This wouldn't be possible with out **you**. So, **thanks a lot, my readers,** for your continued support to this blog.

## Time changes, so does my blog theme!

If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, you would have noticed a BIG change in the look and feel of this blog. YES! I've changed the blog theme, again. I've waved good bye to the image-rich [Arclite theme][5], to welcome a neat and minimalistic theme [Oulipo][6]. The new theme sports a very clean white look and fixed sidebars in both side. I like this theme very much and I hope (note 'Ëœ**hope'**) that I'll be using this theme for some time.

[5]: http://digitalnature.ro/projects/arclite/ "Arclite - Free wordpress blog theme"
[6]: http://www.andreamignolo.com/oulipo "Oulipo - Free wordpress theme"

That's it for now. I once again thank you for your support. Please let me know what you feel about my blog and the new theme!


#anniversary (6)