Here it is, the time of year when many columnists feel the need to blurt out their New Year’s resolutions in public. I guess I’m no different. But my New Years resolutions? They’re a bit geeky, of course …

I’m going to get in better shape. This means getting more exercise and cutting most (!) of the junk out of my diet. If it’s sold in the snack food aisle, I won’t be eating it (at least not on a regular basis). Not geeky enough, you say? I’ll be keeping track of my blood pressure on a daily basis, thanks to our snazzy new blood pressure monitor with the USB link and PC software (full Lockergnome review coming next month).

I’m going to do my part to help reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. Almost all of the incandescent bulbs in our house have been replaced with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs and I’ve installed a programmable thermostat. Now, I’m looking into converting our oil-fired boiler to natural gas.

I’m going to install a snazzy surveillance system at ranchero indebto, complete with a wireless camera or two. And I might even include a hidden surveillance camera, a la the nanny-gator cam in “Meet the Fockers,” minus the gator.

I’m going to build my own quiet PC. In 2004, I conquered my fear of ceramic tile flooring and toilet replacement. In 2005, I’m finally going to tackle building that PC from scratch.

Okay, so that’s a start … Lets see what I can come up with tomorrow …