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Ask Slashdot: What Is Your New Years Eve Tradition?

skade88 writes "What does the Slashdot community do to celebrate New Years Eve? Does your city do something cool and unique to celebrate? Do you celebrate with fireworks in front of your house, or in your favorite MMO (WoW, Minecraft, etc.)?"

256 comments

  1. None of the above...maybe by Jetra · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Little bit of Minecraft. Some YouTube. Mostly trying to beat Ordos Missions in Dune 2000 (PC)

    1. Re:None of the above...maybe by zacherynuk · · Score: 1

      You insidious rascal.

    2. Re:None of the above...maybe by rockout · · Score: 1

      Please mod this up, just for the Dune 2000 reference. Thanks dude!

      --
      I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
    3. Re:None of the above...maybe by Jetra · · Score: 2

      Thank you. I'm on the final mission and it's royally pissing me off. I can't get enough units pumped out before all three decide to fk me.

    4. Re:None of the above...maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I beat that on first try, when I was only intending on scouting the map.

      Just rush with all starting units, find the mission objective and kill it. Easiest final level ever.

      (unless of course this has been patched since release.)

  2. .. yay :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Never been big into New Years. I do most of my partying around Christmas time.. and when New Years comes around I've had my fill. I wouldn't mind hanging out with a few friends or something, but most are going to big parties or whatever. If they moved New Years a couple of months I'd probably do something, but at it's present date it's just to close to Christmas, and Christmas comes first so it gets all my party budget!

    Last year I was working on something in my basement, heard fireworks and thought "I should probably go watch them or something.." but then I said "nah" and went back to what I was doing (and then had a "yup, I'm a geek!" moment). :>

    This year I'll probably be watching ponies!

    1. Re:.. yay :) by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This. I don't have any traditions, really. The wife makes a big deal out of cooking black eyed peas and cabbage, tells us that it's good luck. I think she's just spent all the money on Christmas, and doesn't have any money left to cook a real dinner, but I'm not arguing with her.

      Mostly, I just reminisce about where I've spent previous New Year days. A bar in Daytona, hanging with bikers. Smashing through mountainous waves in the North Sea. Palma Mallorca, Spain. Indian Ocean. Adak, Alaska. Winter Harbor, Maine. Oh yeah, the bar on Long Island, where they kicked me out for asking a woman - well, let's not go there, LMAO!!

      And I wonder where all those people from my past are today, which of them are alive.

      The new year isn't the same once you pass your 50th birthday.

      Tonight, I'm just browsing the internet, hoping my dumbass kids aren't doing anything very stupid. At least I talked the youngest into leaving his motorcycle at home. He's driving my car. If he should meet a drunk, the car is much more survivable.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    2. Re:.. yay :) by CodeheadUK · · Score: 1

      Yep, my days of sitting up to watch the sun rise are long gone too.

      These days, it's a quick drink and an early night. I think 2000 was the last time I bothered go out and celebrate.

    3. Re:.. yay :) by BlindRobin · · Score: 1

      That's pretty much my experience, though the wife is gone, the kids grown and gone and the places round the world mostly different. I spent last night passing a gallstone though so, well, that was new. When you pass 60 things really start to tank. Happy New Year?

  3. DISCOVERY CHANNEL by dadelbunts · · Score: 3, Informative

    Discovery channel marathons, since i was like 10, yea im lame.

    1. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by Anrego · · Score: 2

      Has discovery improved at all?

      This isn't a troll but a legitimate question. I used to love discovery, but they were going all reality TV about when I cut the cable. They also had a tendancy to play the same lineup all week which drove me crazy (I get that I can't have new content every day, but at least give me variety in the reruns!).

      Been thinking about getting cable again as it comes really cheap with an fibre internet bundle I'm looking at and I miss the whole "just watch whatever is on" experience.

    2. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by dadelbunts · · Score: 2

      Its not what it used to be no. But they show some good stuff sometimes. Sadly it has alot of shows like those dudes buildin choppers, but i do like Fast n Loud, so cant complain too much i guess. . With TLC, Discovery, Animal Planet, and History you are bound to find something you like at least sometimes. I would say get the cable. If anything you can discover a few new shows you enjoy and download them or w.e. Its good for discovering and rediscovering shows and movies.

    3. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by Jetra · · Score: 1

      It's gone down the drain. I remember when they had documentaries. Those were the days...

    4. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by gizmonic · · Score: 1

      No, they're still mostly crap. I remember when TLC and Discovery were worth watching before they became the home improvement channels. Kinda how I loved the History channel which then turned into the UFO/Bigfoot/X-Files channel.

      Now, if your local cable company has the Smithsonian Channel, it might be worth getting for that. Everything History and Discovery used to be rolled into one. I'd recommend giving it a try if they have it in your line-up.

      --
      WWJD?
      JWRTFM!
    5. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by Anrego · · Score: 1

      If anything you can discover a few new shows you enjoy and download them or w.e. Its good for discovering and rediscovering shows and movies.

      Yeah, that's really what I miss.

      I will probably get it for exactly that reason :)

    6. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

      Since you were like, 10? So - this is the fifth year now?

      I know, you didn't deserve that, but isn't everyone here a teenage kid living in his momma's basement? ;^)

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    7. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by houghi · · Score: 2

      Been thinking about getting cable again as it comes really cheap with an fibre internet bundle I'm looking at and I miss the whole "just watch whatever is on" experience.

      Don't be tempted. It just is not worth it. You have Youtube and Vimeo and a lot of other things.
      There are several cheap devices where you can install something like xbmc.
      Next you can download almost any tv show.

      I have had a lapse back by taking cable again. I have again stopped, because it was just not worth it. Now I talk about more interesting stuff with my friends as they realize they can not just talk about the TV show that was on yesterday. I picked up reading again. Much more interesting then watching TV like a zombie.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    8. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I used to love discovery, but they were going all reality TV about when I cut the cable.

      I never had Discovery itself, but there's a channel called "Quest" in the UK, which is basically Discovery's free-to-air channel of their older stuff (typically 2 or more years old).

      If this is remotely representative of the present-day Discovery Channel (and I'm pretty sure it is), then it's not flattering.

      Some of it is still worthwhile, like "Mythbusters". That's quite watchable for what it is,
      A significant number of the shows are just male-demographic oriented docusoaps masquerading as something else. "American Chopper"? You'd learn little worthwhile about car repair or modification from it; the premise is just an excuse to focus on the characters and interpersonal bullshit with manufactured-in-editing drama. It's not really educational, it's not even proper documentary, it's a "macho-oriented" docusoap designed for the male audience, but still essentially the same bullshit as the female-oriented type, just with a different flavour.

      "How It's Made?" To be fair, that *is* an entirely playing-it-straight informative programme that would be watchable, despite being relatively dumbed down and complex-detail-skipping... except that the inane synthesised library music that plays over every damn thing is utterly distracting.

      But a lot of the other programmes- even the ones that aren't poorly-disguised docusoaps are full of ludicrously bombastic, ramped-up manufactured drama bullshit, like "Hell Roads" (the world's worst roads; quite interesting, but the presentation was annoyingly OTT).

      As I said, it's not often educational, it's frequently not even documentary, it's just male-oriented TV passing itself off as such.

    9. Re:DISCOVERY CHANNEL by supervico · · Score: 1

      Nah, I'd say invest in a WDTV Live (which I have) or Roku box (heard they're good too), and save yourself the monthly cable fees. Those boxes are usually ~$120... add the $8/mo for Netflix or Hulu Plus, and you won't need cable subscription... AND you don't get ads, you control what you want to see when you want to see it, etc. As an added bonus, these boxes play most media files from external hard drives connected via USB, and have HDMI connection out to TV. Netflix and Hulu have documentaries on nature, war, social issues, etc. that can keep you busy for weeks on end.

  4. BEING AWESORME by For+a+Free+Internet · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Slashdort: Today is a great day for all the readers of Slashdort, because we will make linquini and boil a Linurx in a stew of Windors. Hooraye! COMMUNISM NOW!

    --
    UNITE with the Campaign for a Free Internet because today, our future begins with tomorrow!
    1. Re:BEING AWESORME by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      Do you make your linquini traditional or GPL v3 style?

    2. Re:BEING AWESORME by element-o.p. · · Score: 2

      It's GNU-linquini, you insensitive clod! :P

      --
      MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
  5. The same thing we do every New Years by unreadepitaph · · Score: 5, Funny

    Get uncontrollably drunk and yell at fireworks.

    --
    My internetting is no good.
    1. Re:The same thing we do every New Years by dadelbunts · · Score: 3, Funny

      Try to take over the world!

    2. Re:The same thing we do every New Years by davester666 · · Score: 1

      In other words, the same as unreadepitaph

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    3. Re:The same thing we do every New Years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I do my drinkin' & partying at home to avoid the tax supporting excessive police protection.
      Dry fire my spud gun a few times @ midnight and hit the sack hoping she's not too drunk for a little game of hide the salami.

    4. Re:The same thing we do every New Years by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      Yeah, done the second and working on the first. Doesn't everyone? It's the one night a year it's socially acceptable to be a raging alcoholic so long as you don't drive.

    5. Re:The same thing we do every New Years by SternisheFan · · Score: 1

      I do my drinkin' & partying at home to avoid the tax supporting excessive police protection. Dry fire my spud gun a few times @ midnight and hit the sack hoping she's not too drunk for a little game of hide the salami.

      Be careful, you could really put an eye out with that thing.

  6. The usual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A bag of Cheetos and my Serenity DVD. Forever alone, dude, forever alone.

    1. Re:The usual by Anrego · · Score: 1

      I'm eating Doritos and watching a westerns (been on a weird western kick lately..)! :>

      But I _had_ plans till weather got bad.. so I don't even have to feel guilty about it (truthfully I didn't really want to go anyway) :D

    2. Re:The usual by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Cheetos and Serenity isn't too bad.
      I have some quarter cask Laphroaig and a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, but throat is too sore to drink.
      I guess I'll shuffle around in my slippers and check my e-mail every now and then for a miracle.

    3. Re:The usual by filthpickle · · Score: 1

      it would be after the first couple.

  7. BANG AT THE STROKE OF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Midnight !!

    1. Re:BANG AT THE STROKE OF by pbjones · · Score: 1

      which time zone? past Midnight here, but still 2012 in half of the world.

      --
      There was an unknown error in the submission.
    2. Re:BANG AT THE STROKE OF by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1

      which time zone? past Midnight here, but still 2012 in half of the world.

      Fifteen to 20+ years ago, it would have been as many of them as possible. With as many women as possible.

      Now I'm married with a 9 yro kid. So we'll be watching the Simpsons or movies or something. Damn I hate getting old and responsible (sometimes).

    3. Re:BANG AT THE STROKE OF by crutchy · · Score: 1

      lucky bastard... my wife has little sex drive, so the most i can do is ask a favor from mrs palmer and her five daughters :)

    4. Re:BANG AT THE STROKE OF by flyneye · · Score: 1

      Yeah, lotta people shoot their guns off at midnight....

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    5. Re:BANG AT THE STROKE OF by crutchy · · Score: 1

      at the "stroke" of midnight

  8. Uurgh nooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I try to get a first post, but now I have failed miserably. :-(

  9. debugging code by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    debugging all of this year's bad code

  10. A day to relax by zvar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Today's Devil's Panties said it best I think.

    "We could stay at home and drink hot coca in our pajamas."
    I would add 'while sitting on the couch watching movies with my wife' to that though...

    1. Re:A day to relax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Yup, that's it. I've been doing it for decades. I can drink like a fish when the occasion calls for it, for many years now, but I've been drinking Hot Chocolate for a couple of decades longer.
          Also, I wax and polish the living room floor, in my jammies. It's a once a year thing, and it's done when I can do a full slide across without picking up a splinter. The first couple of days after confuses the hell out of the cat. (One year I was a little too enthusiastic, and ended up with my right knee going through the plaster on the wall. My aim has improved since then.)

    2. Re:A day to relax by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      Cocoa, I think you meant. I mean, I'd love to stay home and drink hot coca in my jammies, but it's not really a jammies kind of high, know what I mean?

    3. Re:A day to relax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you fail

    4. Re:A day to relax by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      Thanks, AC, I needed that.

  11. A vow of celibacy by erroneus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Each new year I take a vow of celibacy as my father before me and his father before him. It's a long standing family tradition.

    1. Re:A vow of celibacy by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      Some people find new year resolutions hard to keep, others find them very simple.

    2. Re:A vow of celibacy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And others make the resolution knowing the opportunity will never arise.
      Captcha: excuse :)

  12. working by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it's just another day.

  13. My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...to scare away the evil spirits. "Haven't seen any this year, have you?" he would always ask. "Must have worked," he opined further. This story was told to a Mexican cabbie who in all seriousness replied that my father was being silly, and that all you had to do was throw water out the back door to scare evil spirits away for the year. Who knew?

    FYI, my father was an electronics engineer whose tongue was often so far in his cheek that it might have protruded from the vulgar aperture.

    --
    Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
    1. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by isorox · · Score: 2

      ...to scare away the evil spirits. "Haven't seen any this year, have you?" he would always ask. "Must have worked," he opined further. This story was told to a Mexican cabbie who in all seriousness replied that my father was being silly, and that all you had to do was throw water out the back door to scare evil spirits away for the year. Who knew?

      FYI, my father was an electronics engineer whose tongue was often so far in his cheek that it might have protruded from the vulgar aperture.

      Does your father realise that what comes up must come down? A bullet at terminal velocity does a lot of damage.

    2. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what fire crackers was used for originally. So now the gun powder is in a bullet...

    3. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by crutchy · · Score: 1

      not anywhere near as much as a bullet going up much faster than terminal velocity... not to say it wouldn't probably hurt like hell, especially if it hit you in the head

      i doubt it would kill you

    4. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Didn't Mythbusters disprove this. It would hurt A LOT, and perhaps crack a skull, but not "a lot of damage" a ballistic bullet however would kill. Just make sure you point the gun straight in the air, so it does a turn around, and not on a ballistic trajectory.

    5. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by arth1 · · Score: 2

      not anywhere near as much as a bullet going up much faster than terminal velocity... not to say it wouldn't probably hurt like hell, especially if it hit you in the head

      i doubt it would kill you

      Quote Wikipedia:
      "Between the years 1985 and 1992, doctors at the King/Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, treated some 118 people for random falling-bullet injuries. Thirty-eight of them died." (And they have a link to a pubmed article which I don't feel to pay to see.)

      Seems like a real problem to me.

    6. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by crutchy · · Score: 1

      fair enough... i'm sure the danger is much less than if someone shot you directly

    7. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by flyneye · · Score: 1

      Well, there's always potato guns

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    8. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by solarissmoke · · Score: 2

      No. They showed that provided the bullet maintained a ballistic trajectory and its spin (i.e., wasn't fired vertically into the air), it could be lethal on the way down.

    9. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by flyneye · · Score: 1

      Oddly enough the place I work has multiple bullet holes in the roof, from the outside in. We've found a few 9mm slugs as well.
      Makes ya think, donut?

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    10. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by arth1 · · Score: 4, Informative

      fair enough... i'm sure the danger is much less than if someone shot you directly

      Don't buy lottery tickets today, it's just not your day.
      From the blurb to the article in question:
      "Most (77%) were hit in the head. The mortality rate was 32%, which is significantly higher than for all gunshot wound victims in general seen at the same medical center."

    11. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by flyneye · · Score: 1

      I suppose if you just had to do firearms, a .410 w/ birdshot would probably cause the least amount of risk. Starter pistols. Potato guns sans spuds.
      Fireworks seem to get the point across. Those living on the edge could fire model rocket engines w/o the rocket. It's better to just be a public nuisance than public enemy.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    12. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Well, there's always potato guns

      And mortars. Much fun can be had from simple explosives and heavy projectiles.

    13. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by crutchy · · Score: 1

      its hard to make a judgement based on one article alone (and only the abstract for that matter since i couldn't access the rest) but based on physics and fluid dynamics the impact energy of a falling bullet is significantly lower than that of a bullet fired directly

      you mention treatment of 118 injuries with 38 deaths, which seems like a high mortaility figure, but how many people are hit with falling bullets that don't require treatment in hospital? it would seem that if you have been hit in such a way as to require hospital treatment, the impact must have caused severe damage... there is no mention of the age of patients (obviously elderly or those with calcium deficiency or esteoporosis might be more prone to fataility as a result from a falling bullet to the head). there are more factors needed to determine the real danger. being hit anywhere but the head seems unlikely to be fatal, and a healthy human skull is reasonably tough. lots of people get hit with all sorts of things and survive.

      i appreciate your investigation though, and i definitely don't think of a falling bullet as not being of any concern. like i said originally, it would in the very least hurt like hell, even if it merely hit you in the finger or foot

      i'm lucky enough to live in a country with very strict gun laws (Australia) and the gun culture here is much more tame (limited to gun clubs and hunting) so most people don't even own a gun

    14. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by crutchy · · Score: 1

      if i heard a mortar on new years eve i would definitely be looking for cover

    15. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by Frankie70 · · Score: 3, Funny

      My father was killed by a random bullet fired into the air, you insensitive clod.

    16. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by isorox · · Score: 1

      fair enough... i'm sure the danger is much less than if someone shot you directly

      Don't buy lottery tickets today, it's just not your day.
      From the blurb to the article in question:
      "Most (77%) were hit in the head. The mortality rate was 32%, which is significantly higher than for all gunshot wound victims in general seen at the same medical center."

      So if you want to celebrate your 2nd amendment rights, do a Cheney and aim at someone, rather than doing an afghan and shooting in the air?

    17. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by arth1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      So if you want to celebrate your 2nd amendment rights, do a Cheney and aim at someone, rather than doing an afghan and shooting in the air?

      Well, as my old drill sergeant said, "Do not ever pull the trigger unless you are aiming it at a target. Ever."
      What about warning shots, one of the guys asked. He was told that this applied to warning shots too - you aim and fire at the ground, and better not miss.
      The same rule held for blanks, "full family" setting, suppressive fire and empty chambers. Woe be unto any poor sod who pulled the trigger without aiming.

      I think it was a very good rule.

    18. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by beelsebob · · Score: 2

      its hard to make a judgement based on one article alone (and only the abstract for that matter since i couldn't access the rest) but based on physics and fluid dynamics the impact energy of a falling bullet is significantly lower than that of a bullet fired directly

      1) Not that much lower if it's fired at an angle upwards, rather than straight up.
      2) It's aimed at an area of the body that bullets typically aren't, which is much much more vulnerable to damage than most of the body.

      Mythbusters did this one, they found that a bullet fired straight up will come down with enough force to severely injure you and require you to visit a hospital, but not enough to actually kill you. But that a bullet fired at an angle retained enough of it's velocity to kill.

    19. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by crutchy · · Score: 2

      re: "a bullet fired at an angle retained enough of it's velocity to kill."

      yes... but a bullet travelling at terminal velocity is (technically) limited to its maximum vertical freefall velocity (assuming no external forces other than gravity, per the definition of terminal velocity), so if you're hit by a bullet travelling at an angle (after perigee on a ballistic trajectory), its likely that the bullet is travelling faster than terminal velocity (the resultant speed would be the sum of terminal vertical velocity and drag-dependent horizontal velocity vectors)

      just a nit pick, but my original reply wasn't about being hit by a bullet fired at an angle, it was in reply to a statement about a bullet travelling at terminal velocity

      a sniper round can travel a long way on a ballistic trajectory (according to wikipedia the longest kill is by an Australian this year that travelled over 2.8 km), of which most of the velocity component is horizontal, so any shot fired on a ballistic trajectory (especially a shallow one) is definitely one to avoid

    20. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by hoboroadie · · Score: 1

      I pulled a .44 slug out of a trim board once, embedded about 1 centimeter. Lining it up with the hole in the siding, it arrived at around thirty degrees, my guess is it was from one or two miles south in Oakland. Two times I've pulled .22 slugs out of roofing shakes, embedded half a centimeter, falling mostly vertically. Ballistically, a longer-than-wide rifle bullet is more likely lethal at extreme range, but that .44 would have ruined your night. (Guess where the bed was going!)
      I've been hit by birdshot falling from the air, a tee-shirt is adequate protection if you don't get those in the eye. One year I got a tad wild and emptied my Browning Auto-5 into the sky, no remorse.

      --
      They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
    21. Re:My Dad shot rifles into the air on New Years... by hoboroadie · · Score: 1

      Those living on the edge could fire model rocket engines w/o the rocket. It's better to just be a public nuisance than public enemy.

      Ah yes, the olde Estes-Congreve. You want a C6-0, a little strip of bamboo and an m-80 for best results. Back before I had a friend with Mexican cousins, that was the best we could do. They didn't sell D engines until I got out of the game.

      --
      They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
  14. Pet owner by kthreadd · · Score: 5, Funny

    I spend most of the evening looking over a very scared dog.

    It would be highly appreciated if those of you using fireworks waited until midnight.

    1. Re:Pet owner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      It would be highly appreciated if you got a better dog

    2. Re:Pet owner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would be highly appreciated if those of you using fireworks waited until midnight.

      It would be highly appreciated if you gave your dog Benadryl to calm it down.

    3. Re:Pet owner by The+Sad+Nazgul · · Score: 2

      I will blow up what I want, when I want. It's not my fault your dog is a pussy.

      You are one sad, pathetic little person.

    4. Re:Pet owner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Me bloody too.

    5. Re:Pet owner by Gaygirlie · · Score: 2

      Pretty much the same here. People started shooting fireworks already at around 4pm here and the dog is so god damn scared of them that he couldn't pee or poop outside the whole evening. I just had no other choice than to let him do his stuff indoors. I'm just glad New Year's Eve happens only once a year.

    6. Re:Pet owner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the other 364 days of the year we have to listen to your mutt yapping all day and night, so perhaps you can suck it up for one night?

  15. I *had* plans by msobkow · · Score: 1

    But my buddy's a lightweight and fell out by 18h30. So I went home. *sigh*

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  16. Whoop whoop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stay at home where there are no police, the Vodka Redbulls are mixed well and don't cost $8.00, go to bed early, wake up early, then fish through the local inmate listings to see how many people I know that get picked up for DUI.

  17. Waiting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    for these kinds of posts to pop up on Slashdot. And comment on them.

  18. peas by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    collard greens and peas. we do that for good luck. it has worked. so far.

    1. Re:peas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also keep an old concertina behind the door to repel elephants. It has worked so far, since I've never seen an elephant here in my big city skyscraper apartment.

  19. being older and wiser... by jddeluxe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...I stay home to avoid the drunks and police...

    1. Re:being older and wiser... by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Me too. It's a tradition in my immediate family not to travel during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. Those are dangerous times to be on the road, and you don't want your holiday memories to be of sitting in the emergency room or dealing with a death in the family. (Been there, did that, never again.) We take time off in January to see close relatives and May to see the ones that are further away.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    2. Re:being older and wiser... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meh, when I was a kid I used to drive all around on New Years and never once saw even a single cop or drunk on the road.

      It's a myth.

    3. Re:being older and wiser... by antdude · · Score: 1

      Same here, but I have been doing that since I was little too. I rarely go to parties. I did go to a LAN party for Y2K though.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    4. Re:being older and wiser... by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      Not around me... cops park outside the bar-heavy areas and snag people all night long around here. I was the DD one year and must have seen ten cops in the process of dropping four other people off. Most were writing tickets; the rest were eagerly looking for them.

    5. Re:being older and wiser... by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 1

      Well, yeah, they're all in the bars.

      --
      http://www.rootstrikers.org/
    6. Re:being older and wiser... by kencf0618 · · Score: 1

      I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now that I have a social life (to paraphrase Bob Dylan). I used to stay in on Amateur Night, but now that I have friends who are variously Maker Faire peeps, artists, and burlesque/new circus performers, I offer my services as roving designated driver just in case someone's Plan B needs a Plan B and just have a wonderful time. The burlesque troupe held a benefit last night, A Derrière Affair --their favourite venue needed new seating! Who am I to stay home?!?

  20. New Years EVE by Zelaron · · Score: 1

    As of this year, I'll be undocking a Drake in Jita to unload enough Festival Launcher fireworks to fry someone's GPU.

    1. Re:New Years EVE by Sperbels · · Score: 2

      Could you use something smaller than a drake? I will be suicide ganking firework people in Jita.

  21. Casio VL-80 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I got a Casio VL-80 calculator decades ago for Christmas from my parents. I learned to play Auld Lang Syne on it and every New Years Eve for years afterwards I'd play that for the family. When I moved out I'd call my parents and play it over the phone for my mom. I've still got the calculator somewhere and it still works too!

  22. Our city has a "First Night" celebration.. by the_rajah · · Score: 2

    It was my first date with the woman who is now my wife. We went to it for several years when we were involved with the organization that sponsors it. This year we're staying home by the fireplace watching some TV and just generally goofing off. Not a bad way to see the new year in.

    --


    "Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
  23. Lez porn and masturbation. Same as always by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    I'm well paid but will die alone. So it goes.

    1. Re:Lez porn and masturbation. Same as always by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      same here, high five! ...wait, wash your hand first

    2. Re:Lez porn and masturbation. Same as always by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could have been worse.. I lost my job and will die alone.. from starvation / the cold.

  24. quiet one by pbjones · · Score: 2

    watch a movie 'till midnight, then hug wife, and went to bed. Boring, but I don't make a druken idiot of myself like many. By 10AM there were 10 dead in road crashes, poor start to the year.

    --
    There was an unknown error in the submission.
  25. fireworks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Here in Australia if you celebrated with fireworks outside your house you would most likely have the police around your house.

    1. Re:fireworks by amRadioHed · · Score: 2

      So are fireworks allowed inside your house, or are they just banned altogether?

      --
      We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
    2. Re:fireworks by TheLink · · Score: 1

      They're not completely banned in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHlqpzhlasE

      --
    3. Re:fireworks by Cimexus · · Score: 1

      Depends on the jurisdiction. Some states ban them outright. Others allow them on specific days in the year (which doesn't normally include New Years ... e.g. they were legal in the ACT on the Queen's Birthday weekend up until a couple of years ago, now I think they are banned outright there too - too many complaints from pet owners and people who had idiots blow up their mailbox with them etc.)

    4. Re:fireworks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would they bring their own food and drinks?

  26. Oliebollen & Appel flappen by ickleberry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Lekker gezond!

    1. Re:Oliebollen & Appel flappen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oil balls and apple flaps?

      Disgusting Dutch freak

    2. Re:Oliebollen & Appel flappen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One thing about New Year's in the Netherlands is its fscking noisy. Rotterdam sounds like its under artillery attack for several hours.

    3. Re:Oliebollen & Appel flappen by jedimark · · Score: 1

      I don't know about it being all that good for us, but definitely a very yummy way to bring in the new year! :)

    4. Re:Oliebollen & Appel flappen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      zo is dat !

    5. Re:Oliebollen & Appel flappen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If ya ain't dutch, ya ain't much!

  27. Minecraft by dissy · · Score: 2

    I find it funny that Minecraft is mentioned, and even more so that this will be my second new year in game.

    I have a decently elaborate "dropping ball" counter made with redpower and computercraft mods, with a new addition of fireworks for this year. We plan to set it off four times tonight, once for each of the US time zones.

    Slightly better than being stuck outside in the cold and snow, especially seeing the majority of us do not have the opportunity to spend new years with family.

    1. Re:Minecraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Forgot about Hawaii I see.

    2. Re:Minecraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Atlantic, Alaskan, Samoa and Chamorro.
      The US has 9 time zones in total.

    3. Re:Minecraft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      welll the world is massive.. it's multiplayer.. and it's online.

      if they'd said mmorpg you might have a point. but personally I think it would fit the definition of that as well.

    4. Re:Minecraft by Cimexus · · Score: 1

      To me, MMO implies a single, persistent world with many thousands of players. The 'massive' refers to the number of players, not the world size - Massively Multiplayer Online game.

  28. In Bed by Mullen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In bed by 10:00p! Staying up until midnight, the most overrated tradition ever.

    --
    Linux O Muerte!
    1. Re:In Bed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In bed at 10pm?! But that means you'd get 12h of sleep when you stroll into work at 10:15am. You do get to work after 10 don't you?

    2. Re:In Bed by isorox · · Score: 1

      In bed by 10:00p! Staying up until midnight, the most overrated tradition ever.

      Seriously, you go to bed before midnight on a normal day?

    3. Re:In Bed by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2

      I'm staying up until 3 am. Why the hell should New Years be different from any other night of the year?

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    4. Re:In Bed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How did you know that Mullen works for the federal government?

    5. Re:In Bed by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      I go to work at 6:30 a.m. Yes, I go to bed before midnight. Usually by 10 p.m. When you get up at 5:30, you have little choice.

  29. SWTOR by Billly+Gates · · Score: 0

    I know I may get flamed for it but I like that game and feel Star Wars the Old Republic has improved dramatically over hte last year.

  30. Two things... by jordonwii · · Score: 5, Interesting

    1. I play BZFlag. Don't know why, but it's become a tradition for me.

    2. Use a handheld spotlight I have to signal a house on one of the hills around me, ever since about 4 years ago, I randomly shined my light up there, and they signaled back.

  31. Crying myself to sleep alone, like a true geek? :/ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    AGAIN.

  32. Sleep. by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 1

    Schlaffe. Ich schlaffe fuer die ganze nacht.

    1. Re:Sleep. by jeti · · Score: 1

      Your lady won't be happy with that.

  33. LOTR marathon every year by cks3 · · Score: 0

    My wife and I watch the entire Extended Blu-Ray of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. We just finished Fellowship. Tomorrow we will watch Two Towers and Return of the King. We've been doing this since the movies were all available on DVD. (we both hate watching sports so New Years Day football was out).

    --
    http://www.sampletheweb.com
    1. Re:LOTR marathon every year by filthpickle · · Score: 1

      me too.

  34. LAN Party by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stay up till sunrise having a LAN Party

  35. 12 grapes by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

    Madrid - Plaza Mayor. Kissing random Spanish women.
    Well...it was fun, until I grew up and got a life.

    Now, I'm sitting here talking to you fools, and watching a movie with the spouse.

    1. Re:12 grapes by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      I dunno, I'm having trouble coming up with a life better than that.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    2. Re:12 grapes by isorox · · Score: 1

      Madrid - Plaza Mayor. Kissing random Spanish women.
      Well...it was fun, until I grew up and got a life.

      Now, I'm sitting here talking to you fools, and watching a movie with the spouse.

      Thanks, booked a ticket to Madrid for next year!

    3. Re:12 grapes by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

      I dunno, I'm having trouble coming up with a life better than that.

      Yes, it is pretty damn good. The movie ( Identity ) could be a little better, though.

    4. Re:12 grapes by El+Torico · · Score: 1

      Sounds like you were having a pretty fun life before you grew up. The Puerta del Sol is great fun too.

      --
      In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is usually crucified.
    5. Re:12 grapes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i live in paradise but,
        right now i wish i was you back then

  36. I call it "Monday Night" by RyoShin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Today is Monday, tomorrow is Tuesday. Tonight marks one complete rotation (roughly) of our planet around our sun.

    I have no idea what my community is doing, but I plan to treat it as any other night, with the exception that I get tomorrow off. As I've grown older (27, for reference) and gotten out and lived on my own I find that annual celebrations hold little meaning to me, including my own birthday. If I'm going to celebrate, it's going to be for a relevant, contemporary event. If I'm going to make changes to my life, it's going to be when I realize those changes need to be made, not some arbitrary date. If I want to get together with loved ones, I'll do it when the urge strikes (at least, in so far as those I want to spend time with are also available.)

    (Of course, I've no friends, no close relatives, and am anti-social, so my view could be skewed.)

    1. Re:I call it "Monday Night" by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2

      It completes one complete revolution, not rotation.

      Have a care where you are.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    2. Re:I call it "Monday Night" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ass-burgers anyone? Man I feel for you, what makes you anti social?
      -p

    3. Re:I call it "Monday Night" by houghi · · Score: 1

      I would as well, but then my Mayan community told me that the world would end, because the calender only went till December 31st.
      So I partied like, well, it was the end of the world. You can imagine my disappointment.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    4. Re:I call it "Monday Night" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Technically, it does both.

    5. Re:I call it "Monday Night" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      your last sentence was apparent to me from how you wrote throughout. you should also use the word antisocial carefully. are you not social or are you sociopathic - two different things.

      but i see what you mean. when i lived at home close to all my family - sharing those days made them special. but now i that i live on my own far away and can't visit always- those days feel like any other. i also didnt realize this until i moved away.

    6. Re:I call it "Monday Night" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holidays are great for seeing family and friends because those are the days that most everyone has off.

    7. Re:I call it "Monday Night" by RyoShin · · Score: 1

      The constant concern that my very involvement in anything brings down the overall happiness of the group. (Also, for my nearby relatives, I have nothing in common with them; I don't do small talk and become bored easily and would start focusing on other things, so my view is that the slight of not going at all is less than going and ignoring them.)

  37. Hacker public radio group hangout by suso · · Score: 1

    I guess its kinda a tradition now that its the second year now:

    http://www.hackerpublicradio.org/

  38. perfect 2013 by isama · · Score: 1

    some music, a good shoother, a beer, and compiling a new kernel :D

  39. scifi channel shows twilight zone all day long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    scifi channel shows twilight zone all day long

  40. Scotch Whiskey by Osgeld · · Score: 1

    I get a moderately priced bottle of Scotch and avoid the internet

    1. Re:Scotch Whiskey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get a moderately priced bottle of Scotch and post as often as possible.

  41. Digging out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I get to throw out:

    - Christmas catalogs and flyers (usually multiple pitches from the same stores)
    - Charity solicitations (*always* multiple pitches from the same ones, including those I've already donated to this year)
    - Anything having to do with elections and political campaigns
    - Last year's wall calendar
    - Bills paid over 12 months old (I keep a full year just in case)
    - Ridiculously obsolete software and technology artifacts (this year I threw out some backups saved on 3.5" floppies)

  42. Nothing, really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I personally usually don't celebrate new years anymore. i used to host parties, but I got tired of babysitting drunks and making sure people got home safe, etc. Sometimes I'll consider the past year and look at ways to improve myself or my situation. Sort of a introspection which may or may not result in a resolution.

    My neighbours do this cool thing which I think is Austrian in nature. They sweep their house with a broom to symbolically sweep away the past. Then they go outside and, if i understand correctly, throw coins at the house to symbolize desired prosperity. They also walk around the block to symbolize travel/vacations they wish to take. Then they set off small fireworks. I think it's a lovely tradition which includes the family and does not involve getting falling down drunk.

  43. Thwaite and FantaVision by tepples · · Score: 1

    I pull out Thwaite for NES and make my own fireworks. Then I pull out FantaVision for PS2 and make my own fireworks.

  44. Chili! by certsoft · · Score: 1

    Most years I'm busy New Years Eve making chili for the Margarita and Chili-Fest on New Years Day. Unfortunately a bit under the weather this year so that's been delayed.

  45. ritual cleaning by tverbeek · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's dull, but I usually spend the evening at home with a bottle of wine, cleaning the house, rearranging the furniture... generally getting things ready for another fresh start on a new year. Tomorrow morning I'll probably fix pancakes, take down the holiday lights from the front porch, and... begin.

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    1. Re:ritual cleaning by gwgwgw · · Score: 1

      Got rid of stuff via FreeCycle.
      Went to work (though its nominally a holiday, but I like my job).
      Did a pharmacy run for our 83 yr old next door neighbor.
      Now, I headed for a old school, high tech Austin annual New Years' party. My wife is recuperating from too much fun at *some* for the 3 restaurants we (all) partied at here, Houston, back here ...
      However -- no alcohol for me on this very wet & somewhat foggy night. [Won't take my recumbent THIS time!]
      I wish us all good luck in 2013 (some 4 hrs 15 minutes from now)

      --
      That was Zen, this is Tao
    2. Re:ritual cleaning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you own a pancake repair shop?

    3. Re:ritual cleaning by tverbeek · · Score: 1

      No, I am a pancake veterinarian. The humane way to keep their numbers in check is to neuter them.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  46. New Year's Eve Tradition? by chronokitsune3233 · · Score: 1

    Well, the local pubs always have specials. Other than that, nothing traditional happens in my area except maybe people watching the Times Square Ball drop in New York City. Of course, that signals New Year's Day in NYC. It's 5 in the morning in London and 11 P.M. (2300 hours) where I reside. I just don't understand how it's such a big celebration if it means that it's New Year's Day happens at midnight in only one timezone. Yet another reason why we should have a world clock instead of time zones and Daylight Saving Time/Summer Time.

    --
    I have been a captive in America my entire life. Everybody and everything uses customary units instead of metric.
  47. SISS (Stay In and Stay Sober) by mallyn · · Score: 1
    After 7 PM, I am in the house for the night.

    With approximately 30 percent of drivers later on New Years Eve driving DUI; it's not a good night to be out on a bicycle, which is my mode of transportation.

    Besides, SISS is cheap and I have nothing to regret when I get up in the morning of January First.

    So, right now, I am working on refurbishing one of my pieces of lighted jewelry to wear at a party in mid-January.

    --
    Most Respectfully Yours Mark Allyn Bellingham, Washington
  48. My Tradition by QA · · Score: 0

    Smoked Salmon on Rye, Brut Premier, Jumbo Shrimps, Oysters, all nice and quiet with myself as company.

  49. I tend to stay sober sit on eve online on a gate and make quite a large profit off the drunks. its like a second christmas.

    --
    -Noc
  50. I get really drunk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And sometimes I vomit on the keybo

  51. Watch porn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    and fap fap fap in the new year.

  52. Give the wife a little pickle tickle and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    roll over and go to sleep.

  53. An 8-ball and a fifth of Scotch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So when crash I know that I won't feel any worse for the rest of the year.

  54. Commit my code by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Funny

    I commit all my outstanding code. Then I wait until the next year to fix the build.

    1. Re:Commit my code by arth1 · · Score: 1

      I commit all my outstanding code. Then I wait until the next year to fix the build.

      Some people I know do that before going on summer vacation.

  55. Smoking Weed. by Nyder · · Score: 1

    I prefer to end the year and same way I start it, stoned off my ass.

    I can watch the Space Needle's firework show from my window, so I don't even have to go outside.

    Go outside, in the cold and probably rain (this is seattle), to be harassed by panhandlers, cops, drunk fools, more panhandles, then to have to crank my head up to watch 10 mins of fireworks, only to have to deal with more panhandlers, cops, drunk fools, high fools, and traffic.

    I could go to a party, but on the way there, have to deal with panhandlers, probably cops, drunk fools, high fools and then once I get to the party, I'm dealing with drunk fools. Then once the cops show up, i'm back outside dealing with the panhandlers, more cops and of course, drunk fools.

    I could go to a bar, but i'm sure you get the picture.

    In case you didn't notice, drunk people tend to bother me.

    --
    Be seeing you...
  56. What Germans do on New Year's by smittyoneeach · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Dinner for One" is THE German New Year's tradition:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1v4BYV-YvA
    I'll watch that again with the wife. Somehow it improves with repetition.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    1. Re:What Germans do on New Year's by MrNemesis · · Score: 1

      Glad someone brought this up! I was in Germany one NYE and, being a Brit, I was hussled in front of the TV to watch this, and everyone in the room was utterly shocked I'd never even hard of it; as far as I'm aware this custom is almost completely unheard of in the UK. As far as I can make out from Wikipedia, this sketch was broadcast in Germany in 1963 and became a cult hit almost instantly, whilst it's been forgotten about over here - no broadcasts in the UK in 30yrs apparently.

      Classic little sketch, and a fantastic excuse for multiple chin-chins :)

      --
      Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
  57. T.O.M.E 4 marathon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And I managed to win the damned game. (Roguelike, so zero mistakes AND some luck are needed).

  58. Inventory by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 1

    I own a small business. My New Year's Eve celebration consists of taking inventory. (Yes, I know that I could do it tomorrow instead, but I like to get it over and done with since it's such a tedious job.)

    --
    If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
  59. DAN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do absolutely NOTHING!

  60. sadfully regretting by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 1

    ... the things whose counterparts I vowed to adhere to a year ago.

  61. Try to go to bed early. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While griping about the noisy fireworks and praying no idiots get any in their eyes and I get called in to do something about it.

  62. Honestly? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

    My recent tradition has been to spend this time debating whether or not I should go to one of the New Year's Eve parties I've been invited to (okay, okay, I only ever get invited to one). Usually I get distracted by the Internet along the way and promptly forget that it's New Year's Eve until the next day when people ask me what I did for it.

    This year though, I'll definitely go to the party. Just as soon as I get done reading through and commenting on Slashdot, of course. And then my RSS feeds.

  63. In tights. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Get into the sacramental wine and bless things until good and vashnigyered!

  64. Food! by Rydia · · Score: 1

    Particularly rumaki.

  65. meh - play along by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's been perhaps a hundred boring days this year, so one more won't kill me. So I just let them drag me and fake it like a bored whore giving a freebie.

  66. Same as the other 364 days/year... by LVSlushdat · · Score: 1

    I live in Las Vegas, and friends always assume that because I live in SinCity, I must be a party-animal... Nothing could be further from the truth.. My partying days are LONG past (62 y/o), so the wife and I hit the sack about the same time we do the rest of the year, namely 10pm-ish.. Frankly, you couldn't pay me enough to go down to the "Resort Corridor" (what the local newsmedia calls the "Las Vegas Strip") on NYE... And you can only watch that stupid glass ball drop on TV so many times before its "been there.. seen that.." It's 6:30pm here in the Pacific timezone, so there's only about 5 1/2 hours left of 2012... WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO????

    --
    THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
    1. Re:Same as the other 364 days/year... by jimmydevice · · Score: 1

      LV is a real POS now, But back in 77, Freemont street, Drunk, stoned and a line up the nose.
      Kissing some hottie I didn't know, while my new wife was removing hottie's boyfriends tonsils with her teeth
      The Fireworks show and the REAL, Milky Way Fucking stars.
      Before they wrecked downtown.

    2. Re:Same as the other 364 days/year... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Burma shave.

    3. Re:Same as the other 364 days/year... by srobert · · Score: 1

      Me too. The Fireworks on the Strip scare our dog. We stayed home with him. Same as last year.

  67. listening to dumbass band contributing to my by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Server room hearing loss. My wife is up dancing with her girl friends and I have mooved out into the reception area of the ballroom to read Slashdot. Best new year event ever!

  68. Magic with the kids by scottnix · · Score: 1

    I'm playing Magic with my kids tonight. When the clock strikes 12 they're going to bed and I'm breaking out the booze.

    1. Re:Magic with the kids by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go dad! Time well spent.

    2. Re:Magic with the kids by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AWESOME! Jealous i can't play my friends are working like they do every year.

  69. i have no real traditions. by dakohli · · Score: 1

    This year finds me in the Toronto Airport returning home to Nova Scotia. A late plane caused me to alter my plans so now I should spend the beginning of the New Year airborne. For an extra $100 I was able to get business class. So if I party too much will grab a hotel in Halifax and drive home tomorrow.

  70. Tell everyone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To fuck off and die

  71. Archive the year's email by erice · · Score: 1

    I run email on my own server.

    I run a script that moves all email to . I start the year with a clean mailbox. This allows me to keep nearly two decades of email without drowning in it.
    I do the same with my apache logs but I don't need a script for that.

  72. Work, of course by BenEnglishAtHome · · Score: 1

    I used to always volunteer to work. The office would be empty and I could always get some serious work done on those odd projects that always get put off into the future.

    Luckily, my former employer usually cut everyone loose at about 2pm or so. By then, as my sis always says, "It gets drunk out early." After the invariably hair-raising drive home, I stayed there.

    Everclear and soda can do a perfectly adequate job of putting me on my butt if that's my goal or maybe I'll just go to bed. I never understood the reason for partying during really big events where the crowd crush is such a pain. I'm happy to party at the drop of a hat but this particular holiday is just too overdone.

    1. Re:Work, of course by kencf0618 · · Score: 1

      That's very much my M.O. Avoid the crowds and drunk-'o-clock.

  73. I usually just fall asleep by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    Never understood why a change in a calendar year requires me to celebrate it or its different than any other day.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
  74. whiskey, fiscal cliff, fauxnews at the family prty by rmdingler · · Score: 1

    That title about covers it.....do not covet /.ers

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  75. I'm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Climbing on the rooftop with a microphone and uttering strange pre-scripted chants.

  76. Small Arms Fire by Gim+Tom · · Score: 1

    Just kind of hunker down to avoid the small arms fire in this county.

  77. Let in the NY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I open my door to let in the new year, it does get a bit drafty though.

  78. Fondue by sid_vicious · · Score: 1

    Since you asked.. We start with a cheese course, then wrap up with a chocolate course. Kickin' it old school.

    --
    If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.
  79. Pressing the button... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..to keep refreshing Slashdot to see what all the cool kids are doing.

  80. Who remembers? by kawabago · · Score: 1

    or wants to!

  81. Waste Money! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I buy all kinds of crazy shit on eBay that I would normally have the common sense not to! Then I regret it once it arrives! What am I going to do with the Google branded server from last year? I don't know but it looks nice in the rack!

  82. Dick Clark Death Watch. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1) Turn On ABC
    2) See if Dick Clark Shows up.
    3) If He Does. He's Alive. Otherwise He's Dead.

    Not too sure if he's Dead yet...

  83. Beer by Bengie · · Score: 1

    Too drunk to remember

  84. Your mom. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your mom.

  85. Here it is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I always like to do a line of coke and hit a fleshlight for about 30 mins. then when I'm about to blow a load I stick a taser in my ass and set it off. One time I almost shot the fleshlight across the room.

  86. Minecraft by Cimexus · · Score: 1

    ...is an MMO now?

    But that aside, on New Years (which was yesterday here ... I'm in Australia) my wife and I went into the CBD of my city for the fireworks at 9pm, but didn't hang around until the midnight ones as the city events are all alcohol-free and we wanted our midnight champagne. Went home, opened a bottle at midnight, watched the other fireworks on TV. Boring but pleasant :)

  87. It is not the New Years Day tomorrow. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2
    The real new years day happens on April 14th on the day variously called Ugathi, or Puththaandu or Vishu. The month Panguni will be gone, and the new year will begin with the month of Chithrai. Curiously it does not start at midnight. These guys are very precise. It starts when the Earth completes the orbit around the sun and comes back to exactly the same location. Typically it will be something like 7AM in one April 14, then around 1PM April 14 in the next year, then it will be around 7PM of April 14 of the next year, then it will at 1AM of April 15 of next year, but the leap year would yank it back to 1 AM April 14.

    And yes, people will cook the festive dinners, offerings to the Gods etc and patiently wait for the new year to be "born" before starting the prayers. The patriarch will read the almanac that predicts how much rain there will be that year, "Measure it by the ark. Ark of 1000 cubits long and 2000 cubits wide and 500 cubits deep. 2590 arks of rain will fall this year". Let me see if I can dig up the precise time and the amount of rain for the coming New year.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:It is not the New Years Day tomorrow. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      Here is an almanac: http://www.scribd.com/doc/101102661/PAMBU-PANCHANGAM-2012-13 This one is compiled by Anna Aiyengar, son of Appanai Aiyengar of Kanjanur. They are the official astronomers for the Maharajah of Thanjavur, Shivaji Raja Bhonsle and have the rights to publish this almanac. But this is not the almanac my family uses. Ours is compiled for the Maharaja of Ramnad. Ours predicts, among other things, the amount of rain. This one does not. But it has whole slew of predictions, like, "Since the new moon day of the month of Thai happens on a Saturday, there will be bad things happening to the country".

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    2. Re:It is not the New Years Day tomorrow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one gives a fuck about that shit.

    3. Re:It is not the New Years Day tomorrow. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      I agree with you. The people who don't give a fuck about that are a bunch of nobodies.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  88. updating software copyright notices by tuffy · · Score: 2

    If I don't switch the numbers around on New Year's, I'm liable to forget until quite awhile later.

    --

    Ita erat quando hic adveni.

  89. HAM Radio by unics · · Score: 0

    For fun, I call into the future wishing the rest of the world a Happy New Years. After we pass midnight, I call to other stations out west and say I'm calling from the future! :)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio

  90. What we do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Since I was a kid my parents had a New Year's Eve party that hundreds of people attended. Since they've been gone I've made a tradition of having a few friends over and having jumbo steamed/peeled shrimp with horseradish cocktail sauce along with Mount Gay Rum and beer chasers. We're pretty much wasted right now, as it should be. Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin are pretty entertaining! I love my parents who really knew how to throw an excellent new year's eve party!!!!

    1. Re:What we do by jimmydevice · · Score: 1

      Anderson Cooper is Kathy Griffen's beard.
      And vice-verse.

  91. At work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Monitoring the network so people can browse the web !

  92. Burn the xmas tree, drinking, fireworks by jimmydevice · · Score: 1

    A tradition we have is burning the Xmas tree festooned with fireworks.
    Times are tight, not too many left over fireworks this year Also, Alcohol. Ditto previous state of the union.

  93. Ebay steals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I scour ebay for closing bids in the hopes most of my competition is wasted - avoiding ususal last minute bidding wars.

    This does not work nearly as well as it used to with all of the automated bidding crap.

    Happy new year everyone!!

  94. Alcohol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and lots of it.

  95. Um. Nothing. by Seumas · · Score: 1

    I'm a grown ass man, so I don't wank off to a change in the calender. I believe I've worked every eve/day of the past fifteen years (though it was particularly fun, during Y2K).

  96. like in 1999: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm doing New Years the old school way, drinking with friends over IRC.

  97. I regret to inform you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But Dick Clark didn't show up. You may now buy the Time Life Home Video box set of American Bandstand.

  98. Birthday Party and Slumber Party! by girlinatrainingbra · · Score: 1

    My best friend (and bff) has her birthday today. Since she was 8 we've had the birthday party / slumber party combination at her house. My uncle's birthday is just before christmas, so his birthday gets diluted just like Jessie's bday does. Last year there were eight of us for the night; this year more are at other new year's eve parties, but here I am getting ready for the west coast new years in two hours one-hour+fifty-five-minutes!!!

    How do you get strike-through text to work?!?! Woo-hoo i'm at a new year's party posting on /. !!!! Woo-hoo-hoo!!!

  99. Hoppin' John by markhahn · · Score: 1

    tasty black-eye peas, rice, diced tomatoes/onion/sweet pepper, with a bit of nice sharp cheddar on top. healthy, traditional, distinctive. even goes well with a bit of bubbly!

  100. Holding Money by Surak_Prime · · Score: 1

    Every year, my family has a tradition of holding money - at least a dollar - at midnight, as a sort of spell to make sure that we will be holding money the whole year. Silly superstition, and the kids know it is, but it is still kind of a fun little thing.

    --
    :::The Spear in the heart of the Other is the Spear in the heart of You; You are He - Surak of Vulcan:::
  101. Get Drunk by Zedrick · · Score: 1

    Here in Sweden, the tradition is to watch Dinner For One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1v4BYV-YvA/ (on TV every year since 1976), get very drunk and then watch fireworks (or set them off yourself and get your fingers blown off if you're drunk enough).

    This year I had actually planned to play World of Tanks at midnight since my girlfriend is sick and sleeping.... but of course a colleague showed up and I had to go to a pub run by Russian criminals and drink lots of things. Now I just hope I get sick too so I can stay home and sleep for a week.

    1. Re:Get Drunk by jgrahn · · Score: 1

      Here in Sweden, the tradition is to watch Dinner For One (on TV every year since 1976), get very drunk and then watch fireworks (or set them off yourself and get your fingers blown off if you're drunk enough).

      I missed Dinner for One this year, and was rather happy about it. After 30+ viewings it has lost its charm.

      My family tradition is otherwise TV-based. Zap around between the plentiful movies, while drinking some coffee and/or gleuhwein. Around 23.30, switch to channel 1 to watch the celebration in Stockholm. Also glance out the window, to see if some sucker has spent so much money on fireworks that they are actually worth watching. Then at midnight, make a few phone calls and go to bed.

      Fireworks at New Year are rather new around here, by the way. They used to be reserved for Easter, but at some point in the 1980s or so they started selling in December too.

  102. Odd facts about 2013 by PacRim+Jim · · Score: 1

    Odd facts about the number 2013. It's not evenly divisible by 13.7. Also, it's the only odd number evenly divisible by 1 between 2012 and 2014. Shazam !

  103. slaughtering Jews of course by bennyp · · Score: 1

    Ahhhh New Years, aka Sylvester day, celebrating that great Christian sa.int who earned his beatification from the Church by slaughtering Jews. Since the Middle Ages, this day was observed with pogroms, rape and destruction of Jewry all across Europe. A fitting tribute from the Useless Nations. Peace in 2013 indeed.

    --
    could it be?
  104. Fireworks are banned in Australia? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wish someone would tell my neighbours.

  105. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For 12 years straight, a group of us drops LSD at 11:15. Good way to bring in another chapter in this long story.

  106. Collard Greens and Hoppin' John by isaac · · Score: 1

    I take new year's eve easy. What I'm doing for new year's day:

    1 large onion
    1 bell pepper
    6 cloves of garlic
    3 stalks celery
    (a good-sized smoked ham hock) and/or (4 strips of bacon and a fist-sized chunk of tasso ham)
    4 bunches of collard greens, torn off the stems between the veins
    1 lb of dried black-eyed peas
    quart of chicken stock or broth - homemade is best, low-sodium if you're buying the canned stuff.
    a couple stems of thyme and a bay leaf
    salt and pepper
    tabasco sauce
    rice
    green onions

    Soak the black-eyed peas overnight (12 hours, preferably) then rinse and drain when you're ready to cook

    Dice the onion, pepper, and celery, split between 2 bowls

    If you've got a ham hock, heat a little oil in a dutch oven and sear it in a dutch oven for the peas. If you have bacon or tasso, cube it and render out some fat in the dutch oven or stock pot. You want 2 pots going with a little rendered pork fat, preferably with some meat (either hock or bacon.)

    Pour a bowl of trinity (the onion/celery/pepper mixture) into each pot and sweat for about 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring every so often. Press 3 cloves of garlic into each pot and give a quick stir after 30 seconds.

    Add beans, thyme, bay, and stock to one pot and give a stir; wait for it to come to a boil then lower heat and cover. While waiting for first pot to boil, gradually add torn-up collards to the other pot, stirring often to let the greens wilt. When all greens are in the pot, cover it and lower the heat to a simmer. Season before serving.

    While peas and greans are cooking (cook beans for about 45 minutes, greens for a little less), make a cup or 2 of long-grain white rice (basmati is great.)

    Put peas and greans over rice with some chopped scallions and a good dash of tabasco.

    --
    I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
  107. Punch a midget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I find, stalk, and ultimately punch a midget every NYE, a tradition started in '87.

    In some years it was harder to find the little fellas (they are always male) than others until I realized I had to go where the midgets were celebrating.

    Strange thing - midgets like to party together.

    Every word of this is true.

  108. Bagpipes by yenrabbit · · Score: 1

    Every year my band gets about five different gigs for new years eve parties, and when the drinks flow the tips flow too :) All in all its not a bad way to welcome in a new year and earn some extra cash.

  109. Facing a dilemma...... by saturndude · · Score: 1

    This year, I went to a church get-together. I was basically ordered out at the end, over nothing (I wasn't mean or drunk, and I got out physically okay). Aspies like me don't do well here, and things often get worse in a hurry.

    So next year I promise to stay home. It seems like a pattern with me. Every few years, I think I have a place that fits me, and I plan to have a good time. And something always goes wrong.

    Maybe I should just resign myself to staying home every new year's eve, and watch movies or read a good book (I have no family that can stay up that late and enjoy activities with me).

    Perhaps in the future I'll volunteer at a soup kitchen (maybe on the holiday or on a different day, it depends what the charity's needs are).

  110. This is me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go to bed early.
    Wake up after midnight as baka neighbors fire off firecrackers. Last night were especially loud and at 12:08, one was set off right by my bedroom window.
    Curse those unfeeling rubes who celebrate during wartime. Curse this mad Empire, soaked in blood. Pray that someday, the Republic will be restored.
    Go back to sleep and dream of randy Japanese anime girls and nekomini's.

  111. Carbide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where I'm from we put calcium carbide in a milk drum, add some water, jam a soccer ball in the opening and light it.

  112. Cleaning house: now I am free at last! by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

    Going room by room gathering all the misplaced important papers and consolidating bills...

    But especially finding and discarding all previous 'new years resolutions' lists made over the years.

    Good, I think I have found them all now. They are discarded, unread.

    I will not be making one this year.

    --
    <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  113. Believe it or not... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...watching all the films of the "Alien" saga (I will watch "Alien 3" this afternoon)

  114. My neighbor's house caught on fire last night by gelfling · · Score: 1

    Maybe that can be our new tradition.

  115. Playing INGRESS! by Dr.+Zim · · Score: 1

    My New New Years tradition will be playing Ingress in downtown Tampa.

    --
    (name withheld by request)
  116. What's all the fuss? by whizbang77045 · · Score: 1

    My established procedure is this: 1) Go to bed. 2) Go to sleep. 3) Wake up on Jan 1. Voila! It's a new year without all the fuss, bother, and hangovers.

  117. Re:Crying myself to sleep alone, like a true geek? by jones_supa · · Score: 1

    Is there something to be sad about, then?

  118. NYE cooking! by Dr+Herbert+West · · Score: 1

    Black-eyed peas and cornbread-- traditionally brings luck for the new year.

    Bacon and ham is usually involved as well.

  119. Moxie! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In the Northeastern US we have a softdrink called Moxie, which has been around for ages. It is awful, awful stuff that tastes like medicine. Since neither my friends nor I drink alcohol, we started a ritual about 15 years ago (no one remembers exactly when) that participants have to chug a can of Moxie at midnight. The logic is, the year can go nowhere but up from there. I and various friends have performed this ritual ever since. The one time we skipped it, we ended up having the worst ice storm in memory. Coincidence? I think not...

  120. Vow celibacy from pizza instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Oh... to eat pizza again..." by erroneus (253617) on Saturday December 22, @05:20PM (#42371769) from http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3335159&cid=42371769 since that disgusting fatbody pig's an obese swine with no dick!

  121. Good beer with beer geeks by Just+Brew+It! · · Score: 1

    Besides being heavily into computer tech, I also brew beer. For the past decade or so New Years Eve has been spent with a group of local beer geeks (brewers and judges). The guy who hosts it always has a keg of something great (this year it was Firestone Walker Union Jack), and also does a 10+ year vertical of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. Everybody else brings a few bottles of something to share. We've probably got better beer than any other New Years party in town!

  122. BASSNECTAR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BASSNECTAR

  123. Go out, you fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given the type of people you are and the type of lifestyles you live (I'm speaking to you, stereotypical Slashdotter), this is one of the evenings that you should absolutely go out regardless of what you perceive of as risks and hassles. Yes, people are drunk. Yes, bars are crowded. Yes, people who rarely drink get out of control and make impulsive decisions.

    Now, let me put that in the proper perspective by reducing half of the population. Yes, women are drunk. Yes, bars are crowded with women. Yes, women who rarely drink get out of control and make impulsive decisions.

    You could be that impulsive decision.

    Don't complain that you can't get a tan if you stay inside on the sunniest days.

  124. NYE at my house? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Heh. It's just another day for me/us. However, because it's a BFD for many, we do delight in turning the police/fire scanner up. We get a healthy chuckle from all of the activity. Of course, there's generally always something, more or less, happenin' here in the beeg shitty, but times like NYE are far more entertaining. It's amazing what idiocy people will do, esp. when they've enjoyed a little too much ETOH.
          We'll not go out and risk highways with a substantially higher percentage of drink drivers among the traffic. We avoid checkpoints, where one's guilty until proven innocent. We stay home.
          Curiously, there's actually one good, or at least interesting, reason to go outdoors 'round midnight in our neighbourhood. This is because, somewhere not too far away, there's someone who has an automatic weapon. From the sound of it, we believe it to be a Thompson. He/she goes out at midnight every NYE, and most July 4ths, to let fly a full 100-round mag. We assume it's aimed UP, and hope that ballistic .45 rounds don't fall upon our noggins.
          Life's not boring.

  125. New Year's eve at the south pole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The South Pole station holds a marathon (and fractions thereof) across the Antarctic Plateau in the morning, and then members of the station who have formed bands over the season play a concert in the gym to bring in the new year.

  126. Re:Hitler Channel by hoboroadie · · Score: 1

    Kinda how I loved the History channel which then turned into the UFO/Bigfoot/X-Files channel.

    Who'd have thought they could get worse?

    --
    They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
  127. You're doing it wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't know why you can't just launch from the neighbor's lawn like I do.
    Of course if you do it on New Years, then there's possible eyewitnesses out on the streets, and the rude-awakening factor just isn't there.
    3 am on a random Monday, but perhaps you don't hate your neighbor?

  128. Boom!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I live in the Netherlands. Lots of fireworks and noise bombs, even days before the New Year's Eve, but on the actual day they started at 8 am and continued until 4 am on New Year's day. Between 8 pm - 2 am it was nothing short of a war zone here. Thousands of euros used to pollute the atmosphere and trash the streets. Argh!