That said, for five years now I have kicked off the New Year by taking a plunge in the icy waters of New York's Coney Island, a tradition I was introduced to while living in Dublin, where I joined hundreds of locals who make an annual Christmas leap from a rock at Sandycove and baptize themselves in the freezing Irish Sea.

BBC: This is Snow & Skiing week

So how does a small business know when to make the leap from peer-to-peer to server?

FORBES: Are You Feeling The Pain Of Peer-To-Peer?

How did you make the leap from first sip to committing to writing a book about it?

FORBES: Remembering The Norton Grape

When Tulsa's Bill Blankenship decided to make the leap from high school, it took him a year to find a college gig.

WSJ: College Football: The Revenge of the High-School Coach

But a more interesting question is this: when (if ever) will Apple make the leap from producing niche-market set-top boxes to producing LCD televisions?

FORBES: Apple: When Will They Start Making TVs?