“Back in February 1997, Barry Appelman, an AOL engineer, was granted a patent for something opaquely called ‘User definable on-line co-user lists.'” The rest is history. And that history ends tomorrow as the AIM service is officially shut down. (Everyone leaves me in the end…)

+ Reminder: Tomorrow is the final Feel Good Friday of the year. So if you find positive, uplifting news stories, hit reply and send me a link.

+ NYT: Can smiling while exercising improve performance? (If you’re smiling, you’re probably in good enough shape already.)

+ Here’s a year-end list I didn’t see coming: The Year in Volcanic Activity.

+ Scheduling Note: NextDraft will be off for a couple weeks, from Dec 18th thru the new year.