Poll: Keeping New Year's Resolutions

What have you resolved to do or not do in 2012? How will you stick to it?

The party's over, 2012 is here and we're back to our daily routines, but with a new resolve to lose weight, save money, go back to school (and the list goes on). But how do you stick to your New Year's resolutions, many of which in a month's time will be long forgotten? Stickk.com, co-founded by Yale University economist Dean Karlan, who has studied how people keep commitments, has users set a goal in a specific a time frame and sign a commitment contract that binds them to meeting it. Then you pick an incentive—an amount of money or social penalty you will have to pay if you fail—and a "referee" to monitor your progress and verify your success. Nearly 80 percent of people who set New Year’s resolutions fail, according to a 2007 …

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Daily PatchCast

PatchCast: Murder Arrest; Fake Cop; Jorelys Probe; Deck the House Winner

Here's your roundup of top stories from Cobb, Cherokee, Paulding, Douglas and Bartow counties for Jan. 2.

For more on these stories, click on the following links:

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App to Help Stop Drinking and Driving

Download this app if alcohol will be part of your New Year's Eve.

Scared you’re going to get behind the wheel a little buzzed (or completely plastered) tonight? There’s an app for that.  The Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has developed an app for drivers to download that provides information about free rides and drinking and driving. The app is available for Androids and iPhones at this link or here for a simulation. Teaching kids to “drink responsibly” is a myth because studies show that teens who drank with adults were more likely to drink in all situations, according to a press release from Cobb County authorities. Two to three times more people died in alcohol-related vehicle crashes over the winter holiday compared to the rest of the year, according to the National Institute on Alcohol …

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Daily PatchCast

PatchCast: Home Invasion Arrests; One Kmart Axed; Superschool Dreams

Here's your roundup of top stories from Cobb, Cherokee, Bartow, Paulding and Douglas counties for Dec. 30.

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Daily PatchCast

PatchCast: School Calendars, Semipro Football, Dog Food, Free Rides

Here's your roundup of top stories from Patches in Paulding, Bartow, Douglas, Cherokee and Cobb counties for Dec. 29.

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Updated: Girls Basketball Scoreboard

Here's your Dec. 28 roundup of high school girls basketball action for Bartow, Douglas, Paulding, Cherokee and Cobb counties.

It's all about holiday tournaments today, so much so that we're breaking the boys and girls scoreboards into separate files. Check out the scores and schedules for the boys here. If you have photos or videos from any of these matchups, we'd love to see them; just click on "Submit Photo & Video." You can post scores in the comments below, email them to GaPatchSports@gmail.com or send them to us on Twitter (@GaPatchSports). Come back Friday for the most complete results we can gather from Thursday's action. We're pulling in scores from Georgia Prep Country, Score Atlanta, Twitter, Facebook, school websites and the other media outlets cited below.  

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Daily PatchCast

PatchCast: Holiday Highlights

From Christmas shopping to Hanukkah candles to tracking Santa, here are some of the top holiday stories from area Patches.

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