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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish. There's good news and bad news on the so-called "fiscal cliff," just hours before the nation is set to slide over it. The good news is that top negotiators for the Senate and the White House are by all accounts this close to a deal. The deal would prevent a major income tax hike for most Americans. That starts tomorrow.

Chief Justice John Roberts wants everyone to know the federal judiciary is doing its part to keep down government costs. Roberts used his year-end report on the state of the courts to point out that the judicial branch consumes "a miniscule portion of the federal budget" — about $7 billion in fiscal year 2012, or two-tenths of 1 percent of the total government budget.

It is New Year's Eve. And that means people will: go to parties and drink Champagne; ignore the hubbub and go to bed by 10; start cooking for New Year's Day; watch college football — or possibly some combination of the above.

You can see celebrations around the world by checking out a special photo feed on Instagram. The site shifts timezones to mark the latest to ring in the new year.

Superstorm Sandy did tens of billions of dollars in damage to coastal areas of New York and New Jersey.

But there may be a silver lining to all that destruction: Some economists argue that reconstruction from Sandy could help stimulate the national economy in 2013. Still, others are more skeptical.

Charlie Messina uses a jackhammer to break up flood-damaged concrete in a basement in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Manhattan Beach. Messina owns a small business that does renovations.

We know the NPR audience is both interesting and smart. So instead of sharing our resolutions for 2013, we thought we'd ask about yours. We put out calls on Twitter and Facebook, and more than 900 of you have responded (thus far).

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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Amid all the talk of going over the fiscal cliff, we have a report now on another midnight deadline tonight. Few were paying attention when Congress failed to pass the Farm Bill last fall. But now lawmakers are scrambling to extend the law for a year, to dodge a spike in milk prices. While an agreement is in the works, another vote is necessary, and none is scheduled yet. Peggy Lowe of member station KCUR in Kansas City explains how farmers, processors and consumers ended up at what is being called the dairy cliff.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Finally, we're going to take a step back to look at the best apps of 2012. And for help compiling that list, we asked five tech writers to share a few of their favorites.

MAT HONAN: My favorite app of 2012 is Strava.

CORNISH: That's Mat Honan. He's a senior writer at Wired. Strava is an activity tracker for cycling and running, though Honan says he uses it mostly for riding his bike around town.

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Here's a motley crew for you. Newsman Dan Rather, rapper Snoop Dogg - or is it Snoop Lion - actress Molly Ringwald, Public Radio host Ira Glass and President Obama. All right, what do they all have in common? They all hosted question and answer sessions on Reddit this year, a link sharing website that's become one of the most popular social media communities online. This month, the site reported more than three and a half billion page views.