New Years - Resolutions and Random Initiatives

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 I’m not big on formal New Years’ resolutions. But, I like to take stock of ideas I found interesting last year, and ones I am intrigued by now. Often these ideas come from books, or are embodied in them.


Books I enjoyed last year:

  • Heads in Beds - snarky, insightful account of a young man’s ascendancy in the hotel business. He starts in New Orleans and moves up to New York, and has many interesting adventrues and encounters. He’s an amazing writer, but in addition to being entertaining, he offers practical advice on how to get good deals at hotels.
  • No Easy Day - First hand account of the raid that found and killed Osama bin Laden. It was riveting, but the big surprise was the account of how Seals are trained, and how they move up to become members of Team Six. These guys must be the most well-trained athletes in the world.
  • The Finish: The Killing of Osama bin Laden by Mark Bowden - I read this right after No Easy Day because it provided detail on how we figured out where bin Laden was. The surprise from this book is learning about the technology related to drones and information sifting.

 

Books I plan to read this year (or have already started):

  • To Sell is Human - by Dan Pink - I always enjoy his take on things. Pink effectively argues that more of us now need to “move” people to adopt our ideas and proposals (e.g. a form of "selling"). Lawyers “sell” ideas or arguments, so this book is relevant to them, and I’m finding lots of good information here on how to be more persuasive.
  • The Art of Explanation - by Lee Lefever. The author is the founder of CommonCraft.com, a company that helps companies explain their products by using short videos that make use of visuals. Dropbox is one of their clients and you can see Lefever’s handiwork if you watch the Dropbox video his company created. This book is a great primer on how to explain things better. I’m surprised at how much I am learning, mostly by simply becoming aware of how great explanations work.

 

New ideas and tools I’ll be paying more attention to:

  • Mindmapping - I’ve used these for a few years now, but not extensively. This year I feel like I’ll be mindmapping pretty much every day. The trick will be to develop a workflow that lets me create and tweak my maps from anywhere, and on any device (e.g. computer, iPad, or iPhone).
  • Presenting from an iPad - I love walking up to a podium to do a presentation with just my iPad. If I’m standing at a podium it’s really the easiest tool to set up and present from. The only limitation is that once the Keynote slidedeck gets too large it won’t work; and my slidedecks often contain lots of video clips. But if the presentation is not too large it’s the easiest way to present from a podium.
  • Webinars - I love doing live CLE seminars. It’s great to get immediate facial feedback, and also I like the social interaction after the event. But the fact is: a lot of what I talk about could be explained better if the audience was at their own computer as I did a live demo from my computer. This is what webinars are optimal for, and I think they’re a great compliment to live seminars. Or they can be useful in their own right. The trick is for potential audience members to know how to log into a webinar, which I think most people now know how to do.

 

Anyway, that’s part of my list of books and tools I’ll be focused on next year. What about you? What are you reading or trying to learn?

I've been quiet here; but elsewhere busy with a new book, and legal seminar stuff

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2012 07 04 ScreenshotSorry I've been a little quiet on the blog here lately, but I've been busy with some good stuff. First, I just submitted the first draft of my book "Blogging in One Hour for Lawyers" to the good folks at the ABA Law Practice Management section. It'll be released in late November if all goes right, and I'll keep you posted when that happens.

I've also been busy ramping up the legal seminar business that Dane Ciolino and I started. Megan Hargroder came on board as a partner last year and has been busy working on a redesign of our blog, and a general branding makeover. We've changed the name of the website DigitalWorkflowCLE.com.

The new website name is PaperlessChase.com, and our new banner logo is awesome. We will be making some more small design tweaks in the coming days. The main thing about the change is that it's easier to market our seminars to lawyers if they have a memorable idea of what we do. The new name is easier to remember, even if it sounds like we are more limited in the scope of what we teach.

Sure, we teach lawyers about how to use lots of different kinds of technology, but a core message is: lawyers who become paperless (or at least move towards a paperless law practice) have an edge. They can be more efficient, work on the go more easily, and save time and money for themselves and their clients. Lawyers who are mostly paperless find it easier to incorporate other types of technology; their tech skills are constantly being honed by the things that they routinely do in their paperless practice.

Tomorrow, Dane and I are doing one of our three hour introductory seminars on becoming paperless for lawyers in Baton Rouge. If you're interested you can learn more about it, and sign up here. It's almost booked up completely so you should definitely sign up in advance. If people wan to sign up at the door we'll obviously try to accommodate them, but it's more disruptive (so we charge a little more), and there are no guarantees for admission if we get too many folks.

There's lots more stuff to announce, but for now that'll give you a sense of what kinds of acorns I've been gathering. Be sure to follow PaperlessChase on Twitter! And sign up for our email newsletter so you get the scoop on future seminars. We've got a 3 hour seminar on iPads for Lawyers set in mid-September in New Orleans that will be awesome!

Albert Einstein - what was the key to his "genius"?

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Here are some key takeaways from my reading (not yet finished) of Walter Isaacson's book on Einstein. These aspects of Einstein's personality seem to be largely responsible for his success. Interestingly, these traits were also the cause of his many early failures (e.g. professors tended to be put off by his smug certainty, which is why he couldn't get an academic job after graduation from the university).

  • He always questioned authority; held no reverence for accepted views or common beliefs.

  • Disdained nationalism, religion, and most formal organizations.

  • He flourished in the Patent Office job not because he liked the job, but because it didn't hinder the development of his revolutionary proposals. No one at the patent office cared if he wrote controversial academic papers; they didn't even notice. If he had had an academic post (which is what he wanted) his career probably would have initially suffered after writing the iconoclastic 1905 papers.

  • Visualization always came first when he tried to understand things, including the insidious problems presented to physists. He learned the importance of visualizing at the college prep school in Aarau, a school that practiced the teachings of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (a Swiss education reformer).We can only speculate how much less successful Einstein would have been if he not been encouraged by the Pestalozzi approach; but it certainly helped him greatly. Einstein said of his education at Aarau: "it made me clearly realize how much superior an education based on free action and personal responsibility is to one relying on outward authority."

  • Contrary to popular myth, did not flunk any math courses. But he did do poorly in mandatory subjects that he didn't care about, such as French. It's true that math was not what he was primarily interested in, and he didn't do as well as he should have in that subject. But he crammed and learned it quickly when he saw the usefulness of it in physics. He learned mostly on his own, and when he was deeply interested he could learn a subject very quickly.

  • He had deep powers of concentration. He focused on one thing at a time, and could easily block out everything else while he focused deeply on one question or problem. People tended to see him as aloof. He knew this and didn't care. He was more interested in solving problems than in reassuring people with social pleasantries.

  • He didn't care about making money, and saw the lure of money as a corrupting influence on correct thinking. He was fascinated by science, but also with philosophy and ideas in general.

A surprisingly easy way eat healthy and lose excess weight

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Two years ago [I wrote about my experiment][eta] with trying [The Master Cleanse][master], which is a radical way to lose weight and/or cleanse your digestive system. As I said back then, I did it on a whim but learned a few useful things. Such as:

* Most of my unhealthy eating habits were based on mental cravings.
* My body knows what it needs, and if I supply it then the cravings go away.
* Eating healthy foods requires more thought because there are less "fast food" options for healthy food, and 99% of the advertising and marketing is for crappy food.

The problem for me was that, while I learned those lessons on the Master Cleanse diet, I didn’t learn how to incorporate healthy eating into my life. So I quickly returned to my bad habits. And my weight kept creeping upwards.

I happened upon Kathy Freston’s interview on Charlie Rose a few weeks ago, and heard her talk about her book The Lean. The idea is that to make a real shift towards healthy eating you have to “lean” into it. The name of the book is based on that principle. I got the book and started applying the principles, and found it incredibly easy to do (unlike The Master Cleanse).

Every day you do something new and healthy, only after reading Freston’s explanation of why the new thing is healthy and helpful. Freston is an excellent writer; the book is devoid of the usual stern finger-wagging. She imparts good information that’s easy to incorporate and she’s often funny in describing the process.

For example, Day 1 is about drinking 8 glasses of water. Day 2 inspires you to eat a hearty breakfast (something like steel cut oats with walnuts). Day 3 is about learning to eat one apple every day. Then Day 4 you learn to snack on nuts instead of junk food. Those four things were enough for me to make the shift.

After a week of basically doing those four things I lost my cravings for junk food and sodas. I don’t even crave meat, which is weird because I loved meat and couldn’t imagine ever giving it up completely. My weight is dropping, but not quickly. Which is fine since I can see that I’m learning how to keep it off, so once it’s down to the right level it’s likely to stay there.

In addition to reading The Lean, I also read The China Study. This book was brought to my attention by a Wall St. executive whose youngest daughter read it. She became a vegan after learning about the importance of nutrition in avoiding major health problems such as heart disease and cancer. The Wall St. dad is not the sort of fellow to lightly take up the vegan lifestyle, but the book convinced him to go vegan. So, I was curious enough to read it (it was referenced once or twice in Kathy Freston’s book). The book is easy to read, but will shock you. Fortunately, I had already made significant changes to my food intake. If I hadn’t read The China Study I’d probably be tempted to go back to eating meat once in awhile.

Some people will dismiss these books and the information that they put forth. I probably would have too, except that having done The Master Cleanse I was made aware of what it feels like to be free of mental food cravings. Our minds are the ultimate gate-keeper when it comes to new information. Right now, my body is telling me what it likes. Weirdly, meat and cheese aren’t on the list.

I have no doubt that nutrition plays a pivotal role in personal health, more so than genetics and environmental factors. Food is our staple fuel, and if you put bad fuel into your engine for twenty or forty years, it’s going to have a corrosive effect. The number of overweight Americans is staggering (66%), and steadily rising. Obesity is at 33% of the population, and that’s rising too.

I was bordering on being overweight. And this despite doing yoga regularly. Why? Because I was steadily consuming a lot of bad fuel. That’s changed without a lot of effort and in a very short time.

Now, I feel as good as I’ve ever felt in my life. And the only thing I’ve had to do is pay attention to what I eat and make strategic shifts towards different foods. The shift isn’t hard because there are lots of good foods that are healthy and taste good. Will I never again eat a piece of meat or partake of dairy products? No, but it won’t be a common occurrence. I don’t crave things any more, so it’s been amazingly easy to drop the unhealthy stuff.

What I crave is being healthy and feeling good. And now I’ve found a way to satisfy that craving.

To go paperless with a Mac or iPad get this book

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If you use a Mac you probably have an iPad. And probably, like many people with iPads, you’re thinking it’d be nice to be paperless. If so, then you need to order a copy of David Sparks new book (Paperless: The MacSparky Field Guide) right now. It’s available in the iBook Store for $9.99.

The book is a deep dive on paperless workflows for the Mac, iPad, and iPhone. The book includes screenshots, interactive images, and short movies. Not only does this book tell you how to go paperless, it also shows you. Trust me, you can do a lot with this book. I can’t believe it only costs $10.

(Oh, and it’s a large file so don’t panic if it takes a little longer than usual to download).

To Know, but Not Understand: David Weinberger on Science and Big Data

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David Weinberger’s new book, Too Big to Know, is partly about how massive data is useless without meaningful context. But a bigger part of it is about the limitations of our human brains. Modeling with computers can help in some cases, but it’s still tricky to get the comprehension right.

One thing is certain: things aren’t getting easier to understand, or maybe it’s just that we’re trying to understand inherently more sophisticated things. I’m definitely going to pick up Weinberger’s book and read it closely. He’s usually worth listening to.

(recommendation via FarnamSt.)

iPad books for lawyers

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If you have an iPad and you want to get the most out of it, buy my friend David Sparks’ book, iPad At Work, and pay close attention to whatever he recommends. I just got my copy and started reading it, and I can say that this is an excellent resource. If you own or plan to buy an iPad I’d go so far as to say it’s indispensable.

David also has a great podcast called Mac Power Users (which he does with Katy Floyd), which I also highly recommend.

Two books newly minted lawyers should read

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Law school teaches you nothing about conflict avoidance or basic negotiation. In the real world, getting along with people is of utmost importance. Some might believe that you can’t teach people diplomacy and negotiation.

Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People has taught millions of people the basic psychology of everyday diplomacy. For lawyers who need to be persuasive (and isn’t that all lawyers?), this book is a must read.

For lawyers who negotiate (that is for lawyers who are still alive) the book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In is absolutely indispensible. Actually, this book is useful for anyone who negotiates, which is pretty much anyone who spends money.

Social media strategies for professionals

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In the world of “social media pundits” snake oil salesmen abound. I accidentally wandered into the world of social media back in 2002 when I started this weblog. Back then the phrase “social media” didn't exist. But once sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and you-name-it cropped up we needed a phrase to lump all of those things into. Hence, “social media.”

And hence the appearance of people professing to have expertise this hip new thing.

I don't consider myself a “social media expert” since I've never sat down and tried to map out what it all means in some larger context. But I've used almost all of the popular social media tools, so I have a sense of who knows what they're talking about and who doesn't.

Michelle Golden is one of those sensible people who I would recommend to any professional (e.g. lawyer, doctor, businessperson) who wants to understand how social media affects their business, and how to take advantage of social media tools. And, fortunately for those professionals, Michelle has written a comprehensive book about this: Social Media Strategies for Professionals and their Firms.

The book explains pretty much everything, including:

  • The advantages of an effective online presence
  • The differences (beneficial and detrimental) between social media and traditional marketing
  • How to mitigate risk and gain benefit from social media use
  • Comparisons of popular social media tools
  • Understanding the audience, and capitalizing on that understanding
  • Integrating old and new marketing tactics
  • Internet monitoring that takes only 10 minutes a day
  • Assessing what attracts an audience
  • Determining how to build an effective audience

Michelle also includes many case studies that delve into how various bloggers and twitterers have achieved success online. On page 141-43 she profiled me, which is the only blemish in this otherwise fine, practical work.

As I keep saying, Michelle walks the walk (see her twitter page: http://www.twitter.com/michellegolden). And if you pick up her book, you'll see that she knows how to talk about social media in a way that's actually helpful. Even if you don't buy the book, you should at least follow Michelle on Twitter.

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Be impeccable with your word

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I'm reading a great book right now called The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It's a little book with a simple message: namely, that there are four things you should focus on if you want to change your life in a powerful way.

  1. Be impeccable with your word
  2. Don't take anything personally  
  3. Don't make assumptions
  4. Always do your best  
The first Agreement is the hardest. To "be impeccable with your word" means, obviously, you should be honest and straightforward. But it's actually more than that. You should also avoid engaging in pettiness, especially gossip. The author points out that gossiping has become the main form of communication in our society. Speaking ill of people in a casual way is a form of gossip.

I mention this because today I read this blurb about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's comment about Bush as he departed the inauguration. This kind of statement is completely unnecessary, unless your point is to perpetuate pettiness.  But that seems to be a staple of most of our politicians.

Yesterday I saw a news clip of Joe Biden joking about needing notes when he was swearing and some administration officials, the point of which was to subtly criticize Chief Justice John Roberts' mishap in delivering the presidential oath. Next to Biden was President Obama, who was stone-faced—clearly not interested in joining in Biden's off-the-cuff pettiness.

I don't know if Obama has read The Four Agreements, but he seems to understand very well the principle of 'being impeccable with one's word.'  Unfortunately, many others do not understand this. Those who do, however, have a powerful edge.  One that, in Obama's case, will be very useful in meeting some major political challenges.
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Kindle update #2 (a month later)

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Istock_000001690769small_2So it's now been over a month since I got my Amazon Kindle, and I love it more than ever. In fact, the main reason for my low blog output lately is the Kindle. I find that I don't spend as much time surfing the Internet as I did before, which has lowered my inclination to blog. So why, given my low blog output, am I posting yet another set of observations about the Kindle? Well, because the more I use it the more I think that it's a serious 'game changer.'

First, let me say the Kindle is not for everyone. I like it because I have always enjoyed reading, partly to learn about new things and also to acquire new perspectives on things that I think I already know. When I was a kid I got bored with school and as a result did poorly through most of grade school (I somehow pulled myself together in 12th grade). But even as I was skimming near the threshold of grade point acceptability I was reading a lot, usually a couple of books a week. After law school I found it harder to read novels for various reasons, but I did read magazines and short pieces. Then the internet came along and gave me free access to an unimaginable output of commentary. I relished the rise of blogs as a way of getting at 'new perspectives.'

Lately, though, the luster of weblogs has worn off. A lot of what is put forth by bloggers suffers from the rush to get things up before others do. Getting things down in writing is not hard for bloggers. But editing and contemplation apparently are. Up until recently I found it easy to overlook this flaw in the blogosphere (no doubt contributing to it myself). But, no longer.

Now I have discovered the Kindle.

The other day I was watching the Charlie Rose show (pretty much the only program that I ALWAYs find interesting no matter what the subject, or who the guest is) and George Will was on. He has a new book although he didn't spend much time discussing it. Even though his conservative views don't exactly reconcile with my worldview, I find George Will to be a very thoughtful man. His opinions are carefully drawn. So I decided to download a sample chapter of his book onto my Kindle. After reading the sample chapter I ordered the whole book (this is happening a lot with the Kindle). His observation about 'new media' (which obviously includes weblogs and the Internet) is something I totally agree with:

"for all the fascination with new media, I believe that books remain the most important carriers of ideas, and ideas are always the most important news. Hence, books themselves are often news.
And the big news about the Kindle is simply that it makes reading books a lot easier, at least certain kinds of books. Merlin Mann, a new media personality that I regard highly, recently got a Kindle and was highly impressed. And if you have a Kindle (or if you get one) you should read his tips on getting free books onto the device.

A lot of people are starting to figure out that the Kindle is revolutionary. I probably have not done an adequate job of explaining why this is so. Read Andy Ihnatko's blog post for additional perspective. Also, read Paul Krugman's editorial in today's New York Times (which I found ironic, since I came upon it in my Kindle). And lastly, consider this email that I recently received from one of my blog readers:

"I just wanted to thank you for introducing me to my new love, my Kindle. I knew about this electronic book reader, but had a visceral, that isn't for me, reaction. so, cruising your blog a few weeks ago, I was reminded of it and because you raved about it, I took a 2nd look. And then i got it, and now I love it – to death. I love so many things about it, but most of all, I love reading books on it. The thing I thought I would never like. It is almost graceful the way you soundlessly pour through a book. I am completely hooked. I may never buy another regular book. So, Thanks, a lot. never would have looked again but for your post."
This comment hits at the heart of what makes the Kindle so amazing. It's not much of a tech device, except as to make it easier to read books, and other well edited content.

Bloggers who have panned the Kindle because it lacks the latest 'social networking' capabilities miss the point. The Kindle is not 'ADD-enabled' for a reason; the idea (strange as it may seem to some) is to engage in thoughtful reading—something that has never been a mainstream pursuit. The Kindle will never replace books, or make them entirely obsolete. It will simply take its place alongside books as a tool for inquisitive people to expand their minds in startling ways.

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Kindle update (minor problems, amazing realization)

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Well, my Kindle had a small problem. The other day it ceased waking up from sleep. The only solution was to flip the little guy over on its back, remove the battery cover, and reset it with a paper clip. I had to do this every time it went into sleep mode.

Not cool, obviously.

I called Amazon support and they walked me through some steps and then concluded the device needed replacing. They sent me another one, which arrived today. After charging it I fired it up, and it took a few minutes to find the wireless connection. Then I registered it to my account. But, it had no books on it, even though I had bought a bunch already.

Turns out it was easy to get the books I had already ordered to 'come back' to my new Kindle: all I had to do was go to the "Content Manager" and select the books I wanted to re-download and, bada bing!, there they were. And the best part? When I opened each book it was exactly where I was when I was reading it before. In other words, the books you download are not only kept on Amazon (in case you need to re-download them) but Amazon also keeps track of where you were in the book the last time you were reading it.

I knew that they kept your bookmarks and highlights backed up, but I didn't realize they kept your place in the book backed up too. That means if your Kindle was ever lost or stolen, you could get a new one and replace all your books (for free) and open each one to the page where you last were. Nice.

I'm really glad my Kindle is back up and running. In the short period I've had it I've come to realize that it's not something I can easily live without. I'm reading a lot more, and more easily. The Kindle is now available for immediate shipment (i.e. no long waits anymore). If you like to read books then you should definitely get a Kindle; you'll be glad you did, especially if you read a lot while traveling.

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Fundamentalism & Religious Delusion

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Picture_2Richard Dawkins' excellent bookThe God Delusion is currently #12 on the NY Times best-seller list for paperback non-fiction. Dawkins is a scientist and wants to let people know that it's okay to be an atheist, despite strong resistance to the idea of questioning religious faith. His criticism of religious beliefs is polite and thoughtful, but of course that does not appease the faithful. The 'faithful' might also be called 'fundamentalists.'

What's a fundamentalist? Someone who looks at all new information to see if it matches their beliefs (or principles) and ignores that which doesn't match. The more extreme fundamentalists don't simply ignore the information, they become agitated. And really extreme fundamentalists have been known to attack. So offering new ideas can be harmful to your health. Especially if religion is involved. Just ask Galileo.

And where isn't religion involved? Even today, it's everywhere—even in places that seem implausible. Two hundred years ago our founders created a Constitution demanding the complete separation of church and state, but today practical reality tilts in precisely the opposite direction. Polls show that most Americans will elect only those political leaders who believe in God. Dawkins' is not running for U.S. President, but he has an important message: it's okay, sensible even, to question things that are unsupported by evidence. And he thinks that there isn't any meaningful evidence of God's existence.

Perhaps, though, he misunderstands the essence of religious faith.

The nice thing about a belief in God is that it offers us comfort and security. Who cares if it's provable? If it provides security then it must be a good thing. Non-fundamentalists, such as Dawkins, question even this proposition:

Then there is the security created by man in the idea of God. Many people ask me whether I believe in God, whether there is a God. You cannot discuss it. Most of our conceptions of God, of reality, of truth, are merely speculative imitations. Therefore, they are utterly false, and all our religions are based on such falsitites. A man who has lived all his life in a prison can only speculate about freedom; a man who has never experienced the ecstasy of freedom cannot know freedom. So it is of little avail to discuss God, truth; but if you have the intelligence, the intensity to destroy the barriers around you then you will know for yourself the fulfillment of life. You will no longer be a slave in a social or religious system.

By the way, the above words weren't written by Richard Dawkins, the scientist. They were spoken by J. Krishnamurti, a supremely spiritual man. His message was also that people should examine things for themselves, without preconceptions or conceptualizations. To him, this was the essence of spirituality.

Krishnamurti didn't want any followers, but he wound up having some, and still does. You don't hear much about them because they don't attract attention. They haven't started any wars, or persecuted people whose views they disagree with. Maybe they're deeply examining the world around them, which distracts them from the noble task of foisting views on others.

But back to Dawkins' book. Why is it called The God Delusion? It has to do with what the writer Robert Pirsig once observed: "When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion."

Amen to that, Brother Pirsig. Amen.

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Kindle - preliminary review

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My Kindle arrived safely on Monday, and I've had a chance to start using it so I thought I'd post some preliminary comments.

Initial use
The device is easy to use, but it does require charging on first use. I charged it for about 2 hours and then started playing with it. The Kindle is lightweight and comfortable to hold, although the much-discussed problem of accidentally hitting either the Next Page or Last Page buttons did occur. I'm sure that Amazon will fix this in the next version, but I quickly got used to learning how to handle the device and now I rarely have the problem, which is only a minor inconvenience.

Downloading and reading
Downloading books takes about 30 seconds, max. I started by downloading some sample chapters, which is free. The ability to turn pages with a press of the finger is much better than flipping pages in a book (not something you can easily do with one hand, much less one finger). The text is easy to read, although at first it takes some getting used to. After one day I no longer noticed the 'digital page turn.' I love how easy it is to move from page to page, and the way the text looks. So, at this point I'm completely sold on using the Kindle as a way of reading that is in almost every way superior to ordinary books.

Buying books, magazines and newspapers
The wireless feature of the Kindle makes buying books ridiculously simple. I immediately went on a spree and bought a couple of books. If you've reached the end of one of the free sample chapters you are prompted to purchase if if you want. I downloaded a copy of Stephen King's On Writing after reading the sample chapter, a book I never would have bought if I hadn't gotten drawn into it.

I subscribed to two magazines and a couple of newspapers too, using the 14 day free trial option. Every day at 3 am (so I'm told) the NY Times is wirelessly delivered to the device. When I pick it up at around 7:00 am the paper is there ready to read. I had been reading the NY Times online using my laptop for free. So how is it different on the Kindle? Well, the screen is black & white so there are no fancy photos, in fact no photos at all. But, there are no ads either and reading articles is much less distracting. I find myself reading more articles, more quickly on the Kindle than on my computer. So the next question is would I pay the monthly fee ($14) for the New York Times? I don't know, but I'm tempted. Individual editions can be bought as well, so maybe I'll just buy the Sunday edition every once in awhile. I subscribed to the trial edition of The Atlantic, and since that's only $1.25 per month I may get that magazine.

Miscellaneous observations
I love the ability to bop from book to book (or newspaper or magazine) and return to find myself in the exact same place I was when I left off. I decided to renew my effort to read the Bible from time to time because of this feature. I downloaded a King James version for about $2.50. Sweet.

Because it's easy to store lots of books on the device I can see myself putting reference books on it. I also tested the feature that lets you email yourself a document that you want on the device. I had a book that was in PDF form that I wanted to move over. The Kindle doesn't read PDFs, at least not yet. So I converted the PDF to a Word document and emailed it to my special Kindle email address. About 3 minutes later it showed up in the Kindle and was formatted perfectly. Bing!

The Kindle's battery lasts for 2 days without recharging if you leave the wireless feature turned on. If you leave it unattended it goes to sleep. When the sleep mode kicks in the device generates a screensaver picture (apparently there are many stored in the device). Some of the screensavers are pretty interesting, i.e., pictures of famous artists or architectural wonders.

Traveling with the Kindle will be a joy. No longer will I struggle to decide what books or magazines I want to stuff into my backpack. I can take hundreds of books and magazines, and snag more on a whim from the invisible internet connection.

Conclusions
Overall I'm completely sold on the Kindle. From the time I was a kid I had always read a lot of books, but for some reason it became harder to do after law school. Encountering the Kindle is a lot like when I first tried an iPod. I sense that I'll be reading a lot more books, and enjoying reading a lot more because it's so convenient. I've heard some people criticize the Kindle, but most of the criticism focused on the appearance or the user-interface (which obviously can be improved). I read books for the word contained in them, and when I'm absorbed in reading I don't notice the book itself which is exactly the same experience I get with the Kindle. As more titles become available for the Kindle it will continue to find more happy customers. Since most "Kindle books" are at least 50% less expensive than their paper counterparts I predict that the device will have paid for itself in less than a year.

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Inside the Supreme Court - A Great Book

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Picture_4I just finished Jeffrey Toobin's book about the Supreme Court, called The Nine. Wow! What an unexpected treat. If you're a lawyer you have to read this book, and if you're not a lawyer but just interested in government then you should read the book too. But, for now let me speak to the lawyers in the audience.

The book follows the shift of the court from the Reagan era forward, showing how it is now on the verge of completing a shift to ultra-conservatism. But the presentation is made interesting by its discussion of key cases that were decided in the past decade—e.g Bush v. Gore and other important constitutional cases. Toobin weaves in, at appropriate points, detailed profiles of each of the Justices. And his examination of the Justices is very personal and touching, or at least for most part. He explains how Sandra Day O'Connor became more centrist than conservative, and how Anthony Kennedy developed an interest in international law (and how that influenced his judicial outlook). David Souter is a quiet man who eschews all use of technology (doesn't use computers or TVs, and doesn't have a cellphone) and yet he was the author of the Grokster opinion on file-sharing.

Reading this book is like taking a CLE course in Constitutional Law, except that it's presented in a highly engaging way. Toobin went to Harvard Law School, so it's no surprise that he's adept at explaining the nuances of the law. If you want to see an interview he did recently at Google check this out.

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Here comes my Kindle

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I just got word from Amazon that my Kindle is being shipped and will arrive next Monday. I'm very excited. I would have ordered this e-book reader long before now but, for some reason, I was put off by poor reviews that some bloggers offered. I keep forgetting that most product reviews are formulaic (e.g. point out the most obvious flaws in order to appear knowledgeable, when in fact the reviewer is just lazy). Blogger reviews are often no better. The exception are reviews by folks who've actually used the product for a fair amount of time, preferably a blogger who isn't an attention hound.

So called micro-celebrity Robert Scoble lambasted the Kindle because, among other things, it didn't have any social networking features. He also said the user-interface 'sucked.' As I've mentioned before, I think that Scoble's reviews are built for speed, not thoughtfulness. I don't care what the device looks like (yes, it's ugly) and don't want to use it to expand the reach of my online reputation. I just want to read text like I do when I open a book. I don't need the device to be revolutionary, just functional. Still, the Kindle represents a major shift in e-books.

Here's what's revolutionary about the Kindle: It has built-in EVDO, which is a high speed cellphone network wireless system. This means you can download books pretty much anywhere that you can get Sprint cellphone access. And why is this important? Well, if you are riding the subway and decide you wan to read a book that you just saw on the NY Times best seller list you can download it in about 30 seconds. Or let's say you want to subscribe to the New York Times paper every day. The Kindle will automatically get download it at 3 am so that when you wake up it's already on the device. No matter where you are (e.g. at home or in a hotel room). And while one would normally pay a stiff per monthly charge for EVDO access, Amazon builds that charge into the price of the Kindle.

Nice.

The device has internal storage that allows you to store about 200 books. And it remembers where you are in each book, so if you are reading more than one book at a time (which I often do) it's easy to switch back and forth. Or at least I'm assuming it's easy. Perhaps it won't, but Scoble's review didn't cover that so I don't know for sure.

If you want to store more than 200 books, you can add external memory. And if for some reason you delete a book from the device you can re-download it from Amazon. They keep track of what you buy and you can always access it again from them in the future. Apple iTunes doesn't let you do that with the .99 cent songs you buy, so I give Amazon credit for doing this.

And the books that you purchase for download are typically only $9.99. Granted the selection of Kindle books is not as vast as the ordinary selection from Amazon, but that will change over time. Can you imagine being able to carry hundreds of books on a device that only weighs 10 ounces? I can and I can't wait to experience the reality of it. I would love to pare down my library to just a few really treasured books (e.g. reference books and certain keepsake volumes). I'd love to be able to take a trip and have all my reading material on one small portable reading unit, and it would be even better if I could have travel guides loaded onto it.

No, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to like the Kindle. True, if the user-interface is cumbersome that will be disappointing. But as long as it works reasonably well then the benefits will outweigh the detriments. The only thing that would be a deal killer is if the thing was completely unreliable—like Windows Vista, for example. Otherwise, I expect to be very pleased.

Either way, I'll post my observations after I've used it for a fair amount of time.

(Incidentally, when you order the Kindle they say it may take 6 weeks. If mine arrives on Monday that will be a delay of less than 4 weeks. And they didn't charge my credit card until it shipped).

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Rethinking libraries

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Picture_1_2Sudden and monumental change serves a purpose, or at least it should. In the aftermath of such change we shouldn't unthinkingly rebuild things back the way they were. We should pause to consider what unique advantages have surfaced. We should consider if certain foundational assumptions need to be abandoned altogether in order to create a more lasting foundation.

Last Saturday I drove my son out to St. Bernard where he and 1,000 other college kids were spending their spring break rebuilding houses at the Habitat Camp Hope project. The drive was bleak. There were a few spots of commerce, improbable little strip malls amidst miles of forsaken houses. My eyes brightened when I saw a small white trailer with a sign that proclaimed the presence of a public library. And yet it was a simple little trailer. What kind of library could be housed in such a structure?

As I drove closer I saw a large sign outside of the library: "FREE WIRELESS INTERNET". For the past few days I've been thinking about the strange implications of this simple little sign.

St. Bernard was completely inundated by floodwaters from Katrina. And the people of St. Bernard are not folks who spend a lot of money on technology. You won't see any Starbucks out there, that's for sure. Home Depot has a store the size of the Pentagon, and beyond that it's just little mom and pop stuff. The most exotic business I saw was a Planet Beach tanning salon. I guess that's why I was intrigued by the library Wi-Fi sign. It seems like if you live in St. Bernard and want to use some free wifi you have to go to the library (well Camp Hope, where my son stayed with the 1,000 college students, has free wifi too).

Today, the Times Picayune has an article about a new $650 million 'Library Master Plan' for the city. The story doesn't say anything about wireless internet. Perhaps that is an oversight by the author. Then again maybe there is a larger oversight. Maybe wireless internet isn't part of the new master plan at all. Of course, the libraries of the future aren't all about wireless internet access.

So what should they be about?

Here's how a progressive Northwest city envisioned this question:

"Seattle's public library...was designed to be a downtown hangout, with something for everyone, as if you crossed Starbucks with a mega bookstore." FN1
In other words, the idea was to use the library as a community gathering place. Wow! What a great idea. Needless to say, an idea like that isn't borne by thinking of libraries in a traditional way. It was borne by asking fundamental questions:
Why do so many people hang out in large bookstores like Borders or Barnes & Noble? Why do people go to Starbucks to hangout? What kind of architecture is conducive to hanging out in public places?
The folks who are rebuilding New Orleans' public libraries are about to spend a lot of money. I hope that they have asked these questions, and that their vision includes some novel thinking. If they haven't then I suggest they start by reading Mutating Libraries by Jenny Levine, a forward-thinking librarian who references a Slate slideshow entitled: Borrowed Time: How do you build a public library in the age of Google? Ms. Levine takes some issue with a statement by Ross Dawson that libraries will extinct by 2019, but she agrees that " libraries are about a lot more than just books or study carrels," which is why she believes that "there’s room for things like gaming in today’s library."

I wish that Jenny Levine had been in charge of our library project because then I wouldn't have to wonder whether we were acting with the proper vision. Somehow I fear we are not.


FN1: Quote is from the 7th slide in the Borrowed Time slideshow.

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Michael Lewis & The Great Gazoo

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GazooA few weeks ago I finished reading Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side, a book that starts quickly with a rapid-fire account of the 4.5 second play that ended Joe Theismann’s NFL career.  Theismann, you may or may not recall, was brutally smacked from behind by defensive end Lawrence Taylor.  Most people remember only the gruesome image of Theismann’s leg bone being snapped.   Football is a strange sport, Lewis observes, in that none of the players ever sees more than a narrow slice of action.  In football, as in other pursuits, what you can’t see can truly hurt you.   Few of us ever get a wide-angle view of circumstances, and only someone like Lewis can connect the dots to create a bunch of fascinating social observations. 

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Wanna be an Internet Media Mogul?

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Steve_martin Steve Martin's early bit on how to be a millionaire and not pay taxes was goofy, but simple: "First, get a million dollars.  Then when the IRS comes and asks why you didn't pay taxes, repeat these two words: 'I forgot.'"  Nowadays, everyone is trying to figure out how to make money off the Internet.  YouTube got paid 1.6 Billion by Google.  How does this make sense?  Or, even if it doesn't: how can I do the same thing?

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Book Recommendation - The Anonymous Lawyer

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Jeremy Blachman's new book, The Anonymous Lawyer, is friggin' hysterical.  If you don't laugh out loud when reading this book then you (1) haven't been in the legal profession long enough to get jaded, or (2) you are only pretending to read the book while thinking about something else (i.e., why you ever agreed to become an associate in a 500 lawyer firm).

Seriously, if you have a sense of humor and an interest in the law, then get this book and read it.  But read it somewhere that you don't mind making a complete fool out of yourself as you snort and chuckle.  Last warning: you won't be able to put it down so don't bring it with you to work.

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