Futurelawyer

Never Succumb To Pressure. Never Give Up. Never Surrender

Execupundit.com: Books to Keep. I have one rule. Nobody else makes my decisions for me. So, no pressure of any kind from anyone could cause me to get rid of any of my gadgets, or cables, or adapters, or anything else with "gadget" in the name. Not even SWMBO, with her considerable powers of persuasion, was able to pry one single gadget from my grasp, or my den, or any other hiding place in my home or office. Be strong, Michael. Show her who's boss. Or, at least show her that you have some backbone.

And The Word Of The Day Is....Dystopian

Execupundit.com: Dystopian Novels. Modern readers are seemingly pessimistic about the future. We flock to books that foretell the end of civilization, and imagine stark, dark landscapes in which zombies and other horrible creatures roam around eating people. A future in which everyone is controlled by a military dictator, and cameras follow our every move? 1984. Check. A world in which reading books is forbidden, and they are burned by a thundering horde of jack booted armed men? Fahrenheit 451. Check. In fact, we are voluntarily contributing ourselves to this future already, aren't we? We put cameras everywhere, and connect them to the millions of other connected cameras, and a future dystopian government didn't even have to pay for them? We carry devices that track our every move, and are accessible over the Internet that we pay for, Dystopian? Sounds like inevitable to me.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - Google Assistant Gets AudioBooks

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - Audiobooks on Google Play. Rather than waste time in your car, how about some educational material? Audiobooks are a great way to pass the time while driving on a long trip. Now, Google Assistant allows you to control audiobooks purchased on Google PlayStore, with the Google Books app. Whether you listen in the car, on your smartphone, on your desktop, or your tablet. Wherever you are, pick up where you left off. "Ok Google", "play Meditations by Marcus Aurelius". It's like having the Emperor in your car.

Execupundit Bought A New Desk Lamp

Execupundit.com: A New Lamp and Then. I thought Michael Wade was a traditionalist. He reads books on paper, after all. He has a huge paper book library. So, I was surprised that he would read his vintage book collection by the light of a new desklamp. My 1965 Tensor Anvil Model 4975 is still going strong, as can be this photo of my desk at work. 54 years of light spanning my freshman year of college to today. Now, that is traditionalist.

Do You Know Where Your Public Library Is?

http://www.pplc.us/libcardform.shtml I can't remember the last time I stepped inside my Public Library. It is only 5 blocks from my office, and I pass by it every day on the way to and from work. I have wonderful childhood memories of the base library where I grew up. Big leather chairs, and thousands of books with cloth and leather bindings. Writing research papers was a feast for the senses. These days, my research is done on a computer at my desk, and the world is open to me all the time. However, modern libraries have come into the future, and there are many online resources available to you. All you have to do is sign up online. Do you know where your Public Library is?

KonMari For Your Computer

Amazon.com: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (0710308291511): Marie Kond%u014D: Books. Marie Kondo is a hit in print and on TV for her life changing tips on tidying up lives. In a word, if a thing doesn't bring you joy, get rid of it. As a widower, I have become an expert on evaluating the "stuff" that populates our lives, and regularly pick up and examine that stuff, and discard what no longer serves a purpose. It isn't just tangible personal property that needs this kind of review, however. What about the "stuff" than inhabits the storage drives in your computers? How much of that detritus is just slowing you down or taking up space? I could say the same about the cluttered email inbox yo have that contains thousands of emails that you will never read or act upon. So, Konmari that computer drive and email inbox. You'll be glad you did.

The Beauty of Paper

Execupundit.com: The Beauty of Paper. I recently posted a picture highlighting the advantages of books on paper, and dedicated the post to dear friend, Michael Wade. He mentions that he has some more, such as jotting in the margins. Of course, you can do all of this digitally; but, I admit that the experience of  bringing a digital device to your face, and trying to smell the ink and paper is difficult. If you don't sniff your new and old paper books, I suppose you are able to control your impulses better than I can. But, you are missing out.

Books - They're For Reading

.I give my good friend, Michael Wade, the Execupundit a lot of grief over his love of paper books. However, there are some benefits to eschewing the digital age, and collecting and reading books in print. Michael, this is for you.

Novels For Lawyers And Everybody Else

Execupundit.com: Novels for Leaders. Execupundit quotes the iconic novel by Joseph Heller, "Catch-22", and this paragraph:

“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.”

 

Lawyers, and everyone, often recognize that Catch-22 applies to every endeavor in life. We are crazy if we attempt to live our lives by taking risks; but recognizing those risks makes us sane, which makes us available for control and manipulation by others, and thus eligible to be crazy. Which are you? Not that it matters to fate and death. They will happen whatever you do. Why not take the risks? 

10 Cool Things the OnePlus 6T Can Do

10 Cool Things the OnePlus 6T Can Do. My new Smartphone, the OnePlus 6T, is an amazing device. Since I am on an Ereading kick today, I am highlighting a great feature, which turns the display into a black and white Ereader quality display for my book apps. Kindle, Aldiko, and any other app that allows you to read books will be greatly improved with this feature. You can set it to turn on only when those apps are loaded, and to turn off automatically when they close.