Sep

20

We the people of the United States

Filed Under Freedom, Government, Politics, etc.

in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and ensure the blessings of liberty, to ourselves and our posterity, do establish and maintain this constitution for the United States of America.

That is probably not perfect because it’s from memory, but I hope everyone is aware that 55 delegates met and signed the US Constitution on September 17, 1787. Now, every 17th of September is called Constitution Day. I realize I’m late this year, but I hope all of us do something to educate ourselves during this week every year. I got my chance on the Saturday after.

Those of my faith may be familiar with the prophecy that our constitution would hang by a thread.

Most of my faith are not aware that a Rally for the Republic occurred this month in Minnesota (my brother Daniel was there).

During the keynote, Ron Paul echoed the prophecy. Hear it for yourself at the beginning of part three of his speech on YouTube.

Then choose one of 10 things to do to celebrate Constitution Day.

“We the people” are the thread that this document hangs on. Let us educate ourselves and act.

May

24

My Library, Classroom and University for Life – Could it be the Amazon Kindle?

Filed Under Education and Love for Learning, Technology

This post covers my initial thoughts on the Kindle, a few usability suggestions I haven’t seen mentioned and what would make the Kindle THE educational device of the future for me and many others.

Thoughts

When D&H, LLC bought me an Amazon Kindle so that I could work on a consulting project (I originally refused the extra work due to headaches on a computer screen) for their new entity, I finally got to try out the gadget I’ve been anticipating for a long time.

Not only did reading on the eInk display rid me of the headaches I’ve endured in recent years, but the Kindle has become a more integral part of my life than my Treo, which I use a lot.

In the months before possessing one, I read too many articles about the Amazon Kindle and know a lot about what has already been written. After having read dozens of articles and books, familiarized myself with the technology, purchased books in the store, taken pages of notes and developed a system to replace my Neal’s Notes previously on paper, I feel like I have enough of a handle on the Kindle to know what remains to turn it into my library, classroom and university for the rest of my life.

Usability

From my clippings file, first a few details that Amazon missed:

  1. Needless to say, #1 is speed. Amazon knows this…I’m sure. I can’t get to scriptures in Church faster on my Kindle than my neighbor can in print. Shouldn’t be that way.
  2. For searching, one search result in a title should take you straight to that section in the book rather than to a list of one result in the book. Similarly, if there is only one book with multiple results, go to that book’s list of results automatically. Every click on eInk is slow – let’s reduce the clicks.
  3. Why not take a note search result to the section of the book is AND open the note to the sought after words? I have many pages with multiple notes. My search lead me to my note, not the book text.
  4. On my Palm, Mobipocket talks link directly to my scriptures. These features are gone on the Kindle. Inter-book linking seems like a must in the future. Thank you for the links to the web!

The Educational Device of the 21st Century

I am already trying to persuade my old school to adopt the Kindle into their educational approach. I wish I had a database of all that I learned at American Heritage Academy about history, economics and government. I wish I had my insights at that time recorded in notes that stay with me. I would have been able to take that database into my University experiences to refute or backup what I learned in my classes. It would have grown year by year and become more valuable. Instead, I have piles of books and notes that no longer inform my life because I can’t quite remember which class, or which box contains the ideas I remember.

I want to see a school adopt the Kindle accross the board because of the way learning the concept of a personal database of knowledge will empower students in the future.

I know this has been possible since the laptop and PDA era, but I always had two limitations:

  1. No one had convinced publishers to let me search through the books I purchase. I want them digital. And if the publishers will only give it to me under a DRM, then so be it, at least I can search it now. Somebody please get Jim Colin’s publisher to put Good to Great on the Kindle, please – how I’d love to have that book searchable to me.
  2. No one had given me a way to have it as accessible as I need it. Portable and readable (for me a Treo or iPhone screen isn’t readable because it gives me headaches).

Since 2001, I’ve carried around a book I call Neal’s Notes where I write down flashes of insight, ideas and inspiration as they occur in my life. I’ve always wanted it to be searchable, alongside other important information I encounter.

So, with that background and bias on what I think the Kindle’s educational value could be, here’s what needs to happen:

  1. Create a way to store multiple clippings files and either select which file in the add notes screen or assign the notes of a book to a specific clippings file. This would allow me to easily put together notes for specific purposes (a talk or an essay). I would then transfer that clipping file to my computer to process my research.
  2. Bring the web and the book paradigms together so that I can take notes on web pages, highlight them, etc. As soon as I say a page is important enough to highlight and note, it should become part of my personal database (I love Kindle search, btw).
  3. Provide a service that backs up everything on my kindle, not just purchased books’ notes and marks (charge me if you want to…I want to back up my entire library and you don’t have it all and never will…Grandpa’s personal history doesn’t need to be on Amazon.com because it has no commercial value, but I read it and highlight stuff and I’d like all my knowledge backed up and searchable in one place for when I upgrade to another Kindle).
  4. Provide a way to save a dictionary word to a list of words that I’m learning. Make it possible to add these words right inside the lookup feature.
  5. Create a simple note editor that backs up on Amazon, but is not connected to a book, better yet, it is a book. I need a place to take notes not related to a book (my work-around is working for this for now).

Down the road, these would be really nice:

  1. Creating knowledge communities around books is a great idea (one that other’s share). Amazon’s Your Media Library is a fantastic start, but it doesn’t allow you to read notes or books for Kindle online. Nor does Kindle help you participate in Your Media Library.
  2. A programming API that would allow others to develop educational applications around the Kindle.
  3. Finally, and this could be covered by number 2, I’d replace my treo with this thing if I were able. I’d have my calendar and reminders on it. My contact database. Then I’d have a cheap cell-phone with an eInk screen for calls instead of a Treo or iPhone. But, I’m sure I’m in the minority on this one…I’m accustomed to carrying a book and I’m sick of my phone’s screen :)

I realize the folks at Amazon are smart, and have probably already thought of these ideas. I thank you for what you’ve done with this so far and I’m looking forward to the rate I which I can learn and grow using this new tool that has truly blessed my life. It doesn’t feel like a gadget anymore, it feels like part of me, part of my life. Thank you.

Apr

10

Ron Paul Lives On In All of Us

Filed Under Freedom, Government, Politics, etc.

I admit I hadn’t studied the constitution in a half a decade when Ron Paul made it popular to study and promote true principles of freedom again. When I heard the presidential candidate promises, I asked myself, “can a president really do all that?”

“Do they even have the power to make such promises? Can they save our homes from the housing financial crisis?”

I was shocked to reread the 13 short paragraphs about the office of President again in the Constitution. Try reading it for yourself and ask yourself what we’ve created of our president. Sometimes the rhetoric seems like we want a Saviour to solve all of our problems. It kind of reminds me of a time when people wanted a king really badly, but it turned out not to be in their best interest.

We know that what Ron Paul started, he didn’t actually start, and the momentum he created will live on. I was excited to learn about BJ Lawson running for congress in North Carolina (good people live their, including my friends at LuLu). His platform demonstrates the principles of true freedom (and responsibility) to me and I encourage you to participate in Bucks for BJ whether or not you live in North Carolina.

And if you’re in a position where you can’t afford even $5 in support of Constitutional principles, take time to reread the article on the President and keep it in mind as you vote this fall.

Jan

30

I’m Not A Popular Guy Right Now

Filed Under Business Ideas, Resources, Principles, etc., Freedom, Government, Politics, etc.

After a Personal Management class at the University of Scouting that I took my 11 year old scouts to last Saturday, I asked the instructor (who works for a local bank) how he advises the people in his bank when the dollar is loosing so much value and Bernanke dropped the interest rate again to help the stock market.

He said, “when I have little old grandmother’s who were getting 5 percent interest on their life savings coming into the bank and finding out that they get 2 percent, I’m not a very popular guy right now. These folks were barely making it as it was.”

Imagine that. Hard-working Americans who aren’t free-riding on the government, who’ve saved, who are now in their later years…and they’re savings are vanishing through their fingers. All so that we can shore up against the consequences of bad decisions by the Federal Reserve Board in the past. I couldn’t have painted a better picture how irresponsible policies to “stimulate the economy” hurt the poor.

This banker friend of mine, said, “2008 may be one of the most difficult years we’ve seen in a long time.” I fear he is correct and now wouldn’t be surprised if Bernanke does it again.

Jan

30

Adopting New Technology

Filed Under Technology

Anyone in the business of helping people adopt new technology will get a kick out of this video on YouTube…

Jan

21

Why My Vote is for Ron Paul

Filed Under Freedom, Government, Politics, etc.

My good friend from high school, Aaron Anderson, started blogging recently and asked me why I supported Ron Paul. I never got around to writing any more than why I had cooled on Mitt Romney (I’d choose Romney over McCain or Hillary any day).

Our country faces some serious problems right now, lots of them. Given the circles where I interact and what I read, the problems I hear most about are:

  1. The weakening of the U.S. dollar and an imminent recession/depression.
  2. A failure in Iraq and poor reputation globally.
  3. A failing educational system.
  4. A heightened anxiety about immigration.
  5. Concerns about outsourcing and China.
  6. Healthcare crisis (I hear this more in the media than from conversations)

This list by no means purports to be all-encompassing, it’s just the issues I’ve heard a lot about and have stood out to me. Which candidate hasn’t talked about change? Obama, Hillary, Romney, et. al. say they’re going to bring change to Washington. They will be different that it’s been in the past.

Yet, the only one the media really points out as different, to the point of trying to marginalize him, is Ron Paul.

First, Aaron, to put the principle problem into perspective…

View a piece from the Comptroller of the United States, David Walker and Glen Beck on the bankrupt United States of America. This is for real, Aaron. That you and I owe, right now, $400k each for just Medicare and Social Security, is slightly disconcerting, isn’t it? How did this happen?

Ron Paul’s view, which I share, is that we created the problems abroad, in health-care, in education, and in many other facets of our government by departing from the famous contract that we, the people, have with our government. I’m going to share Paul’s take on each of these issues (with my thoughts) in a separate posts.

Here’s an 8 minute introduction to Ron Paul (ignore the bit about polygamy and Mitt Romney…these videos are created by his supporters, not his campaign). Take a few moments to watch it, including the credits.

The most common argument against Paul I hear is that he can’t win. That’s not true. Whether or not he takes the nomination, the principles he stands for are the only ones that can win. Natural consequences of going against correct principles will correct us whether or not we decide to change, the question is how painful will those consequences be? How long do we wait to change? I have hope, because of Ron Paul’s campaign, that there are a substantial group of Americans who understand the Constitution enough that they want to live by that document again. These people give me hope. I feel nothing but hope for America’s future and for our Constitution (this is link to a wonderful song about the constitution).

Dec

16

Boston Tea Party ’07

Filed Under Freedom, Government, Politics, etc.

My wife has asked me what I want for Christmas. I responded with only two requests:

  1. A pair of jeans (mine have no left knee and even my corduroy pants are only held together by threads).
  2. A few of our very limited dollars to donate to Ron Paul tomorrow.

When I see the support for this principle-based man grow, I’m confident that these campaign supporters are people who represent true hope for America and for the future of the U.S. Constitution. Our voice still matters.

Nov

29

After 4 Years Waiting

Filed Under Education and Love for Learning, Technology

I realized years ago that computer monitors bothered my eyes; I hate to read books or anything on them. Anyone who knows me well also knows that I’ve talked to anyone I get a chance to talk to about creating a computer monitor that doesn’t emit light. Why not do it the way a book does it? The way God does it? Just let the material on the screen reflect light? You know…more like paper.

When Duane told me about eInk over a year and a half ago, I got really excited and started following the company to see when we’d get something to the mass market. I was really excited about the Iliad and the Sony Reader last year, but they didn’t really cut it. Mostly, the contrast wasn’t good enough yet on the screen and they were expensive and Sony’s was proprietary. More than anything I wanted standard formats, notes (or some kind of input) and simple web browsing (this would save my eyes a ton of strain while doing my research).

I waited with great anticipation for Amazon to do it right with the Kindle and got really disappointed when I first read all the announcements and reviews. Yet, I was disappointed too soon. After reading this insightful article from MacWorld, I realized that Amazon has nailed it.  I get…

I’ve never encountered a device that better suites my life.
The Kindle is at the top of my wish list. I want one bad.

Nov

9

Nashville Tennessee

Filed Under Family Publishing

I’m giving a presentation today on Smart Publishing at the Association of Personal Historians conference in Nashville Tennessee. This post is simply for linking to the “PowerPoint” presentation (I really created it on Google Presentations through our Google Apps for your domain account). The Google presentation software is very limited but has great collaboration tools and served my needs for this presentation.

Oct

22

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Filed Under Education and Love for Learning, Favorite Books

Ever since reading this book I’ve experimented with different tools for implementing the system. The best I had found was Life Balance, but I didn’t like how it was stuck on my PDA and computer…I wanted a solution online. Leave it to John to solve my problem…his latest post gives you everything you need to start making the Getting Things Done system work for your life. Thanks John.


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