Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away — NPR
For one thing, research shows that laptops and tablets have a tendency to be distracting — it’s so easy to click over to Facebook in that dull lecture. And a study has shown that the fact that you have to be slower when you take notes by hand is what makes it more useful in the long run.
More evidence in support of what we believe in.
ERIMA knows – I found a great use for my Field Notes books….
I found a great use for my Field Notes books. Left: today. Right: 5 exciting things for tomorrow.
Neat idea from my friend, Em.
McKenna’s notes are in part a history of where Apple and the entire personal computing industry had been, and in part a blueprint for where they could go. In the most succinct possible fashion, he covered a lot of ground.
Fascinating stuff. Any fan of Apple or even the start of the personal computing revolution will find much to gawk at here.
Ann Patchett’s Nashville Bookstore Hits the Road, With Dogs in Tow – The New York Times
It is a logical and efficient way for a small bookstore to expand its footprint, especially as big chains have shuttered locations, leaving a vacuum for enterprising independent stores to fill. A handful of independent stores around the country have taken the trade on the road, in an effort to stir up business and bring books to neighborhoods and suburbs without a bookstore. Little Shop of Stories, an independent store in Decatur, Ga., used a grant from the author James Patterson to turn a used school bus into a mobile bookstore. Fifth Dimension Books, a bookmobile in Austin, Tex., stocks a rotating selection of science fiction and fantasy books from its collection of 100,000 volumes.
When our culture’s past is lost in the cloud – The Washington Post
Imagine if the Declaration [of Independence] were composed today. It would almost certainly be written on a computer screen rather than with ink and paper, and the edits would be made electronically, through email exchanges or a file shared on the Internet. If we were lucky, a modern-day Jefferson would turn on track-changes and print copies of the document as it progressed. We’d at least know who wrote what, even if the generic computer type lacked the expressiveness of handwriting. More likely, the digital file would come to be erased or rendered unreadable by changes in technical standards. We’d have the words, but the document itself would have little resonance.
Much truth to ponder here.
(via Sal Korivi)
John Gruber shared a shot of a notebook on Twitter showing his earliest work on Markdown. I use Markdown syntax for almost everything I write on the Internet and have since I first learned about it over ten years ago. So cool to see that, like many great ideas, it started as some scribbles in a notebook.
Blank Paper, 7 – Nicholas Bate
Nick is back with 7 good reasons for blank paper. Good stuff.
Seven quick and dirty good reasons why you need one. My favorite is number 7.
An Index of Ideas — Shawn Blanc
Your own index is something you put in the back of the book (or the front if you prefer). It’s a list of the book’s themes and topics that most resonate with you, and the pages which have the best quotes and ideas around those topics.
This is a very cool idea and one I plan to adopt immediately and likely go back and apply to some of my favorite non-fiction books.
