Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Extracts

I'm not the ultimate gadget guy. For example, I still don't have a Blackberry. But I did get my first Bluetooth headset a couple weeks again and have had a cell phone for some time, though I was hardly a ground breaker in that category either.

One gadget, however, that I've gotten a lot of use out of through the years is an Olympus Digital Voice Recorder (DVR). It's a small handheld device that slips into your jacket pocket which you can whip out to "take notes" while driving. If in a meeting and the boss says something really important, or clever, you can capture it for later review. I've used it to capture ideas when I don't have a notepad handy.

I'm currently on my third generation of these things. The first was good, but had a limited number of folders. The second had eight hours of recording space and lots of folders. My current one is almost as good as it gets for me. I can do lengthy interviews, even attach it to my phone for recording conversations, and then plug it into my computer via the USB port to download the WAV files for emailing or future transcribing.

While cleaning up some of the contents of my Flash drive I found the following unedited list of notes which I'd compiled in a Word document. Many of these are random notes from audio books and lectures I was listening to while commuting. A few seem to be "notes to myself." #17 is a tongue-in-cheek ditty I wrote for a radio commercial for Susie's Bison Doggie-Treat Chews. A number of others are starter thoughts for future blog entries. Taken together, I thought the list would make a stimulating read. If you don't think so, then follow the advice in #6.

NOTES TO MYSELF

1. Wiznecki the GB Packer
2. Type Potpourri story quotes
3. Bring FLIP Camera to Vegas
4. Organize files on laptop
5. Blog topic: young bull, Death in the Afternoon, good and bad bulls
6. If I ever cease to be interesting, feel free to hit the Ignore button
7. Blog Topic: More useless statistics
8. Teddy R changed name of Executive Mansion to White House
9. Start a file called Numbers for statistical purposes
10. William Jennings Bryan “Cross of Gold” speech
11. Learn more about Will Rogers
12. Einstein was a pacifist who became a non-pacifist because of Hitler
13. Nanjing Massacre: Japanese soldiers would have contests to see who could kill the most Chinese civilians in a day.
14. In China, the number one cause of death amongst women 18 to 24 is suicide
15. Because females are being aborted in order to get sons, an unintended consequence of the One Child law in China is that the country will be short 30 million brides by the year 2020
16. Richest man in Asia has 168 cars.... avg. income in India $500 a year
17. I’ve got the Bison Doggy-Treat Blues
I’d like to try some of them Doggy Treat Chews
I don’t see no reason for you to refuse
C’mon and Buy Some, cause you got nothin’ to lose
Bison, Doggy Treat Chews
18. Sell raffle Tickets and give free drawing
19. A million square miles of land was added to U.S. as result of Mexican War.
20. e-Marketing Insights from the Best Brains on the Bleeding Edge
21. Most dangerous jobs in America #1: Crack Dealer #2: Logging
re: crack dealers... 1 in 4 killed who serve four years on job
22. Fear of being shunned causes people to avoid honesty; takes courage to speak honestly
23. “A hard day’s work never really killed anyone, but why risk it?” ~Ronald Reagan
24. The great virtue of capitalism is that it decentralizes power and minimizes coercion. One nation’s gain does not necessitate another nation’s loss, and it doesn’t discriminate; it is open to anyone.
25. Blog Entry: The Man by Irving Wallace
26. Hot Cars Run Cooler With AMSOIL
27. In Muslim culture hypocrisy is not as serious of a vice as here because it is better to uphold ideals we fail to live up to than to just give up and say “anything goes.”
28. Blog Entry: Great Gatsby and Lady Chatterley’s Lover both have as a theme the difference between good adultery and bad adultery.... A noble adultery and ignoble....
29. Blog Exploration: Do the strong stay strong forever or do they weaken over time (eg. Buddenbrooks)
30. Blog Exploration: What if our brain lost its sort function

In the meantime, have a great, great day.

2 comments:

Beverly G said...

I love this post (specifically the listmaking) because this is the kind of thing I do. In fact, I've started a computer file called "mijote" (French word having to do with simmering), and I put all my miscellaneous thoughts there, things I want to blog about, bits I want to remember, important info, topics I want to research, you-name-it.

Ed Newman said...

There are probably a lot of us in this camp.... Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I like the idea of "simmering".... percolating.
Best to you
e

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