Category: Distractions

Our Robot Overlords

Ryan
Apr 25 |09:00

Here it is… another Sunday and I’m still studying for this test. These past couple of days have started to wane on me in terms of my drive. I’m worried about feeling burnt out, but I’m not even to the most hectic part of my study schedule yet. Once summer classes have started, I’ll also be in full-on PrepTest-only mode. Not being on facebook is definitely helping, but I also have picked up other (although admittedly more constructive) distractions.

I’ll probably be announcing more about that in the upcoming months, but I have a feeling that it could be very exciting if it works out.

In other news, as I mentioned in my first post, I am nerd. I am a big fan of technology and try to keep pretty up-to-date on the advancements. Boston Dynamics has made some very cool leaps in the world of robotic mobility. This is by no means a new project of theirs, but they recently compiled a lot of their footage into one clip.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to, Big Dog:

After your mind has settled a bit and you have come out from under the covers, you should also check out their bi-pedal robot. Discovery has a nice little clip on Boston Dynamics’ progress on their site.

 

Drastic Times Call for Drastic Measures

Ryan
Apr 19 |07:19

I decided yesterday during a marathon of studying which was interupted by interspersed impulses to check my facebook that I might have a slight addiction to the site. Technology only serves to fuel that addiction. It would be easy to just close my laptop and stay away from the site, but the iPhone facebook app makes it just as easy to waste minutes/hours on the site. As I really can’t keep my phone off and/or away from me for a myriad of reasons this presented a problem.

So I did the only sensible thing, I deleted the facebook app from my phone and blocked the website in my browser. The logic behind this move is that if I have the time to just sit around aimlessly on facebook, I could easily be doing some logic games or going over wrong answers to figure out what I did wrong. I’m going to recommend this move to anyone who has a site (facebook, myspace, youtube, whatever) that they are checking multiple times per day.

I use firefox as my primary web browser and I installed the BlockSite Add-on to block all direct URL entries and links on other sites that point to facebook.com. We are starting to come down on crunch time before the June 2010 exam. If you are having trouble focusing and you can identify a site as the culprit, it might be time to add the domain to a site blacklist and indulge yourself after the exam is over as a reward.

Today’s agenda consists of work, then a trek over to the library to get some studying and work done before classes tomorrow.

 

Linkskrieg

Ryan
Apr 18 |09:02

You know… Linkskrieg… it’s kind of like blitzkrieg; ok, I admit it: I might be going insane.

This post serves absolutely no purpose other than an avenue for me to procrastinate my studying. I have three papers to write and a website to design for my classes. I have two exams which will require an immense amount of studying. I have to manually rebuild fourth months worth of accounting records at work, prepare for a multi-platinum-selling artist’s arrival in a few weeks and somehow convince a grown-man/owner to clean out at least one of his six mailbox slots.

Oh yea and study for the pesky LSAT. At least I’m not taking summer classes as well… crap.

Anyways, here are some links that I’ll be keeping my eye on.

Justin at the TheLawStudentBlog.com has given us this jewel:

So a year of study time should garner me a 167 on the LSAT. If it doesn’t… I will kill myself…. via webcam live on this website. Tune in.

I’m a little concerned because the most recent post I can find from Justin seems to be around 9/17/09 which leads me to believe he might not have made it the full year. We’ll be pulling for you, Justin, to pull off that 167. If you don’t, though, don’t renege on your promise there; webcam-suicides are surprisingly low in the modern age. (Note: Padawan Law does not endorse suicide… we think. Yea, we are pretty sure about that one).

The 170 Project posted this little blurb:

Just got out of my Kaplan class. Bad class. I arrived late thanks to LA traffic and consequently missed the Logic Games review session. Then I picked the wrong order to tackle the Logic Games pacing section. I fell into the trap of wasting close to 13 minutes on the hardest problem and ultimately finished only 2 out of 4 problems. I was disengaged for the remaining two hours, allowing my mind to wander through my imaginary life as a paralegal (not a lawyer) married to my ex-boyfriend from college. Oh. dear.

Reading this did very little to help with maintaining my sanity. If anything, it definitely worsened the prospects of maintaining any semblance of the sort. Other troublesome notes of merit:

  • Five out of seven of her posts contain some mention of relationships, past suitors/boyfriends or love. It is only five instead of seven because I did not count the mention of the MTV TV-show “16 and pregnant” and I did count the default WordPress post as a true post.
  • The last post ends “I am so upset right now. This is not the right response. Not at all…. i need to go to on a drive. Good bye.”
  • She has stopped posting as of Jan 13th, 2010.

Again, we are truly pulling for you, Ms. Jane Doe. From checking out these two blogs, it seems that if I make it past four or five months of posting, I should be impressed. LSAT + Blogging = Insanity?

To those of you actively in Law School and maintaining a blog, I salute you. I know there are plenty of law school bloggers out there, but if you are currently preparing for the LSAT and blogging about it, drop me a line. I’d love to hear from some of you and keep up-to-date on how you are all progressing.

I’m going to go knock out some Logic Games.

 

Distraction: 1959 LSAT Sample

Ryan
Apr 18 |08:08

While the majority of the distractions posted on this site will involve people falling off of things and cats playing pianos, I figured the very first one should still stay somewhat relevant the course material. Every couple days/weeks/who-knows, I’ll be checking in on your sanity by reccomending you take a break from your studying and/or learning to check out a featured distraction.

If you have ever wondered if you parents had it easier than you did, it turns out they did when it comes to the LSAT. I’ve attached a pdf created by the Educational Testing Service that served as a bulletin to potential LSAT attendees listing testing sites and sample questions/answers.

The June LSAT is right around the corner, so we can’t afford to take too large of a detour from our studying, but why don’t you take a minute to check out the 1959 LSAT sample and see how you would have done. Make sure you fight the overwhelming urge to follow it up with a marathon of Mad Men episodes.

The pdf remains the property of Educational Testing Service. Padawan Law holds no claims or rights to the material.

LSAT – 1959 – Sample

 
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