A study in 2007 found the average person encounters approximately 174 newspapers worth of data every day.  With all of that information coming in, we are constantly making decisions about what is and is not worth remembering, and the information comes at such a steady pace that we cannot focus on any one item for too long.  I don’t know about you, but after a while, I felt like my brain had turned to mush; I couldn’t remember anything unless I immediately wrote it down, and my attention span was not what it had once been.

I searched for a way to improve my memory; that’s when I found Lumosity.  Lumosity is a site that creates cognitive games intended to improve your memory, speed, problem solving, flexibility, and attention.  There is a free version that includes games in all of the categories, but if you want to be able to unlock all of the games and see which percentile you fall within for your age group, then you need to subscribe.  I’ve been using Lumosity for almost a month now, and I am seeing improvement in my game performance.  I think it may be improving my memory outside of the games as well, but I’m not sure if that’s just a placebo effect.  Regardless, the games are fun, and I feel less guilty about playing them because they’re for self-improvement.  If you want to improve your memory, or are interested in free games, give Lumosity a try.

Take a minute from exam studying, to see some funny stuff about the law and lawyers at lawhumor.com.

It’s that time of year again, book lovers. Whatever your interests–whether you are looking for something to read, selecting gifts for family or friends or collecting ideas for your winter holiday break–there are lists to consult. Consider these (in no particular order):

• Library Journal: Best Books and Media 2012 and Holiday Fiction 2012
  
• The New Yorker‘s contributors pick their favorite books of 2012
• The Daily Beast: Our Favorite Books 2012
• Los Angeles Public Library: Best Nonfiction, Fiction, Teen books and Children’s books
  
• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Our 50 Favorite Books of 2012
  
• The Phoenix reader poll: Best Book 2012 (and best bookstores: new and used)
• American Library Association: 2012 Best Fiction for Young Adults
• Timeout.com: Best (International) Cookbooks 2012
• Publisher’s Weekly: Best Books 2012
• New York Times‘ 100 Notable Books of 2012 (including the 10 best)
• National Public Radio: Best Books of 2012 (and critics’ lists), and critic Heller McAlpin’s favorite literary stories (and books) of the year
• Slate’s Best Books of 2012 and Overlooked Books of 2012
• Fast Company’s Best Business Books of 2012
• From The Guardian: the best fiction, science fiction, history, sports  and stocking-filler books of 2012 (all lists here)
• Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Books for the movie lovers on your list
• Washington Post‘s Best Books of 2012
• CNN Money’s Five must-read business books of 2012
• Kirkus Review‘s Best Fiction of 2012
• From strategy+business: Best innovation books 2012
• From The Atlantic: The Top 5 and the Runners Up
• Huffington Post’s Best Books of 2012
• School Library Journal: Best Books 2012
• The Dirt (American Society of Landscape Architects): Best Books of 2012
• Spirituality & Practice: Best Spiritual Books of 2012
• goodreads.com: Choice Awards 2012
• Barnes & Noble: Top 100 Bestsellers of 2012
• Bill Ott (Booklist Online): Top 10 Sports Books 2012

Enjoy your reading.

This week, the ABA Journal released its annual Blawg 100, a selection of the best law-related blogs, in its December issue.

The list includes perennial favorites (such as Above the Law, SCOTUSBlog and the Volokh Conspiracy) and newer picks, e.g., CFPB Monitor, which tracks news related to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This year’s list includes a wide range of interests and purposes, from the widely informative (The BLT: The Blog of the Legal Times) to the very specific (crImmigration‘s beat is “the immigration consequences of criminal violations”), with titles for practitioners (Litigation & Trial) and students (The Girl’s Guide to Law School) alike.

Go through the alphabetical list or peruse by category. For legal humor, check out the”for fun” entries, including Lowering the Bar, ZombieLaw and the Supreme Court Haiku Reporter.

To take a deeper dive, consult the much more extensive ABA blawg directory, listing hundreds of blogs in dozens of categories. Or see our guide to law blogs.

From the Office of Student Affairs:

Hi-On November 28, at 6:30 pm in the Boston University (BU) Law Auditorium, BU Law’s OutLaw, Family Law Association, and Office of Student Affairs proudly presents a one-night-only staged reading of “8: The Play,” by Dustin Lance Black, a dramatization of the Prop 8 trial. This production features BU Law students, staff, and faculty; other Boston law students; BU undergraduate students; and professionals in the LGBTQ field. The production is *free* but donations will be accepted at the door for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. The staged reading runs about 85 minutes with a talkback session immediately following the performance. A small panel of moderators will lead us in this discussion. Given the potential SCOTUS review, this play is a timely reflection on many of the legal and personal arguments supporting marriage equality.

Unlike most past U.S. Presidents, Abraham Lincoln is never really out of mind. But now–just three years after the 200th anniversary of his birth, and with Stephen Spielberg’s “Lincoln” opening to all-but-unprecedented rave reviews (see here, here, here and here)–the sixteenth President has rarely had a higher profile.

Continue Reading »

Lexis has recently developed and published an innovative and FUN way to reinforce your learning and legal skills.  The game format challenges the player to spot issues from a series of legal disciplines and keeps track of your successes and failures. It even gives you bonus points for speedy response rates.  You create a new game moniker at your visit and you’re off.  Click on the graphic below to be taken to the game home page.

If you love books and reading, you may be interested in the Boston Book Festival on Saturday, October 27. A few highlights of the festival:

• Political Culture: NPR’s Tom Ashbrook moderates a conversation with Randall Kennedy, Lawrence Lessig, Michael Sandel and others on the state of political culture in the U.S.
• Future of Reading: a discussion of technologists, publishers and writers about books and publishing in a digital age
• Books Behind Bars: a discussion with former inmates and repesentatives of literary organizations that serve prison populations on the impact of books and reading in and out of prison

Check out the full schedule of events, times and locations here. Other than a few ticketed events, the sessions are free and open to the public.

Making time to read for pleasure can be a challenge for busy law students. This is one opportunity to explore books and ideas before the approach of exams tightens the time squeeze.

Election season is upon us and the blizzard of polls dropping on a daily basis can be overwhelming, or at least unsettling.  To help make sense of it all, the following sites offer expert poll analysis.

• 538 (New York Times) — The best by far.  Nate Silver offers astute analysis on every poll and his election forecast model is beyond excellent.
• Pollster (Huffington Post) – More an aggregator than an analyzer, but charts and data make this site fun and informative.
• Real Clear Politics — Also an aggregator, but good data and use of polling averages.

Have a smart phone? An iPad? Another type of tablet? Some other cool gizmo entirely? If you do, you need to take a look at our new research guide on Apps for Lawyers and Law Students. Are we missing something? Let us know!