Law Students

Google Scholar Enables Search of Legal Opinions & Journals

Posted on November 18, 2009
Google has just added the capability to search legal opinions and journals through Google Scholar. (Click here for Google’s official announcement). Even though I have access to LexisNexis and Westlaw, I have been using Google Scholar extensively for a couple of days and find it very useful.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-15

Posted on November 16, 2009
Blog: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-09 http://bit.ly/47oLvR # Nice shoutout for IIT: IIT … has architecture by Mies, Helmut Jahn, Rem Koolhaas. Info: http://bit.ly/IIT-architects (via @explorechicago) # Blog: iPhone App Refunds? http://bit...

iPhone App Refunds?

Posted on November 11, 2009
There are a few iPhone apps that I bought that are not really useful any longer. Google Voice ($2.99) is now non-functional, and LogMeIn ($29.99) and a few others simply don’t work well enough for me. Gizmodo suggests that getting a refund from Apple is virtually impossible...

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-09

Posted on November 10, 2009
Blog: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-02 http://bit.ly/3kf1×9 # Got my beta invite to Threadsy. Interested to see whether it has features I wanted to see in Gist. Will play with threadsy tonight. # Blog: Presale for U2 Tickets in Chicago (July 6, 2010) http://bit...

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Switch to grass-fed beef?

Posted on November 08, 2009
Over the last several months, Denise and I have been attempting to reduce our consumption of processed foods. We define ?processing? as any kind of alteration from the original, ?whole? nature of the food. Wherever possible, we try to either perform that same (processing) step ourselves, or avoid it entirely...

Presale for U2 Tickets in Chicago (July 6, 2010)

Posted on November 05, 2009
In case you’re interested, you can get your U2 tickets for next year now. Here’s the link to the PDF: U2_Chicago_Presale

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-02

Posted on November 03, 2009
Blog: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-26 http://bit.ly/6jBi # Oh noes! http://bit.ly/112S1w (via @aunraza) # I've been looking to replace the (severely limited) AppleTV. Wondering whether this will do it:http://lifehacker.com/5391308 # Please RT: Still not too late to register for IP Day in Chicago (Nov...

HDTV: Plasma, LCD, or LED?

Posted on October 31, 2009
My four year old Plasma TV seems to be on its way out. Any recommendations on which technology (Plasma, LCD, or LED) is better? Is any particular brand better than others at this point or are they all comparable?

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-26

Posted on October 27, 2009
Blog: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-20 http://bit.ly/1k1O0P # Blog: Kailash Kher (Kailasa) – Joban Chhalke http://bit.ly/3sLu9T # Blog: Sweetener Choices http://bit.ly/39c3gG # Watching U2 live on YouTube. #

Sweetener Choices

Posted on October 25, 2009
White sugar, Sweet n’ Low, Equal, Splenda, Sugar in the Raw, unprocessed cane sugar, real honey, unpasteurized honey….the choices are endless. Is it better to use smaller amounts of  unprocessed (or minimally processed) sweeteners rather than using sugar substitutes? Which one do you use and why?

Kailash Kher (Kailasa) ? Joban Chhalke

Posted on October 21, 2009
This track is on Kailash Kher’s band Kailasa’s latest CD, “Yatra (Nomadic Souls).” I found it rather playful.  I couldn’t find the official lyrics online so I have tried to write them out myself. Enjoy! (and please let me know if I have any errors) Ban than ke gora kahan chali? Vaara maare aise jor Moonh ki khaavein sadhu [...

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-20

Posted on October 20, 2009
Blog: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-13 http://bit.ly/3MLURN # Gist Launches iPhone Application: http://bit.ly/10m4TJ # IP Day in Chicago–3 Nov 2009–with a great array of speakers and 6.25 cle hours; http://www.chicagoIPalliance.com (via @CIPAnews) # Blog: Authentication Errors with GV Mobile on iPhone http://bit...

Sir James Dyson Explains the Science Behind his Air Multiplier (Bladeless Fan)

Posted on October 17, 2009
I think I want one but I wonder whether it might be better to wait for the point one release

Authentication Errors with GV Mobile on iPhone

Posted on October 14, 2009
In the past couple of weeks, I have noticed that GV Mobile on the iPhone does not seem to be able to authenticate to the Google Voice service. See screen capture below: On a (potentially) related note, the Google Voice Add-on for Firefox also seems to be returning an “incorrect login or password” error...

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-13

Posted on October 13, 2009
Can anyone recommend where to send monetary donations for victims of the typhoon in the Phillipines? # Has anyone ever tried FRS energy drinks? Do they help with maintaining energy levels? Are they harmful? Any thoughts? # Blog: Does Technology Inhibit One’s Ability to Appreciate Art? http://bit...

Simplification – Part II

Posted on June 19, 2009
A couple of days after that last post, it occurred to me that simplification need not be limited to physical objects. My life is cluttered with plenty of other distractions such as email, social networking sites, and even people. So, I used Rescue Time to track my activities on my personal laptop...

Simplification

Posted on June 04, 2009
Since the last post, we’ve been eliminating as much excess stuff as possible. We had no need for a patio chair so it was sold via Craigslist. Other items that have “left” the apartment one way or another include shoes (even new, unworn ones), clothes, CDs, papers, and electronics...

On track for 100 Things.

Posted on April 14, 2009
Last year, while taking a break from preparing for the California bar exam, I came across David Michael Bruno’s “100 Thing Challenge.” Given that the last few years, I have been acquiring significantly more than the average consumer, I thought it would be a nice thing to do but never really got around to it...

Just passed the IL Bar

Posted on April 06, 2009
I just found out from the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar that I passed the Illinois bar exam.

Foods that Promote Nasal/Sinus Health

Posted on March 28, 2009
Do you know whether there are any foods that promote nasal/sinus health? Conversely, are there any foods that should be avoided? I am trying to compile a simple list that I can then share with others. Thanks in advance for your help.

Yes… Twitter is down for about an hour.

Posted on February 14, 2009
Twitter.com is down for some database maintenance.

Need Recommendations for Media Center PC/Mac

Posted on February 04, 2009
I currently use an AppleTV with Boxee to watch my podcasts and TV shows (via Hulu). However, the AppleTV’s CPU is not powerful enough to process all types of video out there. In fact, because the CPU is so inadequate, Boxee does not support Netflix streaming on the AppleTV platform because it cannot handle Microsoft [...

So You Watched Slumdog Millionaire…

Posted on January 23, 2009
If you were affected by this movie, and you’d like to do something about children like this in Pakistan, please consider making a small, one-time donation to TCF at www.tcfusa.org.

Inauguration Video Streams Failed to Live Up to Expectations

Posted on January 21, 2009
If there was ever a day that the Internet would face a stress-test, the Obama inauguration would have been it. Countless individuals logged on websites such as CNN, MSNBC, and Hulu to watch the live video streams. Unfortunately, every single one of these feeds was unable to keep up with the demand...

MobileMe & Hosted Exchange

Posted on January 14, 2009
In search of the perfect email (as well as contact and task management) solution, I tried out MobileMe. I found MobileMe to be incredibly slow — even with no email in a folder, it would take at least 5 seconds to refresh a page. Plainly unacceptable...

Outlook 2003/2007 & Gmail

Posted on January 12, 2009
I have made several attempts to switch from POP access to IMAP for Gmail but have been unsuccessful. Although GMail IMAP works just fine via Apple Mail, iPhone, and even Thunderbird, it simply does not have good performance through Outlook. Could this be becuase of the various Outlook plug-ins (e...

Back in Chicago

Posted on January 06, 2009
Just a quick post to let you know that we just reached Chicago. Will return phone calls and emails as soon as we can.

Heading back to Chicago in a few hours.

Posted on January 05, 2009
We’ve had a great time visiting our families in Pakistan and Dubai. In a few hours, we will be heading back to the US and will reach Chicago at about 7 PM on Tuesday.

Updating Contacts

Posted on January 03, 2009
In case you’ve received an email from me asking for your updated contact information, don’t worry, it’s not a computer virus. I am just doing my annual address book maintenance.

Testing

Posted on December 04, 2008
Please Ignore this post. This is just a test.

I am now a Registered Patent Attorney

Posted on November 22, 2008
Last night was beyond description. As soon as I got the results, I shared the good news with my immediate family. Then, it was time to make some calls. I called my mentor and friend who guided me all through law school and even put in excellent recommendations to various law firms...

8 Minutes Later…

Posted on November 21, 2008

Anticipation

Posted on November 21, 2008

Songbird - Mozilla’s Open Source Music Player

Posted on November 16, 2008
I was a big fan of Winamp. At the time, nothing played digital media that well with such a small memory footprint. But slowly, I have moved to iTunes. It started out with my first iPod. I used iTunes to sync music with it. iTunes was one of the few free MP3 encoders which used [...

Update from Chicago

Posted on November 15, 2008
It’s been a few days since I posted an entry. Between adjusting to the new marital status, a new career, a new city, and a smaller living space, I just haven’t had the time to write any posts. So here’s an update: Things have generally been good...

LinkedIn is Down for the Next Hour

Posted on November 13, 2008
In case you are struggling with LinkedIn right now, it will be down for the next hour or so.

Liquidation

Posted on September 24, 2008
The first “material possession” to go was the Toyota Scion tC. We (i.e. the wife and I) took it to Carmax and handed it over at a “wholesale” rate. At least we’re not paying for parking and insurance on it now. I have a feeling the other car will soon find its way to Carmax [...

Gearing up for the IL Bar Exam in Feb 2009

Posted on September 05, 2008
The Illinois Bar application requires even more information than the Moral Character application in California. These days, I am trying to compile all this information to be able to register for the upcoming exam in February 2009. Hopefully, this will all be done in the next two or three weeks leaving only the exam to [...

Settling In

Posted on September 05, 2008
I’ve been in Chicago for about a week and things are finally beginning to fall into place. We have an apartment and the household stuff has been delivered. Because we’re living in a very small apartment instead of the place we were originally counting on, we will have to dispose of a lot of our [...

Mathematical Secret to a Happy Marriage?

Posted on August 27, 2008
I’ve been married for a few days and already the tech-nerd in me wants to “engineer” this relationship for “optimal” output. I believe that any relationship sets its course at its outset and that is why I was trying to figure out what type of behavior increases the chances of happiness...

Apartment Hunting

Posted on August 14, 2008
We have narrowed our apartment search down to a couple of places and hopefully one of them will work out. We’re also going to have to sell one or both of our cars and some of our furniture because we will probably have to live in a small, high-rise apartment rather than the larger single [...

Wedding’s Over

Posted on August 11, 2008
The wedding is finally over and today was our first day off after the bar exam. We spent the day browsing the web for apartments and have narrowed it down to a couple of options. Hopefully, we will have this wrapped up before we arrive in Chicago in a couple of weeks.

The Wedding Starts Today

Posted on August 07, 2008
The wedding starts today (August, 7th) with the “Mehndi” ceremony. Will post pictures soon.

Hectic Days & Unpleasant Surprises

Posted on August 05, 2008
No sooner did the bar end (on July 31st) that I had to jump on other pressing tasks. Packing, meeting the in-laws (for the first time), moving, and traveling overseas. There were several unpleasant surprises (a tax penalty!) along the way too. Then, while waiting to board my flight on Monday, I was told that the [...

CA Bar Exam - Day 3

Posted on August 01, 2008
The essays were “okay” again. Nothing too horribly bad. I was feeling fairly good about the whole bar exam until about lunchtime. However, the second performance test really got me. I am fairly certain that the exam was probably not any more difficult than usual...

CA Bar Exam - Day 2

Posted on July 31, 2008
Today we had the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) which is a total of 200 multiple choice questions tested in two 3-hour sessions with 100 questions each. I was hoping to do well enough on this portion to be able to apply it towards the Illinois Bar Exam that I have to take in February 2009...

CA Bar Exam - Day 1: Earthquake!

Posted on July 30, 2008
Yes, we had an earthquake during the bar but fortunately no one was hurt or injured. It happened some time during the third hour. I was running behind on the essay when it started. At first I thought I was just feeling stressed — I was surprised and remember thinking to myself “Am I about [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 65

Posted on July 26, 2008
Today was all about Civ Pro. Also did a couple of CP and W&T essays. 

Looking Back and Moving Forward.

Posted on July 26, 2008
Suspended Animation It has now been 65 days since life in general has been in some kind of suspended animation. Although I definitely do not study all the time — and even when I do, my efficiency rate is worse than an internal combustion engine — I have truly not been able to think of anything [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 64

Posted on July 25, 2008
Worked on Wills, some Trusts, Community Property, and Civ Pro.

CA Bar Prep - Day 63

Posted on July 24, 2008
Worked on Con Law and about half of Wills.

CA Bar Prep - Day 62

Posted on July 23, 2008
Worked on Torts, some MBEs and quickly went over Con Law once. Will pick up with Con Law again tomorrow. Then, hopefully CP, and W&T. Still can’t seem to get the rules down. People keep telling me that its in there (in my brain) somewhere and will magically pop out during the exam — I sure [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 61

Posted on July 21, 2008
Worked on Prof Responsibility — this is a topic that supposedly straightforward but I am really not sure what my bar prep people were thinking when they created these materials. I think I will have to default to Barbri on this one. Worked on some MBEs as well.

CA Bar Prep - Day 60

Posted on July 21, 2008
Worked on Crim Law & Crim Pro. Issue spotted a couple of Remedies essays and worked on some MBEs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 59

Posted on July 20, 2008
Went through essays written for class to review feedback. Worked on Corps. Reviewed Contracts mini outline. Will work on Crim Law/Pro tomorrow.

CA Bar Prep - Day 58

Posted on July 18, 2008
Worked on Hearsay first thing in the morning, then did some Evidence MBEs. A couple of Evidence Essays. Then switched to Remedies which was a little bit more interesting than Evidence. Stopped studying at 8 PM. 

CA Bar Prep - Day Off

Posted on July 18, 2008
Thanks to a car accident back in 2005, I was in Court for the better part of today trying to recover my out-of-pocket expenses. (No luck … but finally have a trial date set for January 2009). So, its one of an “accidentally-on-purpose” kind of a day off from bar prep...

CA Bar Prep - Day 57

Posted on July 17, 2008
Contracts; about 25 MBEs and a Real Property Essay.

CA Bar Prep - Day 56

Posted on July 16, 2008
Got through Real Property and a few (barely 10) MBEs. At one point today, it was getting so boring and tedious that I started reading the material out loud just to keep the pace. That worked out fairly well because I now have a two and a half hour audio of Real Property which will [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 55

Posted on July 14, 2008
Started with Evidence and spent a few hours on Character Evidence and Impeachment. Over lunch, I went through the answers for the Evidence MBEs that I had missed in v1. Worked on Evidence the rest of the day but wasn’t able to finish it. Will finish it tomorrow morning and pick a slightly easier topic [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 53

Posted on July 13, 2008
Today was the Simulated Bar exam. The one subject I wasn’t able to get through (Trusts) was the first one on the exam. Surprisingly, I think I got through it fairly okay. Felt pretty sick the whole day. Need sleep. Total for the day: 3 Essays and 1 PT under exam conditions...

CA Bar Prep - Day 54

Posted on July 13, 2008
Finished Trusts today — probably need to go over it two more times before it all sinks in. Read through CA Evidence and CA Civ Pro. Then worked on Civ Pro all day. Practiced a few MBEs (~30). Will start with Evidence tomorrow.

CA Bar Prep - Day 52

Posted on July 12, 2008
Stumbled through Community Property and Wills. Still have to go over Trusts, some Evidence rules that wont stick (and all of CA Evidence and Civil Procedure.) About two months ago, I thought that 60 days was a lot of time and that the human brain had the capacity to memorize the phone book in that much [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 51

Posted on July 10, 2008
Remedies [4hrs] Review S/M Final Drill (25 Cards) 30 MBEs @ 67% [Entered into S/M and also fixed up last night’s entered MBEs] Took several [5?] hours to fix PR cards (the outlines supplied by the bar prep program were a bit difficult to navigate)...

CA Bar Prep - Day 50

Posted on July 09, 2008
30 W-MBEs (<70%) @ 60% + 28UW-MBE = 60 @ 75%. (Best: Contracts @ 92. Worst: Property @ 52%). M/O: Corps + CA Corps & K Issue Spot: 5 Essays (Crim #3-4; Con: #5; Corp #5; PR #5) Some S/M but not a lot (maybe 15 Mins) — but did review ~50 MBE Elements earlier in the day...

CA Bar Prep - Day 49

Posted on July 08, 2008
72 MBEs @ 79% (2 x 15 MBEs (S-mode) + 31 x 1 (P-mode)) 50 MBE FCs; 1 Hour of Review FCs. Issue Spot: 3 Evidence, 1 Corps (and another Corps from BarBri/WLS). Went over Corps m/o — a lot better than FCs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 48

Posted on July 07, 2008
Went through Real Property (paper, not S/M) and half of today’s scheduled elements in S/M. Did 62 MBEs @ 79%. 2 Essays (1 re-do). Starting tomorrow, will aim for 50-75 MBEs and 2M:1CA Essays per day.

CA Bar Prep - Day 47

Posted on July 06, 2008
Went through 64 flashcards flagged by S/M. Read through (cant really call it memorization) 68 Evidence flashcards and 16 CA Evidence flashcards. Even after a whole day of work, I can’t seem to keep 801, 803 and 804 straight. I guess doing some MBEs and Essays tomorrow will help...

CA Bar Prep - Day 46

Posted on July 05, 2008
Skipped LECC class. Stayed home to memorize Crim Pro FCs. Did slightly better on MBEs today 60 MBEs @ 80% (CL: 23 @ 87%; K: 13 @ 92%; Crim: 7 @ 43%; T: 17 @ 76%). Issue spotted a Crim and CL essay each.

CA Bar Prep - Day 45

Posted on July 04, 2008
Started with Con Law and went through all the flash cards again. Some of this stuff is finally beginning to stick. Used S/M today to go through all of Con Law, prior (Torts) cards, and Crim Law (couldn’t get to crim pro). 50 MBES @ 72% (CL:33@73%; K:6@50%; T:11@82%) Issue spotted 2 Torts essays.

CA Bar Prep - Day Off (thanks to Con Law)

Posted on July 03, 2008
Tried unsuccessfully through the day to get through all of Con Law. Barely got through it once and then tried to do it a second time but was simply unable to do it. Was so burnt out that I decided it was going to be one of those unintended days off. So, I took care [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 44

Posted on July 02, 2008
Ran through Torts flashcards (in S/M). Spent some time on Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel and then issue spotted 4 Civ Pro essays — did fairly okay. Did 20 Torts MBEs @ 75%. Probably got about 6 to 8 good hours out of the day

CA Bar Prep - Day 43

Posted on July 01, 2008
Picked up materials from class and left. There wasn’t much point in sitting through 3 hours of MBEs when they are the same as I will end up doing on Adaptibar. I figured it was pointless to do them when I am not ready for Evidence and Property (which is about the most tedious for [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 42

Posted on June 30, 2008
Today was the last day of the PT workshop. I might skip the MBE workshop tomorrow because I think my time is better spent learning substantive law and practicing MBEs rather than sitting through review lectures. Did some MBEs (maybe 15-20. I forget how many).

CA Bar Prep - Day 41

Posted on June 29, 2008
Still doing this PT workshop. Its beginning to feel like a waste of time. Not that the content/techniques aren’t helpful — they are! It’s that I am spending too much time away from substantive materials and the panic (and sleep deprivation) make it hard to concentrate...

CA Bar Prep - Day 40

Posted on June 28, 2008
Wow. 40 days into it and still not feeling ready. Did an all day PT workshop (which continues through Monday). The next MBE Workshop is on Tuesday. Started prepping for it today by doing some MBEs (20 @ 70%) in the evening.

CA Bar Prep - Day 39

Posted on June 27, 2008
Worked on CP and PR. Ran errands (bank deposit; lunch & resume; webhosting) Wrote 1 PR and 2 CP essays. ~6Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 38

Posted on June 26, 2008
June 26 (Thu) 1 PT in Class. Finally finished CP lecture. To do by Tuesday: 1) Review 36 MBEs wrong from MW1, 2) Issue Spot EW6 Essays, 3) Write and submit EW6 essays 4) PTW (Fri-Sat-Sun) 5) Prep for Evidence (Sunday) and Property (Monday) for 100Q MW2 on Tuesday...

CA Bar Prep - Day 37

Posted on June 25, 2008
June 25 (Wed) MBE Workshop (100 timed Torts & K MBEs @ Score:64% overall) Outlined 1 PT. Listened to a PR lecture. 6C +  1S:7 Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 35

Posted on June 24, 2008
Picked up on Torts (#11 — entered up to #30) into S/M. ~40 to go. Finished entering CA-Ev (#7 - #16) into S/M. Finished entering CA-CivP (#5 - $5) into S/M. Finished entering PR 1-32 into S/M. Two CP essays. No MBEs. Need to finish out Torts and clean up Wills...

CA Bar Prep - Day 36

Posted on June 24, 2008
Attended PR class. Reviewed all K & Torts questions I had gotten wrong. Also did A/B MBEs: 30 Contracts (70%) and 7 Torts (43%) to prepare for MBE Workshop 1 tomorrow. Was late at night and I was getting too many easy Torts MBEs wrong — which means, its time to switch to essays...

CA Bar Prep - Day 34

Posted on June 23, 2008
Tried to catch up on sleep and ate relatively healthier — even went to the gym (twice!) to try and jump start myself. Went through all the Contracts and Torts MBEs that I had missed and wrote out the law/rationale as well as the reason why I got them wrong...

CA Bar Prep - Day 33

Posted on June 21, 2008
Issue spotted 6 essays in the morning. Wrote 3 under exam conditions. Went to watch a movie. ~6Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 32

Posted on June 20, 2008
Wrote 1 PT under exam conditions. Finished the last few (15?) Property MBEs in V1. Started entering missed MBEs in S/M. 3C + 2S = 5Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Taking the Day Off

Posted on June 20, 2008
Too many errands piled up. Need to step away from it for a day. Not getting anything done anyway.

CA Bar Prep - Day 31

Posted on June 19, 2008
Went to class for Trusts & CA Corps. Then finished Vol1 Crim MBEs. Outlined 1 PT. Then started working on memorizing Wills/Trusts & Corps for Saturday. Also started writing out missed MBEs (for Ks). Time: 2.5C + 0.5D + 4.5S (1.5PT; 3 MBEs): 7...

CA Bar Prep - Day 30

Posted on June 18, 2008
Only 40 days left to go. Almost at the 50% mark. Attended Wills class. Did 46 MBEs (Torts & Con Law). Issue spotted two Corps essays. Entered the rest of Trusts flash cards. Listened to Corps lectures. Time: 1D + 3C + 5S = 9 Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 29

Posted on June 17, 2008
Went over some Wills & Trusts. Attended Corps lecture (listened to some on the way to/from class as well). Did 50 K MBEs (~60% Accuracy — the 3rd Pty & Assignment & Delegation ones killed the score. Need to review that section). 1D + 4C + 3S (LMU) + 1S (H) = 9 Hours.

CA Bar Prep - Day 28

Posted on June 16, 2008
Worked on Corporations FCs. Issue spotted 4 essays (2K, 1 Corp, 1 W/T). 26 (LECC 51-76) Torts MBEs  (~73%). Time: 8 Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 27

Posted on June 14, 2008
Issue Spotted 4 essays, wrote 3. Came home. Studied another couple of hours and did about 25 mixed MBEs. The caught up on Contracts FCs. Time: 6C + 0D + 2S = 8 Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 26

Posted on June 13, 2008
53 Evidence MBEs + D. Went over Evidence flash cards for exam tomorrow. ~5 Hours.

CA Bar Prep - Day 24

Posted on June 12, 2008
20 Evidence MBEs (~75% accuracy). 2 Civ Pro Essays. Did S/M drill (Mercy=25). Spent evening memorizing Evidence for Saturday. 1D + 2.5C + 3S = 6.5Hrs.

Career Opportunity: Electrical Engineering / Patent Associate Job Description for Los Angeles

Posted on June 12, 2008
Ideal candidates will have 2-5 years of experience that includes patent prosecution and patent drafting (including software applications). Candidates must possess a 4 year degree or advanced degree in electrical engineering. Membership to the Patent Bar is required...

CA Bar Prep - Day 25

Posted on June 12, 2008
24 Evidence MBEs (~59%) . 1 PT in class. 1D + 3C + 2S = 6Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 23

Posted on June 11, 2008
Issue spotted 3 Civ Pro essays in the morning. Started on memorizing FREs. Did a few (12) Evidence MBEs (75%). Spent an hour memorizing older flashcards. Finished Civ Pro lecture. Class was 3 hrs. Will have to get MBEs out of the way earlier in the morning tomorrow...

No, I am not going to get the new iPhone…

Posted on June 10, 2008
… yet. Just about anyone who knows me and my unhealthy consumerism has already asked so here goes: I am not buying the new iPhone and here’s why: 1) I’ve been disappointed by the price reduction once and I am not going to spend money on a toy that will be obsolete [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 22

Posted on June 10, 2008
Prepared for Civil Procedure in the morning. Listened to 2 hours of lectures on the way to/from class. Finished entering out the ~10 evidence cards and entered all 51 civil procedure cards into S/M. Didn’t do any MBEs or Essays today. Will have to get back on that tomorrow morning...

CA Bar Prep - Day 21

Posted on June 09, 2008
Woke up with a cold. Probably got no more than 4 good hours out of the day. Spent it all preparing for Evidence tomorrow. Still have about 10 Cards to go. 

CA Bar Prep - Day 20

Posted on June 07, 2008
Issue spotted 5 essays in the morning. Wrote 3 Property/Remedies essays. Total time: 6 Hrs. Took the evening off and went to San Clemente for dinner.

CA Bar Prep - Day 18

Posted on June 06, 2008
Listened to Property on the way to class. Started @ 8:30 — outlined a PT and did 10 MBEs. Class from 11 AM to 3PM (did one timed PT). Drove to school. Studied Property for another 2 Hrs. Total study time: 0.5 + 2 + 3.5 + 2 = 8hrs. 

CA Bar Prep - Day 19

Posted on June 06, 2008
Took care of some errands. Started at 11:30AM. Memorized Property for Exam on Saturday. Did ~20-25 MBEs. No essays. Total time ~6 Hrs.

CA Bar Prep - Day 17

Posted on June 05, 2008
Not a particularly great day. 15 to 20 MBEs (I think…). Issue spotted 6 Essays (5 Property, 1 Remedies). Study time: Approx 7 Hrs. (Class was only 2 Hrs.) 

CA Bar Prep - Day 16

Posted on June 04, 2008
1 hr of lectures in the morning. Another hour of MBEs. 2.5 Hrs in class. Another 3 hrs in the evening. Total study time: 7.5 Hrs. Total MBEs: about 50 (25 Finz; 25 from Barprep).

CA Bar Prep - Day 15

Posted on June 02, 2008
Studied 1.5 Hrs in the morning. Did 39 MBEs (Crim 25-51 (Score: 55.6%); Con 43-54 (Score: 58.33%). Spent 3.5 Hrs in Class. (11AM to 2:30PM) Took a lunch break and drove to school. Started up again at 3:30 PM and went till 5 PM. Then started again at 6:15 to 8:15PM...

CA Bar Prep - Day 13

Posted on June 01, 2008
Today was the first acceptable (I would even venture to say "good") day. Listened to some Crim Law CDs on the way way to class. Class started at 9 AM and we issue spotted 5 essays. We were given a break from noon to 1 PM and then we wrote 3 full essays on Con [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 14

Posted on June 01, 2008
Slept in late. Started at 11:15 AM with Property. Entered 54 cards in S/M. Took a short break. Then entered 41 Remedies cards in S/M. Calling it a day at 8 PM. Approximate study time: at least 7 Hours. No MBEs or essays today.

CA Bar Prep - Day 11

Posted on May 30, 2008
Listened to K and Crim law on the way to class. Did 24 Crim Law MBEs (58%) and issue spotted two Crim essays in the morning. Wrote one PT in class. Then studied Con Law for the exam on Saturday morning. Total study time including class was probably around 8 to 9 Hours...

CA Bar Prep - Day 12

Posted on May 30, 2008
Slept in till about 830 AM. Took care of some pending tasks — bills, called movers, filled up on gas for the week, got brakes fixed, bought an office chair from Costco, and restored my computer from a backup (the 10.5.3 OSX update had crashed it)...

CA Bar Prep - Day 10

Posted on May 29, 2008
Listened to Contracts lecture on the way to class. (Counting 0.5 hours towards study time). Once there, I spent about an hour before class and did 27 MBEs and issue spotted 2 essays. Spent 3.5 Hours in lecture.  (My MBE score today  (48%) was probably the worst I have done thus far because they were [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 09

Posted on May 28, 2008
Woke up. Went to class — listened to some audio lectures on the way. Got to class early and worked on some MBEs (14 Con Law questions with a score of 58%. Ouch!) Spent some time looking up answers for Torts MBEs. Attended Crim Law class for about 3...

CA Bar Prep - Day 08

Posted on May 27, 2008
Woke up early. Did 24 MBEs (score: 62.5%). Drove to class. Sat in class for 4.5 Hours — took ~30 pages of notes (mostly just to remain alert and learn actively). Came home. Spent 4 good hours learning Criminal Law flash cards (and entering them) for tomorrow...

CA Bar Prep - Day 06

Posted on May 25, 2008
Spent 6 hours in class today. Wrote three essays in class. Issue-spotted another three. Took the rest of the day off to catch up on sleep.

CA Bar Prep - Day 07

Posted on May 25, 2008
Slightly better day today. Still not perfect but getting there. Got about 7 to 8 hours worth of work out of the day. Went through Constitutional Law flash cards (and entered them) for the lecture tomorrow morning. Issue spotted 5 essays. Did 21 MBEs with a score of 81%.

CA Bar Prep - Day 05

Posted on May 24, 2008
Ended up focusing on the Contracts and UCC outline. Wanted to have it all memorized but am not there yet. Still, I have some “pre-writing” down for basic contract issues. Although I studied for the better part of the day, I don’t think I got more than 4 solid hours worth of work...

CA Bar Prep - Day 04

Posted on May 23, 2008
Today (technically yesterday) wasn’t too bad. Woke up @ around 8:30 AM because hadn’t gone to bed until 3:30 AM the night before. No, I was not really studying after 1 AM. The last 2.5 hours were spent waiting for the caffeine in my system to be metabolized...

CA Bar Prep - Day 03

Posted on May 22, 2008
Today (technically yesterday) was a much better day. Still not perfect but much more acceptable than Monday. Woke up at 6 AM and “issue spotted” 5 Torts essays. Drove to Class. Attended class from 11 AM to 3 PM. Then, from 4 PM to 8 PM, I went over the Torts flashcards and the notes I [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 02

Posted on May 21, 2008
Yesterday was a relatively unproductive day. I came home from the 4 hour lecture on Contracts and was somehow too drained to do much else. I almost hate to admit it but I was simply overwhelmed by the amount of material I need to memorize by Saturday (for the exam) and the pace at which [...

CA Bar Prep - Day 01

Posted on May 20, 2008
Today (or "yesterday" to be exact) was the first day of LECC. We covered the 51 Flash Cards for Contracts. Fortunately a friend had reminded me that I needed to read and memorize the cards ahead of time. Tomorrow, we will be covering UCC.

Planning to Plan - Bar Prep Starts in the Morning

Posted on May 18, 2008
My favorite line from Office Space was “Planning to Plan.” Today, I am doing that for my bar prep class which starts tomorrow morning. We’re starting with Contracts so now I have to go and read the outline, memorize the flash cards and “issue spot” contracts questions from past bar exams.

Done with Graduation!

Posted on May 18, 2008
The graduation ceremony was yesterday. Will try and have some pictures posted on flickr soon. Thanks for attending/calling/emailing. I really appreciate it!

Done with Law School!

Posted on May 14, 2008
A few hours ago, I took my last law school final ever. It turned out to be significantly more straightforward and easy than I had imagined it would be. In any case, I am done with law school. Bar prep starts on Monday, May 19th.

One More Exam…

Posted on May 10, 2008
I am one exam away from graduating from law school.

Inching Forward…

Posted on April 23, 2008
Today, I was relatively more productive than yesterday. Some of the highly impressive accomplishments of the day: 1) woke up earlier than usual 2) went for a 3.5 mile walk 3) had my cable (tv) completely disconnected 4) cancelled my online DVD rental subscription 5) listened to a couple of hours of contracts lectures 6) [...

Sample Request for a Personal Reference for the Moral Character Application

Posted on April 19, 2008
In case you need to request someone to be a personal reference for your Moral Character Application, here is what I sent out: Hi <NAME>, As you know, I am in the process of taking the California Bar exam. As part of this process, I have to complete an “Application for Determination of Moral Character” which [...

Studying for the Bar

Posted on April 18, 2008
It has been about two weeks since I stopped working and have been focusing solely on the bar exam. After a few painfully unproductive days, I am happy to report that my concentration/focus and stamina — although not at the level that they need to be — are improving...

“Lastest” Version

Posted on April 05, 2008
Lastest Version Originally uploaded by atharkhan Apparently, my Remote Desktop Client is out of date and I need to download the “Lastest” version.

Life After Work

Posted on April 04, 2008
It’s been a couple of days since I stopped working and I have been doing my best to stay busy and catch up on some of the things that often lose out to higher priorities such as work and school. Relatively non-urgent things like getting a haircut, making an appointment with the doctor (and keeping it!), [...

Can Apple Do No Wrong?

Posted on March 25, 2008
I see so much good press about Apple that it makes me wonder: Can a media outlet be critical of Apple and get away with it? Does Apple cut them off from future events? How can a company do no wrong… ever!? Before I even start writing, I feel compelled to ensure my personal safety by [...

Patent Bar Prep Notes

Posted on March 12, 2008
I have posted some notes that I took while studying for the patent bar in a PDF file. Please feel free to use it but realize that the rules may not be accurate and comprehensive. I didn’t take notes for the first eight chapters of the course because a lot of the material overlapped with [...

It’s Official! I am taking the CA Bar this July

Posted on March 12, 2008
I just received a confirmation of my registration to take the bar exam this July. Yiiikes! The doodle on the right was created in a moment of inspiration (panic) sometime in October 2007. I have no idea why that particular moment was so traumatic as to evoke such an elaborate and artistic response but here [...

Financial Rules of Thumb

Posted on March 09, 2008
I came across some cool math formulas to answer some common questions. Thought I would post them on here: 1) How many years will it take to double my money? Divide the number 72 with your estimated annual rate of return. E.g. if you’re making 7...

Can You Recommend an Efficient Windows Based Music Player?

Posted on March 01, 2008
I love iTunes on my Mac but it is a real resource hog on my Windows system. Before I ever started using iTunes, I used to really like Winamp which was a very efficient (not very resource intensive) music player. I tried an open source Ogg Vorbis player for a while a few years ago as well...

Can you recommend a small digital camera?

Posted on February 22, 2008
I have a great DSLR camera but I seem to take more pictures with my iPhone because it?s always with me. I would like to get a small (as small as possible!) digital camera so I can always keep it with me to take pictures. For a brief moment, I thought about getting the Canon G9 (which is a fantastic DSLR alternative) but it is way too big for my needs...

Does Acupuncture Work?

Posted on February 19, 2008
I’ve been dealing with knee pain for quite some time. A friend at work swears by acupuncture so I decided to try it out. The doctor picked three locations for the “points.” He also aimed a lamp (which I think was just an infrared heat lamp) at my knees...

FolderShare is Down… again.

Posted on February 12, 2008
For the outage notice, click here.

Leopard Update (10.5.2) is Live!

Posted on February 11, 2008
Apple has finally released an update to Leopard. Hopefully, this will fix the issues (especially with Network Volumes) that I have had with Finder up until now.

Picking a Hotel for the Bar Exam

Posted on February 08, 2008
The bar is 5 Months and 21 days away but people are already beginning to reserve their hotel rooms. After some research on google maps (click here), some advice from a friend, and this website, I decided on the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario. The room was about $130/night for Bar Exam Takers...

Testing Wordpress XMLRPC

Posted on February 05, 2008
In case you were wondering why anyone would post those last two entries with pointless pictures, I was simply testing the Wordpress XMLRPC interface that allows blog posts from other applications and websites. Thus far, it’s been flawless with Word 2007, OneNote 2007, and Flickr...

New Laptop Bag

Posted on February 05, 2008
New Laptop Bag Originally uploaded by atharkhan The highlight of my day was that a friend gave me this sleek (and light) laptop bag for my ThinkPad. I am so excited that (unlike my Kensington Laptop Bag) this one has has pockets and extra space...

White Balance Check

Posted on February 05, 2008
White Balance Check Originally uploaded by atharkhan The white balance on my phone camera seemed off. So, here i was trying to compare the white on the top of the magazine with the white in my eyes (as you can see, both are kind of yellow)...

Rebuilding … again!

Posted on February 04, 2008
I had forgotten that Outlook 2007 seems to run better on Vista than on Xp. So barely two days after the last build, I decided to wipe out the computer and build it again. Also, there were two strange leftover portions on the drive — one was 7MB and the other was 4GB...

Spring Cleaning for the Bar.

Posted on February 02, 2008
I know the bar is months away but I figured now was as good a time as any to reformat my computer. So out with Windows (Hasta La) Vista and back to Windows Xp SP2. The laptop seems to run a lot smoother and faster with Xp than it did on Vista but then again, I have a lot less software on here too...

Should I get a new laptop for the bar?

Posted on January 29, 2008
These days, a lot of my friends are asking me whether they should purchase a new laptop specifically to take the bar exam. I think that is a valid question — there are enough stress factors on this exam that worrying about one’s computer probably shouldn’t be one of them...

A New Year

Posted on January 18, 2008
I was in Karachi when the clock struck midnight on December 31st. It had been only 4 days since Benazir Bhutto’s death and the usually overcrowded city of 20 million still looked like a ghost town. When 2008 arrived, it was greeted by the usual celebratory (and completely idiotic) aerial shooting...

Giving up on Leopard and “Upgrading” back to Tiger.

Posted on November 23, 2007
For a company that uses outdated CRT monitors with BSOD screens as their PC icons, and finds endless joy in bashing Vista in every commercial, Apple has released an unbelievably buggy operating system in Leopard. The very first day I used it, Leopard’s Finder Bug caused me to lose about 20 GB of music and school lectures...

Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device

Posted on November 21, 2007
I read about Kindle on Amazon’s homepage. It seemed intriguing enough so I checked out the Kindle Product Page and viewed a few videos. The website states that Kindle is sold out and will be available only on a first-come, first -served basis. I am surprised that it is sold out because the product simply doesn’t make sense to me...

Leopard’s Finder Seems Unstable

Posted on November 18, 2007
A few days ago, Leopard lost about 20% of my data during a move operation from a NAS drive to the local disk. When I searched around, I found that other people had also had problems with Leopard’s Finder. Now, I am noticing that even when dealing with the local disk, if the OS encounters a file which it is unable to handle, it simply hangs...

FolderShare is Dead Again

Posted on November 17, 2007
Another outage notice has been posted at FolderShare.com: Windows Live FolderShare Beta Nov 16, 3:00PM PST Windows Live FolderShare is being taken offline for maintenance. The service will be resumed in the next 48 hours. Thank you for your patience...

Is there a way to retrieve / restore / recover music files from an AppleTV?

Posted on November 16, 2007
In upgrading my iMac from Tiger to Leopard, I somehow deleted a portion of my music. However, my AppleTV has a copy of all my music prior to the upgrade. I am wondering if there is a way to restore the data from the AppleTV. Does anyone have any experience with this? -Athar...

Be “Easy to talk to” with Law360

Posted on November 14, 2007
Another aspect of being “Easy to Do Business With” is to be “Easy to Talk To.” That means being current and knowledgeable on/about the particular area of law you are interested in, a particular industry, your potential customer/employer, etc...

Is FolderShare Dead?

Posted on November 12, 2007
I have been unable to get FolderShare to sync my files over the last couple of days. I don’t see any outage notices on FolderShare.com. Does anyone have any idea what is going on? -Athar.

Be “Easy to Find” by using Emurse.com

Posted on November 09, 2007
The first step in becoming “Easy to do Business with” would be to become “Easy to Find.” In other words, if a potential employer down the street needed someone with your exact qualifications, how would they find you? This is why I would urge every jobseeker to have an online presence and to consider posting their resume (or CV) at www...