“Echo lets you put pen to pad to draw on your computer (Mac or PC) via USB port, records audio, and can even sync that audio with your note-taking. The 60-plus selection of Livescribe apps range from the American Heritage Desk Dictionary to a poker game, and a new feature called Launch Line lets you launch an app by underlining an associated word and tapping the line. You can also create custom notebooks, just as you would an iTunes playlist.”

and the really good stuff…

“Livescribe also announced a few enhancements coming this fall, including Connect—software that lets you send notes and audio from your smartpen to email addresses, websites, and other applications—Paper Tablet collaboration software, and Pencast Player, which lets you access your pencasts on iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.”

Here’s a quick ad/demo if you’ve never seen Livescribe products in action.

The Echo smartpen from Livescribe

Read the full article and press release here.

The fact that I decided not to take the bar exam after obtaining my J.D. should be evidence enough that anyone who is serious about becoming a lawyer should not be spending their few spare hours each week managing an online resource for Mac-using law students. But I also feel strongly that the person who runs the site should be someone involved in the law school experience, someone who is close to the subject matter.

Enter Dennis Bishop. From the early days of MLS, Dennis has been an excellent source of information, and a leader in getting the word out about the benefits of Macs in law school. Even better, Dennis has a day job that keeps him in touch with law school technology; he’s the the Director of Information & Technology at the University of Oregon School of Law.

After several discussions, Dennis and I agreed that he would be the right person to take over MLS. This is a personal project for him, and Mac Law Students still remains unaffiliated with any law school or other entity, legal, illegal, past, present, or future. Dennis will be running MLS for fun. He even refused to take the six-figure salary I offered him.

I will continue to own the domain and pay for the hosting of MLS, and Dennis will run the rest of the show. I’m excited to see what he does with the site, and I hope you will give him your support as he takes the ball and runs with it.

The Oyez Project is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality ‘tour’ of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.

Listen to memorable one-liners from Scalia in Lawrence and Garner v. Texas or Blackmun in DeShaney v. Winnebago County. It’s a great way to have a little fun with Conlaw and break up the monotony of reading a 2,500-page casebook.

SCOTUSblog is another great site. It is updated almost daily with commentary on upcoming oral arguments, a summary of the day’s arguments, and almost anything else you want to know about the state of The Court. It is brought to you by the good folks at Akin Gump.

Finally, for those of you with a competitive fantasy football itch that needs to be satisfied, check out FantasySCOTUS – It’s the premier place for “big Supreme Court nerd(s)” to hang out.

• A setup that’s in some way portable (either a laptop or a desktop/slave laptop configuration) for class, library, trips, etc.
• A base station setup (probably based off of the same machine) that I can use to make big projects (papers, etc.) easier
• Peripherals that aren’t outrageously expensive (or can be acquired cheaply – hello eBay) but are outrageously helpful.

What I currently have:

• Hard Drive Space–1TB+ of available space
• A cheap wired optical mouse
• An old Airport Express that doesn’t seem to want to work very well
• An old Netgear router (which I plugged in this morning), which seems to work better.
• A laptop bag/briefcase which I’ll probably continue to use
• An old HP Deskjet printer
• A pair of Harmon Kardon sound sticks (the old ones with the USB interface that makes AirTunes impossible)
• Mozy

What my dream system will need:

• A Computer (duh – currently working off of a borrowed one after the old Pbook G4 kicked the proverbial bucket)
• Keyboard (for home use)
• Monitor (one? two?) For home use
• Cheap laser printer?
• Some sort of PDA thing, preferably an iPod touch (which I’m really hoping will come with the new computer), which won’t require subscription fees so long as I can get wireless for me to get my e-mail ‘n’ stuff when I’m away from my desk.
• A document scanner. I’ve never had one of these before, but if I can’t finally go paperless, I’m gonna drown. Expensive? Yes. Worth every penny if I can keep to the system? Definitely.
• Some sort of wireless solution that will make it all come together (computer, printer, HD, iPod, etc.)
• I’m probably gonna have to get Office ’08 (although I’ve heard terrible things), and I’m thinking about Windows (Boot Camp). And everyone around here seems to love Omniwhatever, and perhaps even Bento or equivalent as well. And that RSS reader thing that everyone loves so much more than Google Reader.

How much of this I actually get is clearly up in the air. Right now, I’m leaning toward a MacBook, but I’m also waiting with bated breath for the Apple announcement in June (netbook? discounts? media tablet? Bring ‘em all on!). Time will tell, but I’m counting the days until WWDC. And yet, I think that I’m forgetting something. What, I have no clue. . .

Hopefully it’s helpful.

- Carnell

QS Screencast