Being able to condense entire music libraries and photo albums is pretty commonplace now.  But until recently, with advances in tablet computing, being able to condense an entire library of actual books into a handheld device that still offered the same reading experience was quite hard.  I have tried out several different e-readers including the iPad and NookColor, but recently decided to purchase an Amazon Kindle, which I have been immensely satisfied with.

My biggest complaint with the other e-readers I have used (the iPad in particular) was the amount of screen glare that could occur in a well-lit room or outdoors.  When outside an iPad’s screen is practically invisible, be it in a game, internet browser, or reading app.  The Kindle uses what Amazon calls “e-ink” to accurately reproduce the look of ink-on-paper print.  I actually believe that e-ink is in many ways superior to traditional printing.  Often times, especially with mass market paperbacks, the print quality is not the greatest and can impede readability of the book.  This has never been a problem while using my Kindle, no matter which book I am reading.

Another big draw of the Kindle is its incredibly long battery life.  Amazon boasts up to two months of battery life, but my experience is that the e-reader can actually be used for up to 3 or 4 months.

One of my hobbies, which I have just recently begun to practice, is judo.  Most people may be familiar with judo in its Olympic form or heard the name in some campy martial arts flick, but these mainstream representations tend to play down, or completely disregard the nonphysical aspects of judo.  Judo, and all of budo training, is about much more than self defense and throwing people around.  I feel that these principles (the nonphysical, not the throwing people around) can be applied in any aspect of life, particularly the workplace.  One of the fundamental beliefs of judo is that maximum effect should be achieved with minimum effort.  In the actual practice of the martial art this is represented by completing techniques that use your attackers momentum, balance, and strength against him or her, while expending very little of your own.  This probably does not sound very foreign to any financial manager or business owner.  Obviously, it is best to get the most out of a limited supply of resources.

Another facet of judo training, however, may not be so easily accepted by Western workers.  My training in judo has taught me that if you allow yourself to be affected by the products of your work, both successes and failures, you will impede your growth in that field.  Allowing a failure to come across as a personal attack, or using a success to inflate your ego, will only make you feel progressively more uncomfortable with where you are in your field.