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    Initial Impressions on the Kindle Scribe

    I’ve long considered getting a reMarkable 2 but have never pulled the trigger on it.

    Part of the reason was I’ve always been partial to reading Kindle books and taking notes on them, and my iPad Mini does that fine.

    Then Amazon announced the Kindle Scribe. More affordable, initial deal for Prime members and a good trade-in price for my Kindle Oasis and the $500 device got down to $280. So I bought it. Here are my initial impressions:

    • It’s big, but I don’t think too big. And I love the extra space on one side to grip the device.
    • Reading on it is nice. I can crank up the font size without feeling crowded.
    • I love the notebooks feature. I’ve been using it as my primary note taking device this week and it’s been great.
    • The pen is light and super neat. There’s an “eraser” on the other end, and a shortcut button you can configure. I use mine to highlight.
    • Writing on it feels the most paper-like I’ve experienced on a digital device.
    • If there is lag, I don’t notice it.
    • You can directly markup PDFs. So. Good.
    • The battery life is incredible.

    If there’s one shortcoming, is the lack of ability to get my RSS feeds on the device. I’d love to make this my one and only reading device, but it’s tough.

    That’s not really the Kindle’s fault either. Articles written for the web don’t work well on a book medium.

    If you’d like to see a video demo, become a How I Built It Pro member.

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    How I’m Using the iPad Mini

    I have a confession: I love new devices. I probably upgrade too often. And I’m constantly looking for the perfect research companion. I thought it could be the Kindle Oasis, but I don’t reach for that as much as I expect1. Turns out the 11″ iPad Pro has been that for me for a long time. It’s nearly the perfect size.

    But when I first heard rumors about a redesigned iPad Mini, I was giddy. I thought a bigger screen, with Apple Pencil 2 support…it would be perfect!

    I instantly ordered it when it went on sale last month. After spending some time with it, I’m super happy with the purchase. It’s the perfect size for a lot of things. Here’s how I’m using it.

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    5 Insanely Impactful Books That Helped My Business

    I feel like I’m getting this in just under the wire (as in, published in January), but the new year has a lot of folks thinking about their business and how they can improve, or they are thinking about starting a new business. While some of the best business knowledge comes with experience, I feel like there’s more advice out there than ever before. It’s hard to know what’s good and what’s bad.

    With nearly 20 of freelancing under my belt at this point, there’s lots of things I learned the hard way (through experience), and lots of things I learned through books. To help you cut through the cruft, here are 5 of the most impactful books for my business.

  • Books Recap for January 2019

    This year I committed to reading 18 books, and I’m well ahead of schedule at the end of January – I’ve read 3 books and about 870 pages this month. So I don’t forget what I’ve read as we move through the year, I’m going to wrap up each month with a recap of what I’ve read. Here’s January’s.

    Read More “Books Recap for January 2019”

  • My 2018 Summer Reading List

    Well, Memorial Day Weekend is inexplicably here, and so is the unofficial start of Summer here in the states. The weather has been nice and I’ve been spending nights on my poach reading (when the Yankees aren’t on, of-course). I also feel more excited than usual for our annual vacation to the beach. So I’ve decided to publish my 2018 Summer Reading list earlier than usual.

    Read More “My 2018 Summer Reading List”