Research, travel, procrastination-busting.

Today I learned about a portable word processor that could have made my life so much easier while doing fieldwork, specifically the task of writing up field notes. I spent a lot of time traveling to/from meetings and the miserable battery life of my MacBook meant that I couldn’t use it to capture everything I wanted to write down. This left me scrawling notes on legal pads in horrible handwriting that I later had to decipher and type up. Unbelievably inefficient.

If only I had known about the AlphaSmart Neo and its (still viable) predecessors the AlphaSmart 2000 and AlphaSmart 3000. This device is basically a keyboard with a small monochrome screen, but the Neo runs more than 700 hours on 3 AA batteries and weighs less than 2 pounds. It stores approximately 200 pages of writing.

You can learn more details from this very happy customer.

AlphaSmart has a large following among writers looking for a distraction-free writing tool, and I have to admit I’m tempted to get one not just for taking notes on the road or for writing on international flights, but for being able to write without the Internet looming nearby. This thing has no Internet capability whatsoever. No Solitaire, even.

I have doubts about how well an AlphaSmart would fit into my workflow beyond note-taking - I’d worry about keeping track of and syncing different versions of a paper, for one thing. Plus, the $219 price tag is enough to keep me from buying this on a whim. The older models can be had for $30-40 on eBay, but since these were originally produced for elementary schools I wouldn’t want to risk it.

Anyone have one of these? What do you think?

[I wrote the following on June 6, 2008 but never posted it. Thought it was still worth sharing.]

One of the most popular posts on this blog is something I wrote two summers ago about overcoming procrastination when it comes to writing. My basic advice was to pressure yourself to write by using contingency management, a technique I first encountered in Robert Boice’s Professors as Writers.

I used contingency management for months and have no doubt that it’s an effective method, but I’ve found something better.

The Seinfeld method, which I’ve written about before, has helped me write at least 850 words each day for the last 157 days, ever since I made the resolution on New Year’s.

I feel like I’ve reached that elusive goal I mentioned at the end of the contingency management post: writing has become like brushing my teeth.

How to do it

1. Get a calendar.

2. Mark a red X for every day that you write - a chain of Xs will form.

3. Don’t break the chain.

Epilogue: After I wrote this I kept the chain going another 33 days for a total of 190. What tripped me up? The baby, of course. Let the record show, however, that I did do my writing on the day she was born.

So that was some break from blogging, eh? To all those who kept my RSS feed just in case, thanks for sticking around!

I bowed out from the blog last September with a case of MMS - Merlin Mann Syndrome. It just so happened that as his blog 43folders was going through an identity crisis, I was having similar doubts about keeping my blog alive because I sensed it was becoming a 50/50 mix of baby blog and productivity pr0n.

I was getting a lot of work done back then, partly by limiting how much time I spent surfing online, so the last thing I wanted to do was post links that might encourage others to waste time reading about how to organize their files more efficiently or learning the latest GTD software. Not that I don’t love efficient filing or GTD software.

As MMS set in I just let the blog go, but I never signed off because I thought I’d return to it eventually.

I think I’m writing now in part because I’m going to Berlin this week to present a paper based on research that provided most of the content for this site when I started blogging three years ago. This time it’s just a short trip, but I’ll be revisiting old research sites, old friends, the world’s best falafel, and, just maybe, the eager barber of auspicious strawberries.

Word to your imama.

I’ve been AWOL from the blog because my MacBook was in the shop for almost three weeks, but I just got it back and things are looking good. They replaced the topcase (keyboard/palmrest), the wireless card, AND the screen, so it feels like a brand new machine. Now my pinkies just need to adjust to the shorter “shift” and “return” keys on this redesigned keyboard.

While I’m happy with the service and even happier that I didn’t have to pay anything because the computer was under warranty, I’d think twice about recommending the MacBook. This was the second time I had to have the topcase replaced and I’ve had a slew of other problems. I think my next will be a MacBook Pro.

Meanwhile, I wasn’t computerless these last few weeks. My 8-year-old Powerbook is still going strong and totally saved the day. It was top of the line when I bought it and while I initially cringed at spending so much money, it’s paid off in the long run.

The saying, “I’m not rich enough to buy cheap things,” is starting to make sense.

I am currently about to hurl because NVivo, the qualitative analysis software I’ve started using and one of the premiere apps on the market, is so cumbersome and ugly. Granted, it’s designed for the PC and I have to run it on Windows (that’s explains part of the pain) - but is this really the best there is? A program that costs $595 for a full license and $240 for the (one-year!) student license, but can’t scroll text fluidly or automatically update drop-down boxes?

The only Mac counterpart seems to be the free TAMS Analyzer, which I like and used for a recent paper, but it’s not nearly as powerful and the awkward interface keeps it from being user friendly.

The Omni Group to the rescue?

In my dreams I imagine The Omni Group producing a well-designed, robust qualitative analysis application that is made for the Mac and works as smoothly as OmniFocus or OmniOutliner.

I just asked them to do so on their user forum, but even if they did (uh, right), it’d be a long time before it’s available.

What am I missing about NVivo? I’ve already spent hours with it but it’s still like pulling teeth. Anyone have any tips or plugs for alternatives (e.g., ATLAS.ti)?

My wife, Pinar, has a knack for running into PBS travel program hosts in Istanbul. Last winter it was Rudy Maxa, aka the Savvy Traveler, and today it was Rick Steves, of “Europe Through the Back Door” fame.

Pinar saw Rick and his crew on Istiklal Street and went up to him and said, “You don’t know me, but I know you.” She then told him how his program had been one of our favorites when we were in the States and that, as an American familiar with Turkey, I would be happy to help him out if he needed it.

He thanked her, but when she asked if he wanted my number, he said, “No, I have people helping me.”

As Pinar walked away, Rick told her that our baby is cute.

Unfortunately Pinar couldn’t say the same about Rick. She has worked in TV/film and knows how tired and frustrated people can get while shooting, but she says Rick lost a viewer because he was so cold to her.

Chances are she’ll run into someone from Globetrekker soon and forget all about this.

I just listened to the decision of the Constitutional Court and the AK Party will not be closed down! I think most people in Turkey are going to be shocked…and greatly relieved.

Wow. Deep breaths all around.