I'm making some changes to the site, even though I'm sure you would rather have a new episode up.  There will hopefully be a new face up soon, but in the meantime I'm tightening my control over the comments here due to an oh-so-lovely slathering of spam.

If I took down a comment of yours that contained substance, please let me know.

 

- Kevin

I get a lot of questions about where people should look for work.  That's a hard answer to frame because the same position would be a joy to one person, drudgery to another and a sentance of life-without-parole to a third.  You just can't tell what a person will like, or if its available to them at this place and at this time.

And then the hysteria sets in...  The fear from unknown pathways creeps up and seizes people by the throat.  Their pulse quickens.  Their breath becomes shallow.  And their ability to think dissapates while panic wells in the absence of reason.

Yes, I know the fear.  I've felt it and fought against it, sometimes I've succeeded.  The only thing that seems to help is information.  Who here is a little bit of information. 

The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit organization in Washington, DC and they published this report on several areas that the Federal Government will need to expand their hiring in the next few years.  And item number 4 on their list is Legal (as in, jobs where it helps to have a law degree).

According to this report, the Federal Government will have to hire over 23,000 people in Fiscal Years 2010, 2011, and 2012.  That does include more positions then just "Attorney" jobs, but the Social Security Administration alone is looking to hire 7,500 people in legal-related positions.  According to Law Shucks, the bloody carnage of 2009 that sent us all into a tailspin totaled 12,196 people, only 4,633 of which were lawyers (see their year-end report).

Hmm, it looks like the Federal Government alone is going to absorb almost twice the people that BigLaw tossed over the side.  Opportunity?  I think so, and that's just in one category.

The report is a PDF in the feed, please peruse it and share it.

 

On the update front, there has been and will be a lot of work happening behind the curtain.  Some issues cropped up and I'm taking advantage of this chance to upgrade a LOT of items.

 

Please send in your feedback! Leave comments on the website: www.lifeafterlawschool.libsyn.com Send your email to lifeafterlawschool@gmail.com Find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Baelen Submit reviews in iTunes, Podcast Pickle and Spoken Word! Music and sounds courtesy of Digital Juice. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

For Tee and Sonic Boom -

Last week, Natalie Morris left us unexpectedly and far too soon.  She leaves behind her husband, Tee and their daughter, Sonic Boom.

Tee Morris is a highly creative author and podcaster, a devoted father, and a friend.  There is never a good time for a loss such as this, and it sounds so hollow to just say that I am sorry.  It does not seem enough.

Please take a moment to let Tee know that you are thinking about him.  Please donate to the fund for funeral expenses and to start a trust fund for Sonic Boom, or take part in the coming Boom Effect auction.

Remember Natalie - http://remembernatalie.org/

The Boom Effect Auction - http://www.theboomeffect.org/

Sonic Boom's Trust - http://teeandserena.chipin.com/tee-and-sonic-boom

Thank you.

And Captain, we're standing by.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

The Life After Law School Podcast

This is the second in my two-part interview with Thomas Gideon on Hacktivism.  This half focuses much more on the activism side as Thomas discusses how he views his role as a technology activist.

For more on Thomas, check out:

The Command Line Podcast - http://thecommandline.net/
Open Media Review - http://openmediareview.com/

Promos:

Tale Chasing-  http://www.talechasing.com/ (1:00)

Snark Infested Waters - http://thesnarkyavenger.com/ (43:45)

Below are some links from our discussion:

Rhubarb - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walla

Copynight - http://www.copynight.org/

Electronic Frontier Foundation - http://www.eff.org/

Public Knowledge - http://www.publicknowledge.org/

American Library Association - http://www.ala.org/

"Cyberselfish - A Critical Romp through the Terribly Libertarian Culture of High Tech" by Paulina Borsook

"The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder On The Electronic Frontier" by Bruce Sterling

"Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity" by Lawrence Lessig

"100 Years of Big Content fearing technology - in its own words" by Nate Anderson in Ars Technica

Change Congress - http://change-congress.org/

Thank you, Thomas!

Please send in your feedback!
Leave comments on the website: www.lifeafterlawschool.libsyn.com
Send your email to lifeafterlawschool@gmail.com
Find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Baelen

Submit reviews in iTunes, Podcast Pickle and Spoken Word!


Music and sounds courtesy of Digital Juice.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

The Life After Law School Podcast

Thomas was quite gracious in assisting me with some technical issues that I missed in the previous version.  I did not realize how much clipping was left in after the conversion to MP3.

The Notes:

I have the honor of honors to bring you an interview with the self-described curmudgeon, hacker and hacktivist - Thomas "cmdln" Gideon of the Command Line Podcast, where he is producer and host.  He is an incredibly gifted podcaster, mentor and friend.  I asked Thomas to speak about the philosophy, practice and art involved in hacktivism, and its two component pieces: hacking and activism.  This is a wonderful discussion defining and describing all three terms, adding a layer of practical application to everyday life.

This is Part One focusing on the first half of the word hacktivism: hacking.  A lawyer, or soon to be lawyer, can take many fine lessons from Thomas' descriptions of how a hacker will task themself to learn everything they can from a certain system, any system.  I would say that an attorney would be greatly challenged, but equally rewarded, for looking at our legal system and industry through the eyes of a hacker at law.

For more on Thomas, check out:

The Command Line Podcast - http://thecommandline.net/
Open Media Review - http://openmediareview.com/

News:

"Uniform Bar Exam Drawing Closer to Reality" by Leigh Jones in the National Law Journal - http://tinyurl.com/yz58o3d

Promos:

7th Son: Descent - Buy it on October 27, 2009 - http://jchutchins.net/ (3:15)

Into the Blender Podcast - http://www.intotheblender.com/ (46:45)

Below are some links providing background information for you from our discussion:

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy
Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution by Glyn Moody
The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier by Bruce Sterling
The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain
Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace , Version 2.0 by Lawrence Lessig

Richard Stallman - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_stallman
Free Software Foundation - http://fsf.org
Jamie Zawinski (JWZ) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jwz
John Resig - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Resig
Brendan Eich - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Eich
John Draper - Captain Crunch - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper

HacDC - http://hacdc.org/
3D Printing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3d_printing
BarCamp - http://www.barcamp.org/
BarCamp Wiki article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp
Privacy Camp - http://barcamp.org/PrivacyCampDC
Congress Camp - http://congresscamp.org/
Gov 2.0 Camp - http://barcamp.org/Government20Camp
Makerspaces - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makerspaces
Electronic Frontier Foundation - http://www.eff.org/
EFF Wiki article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation
The Streisand Effect - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striesand_effect
PACER - http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/
RECAP - https://www.recapthelaw.org/

Once again, I apologize for sounding like a farm mouse lost in a tin can.  In the future, I might go back and re-record and re-engineer part of that interview.  For now, the overall context of the interview is intact and Thomas sounds great.

Part Two discussing activism will drop shortly.

Remember that 7th Son: Descent is coming out in print on October 27, 2009.  This is one of, if not the, most explosive podcast novels to ever hit your ears.  Now, it's ready for its hardcover debut!

Thank you, Thomas!

Please send in your feedback!
Leave comments on the website: www.lifeafterlawschool.libsyn.com
Send your email to lifeafterlawschool@gmail.com
Find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Baelen

Submit reviews in iTunes, Podcast Pickle and Spoken Word!


Music and sounds courtesy of Digital Juice.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

The Life After Law School Podcast

No new audio for the moment, as I'm working through technical issues before releasing Part II of my interview with Thomas "cmdln" Gideon.

I am dropping into the feed the recent report from the U.S. Goverment Accountability Office (GAO) released on October 26, 2009, discussing the cost and access to law schools.  This is just the report itself and I will likely look at it more closely in a future episode.  The report is GA0-09-941 and you can find more information on the GAO and this report at their website http://www.gao.gov/ .

I'm going to work on the technical issues in the meantime.

Happy Halloween and we'll see you next time!

-Kevin

The Life After Law School Podcast

I have the honor of honors to bring you an interview with the self-described curmudgeon, hacker and hacktivist - Thomas "cmdln" Gideon of the Command Line Podcast, where he is producer and host.  He is an incredibly gifted podcaster, mentor and friend.  I asked Thomas to speak about the philosophy, practice and art involved in hacktivism, and its two component pieces: hacking and activism.  This is a wonderful discussion defining and describing all three terms, adding a layer of practical application to everyday life.

This is Part One focusing on the first half of the word hacktivism: hacking.  A lawyer, or soon to be lawyer, can take many fine lessons from Thomas' descriptions of how a hacker will task themself to learn everything they can from a certain system, any system.  I would say that an attorney would be greatly challenged, but equally rewarded, for looking at our legal system and industry through the eyes of a hacker at law.

For more on Thomas, check out:

The Command Line Podcast - http://thecommandline.net/
Open Media Review - http://openmediareview.com/

News:

"Uniform Bar Exam Drawing Closer to Reality" by Leigh Jones in the National Law Journal - http://tinyurl.com/yz58o3d

Promos:

7th Son: Descent - Buy it on October 27, 2009 - http://jchutchins.net/ (3:15)

Into the Blender Podcast - http://www.intotheblender.com/ (46:45)

Below are some links providing background information for you from our discussion:

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy
Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution by Glyn Moody
The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier by Bruce Sterling
The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain
Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace , Version 2.0 by Lawrence Lessig

Richard Stallman - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_stallman
Free Software Foundation - http://fsf.org
Jamie Zawinski (JWZ) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jwz
John Resig - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Resig
Brendan Eich - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Eich
John Draper - Captain Crunch - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper

HacDC - http://hacdc.org/
3D Printing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3d_printing
BarCamp - http://www.barcamp.org/
BarCamp Wiki article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp
Privacy Camp - http://barcamp.org/PrivacyCampDC
Congress Camp - http://congresscamp.org/
Gov 2.0 Camp - http://barcamp.org/Government20Camp
Makerspaces - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makerspaces
Electronic Frontier Foundation - http://www.eff.org/
EFF Wiki article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation
The Streisand Effect - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striesand_effect
PACER - http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/
RECAP - https://www.recapthelaw.org/

Once again, I apologize for sounding like a farm mouse lost in a tin can.  In the future, I might go back and re-record and re-engineer part of that interview.  For now, the overall context of the interview is intact and Thomas sounds great.

Part Two discussing activism will drop shortly.

Remember that 7th Son: Descent is coming out in print on October 27, 2009.  This is one of, if not the, most explosive podcast novels to ever hit your ears.  Now, it's ready for its hardcover debut!

Thank you, Thomas!

Please send in your feedback!
Leave comments on the website: www.lifeafterlawschool.libsyn.com
Send your email to lifeafterlawschool@gmail.com
Find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Baelen

Submit reviews in iTunes, Podcast Pickle and Spoken Word!


Music and sounds courtesy of Digital Juice.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

The Life After Law School Podcast

This episode features hints and tips for 1L's that Kevin learned from mistakes he made, and other things he saw, while going through law school.  There is no handy-dandy list here because a) there is a lazy show notes mood going around, and b) you are supposed to use your ears with a podcast.

I do have to apologize for the sound quality on this one, I tried out a new recording set up but I was not able to filter everything out.  You will hear some bugs, my neighbors and a train.  Amazing what some people will do to get on this show...

Just doing a fast run through of the news, mentioning the big news of the day use yourself the Google for more details.

Promos:

The Adventures of Indiana Jim - http://podcast.indianajim.net/

FETIDUS - http://www.fetidus.org/

And a big thank you to Chooch and Viv of the Into the Blender and City of Heroes podcasts.

And finally, a very long rant against the idea - or possibly just the execution of this idea - of the ABA's new Legal Rebels project.


Please send in your feedback!
Leave comments on the website: www.lifeafterlawschool.libsyn.com
Send your email to lifeafterlawschool@gmail.com
Find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Baelen

Submit reviews in iTunes, Podcast Pickle and Spoken Word!


Music and sounds courtesy of Digital Juice.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

The Life After Law School Podcast

Kevin has some comments about what is NOT being said about the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.  Will partisan politics shape the future Court into a body of individuals who are heavily academic and sheltered from the effects on daily life when they rule on issues of the day?

News bits:

"Finding Debt a Bigger Hurdle Than Bar Exam" - Jonathan D. Glator in the New York Times - http://tinyurl.com/lz3x9u

Good luck to the July Bar Exam test takers!

Promos:

Heaven Part V: War - Mur Lafferty - http://www.heavennovel.com

Crescent - Phil Rossi - http://www.crescentstation.net/


Other Links:

Happy Fourth Anniversary to The Command Line Podcast!!

Check out James Durham's Great Evil Laugh Contest at FETIDUS.


Please send in your feedback!
Leave comments on the website: www.lifeafterlawschool.libsyn.com
Send your email to lifeafterlawschool@gmail.com
Find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Baelen

Submit reviews in iTunes, Podcast Pickle and Spoken Word!


Music and sounds courtesy of Digital Juice.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

The Life After Law School Podcast

Sorry, but no original content from me today.  Instead I'm bringing you something another podcast that my listeners will recognize.  My friend, Thomas Gideon, produces The Command Line Podcast which discusses the intersection of society and technology.  At Balticon 43 over this past Memorial Day weekend, he set up, moderated, and recorded a panel of content creators to discuss how technology is changing the way content is delivered and consumed.  This was an incredibly interesting panel to attend and I want you to absorb the discussion and then apply those same questions about content delivery to the legal industry.

I've made no edits as the file is almost an hour long as it is.

Enjoy!

The Command Line - TCLP 2009-05-27 Balticon 43: Peer Media v. Broadcast Media

This is a feature cast.

In the intro a heart felt thank you to my good friend, Chris Miller, for his support and advice without which my recent experience at Balticon would not have been anywhere near as phenomenal.

There is no listener feedback this week.  There is also no hacker word of the week due to the length of the feature.

The feature this week is the recording of the Peer Media vs. Broadcast Media panel at Balticon 43.  I was joined by Earl Newton, Dave Slusher and Patrick McLean all of whom I owe a debt of gratitude for this great discussion.  For clarification, the book Patrick mentions is “Against Intellectual Monopoly” by Michele Boldrin and David Levine.  Patrick also sent me a link to an interview with Boldrin which led me to the web site, Against Monopoly, which furthers the discussion with contributions from several other scholars.

The Command Line Podcast - http://thecommandline.net

You can email Cmdln at feedback [at] thecommandline [dot] net.


The Life After Law School Podcast
Please send in your feedback!
Leave comments on the website: www.lifeafterlawschool.libsyn.com
Send your email to lifeafterlawschool@gmail.com
Submit reviews in iTunes and Podcast Pickle!


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.