Every now and then I run across a great web service. SaneBox is such a one—and it is well named. It works. It may help you recover your sanity. It knows the difference between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

One look at an email can rob you of 15 minutes of focus. One call on your cell phone, one tweet, one instant message can destroy your schedule, forcing you to move meetings, or blow off really important things, like love, and friendship.

Jacqueline Leo

Email is familiar. It's comfortable. It's easy to use. But it might just be the biggest killer of time and productivity in the office today.

Ryan Holmes

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I have every reason to love e-mail because it was only through email that I learned I really could write—and had a significant following. Traditional publishers have a tendency not to tell you this stuff. They don’t like their authors to get cocky. In fact, I’m far from sure the five large corporate publishers, who dominate traditional publishing today, like authors—period.

That said, I’m not sure I made the wisest decision when I decided to reply to each fan e-mail personally. Somehow, it felt like the right thing to do—but I stopped counting at 7,000… Add in follow-up e-mails and we are into quantities that ate seriously into my writing time. Still, I love having direct contact with my readers—and I have made some wonderful friends as a consequence.

I have very classy readers.

The bad aspects of e-mail are:

• It is a time sink.
• It breaks focus.
• It’s relentless.
• A great deal of it is badly written.
• Far too much of it is junk.

The best tool I have found for getting e-mail under control is sane.box  it’s an absolutely terrific service. Thank you.

To my readers—once again, thank you as well. Keep writing—and I’ll do the same.

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July 25 2014: I read a piece by Kirk Douglas about Elaine Stritch in the Huff Post today—and was just plain delighted. The man is indomitable! And is an under-appreciated actor. He was also very much part of my youth. If Kirk Douglas was in a movie, I would go and see it—and I was never disappointed, though sometimes surprised. The man could be exceptional in a role. He also seems to be exceptional in his own right, in his character. He enriches the human condition.

Douglas had a high opinion of actors, movies, and moviemaking, stating: "To me it is the most important art form—it is an art, and it includes all the elements of the modern age." He also stressed the entertainment value of films, noting "You can make a statement, you can say something, but it must be entertaining."^[19]

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I’m not really celebrity driven—or a believer in that culture. I met too many celebs when I was young to regard them as anything other than people—and not necessarily good role models at that.

I have also been in a number of movies as an extra—where I noticed a great deal. The job is not quite akin to watching paint dry—but it is close. A great many  people in that business are far from admirable—and I’m being polite.

Nonetheless, I have huge respect for some of the movie stars of my youth because—along with books—they let me escape from a difficult upbringing, and a number that I met were singularly impressive in their own right as people. For instance, you would be pressed hard to find two more genuinely charming people than Gregory Peck (met in France) or Alec Guinness (met in Ireland). As for Shirley McClaine (met at a neighbor’s house)—and not a favorite movie star of mine—when met in person, in a little black dress and without makeup—she was delightful.

Have I ever met anyone with quite the same vitality as Kirk Douglas at his age? Yes, I have. He was the inventor—and my friend—Robert  Fulton, whom I saw chatting up and charming two attractive women in his mid-nineties. It was at a party.

Would that I was kidding! I was damn nearly jealous. I lie. I was jealous. I was also lost in admiration. Bob was the real thing—and he had style.

I wish the Douglas family nothing but good—and I greatly miss Bob Fulton. He has left behind a great family.

This photo is pretty much how Bob Fulton looked when I knew him. He was over 90 but moved like a fit 70 year old. The man was intelligent, vigorous, humorous,and delightful. And he was so damn interesting.

I was also deeply attached to his wife, Anne—a truly beautiful woman with a tragic past. Great cook and great sense of humor. Stayed with me in Ireland.

We had some good times together. She died too young—for reasons I will write about some other time—to my great distress. What she had feared had happened. Her son, who had tried to emulate Bob’s epic travels—had been killed just as she had feared.

I died a little inside when I heard. She had dreaded the outcome. Why the motorcycle? Let me throw Bob’s life at you. It was remarkable. But he set the bar high—without really being aware of it.

Birth:
Apr. 15, 1909
Manhattan
New York County (Manhattan)
New York, USA

Death:
May 7, 2004
Newtown
Fairfield County
Connecticut, USA

Inventor, Adventurer, Author. He developed his taste for adventure as a child, after his family took him on early commercial flights to Florida and Cuba, and a 1923 trip to Egypt following the opening of King Tut's tomb. He attended Harvard in 1931 and received a master's degree in architecture from the University of Vienna. Then, in July of 1932, he headed east from London riding a twin-cylinder Douglas motorcycle on a 40,000 mile trip around the world, finishing up in New York in December of 1933. He wrote a book about the adventure, "One Man Caravan", which was published in 1937. In 1939 he invented the Gunairstructor, an aircraft gunnery simulator used by the U.S. Navy to aid in the training of World War II pilots. Fulton taught himself to fly and traveled around the world working with the military. He frequently had trouble finding ground transportation to and from airports, so he began work inventing the Airphibian (a flying car) in 1945, which made its first successful flight in 1947. The Airphibian could be converted from airplane to car in less than five minutes by removing the wings and propeller. In 1950 it became the first flying car to be certified by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The Airphibian never succeeded commercially, but there is one on display at the Smithsonian Institute. During the 1950s he began work on the Skyhook aerial rescue system. It was used to quickly lift people from the ground and into a passing airplane. The person on the ground would put on a suit and release a 500-foot nylon line attached to a helium filled balloon. The rescue plane would catch the line with a special hook, quickly pulling the person aboard. The system was used extensively to rescue downed pilots. He had more than 70 patents before his death at the age of 95. (bio by:GravRidr)

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July 24 2014: Where do you put an idea?

“Ideas shape the course of history.”

John Maynard Keynes

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

John Steinbeck

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Steinbeck is right. There is more to ideas than just having them. You have to learn how to handle them—and there is more to that than you might think. Personally, I seem to let fiction book ideas mature for a considerable time—typically years, sometimes decades.

My personal mantra is—and has been for some time: Where do you put an idea (and recall enough to find it again)—and how do you fit them together to develop both them, and even more ideas Or do they fit themselves together as Steinbeck suggests?

Sex seems to get into everything. I have sever really thought of the creative process as explicitly sexual before—but that may explain its appeal.

Funnily enough, I have rarely worried about having ideas—except where my own interests are involved (I have become like my much loved grandmother in more than a few ways)—but I worry greatly about how to retain, nurture and organize ideas (and supporting data). I have—as they say—an eclectic memory, and a mind that takes great effort to keep even remotely organized.

I need whips and chains, I tell you! The thing is out of control!

Thanks to

• My Blog
• Books
• Fast Computer
• The Internet
• Chrome Browser
• Readability (software that strips ads etc. away)
• Evernote Clipper (which allows me to clip from websites)
• Evernote (where I store free text data)
• Insightly (where I keep contact details, to do list, and much else)
• Whizfolders (where I organize priorities but am slowly replacing with Insightly).
• Brother Laser Printer. (I print to remind myself. I feel vaguely guilty about it—it’s wasteful—but it works).
• Physical Filing System (I keep most stuff electronically but find paper useful for more important subjects. I like the idea of weaning myself off it, but doubt I ever will).
• Dymo Labelwriter. (Just about the only things I haven’t labeled are my label printers).
• Brother p-touch Labeler (It prints long labels suitable for ring-binder spines).
• Ring-Binders. (Ring-binders transformed the way I worked at school, and I have had a love affair with them ever since).
• Indexes (They make me feel less disorganized)
• Backup Book (A small ring-binder where I keep key addresses in case an electro-magnetic pulse—as in the case of nuclear war, for instance—zaps all my electronics. Of course, in the case of nuclear war, addresses my be irrelevant).

I seem to be developing some answers. Given that most people seem to be able to organize their lives around a Smartphone, it seems a ridiculous amount of work and infrastructure—but I guess I'm doing a bit more than tracking personal contacts and keeping a to-do list.

I have asked myself many times whether all this effort is worth it. It’s really an academic question since I’m unlikely to change (unless circumstances make me). However, I think, on balance, it is worth it.

1. Ongoing research informs everything I write—and makes it easier to write, especially when combined with blogging. I just have a great deal more data to call upon, and the fact that I update it daily helps to keep it fresh. The required reading, in itself, forces me to think.
2. The discipline helps to bring some order to my messy dyslexic mind. Apparently a messy mind is a good thing creatively in many ways because it promotes the ability to make connections which are less than obvious. However, it’s hard to get stuff done if you exist in a state of mental chaos, so I try and impose some order. To that end, I carry out my research in a fairly structured way—and tend to research by theme (while still keeping an eye open for the unexpected). Realistically, I research by themes and subthemes—but try not to get too granular. What might a theme be? Well, where military matters are concerned it might be MANEUVER WARFARE—where the economy is the issue it could be CAPITALISM. If the theme of KNITTING comes up, I filter it out. That said, I did feature a death by knitting-needle in GAMES OF THE HANGMAN (and researched the matter).

The missing link is, of course, a journal. Given that I seem to be able to blog every day, you would think I would manage a brief journal. Somehow, despite numerous attempts, it has always eluded me (subject to a couple of years).

Time for another try. A journal should be fundamental for a writer.

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On Kickstarter—the impressively stable Quadcopter Hoverbike—one of the most original aviation developments I have seen in a long time (from Malloy Aeronautics). Singularly exciting and worth supporting!

Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.

— Socrates

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Best you head to Kickstarter to see the video of the drone flying. Two things struck me about it:

• It’s a counterintuitive design unlike anything I have ever seen before in that field.
• In a sector—rotary aviation—where vibration is notorious for being a problem (which means a helicopter, essentially, is trying to shake itself apart), it seems remarkably stable and is even showing delivering a glass of orange juice without a drop being spilled.

Extraordinary! These guys seem to be on to something which could be very big indeed.

July 23 2014: Do you finish books? Should you finish books?

Finishing a good book is like leaving a good friend.

William Feather

Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.

Truman Capote

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There is a great deal more to reading than one might think—and if ever I get reincarnated in a suitable form (you might be re-born as an octopus or an ant—reincarnation is a little random) I’d like to study the subject.

It seems to me we know far too little about cognition in general—and reading in particular. Being able to pronounce the words and understand their meanings—both individually and collectively—is only the beginning. Comprehension is a huge issue—which brings up the whole question of context, which leads to each individual’s life experience to date.

Awesome stuff! It leads to the conclusion each person’s reading experience is unique—and unique each time at that.

Do we think of reading like that? I’m far from sure that we do. And what is its significance?

When the object is to learn from a book—whether it be a text book or otherwise—I was taught to read the thing three times (for familiarization, comprehension, and memorization) and I have always found it a remarkably effective practice.

I still don’t get enough out of books as I would like—and am now reading fewer non-fiction books, but much more thoroughly.  

I was also taught to finish books—and, generally speaking, I do. Whether this is a good practice or not, I cannot say. All I know is that it suits me and since I am a fast reader, relatively effortless. That said, evidently many people don’t believe in it.

Think how much time they save!

Think how many good books they misjudge.

Am I wondering how many people finish my books? I guess I am—but I don’t think I’ll go there today. Fretting about it is going to accomplish precisely nothing.

Where it comes it to finishing books an article in the Wall Street Journal listed the following. The percentage equates to the number of people who supposedly have finished the book. :

• "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt : 98.5%
• "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins : 43.4%
• "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald: 28.3%
• Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James: 25.9%
• "Flash Boys" by Michael Lewis : 21.7%
• "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg : 12.3%
• "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman : 6.8%
• "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking: 6.6%
• "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" by Thomas Piketty : 2.4%
  

The above is derived from Amazon using a methodology that is supposed to be indicative rather than scientific. Do I believe it? Frankly, I find it hard to do so. If true, it is frightening.

Are we that intellectually lazy?

Now that is something I would really like to know.

I still plan to read Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century—and Fifty Shades of Grey. Regarding the first, economics fascinates me—and I hold Piketty in high regard. Regarding the second, any book which so touches a nerve with women has to be worth reading.

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July 22 2014: The Duke of Wellington’s righteous obsession: The other side of the hill. Enter a whole new way of seeing what is there.

All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavor to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called 'guessing what was at the other side of the hill.'

Duke of Wellington

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The Israeli Sky Sapience Hovermast 100 makes so much sense you would have to wonder why no one thought of it before. Actually they did via fixed extendable masts from vehicles—or if you go back much earlier—from balloons. And soldiers have been climbing trees, or otherwise been after the high ground, as long as we have been bashing each other’s brains out—and aerial reconnaissance has been around for some time for the obvious reason that the higher you are, the more you can see.

However, the Hovermast is in a league of its own. It is simple, fast, and relatively inexpensive. Let me quote from defense-update.com

The Hovermast 100 tethered observation system developed by the Israeli company Sky Sapience has completed development in 2013 and already entered operational service with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Sky Sapience has recently demonstrated the naval applications of its new Hovermast 100, during a demonstration for a foreign customer the system was deployed at sea, demonstrating effective border control, observation and surveillance missions in both land and maritime environments.

Hovermast operates as a fully autonomous system, using a combination of two counter-rotating rotors and four stabilizing rotors managing lift, attitude, height and orientation. The system can operate from vehicles, vessels on the move or fixed positions. Self contained in a compact container weighing about 300 kg, the system can be installed on standard tactical vehicles, pick-up trucks, armored vehicles, as well as unmanned ground or naval platforms or small vessels. Powered through the tether, the Hovermast 100 can carry a payload weighing six kilograms (13.2 pounds).

The platform can be lifted within seconds to an altitude of 50 meters (164 ft) above ground providing 360⁰ over-the-hill vision, it is ideal for surveillance and observation missions. It can operate at relatively high wind velocity of up to 25 knots. Unlike mast mounted payloads that must be flushed to vertical position, the tethered sensor can also deploy form a slope of up to 20 degrees. In addition to transferring power the tether is also conducting wide-band data transfer from the payload to the ground, eliminating electromagnetic emissions that could be monitored or jammed. The system has already been supplied to the IDF and selected by several international customers.

The standard payload selected for the Hovermast 100 is the T-STAMP from Controp, at a weight of only 2.8 kg, this stabilized payload comprises either a cooled 3-5 micron IR Camera with x 6 optical zoom Lens or an uncooled 8-12 micron Camera with x4 optical zoom. In addition, T-STAMP carries a CCD Day TV Camera with x 10 optical Zoom and a laser pointer. The platform can also be configured to carry additional payloads, including radars, lasers designators, hyprospectral sensors, communications relays, SIGINT and cellular antennas. The system is made of advanced composite materials, is impermeable to water and dust, and operates in adverse weather conditions.

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July 2014: If trying to explain reading and writing to those who don’t is near impossible—trying to justify blogging is harder by an order of magnitude—even to myself. My solution is not to justify—merely to do.

My blogging life is basically goalless. I like the zen nature of that, and paradoxically, it improves results.

Seth Godin

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I have previously written a rationalization for this blog which was correct—as far as it went—but probably not adequate. At the time, I didn’t deliberately leave anything out. It is more that I have had further thoughts since then (My subconscious, it appears, is ever busy—which concerns me somewhat. A subconscious, I gather, has no values. It is innately amoral)).

My greatest realization is that the process of writing this blog is beneficial—out of all proportion to the time and effort involved—in ways that I’m far from sure I understand myself. But I will say that it is a quite invaluable mental stimulus—and a veritable tonic for the spirit.

At the heart of all this is the discipline involved. It is no minor thing to write roughly (it varies) 800 words every day—close to 300,000 a year—indefinitely, on a wide variety of subjects, for no financial reward. And it is hard work which I hated at first. Note the latter. I used to feel the same about re-writing.

But the process is its own reward. It may seen senseless in purely practical terms—if one thinks in a financial sense—but I would like to think that we do a great deal in this life for reasons other than financial.

Blogging for me has now become a journey of the spirit—and an exploration at that—and a series of adventures. Ironically, this is exactly the kind of world I craved when I escaped from my hated boarding schools, all those decades ago, into a world of books.

But blogging is very far from mere escapism. It’s an active, creative, dynamic process which reminds me every day that my purpose in life is to write.

Is a sense of purpose important? As far as I am concerned, it is fundamental.

Will it ever yield useful results?

It already is—and I have no doubt at all, but that it will yield a great deal more in the future—even if I have no idea what they will be.

What I can say is that this blog will soon be linked with a new website which will contain the factual information about my books—and much else besides—which I know is what my readers crave.

This journey is taking longer than it should—life has a habit of being unpredictable—but things are moving at last.

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