Dumpling in a Hanky

Scheduled to come into force on 2nd July , the new regulations for the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 will move Scottish law firms one step closer to the ABS model currently in place in England and Wales . From 2 July 2012, the Scottish Government will be able to begin accepting applications from those bodies wishing to become approved regulators, presumably the Law Society and other legal professional bodies. Legislation referred to in the Scottish Government press release is linked to below: Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 (Ancillary Provision) Regulations 2012  (draft) Licensed Legal Services (Specification of Regulated Professions) (Scotland) Regulations 2012   (draft) Licensed Legal Services (Complaints and Compensation Arrangements) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/153)  Licensed Legal Services (Interests in Licensed Providers) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (SSI 2012/154)  Licensed Legal Services (Maximum Penalty and Interest in respect ...

I had a few minutes of fun today checking my reading speed on this site . Probably a not very accurate test, but it does check your understanding of the text you've just read, by questioning you on aspects of it at the end of your reading time. I got 100% accuracy each time I tried it, and a very fast reading speed each time. I wanted to average out my speed, but there were only 3 sample texts, and repeating them wouldn't be very accurate, so I had to settle for the average of the 3 texts: 754 words per minute.That seems to put me above "college professors", and below "high-scoring college students" (ok - that seems slightly back-to-front, but hey-ho!) on their scale.  Now, although I'm actually generally a very fast reader anyway, I think that years of doing legal research has actually trained me to be a more accurate skim reader. I may not necessarily understand the details of what I get asked to research (I'm not a lawyer, so the esoteric point...

People searching for a pirate treasure map seem to be one of the most frequent hits on my blog. Now, I'm not entirely sure what amoral baddies that steal goods from others have to do with a blog about lawyers and the law but...oh. Right. Anyway, I thought I'd oblige, and share a pirate treasure map that I made on here. It's got a sea monster, octopus, whirlpool, pirate ship, mountains, a volcano, and all sorts of terrain on the island. It also has an X marking the spot...can you find it?

This is the post of oddments, strange bits, and things that I accidentally missed from the other posts, and expands slightly beyond "books" into "books and library 'hings". I think it's best that I don't even try to explain some of these.... Kusudama flowers are pretty, easy to make, and look kinda funky when made from old book pages: shop They're also nice in a bunch: shop And as roses too: shop Books can have all sorts of covers, as these show: shop shop shop shop Make sure the books stay on the shelf with a bit of punctuation geekery: shop You could carry your books about in a bag...with a picture of books on it: shop Make sure you never lose your place again, with some unusual bookmarks: shop shop shop Some more necklaces here: shop shop Badges are also a good wearable way of showing your book love: shop shop shop If you need to get yourself or...

You won't want to draw the line at just showing book bits around your home, do you? You want images and art for your walls, and cards to send to all and sundry, featuring books and book quotes in all their formats? So feast your eyes on these! shop shop shop shop shop shop This is a popular quote...and tea seems to feature in book prints quite frequently! shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop shop

As a true book lover, you'll be keen to decorate your home with things made from bits-o'-books, and book related items, won't you? To begin with, you can welcome people in to your home with a nice decorative wreath on your door: shop Once you're inside, you'll be looking for a nice way to store the books that you want to keep to read. This is an unusual take on the traditional way of keeping books on shelves... shop However, if you stick with a traditional bookcase style, you'll need some bookends...how about keeping things in place with a slice of the outside world, and its strata? shop But you don't want time to run away from you, while you're buried in your books. So maybe a clock would be a wise investment? shop Don't strain your eyes when reading your favourite tome: invest in a nice little light to illuminate your reading material. shop For the ladies, a pretty place to store jewellery is always a bonus...

Of course, books aren't just for reading, hiding, cutting up, and taking photos of. You can also adorn yourself with them, in all sorts of formats. So here's a few examples of some snazzy book-based wearables. Lets start with the rings. Mini book + ring = cool. shop Mini book + secret compartment ring = awesome. shop And of course, you can always go for a necklace book. Extra geek points if you choose this one. shop Would you prefer your books to be a bit closer to you? Say, on your wrist? Here, you can either have the books in their mini entirety, or as a section of a full size one... shop shop  Or perhaps you'd like them on your ears? shop shop And you can make sure your mobile phone doesn't unloved, with this phone charm. shop But you'll be needing to keep your body well clothed too. How about a nice top or two? shop shop Can't leave your feet out though, can we? How about some comic-c...