Futurelawyer

Darkside of SaaS?

Link: Web-Tones: Darkside of SaaS?. Carlos Leyva is a deep thinker. He thinks big thoughts, and his blog is full of insight about practicing law in the Internet cloud. I am a shallow thinker. I think about where the next meal is coming from, and how I can use the coolest new gadget to watch baseball. However, we both agree that installing and using law firm essential applications in the Internet cloud (Software As A Service or SaaS ) is a risky proposition. I have a running dialogue going with Larry Port at RocketMatter, which provides an SaaS solution to time and billing for lawyers. I agree wholeheartedly that we are headed to a world where desktop OSes are irrelevant, and all or most applications are Internet based. I think we all need to take a deep breath, and consider the risks before we jump off that cliff, however. I will not take that leap, for mission critical applications, until I am certain that a local desktop fall-back solution is available if the unthinkable happens. I love Web 2.0, and use Internet enabled applications and tools all the time. However, I don't trust my essential stuff to them.

Search Wikipedia With Natural Language

Link: Wikipedia: Powerset Searches the Wikipedia with Natural Language. Lawyers are familiar with natural language search engines, and have used them for years with legal research products; now, Wikipedia, the everything everywhere online encyclopedia can be searched with the Powerset web site. Just type a question, and any Wikipedia articles containing the terms, arranged for semantic emphasis, will pop up in links. Of course, you can do this in Google as well; however, limiting searches to the Wikipedia database gives an encyclopedic scope to the process. Whatever you think about Wikipedia's accuracy or editorial independence, all encyclopedias for all time have been created by editors. Know your source. Trust, but verify.

Home Office Lawyer: Lawyers and twitter

Link: Home Office Lawyer: Lawyers and twitter. More lawyers are starting to use Twitter, as evidenced by this post from Grant Griffiths. Twitter is a kind of live blogging experiment, in which the user constantly posts his or her current musings or activities. While Grant seems to think he is getting new business from the practice, I tend to think that Twitter is dumbing down even further the immediacy of blogging. From print and broadcast journalism, to blogging, to twittering, seems to me to be a slippery slope downwards from thoughtful rumination about the issues of the day. This blog deals with gadgets, technology, and the law, and tries to be thoughtful and entertaining. However, do you REALLY want to get inside my head on a minute to minute basis? I didn't think so.

Skype 3.8 for Windows leaves beta with better features, hopefully - Gadgetell

Link: Skype 3.8 for Windows leaves beta with better features, hopefully - Gadgetell. Can the best Internet phone software get better? You bet. The new version of Skype has less static, better performance, and better features. Really cheap long-distance calls anywhere with this kind of performance must have the telcos shaking in their suits. It doesn't cost anything to download this great Internet tool, and it might just change your long distance call habits.

Google diving into 3D mapping of oceans | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Link: Google diving into 3D mapping of oceans | Tech news blog - CNET News.com. Can Google really pull this off? Can they map the oceans? A geophysics professor says it would take 100 ship years to map the oceans at high resolution. However, there are maps that predict or estimate what the ocean floor looks like. And, this is the likely start for the ambitious Google project. These guys really do want to take over the world.

Docstoc.com – free legal forms and business templates

Link: Docstoc.com – free legal forms and business templates. Docstoc, the new  online document sharing site, has received round 2 financing, and the number of freely shared legal forms is growing by leaps and bounds. Now that contacts can be imported directly from Outlook, the site might just become the destination for lawyers looking for that perfect form or template.

PhoneTag Has A Great New Feature

Link: The Importance of a Good Name: Ditching SimulScribe For PhoneTag. As a corollary to my latest post about PhoneTag, the Web 2.0 app formerly known as Simulscribe, I received an email from the founder, Jamie Simonoff, reminding me that the application now has the ability to import an Outlook database. Now, when you receive an email from one of your contacts, it will be led by the name and phone number of the contact, as they exist in your contact list. Just log on to Phonetag, import a CSV file created by Outlook, and, voila, not only do you get transcribed email of your messages, you get complete identity, and call back numbers.

I Don't Care What You Call It - I Can't Live Without It

Link: The Importance of a Good Name: Ditching SimulScribe For PhoneTag. Simulscribe is now PhoneTag. I suppose the new name conjures up the kid's game; tag, you're it; you know, your phone messages follow you wherever you go, and you can download them in email, and read or listen to them, your preference. I have been addicted to Simulscr...oops, PhoneTag, since I was first introduced to it, and I now don't even check voice mail on the phone. I just check my email, and, sandwiched in among the spam and phish, there are written transcriptions of the long-winded messages of people trying to reach me. I don't care what you call it; I refuse to live without it.

FreeMobile411™ Beta

Link: FreeMobile411™ Beta. This beta is worth trying out, if you use a cell phone with browser capabilities. Search for any business, and the application will find address, phone number, and map it for you. Free and handy. Web 2.0 has found the cell phone/smart phone market, and information won't ever be the same. Now, no mobile lawyer has an excuse for not knowing how to find the courthouse.

Excuse Me, Oregon, But My Taxes Paid For Those Laws!

Link: Techdirt: Oregon Using Copyright Law To Prevent Other Sites From Publicizing Oregon Law. This is one for the books, literally. The Great State of Oregon is attempting to enforce its copyright in the laws of Oregon by preventing public access websites from republishing the statutes in the same template as the official text. Excuse me, but copyright law aside, the law is a creation of the people, paid for by the taxes and fees of the people, and should belong to the people, strict interpretation of copyright law or not. In fact, the taxpayers of Oregon pay for the salaries of the State employees who create the templates, don't they? Government is not the grand poobah to which we kneel. It exists to serve us, doesn't it?

Letterstream Certified Mail Systems

Link: Letterstream Certified Mail Systems.  Chuck Newton  provides this link to an online certified mail service that can make trips to the Post Office a thing of the past. You can already buy postage online at the Postal Service Web Site . Thanks, Chuck, for making postage easier.

Zamzar - Free online file conversion

Link: Zamzar - Free online file conversion. File conversion site Zamzar has gone live, and, since my earlier post about it, it has matured into a really functional Web 2.0 application. As long as you trust them with your files (the site says it uses secure 128 bit encryption), you can upload any file up to 100 MB, and Zamzar will convert it to any format you desire, and send it back. If you need it right now, you can sign up for several monthly plans, and convert even large files. This is what the interactive web should be about. For the occasional document conversion by a practicing lawyer, it can be a lifesaver.

FireFox 3 - Leaner and Meaner

Link: Feature: The Complete Field Guide to Testing Firefox 3. Firefox 2 is the best browser on the planet. It is stable, and fast. However, you need a boatload of memory to run it efficiently, since it tends to use a lot. Firefox 3 is in its last beta stages, and is leaner and meaner by a long shot. It loads pages faster, and promises to be a significant upgrade. If you want to try it out go Here , but don't install it in the same folder as your existing Firefox 2. There are still some bugs to be worked out.

RealDealDocs - Real Legal Documents From Real Transactions

Link: RealDealDocs - Find thousands of real agreements and clauses from top US law firms. Now, this is a Web 2.0 application that I can endorse. Pulling together real deal documents from real transactions, and making them available for downloading and using as models for future transactions is like having the document databases of the world's best lawfirms in your library. I can see this as a real boon to solos and small firm practitioners. For $49.95 a month per seat (actually, you can have up to three users per license), the user gets access via the Internet to a repository of real agreements used in actual transactions by the top law firms in the country. You don't have to subscribe to search the database for a list of the documents available. If you want to download one, you are prompted to subscribe. I love this website.  And, I don't have to sell my soul to big law to get access to the documents. I don't even have to engage in industrial espionage. What a concept.

Cloud computing is well and good, but it can't beat the desktop computer. - By Paul Boutin - Slate Magazine

Link: Cloud computing is well and good, but it can't beat the desktop computer. - By Paul Boutin - Slate Magazine. Recently, a new debate has been raging in the world of legal blogs. New SaaS (Software As A Service) services for lawyers are popping up, that claim to provide full legal services computing over the Internet, with storage of files at a remote location. This former network administrator is suspicious, as I am, of the efficacy of "cloud computing"; citing the unreliability of Internet connections, lack of local control over files and software, and other risks. I am not against using Web 2.0 applications. I am just wary of relying upon them for enterprise critical functions, like case management and time and billing. As long as there are redundant local options, go for it. Otherwise, read this article, and measure the risks.

Zillow Adds Mortgage Application Service

Link: Real Estate Valuations, Homes for Sale, Free Real Estate Information | Zillow Real Estate. Zillow, which made news last year with real estate appraisal information on millions of residences in the U.S., has added a mortgage application and clearinghouse function to its website. The site hopes to become the go to place for lenders and buyers to meet, and to streamline the mortgage application process. While the timing could be better, Zillow appears to be poised to iron out the kinks before the next spike in the real estate market. For lawyers and their clients, Zillow might be a good place to begin in the real estate purchase and lending process. There will be a lot of competition in the Internet space for buyers, realtors, sellers and lenders in the near future.

Techdirt: Did A Court Really Reject 'Making Available'? Sorta, But Not Quite...

Link: Techdirt: Did A Court Really Reject 'Making Available'? Sorta, But Not Quite.. The web is abuzz about  a  recent Federal Court ruling that merely making copyrighted content available for downloading  was not a violation of RIAA copyrights. Of course, proving that a Defendant actually downloaded and distributed a file is much tougher than establishing that copyrighted material is on the computer, and "available" for downloading. Different courts have gone both ways on the issue; however, it is good news for file sharers that the RIAA will be put to their proofs in court, which is as it should be. These cases are still much too expensive for the average consumer to fight anyway.

Search Locally On Your Phone - Google Mobile Search Tool

Link: Cell Phones: Search Locally Without Typing with New Google Mobile Tool. The new Google mobile search tool is a quick and easy way to search for local businesses wherever you are. Create a Bookmark on your phone's browser for the location: google.com/m/lcb. Just insert your zip code, and a complete, searchable database, with categories, appears on your phone. You can map any listing found, and you don't even need a GPS.

Mozilla to release Firefox 3 Final in June - Gadgetell

Link: Mozilla to release Firefox 3 Final in June - Gadgetell. The best web browser keeps getting better. The new Firefox 3 is scheduled for release in June, and reports of users of Beta 4 are that it is pretty stable already. There are 160 million Firefox users now, and the promise of a new version will just make the best better.

Free Web Version of Photoshop Launches

Link: Excite News - Free Web Version of Photoshop Launches. Web 2.0 is a descriptive term that broadly defines interactive websites that allow the user to do real work or play on the net. SaaS (Software as a Service) is a descriptive term that permits applications to reside on a hosted server, and used over the net. In either case, I have always been suspicious of them, to the extent that they require mission critical or client confidential data to be stored on a remote server somewhere. I have always been more comfortable licensing or buying software that I control locally, and keeping my data secure locally. Both methods have risk; however, I have always preferred to be in control of the risk. Just because I don't want to store my client billing information on a server somewhere else, however, does not mean I am not willing to use the power of the net for other applications. Adobe's new version of Photoshop that runs in any web browser is a good example. Just remember to save a local copy of your favorite photos.

EverNote Beta Free Download

Link: Wikisend: free file sharing service. Giveaway of the Day is offering a free beta download, with a free license when the beta goes live for the best note-taking software's new version 3. Evernote blows away its Windows competition, and, if you are an inveterate note taker, this is for you. I am a little concerned with sharing my notes over the net; but, if you don't mind that, you can access all your stuff from anywhere. Free for the next 17 hours. It is Friday morning here in the East, so act accordingly.

PalmAddicts: PhoneFavs - Online mobile bookmarks

Link: PalmAddicts: PhoneFavs - Online mobile bookmarks. What does the mobile lawyer do when he or she is away from the office or home environment, and wants to browse the web? PhoneFavs will import all of your IE or Firefox or Mozilla bookmarks, and make them available from any web browser, as well as a mobile version that automatically fits the favorites to a smart phone browser. You can have access to the same websites you use every day, no matter where you are. Free for the asking.

Service delays leave legal practice off-line - What Would You Do?

Link: Service delays leave legal practice off-line - Meaningless promises show no soul - Local - General - Daily Liberal. What happens when the Internet doesn't work? For this UK firm, not having the Internet for two weeks is seriously affecting the practice. As lawyers become more reliant on the Internet, and as some are taking their back office operations to the web, it is important that alternative and backup systems be in place. I have not been shy about my wariness of Web 2.0 applications for billing and case management. If a local computer breaks down, I can immediately use a backup. However, relying on the web would require a change in location; easy enough for a mobile solo, but not so easy for a firm. I have several Internet accounts myself; pricey, but it gives me options in the event of a problem. Today's question? What would you do if the Internet went down at your office for two weeks?

Wikipedia looking to fund site without turning to ads

ink: The Wenatchee World Online - Wikipedia looking to fund site without turning to ads. It is axiomatic that the Internet can create instant billionaires. However, what happens when  a non-profit becomes wildly successful, and donations can't meet the budget? Wikipedia is the ninth most visited site on the web, but it can't sell advertising without betraying, (in the minds of many of its users) the essential mission. Lawyers like the FutureLawyer use it daily for research and general knowledge mining. However, its accuracy is still suspect, fed possibly by jealous encyclopedia publishers who have seen their influence and readership extremely limited by the Internet phnomenon. Just as lawyers who go into business with clients can face serious conflict of interest issues, an enclyclopedia, online or off, can face serious problems when an entity which is the subject of an article advertises on its pages. Google  has  faced similar issues; but, Google has always been a for profit entity.

Microsoft SharedView - You Really Don't Have To Be In The Same Place

Link: Connect: Microsoft SharedView. Thanks to Tom Mighell for this link to a free desktop and document sharing Windows Live application. Free from Microsoft? Who woulda thunk it? It is easy to install and use; you only need a Windows Live account, which is free for sign up. It will only work with small groups of Internet users; but, who collaborates with more than a couple of people at a time on most projects? If you regularly work with people in more than one location; even in your own community, save the shoe leather, and meet online. Stay in your own office, and share your desktop, if you like, work together on documents that appear on everyone's screen. There are commercial, paid applications that do this better; but, free is nice. Try it, you'll like it.

Savvy Consumer Handbook - For Consumers and Lawyers Alike

While searching the Internet for Ebooks, which I load to, and read, on my Palm Centro, I discovered this free ebook at Scribd, which is a great resource for consumers, or those advising them. There are names, addresses, and other information about a host of consumer issues. I get, as do most lawyers, I suspect, a lot of questions about consumer matters that are not large enough to justify intensive legal involvement. However, the ability to answer a client's questions, or to point them in the right direction, is a valuable service.

Read this doc on Scribd: free ebook Savvy Consumer

eMail To SMS Messaging - It's Not Your Daddy's Internet

Link: eMail To SMS Messaging | Treonauts. I became familiar with SMS text messaging when my daughter sent so many texts one month, I gagged when I got the monthly cell phone bill. Now, I am very careful, with each new smart phone, to make my FIRST requirement an unlimited text messaging account. I don't care if it costs $20 a month or more. I am now officially daughter proof. I can't remember if I have blogged about this tip before; but, even if I have, you should be using the text messaging capabilities more anyway. If you don't use SMS, don't have it, or don't want it, you still need to know that you can send a traditional email to an SMS account using the addresses in this article. That is, if you ever want to have a conversation with your child again. While we are on the subject, be careful what you say in your text messages; they are recorded for posterity, and may come back to haunt you.

Ides of March - Et Tu, Google?

Link: Ides of March - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. As we approach the Ides of March, and contemplate the assassination of Julius Caesar on that date in 44 B.C., I am reminded of the death match going on between Microsoft and Google, for control of the Internet. It is almost as much fun as watching the Democratic race for the Presidential nomination. Google, ever nimble on its feet, jumps in with new innovation; while Microsoft, like a turning battleship, seems helpless until, once turned, it aims its big guns at the enemy. Should be an interesting year.

Download IE8 Beta 1 for Windows XP

Link: Download details: Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 for Windows XP. You are cutting edge. You are fearless in a courtroom. You leap tall buildings in a single bound. Yes, you, at the computer, you are willing to try out the new beta of IE8! Oh, okay, wait a while. Let the rest of us have all the fun. If you are brave, here is the link. Hey, if you get scared, you can always click the "Emulate IE7" button. Or, you can continue using FireFox, the best browser on the planet.In addition, the new Silverlight beta is included, or you can install the plugin for your browser. Silverlight improves video, animations, and other media experience while browsing the web.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta - Plays Well With Others?

Link: Excite News - Microsoft Releases New Web Browser Beta. Internet Explorer 7 and its predecessors are famous for rendering some web pages well, that other competing browsers won't. As Firefox has been adopted by more and more savvy users, however, Microsoft is promising that its newest browser, IE8, which is out in beta this week, will comply with the same standards as the other browsers. IE8 will focus on offering new functionality to the average user, such as contextual options with right-clicking. The FutureLawyer reserves judgment. I am quite happy with the Firefox experience, thank you very much.

Rocket Matter - Trust, But Verify

Link: Rocket Matter - The web generation of legal software - Blog. Larry Port, at Rocket Matter, has posted here about my questions concerning modern SaaS (Web based software as a Service) applications; particularly for lawyers. Grant Griffiths, at Home Office Lawyer, doesn't see anything to worry about, and opines that the data is more secure at RocketMatter than in a brick and mortar and paper local operation. Actually, we are all right. Larry agrees that the financial and business underpinnings of the company you choose to host your data with is important. However, I question whether we can verify any information provided. He also admits that there will always be risk; but that RocketMatter uses encryption and other security methods to greatly minimize the risk. This may be true, but I am still more comfortable knowing that my data resides on my hard drive, and on my secured back up drives, under my local control. I think that I could be convinced of the viability and security of a company like Rocket Matter, but I would have to be convinced that local storage of a "usable" set of the data would be provided. This is not as easy a decision as signing up for a website software application; but the negatives can be overcome. We shall see.

Rocket Matter - The web generation of legal software - ABA Journal covers Rocket Matter

Link: Rocket Matter - The web generation of legal software - ABA Journal covers Rocket Matter. Larry Port, at Rocket Matter, takes issue with my comments about web based lawyer case management services. I posted the following comment today:
Larry:
First, my name is spelled “Georges”. Second, you completely ignore the essential issues for lawyers. Ross Kodner and I both want to know what the ethics issues are for lawyers who are storing confidential client information on the web. What guarantees are there for the financial viability and succession of web businesses? If I have my data locally, its security is my problem. If you have it, to whom do I complain if it is compromised? Are you saying that online banking is completely safe? What about the customers of online access services whose information has been compromised? The arguments, as far as lawyers are concerned, are just as viable in 2008, as they were in 1995.
Rick Georges

Otengo Broadband Mail | send large emails - secure data transfer

Link: Otengo Broadband Mail | send large emails - secure data transfer. If you are looking for a large file email application that works with existing email, here is a new alpha product you want to try. The company claims that large email attachments are split into small, encrypted pieces, and are not stored on intermediate servers. They can allegedly only be viewed by the email recipient running the Otengo software. Be wary, but you might want to give this software a try. No annoying ads, and it works in the background. Thanks to reader, Andy Xiu, for this tip.

GoToMyPC : Getting Better With Age

Link: GoToMyPC : Access Your PC from Anywhere. When Citrix acquired tiny GoToMyPc a while back, I was afraid that it was to bury a small competitor in the remote access space controlled by Citrix Enterprise applications. But, I was wrong, and GoToMyPc has gotten better and better. Now, new version 6.0 permits voice access, and automatic configuration for remote printing. The speed over a DSL connection is almost instantaneous, and I can control the office server from anywhere. I love that I can now solve network problems without going to the office. You owe it to yourself to try this great product out for a 30 day free trial. This is one time I would rather pay than look for a free solution. And, no, they don't pay me a commission to say that. See for yourself.

Excite News - Google Releases Health Service Details

Link: Excite News - Google Releases Health Service Details. Google has announced plans to provide for the storage of health information on the web. Privacy advocates are already raising alarm bells about the largest online data storage company storing private health data. All sorts of issues loom for lawyers; such as, how safe with the data be? Will it be discoverable in litigation? Is there really any way to store such personal information securely on the Net? Privacy is already considered by some to be an endangered species. This is a brave new world, and only the future will tell.

Ubuntu Mobile - The Future Is Now

Link: Ubuntu Mobile | Ubuntu. Okay, enough post apocalyptic visions for one day. Back to fun and the Internet in the here and now. My favorite Linux distribution, Ubuntu, is out with a new mobile version, that is compact, and designed for a new class of computers, the Mobile Internet Device (MID). You will be hearing more about these carry around devices in the near future. A lawyer could carry one of these everywhere, and do legal research, document manipulation and creation, and email, with a finger friendly, touch interface. While I don't have a problem taking my subcompact Dell D430 everywhere, I know that some of you don't want to carry around a full computer. The MID may just be the device for you.

Learn To Use Your New Palm Centro

Link: Welcome to Palm Self-Paced Learning Guides. Palm has published a new page that allows online training for new Palm users. The Centro has proved to be a hit with several vendors (Verizon or TMobile may be next), and there are many of new smartphone users who need to learn. Treos and Centros are very easy to use, and very intuitive; however, practice makes perfect. If you have taken my advice and bought one of these, here is the place to learn to use it.

Box.net and IPaper - A Marriage Made In Heaven?

Link: Box.net Blog � Blog Archive � Scribd launches iPaper; OpenBox services on shared pages. No sooner had I blogged about IPaper, the new Web 2.0 based document storage and viewing system from Scribd, than I got an email from Brian at Box.Net in California, advising me that Box.Net is integrating the IPaper format into its systems. Now, no matter what format a lawyer uploads documents in, it will be viewable on Box.Net's servers, with any browser, and without downloading other third party reader software. Yesterday, Chuck Newton wanted to know how IPaper could help lawyers. This is the way. Store your documents in a collaborative case at a site that users IPaper, like Box.Net, and your users (or colleagues or clients) will be able to view and use them from any web browser. I also like Box.Net's mantra: Keep a back up copy of data online; however, keep your own backup.

IPaper - The New PDFs?

Link: Platform Home | Scribd. While it is apparent that most computer documents intended for sharing are using Adobe's PDF standard, a Web 2.0 startup, ScribD, may give PDF a run for its money. We have all fought the PDF attachment, reader, and printing nightmare. But, what if electronic documents could be uploaded and stored at a secure website, and then accessed and read in a browser? I really like the capability of embedding documents into a web page, with reading, scrolling, and so forth enabled without external software. However, as with other Web 2.0 Internet applications that require storing documents (confidential?) at a remote web site, I need to know more about security before I will trust confidential documents to ScribD.

Law - The Public Library of Law

Link: Law - The Public Library of Law. Well, that didn't take very long. After my post about the new Public Law database, in raw format, FastCase advises me that they have a user friendly version up at PLoL.Org. It contains State cases back to 1997. Great marketing, as users who need more case materials might sign up with FastCase. For the general public, this will be a great resource. I can think of some attorneys who would use this resource, as well.

Free Online Access to U.S. Court Decisions - But Better Define Access!

Link: Legal Technology - Free Online Access to U.S. Court Decisions. I think the Public Resource site's deal to provide raw case law data free on the Internet is a good thing. Having the case law available, however, and using it, may be two different things.The site looks like the Internet did before web browsers. The raw data is collected in folders, and isn't yet formatted reliably. I'm not complaining, but raw data without a search engine really isn't going to be of much use to the general public, not to mention lawyers. My favorite resource, Versuslaw, for between $160 and $480 a year, provides unlimited access to case law from all 50 states, and the Federal Courts. Fastcase, which provided the raw data to Malamud, provides Florida case law, through an arrangement with the Florida Bar, for free (Bar dues pay for it) to Florida lawyers at the Bar's website. If you want full coverage from Fastcase, however, you must pay for a subscription upgrade, which is in the same range as Versuslaw. The Versuslaw and FastCase databases contain a search engine, and the cases appear on the page with highlighted search terms, and other enhancements. Carl Malamud, the genius and activist behind Public Resource, says, rightly, that the basic case law should be available, and that others can add functionality to it. Check it out. However, I bet that it is worth $350 a year to you to make it usable.

Cloudy Skies in Amazon's Cloud

Link: Excite News - Amazon's Cloud Storage Hiccups. It was only a two hour lack of access, but Amazon's web storage service was inaccessible for a couple of hours yesterday. Lawyers concerned about security and access to mission critical data in web service software models should be concerned. Don't sign up with a web service for data storage or access unless you are prepared for this risk, or unless you are satisfied that this won't happen to you.

Web 2.0 - Be Careful Out There!

Link: Considering Using FolderShare To Sync Computers/Files? Read This First | The Inspired Solo. Sheryl Sisk Schelin brings us a Saturday morning cautionary tale about poor customer service, and the risk of Web 2.0 Internet applications. The lack of local control over files has driven a lot of caution by law firms in the use of web applications for enterprise law firm functions; even law firms with only one person. If you have to wonder where your data is, or whether some remote server is playing nice, you shouldn't be using the application. In Sheryl's case, the remote web application was designed to mess with her local files, and trashed them. I am happy to use Web 2.0 apps that give me access to information and data over large distances. My law firm billing data, and my case management and contact information, however, reside safely on my trusty Dell notebook, and my USB backup drives. Ditto for the documents and client files that I have accumulated in the last 20 years. I don't keep my children in a house in Seattle. They live with me in my house. So also my law firm data and files.
Note to web application developers. Figure out a way to protect data locally. Otherwise, get prepared for some nightmare scenarios.

Docstoc.com Blog � Embed Documents into your Blog or Website

Link: Docstoc.com Blog � Embed Documents into your Blog or Website. As you might imagine, I get a lot of emails from companies with new web ideas. I ignore most of them; some, however, like Docstoc, appeal to the frugal tech guy in me. Web sharing of files and music has been going on for a while. This site expands that to professional documents. People (lawyers?) join the site, and upload their favorite form documents. Call it a form bank for solos and professionals. Naturally, lawyers need to be careful with confidential documents; however, we all work with standard form documents, and we all share them. This is a great way to do it. My favorite idea here? The site plants embed code for each document uploaded. Like YouTube, you can put the code on your site, and your readers can click and get the document. Very nice.

SimulScribe gets out of trouble - Gadgetell

Link: SimulScribe gets out of trouble - Gadgetell. Simulscribe rapidly has become one of my must have applications. It is wonderful not to have to listen to sometimes long-winded voice mails; simulscribe sends transcriptions of them to my email, and I can read them at my leisure. I couldn't get along without it, and I am happy that a deal has been struck in the worrisome litigation in which Klausner claims patents. The big guys are continuing to challenge Klausner's patents. Simulscribe is now out of it, however, and I am happy.

Microsoft Launches an Attack on VMware

Link: Microsoft Launches an Attack on VMware. Uh, Oh. Be careful, or you will awaken the sleeping giant. Oops. Too late. Microsoft has seen the light, and it is virtual. VMWare, which has carved out a niche in the virtual server market, is about to get a dose of Microsoft competition. It should be an interesting ride. As the debate continues, more and more companies are playing with the technology, which promises to create a truly OS independent virtual reality. All of the debates between operating systems become irrelevant in a truly virtual environment. The web is the great equalizer. Who, however, shall be the first among equals?

Project Gutenberg - Bringing Knowledge to the Web

Link: Main Page - Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg was the first EBook website, and has over 20,000 free EBooks in its catalog today. Electronic publishing has taken off, and the Kindle from Amazon promises to revolutionize the way we read books. Lawyers, as a group, spend a lot of time reading, and we even read for enjoyment occasionally. I particularly like the ability to download Ebooks to my Palm Centro's micro SD card (it still amazes me that I can carry hundreds of books with me on a tiny plastic chip). Having a Centro means never being able to say you are bored. The promise, however, is being able to carry a full law library with you everywhere. Makes me want to go out and read something.

Death By Email Blog: Get Out Of My Face

Link: Death By Email Blog: Get Out Of My Face. Roger Matus posts some interesting statistics today about the increasing preference for doing business by email among business executives. I suspect that we lawyers are similar in our preference. I certainly find that I concentrate on the specific business matter at hand when I am communicating with clients via email. Much time is lost in the face to face meeting; the actual business seems to take up a minority of the meeting time, doesn't it? On the other hand, we have lost some of our skill at interpersonal communications, and some of the fun of interpersonal contact with our reliance on email. Sometimes I feel like a machine, slavishly dealing with legal problems, one email after another. Perhaps we need to force ourselves to do more human to human contact? I am reminded of the cult sci fi classic, Brazil. It is a future in which human contact is almost non-existent, and machines run everything. The bureaucracy is broken, and nobody is willing to fix it. Oh, well, I have to get back to those client emails.

But Will It Pay Alimony?

Link: Google: Google to Control Your Dog, Personal Belongings, Marry Your Wife I guess it had to happen. The ability of Google to track GPS signals, and the mashup ability to bring up maps of locations, is planned to be used to help us keep track of our "possessions". If you are a controlling SOB, just tag your wife, and Google will track her location for you. Of course, don't expect Google to pay the alimony when she finds out. I hope She Who Must Be Obeyed isn't reading this on my blog. She might decide to track me.

Legal Technology - Keeping Up With EDD Blogs and Tools

Link: Legal Technology - Keeping Up With EDD Blogs and Tools.  Bob Ambrogi links to just about every web site you will ever need to educate yourself about electronic discovery issues. This is a great respository. Bob obviously has way too much time on his hands.

Box.net - Free Online File Storage, Internet File Sharing

Link: Box.net - Free Online File Storage, Internet File Sharing, Online Storage, Access Documents & Files Anywhere, Backup Data, Send Files.