Futurelawyer

Khan Academy Does Have A DownSide

Atomic Bomb Fallout Is In Your Brain.

Atomic Bomb Fallout Helps Solve Brain Mystery | Wired Science | Wired.com. Or, how to stop worrying, and learn to love the bomb. Relax. It turns out that having radioactive fallout in our brain cells is a good thing, in moderation. If you were born before 1963, some of the fallout from the 500 atomic bomb tests in the U.S. settled in your brain cells. Now, it turns out that scientists have used carbon dating techniques based on that fallout to prove that the brain produces new neurons as we age. This is a good thing, because it proves that we can learn at any age. Whether we actually need the new neurons is a matter of speculation at this point. Who knows, though, what scientists can do with this information, given the devastating declines in memory from aging? So, let's all give a hip hip hooray for the scientists who brought us the bomb. Then, let's concentrate on increasing and enhancing human life.

ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity - Best In The World?

ASUS formally introduces Tegra 4-powered Transformer Pad Infinity. In a little while, ASUS will be coming to the market with a quad-core Android Jelly Bean tablet that will rival any netbook in power, and will detach to become the best tablet on the planet. This will be on my Christmas wish list, in case any of you want to buy it for me. 

Google Reader Is Dead - Long Live RSS

Why Google Reader Really Got the Axe | Gadget Lab | Wired.com. It wasn't so long ago that I had to explain RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to audiences of lawyers who were just grasping the utility of email. Some of them never got it, and now RSS seems to be an old man's way to get the news. TV and Newspapers are still breathing, as news consumption devices; but, they are considered passe by many young people. Now, people like me who are computer savvy, are also considered old school because we troll RSS readers to get our news. Frankly, I trust myself to choose my news sources more than I trust a search engine, or a Twitter feed. RSS feeds are still the way that I get post ideas, and keep up with the subjects in which I am interested. So, I have replaced Google Reader with Feedly, and I am not looking back. Isn't it amazing that many of us are getting shallow, quick news tidbits from sites like Twitter, Pinterest,Facebook, Google+, and whatever other new social media is out there. Hey, kids, take a moment, and read some actual blogs. You might learn something. 

A Modest Proposal For The President

Obama addresses PRISM surveillance, says government isn't listening to your calls | PCWorld. The President has been quoted as saying that a "modest encroachment" on privacy of American's phone calls is "worth it to prevent terrorism". Well, there are a lot of ways to prevent terrorism without violating the rights of Americans in their persons, property and such. Whatever happened to probable cause and a Court Order. Are we, after all, a nation of laws, or not? Are we, after all, a nation in which the Fourth Amendment to our Constitution has any meaning, or not? Those who know me well, know that I am apolitical. However, this is not a political question. It is a question of whether you can give up a "little" freedom and remain free. What will be next? A "modest encroachment" into our homes will be worth it? Who decides what is worth it? I am very happy, Mr. President, that you aren't listening to SWMBO giving me my orders for the day. Do we get a copy of your phone records? 

Hey, Verizon And NFL! Call Me In 2014

Verizon and NFL extend deal to offer streaming games to customers | Android Central. How nice of Verizon and the NFL to extend the contract for NFL Mobile on Verizon phones. For $5 a month you get a brain dead interface, and no Sunday games. As a former NFL Sunday Ticket customer, when it was $150 a season, I refuse to fund NFL player salaries that are 50 times the average fan's. It is actually cheaper to buy seats to the local team's games than to get NFL Sunday Ticket. Adding $5  a month for news and streaming videos is an outrage. Now, NFL and Verizon tell us they will provide Sunday games in 2014. So, call me then, and we will see what that costs. Maybe I am just getting old and cranky; but, it is about time somebody cut off the tap of cash. I think I can live without televised football for a while. Am I alone in this? Let me save the Government and Verizon some time and effort in mining the call data on my smartphone while I am at it. I called Verizon for support for my office DSL line about 30 times n the past two weeks. My cable modem is being installed today, so you will see a couple of calls to Brighthouse as well.

Mr. Phelps, If You Or Any Member Of Your IM Force Are Caught Or Killed, The Secretary Will Disavow Any Knowledge Of Your Actions

NSA taps in to systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and others, secret files reveal | World news | The Guardian. What a surprise. What a shock. Our Government, it is alleged, has access to the data of most Internet publishers through a "Top Secret" program, code named PRISM. And, another big surprise, nobody will talk about it. Duh. Of course, Governments have secrets. The biggest surprise is that mainstream media is so shocked by the revelation. The companies involved have "disavowed any knowledge" of the existence of such systems. Now, where have I heard that before?

Life Imitates Art

Scanadu Builds a $149 Personal Tricorder for Non-Trekkies | Wired Design | Wired.com. It was only a matter of time before someone realized that modern smartphone and computer technology, and the advancement in sensor tech in today's smartphones, made a StarTrek Tricorder possible. Like the Dick Tracy WristPhone, I grew up with StarTrek, and the marvelous little devices that Spock and the Doctor pointed at people and terrain, which gave back data about things unseen, was one of the things that got me interested in gadgets and tech. Now, a startup has created a modern day tricorder that will create data streams that Doctors can use to diagnose patients, and should shorten the need for hospital stays and testing. Additionally, savvy consumers will be able to provide their health care providers with current stats that will assist diagnosis and treatment. Now, unlike the fitness trackers that can be used by the self-involved to keep track of their fitness goals, I can get behind a diagnostic tool that measures medical stats. I just wish they made the thing look more like a real tricorder.

Google Drive For Lawyers - BoxCryptor

Review: BoxCryptor encrypts data in the cloud | PCWorld. So, Lawyer. You have a shiny new Google Drive that you can access from any device or computer. You have two step authentication set up so it is very difficult to get into your Google Drive. However, you don't want to put client confidential files and data in the cloud without some more security. This free utility, BoxCryptor, will encrypt any file you put into a special folder it creates in Google Drive. I am going to start putting my old client form files in an encrypted Google Drive folder, and I will report the results. In the meantime, you can download and install it yourself, if you want to get a head start. Ready, upload, aim.

Gmail 4.5 Update - Okay, I Like Some Of It

Gmail 4.5 Update APK is now available for download. The more I play with the new GMail, the more I like it. At least, I can say that, for the things it adds, I don't hate it. First, I HATE the colored tabs next to the messages. If there isn't an image associated with the sender, big ugly colored boxes appear with the first letter of the message in big, block letters. Say what? Totally useless. The good news is that you can go into settings, and uncheck the Sender image box, forever sending this useless feature into the oblivion it rightly deserves. There are some things I love; for instance, you can now empty the trash with one click. I want back all the thousands of clicks I used to have to make to delete the trash messages one by one if I weren't by my desktop or notebook. Next, the email can be refreshed by swiping down, just like Twitter, Facebook and other apps. Finally, the app is much smoother and faster. So, like Windows 8, I have tweaked it to look as much like OLD Gmail as possible, and am taking advantage of the good stuff. Rock on.