Futurelawyer

Device Info Live Wallpaper - Can't Do This On An IPhone

Device Info Live Wallpaper: system information right on your homescreen | Android Central. One of the best things about the Android ecosystem is that it is open to new ideas, and new ways of doing things. In addition to all of the large, beautiful screens on modern Android phones, the user can choose from all sorts of background wallpapers that change the look and feel of the phone. This one actually monitors the phone for useful information, such as storage available on the SD card, battery life, and much more. 

Weather Prediction - It's Cloudy Outside

How to Use Cloudy to Attach Online Files to Gmail Messages. By now, you are using email for all sorts of things; not the least of which is attaching pleadings and files to email correspondence to other attorneys, and for filing things electronically with court systems. Email is now as much a part of law practice as typewritten letters were in the Eighties and Nineties. I can remember when some attorneys were proud to tell me that email was for secretaries and associates. They refused to use it. Oh my. If I could get in a room with those guys now, the I Told You So would be 100 feet tall. But, I digress. Cloudy is a Chrome add-on that permits the attachment of any file anywhere to your GMail messages. If you are like the rest of us, you are storing files in several cloud locations, such as Google Drive, Microsoft Live Drive, Dropbox, and others. This cool little add-on gives you the option of attaching a file directly from the cloud service. No more downloading it to the drive before you can send it. Very nice.

Use An Old Android Phone As A Security Camera

How to Turn An Old Android Phone into a Networked Security Camera. I have several old Android phones. I tend to accumulate them since I am always upgrading. They have, as I have posted in the past, many uses even after they no longer are connected to a phone network. They are really little WiFi tablet computers, and can run the same software if connected to a WiFi network. So, this looks like a fun project for a weekend, and I am going to use one for a monitor camera at the office in the aviary. I already have video surveillance of the parking lot and front yard. This will enable me to check on the birds over the Internet. A little complicated; but, I already have the hardware, and only need a $5 Android program to get it up and running. I will report the results.

Be safe out there.

Clean Up Your Browser Detritus

Quick Start Guide - Click&Clean. I know that you don't visit websites that you want kept secret. But, there are a lot of things you do online that are nobody's business. For lawyers this includes research and other use that might be confidential and client related. In addition, a lot of sites add cookies to your computer so that they can track your usage. Their intentions are profit centered; but, even though you might save some keystrokes the next time you visit, you probably don't want them to have a hook in you forever. This little Chrome add-on deletes all the detritus that a typical online session creates. There are ways to browse the web anonymously; but, most of us don't need that. We just don't want to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for some company that wants our money. 

Lie To Me

I picked up an interesting security tip in this morning's Times. The author interviewed a computer security expert who advised lying to your computer when it asked you security questions. In fact, the website doesn't know if you are lying to it, and is perhaps one of the more gullible persons you will meet. And, according to the expert, lying makes it much more difficult for hackers to gain access to your passwords. So, the next time a site asks for your mother's maiden name, or your first pet's name, or your first school, lie. It won't know the difference, and hackers will not be able to use your online history to guess. My first pet's name was "Alligator".

 

They're Cheap - Just Buy A New One

How to Prolong the Life of Your Hard Drive. I see these tips occasionally. Extend the life of your hard drive. Here's how to keep the dust out. Do this when your drive starts making strange noises. What to do when your hard drive starts laboring. Uh, here's my advice. If you care about your data; in addition to backing up regularly, when your drive starts exhibiting strange behavior, BUY A NEW ONE! Drive prices have never been lower. Image your old drive to a USB external drive. Restore the image to a NEW drive. Don't take chances with your data. Give the old one a nice burial, and get on with your life. Jeez.

Delete Those Unwanted Files Permanently In Windows

How To Overwrite Free Space Securely in Windows. As a keeper of client confidential data, lawyers have higher obligations than the average computer user. We must always exercise reasonable controls over the data we store, and restrict its access to the best of our ability. That means taking reasonable safeguards to protect that data. But, what about the stuff we delete? What about the stuff we no longer need? When we hit the delete button for a document, what happens to the data? Well, long time computer users know that the OS merely deletes the indexing data to the document, and does not delete the document itself. The bits and bytes remain on the disk, until another program writes new data over it. Low level software can easily recover that data, and all that is needed is possession of the drive. In the case of investigations by proper authorities, this can be a good thing. For us lawyers, however, it is a bad thing if we intend to protect our clients' documents. Using simple command line commands, as an Administrator on a Windows computer, the user can write over data in the open space on the drive as many times as is necessary to make it inaccessible to anyone. Check out this article to learn how. And, learn this before you pay good money for a commercial software package that promises the same result.

The Frugal Lawyer - Goodbye POTS...Say Goodbye To Your LandLine

How to Switch to VoIP and Ditch Your Home Phone Bill Forever. While I can't do this, since I use a telephone line for DSL Internet in my home, some of you can save upwards of $50 a month by telling POTS to take a hike. No, I don't mean POTUS, who spoke to the Nation last night on TV. I mean Plain Old Telephone Service, which most of us have used to communicate all of our lives. Nowadays, more and more of us are using VOIP services like Skype, and cellular telephones, as our main telephone contact with the world. Many of us are using, or forwarding all our calls to, the ubiquitous Google Voice, which gives us one phone number to worry about. So, take a hard look at what you are spending on communication, read this How-To-Geek article, and get your Frugal Lawyer cap on.

Google Calendar Labs - Do More With Your Day

Get More From Google Calendar By Adding Labs Features. I enjloy playing with the added features that Google is always exploring with its apps. If you use Google Calendar,as I do, you are always tweaking it with add ons and third party stuff to make it more efficient for your use. Click on the gear icon at the top right of the Calendar page and click Labs to see what I mean. Various options can be enable to add functionality. I still swear by a third party add-on to GMail and Calendar, Boomerang, as the most useful add-on, but some of the Calendar Labs options are quite useful as well. Check it out. Go ahead. Make your day.

Set The Computer To Shut Down Later - Get Some Sleep

How to Automatically Shut Down or Restart Your PC (or Do it Remotely From Your Phone) - How-To Geek. The free utility Shutter is just what the Doctor ordered. While it does a whole lot more than automatic shutdowns, that is what I will use it for. We have all been there. It is late, the computer is doing something that will take some time; but, we want to get some sleep. I have been in the habit of leaving the computer on all night, and that might not be a bad thing; but, it has also allowed problems to creep in overnight. This little program will also allow remote actions that will give you more control over your system.