Futurelawyer

LCD Electronic Digital Safe

Link: LCD Electronic Digital Safe. Ever wishing to be accomodating to my readers, I read, with interest, Lisa Stone's comment on my recent gadget posts. Lisa, who does a great job of reviewing legal blogs, complains, tongue in cheek, that I spend too much time talking about fun gadgets, and she needs "a digital safe" for her wallet. Legal Blog Watch Lisa, this is for you, as I aim to please. This Digital Safe is large enough for your wallet, and fits in your car. I recommend that, every day before coming in to the office, you place your wallet inside the safe, and leave it there during the day. That way, when you are tempted by all of the gadgets I post about, you will be unable to purchase them. I, on the other hand, have no such governor on my spending gene, and the kids' tuition and food will just have to wait. I will stop short of a Jonathan Swift "modest proposal", as I am in enough trouble already with "she who must be obeyed".:-)

FrozenCPU.com :: Product :: Wireless PC Lock (KW-101)

Link: FrozenCPU.com :: Product :: Wireless PC Lock (KW-101). I promised to report back to you after I received the Wireless PC lock from FrozenCPU. I got it, and it is easy to use and works very well. The USB key plugs in to any available USB port, and you carry a small round black keychain like dongle, that contains a 3V button cell battery. Press it and it starts sending a signal to the USB key. It looks a little like the blinking light on a Bluetooth earset. If you walk away from the computer, the computer goes into locked mode, and only someone with the password or the transmitter can bring it up again. I don't use it every day, but for situations where you are moving around a room full of people, this little guy would be perfect for keeping your information secure without having to carry the laptop with you all the time. Or, if you are in an office, you can plug it into your work computer, and wander around the halls to your heart's content. Of course, you should be at your desk, doing productive work, now shouldn't you?

Gadgets to Go: The Latest in Tech Travel Toys - Yahoo! News

Link: Gadgets to Go: The Latest in Tech Travel Toys - Yahoo! News. If you want to see where the tech industry is headed, check out these new and upcoming products. My favorite is the Eyebud 800, from eMagin, which is a small headset that plugs into any video Ipod or other portable digital video device. The effect is that of a 105-inch screen. You even get a Buccaneer eyepatch for the other eye. The future of educational video (and legal seminars and so forth) is in podcasting and vidcasting, downloadable from the Internet to personal devices. This looks like a good start. Check it out.

ChoicePoint fine could indicate tougher FTC enforcement efforts - Computerworld

Link: ChoicePoint fine could indicate tougher FTC enforcement efforts - Computerworld. Computer security isn't just about protecting the data stored on your network or your local computer. Much information, as lawyers know, is stored in public and private databases which collect data on all of us. Motor vehicle records, Judgment records, Social Security records, and so on. Some of these records are public records; and some are, by law, private. Most of us use companies that store these records to obtain information to assist us in our practices. I use Accurint, recently acquired by Lexis-Nexis. The Ten Million Dollar fine just agreed to by ChoicePoint highlights the risks of storing and making such information available. Finding the right balance between privacy and information flow in an Internet world is problematic, to say the least. Most of us have no illusions that any data is really private anymore. Perhaps making those who misuse it legally responsible is the way to work on the problem.

Jabra JX10 Arrives Stateside In December - Gizmodo

Link: Jabra JX10 Arrives Stateside In December - Gizmodo. The FutureLawyer has a new favorite BlueTooth EarSet. The Jabra JX10 is tiny, light, and beautiful. Designed by Jensen Designs, and only available since last month in the U.S., this featherweight earset (less than 10 grams and only 5 centimeters long) is magnificent. It uses DSP (Digital Signal Processing) and Automatic Volume Control to give great sound in any environment. It charges in a space-age looking little cradle, or with a supplied USB cable. It is the first BlueTooth earset that I don't feel funny walking around wearing. It looks like a hearing aid, with silver and black good looks. Now, I REALLY will look like I am talking to myself all the time. Of course, if you already talk to yourself in public, this little guy might be just the camouflage you need. Fair warning. The design and technology gains carry a price: $179 retail. But, aren't you worth it?

Atari 800 computer

Link: Atari 800 computer. Around 1983 or 1984, my wife surprised me with an Atari 800 computer for my birthday. It was my first computer, and, frankly, I didn't know what a computer was then. To me, it was a game machine; a sophisticated version of the Pong arcade games so popular back then. It had been around for several years, and cost around $800. It had 8k of internal memory. That is 8 thousand characters, not bytes (which are 8 characters long). I discovered early on that, by attaching a dot matrix printer, and using a program cartridge with a rudimentary word processor in ROM, I could generate a typed page, without going anywhere near a typewriter! Believe it or not, this was amazing technology back then, and I generated my first usable legal document several years later, when a standard carriage dot-matrix printer came out. Not court quality, but good enough for a demand letter. What is the first computer generated legal document you ever produced? Anybody beat 1985? Ah, the fun of talking about the old days.

Exemption for government BlackBerry users riles others facing shutdown - Computerworld

Link: Exemption for government BlackBerry users riles others facing shutdown - Computerworld. Watching the RIM - NTP battle over the BlackBerry is somewhat like watching a soap opera or a train wreck. You know you shouldn't be doing it, but the video is compelling somehow. Not that I am addicted to either; but, we all know people who are. I still think all the hand-wringing is much ado about just a little bit. I just don't believe that a system-wide shutdown is coming. Reminds me of the Chrysler bail-out. Remember the argument? The company is "too big" to fail. Three Million users is not as big as Chrysler; however, the difficulty in tailoring a shut-down just for emergency first-responders, and Government personnel, seems to me to be a bit much. I have been wrong before; but, put me in the pool for no shutdown. If I am wrong about this, I shall post an apology from my Palm Treo 650, which can be read by all the former BlackBerry users who will be using the Windows-mobile based Palm 700w by then.

Microsoft readies two-way firewall for Vista - Computerworld

Link: Microsoft readies two-way firewall for Vista - Computerworld. Big Brother is coming to the Vista operating system. Is anything scarier than a partnership between Microsoft and IT Administrators, aimed at controlling not only what users see, but what they do? If Microsoft were as successful at security as it is creating ways to control the use of PCs, then we all would be safer. I can foresee users of Vista sitting at their computers, unable to do anything at all. If you can't go out,and you can't bring anything in, the firewall becomes an opaque barrier to information flow. Does anybody else see this as a problem? If Microsoft and the IT Administrators form this unholy alliance, a lot of users in large Corporations and firms will be unhappy campers. And, you thought I was crazy for being a solo practitioner!

Google pulls 'we don't censor' statement | The Register

Link: Google pulls 'we don't censor' statement | The Register. "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." "Money is the root of all evil." Pick your aphorism. After its announcement that it would censor certain information in searches made in China, so as to meet Chinese Government objections, Google's help file note that it doesn't censor its results has been pulled. Is the company going to substitute the statement with something? If so,  I have a few "modest proposals" for the company. How about "We don't censor any search information, ever, under any circumstances, unless the money is right." Or, how about this: "Censorship, smensorship. It's about winning, baby." How naive of me to believe that a company could be grown from idealistic young entrepreneurs who cared more about the truth than the dollar? You would think that, at my age, my illusions would be shatter-proof. I still love Google's innovation and products. I now, however, have a healthy dose of skepticism about their motives. After hearing the excuse that a "little" freedom is better than none, I have another aphorism for you: "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

� Google's shifting moral ground | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Link: � Google's shifting moral ground | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com. Dan Farber got it right with his title in this article at ZDNet. In fact, he may have pulled a punch on this one. Am I the only one thinking that Google isn't sliding down a slippery slope, but rather is jumping off a cliff? What moral ground? Either you act on your principles, regardless of the financial consequences, or you check your integrity at the door. Is there an economic reason to give aid and comfort to those who censor and restrict the free flow of information? Just wondering...