Futurelawyer

Microsoft to Reissue Buggy Security Patch - Yahoo! News

Link: Microsoft to Reissue Buggy Security Patch - Yahoo! News. Have you been playing patch roulette? It is a fun way to spend the day. Download Microsoft's latest security patch (Relax. If you missed one, there will be another and another and another...), watch your system crash, and wait until the patch to fix the patch. You get the idea. It is somewhat like getting your little sister to stop annoying you. You know it will never happen, but you keep trying anyway. It helps if you are the type of person who keeps pushing that elevator button. Sooner or later the doors HAVE to open, don't they?

Technology Gone Wild - EDD Abuse

Article - Law.Com - Craig Ball - Link. Craig Ball vents his frustration, in this article, with the use of technology to frustrate proper electronic discovery requests in modern-day litigation. But, let me use his words:

"I'm talking sneaky stuff, such as printing electronic information to paper, then scanning and running it through optical character recognition (OCR), or "printing" electronic information to a .tif image format then OCR'ing the .tif.

If you've played the parlor game "Telephone," you've seen how transmitting messages introduces errors. The first listener interprets the message, as does the next listener and the next. Each mangles the message, and the errors compound hilariously. "Send reinforcements -- we're going to advance" emerges as, "Send three and four pence -- we're going to a dance.""

Craig has put his finger on the real problem: venal, unethical lawyering. Unfortunately, this misuse of technology often focuses a disapproving spotlight on the technology itself, rather than its misuse by the human being perpetrating the wrong. Let's condemn the sinner, and not the tool. If you get a third or fourth generation tif file that looks like it has been through the scanner a few times, file a Motion for Contempt, set some law firm employees depositions, and get to the bottom of the problem. Maybe some large discovery sanction awards will cause the bad apples to rethink their strategy.

ABA TECHSHOW 2006 - The World's Premier Legal Technology Conference&EXPO

Link: ABA TECHSHOW 2006 - The World's Premier Legal Technology Conference&EXPO. TechShow is going on this week in Chicago, and if, like the FutureLawyer, you can't get there this year, check out the website for all the good stuff. You can check out the Exhibitors in Expo Hall without even being there. One of the cool things about tech and the Web is that just about any event like this can be attended virtually. No plane tickets, no hotel rooms. Enjoy the show, and sleep in your own bed.

SwellDisk increases SD card Capacity by 300%

Link: SwellDisk Maximize Capacity. It sounded too good to be true. My smartphones, the T-Mobile MDA and the Palm Treo 650 use SD disk technology for additional storage. The Treo uses SD cards, about the size of a postage stamp, and the MDA uses Mini-SD cards, which are really tiny SD cards. SwellDisk promised to increase their storage capacity by 300 %, and I was skeptical, to say the least. I also thought the compression and de-compression of the programs and data would make the software sluggish and unresponsive. Well, I was wrong. I am forever loading and testing software on my machines, and I quickly was running up against the wall with my 2 gigabyte Mini-SD card in my new MDA. I didn't want to buy another one, for two reasons: 1. They cost around $100 and 2. They are so tiny, I am certain I would lose the spare. It would be a pain to switch back and forth between them anyway. So, I paid $49 for the software, downloaded it, and, like magic, my 2 Gigabyte Mini-SD card became a 6 Gigabyte SD card. Plus, I can't notice any sluggishness or decrease in speed in the programs and data on the card. Unfortunately, there is no version for the Palm operating system. So, I guess I now have another reason to use the MDA as my principal smart phone. Amazing software, great support, and FutureLawyer recommended.

PCWorld.com - Critical Windows Security Patch Butts Heads With HP Software

Link: PCWorld.com - Critical Windows Security Patch Butts Heads With HP Software. It's always something. If you took my advice last week, and applied the "patch Tuesday" Microsoft patch, and you are running any HP peripherals, you may now be experiencing problems with your computer. Apparently, the patch has created software conflicts with some HP drivers, and has given some consumer users serious performance and reliability problems, causing reboots and sluggish performance, as well as system crashes. In systems as complicated as computers, some of these types of problems are inevitable; but, that doesn't make it feel any better, does it? The cure for this problem is a Registry hack, and a complicated one at that. Unless you are comfortable fooling around with the Registry, leave this one to the professionals. This patch got released immediately, which tells me that Microsoft is taking some serious heat over this one. The author of this PcWorld article cautions against turning off automatic Windows patching, and I agree. I think. This is all giving me a headache.

Cyberwalker :: Tech help that's really helpful

Link: Cyberwalker :: Tech help that's really helpful.This 10 minute video of Andy Walker explaining computer security to a TV interviewer ends hilariously, when one of Andy's food skits goes awry. Watch it, learn about computer security, and laugh when Andy gets clocked by an apple.

Vista won't show fancy side to pirates | CNET News.com

Link: Vista won't show fancy side to pirates | CNET News.com. In another universe, the citizens don't care about operating system and hardware compatibility. However, in this one, Microsoft's impending (before the end of the century?) release of the next iteration of its Windows operating system, code-named VISTA, requires a lot of thought and preparation. VISTA will require upgraded hardware on many machines, which is one way of saying, don't buy it and try to install it on your current machine, unless you are willing to take a chance. In addition, if you install it, Microsoft will require validation, similar to the rigamarole we have to go through now to download and install Windows Defender, the Microsoft anti-spyware software. If you don't validate, Microsoft won't use the coolest new VISTA Aero graphics and features (assuming we want them in the first place). More important, the operating system may kick back to Windows 2000 mode. VISTA has some really weird hardware requirements as well. It will work (allegedly) with a lower powered system, which doesn't have a graphics chip with VISTA code, but will not have the fancy features promised in VISTA. There will be VISTA capable index program to evalutate your system. Give me a break. In a Web 2.0 world where we are all becoming platform independent, and in which much of our work is being done on the Web, does it make sense to make an operating system like this? I guess it does, if you are the largest software company on the planet.

Lab Rats!- RAM Upgrades

LabRats RAM Upgrades - Link. Is your computer lagging behind? Do you want more performance when you are running multiple applications? Does your computer groan when you load your case management system, time and billing system, word processing system, and various other legal related apps at the same time? Multi-tasking attorneys should learn from this video cast about increasing and upgrading RAM (Random Access Memory), by my friend, Andy Walker, of www.labrats.tv.  If you don't know the difference between SDRAM and DDRAM, or don't know how to tell which memory stick to buy, check out this video. Don't wait for an IT guy. Do it yourself, and increase system speed up to 30%. Power to the people.

Google Calendar

Link: Google Calendar. As an Easter present, I give you the newest Google Internet based Web 2.0 offering, Google Calendar. This free tool will scour your computer and email, and create calendar reminders. It will send Invitations, give you reminders, automatically recognize when messages schedule events, allow Calendar sharing, and many other cool things. This just might be what the lawyer without a case management system needs, and, since it is Web-based, you can get to it from anywhere. Welcome to Web 2.0. Happy Easter.

Bank Technology News | Patently Unaware

Link: Bank Technology News | Patently Unaware. Some types of patent litigation warm the cockles of the heart. DataTreasury, holder of the Claudio Ballard patents on check imaging and electronic storage technology, has sued  59 big banks for their refusal to pay license fees. It is a tale reminiscient of NTP versus RIM, and the BlackBerry settlement seems to have emboldened DataTreasury. Big banks are not likely to garner much sympathy from the rest of us, and I am anxiously awaiting the results of this battle.