Futurelawyer

Pretec Introduces 8GB SDHC Card

Link: Pretec Introduces 8GB SDHC Card. I just spent $69 on EBay for a 4 Gigabyte SD card for my Treo 700w. SD Cards in that capacity have only been out for a few months, and now PreTec has announced a $299 8 Gigabyte SD Card. Amazing. My LaCie Orange credit card sized USB drive totes 8 Gigabytes, but only cost $159. I have portable applications for everything I could ever want to do, FireFox for web browsing, Thunderbird for email, OpenOffice for document creation and editing, GIMP for photo editing, and I have every document I have created in the past ten years, and I still haven't used 1 Gigabyte of space on the drive. How can anyone not be amazed at all this technological advance?

RadioShack lays off employees via e-mail - Yahoo! News

Link: RadioShack lays off employees via e-mail - Yahoo! News. If there are fifty ways to leave your lover (You remember, "Go out the back, Jack", "Make a New Plan, Stan", etc.) then there are as many ways to get laid off. Getting a Dear John letter while at boot camp is not a pleasant experience.  Getting laid off by RadioShack via email isn't much better. I am a proponent of replacing many face to face encounters (Motion hearings, lawyer to lawyer discussions, for example) with video and Internet interaction. However, I draw the line at telling somebody they no longer have a job via email. Tacky, tacky RadioShack.

Cell phones spill secrets

Link: AP Enterprise: Cell phones spill secrets - Yahoo! News. I have an electronics junk box at home, into which all old, or unused, or never installed tech gadgets goes. All my old cell phones and PDAs are in it, and, I confess, the detritus of my gadget junk has spilled over into drawers and shelves, and everywhere else. Now, I know why my subconscious created the need to hang on to this stuff. Functional electronic devices tend to migrate down to the wife and kids. But, now I am reminded that nothing is secure. Remember the line from the movie, "Is it Safe?" Well, no it isn't. Now there are easy tools to recover personal data from cell phones and PDAs. If you are using your cell phone to send secret IMs to someone you shouldn't, watch out. Of course, the best way is mine. Just hang on to every gadget you ever bought. It can make for some fights at home, but at least you won't be seeing your IMs and secret information plastered all over the Internet. While I am thinking about it, there is another source of electronic discovery.

Linux on the desktop - Much relies on Novell. Can they make it happen? - Computerworld Blogs

Link: Linux on the desktop - Much relies on Novell. Can they make it happen? - Computerworld Blogs. Is it time for Linux? The announcement of another Windows operating system, at outrageous prices, may be the reason users finally move to the free, open-source operating system, on their way to the Web-based future. Linux is getting easier, and more consumer oriented, witness Ubuntu and other open source alternatives. I will keep my Windows XP machines around for a while, as legal software publishers are not completely web enabled yet. However, my next computer will be Linux based, and my USB drive will be loaded with only open-source software. I have had enough. Have you?

Excite News - Amazon.com Reveals Windows Vista Prices

Link: Excite News - Amazon.com Reveals Windows Vista Prices. Let's see. Microsoft is selling the new operating system, VISTA, for $239 per copy, that is, the "Premium" version. The "Basic" version will go for $199, and the "Ultimate" version, allegedly for business users, for $299. The upgrade cost from previous versions of Windows will cost between $99.95 and $159. Why do I get the feeling that Microsoft is selling gasoline? Gas is over $3 a gallon now, and I expect all sorts of ruses to get the driving public to shell out more without too much complaint. Of course, when it comes to Microsoft products, the expected bugs and other problems will be free. I remember standing in line outside of a computer store one Midnight in 1994, waiting for one of the first copies of Windows 95. How times have changed. Suffice it to say, I will NOT be standing in line waiting to pay Microsoft between $199 and $299 for each computer in my house and office. I can't wait for the Web based future to come. If you are awash in disposable cash, and you can get a copy of Bill Gates' list of charitable causes, and you like what they do, go for it. For me and my house, we serve the Web. Open source, open web. Now, I have a new excuse never to load Word on my machines again.

PStart - Launcher for Mobile Apps

Link: Pegtop Home. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have been trying for years to shrink the size of my tech so that I can ultimately carry it around in a computer chip implanted in my temple. I am still working on it, but I am getting closer. Thanks to my trusty 8 gigabyte, credit-card sized USB drive, the LaCie Orange, and portable versions(Portable Applications) of my web browser, word processor, and various other software, I can carry most of what I need in my wallet. However, it is a pain looking for programs after I plug in to another computer. My salvation is a free program launcher from PegTop, PStart, which searches the USB drives for executable applications, and creates a pop-up launch pad. Just click and go. With web-based computing, these little USB drives leave no foot-print on public computers. Just plug it in, and go.

Time Management - Google Video

Link: Time Management - Google Video. This great video from the Massachusetts School of Law consists of a panel of experts on Time Management. They discuss time awareness, setting goals and priorities, and staying away from time thieves. Are you in control of your time and law practice? Lawyers keep track of time; witness the almighty billable hour. However, just keeping track of time isn't enough. Once you view that track, what are you going to do about it? What is most important to you? Are you willing to sacrifice the time thieves in order to get it? As lawyers, we set goals for client matters, and we set goals for billable hours. What kind of time management goals do we set?  Technology will help you be more efficient in the use of your time; but, it won't set goals for you. The speakers in this excellent panel have some great ideas.

ID Scams Require Taking Hammer To Used Hard Drives - Yahoo! News

Link: ID Scams Require Taking Hammer To Used Hard Drives - Yahoo! News. Want to exorcise your demons? Want to take out your frustrations? Want to pound the s*** out of something? Well, disposing of old hard drives is the activity for you. Identity thieves are shipping old hard drives to criminals in other countries, who search for passwords, account numbers and other personal information, and, presto, identity theft grows by one more victim. How many law firm secrets are there on your old hard drives? How many old computers do you have laying around? Get a big hammer, and have a party. Go destroy an old drive. You'll be glad you did.

Google releasing package for the office

Link: Google releasing package for the office
In a move that may be the beginning of the end for the dominance of the Microsoft desktops, small businesses, universities can now have Google Apps For Your Domain, a package of services that will provide Gmail for the organization with the organization's own domain name, an online calendar, instant-messaging, and a web page creator. The package will contain Google ads, but a future version will provide ad-free services for a price. Outlook and Exchange are non Web-based apps, and their future must be suspect. It may take years, but web services are coming. Will your firm be ready?

50 Ways to Lose Your Laptop - Yahoo! News

Link: 50 Ways to Lose Your Laptop - Yahoo! News. Somehow, it was funnier when Simon and Garfunkel said it. Worrying about flying is getting dicier; for a while recently, you had to check your laptop at the gate in the U.K., and some travelers do it on purpose. As one traveler found out, that can be a good thing; his lost laptop was replaced by the airline because it was in checked baggage. Of course, if I keep it next to my warm body at all times, it won't have to be replaced, unless the batter explodes, and then I will have to be replaced. I just can't fly to and from the U.K. Of course, do I WANT to fly to the U.K.? NOT. Actually, a lot of short haul travelers are rediscovering AMTRAK. A train ride from Washington, D.C. to New York takes the same time as flying, when wait time is considered, and you can relax, use your laptop, use a cell phone, and generally zone out. And, the seats are more comfortable. And, you are ON THE GROUND at all times, which is very nice.