Futurelawyer

Linux, CrossOver, a Dell X1 and a Bottle of Wine - Nirvana

You may recall that I have been playing around with using Ubuntu Linux  and CrossOver Linux  from CodeWeavers to bypass the requirement for a Microsoft operating system. CrossOver Linux makes a graphical front-end for Wine, the open-source software that allows running many native Windows applications within Linux. I am making some progress in this area, and, while many of my legal applications are not supported by the Wine/CodeWeaver community, I can see the future, and it does NOT require a Windows operating system to run Windows apps. I have been using my old SATA hard drive in my Dell laptop to test; but, over the weekend, I installed Ubuntu Linux and CrossOver Linux on my ultralight Dell X1 computer, and it now is my carry around Linux box. Ubuntu Linux is easy to install and use, and takes no time at all to acclimate to. With CrossOver, I have successfully installed, and am now running, Microsoft Office XP (Word, Outlook, etc.), and I even got WordPerfect 11 to install. Some of my other legal-specific apps remain to be installed, such as ProDoc, Displaysoft real estate software, and HotDocs. Since Linux has versions of the Firefox browser and Thunderbird email , my Web activity is the same as always. And, using GoToMyPc, I have complete access to my Amicus Attorney case management system and Amicus Accounting. CrossOver Linux leverages the Wine system, so named because it works by creating "bottles" on the Linux computer that create a small virtual Windows environment for particular applications. Bottles can be XP, Windows 98, or Windows 2000 flavored, and, with some tweaking, just about any Windows app will run in them. Will I make a complete switch to Linux soon? Too early to tell, but you will be the first to know.

Excite News - Google Helps Make Public Records Available

Link: Excite News - Google Helps Make Public Records Available. It had to happen. Google, which is great at storing and finding information on the web, is helping to digitize and make available public and court records around the country. It is making deals with Governments and agencies to allow its search engines to access millions of public records. It is a marriage made in heaven, as Google's expertise will greatly assist Government agencies who need it, and the public (and lawyers) will benefit. This is the type of partnership that will help the Web fulfill its potential as a repository of human information. As for privacy concerns, I would much rather deal with the privacy of available public records than not to know what is happening behind the scenes. In balancing the right to know versus the right to privacy, an open Government must tip the scales in favor of openness. I would rather trust Google than Government agencies in matters of Internet searching and security of information.

Lawyer Jokes - Only Lawyers Get To Tell Them

Stephan Pastis is my favorite cartoonist, and a "recovering" lawyer. As I have told him, I envy him. So, while I don't normally like lawyer jokes, I am reproducing this one, since he earned the right to tell it. And, we all wish our legal system were better anyway, right? Tip: If you have trouble reading it, click on the image for a full-sized version:

WashingtonWatch.com - Welcome to WashingtonWatch.com

Link: WashingtonWatch.com - Welcome to WashingtonWatch.com. Thanks to Ernie Svenson for pointing to this useful website, which tracks legislation pending in the Congress. Most lawyers follow legislation in their home state, but we don't normally keep up with our national legislation, unless our newsreaders highlight it. In true Web 2.0 fashion, readers can leave comments at WashingtonWatch. It will be interesting to see the interplay. For now, I am having a good time reading the titles of Bills pending. Amazing to see how often "Fairness" appears in the title of bills. Also, "Prohibition" and "Minimum", and "Comprehensive". Most of the actual legislation is anything but.

Google Web History - The Death of Privacy

Link: Google Web History. Okay, you have to ask for it, but the fact that they know creeps me out. You can now ask Google to track every website you have ever visited, and can follow trends in your searching. My question is, some of these histories go way back. Could a Court compel a litigant to sign up in order to view search history as part of electronic discovery? Might web search history be relevant to issues in litigation? Do you have a duty, as a lawyer, to mine this important source of evidentiary gold? Now, it will become important to ask a deponent whether he or she has, or has ever had, a Google account. If so, I smell a Motion to Compel production of the Google search history. Such a history might lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, and would seem to be fair game in the discovery process. At the very least, it might be embarassing. Brave new world, grasshopper.

TechnoEsq

Link: TechnoEsq. Here  is another legal blog by a tech lawyer, Finis Price. Finis does product reviews, and such, and is also going solo. He has a great resource on his site, containing tutorials for everything from converting PDFs to text, to creating digital signatures. He probably has more technical expertise than I do, and I will be consulting his tutorial page often.

Only God Can Make a Jacaranda Tree

Link: Northpinellas: Beneath the purple rain. I was drawn to this story in the St. Petersburg Times because of the fact that fishermen around here used to watch for the bloom of the Jacaranda tree in order to tell when the Kingfish were going to be around. There are a lot of Jacarandas in Pinellas County, transplants from their country of origin. They are a junky tree most of the year, leaving trash around, and almost nobody plants them anymore. There was one in the front yard of the house I rented in law school many years ago, and I got very tired of cleaning up around it. However, for a couple of weeks a year, Jacarandas have the most beautiful purple canopy of blossoms, that make a purple carpet when they fall to the ground. Nowadays, we have computer gadgets to find the fish, and we spend a lot of time in front of computers. I think that I will go look at a Jacaranda in bloom today.

Blogging For Success - Part Deux

I have been laughing a lot lately. What fun is life if you don't?

Portable Laptop Lectern

Do you need notes to make your opening and closing arguments to the jury? Do you hate being trapped behind a huge wooden lectern that prohibits your movement? Do you want to get closer to your jury and to maintain eye contact? Introducing the amazing portable notebook lectern. It is cheap, and only requires 2 or 3 bungee cords and a strap. This unit is guaranteed to make you mobile during closing arguments, and will enable you to refer to your notes without fumbling with paper. Today only, at your local hardware store.

June 1 is D-Day for those still running Vista betas | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com

Link:June 1 is D-Day for those still running Vista betas | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com. Some bloggers think that I am beating the "I hate Vista" horse to death. Perhaps this horse is already dead; however, I must report what I see, and you must decide. When large corporations like Microsoft keep doing brain-dead things to the users who made them rich, it gets my blood boiling. Now, Microsoft is biting the hands that feed, and crippling the beta copies of Vista sent out to users who voluntarily agreed to test the operating system during its long beta. Give me a break. Would it break Microsoft's bank to allow these brave souls to have a free upgrade to one of the Vista versions? Microsoft is requiring beta testers to pay for a full upgrade to the most expensive version of the new OS, Ultimate, or face crippling reboots, and lack of access. Beta testers, unite! Power to the people! Switch to XP, Linux or Mac OS! Microsoft, let my people go!