Futurelawyer

Give It A Head And A Gun And Bring The Troops Home

Video: Headless, Humanoid Robot Preps for Army Duty | Danger Room | Wired.com. Take a look at the future of combat. Put a scary head on this thing, and it will carry stuff. Put some Kevlar over its electronics, and a gun in its hand, and we will have remote soldiers as well as remote vehicles and drones. Of course, the upside is that our human soldiers will be protected from combat. The downside is that our human soldiers will be protected from combat. When it stops being real, and looks like a video game, it will be too easy to kill. Modern warfare is too antiseptic. Remember the line from Jarrell's poem "Death of the Ball-Turret Gunner". Ball Turret gunners were the remote killers of their day. However, the enemy adapted, and figured out how to shoot at the turrets of the slow-moving bombers. Thus, "When he died, they washed him out of the turret with a hose". 

XP Is Dead - Time To Move On

Homepage | Ubuntu. I know, I know. I stuck with XP for many years myself. Using it is comfortable, like an old security blanket. You are cheap and you don't want to give Microsoft more money. You are still using 5 year old hardware, and don't want to spend money on a new computer. You know who you are. While most of us have moved on to Windows 7, you are locked in a time warp, and you don't want to come along for the ride. But, you are concerned with security, and XP has been hacked more times than foliage in a forest on a well worn path. How can you protect yourself and your clients' data? Well, here is a free and easy way to do it. Revisit Ubuntu, the free Linux distro that can be downloaded and installed right from Windows. Ubuntu has heard the cries of the masses, and realized that it must be easier to install and use, or else it will always be the geek OS. Once installed, you will be able to do most of what you are already doing; but, you will still need Windows for your legacy software. Security on the net, however, is a no brainer with Ubuntu Linux. Linux users are running the most secure OS on the planet. Don't you want that level of security? Of course you do. So, put down the blankie, take your thumb out of your mouth, and do this, okay?

Computers And Television - Too Much Information?

Google takes another shot at the TV market | Reuters. The last frontier for media is the convergence of television and the Internet. As more and more Internet media makes its way to the 60 year old Television technology, it is becoming apparent that most of us don't know that what we really want is one unified method of accessing everything. Call it the unified field theory of information. I have noticed, for a couple of decades, that lawyers use a lot of information, and that computers and technology could make access to that information easier and more convenient. The productivity gains that Internet legal research has created are stunning, aren't they? The next billionaire will be the guy who founds the company that finds out how to make the Internet and TV work as one. Google TV wants to pierce that market. One of Steve Jobs' last initiatives was to crack the TV market. Someday, we will all think of Televisions and computers and tablets and smartphones as mere windows into a single, unified information and entertainment portal. Will it be Huxley's ironic "brave, new world" or a fantastical H.G. Wells "utopia"? If we live long enough, we get to find out.

Team Meetings Or Typical Mediations?

Execupundit.com: The Evolution of Team Meetings. Execupundit certainly does have some insight into group behavior, and corporate think. The typical business meeting tends to follow some common tracks; and, litigation and mediations within litigation can be very similar. My favorite idea for getting meeting or mediation progress is the duct tape over the mouth technique. I am always telling myself to keep my mouth largely shut during these group think exercises; I know that you learn more by listening than by talking; but, my big mouth just won't stop sometimes. More often than not, though, there is always someone else in the meeting who won't shut up. May I have some duct tape please?

Zinio For Android - Magazines On Your Tablet

Android�| Zinio - The World's Largest Newsstand. Zinio finally has released its fine magazine app for Android, and it is the perfect complement to my PressReader subscription, which gives me access to full screen versions of several thousand daily and weekly newspapers around the world. Now, I can get PC Magazine, and my other favorites on my tablet. No more wet mags on the bathroom floor! Of course, that is probably too much information; but, who hasn't taken a magazine in there on occasion? Zinio and PressReader work on phones; but, you really need the screen real estate of a 10 inch tablet to make it work. Try it free, and there are plenty of free articles and mags to demo it. If you find one you like, you can get an annual subscription, or just buy one copy. Someone commented that it is a "Kindle for Magazines". Apt description.

 

Samsung Galaxy Note- Back To The Future

Samsung Galaxy Note hands-on [updated with video] | Android Central. What is bigger than a smart phone, smaller than a tablet, and uses a pen stylus for input? Scheduled for entry into the European market late this year, the Samsung Galaxy Note is a "tweener", with a huge 5.3 inch screen, a dual core processor, a gorgeous Samsung screen, and will run the newest version of the Android tablet OS. However, what sets this beauty apart, and what will have graphic artists and businessmen (lawyers?) beating a path to its door, is its return to the roots of PDA computing. Yes, a usable stylus is back, and it permits very fine user control over the screen. This post from Android Central shows an artist doing some very sophisticated drawing on the Note's screen. I can't wait until it makes the market in the U.S. In the meantime, here is a hands-on video to give you a feel for the device. 

Tired Of Apples And Ice Cream? Try A Mango

Microsoft Serves Up Some Mango to All Eligible Phones. Late to the game, Microsoft is pushing Mango (Windows Phone 7.5) to all eligible Windows phones, and it is different, but very cool. As the previous video shows, Microsoft is trying to combine the ease of use of Apple's iOS, with the functionality and customization of Android, and a "what do you want to do?" interface. Combining related apps into tile accessed touch screen icons looks more complicated than it is. This touch and communicate interface may just be what a lot of users want. Just another choice in an expanding mobile universe.

Don't Talk To Your Computer. Reach Out And Touch It.

Will the future be filled with beautiful, well dressed people ambling through train stations, bus stations and cities and homes, talking to their computing devices? Not. As this prescient video shows, computers will get very thin, very easy to use, and will be used by fingers and hands and eyes and motions. Who wants to talk to their computer all day anyway? Welcome to Microsoft's vision of the future.

 

Android And Google TV - Nirvana Coming

A 'new and improved' Logitech Revue with Android 3.1 spied at national retailer (Update: It's only a sticker) | Android Central. I love Google TV. Browsing on a big screen with a Logitech keyboard really is fun. And, now that the Revue has been reduced to $99, it is a no brainer purchase. But, in the near future, the boxes will be upgraded to Android 3.1 and Android Market, enabling all of the Android app goodness to be available to the home TV. Currently, the web browser is really clunky, and hard to navigate. But, access to 500,000 Android apps may keep me in my recliner for a long time. Just bring me food and beer.

Giving New Meaning To The Phrase "Your Computer Is A Piece Of ****!"

Researchers Build Logic Gates from Bacteria. Researchers in London have figured out how to create logic gates from E. coli bacteria. Now we have a new use for them, other than as fertilizer. Actually, this science is pretty amazing, and could be the precursor to molecular computers. Can human computers be far behind? Maybe I won't need that processor transplantation after all. Wouldn't it be ironic if the first human robots were biological computers made from E. coli bacteria, and they were tasked with shoveling barns? Oh well. Something to think about this weekend. I wonder if they could make a computer out of a lawyer's argument?