Futurelawyer

Do You Need A Firewall? Yes, But You Probably Already Have Two.

HTG Explains: I Have a Router, Do I Need a Firewall? - How-To Geek. Users are always hearing about things like Firewalls. But, most of us don't really understand what they are. We connect to the Internet and are clueless about what comes in and out. We just want them to work. While most modern users connect to the Internet at home or at work behind a router, it is instructive to learn about firewalls, and what they do. Hardware firewalls are a function of devices like routers. They sit between an Internet modem, such as a cable modem or DSL modem, and route traffic to the computers in your home or office; either by Ethernet cable or Wirelessly. The firewall looks at incoming traffic and determines whether you requested it or not. So, the most basic protection is that the router won't send traffic that is unsolicited, and you are protected from bad stuff that acts like a burglar trying to get into your house. However, sometimes you can be conned into asking for bad applications, and you open the door to them. Here, the built in software firewalls in all versions of Windows since XP will ask the guest if they have been given permission to run by you, the user. If you have ever seen the Allow or Deny button, and clicked Allow, you have given that guest program entry to your computer. So, firewalls have a good purpose, and you won't ever notice them unless someone tries to enter your system. However, you can still allow bad stuff in, so additional protection is needed. We call that protection Anti-malware, virus protection, or Anti-Spyware. That discussion we will save for another day. Remember, where computer security is involved, be careful out there.

Dell's Moving Away From PCs As Sales Slump

Dell's Profit Falls 18% on Slumping PC Sales - WSJ.com. Far be it from me to give advice to Michael Dell, who became a billionaire manufacturing, assembling and selling PCs. Now that the world begins to move to touch based systems and Windows 8, why not leverage the company's experience with the Dell Duo Convertible? I will be installing Windows 8 on this little Windows 7 tablet/notebook hybrid in order to try out the new convergence system from Microsoft. Why not put Dell's considerable weight behind a thinner, lighter Duo? Perhaps competing with Microsoft Surface tablets and computers is daunting; but, Dell has a lot more experience with computer manufacture than Microsoft. I think that Microsoft may wish it didn't go into competition with the companies that built the systems that made it the most used OS in the world. It is a cloud universe now, and it is a given that more users will have other options in a cloud based world. 

My Parrots Aren't Just Dinosaur Descendants; They May Be Martians!

As this video shows, beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt, the Martians were, prior to their demise, Parrots. Since I have three Parrots in my waiting room, I am pleased to know that they have such amazing ascendants. How the Parrot species got to earth is certainly a story we all want to know about; but, I can see the resemblance to the Martian Parrots in Pinot, my female Umbrella Cockatoo. She is able to escape from any enclosure, and has been known to open cage doors with her beak. She even ate a fee check from a client once over a weekend. So, watch this video from the surface of Mars and see if you can see a Parrot. BTW, it would appear that Mickey Mouse has also visited Mars before humans. Go figure.

Everything Old Is New Again, Again

Installing Windows 8 on your old PC could turn it into Greased Lightning | ZDNet. Jason Perlow doesn't buy the conventional wisdom that Windows 8 just won't help non-touch screen computers. He has tried it on some old computers, and he says the speed increases are amazing. The code is streamlined, and I think he may be on to something. Just because you don't have a touch screen doesn't mean you can't still run all your stuff. You just have to bypass Metro, and get back to your desktop interface. Yes, I called it Metro. Sue me. But, I digress. Microsoft is making it as difficult as possible to bypass Metro (oops. I did it again.) However, I guarantee that some hacker will figure out a way to boot this puppy directly to the desktop. This may be a way to rescue an old machine, and make it, as Jason says, "greased lightning". 

Desperation Or Good Marketing?

Microsoft starts taking orders for $14.99 Windows 8 upgrade - Computerworld. If you bought a Windows 7 computer recently, Microsoft has such a deal for you. How about a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8? Taken with the regular upgrade price in October of $39.99 for all existing Windows users, it is apparent that Microsoft has changed pricing strategy on new versions of its most used operating system in the world. But, are the price changes the result of intelligent marketing or the last, desperate gasp of a company the Internet threatens to pass by? Those of us who are so locked in to Windows based productivity software that we are married to Microsoft are happy for the price relief. However, the world is clearly moving to the cloud, and there are any number of ways to get there. Don't misinterpret my remarks as betraying dissatisfaction with my legacy Windows software. I have it learned and tuned to make my day productive, and I would never switch to, say Apple, and want to purchase different apps, and learn new methods now that everything is working. However, there are young people who aren't so invested in their systems, and the future belongs to them. Microsoft needs to remain relevant to them. The combination of tablet and notebook/desktop computers into one device, or hybrid device, is Microsoft's attempt to remain relevant. The pricing strategy is an essential part of that attempt. 

Ethical Shopping Equals Ethical Lawyering

Execupundit.com: Unethical Shopping. This Execupundit post on the ethics of shopping could just as easily be applied to the practice of law. We can all identify situations in our law practice in which the successful strategy is not the ethical strategy. Have ethics and professionalism become anachronistic principles? We all need to examine our lives and conduct and ask hard questions about doing the right thing, even when it isn't in our personal interest. I don't particularly believe in personal affirmations. You know, the inspirational sayings we sometimes put in frames on the wall. However, I read Execupundit every day because he gives great advice on living well and ethically. Check it out. 

 

A Plague On Both Your Houses?

Jury won't be informed of deleted Apple, Samsung emails. As the Apple-Samsung litigation heads to the jury, the presiding Judge has apparently entered an Order in response to Samsung's Motion for relief from an adverse inference instruction from Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal concerning Samsung's alleged spoliation of emails after a litigation hold took effect. The Judge has denied adverse inference instructions for both companies. In effect, the jury will not be told that both companies may have destroyed email evidence that may be pertinent to their deliberations. Notwithstanding this ruling, it is apparent to this observer that the complexity of the verdict form, and the back and forth sniping that has been a hallmark of the trial, may cause the jurors to act with the frustration of Mercutio, the outsider, in Hamlet, when he curses both the Montagues and the Capulets. This trial has all of the intrigue of a Shakespearean tragedy; except that it is the consumers who will pay the price. Will this jury give a mixed verdict that further muddies the waters? Or, will one of these companies be given a victory that merely acts as a milestone on the road to further litigation? Inquiring minds want to know.

Motorola Mobility Sues Apple And Asks For Import Ban

Motorola Mobility sues Apple (again); seeks iPhone, Mac import ban | ZDNet. Curiouser and curiouser. The Apple, Google, Samsung, HTC patent litigation parade never stops, does it? We could find ourselves in a situation where both Apple iPhones and Android phones are all banned from importation into the United States. There may be hope for RIM yet. If Apple succeeds in banning Samsung phones and tablets from the U.S., and Motorola succeeds in banning iPhones and iPads from the U.S. what will we do then? Of course, this will never happen, right? I have a gut feeling that the put upon consumer, and perhaps those on the jury in the Apple/Samsung litigation, might say "A pox on all your houses" and refuse to return verdicts for any party. Perhaps that might get these companies to learn to live together; but, I doubt it.

Google Maps Now Has Public Transit Schedules

Google Maps now has schedules for more than one million public transit stops worldwide | Official Google Blog. If you live in a big city, or take public transit to get around, you need to know that over one million worldwide transit stops are now locatable on Google Maps. There is a special layer for Transit Lines, and you needn't carry a paper schedule around any more. You will even be able to time your travel. This functionality is greatly enhanced in Jelly Bean, as Google Now remembers where you search or go, and will automatically bring up the maps you need when you need them. And, like auto navigation, you can track traffic and times of travel to your normal destinations. Just another way that technology is making our lives easier and more convenient.

This Restaurant Can Pry My SmartPhone From My Cold Dead Hands

Restaurant offers a discount if you check your phone at the door | DVICE. First, not having your smartphone with you in a restaurant is no guarantee of not being annoying. That is part of who the person is. If this restaurant has annoying customers, the proprietor needs to look at his customers; not their phones. I would not patronize this restaurant for a lot of reasons. Number One is that She Who Must Be Obeyed and I use our phones for a lot of things that don't involve loud conversations on our cell phones. We interact, converse, look up answers to questions that come up in our conversations, check in at the location, put reviews of the meal on websites, check email, text our location to the kids so they know where to join us, and a lot of other things that enhance our interaction and don't bother anyone else at the restaurant. We don't take calls or talk loudly on the phone during our meal. Why not give a discount to me for checking my glasses at the door? Then I wouldn't annoy people by fidgeting with them while I am waitng for the waiter to come to the table. And, I couldn't read the overpriced menu options that this bozo probably has on his menu. Hey, I know. Give a discount to people who agree to buy that overpriced wine you have in the back room that you haven't been able to get rid of. People who talk loudly on their phones are annoying; but, they would probably be annoying other diners anyway. And how about using your influence to improve your wait staff? Do you think that etiquette breaches are limited to customers?  So, Mr. Restaurant Owner, keep your discount and concentrate on your own problems. I am going to the restaurant down the street.