Futurelawyer

Nostalgia Sunday - My First Personal Office Computer

IBM Personal Computer XT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. My first real office computer (that sat on my desk in my office) was an IBM PC with dual 5 inch floppy disks around 1986. They had been out since 1981; but, I was still with a firm and we had a kitchen sized monstrosity called an MTST from IBM. Think refrigerator sized automatic typewriter. The green screened text based PC was a revelation. I got used to DOS, and text commands, and loading one floppy for the Operating System, and using the other to store letters, pleadings and documents. Then, hard drives came out on personal computers in 1983, and, by 1987 or 1988, I had a PC XT, and the hard drive could store mountains of documents, by 1980s standards. Here is a photo of one of these early computers. Takes me back.

Videorecord Every Deposition

LawComix Blog Lawyer Cartoons by Charles Fincher, Esq.: Deposition ... No Videotape. My friend Charlie Fincher is a truly gifted artist and humorist about the legal profession. He and I share a goal of being recovered lawyers; but, alas, we have the addiction. One of the things I am not addicted to is deponents lying their a**** off in deposition. This lawyer wishes she had a videorecord of this depo.

I Smell Another Remake Of Tron

Tampa Bay Buccaneers new uniform - NFL - Sporting News. My beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers have changed their uniforms again. They have stayed with the Pewter and Red; but, the new unis look like the players on the original Tron movie. Can you say "I want to play football, but I'm trapped in this stupid computer game costume?" Oh well, the good news is that the other teams will be blinded by the bling (seriously, high gloss chrome headhear?) and will drop passes, fumble the football frequently, or, at the least, die laughing. Sigh.

Everything Old Is New Again

OK Google...Play It For Me

Tell Google Now 'play some music' to launch an 'I'm feeling lucky' radio station | Android Central. Google Now is becoming an important tool in my arsenal. I seldom access it on the phone; but, all of its notifications come to my wrist on the Gear, and I feel it vibrate. I can glance at the watch and be reminded of appointments, game scores, travel time, and a host of other things, in addition to the standard email, text, and social media notifications. However, all work and no play makes us dull boys, so the new "play some music" command is a lot of fun. Google knows what you like to listen to and Google Play Music All Access for $9.99 a month makes this even better. Sometimes I worry that Google, like an intimate human connection, knows too much about me. But, then, the convenience, comfort and ease of use factors take over. Ok Google, play some music.

Email More Effective Than Social Media? Not.

Email marketing is three times more effective than social media. Really?. Kevin O'Keefe disagrees with this marketing expert that email is 3 times more effective than social media. I agree. Email is one prong in an Internet presence that has an effect on building an Internet reputation. However, there is no real way to measure its effect quantitatively. Lawyers use email every day to communicate with clients, the courts and others. We file pleadings and motions electronically as pdf attachments to email. Email is in the process of supplanting the things that snail mail used to do. However, blogging and social media is a far more powerful and content deeper method of telling the world who and what you are. Blogging and social media create relationships that may, or may not, turn into business. They are merely modern methods of connecting with a larger circle of other human beings. Expand your connections and the business will follow.

Shhh! Can You Hear It? Your Hard Drive Is Failing

There's No Excuse for Not Backing Up Your Computer. Do It Now.. Every hard drive will fail, sooner or later. Every computer system will crash, sooner or later. I know. I, like the author of this article, am always harping on backing up your drive and its data. I have a 2 Terabyte USB drive that I use to back mine up every other weekend. And, sometimes, I do it more often. I should do it more often. But, you know how it goes. We forget to do the menial tasks. So, consider this your wake up call. Tonight, when you get home from work, plug in a USB drive, fire up Windows built-in backup, and make an image of your drive. Then, in a few days, do it again. Then, in a few days, do it again. Make a separate backup of documents, data, and other stuff on to several USB sticks. Keep them in different places. Do it now.

The Predator Would Be Proud To Wear This Watch

Rufus Cuff could be the %u2018phablet%u2019 of mobile wrist devices | GadgeTell. Yes, we did at one time find phablets too big for a phone, and too small for a tablet. Now, the 7 inch tablet outsells all others. As the success of the Note 2 and Note 3 SmartPhones has shown, size is more a matter of perception than actual usability. I wouldn't think of another size phone, after using the Note 3. Now, a landscape mode SmartWatch, the Rufus Cuff, may change perceptions again. This thing is huge, and follows the line of the arm. It is clearly inspired by the Predator arm computer. You know, the one he uses to blow up himself and half an island. You will definitely be noticed wearing this thing around. I don't get how people think the Gear is too large. It is actually slimmer and smaller than some of the diver's watches, and other watches men have been wearing in recent years. But, stretch the Gear screen to double its size, and you have the Rufus Cuff. The company calls it a wrist communicator, and Spock would be proud to wear it. Beam me up, Scotty.

 

Why Haven't You Upgraded To Windows 8.1?

Why Have Most Windows 8 Users Not Upgraded to Windows 8.1?. I know that a lot of you have bought new computers with Windows 8, or have upgraded to Windows 8. However, given that the fixes in Windows 8.1 are free, why haven't you upgraded? You have to go to the Windows Store and get it; so, that may be it. It won't come automatically with Windows Update. But, it greatly increases the speed and stability of Windows 8, and you will have to have Windows 8.1 to update to to the next version. So, get over to Windows Store, and get Windows 8.1. Don't make me come over there.

Samsung Gear 2 May Make Calls

Samsung reportedly working on Gear 2 variant with standalone voice call support | GadgeTell. The best thing about my Samsung Gear SmartWatch is that it can make and receive calls. I can leave the phone in my pocket or briefcase, and accept, reject, answer and make phone calls all on the watch. It is, however, dependent on the actual phone, which must be within 30 feet of the watch. It is now being reported that the Gear 2 may have an upcoming variant that will accept a SIM card and have its own 3G connectivity. In effect, it will be a smartphone itself. I suppose is it a a natural evolution for wearable computing; but, will it succeed?