Futurelawyer

Cyber Monday Has Morphed Into Cyber Weekend.

As I look for bargains on the Internet, on this Cyber Monday, it occurred to me that I haven't really participated in outdoor shopping for a long time, even pre COVID 19. We have become a nation of Internet shoppers, and the only way for a retailer to survive is email marketing, and online selling. But, has the Internet economy and a pandemic had an effect on other professions. Of course. Lawyers are affected also, and solos without an established practice are also hard hit. Any lawyer without a significant online presence is having trouble delivering legal services. Looking for a job requires persistence, and luck. For those of us looking for alternative employment, there are opportunities.

#WhyIAmASolo - AI Isn't Ready To Go To Meetings For Me Yet.

AI Can Run Work Meetings Now. What if you had an office manager that never needed food or sleep, and never had home emergencies and was always accurate and on top of every detail in the office? It is coming. This article about Headroom and its ability to transcribe video conferences, count words, maintain schedules, and other things, got me thinking about a future in which AI did the meetings for us. Ideally, a robot would even attend in "person" meetings for us, and say the things we needed to say, because it knew us so well. But, alas, that future isn't here yet, and won't be before you and I are dead. So, keep your solo practice, Someday, you will have the opportunity to serve your AI Robot masters. But, not today.

Now For Something Different, And Actually Important.

Supreme Court Hears Van Buren Hacking Case. What is computer hacking? Do you know? Well, tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether a police officer who accesses a database which he has legal access to; but, which he accesses for an unauthorized purpose, is violating the Computer Fraud And Abuse Act, and, is "hacking". When we think of hacking, we tend to get an image of some script kiddie in mom's basement accessing a government database. But, the definition is much more complicated. If you violate a State or Federal statute, or violate the terms of service you signed up for on Facebook, or fix your spouse's computer without their knowledge, are you violating the anti-hacking statute? This is a case that will impact all of our lives. Watch closely to see where the Supremes draw the line.

#ParrotSunday - Sometimes It's Not All About The Birds.

via GIPHY

#PoetryFriday - Living Life In One Dimension?

Are you living your life in a single dimension? Do shallow pursuits engage you often? Will you use your short time on the planet on superficial images of success? Your call.

PHOTOGRAPH

He looked closely at the photograph,
Image of his youth,
Filled with promise,
Overflowing with optimism.

Its single dimension
reminded him of another self.
The man in the photograph was
free to hope
free to wonder
free to grasp
looking for the future.

He remembered the photographer.
Prodding,
Annoying,
Motioning,
Jostling with the hangers on
and the wannabes.
Asking him to share his soul
whether or not he wanted it.

He took a photograph in his mind,
moved to a new decade.
He wondered whether the wisdom of age
would bring the photograph to life.

Did it look at him
and laugh?

Grieving Isn't Always About Getting On With Life.

I write about Jacquelyn's death in order to get others to think about death in a rational, productive way. It also helps to expiate my demons, which, as any grieving person knows, come in waves. As almost four years have passed since her illness began, each anniversary or holiday sometimes brings both good and bad memories. I am happy in a new love relationship; but, the memories never go away, do they? Both Diane and I know what it is to lose a spouse. I feel closer to her because I know she has memories also. I felt conflicted when I wrote this poem, and the conflicting thoughts continue. Get busy living or get busy dying. Sometimes we do both in sequence, don't we? I republish this poem today; not for those of you who have read it, and considered death and its inevitability; but, for those of you who haven't spent time considering that you will die. Don't just say the words. Live today. Die another day.

OBITUARY

I wrote your obituary today.

I told the truth

But not the whole truth.

I wrote the truth that we all tell each other

and others

and post on Facebook walls

and in Newspapers

I didn’t write the truth we keep in our hearts.

I didn’t write about the battles we fought together

and alone.

I didn’t write about the secrets we kept from others

and from ourselves.

I didn’t write about the truths we humans

don’t want others to know.

I wrote about your accomplishments

I wrote about the love others had for you

I wrote about the public face

we all show the world.

But, I didn’t write about your incandescent eyes

I didn’t write about your caring soul

I didn’t write about the wry tilt of your head

When I was being ridiculous.

I didn’t write about the words we spoke

in the night.

I didn’t write the truths we admitted to each other

in the early morning light.

I didn’t write about our sins, our faults, or our failings.

I didn’t write about the daily struggles we faced

in a world consumed by desire and evil.

I wanted to write about the heartache of a string of days without you.

I wanted to express the pain of loss

I wanted to tell the world that you were the best person I ever knew.

I only told them what they wanted to hear.

Ellie Is Ready For A Game Of Chess...Am I?

The recent interest in Chess, sparked by the new TV series, "Queen's Gambit", is encouraging. Perhaps some kids will have their interest in the Game of Kings inspired. In the meantime, I am going to have to continue getting beaten by Ellie, the living room Giraffe. Oh well. She learned from the best.

Jelly Pro And Bose Smartglasses... Heaven In Your Head.

I had been keeping the tiny Jelly Pro 4G smartphone as an FM radio companion for football games. It has a removable back for spare batteries, a headphone jack for a wired headset which the FM tuner uses as an antenna, and is a full featured Android Smartphone. While the screen is very small, it is perfect for walking, running, traveling, and any other use when you don't want to carry a big Smartphone. This morning, however, it occurred to me that I have a Stereo Bose headset in my Smartglasses, so I paired the Jelly Pro with the Bose glasses. I now have a wonderful concert hall in my head with a tiny 2 1/2 inch phone. Stash the phone in a pocket and go. Great way to spend a Saturday morning. Tomita's Arabesque No. 1 is a great way to ease into the day.

Do You Know What Day It Is?

National Day Calendar - World Backup Day.

No, it's not hump day. And, it's not World Backup Day either. But, I am backing up my Google data anyway. Actually, World Backup Day is March 31st; but, you should be backing up your data all the time. There are 1,500 "Days", and the National Day Calendar keeps track of all of them. You can buy one, or check online at the link. But, back to backups. I saw a post by good friend, Kevin O'Keefe, who founded Lexblog. who has forgotten more about blogging than I will ever know, and who introduced me to blogging in 2005, which cited Seth Godin's post about Google Reader, and Google's abandonment of the "Don't be Evil" slogan. Google can delete you account at any time, and is now charging a lot of money for photo storage at Google Photos. While my $9.99 a month plan gets me 2 Terabytes of storage, that will hold me for another 4 years or so. Since I am an old man, I will wait to see if I get to the threshold. When I do, I will have to cough up $49.99 a month to get 10 Terabytes. Jeez, Google, do you need more money or what? In any event, if you are a Google user, you need to got to Google Takeout and start the backup process for all your Google data. This can take a day or more, and you will get an email link when it is complete. Then, copy the data to a USB drive and keep it secure. So, the moral of this story is, don't wait until World Backup day to backup your Google data, or any other data. Do it now. As old as I am, I may not be around anymore when you need me. Do it for yourself. Do it for your family.

Washington Football Team - By Any Other Name, They Still Beat The Cowboys.

Washington Football Team. Lifelong fans of the Washington Football Team will understand when I say that, no matter the final record, it is a successful season when the team defeats the Dallas Cowboys. But, as I watched my lifelong favorite team destroy the Cowboys last night, I couldn't help but think that maybe the name change was a good thing. There is an unwritten rule in trial law that you should be careful with objections to unfavorable testimony. The reason is that, by objecting, you call attention to the testimony, and, win or lose the argument, you can never erase the testimony from a fact finder's mind. Like picking at a scab, the results can be catastrophic. Now, imagine you are watching a football team with no name. It is the Washington Football Team. What is the immediate image that goes through your mind? In fact, doesn't this whole debacle just fix the image of the old logo in your mind? Will you ever be able to erase the image of the old logo, and the old name from your mind? Hail to the Football Team. Hail, Victory. Members of the Football Team on the warpath. Fight for old D.C.