Futurelawyer

Efiling's Ninth Birthday - It Is A Brave New Online Legal World.

Google History - Make The Past Disappear...Or Make It Never Happen.

You have control. You have the technology. You just need to do it. If you don't want some nosy busybody following you around the Internet, make yourself invisible. It is as easy as turning off your History in the Google Settings. Good luck figuring out where I went yesterday.

Every One Has Something To Be Embarrassed About...Delete It.

Android Users Can Now Delete Their Recent History. Many innocent phone searches might prove to be embarrassing if disclosed. But, Android users now have a way to delete searches made in the last 15 minutes. They already have a way to delete their history long term, such as 6 months or a year or 18 months. Many searches are made for information gathering; but, could be misconstrued if disclosed. And, some searching might involve client confidences and cannot be disclosed or made available without ethical consequences. So, don't be embarrassed if you have done something that is embarrassing. Delete it. 

Google Assistant Is Lagging? Here's The Fix.

Google Assistant Remove Unused Devices. So, you broke the bank and bought an expensive new Android phone. But, when you call on Google Assistant for advice, there is a definite lag. Guess what? There is a reason. Over the years, you have enabled Assistant on many of your devices, and, even after you bought a new device, you failed to remove the link to the old phone or tablet. Google Assistant is great; but, it slows down when it has to look for a bunch of devices. The newest update to Google Android has a Setting in Google Assistant that allows you to remove all the old devices. Now, your phone will zoom back at you with no delays. OK Google. Let's get to work.

The Best Smartwatch Ever Gets Even Better.

Galaxy Watch 4 Update Gets Google Assistant. Any resident of the Googleverse probably says: "OK Google", or "Hey Google", dozens of times a day. So, it was reasonable to assume that, when Samsung finally joined the Googleverse with the new WearOS that combined the best parts of the Tizen OS that Galaxy Watch users loved, with the Wear OS that populated many smartwatches, that all of the Google functionality would come with it. But, since Google Assistant isn't compatible with Bixby, it hasn't happened yet. Since I carry both the Watch 4 and the Samsung S21 Ultra Plus most of the time, it didn't matter much, because the phone picked up my constant OK Google refrain. Google is just a better, smoother, faster search engine. But, be not afraid. This week, the Watch 4 is being updated with Google Assistant, and it will live side by side with Bixby. Along with the dozens of other essential functions these new Smartwatches perform, we really will have the knowledge of the world on our wrists. With the LTE chip in my watch, I will be able to mine the billions of bits of information stored in the world's computers, armed only with a stylish wrist watch on my wrist. Now, they just have to make one with the buttons on the left side for those of us who wear the watch on the right arm. As an aside, I was looking at luxury watches online this morning, and noted that a Rolex Submariner, which I owned back in the last century, and for which I paid a whopping $5,000, now sells for over $10,000. In a gold case, they can go for over $35,000. The only thing a Rolex does is tell you the time and the date. That's it. Remember, fellow Stoics. Caring what others think, like trying to impress them with a watch, is a useless exercise. Control the things you can control, like how much you pay for a watch. The Galaxy Watch 4, even with the LTE chip, costs around $500. It maintains a separate connection to the world of the Internet for $10 a month. It brings email, texts, heart rate, ECG, blood oxygen levels, calendar, time, date, and dozens of other features to your wrist. Nuff said.

#TBT - Back In The Year 2000, This Newsman Probably Thought That He Would Have A Job In Journalism Forever.

As passing fads go, the Internet was up there with Hula Hoops.

Saturday Morning Project - Add Extensions To Your Browser For More Privacy.

Browser Settings To Change ASAP. Web browsers are designed to track everything you do on the Internet, ostensibly to give you better results, and to sell you stuff you are probably interested in. They are also designed to create data that can be sold to advertisers and manufacturers. All of this is fine in a consumer focused economy. However, bad actors can also get the data, and politicians have used the data for nefarious purposes. So, how does a responsible lawyer or other person strike a healthy balance? Why, tweaking the browser, of course. You could change to a more secure browser. But, you wouldn't get the benefits of Chrome or the other ad supported browsers. So, read this article, and consider adding extensions that increase browser security. You can add only the ones you need to strike the balance you require. A great source of security extensions for Chrome is the Electronic Frontier Foundation. My favorite is HTTPS Everywhere, which adds secure browsing to every site. This page has more EFF security extensions to consider. Think of it as putting better locks on your doors at home. You won't prevent all crime; but, you will have a deterrent. Be safe out there.

Why Isn't Everyone Using Signal?

Signal. I don't understand. Politicians, celebrities, and others in the public eye keep getting cancelled. Of course, cancelling someone for what they said years ago is reprehensible, and free speech is under attack; but, the fact remains that those who depend upon public approval need to be careful these days. So, why they aren't using Signal for every text message, and only sending texts to their clients and colleagues who are also using Signal, is beyond me. I suppose that the craving for fame is in all of us; but, be smart, people. Lawyers especially need to be careful, at least with confidential information. I am as guilty as the rest of you, and don't always insist that my text partners have, and use, Signal. But, I use it as my only text messaging app, and, if I were to need a specific conversation to be encrypted everywhere, I would insist the other person use it. It is important that we monitor our words carefully in the political environment in which we find ourselves.

Rumors We Hope Are True - Galaxy Watch 4 Will Be Able To Use Google Assistant.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Rumored To Allow Use Of Google Assistant Instead Of Bixby. One of the things I don't like about my Tizen based Galaxy watches has been the requirement by Samsung that I use the Bixby search engine for voice searches on the watches. Bixby isn't really great at most searches, and Google Assistant is what I use on all my devices. It hasn't been a big problem, since I can call up Google Assistant on my phone, and on my Bose Frames when out and about. But, on the rare occasion I am away from my phone, and not wearing the Bose Frames, like in the swimming pool, it would be nice to be able to interact with my Smartwatch using "Hey, Google". Hey, no tech is perfect. But, if the rumors are true, I will be talking to Google on my Smartwatch very soon.

Internet Everywhere - How Fast Is Your Hotspot?

Sluggish Hotspot Made Faster With One Setting. Gone are the days when a mobile lawyer had to find a hotel lobby or airline waiting area or hotel room with a cabled or WiFi Internet connection. No longer are we subject to insecure WiFi hotspots, with spotty reception, or hotels that want an arm and a leg for Internet access. I am old enough to remember crawling under a motel room bed to find the phone jack so that I could connect a dial up modem that could hardly handle a text based email transmission. These days, the biggest problem is learning how to connect your phone to a 5Ghz connection for fast hotspot data. For less than $15 a month, I have several devices (phones and tablets) that can use up to 40 Gigabytes of hotspot data a month, which is enough for all my Internet needs when traveling in the RV, and that includes TV streaming. You don't need Cable TV. You don't need Satellite TV. You don't need to call the front desk about the spotty WiFi. Learn to use your Smartphone Hotspot, and better yet, have a second phone to use as a Hotspot. It is secure. It is easy. Just make sure you configure the Hotspot to the fastest connection you can use, either 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz.