Futurelawyer

Sunday Is Mother's Day. Are You Prepared?

The ad says, and I quote, "Watch her face light up with delight". It is an ad for Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking from a few years ago. I kid you not. So, this Sunday, get your wife or mom the gift that Nuance says will light up her life. A subscription to online dictation software. What more could a woman want?

What's In An Icon? A Picture By Any Other Image Would Get The Job Done.

Windows 10 Update Replaces 26 Year Old Icons. We spend a lot of time designing things like icons to click on to get something done. Most of it is wasted, IMHO, since our goal should be to perform the task. We don't need to look stylish doing it. Windows icons have served us well for 26 years since I stood in line outside a Big Box store at midnight waiting to buy Windows 95. So, change the icons if you wish, Microsoft; but, the same tasks will be performed when they are clicked.

Zoom Live Transcription Is In The FutureLawyer House.

I just enabled Live Transcription in Zoom Pro, and it is very cool. I began speaking and the text starting rolling across the bottom of the screen. Here's a screen capture. If you have trouble hearing and understanding others on Zoom calls, this is a no brainer.

Zoom's Hidden Feature - Closed Captions.

How To Add Live Closed Captions To Zoom. I have, for a long time, identified with J. Alfred Prufrock, who opens the T.S. Eliot poem with: "I grow old. I grow old. I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled". Eliot was not a fun fellow; but, he had aging and depression and a fascination with death down. As we age, we discover that our senses and physical bodies lose some of the power of our youth. I discovered this when I realized that I needed on screen subtitles to watch Television. I hate hearing aids, as they make sounds too loud and tinny for my taste. But, the hearing problems have advantages, especially when the hearing loss is in the upper registers. I have avoided many fights with spouses this way. In any event, we are spending a lot of time on Zoom lately, and it turns out you can request that Zoom turn on Closed Captioning in your application. I will hold up on this for the time being, since I enjoy trying to figure out what people are saying. But, when it becomes more of a problem, I look forward to squinting at my screen during Zoom calls and hearings. It's always something.

Run Android On Your Windows Computer.

BlueStacks. Windows Android emulators have come a long way. I had a problem. I have been using Wyze WiFi security cameras for a while. They are cheap ($40), and give great color images. They need to be plugged into power; but, that means no batteries to run out. For a few dollars a month, they can be accessed via the cloud. But, there is no Windows version of the monitoring software, so I was restricted to small images on my Smartphones and tablets. Then, I remembered that BlueStacks had been offering an Android emulator for a while, and decided to check out the latest Beta version of the software. The results are stunning. Fast and capable, I now have access to all my security cams from my Windows computer, as well as my Android devices. Below is a live image I captured this morning of the camera monitoring my office parking lot. The software takes up a lot of real estate, at 2 Gigs; but, if you need to run Android apps on your computer, BlueStacks is open and free. And, don't go near my RV. I am watching you.

Why I Won't Buy An Apple Product.

Apple Admits Killing iMessage For Android To Keep Its Walled Garden. I have always believed that technology should be freely customizable; especially after you pay money for it. Freedom of choice is at the core of my belief system. I understand Apple's desire to keep control over its products; but, its paranoia and desire to make more money shouldn't trump the consumer's choices. If I want to trade security for more freedom, that is my choice and my risk. Of course, in the real world, no computer system, or walled garden, is secure from hackers. And, putting up a walled garden merely emboldens the bad guys. But, in the end, Apple reduces freedom of choice, and that is a deal breaker for those of us who want to tinker with the tech we pay good money for.

Mobile Operating System Market Share As Of 2020

When I bought my first smartphone in the late Nineties, there were a bunch of operating systems vying for control of the mobile phone market. My choice at the time was Palm OS, which powered my Palm phones and allowed me to get emails on my phone. Symbian was the first and biggest OS; but, over the years it and all the others fell by the wayside. Except, of course, for Android and iOS. Google and Apple have been going at it for years now. By January of last year it had been apparent for some time that the dominant OS in mobile computing was, and will for the future, be Android. I have endured the slings and arrows of outraged Apple users for years, and have always argued that open systems will defeat closed systems every time. The graphic below should end the discussion. Over Eighty per cent (80%) of all mobile systems now use Android. Mic Drop.

Want To Find Something In Windows 10? Search Everything.

VoidTools - Everything. Forget Windows search. Forget opening up a Windows search bar and trying to find the file you have been looking for. After using Windows 10 a while, we all accumulate thousands of files and images, and looking for them is a nightmare. This free tool sits at the bottom left on my taskbar, and I use it multiple times every day. Simply named: "Everything", it is a quick and dirty file name search that literally looks for files by name. In seconds a list of every file on the computer with the search term in the file name, in its location. Click on it and you are there. Since lawyers represent clients with names, it is ideal to find every file or document that refers to a particular client instantly. You're welcome.

WordPerfect Versus Word - Can't We All Just Get Along?

WordPerfect Wars. I have been using WordPerfect and its predecessors for 2 decades. I have thousands of documents formatted for WordPerfect, and I know the software like the back of my hand. However, my chosen profession has adopted Microsoft Word as the dominant word processing software, so I must navigate between two worlds. The good news is that both formats must coalesce into a document standard to be used and passed around for collaboration, and, if filed in a Court, have to be ultimately converted into a PDF file. So, I have learned to get along with everyone, and my document world is a happier place. In fact, both document processors have gotten quite good at converting back and forth. They had to, because so many of their customers demanded it. These days I work primarily in WordPerfect; but, I publish to PDF for efiling and email transfer. I work with Word documents sent to me, and send them on their merry way. I guess you could call me a word processing multi-tasker. Now, go get some work done. It really doesn't matter how you get there.

Remarkable 2 - I Feel Like A Kid On Christmas Morning.

Okay, this will not be a full review. I am lazy, and I haven't had this long long enough. First, after waiting all day at the office yesterday, it wasn't delivered until 6:30 P.M. after dark. But, the good news is that it is ready to go as soon as you press the on button. I am still learning how to create pages, and learning the menus; but, first impressions are positive. The only glitch I have experienced so far is due to my left handedness. Even after setting the device for left handed writing, I still got a cancelled screen when my left palm rest on the page while I was writing. I will keep trying to figure that part out. But, as I learn, I can say that this thing is amazing. Thin, light and beautiful, and it feels like I am writing on paper. Check out the attached more complete review to get a real feel for the experience. I have already given up my LiveScribe pens and notebooks. When I create a daily page on which I write the day's events, I now just click a menu option and they are saved, in pdf format, to the folder on my computer which holds my Calendars. Another really cool thing, which I can't do with my ball point pen, is to turn the stylus upside down, and use it as an eraser. So cool. I haven't played with importing pdf files, and taking notes on them yet; but, it looks amazing. If you are a lawyer who takes notes in longhand while talking to the client, or who likes to prepare longhand outlines before a Motion argument, this thing will change your life and practice. Pay the extra $59 for the stylus with an eraser end. $79 for the folio case is nice; but, I only bought it because I can be hard on tablet screens. $399 for the tablet is pricey; but, think of all the money you will save on pens and paper. Merry Christmas.