Futurelawyer

Stay Connected Anywhere With Starlink.

The Committee on Technology will be doing an all day seminar again at the Florida Bar Convention next year. I have convinced the Committee to allow me to do an update of last year's Traveling in an RV and remote lawyering. I will be focusing on the rapid advances in tech for keeping connected on the road. As an example, I am loving Elon Musk's Starlink system, which gets better every day. I mounted the dish on the top of the RV and, when I pulled in to my spot this afternoon, I connected power, and immediately had broad band Internet at 32 Mbps up, (normally 152 Mbps, which is enough for a full household of Internet, and TV streaming. We have two TVs, with Roku sticks, 2 computers, 2 Smartphones, and various other stuff going on. I won't be doing too much work this week, as we are going to have some fun; but, I brought scans of documents from a new probate matter, and I might work on the documents a little. The cool thing about Starlink is that, when it is fully deployed, users can literally have broadband Internet anywhere in the world.

Hurricane Knocks Out Power And Phones? Starlink Survives.

The power is back on at the office, and the Starlink dish on the RV came through fine. If I had had to use it when the power went out to the office and RV, I could have used a power bank, or the RV generator to get Internet access even if the cell phones were down. The winds weren't too bad at the office, topping out at 85 to 90 mph, and the dish was fine. I suspect that, as these things proliferate in the future, Starlink will become the preferred emergency Internet access system. Thanks, SpaceX.

Chrome Is New Again.

Chrome: What's New. We live our lives in our web browser. Google Chrome, my browser of choice, is the background of my life every day. I still use native Windows software for some basic tasks, such as WordPerfect for document creation, Kofax Power PDF for document distribution and Court filings, legacy Windows software like ProDoc document assembly and time and billing software. But, for everything else, I am in the cloud, and I manage my way around inside the Chrome browser. Google is always making Chrome better; and, while I have tried other browsers along the way, when Chrome got bloated and slow (or so it seemed at the time), I have always come back, and Chrome has always improved. If, like millions of others, you are a Chrome user, you should check out what's new, and make sure you are rocking the latest version. There are new ways to organize tabs, and tabbed browsing has greatly increased my speed. Too many tabs? You can search them in a search box now. You can now add passwords in Google Password manager even if you aren't at the site. You can perform an online safety check from within the browser. There are many other things you can do in the browser, and, since you live in it all day and all night, it is worth looking around. Be safe and careful and productive out there.

Starlink And TMobile Announce Roaming Partnership.

TMobile And SpaceLink Share Coverage. As a new Starlink customer, and a long time TMobile customer, the Futurelawyer was excited to hear, last night, about the proposed partnership between Starlink and TMobile, which, beginning next year, will provide access to Starlink satellites to TMobile customers in unserved or underserved areas. The service will begin with text and SMS messaging, and will later add voice and data services. While I seldom travel to areas without a strong TMobile signal, the Starlink dish on my RV creates a great addition that ensures access to the broadband Internet in more places. As Starlink builds out its satellite fleet, being able to access it on my TMobile phones, watches and tablets will be a great addition to my device collection. I left Verizon several years ago over its high prices, and lack of innovation. I joined Starlink early because of its innovative services. Combining the two innovators promises a future that is exciting to users of both services. Having both services is, for now, pricey, as I pay TMobile $50 a month for 100 Gigabytes of data, and Starlink $135 a month for unlimited data. Since Starlink is in beta, the service can be spotty, and isn't 100% reliable. Together, I have enough broadband to access the net pretty much anywhere. Are you connected yet?

 

New GMail Interface - Again.

Google Gmail Interface Opt Out. Google is always tinkering with its interface, and the new one puts all of the Meet, Chat and other features in a row on the left, next to the categories section. The new Material You styling is gradually occupying each of the Google apps, and it will automatically come to your computer, even if you choose to opt out now. The entire design is becoming more of a one stop fits all location, ostensibly to compete with Microsoft Office. While there is no danger of the FutureLawyer leaving the GoogleVerse, it is good that Google is always tweaking and changing. Keeps us alert.

Where Do The Years Go?

As I reach the fiftieth anniversary of my induction into the Florida Bar in 1972, I suppose, like all old people, I ask myself how time passed so quickly. As I participated yesterday in the Technology Symposium at the Convention, I was struck by the youth of the other participants. I thought back to the 1994 Bar Convention, when my Committee introduced our fellow Bar members to this new thing called the Internet. I saved the banner from our presentations; and, it can be seen in this photo. We had computer terminals installed at the Convention, so that lawyers could see the promise of a new way of finding case law, and communicating with colleagues. In our wildest dreams, we never considered that we would be carrying computers in our pockets and on our wrists in the not too distant future. Sometimes, I wish that I could be around in another 28 years, to see where technology has taken us. But, that privilege will be reserved for the fresh, young faces that I observed yesterday. Be good to each other. Time flies.

28 Years Of The Internet And Lawyering Has Come A Long Way.

As I prepare for my 50th Florida Bar Convention in June, at which I will be presenting on being a mobile lawyer, using the power of the Internet and Technology, I came across this photo of my first Florida Bar Convention in which we were demonstrating the power of the Internet and Web Browsing. My Committee and I set up a dozen computers and connected to the Internet via telephone lines, and showed lawyers what the power of a world of connected computers could do for lawyers. Lawyers deal with information and using it to advise and counsel, and the Internet made the search for information light years faster and more accurate. It was 1994, and we called it "Surfin' The Net". I kept the graphics banners as symbols of that milestone. I started the FutureLawyer site that same year, and 10 years later, turned it into a blog, which I have posted to almost every day since. I have stored almost 16,000 posts over that time period, and it occurs to me that you could follow them for a pretty comprehensive picture of the progress of legal technology.

If The Link Is On LinkedIn It Is Safe, Isn't It?

Cybervillains-Lurk-on-LinkedIn. In the five years since this article was written, computer and online security has been tested even more by phishing scams, data hijacking, and other criminal activity. However, many of us are lured by the apparent safety of recognized websites that have stellar reputations. LinkedIn has grown by leaps and bounds, and is primarily used by businesses and professionals to create contacts in a chosen field. It is folly, however, to assume that any website or information found on the Internet is safe and secure from criminal activity. Learn as much as you can about computer security. You will never be completely safe; just as you can never guarantee you won't be a victim of a physical crime. But, you can install locks on your doors, cameras in your home and office, and be careful when out and about. Vigilance is half the battle. You are responsible for your own computer security. Be careful out there.

 

I Used To Be A RoadWarrior. Now, I Am A Digital Nomad.

I did a Road Warrior Webinar yesterday for the Florida Bar Committee on Technology, which will be available at the LegalFuel website, and which Michelle Gilbert and I will be doing live at the Florida Bar Convention in June. Today, I came across this FutureLawyer post from ten years ago, in which I was already an old lawyer, and had been using tech for remote lawyering for many years. It is nice that the Pandemic, bad as it was and is, has yanked many lawyers, kicking and screaming, into the future. My whole career has been focused on using tech to make my life easier, because I am basically lazy, and tech has saved me countless hours to do lazy things. Like John Steinbeck, in Travels with Charley, I have been hard working; but, I have "slobbed for a time in utter laziness". Be Mad Max when you are working. But, let tech do the work for you.

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.