By Neil Squillante | Monday, November 23, 2009
In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire we take a break from our typical coverage to bring you our 2009 holiday gift guide. Don't miss the next issue when we return to covering the hottest new legal technology.
Scroogenomics author and Wharton professor Joel Waldfogel counsels against holiday gift giving because of the value gap — what you pay for a gift versus the typically lower value the recipient places on your gift.
Professor Waldfogel's analysis suggests to me that we simply don't put enough thought into gift giving. After all, we like receiving gifts — right up until we rip off the wrapping paper to reveal yet another shirt or whatever else we don't want or need.
Below you'll find our 2009 TechnoLawyer Holiday Gift Guide for technophiles. The list is short, but it features items for people with discerning taste. Also, I personally use and recommend all three products.
Never Let a Loved One Get Lost: Magellan Maestro 4700
In ten years, GPS personal navigation devices (PNDs) may disappear, squeezed out by dashboard GPS systems and smartphone apps. For now, we're in one of those in-between stages in which the standalone devices still have advantages over both factory-installed systems (newer technology) and smartphone apps (larger screens and more powerful receivers).
I recently purchased Magellan's top-of-the-line Maestro 4700, which I recommend. Why Magellan? Garmin offers better graphics and TomTom offers celebrity voices, but as a Hertz customer, I grew to like Magellan's proprietary features such as the gong sound when you're supposed to take action, and the QuickSpell technology for entering addresses (similar to TiVo).
Furthermore, the Maestro 4700 has a unique form factor that I find perfect — a 4.7 inch screen. Most competing units have a significantly smaller 4.3 inch screen. Garmin's nuvi 1490T has a 5 inch screen, which seems too large for my small car (it would probably work well in an SUV or truck).
The Maestro 4700 pretty much matches any Garmin feature for feature (e.g., lane assist), but without the premium price. It costs about $230 at Amazon (the price fluctuates).
Earlier this week, Magellan released the Magellan RoadMate App for the iPhone at an introductory price of $80. I couldn't resist and bought a copy. How do I rationalize having two GPS devices? Not easily but bear with me.
First, the iPhone app provides a backup. Second, I like traveling light. On a recent trip, I left my Maestro in my glovebox and paid extra for a rental car with a GPS unit. On my next trip, I can use my iPhone. Third, I never used Magellan's nifty Find My Car feature because I don't want to carry the Maestro with me. Again, because I take my iPhone everywhere, I'll never again roam aimlessly around a parking lot. Finally, the iPhone app may come in handy for walking directions.
My advice? Buy the Maestro 4700 — it's a solid GPS PND at a great price. Consider bundling the iPhone app along with it if warranted. Plus I also recommend and use ProClip car mounts.
Big Sound in a Tiny Package: Ultimate Ears 700
About a year ago I praised the Ultimate Ears triple.fi 10 vi earphones, which I still use as my primary earphones. But with a list price of $420 (I paid $371), I cannot recommend them for a holiday gift, especially this year. I can, however, recommend the less expensive Ultimate Ears 700.
Disclosure: As a beta tester, I received my Ultimate Ears 700 earphones for free. I would have purchased a pair. They sell for $200.
The Ultimate Ears 700 do not sound as good as the triple.fi 10 vi, but they sound very good and they're also a fraction of the size. In fact, they're the smallest dual driver earphones in the world (last time I checked). As a result, they virtually disappear in your ear canal. You can lay sideways on a pillow while wearing them.
My advice? Buy the Ultimate Ears 700 for music lovers, especially those who don't want to sacrifice quality while exercising, travel frequently, enjoy listening to music while laying down, or don't want to look like a nerd.
Decent Sound in a Slick Package: Yamaha PDX-30 Speakers
Repeat after me — "I understand that I cannot get concert hall sound from speakers the size of a grapefruit." Speaker manufacturers should require customers to sign this disclaimer.
Now that we've taken care of expectations, I recommend Yamaha's PDX-30 Portable Player Dock for iPod and iPhone.
Mine sits on a nightstand in my bedroom. While a $125,000 Sonicweld Pulserod speaker system would sound a lot better, bedrooms require more practicality than other rooms. For example, we all need alarms. The Yamaha PDX-30 does not include an alarm, but every iPod and iPhone does — and you can find many third-party alarm apps in Apple's App Store. The Yamaha PDX-30 costs $200.
I searched fruitlessly for a long time for a speaker system with the Yamaha PDX-30's feature set — genuine iPhone compatibility (no nag screen, no speaker buzzing), small footprint, a color other than black (you can choose from black, blue, pink, or gray — I got the latter), and a remote control with full iPod navigation.
The remote control does not have a screen. You must still look at the iPhone, but you don't have to touch it — a big plus because it's awkward to use an iPhone while docked.
My advice? Buy the Yamaha PDX-30 for the iPod- or iPhone-lover on your list who needs a small speaker system that sounds good for its size.
The Holidays: There's an App for That
Professor Waldfogel suggests that if you give gifts, go with gift cards because they provide the most economic value. Here's a suggestion to make gift cards more heartfelt — house it in a homemade card with suggested items from the store. Use screen capture software to take snapshots of merchandise to use in your card.
Given that we all have company-issued iPhones here at TechnoLawyer, I asked around the office for app suggestions in the event you buy someone an iTunes gift card:
Air Sharing Pro — WiFi file transfer.
Scrabble — the classic word game.
WordJong — another word puzzle game.
Ranch Rush — farming fun.
Police Radio — the next-gen police blotter.
OmniFocus — a task manager for busy people.
HarborMaster — dock incoming cargo ships.
Homerun Battle 3D — swing for the fences.
Doom Resurrection — don't play with the lights off.
Skyscrapers — think Tetris with buildings.
Happy Thanksgiving and Holidays from TechnoLawyer!
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By Sara Skiff | Thursday, October 22, 2009
Coming today to Answers to Questions: Susan Berry at Wolters Kluwer Law & Business responds to recent Posts about Loislaw for online legal research, Sherry Wiley explains how she got a Vista PC to work on her home and office networks, Caren Schwartz reviews MyFax, Randy Gold explains how to burn iTunes files to an MP3 CD, and Stephen Seldin explains how to transform a scanned document into editable word processing file. Don't miss this issue.
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By Sara Skiff | Monday, October 12, 2009
Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 85 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:
Listening to Podcasts at Double Speed
Just a Touch Away, the Elusive Tablet PC
Lawyer's Unemployment Benefits Yanked Over $1/Day From Blog
Boycott of Best Lawyers and US News Survey Is Growing
This issue also contains links to every article in the September/October 2009 issue of Law Practice. Don't miss this issue or future issues.
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By Sara Skiff | Friday, October 9, 2009
Coming today to Fat Friday: Tom Rowe defends Microsoft's Zune Pass, Kimberly DeCarrera reviews the BlackBerry Tour, William Leininger reviews Acer's Aspire Timeline 3810TZ laptop, Mark Olberding reviews Chrometa for automatic time capture, and Andrew Paterson reviews Gmail's spam filtering abilities. Don't miss this issue.
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By Sara Skiff | Thursday, October 8, 2009
Coming today to Answers to Questions: Constance Sutton compares Loislaw with Westlaw for legal research, Craig Humphrey reviews Microsoft Mesh, Windows Home Server, and F5 Firepass for remote access, David Estes shares a tip for integrating Vista PCs into your network, Daniel Fennick compares Floola with iTunes, and Timothy Cleary reviews eFax (plus some thoughts on security issues). Don't miss this issue.
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Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Sara Skiff | Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Coming today to Answers to Questions: G. Blair McCune explains how he manages time and billing with Excel and Word, Trent Harris reviews Timeslips' tech support, and Tom Rowe reviews Microsoft's Zune Pass music subscription plan. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Sara Skiff | Thursday, September 10, 2009
Coming today to Answers to Questions: Edwin Bideau reviews Fujitsu's ScanSnap and Konica's bizhub multi-function printer, Mike Agron discuses the challenges he faced with Microsoft Exchange after he switched to a Mac, Jesse Farr reviews Loislaw for legal research, Neal Rogers shares some tips for using iTunes on a Vista PC, and Terry Rosenthal shares her thoughts on Timeslips' current customer support and product management teams. Don't miss this issue.
How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Sara Skiff | Friday, June 26, 2009
Coming today to
Fat Friday: Mark Raby reviews his first week using the Palm Pre, YouLaw columnist Gerry Oginski reviews Avvo from a lawyer's perspective, Philip Franckel discusses running Dragon NaturallySpeaking on Linux, Ann Byrne discusses Microsoft Response Point and Aastra telephone systems, and Harvey Ash shares some news about the new Palm Pre's ability to sync with iTunes. Don't miss this issue.
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By Neil Squillante | Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a new eBook reader (see article below), courtroom presentation software, a utility for accessing FTP servers and Amazon S3, email encryption software, and an iPhone app for analyzing data from Google Analytics, Twitter and other services. Don't miss the next issue.
The World's Thinnest Bookshelf Just Got Bigger
Gutenberg, your days are numbered. You had one heck of a run though. Printed books will easily outlive everyone reading this article. But another 570 years? Highly doubtful. Will anyone miss the phrase "dog-eared"? Will students miss weighty backpacks or frequent trips to their lockers? Many people have already moved on thanks to PCs, smartphones, and a very interesting company in Washington state named after another place where it rains a lot.
Kindle DX … in One Sentence
Released today, Amazon's Kindle DX is a larger version of its wireless Kindle eBook reading device.
The Killer Feature
The original Kindle took a lot of heat for its industrial design or lack thereof, but it was a groundbreaking device. Its successor, introduced earlier this year, is much thinner, but reviewers criticized its small screen size and overly large keyboard.
With the Kindle DX, Amazon may silence the critics. The display measures 9.7 inches diagonally and sports 16 shades of gray. The screen rotates from portrait to landscape to better view spreadsheets, Web pages, etc. The entire device measures 10.4 x 7.2 x 0.38 inches and weighs 18.9 ounces
Other Notable Features
Like its smaller sibling, the Kindle DX includes a free 3G wireless connection courtesy of Sprint that you can use to surf the Web or shop at Amazon for books, magazines, and newspapers. Most books sell for $9.99, including new releases and bestsellers. For many books, you can download sample chapters for free. The Kindle DX also supports Audible audio books.
You don't need a PC to use the Kindle DX, but you can use a PC to load your own documents via the USB 2.0 port. The Kindle DX supports DOC, RTF, and PDF files, and has a 4 GB capacity. With the Read-to-Me feature, the Kindle DX can read your content out loud to you.
A 5-way controller enables you to turn "pages" and look up selected words in the built-in dictionary and encyclopedia (Wikipedia naturally). Thanks to the special "electronic ink display," Amazon claims you can read the Kindle DX in sunlight. When indoors, you'll need a light source as you would with a paper book.
What Else Should You Know?
Amazon claims that a full battery lasts for four days with the wireless connection on, and up to two weeks when you turn it off. Amazon offers a one year warranty. The Kindle DX costs $489 (the smaller Kindle costs $359). Learn more about the Kindle DX.
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So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
By Neil Squillante | Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a network appliance that writes briefs, a Web app that recreates the document review rooms of old for eDiscovery, a specialized email filter that deletes ad hominem arguments, a tool for boosting your billable hours, and an iPhone social networking app for meeting up with people who can help you when you need a day off. Don't miss the next issue.
Briefs That Write Themselves (Associate Not Included)
Most automation tools are limited to documents such as wills that have the same basic components and structure each time. That's helpful, but many lawyers create unique documents that require analysis and creativity as opposed to just filling in the blanks — briefs, letters, memos, layoff notices, etc. These documents keep many a lawyer trapped in their office until late at night. So how about some automation technology that enables you not only to spend less time at the office but less time thinking?
BrainDump … in One Sentence
Hoodathunk's BrainDump is a network appliance that automates the drafting of briefs, obviating the need for critical thought.
The Killer Feature
BrainDump's "Brief Brief" feature ensures that you never miss a tee time (or teatime or whatever you enjoy). However, it works best when you have a junior associate at your disposal. If you don't have one, you can usually find them near fancy skyscrapers around lunchtime after the law firms in these buildings announce their latest round of layoffs.
Once you have an associate, give them an overview of your case and ask them to find supporting opinions for all the points you want to make in your brief. If your associate used to work in a large firm, give him the assignment on a Friday afternoon and ask for the research to be on your desk the next morning even though you don't plan to get back to the office until Tuesday. That way, you'll put him in his comfort zone.
When you return to the office (on Wednesday), review the headnotes of the cases. If the cases look good, simply dump them into BrainDump's 5,000-page automatic document feeder and press the "Brief Brief" button. After just a few minutes, BrainDump will print out your brief and all supporting documents, as well as email a copy to you, your client, and opposing counsel, and even file it with the court if it offers e-filing.
Other Notable Features
BrainDump can produce virtually any legal document and has 50 programmable buttons. If you run out of buttons, you can create button-pressing sequences for documents that you create less frequently. For example, while you might want to press a button only once for a nasty letter to opposing counsel, you could program BrainDump so that pressing the same button 112 times produces a friendly letter to opposing counsel.
BrainDump is not Energy Star compliant given its heavy processing requirements. However, it compensates with its built-in shredder. After scanning the raw material you feed it, BrainDump shreds it into subatomic particles. Even an electron microscope cannot detect any remnants. For this reason, Hoodathunk recommends feeding only copies to BrainDump, not originals.
While BrainDump might sound a bit dangerous, it has a highly intelligent sensor that can detect human skin. Therefore, if you accidentally insert your hand too far while feeding it some deposition transcripts, you'll be pleasantly surprised by what happens — BrainDump will trim your fingernails if needed and then turn off. The company is reportedly working on a manicure add-on by popular demand.
What Else Should You Know?
In addition to paper, BrainDump can handle CDs, DVDs, hard drives, USB drives, and your voice — just shout into the ADF. BrainDump comes in two pieces — a five pound 5 x 5 x 5 inch base and a 500 pound 5 x 5 x 5 foot ADF. Assembly requires four or five able-bodied people. Hoodathunk provides a list of CBCs (certified brawny consultants) on its site should you require assistance. The price of BrainDump depends on its opinion of your intelligence.
TLN Roundup: Pardon the Dust Plus Much More
Litinoodle's EDDWorld (Web) is a Web-based document review tool that mimics the paper-based systems of the past. The Killer Feature: You review discovery documents in a virtual document review room using an avatar. You can adjust various elements such as the amount of dust, the number of blown ballasts in the fluorescent lights, and the color of your Redwelds and Bates Stamper. The pricing of EDDWorld depends on the size of your document collection.
Redonkulous Technologies' Wordundant (Windows) is a utility that automatically deletes TechnoLawyer newsletters and other email in which someone praises or criticizes word processing software. The Killer Feature: Instead of having these newsletters deleted sight unseen, hundreds of clever animations such as "walk the plank" make it fun to delete these ad hominem arguments.
Rounding Error's Billable Bully (Web) helps persuade you to bill for time that you're unsure about. The Killer Feature: Billable Bully asks you a series of questions after which it builds a case as to why you're entitled to bill the time. In fact, lawyers who use Billable Bully end up billing twice as much time on average as what they originally enter. Billable Bully also provides lengthy descriptions for your bills. You pay Billable Bully 20% of the fees you collect on the time it persuades you to bill.
Beer Gut Software's DayOff (iPhone) is a social networking app that uses GPS to locate people nearby who have a bad cold so that you can infect yourself and get a day off. The Killer Feature: Thanks to built-in chat software, you can ask those in your vicinity about their symptoms. Thus, if you prefer sneezing to coughing, etc., you can wait until you find the perfect mix of symptoms before meeting up and shaking hands.
Publisher's Note: In case you haven't guessed by now, none of the five products described above actually exist (I hope). April Fool's! We'll resume covering real products next week.
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So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
