Many fellow parents are all debating the same question this summer – what tech to buy for their college-bound kids. I faced this question with Kodner1.html who will matriculate at the University of Pennsylvania this September as a freshperson.  It’s a difficult question with a dizzying array of choices (including the question of whether to buy from a university purchasing program or on your own).

My column for SmallLaw by Technolawyer is available now, here. Hope you find it useful. Some of you have already asked what Kodner1.html will be using. Here’s a rundown of his new system, noting that Penn is a heavily Mac-oriented campus:

• MacBook – aluminum 13″ unibody model with 250 Gb drive, 2 Gb RAM – paid $1299 from the Apple outlet store as a factory-refurbished unit (saved $200 v. the Penn student price)
• Samsung compact multifunction laser printer (small was the goal) – model SCX-4300 for only $89 on a Dealuniversity.com deal through Buy.com
• Parallels 4.0 Desktop to run Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu Linux
• MS Office 2007 Ultimate ($69 via www.thetultimatesteal.com – the great MS discount program for university students)
• Backup will be via Apple TimeMachine and SuperDuper to an external USB drive and an online service yet to be determined
• Speck clear polycarbonate protective case
• Lojack for Laptops for Mac in case it sprouts legs and walks (cheaply acquired from eBay)

So I hope fellow legal parents find the column useful – again, it’s here.

Just heading home from a quick trip with Kodner1.html and Kodner2.html. I had the pleasure of speaking at the Rhode Island Bar’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Providence last Friday so I brought them along. We had a whirlwind four state tour of Rhode Island (Providence and Newport), Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine (ok not ALL of the sites in each, but enough to be interesting). Some noteworthy observations:

Rhode Island lawyers make for a great tech CLE audience – thanks especially to Pete Lacouture of the Tech Committee and Nancy Healy of RIBAr for coordinating.

I live-tweeted Richard Dreyfus’ fascinating, inspiring keynote last Friday about the need for civics education – powerful message.

Cape Cod – had never been there. We drove all the way out to Provincetown. If you look at it from a satellite map you start to feel kind of tippy – like you’re going to fall off into the Atlantic. Very cute town with its strong gay/hippy vibe. Lobster rolls at John’s were terrific.

NYLO boutique hotel in Warwick, RI – 2nd hotel from a new chain (is two a chain or just a couple of linked hotels) is SPECTACULAR – renovated 19th century industrial building – loftspace with concrete floors, cool bambook furniture, post-modern lobby and bathrooms. Highly recommended – other one is in Austin.

Great dinner in Providence at Al Forno with fellow Solosezzers Pat Joyce and Terri Robbins – thoroughly enjoyable conversation and impressive Italian fare.

Providence itself is a pleasant surprise – very different than the last time I had been there when my brother was a resident at Brown in ‘94. Downtown revitalization is impressive with lofts and other restored old buildings supporting a residential boom. The College Hill area around Brown and Thayer Street – what homes! Brown’s campus is beautiful. Had a great Greek dinner at Angelo’s on Thayer. Majestic capitol building downtown too.

Boston – a city of treasures – we spent almost a full day at the Boston Museum of Science on Father’s Day. One fascinating exhibit after another – and of course the Theater of Electricity with its massive Van De Graaf generator’s is a sight to behold. The original ENIGMA in the ComputerPlace exhibit, as well as the UNIVAC, Altair and other original systems obviously held our geeky attention.

Harvard Square is a hustling, bustling center of activity – made the obligatory Coop visit for Harvard gear, listened to a 50 something musician sing Simon & Garfunkel outside La Crema, ate an exceptional Indian dinner at Cafe of India at Story & Brattle, then took in Star Trek at the Loew’s on Church Street.

Thanks to my friend Lisa Martin for the dining tip that turned into our Sunday night meal: Ole Cafe on Springfield (Inman Square) in Cambridge. The hand-smashed guacamole was heavenly – avocadic perfection as were my char-grilled pork ribs Castillo and Jicama/Grapefruit/Mango/Pineapple salad. The kids loved theirs too – Jordan’s Pozole Verde and Hayley’s Quesadillo with stuffed peppers. My Herradura Silver margarita was “perfect.”

Then it was off to Portsmouth, New Hamster for one night with the primary objective being devouring lobsters at famous Warren Lobster House across the bridge on Route 1 in Kittery. Portsmouth is a charming colonial seaport, with Maine and Kittery’s outlet malls across the bridge. Jordan and I tore into three lobsters (twins were on special!) – Jordan’s first time dissecting his own lobster meal. Many photos document the flying claw pieces and the sound of cracked carapaces. Hayley watched on in horror, on the verge of calling the ASPCA while she ate her vegetarian  pesto linguine.

AND, while waiting in Terminal C for our flights, Jim Belushi is chowing down on what looks like cheese fries with either his wife (or ?) at Johnny Rocket’s!

Ready to head back to the real world… (sigh)

(Original version published by “Law Technology News“, June 2009 here)

My Milwaukee-based business, MicroLaw Inc., has a traditional office suite in a building my partner and I co-own with another technology company.

The upside of going to the office is the collegiality experienced with my co-workers and the lack of a 42″ plasma HDTV and Tivo to distract me.The downside: they are wonderful, but a significant distraction from getting work done. So I often choose to work, virtually, at home.

But golden silence isn’t the only reason. Another motivation is the desire to reduce my carbon impact, and go “green.” Here are steps I’ve taken:

Reduced commute:
Perhaps the most obvious “green” benefit of working at home (besides typing in gym shorts and a t-shirt) is that with no commute, you gain productivity time and reduce gas costs, cut auto emissions, and wear and tear on my car (or for those in towns with it, reduce your public transportation ticket expenses).

Furniture:
My home office is housed in a computer armoire, which I chose because it was made solely from renewable hardwoods. When purchasing furniture, check to confirm that the wood is from a managed, renewable forest; and look for finishes that use natural products, such as tung oil and beeswax, instead of toxic stains and lacquers. Avoid products that use formaldehyde resins, plywood particle board, or veneers.

Flooring:
Bamboo is a great choice because it grows like a weed (i.e., is highly renewable), and is available in a wide range of options. Cork is also another popular, green option, which adds the benefit of built-in soundproofing.

Looking for more eco-decorating advice? Check out Planet Green from the Discovery Channel, which offers an eco-friendly furniture guide here. And HGTV has a “Green Home” venue on its website here.

Electricity:
Another goal for my home office was to minimize my power usage. I have a docked Lenovo ThinkPad 61 laptop, a 22-inch LCD external display, an external USB drive, a wireless router, a Vonage VoIP router, an Apple Inc. Time Capsule hard drive and iPod Touch, a Samsung color laser printer and a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner. I also have a Research in Motion Ltd. BlackBerry 8830, an Amazon.com. Inc. Kindle, and a Panasonic digital camera with a battery that needs regular charging.

There are many ways to reduce “phantom” electricity costs for equipment that is turned off but not unplugged — sometimes called standby power, vampire power, or leaking electricity. Devices that are powered off or in a standby mode can still use 10 to 15 watts (or more) of power. Among the options: use a surge protector that completely cuts off power consumption when attached devices are powered off or in standby mode. Or try the Smart Strip power strip from Bits Ltd.  that automatically turns off peripheral devices when it senses the main computer is turned off.

Another example of the growing range of smart power devices is Belkin International Inc.’s Converse Energy-Saving Surge Protector. The $49.95 device kills standby power consumption with a single click of the remote control  (See also “Exorcise Your Phantoms,” by Joseph Howie.

Battery power:
This may be counter-intuitive, but you can save energy by running laptops on battery power. My primary computer is a Lenovo ThinkPad T61 and I have several secondary systems (a 13-inch aluminum MacBook, and two netbooks: a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 and a Samsung NC20). Avoiding AC also “exercises” your laptop’s lithium ion battery, yielding longer life. Caveat: Keep the power meter on “high performance.”

Solar Chargers:
I charge my iPod and BlackBerry with solar power whenever possible. I have a window with southern exposure and use a Brunton Inc. Solaris USB charger and a Solaris i6 iPod charger. The chargers are not cheap ($160 and $208, respectively),but they save on AC power.

Lights:
For real bang for your buck, use low-wattage fluorescent daylight lighting. For night work, I replaced my incandescent bulbs with 19-watt Blue-Max HD fluorescent daylight bulbs ($12). Equivalent to a 75-watt incandescent bulb, they are color-tuned to offer a daylight light spectrum, reducing the harshness of traditional fluorescent bulbs and consuming less power. They also last longer than traditional bulbs (about 12,000 hours versus about 1,000 hours for incandescent bulbs).

Go Paper LESS and Go Green!
A side benefit of my now 15-year old Paper LESS Office process: E-mail documents whenever possible; read documents on-screen, proof on-screen, receive faxes via netfax services.  Use dual monitors to expand your visual work space – or go with three or more (all Energy Saver compliant of course!)  Today’s larger 22-inch LCD displays are now available for less than $200, including those that pivot to portrait mode for easier on-screen reading and proofing so you’ll be less tempted to print, just to proof.

When you do get hard copies, scan the paper into your document management system (i.e. Worldox – long my favorite) and then shred unneeded paper and recycle the shreds (or line your hamster cage!)

Every step you take does make a green difference. And while saving the planet, you’ll protect your checking account – you’ll save money on paper, printer consumables and printer AC power reduction. So going green can grow your profits as well.

Several particularly useful articles just showed up in the Law Technology News June issue – about how to have a really green home office – hope you find it useful! Here’s my own article link to the online version – it will also be in the June print issue:

In the same issue, Nerino Petro has a great piece on digital dictation here.

And my techno.pal, Donna Payne (of Metadata Assistant fame) writes about the new Kindle 2 here.

Craig Ball, my favorite electronic discovery and computer forensics author’s latest “Ball in Your Court” column is about how judge’s are becoming increasingly frustrated with shoddy handling of electronically stored info – a great piece, here.

Have a good weekend everyone – we’re off to the Port Washington (Wisconsin) Pirate Festival tonight (before the rest of the week here in SE Wisconsin gets rained out).

A message from my techno.pal, Bruce Olson. Bruce has spent many years as a litigator with various firms including Hinshaw, his own firm for awhile (when I worked with him – he was my client in the mid-90’s) and most recently at Davis & Kuelthau in their Green Bay, Wisconsin office. Bruce was bitten by the trial technology bug after we worked together and he went on to become a well-known and widely respected technologist in the area of e-discovery. He served as ABA TECHSHOW Chair and is the co-author of a number of ABA Law Practice Management Section books on litigation technology and discovery issues.

Bruce recently decided to leave the active practice of law and join the ranks of those in the legal technology world, specifically focusing on trial technology and e-discovery work. Here’s the message I received from Bruce:

“I wanted to let you know that as of the end of this week I will be done working at Davis & Kuelthau.  I have created a new legal technology consulting firm and plan on leaving the active practice of law to concentrate on legal technology issues.  My new contact information is:

Bruce A. Olson, Pres.
ONLAW Trial Technologies, LLC
Phone:  920-750-8083
Email:   bolson@onlawtec.com
Web:     www.onlawtec.com

My new phone and email are already up and running.  The website should go live within the next few weeks.

So you have an understanding of what I’m going to be doing let me give you a brief description of my plans.  My company will provide turn key trial and litigation support for electronic trials, including the use of TrialDirector and/or Sanction, equipment procurement, setup and the like.

It will also provide E-Discovery services where I will assist small and medium sized law firms in developing plans for handling E-Discovery issues on specific cases, help them to decide which tools to use, vette the potential vendors, handle RFP’s, handle deliverables, help them decide if an online repository solution is better than traditional network based solutions, etc.  I’ll also be providing expert witness testimony in this area and in electronic records management.  (I have several expert gigs lined up which could not be handled if I stayed with the law firm, so that was the impetus for my new venture.)  I will also offer computer forensic and ED collection services in Wisconsin.

I will work with various forensic experts I know as subcontractors, helping a client match the right type of expert to a given case, and to help them balance the cost versus the needed level of sophistication.  I think there is a great need for a knowledgeable independent person who can work as the vendor go between for clients and smaller law firms who don’t have the time or inclination to delve deep into this area.

I will also be doing some software design and development work for various litigation applications which should be a lot of fun.  I’m also under contract to write two new books for the ABA, one on developing a fully electronic file leading to the presentation of fully electronic trial, and the other an E-Discovery book with Craig Ball, Sharon Nelson and John Simek.  I’ve got a full plate already, and am really looking forward to working full time in the legal technology space I truly love.”

Bruce, congratulations on your bold move – I know you’ll be a great success!

GM = God (what a) Mess

GM = Government Motors

GM = Grand Mal (automaker seizure)

GM = Gimme Money!

The question is what we will do to ensure it doesn’t happen AGAIN post-bankruptcy, post-bailout?

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how important it was for Mac Lawyers, current or prospective, to become open-minded and responsible about security issues that affect them/us (”us” as in I’m a Mac user as well – I seem to have to keep reminding some of my audience members of this).

Techno.pal John Simek, one of the best-known legal computer forensic and security experts in the world, sent me a link to an article addressing Mac security issues. Predictably, as Mac market share has increased OS X has become more of a target for bad guys to try and exploit. In part, just they’re bad guys and organized crime who may often fund black hacking is also looking for new victims to exploit. In part also because of the street cred any hacker, black or white, would gain by exploiting the “invulnerable” Apple operating system.

But just as no ship is unsinkable, no operating system is unhackable. Read this article – it’s an eye opener and awareness raiser. From my perspective, it doesn’t matter whether it has happened, but whether it foreseeably could. As lawyers with ethical responsibilities to clients to exercise reasonable care in protecting confidential information, ignore these warnings at your own peril.

This is NOT a Mac Attack. Far from it – no different than I try and report on Windows or other security issues that affect my clients and readers, same here. The era of Mac users feeling realistically invulnerable from malware and hacking is over. Time to take REASONABLE precautions, if for no other reason, than to uphold our ethical responsibilities.

SIDENOTE: I’ve kind of gently dipped my toes into the MILO (Macs in the Law Office – a Google Group) waters – very kind and pleasant reception so far – much different than I expected given the tone of some of the previous public attacks on my writings about Macs in law practice.

The third and final segment of my Technolawyer SmallLaw series called “Minimum Daily Technology Requirements for Small Firms” is now online at the Technolawyer SmallLaw blog site. If you’re a Technolawyer SmallLaw subscriber, you already received it on May 11th.

While the first part covered MDTR Hardware, and the second part covered MDTR software, this third and final segment in the series addresses “everything else,” as follows:

• Electrical Protection Systems – so often overlooked, so often the culprit for tough to diagnose issues
• Routers, Switches, Firewalls – connecting to everything, safely
• Smartphones
• Virtualizing Yourself and Your Practice
• Daily Dose of Legal Tech Smarts
• Putting it All Together – how to build your systems, support them, etc.

Some of you have asked if I could keep this info on my website at MicroLaw.com or here at Ross Ipsa Loquitur in checklist form. I’m thinking about the best way to do that and keep it current . . . great idea!

Hope you find the entire three part series useful!

Favorite Frozen Indulgence: Kopp’s Custard (Milwaukee) preferably with lots of chunky bits (like cookie dough, german streusel, butterfingery pieces, etc.)
Favorite State Fair Food: Grilled sweet corn from the Wisconsin State Fair
Favorite Friends Inadvertently Left Off the First List: Ellen, Susan, Nancy, Dale(s), JoAnna, Sabrina, Shell, Monica, Rick and Judy, Bill, Jim, David
Favorite Bands: Tie and a tough call to name favorites, there are so many – The BoDeans (live is better than studio), Fleetwood Mac (but only with Christine McVie!), CSN (particularly if Y is with them), Queen (circa ‘75), Zeppelin, The Stones (esp. Brian Jones/Mick Taylor eras), Lynyrd Skynryd (only pre-crash – Summer of ‘77), Mott the Hoople, The Band (The Last Waltz, the perfect concert film?), The Traveling Wilburys (it looked they they were having so much fun…George and Roy, we miss you!)
Favorite Songs for Tough Times: Won’t Back Down (Petty with the Wilburys), I’ll Stand by You (original Pretenders version only), Heroes (Wallflowers version), Someday (John Legend), After the Gold Rush (Neil Young)
Favorite Burgers: Solly’s Cafe’s Butter Burgers (Milwaukee)
Favorite Shopping Experiences: Any Fry’s Electronics stores, but preferably one of themed stores like the Tiki-themed store in Manhattan Beach (it’s always at LEAST a three hour experience, with a shopping cart)
Favorite Rental Vehicles When Traveling: Lately a tie between well-equipped Chevy Malibus and Hyundai Sonatas (both best of the mainstream U.S. rental fleets – the Malibu could be the “best” all-around vehicle GM has ever built – who would have ever thought)
Favorite Hotel Affinity Program: Hilton Honors because of Double-Dipping with hotel + airline miles.
Favorite Car Rental Program: National Emerald Executive and Alamo Quicksilver because at most larger airports, I get to pick whatever vehicle I want – do you know how much fun that is for car guys?
Favorite TV Frivolity: Mix Tivo with “Top Gear,” original “Monty Python” episodes on BBCA and then “The Time Tunnel” on ALN (or watch the latter on Hulu.com)
Favorite Sandwich Anywhere on the Planet: Schwartz’s Viand Fumee in Montreal on rye with brown mustard and a sour pickle, or a Woody Allen at Carnegie Deli with a shared side of latkes slathered with applesauce and sour cream and their whole sours, washed down with Dr. Brown’s Diet Black Cherry (and then seeing someone you know from across the continent sitting a couple of tables away.
Favorite Street Food: NY hot dogs, Montreal and Quebec poutine
Favorite Sporting Event Food: the best sporting event food, bar none, is found at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Local Lions Clubs serve perfect Wisconsin brats and Wisconsin beer like Leinies and Sprecher all over the trackside venues – the drivers all agree!
Favorite Soft Drinks: Sprecher Root Beer in an ice cold frosted mug, Newman’s Virgin Lemonade spiked with bottled Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lemon Juice, Hawaiian Punch Light, Sonic Diet Cherry Limeades
Favorite Coffee: Starbucks Pike Place Roast – more addictive than nicotine
Favorite Legal Tech/LPM Blogs: tie between Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog (for being so practical), Rick George’s Futurelawyer (for being my muse when it comes to gadget news posting) and Dennis Kennedy’s Blog (for being insightful)
Favorite National Anthem: Hatikvah – it means so much to me as a Jew, I shiver when I hear it (esp. the Ofrah Haza version with David ben Gurion’s announcement on May 14, 1948 of the re-establishment of the State of Israel which is free-streamed here

OK, I feel better now .

Did you ever thing about some of your favorite things, in a mental checklist kind of way? Not sure why, but I was thinking about this tonight. Here are some of my favorite things . . . how about yours?

Movie: Tie – Casablanca, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Ten Commandments, History of the World, Part I, Star Wars (IV – A New Hope (literally a seven way tie)
Winter Beer: Guinness draught (at this particular moment)
Toy Car I’ve Owned: Trish, my ‘78 Triumph Spitfire 1500, ready to come out to play this month
Daily Driver Car I’ve Owned: Heidi, the white ‘2003 BMW 525i prior to my present car
Computer Weighing More than 10 lbs: My 1983 vintage Kaypro II that got me through the first couple years of law school
Computer Weighing Less than 10 lbs: tie between my current Thinkpad T61 and my current 13″ aluminum Macbook
Summer Cocktail: Gin & Tonic – Boodles with Schweppes, 3-4 drops of Rose’s lime
Cocktail When I REALLY Need a Drink: Bombay Sapphire martini, extra dirty with four olives stuffed with either blue cheese, almonds or garlic
Summer Beer: Tie – Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Hacker Pschor Weisbier in a “boot” glass with a big lemon wedge
Favorite Beverage of All-Time: Milwaukee tap water chilled to just over 32 degrees in large quantities
Favorite Soda: San Pellegrino Limonata from a glass bottle (never a can) or an ice cold cane-sugared Mexican Coke in a 16 oz. glass bottle
Favorite TV Show of All Time (No Longer on the Air): Tie between The West Wing and The Time Tunnel
Favorite Current TV Show: Grey’s Anatomy
Favorite North American Travel Destinations: Charleston (SC), Quebec, Montreal, Vancouver, NYC, Chicago, Door County (WI), Seattle, the two Portlands (ME and OR)
Favorite Ridiculously Expensive Dining Experience: Le Bernardin (with Eric Ripard cooking that night!) – obscene, but worth it
Favorite Historically Significant Restaurant: Aux Anciennes Canadiennes (Quebec)
Favorite Cheap Eats: Real Chili (Milwaukee), Al’s Italian Beef (Chicago), Gray’s Papaya (NYC)
Favorite Comfort Foods: Chef Boyardee Beefaroni, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Underwood Deviled Ham on Wonder Bread, Swanson’s Turkey Pot Pie, Mrs. Paul’s Fish Sticks with Hellman’s Tartar Sauce, Blue Plate Special Meatloaf with canned green beans and Hungry Jack mashed potatoes, Cherry Pie at a Fish Boil from the White Gull Inn (Fish Creek, WI); a freshly grilled Johnsonville Beer Brat first boiled in beer and onions, on a sesame seed roll with French’s yellow mustard and Frank’s Kraut
Favorite Deli: Tie between Schwartz’s Hebraic Deli (Montreal) and Carnegie Deli (NYC)
Favorite Pizza: Pizza Man (Milwaukee)
Favorite Musical: Phantom of the Opera (Broadway – three times, Toronto)
Favorite Wine: Super Tuscans like a Brunello di Montalcino, or cheap Argentian Malbecs
Favorite Outdoor Dining: “Barcelona” in Naples, Florida  for tapas and their white sangria
Favorite Laptop Bag: My current Victorinox Architecture Series 2.0 rolling bag
Favorite Software of All Time: WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS . . . the ultimate electronic writing tool (even today)
Favorite Utility of All Time: Parallels 4 for Mac OS X and specifically it’s Coherence Mode (close second / third are Xobni for Outlook and Moffsoft Freecalc
Favorite Rock Band to See Live: The BoDeans at Summerfest (Milwaukee, annually)
Favorite Guilty Pleasure: Nutella on a spoon with some Skippy peanut butter
Favorite Thing to Do Anywhere: Hang out at a beach with my family (anywhere)
Favorite Weekend Adventure Involving the Smell of Racing Fuel: Historic Races the third weekend in July at Road America and doing the noon track tour on Sundays
Favorite Blog: Lifehacker.com
Favorite Song: I just can’t pick one, and it’s always mood dependent so . . . can’t answer this one
Favorite Aperitif: Tie – A blonde Lillet on the rocks with a twist, Absinthe or a Pastis
Favorite Life Moments: the Bar/Bat Mitzvahs of Kodner1.html and Kodner2.html
Favorite Kodner1.html Moment: When he told us he was accepted to Penn last December. . . impossible to have been more proud
Favorite Kodner2.html Moment: watching her chant her unbelievably long Haftarah portion at her Bat Mitzvah ceremony last month
Favorite Relationship Moment: Proposing to Mrs. K, June 2007 at the shore of Lake Michigan at sunset
Favorite Life-Changing Moment: Beating cancer
Favorite Driving Road: Top o’ The Thumb Drive at the northern tip of Door County in Wisconsin in Autumn
Favorite Color: Ferrari Red
Favorite Attainable Car that I Hope to Own: 1975 Ferrari 308GT4 (room to take a couple of kids!)
Favorite Unattainable Car: Tie – 1962 Ferrari GTO, Aston Martin DB5
Favorite Season (in Wisconsin): Autumn – Fall colors
Favorite Current Gadgets: Tie -my iPod Touch, Shure SE530 earbuds, Thermaltake X-Jog USB fan, my original Kindle
Favorite Car Rag: Road & Track (esp. Peter Egan’s column)
Favorite Movie Theater: The Oriental in Milwaukee (1920’s restored movie shrine especially on nights where they play the Wurlitzer)
Favorite Confectionary: Pearson’s Salted Nut Roll, frozen
Favorite Pet: MIPS the cat (because she was a reincarnated dog) (RIP: 1990-2008)
Favorite Life-long Political Moment: Watching Barack Obama take the oath of office
Favorite Way to Relax: Driving on a great road in my Spitfire, top down on a 65 degree sunny Autumn day with the leaves at peak color
Favorite Book: Michener’s “The Source”
Favorite “News” Source: The Onion
Favorite Addiction: being a chronic “helper junkie” – helping people better understand legal technology and its impact on their lives and businesses via writing, blogging here on Ross Ipsa Loquitur, speaking to my CLE audiences, twittering, etc.
Favorite Business Reminiscence: Thinking about my entire technology odyssey from the mid-70’s in high school with Commodore PETs through the early 80’s at Radio Shack while in college, through nearly 25 years of history with MicroLaw
Favorite Hobby: Being on stage delivering CLE performances – love teaching! love edutainment! love meeting audience members and seeing them “get it!”
Favorite Professional Accomplishments: Technolawyer lifetime achievement award, Annual Consultants & Technologists Dinner, making the 2008 ABA Blawg 100 list, and the very best: building the Wisconsin Law & Technology Conference, and founding both the Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference and the National Solo & Small Firm Conference . . . and having MicroLaw survive 24+ years through thick and thin markets while so many other companies came and went, being able to be a business partner with my ex-wife Renee for so many years
Favorite Friends I Can Count On: So lucky to have as pals Courtney, Dan C, Bruce, Jim, Sharon & John, Deb, Donna, Jan & Dave, Andy, Craig, Tom, Lori, Walker, Nerino, Sandy, Dan B among many others
Favorite Actor: Tie – Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Charleton Heston, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn
Favorite Actress: Tie – Jean Arthur, Myrna Loy, Katharine Hepburn
Favorite Bed: Westin Heavenly Beds . . . sleeping perfection
Favorite Quotes: “Never, Never, Never Give Up” (Winston Churchill) and “Never lie down at night without being able to say. “I have made one human being, at least, a little wiser, a little happier, or a little better this day.” (Charles Kingsley)
Favorite Indulgence: Just being alive! It’s a hard one to top, isn’t it?

Tomorrow’s the big day for Moms everywhere. A tip of the hat and a toast to all Mom’s everywhere. All the best for your big day tomorrow. Breakfast in bed for the Mom in my house (shhhh! it’s a surprise . . . and I know she doesn’t read my blog so I’m safe)!

To my own Mom, who we lost at age 57, 11 years ago, wherever you are, Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

Techno.pal Harold Goldner who has a long-time employment law practice in the Greater Philly area has been blogging since the beginning of the year at Human Racehorses – here’s the link to his blog. I’ve known Harold for many years – we originally met virtually on the ABA’s Lawtech listserve and have been friends ever since. Harold knows his stuff, both in the employment law world and in the realm of legal technology. Harold has been a champion of legal technology education for the PA Bar for many years. Human Racehorses is well worth a read!

Folks,

Just received a 1998 vintage IBM Trackpoint II keyboard from an eBay purchase. A bunch of the keys are sticking. Before I complain to the seller (whose ad said it was in perfect working order), I’d like to see if I can fix these keys.

I’ve taken off the keys that are exhibiting problems – the keyboard is very clean so it doesn’t seem to be mucked up with anything. The sticking keys are in the same area – three of the four arrow keys and then the top row of the number pad and finally the top row of the HOME/PG-UP section.

I don’t see anything obviously wrong EXCEPT that it is possible the cutout for the keys might be rubbing againt those particular keys.

Any ideas? I really want to keep the keyboard and wouldn’t rather not return it.

Mavis Beacon – please, please come back!

It’s true: I am firmly entrenched in middle age, but I can still out-cycle my 13 year old daughter and I can still type 80 words a minute with just one error – that’s about 40 wpm faster than some high school seniors I recently tested.  Kids are taught keyboarding early in their school careers today. However, there appears to be little or no emphasis on accuracy, proper fingering or speed.  In what Ross refers to as “Generation Text,” young people let their thumbs do the talking, texting madly and constantly, and can’t even rely on spellcheckers  which don’t understand the abbreviated language of texting and IMing — I won’t even go there!

Okay then, call me a curmudgeon, but if someone can’t type faster than I can dictate, they should invest in a copy of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing v. 20.  She’s still out there, and the software today, which used to be so popular in the early 80’s is perhaps even more important today. Everyone needs to know how to type actual complete words on a QWERTY keyboard – it’s just the reality of the grown-up world.

While they are at it learning to use more than their thumbs to type, young folk should print out the Microsoft keyboard shortcuts, laminate them and stick them to the wall next to their monitors as well. Why shouldn’t everyone who uses ANY kind of computer know the basic keyboard commands for daily functions such as copying, cutting, selecting and pasting? (perhaps when cutting and pasting is added to the iPhone I fear – maybe that’s what it will take for young users to take this seriously).

Technology gives us the tools to be more efficient, but as with all tools of any trade, you really have to learn how to use them.

Did I not call this one in my post yesterday about my concerns about Ben Steven’s recent Mac-related Technofeature? Told ‘ya this is what would happen. Kudos to my long-ago mentor David Hirsch for a high-road, interesting as ever (even if I completely disagree with it) response, but it was Randy Singer, Chief Self-Appointed Mac Legal Evangelist who wins the prize for sinking to a new low in personally-attacking vitriole with his slam attack on his MacLawyer list. Here are my thoughts overall in reaction:

First, here’s David Hirsch’s comments, cc’d to me:

From: David Hirsch [mailto:david@iowalawattorneys.com]
Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 3:07 AM
To: MacLaw@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Ross Kodner
Subject: Re: [MacLaw] Re: Kodner writes on Macs again

Interesting. Especially his take on Ben Stevens even though he has never met. Seems like a not-so friendly rivalry. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Monica Bay and Law Technology News for running my article on how BigSolo lawyers are making the document management transition when they move from larger firms to new small practices. Here’s the link to the article (and if you’re not an LTN subscriber, it’s free for goodness sakes – SUBSCRIBE, it’s the bible! And get the digital edition to save some trees). Thanks especially to Editor-in-Chief Monica whose editing always makes my writing look better than it actually is.

The article is about how two of my BigSolo clients, John Martin and Nancy Hendrickson, both intrepid Chicago large firm partners who made the move to the small firm world in the last six months, have handled the transition to solo practice from a software and IT management perspective. Read the rest of this entry »

. . . let me remind the legal Mac faithful that I am one of you. If need be, I’ll send you all the receipts for the 2008 vintage 13″ Aluminum Macbook and 2005 vintage PowerBook G4 I own and regularly use . . . and even pictures showing me using them. In fact, I’m using my Macbook now to write this post. So what am I going to grouse about this time? About accuracy when writing about Macs.

I have been working hard to get Windows legal software publishers to acknowledge the growing Mac solo/small firm marketplace and to consider the benefits to them of either (or both): Beginning OS X native development efforts for their practice management systems, legal billing products, document managers, litigation support systems, etc. Relax their tech support policies and formally support their applications running under Windows in a virtual machine mode (i.e. Parallels, VM Fusion, etc.) under OS X (because after all, their app WOULD be running under Windows – what’s the big deal). Read the rest of this entry »

Ah, nothing like the smell of proper cheesesteaks (wit Wiz!) wafting on the Spring breezes of a Philly evening (I’m a Pat’s man myself, although I’m partial to Jim’s too)

Anyway, I’ll be in Philly June 2nd to present a live webcast CLE on behalf of ALI-ABA. I’ve never worked with ALI-ABA before and really looking forward to my first live CLE video webcast with them.

I’m doing two programs some of you might be interested in – with live interaction at the end of the session. The first is a lightning round of immediately useful tips for free and cheap tools, resources, buying techniques all focused on smart, secure, ethical and practical practice – that betters services clients while cutting your overhead:

• June 2nd from 12-2PM EDT: “Tightwad Technology for Tough Times: 60+ Tips for Free and Low-Cost Resources for Your Law Practice” with more info here.

Then I’ll be doing a video webcase, also with live interaction at the end of June on the entire subject of virtual law practice – all the hardware tools (laptops, netbooks, smartphones…oh my!), virtual practice-ready software, remote access approaches that work, Web 2.0 systems including SaaS case management products and more – do you REALLY need a traditional office, with all its overhead? You really don’t . . .

• June 30th from 12-2PM EDT: “May Your Office Be With You: Practicing Law Anywhere from the Courthouse to the Closest Starbucks” with more info here.

Hope some of you can join in, especially in the Q&A at the end of the programs. They’ll both also be offered online for later viewing after the completion of the live video webcasts.

I’ve always heard ALI-ABA produces terrific premium-quality programming and I’m looking forward to my first experience with them!

That means I’ll also be in Philly the night of June 1st if anyone is interested in dinner or drinks – I’ll be staying somewhere near the ALI-ABA offices (not sure where yet). If you’re interested, email me here.

I guess twitterers like to twaiku,
But I think it’s too easy to do.
It takes much more time
When your lines have to rhyme
And fit a strict meter form too!