Legal Technology

Windows and Mac home office

There are no religious wars in my home office regarding whether Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS X reigns supreme. I run them both, but the crown goes to Solaris (x86 and SPARC). But just so you don’t think I’m a snob, I also run Linux just to keep up with the latest fad and, of course, there is BSD for nostalgic (and routing) reasons. With those admissions, back to the post.

HP aims to enter the home with its new HP MediaSmart Server running Microsoft Windows Home Server platform. My ears usually perk up when I hear these things. Because for computer electronics and networking, what is good for the home is equally good for the home office in functionality and price. One just has to translate home-speak with legal-office speak.

The MediaSmart server aims to automatically back up and organize files across all home computers and streams media across the intranet and Internet.

On backup, the Windows Home Server edition includes a feature to back up your networked Windows PCs. The MediaSmart Server also includes Apple Time Machine Software to back up Macs running OS X Leopard. This is pretty straightforward – everyone needs a backup.

The HP home server also boasts that it can remotely stream photos and music to any Internet-connected PC or Mac. Translate the “music” piece to digital dictation files and you have a second justification for the MediaSmart Server in the home office. Thirdly, translate photos into trial exhibits. Lastly, HP’s MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price) for the HP MediaSmart Server model ex485 with 750 GB of hard disk storage is $599; the model ex487 with 1.5 TB is $749. Need I say more? Of course.

The server scales to 9 TB of data storage in the event it does double-duty with your teenagers’ file-sharing needs. Especially since it supports uploading photos to Facebook, Picasa Web Albums and Snapfish. But do make sure your trial exhibits stay close to the cuff.

About the only “gotcha” I see in the mix is that HP is using an Intel Celeron processor (2.0 GHz 64-bit) for the MediaServer. Since it is mainly a file server, that should not be a problem. I just have a natural aversion to Celerons, so don’t mind me. It does come with two GB of RAM, standard. With the low price, the MediaSmart Server is certainly something to check out if you are looking to centralize storage in the home office.

'Ecofont' full of holes

A Dutch marketing and communications company looking for ways to reduce the environmental costs of printing has developed a new font that it says cuts ink usage by about 15 percent.

The company’s co-founder admits that it is not beautiful, but it is adequate for personal use and internal use in an organization.

That should help keep beauty where it belongs: in nature. Download the free font for Linux, Macintosh, and Microsoft Windows operating systems here.

Laptop sales surpass desktops

Shipments of notebook computers edged passed desktop sales in the third quarter for the first time, according to data from the research firm iSupply.

Preliminary figures for the quarter show notebook shipments were up approximately 40 percent from the previous year while desktop shipments fell about 1.3 percent.

These numbers support a shift toward portable computing as more functions like e-mail and Web surfing migrate to mobile phones and inexpensive “netbooks.” And if that's not enough, see how well Rim is doing with their BlackBerry smartphones in these challenging times.

Sound advice on purchasing legal technology

James Lynne of the James Law Group in St. Peters, Mo., suggested “that you set up criteria -- what you want software to do. Then, narrow down the field to those products that meet your criteria. Make your decision based on the research that you have done on the product, but don’t forget to evaluate the company and the people behind it.”

Lynne went with Legal Files at the time, but the advice is still sage when you’re shopping for legal technology.

Burst of lawsuits boosts electronic discovery firms

I saw this article online about e-discovery firms, including Recommind (which I wrote about for Law.com back in March of 2006), Autonomy and Interwoven, benefiting from the increase in litigation.  The article cites a report finding that:  "e-discovery software and services [is] “a white hot opportunity” area, given the growth in corporate databases, tighter regulations and widespread litigation."  This piece from today's NLJ online - Number of Subprime-Related Suits Reaches Unprecedented Level - appears to support the suggested trend. 

I am interested in interviewing anyone who would like to discuss the purported increase in litigation and its impact on the electronic discovery community.  I will record (with your permission, of course) the interviews and post them on this blog.  Any takers?

Ari L. Kaplan, Esq.
www.arikaplanadvisors.com
(646) 641-0600

Author of "The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development" (Thomson-West, 2008).

For reviews,press and tour schedule, visit the official site of The Opportunity Maker.

Web 2.0 not just for children

Web 2.0 and its tools are not just for children anymore, so don't be caught acting like one online. The tools provide new ways to conduct due diligence searches and to communicate with clients, colleagues and friends, but choose your online correspondents wisely and know the legal risks involved in social networking.

OneStop shop for BlackBerry users

OneStop Services has officially launched an online portal, BlackBerryOneStop.com, to highlight the latest news on BlackBerrys, troubleshoot technical issues and purchase software and accessories through an integrated online store, .

OneStop Services will be launching portals for other smartphone platforms such as the iPhone in the future.

SitOrSquat on the iPhone

SitOrSquat released the second version of its iPhone application that allows users to find the closest public toilet, restroom or bathroom in New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam, London, and many cities in Australia.

The new version is also available for the BlackBerry, supports SMS text messaging on any capable cellular phone in the U.S., and is also available via the Web. Best of all, it’s free to the consumer.

You can send a text message to DOTCOM (368266) containing the word “sitorsquat.” Then, you are prompted to enter your address, postal code, city, state, and/or nearest intersection, etc. -- nearly any piece of geographic information may suffice. You then receive information back on the closest public toilet.

Remember that any POTS (person on the street) may also be a good source of information. Technology is great, but so are people.

E-avesdropping on E-Discovery -- 21 Insights for 2009

I heard these comments at the IQPC 6th Annual E-Discovery Conference.  They seemed to capture the state of the industry in 2008 and offer insights into where the community will focus in 2009.

1.  “There is one thing that legal, IT and the business community agree on:  reducing cost.”

2.  “Storage will get cheaper each year, but nothing is cheaper than free.  Preserve nothing, store nothing and pay nothing.”

3.  “The [federal] rules are not by any stretch of the imagination a sea change.  They are a clarification.”

4.  “I would much rather get it out early in the case.”

5.  “Outside counsel is always the coroner instead of the treating physician.”

6.  “2008 was the year of the beauty contest where clients were interviewing vendors [regularly].”

7.  “The electronic revolution creates an opportunity for lawyers and others to be courteous professionals.” 

8.  “We must rely on some cooperative effort – it is aspirational but if it doesn’t become a reality, we will drown in what we have created.”

9.  “You have to ask the right questions.”

10.  “Be prepared for authenticity.  You have been lucky not to have it, but being lucky is not a real strategy.”

11.  “Prioritize where you are at risk the most in e-discovery.”

12.  “The IT organization desperately needs and wants clear instruction what to preserve.”

13.  “It all falls apart at the collision between technology and the law.”

14.  “Not having some expertise in-house to understand the intersection between law and technology is inexcusable and a big mistake.”

15.  “The legal folks sometimes don’t speak the language of IT.”

16.  “It is the responsibility of the lawyers to learn all about their IT systems.”

17.  “It is a team effort.”

18.  “Search is no longer a bunch of key words you punch in.”

19.  “You need to look at the culture of the organization.”

20.  “The duty to preserve is absolute, but the duty to produce can be negotiated.”

21.  “Cooperation will be less expensive in the long run."

Ari L. Kaplan, Esq.
www.arikaplanadvisors.com
(646) 641-0600

Author of "Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development" (Thomson-West, 2008).

For reviews,press and tour schedule, visit the official site of "The Opportunity Maker."

Sun comes up with next iteration of OpenSolaris

Sun Microsystems recently unveiled the newest version of OpenSolaris (2008.11). What’s new? This version includes Time Slider, a graphical user interface to ZFS where you can take snapshots of your files and compare them over time. It also sports Gnome 2.24, FireFox 3, and Tracker, a desktop search tool. If that’s not enough for you, there is also a new feature to suspend your desktop session and resume it using RAM. But that has limited hardware support for some Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba laptops as well as Sun’s Ultra 20, 24, and 40 Workstation.

And speaking of Toshiba, it will be coming out with OpenSolaris installed on some laptops in early 2009.