Legal Technology

Spool IT

I am sure there are a few of you out there who have lost print jobs while sending them to network printers. And, if you’re in the IT group, I bet there’s one support call you hate to hear: “Hi, my print jobs are not printing and the printer looks happy as a clam.” It could be the clam, then again, it could be a print queue associated with it. And troubleshooting print queues are like chasing cats.

Stopping and restarting, or deleting and recreating, print queues on busy servers doing other tasks can be a hazardous affair. At the least, you may be continuing, or stirring up, a performance problem. At the most, you may have to reboot the server to recapture the queue. If all this sounds familiar, look into SEH’s dedicated print spooling devices: ISD300, ISD400 and ISD410.

SEH manufactures the ISD300 for small work groups to spool print jobs and manage queues. It comes with an Intel IXP 420 533 MHz processor, 256 MB SDRAM, 40 GB hard disk, (2) 2.0 USB ports and 4 MB flash memory. All that in a chassis that is smaller than a business phone set.

The ISD was easy to set up in my home office. The front panel features a push-button facility to configure an IP address – complete with an easy to read LED. In the alternative, I could use DHCP but I wanted to dedicate an IP address for the printer spooler. Otherwise, it becomes the cat thing again when you are hunting for a printer or print queue.

Once the IP address is set, you can access the management interface to the device with a Web browser and set up print queues to service network printers that can be automatically detected or set up manually.

Once the ISD300 was up and servicing my network printers, I set it  up to automatically distribute printer drivers to computers requesting services that did not have the appropriate driver. From the Web interface, I stopped and deleted print jobs on demand and re-routed print jobs to alternate queues without bothering my Exchange or Web server.

For Big Law, SEH now makes the ISD400 and ISD410 that can support up to 450 users and 50 printers.

Stay 'InTouch' With Your Computer

Lawyers can be away from their computer for as much time as they can be in front of it, or more. When you are away from the office, if you can’t be without the resources on your computer, you can either take it with you or access it remotely via software such as Symantec PCAnywhere or a service such as Citrix GoToMyPC or 01 Communique I’m InTouch. This review focuses on I’m InTouch.

Review: HP Scanjet 7000

By Sean Doherty
Law.com

After moving my office from California to New York in 1996, and back again in 2007, I have learned the value of living with less paper by converting it to digital format. There is less paper to store, maintain and move; and it is easier to find information in digital format. If you find either of those values important, you will need a scanner to realize them.

The first, and most important step in living with less paper is to choose a good scanner to convert paper into a digital format. Look for a scanner that fits into the office without a forklift; that is easy to load; that does not suffer from unnecessary, intermittent paper jams; and that offers quality, duplex scanning with output to a variety of formats, including PDF and TIFF. And of course, it would be nice if it was bundled with feature-rich software that integrates the scanner with other desktop applications.

With the above requirements in mind, I reviewed Hewlett Packard's successor to the Scanjet 7710, the new Scanjet 7000 -- and I was not disappointed by its performance. As a home-office, work-group scanner, the Scanjet 7000 fit right next to my desk, integrated with my desktop applications (Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat), provided excellent scanning quality, and handled a variety of paper of varying quality and size without a paper jam. Here's how it worked in my home office.

Review: Informative Graphics Corp. Redact-It Desktop (version 1.1)

The primary purpose of redaction for lawyers is to remove information from documents that you do not want others to see -- because they would use it against you or your client. That is a simple enough concept, but many "miss" redacting important data.

Today, most all documents are in electronic format and their redaction requires the correct application of software like Informative Graphics Corp. Redact-It Desktop. And, in the event you have a multitude of documents to review and redact, automation -- but less than a fully automated process.

Exchange HA with Teneros

E-mail has been a critical application for law firms for almost as long as I can remember. Today, it is even more critical as lawyers gain mobility and access their messaging applications anywhere, anytime, and as message stores take on the burden of housing voice mail from new IP-PBX systems and from unified communications applications. So what happens when e-mail is unavailable?

I am sure we can always find something to do when a mail server is down, but it may not be as productive and communicative as messaging. With that in mind, and with the fact that more law firms use Microsoft Exchange than not, I reviewed a high availability (HA) solution for Exchange: Teneros Application Continuity Appliance.

LAPTOP Magazine's best laptops of 2008

For those of you still looking for the best notebook to replace your PC or to travel with, check out LAPTOP Magazine's December 2, 2008 issue that includes their reviews of the best notebooks of 2008.

LAPTOP Magazine's top laptops range from lightweight ultraportables where thin is "in" to big screen desktop replacements. Their top picks include:

Acer Aspire 8930G
Acer Aspire one
Alienware Area-51 m17x
Apple MacBook
Dell Vostro 1310
Gateway P-7811 FX
HP EliteBook 6930p
HP Pavilion dv5t
Lenovo ThinkPad X200
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet
Lenovo ThinkPad X301
MSI Wind U110
Panasonic Toughbook 30
Sony VAIO FW Series (VGN-FW290)
Sony VAIO Z Series (VGN-Z540)
Toshiba Satellite A305-S6883

Going 3D with Adobe Acrobat

When an expert witness in a personal injury case asked consultant Pen Volkman if her team could create a PDF version of their 3D model of a water treatment facility -- and make it interactive. The surprising answer was yes, using Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended. Put on your glasses.

Windows Server 2008 in action

Steve Appleton of Quattlebaum, Grooms, Tull & Burrow recognized that his firm's network was no longer supplying quick, secure remote access to resources. The firm chose Windows Server 2008 to improve access to online data and eliminate redundant, offline data on mobile computers.

Is cloud computing safe?

When used wisely, software as a service -- or cloud computing -- applications make sense. But, according to Alan Cohen, wise use of SaaS starts with asking the right questions of vendors, and yourself. Just where is your data, and how secure is it? What happens when disaster strikes?

Can Clio help serve your practice?

Many solos and small firms do without practice management software due to high costs and administrative overhead. Now, software as a service, such as Clio and Rocket Matter, gives small offices other options. I took Clio for a free 30-day evaluation and found it worth a visit if you are looking for a new PM or an alternative to what you are using now.