Mikes Computer Notes (08.26.11)

DO YOU GET tired of Chrome nagging you about outdated plug-ins (such as Java)?  If so, use this command line switch "--allow-outdated-plugins" (without the quotes of course).  To do this, click on your Chrome icon, choose properties, cut and paste the switch at the end of your "target" line.  It should look like this when you are done: chrome.exe --allow-outdated-plugins

For more information on running Chrome with flags, see this page.

STRONG PASSWORDS ARE one of the top security precautions one can take to.  Far too many people still choose passwords that are easy to guess and thus vulnerable to hackers, stalkers, enemies and the like.  The New York Times cited a study in 2010 found one in five people still choose simple passwords such as "123456", "iloveyou", "acb123" and even "password."  The issue is even more serious for legal professionals who have a duty to maintain client confidentiality.  Here's a free website that will help generate strong passwords for you that are very difficult to crack.  Note there is an option to turn symbols on or off.  Symbols are one of the best ways to shore up your password, but are inconvenient to type and harder to remember than numbers and letters.  This website only generates great passwords, it does not manage them for you.

EVER HAVE A need for a random name generator? Here's a free, no-frills one that works well. It mashes up real names lifted from the U.S. Census. A neat setting even allows you select how obscure the generated names are.

DISTURBING COMMENT SEEN on a Newegg product review for a TINY USB key from Transcend (JetFlash T3) -- " Also excellent potential for smuggling data."  Eek!  I do have a couple of these by the way and they truly are the ultimate in portability.  Also, they seem to be more durable than they appear.  Transcend recently introduced a new T3 series with a super durable metal casing.  Available in sizes up to 16 GB at present.

TWITTER COPYCAT HEELO is off to an impressive start!  It took two weeks from it's launch earlier this month to reach the milestone of one million registered users.  Heelo is from the creator of TwitPic.  Like Twitter, messages are limited to 140 characters, and users can attach an optional photo or video and share their location.  Mobile apps for Heelo are coming soon.  Despite the strong start for the service, I personally think Heelo needs to distinguish itself more from Twitter if it is going to succeed in the long run.  Right now, 

I don't see any compelling reason to switch.  Add some unique features guys!

SPRINT AND T-MOBILE will both start offering the iPhone soon.  Sprint as early as October.  For more, see this article in Information Week.

IF YOU ARE a person who doesn't need the latest wiz-bang smartphone and mainly want to talk to people and text, I personally think the best bang for the buck right now is with Sprint's Boost Mobile network. 

-- Michael

Mike's Computer Notes (06.27.11)

BORED WITH YOUR Windows 7 themes?  Check out this collection of 24 fantastic designs from the users at DeviantArt.  My favorites of the pack are "Clean Green", "Skull", "Aero Diamond" and "Natural."

A CLASS ACTION suit was filed against Apple in December over privacy issues.  If you downloaded any Apple apps between 12/01/2008 and last December, you may be in the class.  The plaintiff alleges that applications for iPhones and iPads  transmitted users’ personal information to advertising networks without their consent.  Additional named defendants include: Pandora, Paper Toss, the Weather Channel and Dictionary.com.  The case title is Lalo v. Apple (Docket #10-5878, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California).  You can follow the progress of this case on Justia.  Other sources:  Bloomburg article, KTXL Fox40 News.

SOMETHING NEW FROM NERO .... "Nero Kwik Media is the NEW and EASY media management software for managing all your photos, music, videos, and data. And best of all, it's FREE!" It appears to me that the basic program is free and you can add "apps" to it that allow specialized advanced functions such as burning discs or playing back video.  To learn more about this software, click here.

I MENTIONED MY favorite archive program WinRAR in another post recently.  Now if you buy WinRAR, you can get Panda Cloud Anti-Virus Professional for free.  What a deal!  I even like the free version of Panda Cloud Anti-Virus and use it on some of secondary computers.  It's lightweight, fast and seems to do a good job at providing basic virus and spyware protection.

FACEBOOK IS BECOMING an important trial tool for trial attorneys to detect bias' and predict sympathy of potential jury members.  Jury consultations claim the popular social networking site permits greater insight into an individual than traditional jury questionnaires.  Joseph Rice of Jury Research Institute told Bloomburg, "“Social media has given us an incredible tool, because it’s something jurors voluntarily engage in, and they post information about their activities or affiliations or hobbies,” Rice said. That reveals “their life experience or attitude that may have an impact on how they view the facts of the case.”  To read the full article, click here.  A similar recent article from the Wall Street Journal tells the same store.  "[Trial attorneys] consider what potential jurors watch on television, their interests and hobbies, and how religious they are."  Read the full WSJ article here.

I'VE USED IT now daily for five years, and in my experience, the reliability of Gmail is incredible.  Nonetheless, sometimes even the best Internet services can encounter a glitch and your data in the cloud could be lost.  In February of this year, about 500,000 Gmail users discovered their accounts were reset, and years of e-mail, related file attachments and chat logs appeared to be gone forever.  The outage reportedly was caused by a software upgrade.  The good news is that Google keeps multiple back-up copies of users' e-mail in multiple data centers plus offline tapes and was eventually able to restore most if not all of the data that appeared lost. Nonetheless, this surely was an inconvenience for Gmail users who could not access their e-mail during this time.  

If these kind of problems make you nervous, you may wish to create your own back-up copy of your Google Gmail.  If you already have a desktop e-mail client such as Microsoft Outlook 2010, Apple Mail orMozilla Thunderbird (free) this may be the easiest way.  Simply sign into Gmail and click the "gear" icon in the upper-right corner next to your screen name.  Then choose choose "Mail settings", and then select the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab. Enable "POP" for all mail and tell Gmail to keep a copy in your inbox.  Be careful, if you forget this last step, after you download your mail onto your desktop, your online inbox will be empty!  The next step is to configure your e-mail client to interface properly with Gmail.  The steps vary depending on the software you are using, but Google provides step-by-step instructions for several popular clients.  The process for Thunderbird is practically automatic once you supply your user name and password.  If this back-up solution doesn't appeal to you, I'll be discussing some other options in future posts.

DO YOU NEED a good witness preparation letter for clients scheduled to take a deposition?  The Lawyerist is selling one for $5.  Get it here.

WHAT'S THE CATCH?  Tech savvy readers should know, if it seems to good to be true, that is, when the price is too low relative to the feature set, there's always a catch! This weekend Fry's Electronics advertised a 1GB voice recorder by Olympus (Model DP-10) for just $29.  It looked super easy to use due to it's big screen and control set that mimicked micro-cassette recorders.  According to the Olympus press release, "Individuals looking for simplicity will be pleased with the look, feel and function of the DP-10. About the size of a deck of cards, the DP-10 fits neatly in the palm of your hand. The size of the LCD screen is impressive at 1.78 inches wide, and features a large, easy-to-read font ... Recording in high-quality WMA format, the DP-10 boasts 63 hours of battery life. Set to LP mode, the device can record for more than 131 consecutive hours." According to most user reviews, the audio quality is quite good!  Wow, sounds pretty good for $29, so what's the catch? 

The catch here is, there's no easy way to transfer the recordings to your computer!  This audio recorder totally lacks the ability to quickly transfer audio files to a computer via USB, PC connection or removable media. The only way it can be done is by connecting the unit to your computer's audio in jack and re-recording the files with audio recording software such as Audicity!  This is a serious pain, time-waster and will likely result in a loss of quality.  No thanks Olympus, I know the DP-10 was supposed to be a  “microcassette successor" but that's too much like a microcassette (which suffered from the exact same issue).  In case anyone is wondering, these recorders are handy to record interviews and MCLE presentations.

I hope everyone has a great summer!

-- Michael 

Mike's Computer Notes (03.17.11)

EVER NEED TO pick a truly random number?  Head on over to RANDOM.ORG!  This mostly free website can help you pick lotto tickets, hold a sweepstakes, randomize a list of names and a whole lot more.  The site is ideally suited as a professional third party draw service for a promotional sweepstakes (large and small).  They even let the participants verify the results for five years.  According to the site owners, the "true" randomness comes from atmospheric noise, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs.  Although it is new to me, the service has existed since 1998 and was built and is being operated by Mads Haahr of the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin in Ireland. 

WINDOWS 7 SERVICE PACK 1 (SP1) is now available via Windows Update in Control Panel.  I upgraded my office laptop (recent model Gateway) last night and it seems to have gone smoothly.  If you plan on upgrading, note that the process took about an hour.  Most of it was automatic, but one reboot was required.  For more install information, click here.

AT&T PLANS TO IMPLEMENT data caps on DSL and U-verse broadband cable subscribers.  Yes, you read that right, if AT&T has their way you can kiss your "unlimited" high speed internet service goodbye.  DSL customers will be capped at 150GB per month and U-verse customers 250GB.  Exceed the limit three times and be prepared to fork over an additional $10 for every 50GB used.  150/250GB might sound like a lot, but it is easy to exceed that amount if one streams a lot of movies or music and/or downloads large files frequently.  I imagine even my elderly Mother might go over the limit because she is fond of streaming movies from Netflix using a Roku box.  To learn more about this issue and how to fight back visit Stop the Cap!  Take a few minutes to get involved and tell your representatives in Congress that you oppose Internet data limits and unjustified over the limit fees and penalties.  AT&T and other broadband providers enjoy massive profits under the current "all you can eat" pricing schemes.  Netflix has now spoken out against the proposed caps as "anti-consumer" and the "absolute wrong direction of what consumers want."  Democratic Representative Edward Markey has also expressed serious concern over the proposal and noted the lack of real competition in the broadband ISP market.

WHY BUY GRAPH paper at the store when you can print your own?  Check out these PDFs created by Kevin MacLeod.  "Downloadable and very printable."  There are also some handy writing and note-taking styles on the page as well.  Another page features PDF Calenders; both yearly and monthly can be created.  And while you are there, don't miss Kevin's awesome free royalty-free music collection.  Creative attorneys could use this quality music for advertisements, podcasts, presentations and the like!  All you have to do is give the guy credit, but donations are appreciated.

IF YOU DIGITIZE your music collection, you may soon miss the covers and artwork from the CDs.  It's possible to scan them, but that takes forever.  Who has the time?  An easier solution is to visit AllCDCovers.com.  The interface sort of sucks and the site's own search button often returns an "Internal Server Error 500" message to me, but when you do find the CD you want, the payoff is worth it.  Many of the CD scans here are beautifully done and many discs in the catalog have the back cover, CD and inlay!  Check out this page for Carrie Underwood's Some HeartsCD as an example.  Use Google to find the pages you need easily (e.g. search for "carrie underwood some hearts allcdcovers.com").  Another alternative is visiting Amazon and checking the customer uploaded images.  For instance: Some Hearts Customer Image Gallery.

WINRAR 4.0 HAS been released after a long beta cycle!  WinRAR is my favorite archive manager.  It can backup your data and greatly reduce the size of e-mail attachments.  Plus it can create and decompress both RAR and ZIP archives.  RAR shines when creating very large archives split into smaller chunks.  It also has neat features like AES encryption and a protection feature to help recover corrupt archives.  Version 4.0 is substantially faster than earlier versions.  "RAR decompression speed is improved. Depending on data type, decompression can be up to 30% faster than in previous versions. Both the general RAR algorithm and most of special RAR multimedia methods benefit from this improvement. The only module of RAR algorithm, which is not affected, is "Text compression" method."  A trial version is available before you buy it, but go ahead and buy it, you won't regret it and I've never been charged to upgrade! 

MICROSOFT HAS UNLEASHED Internet Explorer 9 with the catchphrase "Fast is now beautiful."  However, if you use XP, you will have to endure the same old ugly web; it's only available for Vista and Windows 7 users.  With IE 9 the emphasis is on dramatically faster graphics rendering and a more streamlined look, similar to Google's Chrome.  In addition, the integration with Windows 7 is much tighter and the browser now includes useful "pinning" features and Jump Lists.  Less sexy enhancements include an enhanced download manager and improved security features to protect against malware. I just installed IE 9 last night and will report my impressions at a later date.  The upgrade took about 30 minutes.

AS AN INCENTIVE to upgrade now and try out IE 9's new Pin and Jump List features, several popular websites are running cool promotions in the coming weeks in conjunction with Microsoft.  Hulu will be giving away 1 free month of Hulu Plus for users who pin Hulu.  Slacker is also giving away a free month of it's subscription internet radio service for users who pin the website to their taskbar.  eBay will be giving away discount coupons or eBay bucks for users who use the Jump List and pin features and last but not least, Groupon is offering $5 in Groupon Bucks when making a first purchase using the IE 9 jump list.

I will end this post with an old Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

-- Michael

Mike's Computer Notes (02.25.11)

THERE'S A LOT of software programs that can rip your CD collection to your hard disk, but the best I've encountered is dBpoweramp.  Why do I like it?  First, it works in conjunction with AccurateRip, a massive online database that stores the correct CRC value for zillions of CDs.  As soon as you rip a track, even using the super fast "burst" method, it generates the CRC and compares it to the data collected by AccurateRip from other people who ripped the same CD.  If the values match, you can be confident you have a bit-perfect rip!  At present only a handful of rippers support this fantastic feature.  But there's more.  dBpoweramp also does an outstanding job at automatically completing all the meta tags for your tracks (i.e. track name, artist, album etc.).  It actually usesfive online providers to check and compare information to arrive at "PerfectMeta" tags. The last awesome feature I like in dBpoweramp is how it automatically retrieves album artwork, inserts it in the file and creates folder.jpg copies in the album folder.  These three features save a huge amount of time and help insure you wind up with excellent digital library.  I typically rip discs to FLAC (a lossless format) and at a later date create smaller MP3 and WMA versions.  When you spend the time to rip your library, do it once and do it right!

LOOKING FOR A powerful, free screen capture utility?  Try the last freeware version of FastStone Capture.  The program is now shareware, but this portable free version from 2007 can still be distributed.  Click here to download a copy.  If your screen capture needs are extensive and you have the budget for it, I suggest SnagIt orFullShot.

APPLE ANNOUNCED A powerful new line of Intel based Macbook Pro laptops this week.  According to a Bloomberg wire article, "The laptops feature a new technology calledThunderbolt that was developed by Intel Corp. to transfer data, including data, including video at high speeds..."  How high of a speed?  Well, frankly it sounds too good to be true.  According to the article, it would be possible to transfer an entire Blu-Ray movie (typically 25-50 GB) in less than thirty seconds.  If true, that is about twice as fast as the recent USB 3.0 standard.  Thunderbolt transfers at about 10 GB a second whereas USB 3.0 transfers at five.  Mere mortals like myself who still use the ubiquitous USB 2.0 have to chug along at 480MB a second.  For a detailed speed comparison of the new technologies click here.  One of the new Macbook Pros with a 15" screen will set you back about $1800 at present: Apple MacBook Pro MC721LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop.

I HEARD ON the news this morning that the instability in Libya may affect the Internet in unexpected ways.  For instance, if the government shuts down the Internet there, the popular link shortening website bit.ly may no longer work.  The "ly" in the suffix stands for Libya!  I have used bit.ly extensively in conjunction with my Twitter accounts.  I hope corporation, which is based in New York has a plan for this contingency.  Mother Jones published a good article this month that clearly explains what is happening in Libya.

CHINA HAS BEGIN blocking the popular business networking site LinkedIn after Chinese members began to discuss the recent revolutions that overturned governments in the Middle East.  A least one member suggested that Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution should spread to the Asian country.  Linked in has about 90 million members worldwide.  1 million of them are Chinese.  This does not bode well for those who had hoped the Chinese government might reopen Twitter and Facebook soon.  And of course, this censorship decision is obviously at odds with China's goal of developing global trade and human rights. Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle.  

AFFORDABLE AND EASY to use software to manage a law office is harder to find than a needle in a haystack.  But that may be changing.  I recently learned about WinYou Law 2010.  WinYou Law is an all-in-one program to help you organize and manage clients, cases, projects, contacts and documents while also managing your time, billing and calendar.  The cost for a solo practitioner is only $199 with no annual subscription fee required.  That's less than I paid just for a copy of Quickbooks Pro.  The program is closely integrated with Microsoft Office and network versions are available for firms.  Check out the free, fully functional trial version here!

DO YOU FEEL lost when it comes to integrating social media in your practice?  If so, consider purchasing Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, by (lawyers) Carolyn Elefant and Nicole Black and published by the ABA.  The authors attempt to show lawyers how to use a practical, goal-centric approach to social media.   They note toward the end of the book that "Technology is here to stay and ignoring it is no longer an option..... It's time for the legal profession to pull its collective head out of the sand when it comes to social media, emerging technologies, and the Internet."  The sole reviewer on Amazon gives it a big thumbs up and says the book is a "comprehensive guide to help lawyers and other legal professionals understand the impact social media has had on the way consumers and in-house counsel find and select lawyers to solve their legal problems. The book is informal, written in clear and easy-to-understand language, and is chock full of illustrations and details."  Did you update your blog and tweet today?

That's it for now.  Have a great weekend everyone!

-- Michael

Mike's Computer Notes (02.19.11)

NOT TOO LONG ago I purchased a HP desktop computer.  I was checking the HP support page for updates this morning and learned about an alarming Intel chipset design error that may affect certain recent desktop and notebook PCs manufactured by HP and other companies.  "On January 31, 2011 Intel announced that they “discovered a design issue in a recently released support chip, the Intel 6 Series, code-named Cougar Point, and have implemented a silicon fix. In some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially affecting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives.”  The computers affected are based on 2nd generation Intel Core processors.  If your computer was purchased after January 09, 2011, you may be affected.  HP is offering an exchange or refund, but other manufacturers may or may not follow suit.  For more information about this issue from Intel, click here.

I'M GLAD TO see the prices of Blu-Ray burners finally fall to a more reasonable price.  Last week for the first time I saw an internal drive (by LG) advertised for well under $100 at Fry's.  Even external units, which are always more pricey are becoming affordable.  I'm tempted to finally take the plunge.  For me, the big attraction is increased data capacity for backup purposes. Media files especially photos and video are just too gigantic these days -- even for DVDs.  Sony has a slim 6x external drive that is calling me.  On-line reviews are generally very good except for people upset that it requires a power cord (not a problem for me).  Another possibility is an 12x LG drive that sells for about the same price ($200) but is bulkier and may not be fully compatible with Windows 7.  Of course these drives also burn CDs and DVDs as well.  If you are ready to bite, Newegg is offering a 15% discount on external models this holiday weekend.  I'd post the promo code, but I believe you have to obtain it through their e-mail newsletter.

DID YOU KNOW that Goodwill now runs an online auction site?  It looks like selected stores from across America are participating.  If you don't mind wading through lots of old obsolete junk and stuff that doesn't work, some tech bargains can be had.  Here's the link the computers and electronics listings.  I picked up nearly new spare DSL modem on there this week for about $10.  In my experience, these tend to burn out after about 3 years and I like to keep a replacement handy.  If you would rather donate to Goodwill, remember that you can deduct your charitable, non-cash donations.  Consider donating your old office equipment and furniture to Goodwill or the Salvation Army and be sure to get a written receipt.  If you get audited and you have no receipt, the deduction will be disallowed.

I MOVE GROUPS of similar files around on my computer systems all the time.  However, it can be very tedious to copy, cut, delete, or move multiple files by selecting them one at a time in Windows 7.  There's a better way.  If the files are together in continuous order, click on the first file you wish to select.  Then hold down the Shift key and keep it pressed.  Now select the last file you wish to select and release the Shift key.  Ta-da!  Windows will select the first and last files you picked and everything in-between.  This is especially handy when moving large batches of files by date (such as photos) or extension (such as all the .zip files in a given folder).  This tip also works in Windows XP and Vista. 

MASHABLE RECENTLY ASKED Is Reddit on the Rise?  If you are not paying attention to this relatively low profile site that features "user generated news links", maybe you should be.  With Reddit, you can link "to anything interesting: news article, blog entry, video, picture..."  The article points out that Digg is sinking like the Titanic while Reddit continues to at an astonishing pace. It now receives 1 billion page views per month a 300% year over year increase. That's good enough for Reddit to pull an Alexa ranking of #54 of all websites in the USA.  Attorneys should think about how they can incorporate Reddit in their practice.  

GET A FREE Demo of Abacus Law by filling out the short form on this page.  "Abacus Law is fully integrated practice management software, you will be able to work more efficiently, lower risk and improve client service."

EASY TIP TO improve your law practice ... make your client intake forms available on your website so that prospective clients can download them and fill them out before the consultation.  This also permits you to e-mail prospective clients a link, rather than using a file attachment which hogs space and can cause confusion on the receiver end.  If you use Gmail, you may wish to consider creating a public folder in Google Documents and putting PDF versions of your intake forms in there as well. Again, it's an easy way to link to them directly, especially if you stash the urls in a handy place like Evernote.   

IS ANYONE USING Microsoft One Note in their law office?  One Note comes with some versions of Microsoft Office or can be purchased separately for about $80.  I'm an (recent) Office 2010 user but I must admit, I have never tried it.  Now that I've seen how enthusiastic others are about it on the net, I am going to to take it for a spin soon.  Microsoft describes it as "a digital notebook that provides a single place where you can gather all of your notes and information, with the added benefits of powerful search capabilities to find what you are looking for quickly, plus easy-to-use shared notebooks so you can manage information overload and work together with others more effectively. Sounds idea for a lawyers (as well as small business owners, researchers, journalists and students).  One Note can make use of templates, and I notice on the Microsoft Office site, there were some for attorneys.  Here's one called "Legal Client Notebook" and another called Legal Practice Notebook.  OneNote can be purchased and downloaded immediately at the Microsoft Store: Microsoft OneNote 2010 Download

SPEAKING OF THE Microsoft Store, during the holiday weekend, they are having a good sale on PCs. Microsoft Store's President's Day Sale! Save $150 on a new PC for a limited time.  

That's it for now.  Have a great President's Day weekend!

-- Michael  

P.S. THIS POSTING IS in the style of "Tom's Computer Notes" which was a simple computer newsletter distributed in the late 80's and early 90's on BBS systems.  I have no idea who Tom was or what became of him, but I always enjoyed reading his bulletins.  Does anyone know if he is still around?