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.
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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?
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