TechnoLawyer: Networking/Operating Systems

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers a discount online store for inkjet cartridges and laser toner among other supplies, a utility that runs Windows on your Mac, and presentation software for your iPod. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Alternative Fuels for Your Inkjet and Laser Printers
By Dennis Kennedy
Ink and toner are as essential for the operation of today's law firms as gasoline is for running our cars. Unfortunately, the prices of inkjet cartridges and laser toner cartridges can give us the same sense of sticker shock as seeing $3/gallon gasoline at the pump.

Databazaar.com is one of the industry leaders in providing inkjet cartridges, laser toner cartridges, copier and fax supplies, paper, and projector bulbs at discount prices. You'll also find cables and printers at Databazaar.com.

Inc. magazine recently mentioned Databazaar.com in an article on "business bargains." Databazaar.com carries cartridges for almost every brand or make of printer, including HP, Brother, Canon, Epsom, Dell, Imation, Lexmark, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony, and Xerox/Tektronix.

Databazaar.com sells genuine new inkjet and toner cartridges as well as compatible cartridges in factory-fresh retail boxes — the same ones sold by manufacturers and big box retailers — at deeply discounted prices. Plus you get free shipping on all orders. All orders ship within 24 hours, except on weekends and holidays.

Databazaar.com offers a comprehensive, well-organized Web site. You can check and compare prices. Even better, the site offers RSS feeds for you to stay apprised of new products and special offers without visiting the site. Learn more about Databazaar.com.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Dixon Robertson, Review: Windows Remote Desktop with Windows 2000

TechnoLawyer member Benjamin Edwards asks:
"I am interested in accessing my computer when I am away from the office. I have tried various programs for that purpose, including LapLink, but none seems to work. Are there any suggestions?"

Howard Raab wrote:
"I understand there were some serious security problems with GoToMyPC in the not-to-distant past. I don't know if they have been "fixed." However, the Remote Desktop Access program built into Windows DP (both Professional and Home) have worked very well for me..."

Andrew Willinger responded:
"There are two significant problems with using Windows XP's built-in Remote Desktop Access over an Internet connection. The first is cost, and the second is security...."

Christopher Palestro wrote:
"My experience has been that Windows Remote Desktop ("RD") is far superior to GoToMyPC...."

Christopher J. Hayes responded:
"The cleanest, most secure, and most cost-effective way for most small offices to use Windows Remote Desktop is to have desktop PCs with Windows XP Professional, along with a server using Windows Small Business Server 2003...."

I enjoyed Christopher Hayes' May 25 post about Remote Desktop. He wrote that only WinXP computers can access RD. I access my Windows SBS 2003 server console and, when necessary, WinXP workstation (client) desktops, through RWW/RD, using an older ThinkPad running Windows 2000. I have to use Internet Explorer instead of Firefox because Firefox won't handle the ActiveX control RD requires. Otherwise, though, it works flawlessly on a Win2K box.

Dixon Robertson

[Publisher's Note: Learn more about Windows Remote Desktop. — Sara Skiff]

About Answers to Questions
Posts like the one above appear exclusively in Answers to Questions, a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. You can subscribe here.

Coming August 17, 2006 to Answers to Questions: David Heisler reviews ISYS desktop search, Norman Van Treeck reviews LogMeIn in comparison to other remote access tools, Mike Cash offers up an alternative way to record retainer fees in PCLaw, Roy Greenberg reviews his Amicus Attorney-Outlook integration, and John Starkweather explains how to use the latest version of Acrobat to archive old e-mails. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming August 10, 2006 to Answers to Questions: William Kellermann discusses why there's more to metadata than meets the eye, Caren Schwartz offers advice for those looking to sync the new Treo 700 with Time Matters, D. Paul Dalton reviews his experience using LogMeIn for remotely troubleshooting computers, Andrew Simpson suggests a Google Desktop utility for searching image-only PDFs, and Shawn McKee reviews his Amicus Attorney-Outlook integration. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers a network appliance that makes short work of electronic discovery tasks, an online service that enables you to create multimedia presentations, and a handheld document scanner. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

E-Discovery for the Rest of Us
By Dennis Kennedy
Electronic discovery can seem like a daunting world of software, services, and outside vendors, all combined with arcane technology issues. But what if you just want to work with a limited amount of e-mail and other electronic data?

Cricket Legal Technologies' Cricket Box may hold the answer. The Cricket Box is a dedicated electronic discovery appliance designed for law firms and litigation support consultants. It gives you a dedicated, turn-key solution with no software to install or configure. Just turn it on, follow the on-screen wizards, and start working.

A simple interface enables you to handle most of the standard tasks in today's world of electronic discovery. Just drag and drop your documents, and then use Cricket Box to filter, de-duplicate, and bates stamp your documents before exporting them to other litigation tools. Cricket Box can handle images, text, and metadata in many file formats.

The company claims that Cricket Box is easy to operate and can be used without IT support. It features a variety of powerful search and other electronic discovery tools. You can run Boolean, fuzzy, stem and other searches often used in electronic discovery.

Cricket Box uses a SQL Server database, which means it's fast. It can pull data from just about any source, including CD-ROM, DVD, flash memory, hard drives, etc. If you run into password-protected files, Cricket Box can probably crack them for you. The company claims that all these smarts mean you'll never miss a valid document, resulting in more accurate work product than competitive offerings.

When you're ready to export data, you'll find that Cricket Box integrates with Concordance, CT Summation, Ringtail, iConect, iPro, and other popular tools. Cricket Box is sold on a subscription basis. For a limited time, a one year subscription sells for $10,000.

Learn more about Cricket Box.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Richard Bash, Review: Broadband: Worth the Expense?

TechnoLawyer publisher Neil Squillante asks:
"What do you use for Internet access at your firm — a T1 line, SDSL, ADSL, Cable, something else? How fast? How much does it cost? Which provider? How well does it work? Please reply and help your fellow TechnoLawyer members avoid costly mistakes."

I use AT&T/Yahoo to reach the Internet via a DSL modem (supplied by Yahoo). Cost is now $59.99 a month and barely worth the expense. May go back to dial-up. Broadband is not all it is cracked up to be. Lots of slow times.

Richard M. Bash
Attorney-at-Law
Anderson, IN

[Publisher's Note: It sounds to me like you don't have true broadband because there is no comparison to dialup. Before you revert, try another provider. DSL providers in particular are a dime a dozen. Also, make sure you get download speeds of at least 1Mbps in both directions (i.e., SDSL as opposed to ADSL), which I suspect is currently not the case. If you don't need fast upload speeds, you can opt for ADSL with download speeds as fast as 6Mbps. You can check your speed here — Neil Squillante]

About Fat Friday
Posts like the one above appear exclusively in Fat Friday, a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. You can subscribe here.

Coming June 29, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Ronald Magnuson discusses the propriety of contingency fee "add-ons" in California, Paul Hager reviews RealVNC for remote access and offers up additional security advice, Brent Blanchard adds his two cents to the Word v. WordPerfect debate (and Windows v. Mac for good measure), John Coladarci shares how his firm solved two Amicus Attorney performance issues, and Jack Tubbs explains how he pays electronic filing fees with a trust account debit card. In addition, this issue features links to 8 additional Posts in the TechnoLawyer Archive. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Maurice Turner, Review: GotToMyPC v. Windows Remote Desktop

TechnoLawyer member Edward F. Harney, Jr. asks:
"I am somewhat baffled at why folks would want to use GoToMyPC.com, especially in a small firm setting. We used PCAnywhere for years but switched to the Remote Desktop Connection application that comes free with Windows XP. It is incredibly quick and can be used on any machine that has XP. You just type in your static IP address and it is like you are sitting at your desk almost. Graphics take a bit of time to transmit but everything else is virtually seamless. With respect to GoToMyPC.com, is there something I am missing here? Is there a reason to use GoToMyPC.com instead of RDP with XP?"

The short answer: simplicity. Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) built into Windows XP requires a static IP address. If you are at all concerned about security or you work in an environment with more than one computer a static IP address exposed to the Internet is rare and considered a major security risk. Firewalls and routers need to be configured so that ports are unblocked and are allowed to forward requests and transmissions in order for RDP to function properly. Clients for other platforms, such as PocketPC and Mac OS X, are also available for free.

The GoToMyPC.com service acts as an intermediary by keeping track of the dynamic IP address of the computer that you are trying to connect to so that you don't have to. To do this it does require that you install the small GoToMyPC.com application on each computer that intends to remotely access.

Maurice Turner

About Answers to Questions
Posts like the one above appear exclusively in Answers to Questions, a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. You can subscribe here.

Coming June 22, 2006 to Answers to Questions: David Ventker reviews WORLDOX and its role in his firm's paperless office, Brad Jensen reviews his experience using Skype in a business setting, Alan Kassan reviews Copernic Desktop Search while offering up some PDF searching tips, Kurt Schoettler responds to the open WiFi network debate, and Frank Brancato dispels a common WordPerfect myth. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Benjamin M Martin, Review: Windows XP Remote Desktop with Cisco VPN Client

TechnoLawyer member Edward F. Harney, Jr. asks:
"I am somewhat baffled at why folks would want to use GoToMyPC.com, especially in a small firm setting. We used PCAnywhere for years but switched to the Remote Desktop Connection application that comes free with Windows XP. It is incredibly quick and can be used on any machine that has XP. You just type in your static IP address and it is like you are sitting at your desk almost. Graphics take a bit of time to transmit but everything else is virtually seamless. With respect to GoToMyPC.com, is there something I am missing here? Is there a reason to use GoToMyPC.com instead of RDP with XP?"

As a newly-hired IT Manager here, we just setup new servers to replace the much, much antiquated old ones. Thus, the attorneys are now able to remote desktop from home and access their files, etc.

I've suggested using Remote Desktop built into Windows XP because it is very easy to use since all you need to know is the IP address or the computer name. In order to use the computer name, you must establish a VPN connection to your server to provide a secure connection and then you launch Remote Desktop and type in your computer name and, assuming it is turned on, it's as if you're sitting right in front of it.

We use the Cisco VPN Client that we received with our new Cisco PIX firewall.

The point though, is be sure to make a VPN connection to your server before you remote into a workstation since you're dealing with very important data and you don't need anyone "sniffing" it out of the connection.

Hope this helps,

Benjamin M Martin
IT Manager
Bassett Law Firm LLP
Fayetteville, AR

[Publisher's Note: Download Windows XP Remote Desktop. — Sara Skiff]

About Answers to Questions
Posts like the one above appear exclusively in Answers to Questions, a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. You can subscribe here.