TechnoLawyer

Coming January 19, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Glenn Curran explains how to easily archive and search all Outlook e-mail related to a matter, David Hudgens reviews the Panasonic KXTG4000B phone system, Raymond Fivecoat reviews his past six years using Time & Chaos, Rhys Kidd provides step by step instructions for customizing Outlook's AutoArchive feature, and Jeanne Wilson explains how to convert WordPerfect 9 macros to version 12. In addition, this issue features links to 16 additional Posts in the TechnoLawyer Archive. Don't miss this issue.

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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 January 17, 2006 to TechnoFeature: Noted physicist Freeman Dyson once said: "The technologies which have had the most profound effects on human life are usually simple." While he was most likely not referring to index cards in particular, he was referring to the fact that sometimes the simplest solutions work best. In this article, litigation expert and CaseSoft CEO Greg Krehel discusses a simple and unique case analysis method that will help you with your current cases and potentially attract new ones. It's cheap and easy — yet it will differentiate your firm.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Google's Web search is best of breed. But it hasn't hit a homerun with every service. In your opinion, what is Google's weakest offshoot service?

Take our TechnoPoll.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, tech expert Jill Bauerle covered a free, Web-based application that enables you to collaboratively draft, edit, and compare documents, an online store (not iTunes) that sells iPod-ready videos, and a versatile iPod car connector. Don't miss the next issue.

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

Getting it Write (Free Document Comparison Tool)
By Jill Bauerle
Sometimes hitting "Save" after editing a document is the most destructive thing you can do to your work. We've all had bad writing days, but that doesn't mean you can't salvage older versions of a file, even without document comparison software. Using Writeboard, a Web-based, document revision tool, every word you've ever deleted or changed is saved and at your disposal. Perfect for collaborating on contract clauses or editing a blog post, memo, or letter, Writeboard is easy to use and, best of all, free courtesy of 37 Signals, creators of other Web-based tools (some free, some not). After signing up, your browser takes you to a clean page. Once you compose and save a document, send it to others or, if you're working solo, leave it until your next draft. You can use a simple set of codes for bold, italics, underlining, and even adding hyperlinks. Edited versions of your Writeboard save as a list of separate links on a sidebar of the home page. Invite as many people as you'd like to collaborate. Once multiple versions exist, labeled with  the name of the editor, time and date, a special function enables you to compare them side by side. In this view, WriteBoard shows you changes in gray, additions in green, and deletions using strike-throughs. Each Writeboard has its own URL for quick access from any computer. Other functions include an RSS subscription for notification each time the document changes, a "Comments" section at the bottom of the page for users to post notes, an "Export as Text" button for saving back to your hard drive, a "Send as E-Mail' Button, and a "Delete Writeboard" button when the last edits have occurred and you've breathed a sigh of relief. Learn more about Writeboard.

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.

To date, BlawgWorld, an eBook we published on November 30, 2005, has been downloaded 19,702 times!

As I reported previously, BlawgWorld was well-received by bloggers and non-bloggers alike. However, a small number of bloggers have criticized the eBook. One of them even deemed it a "failed project."

Fortunately, most of the criticism resides in one place — Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground blog. For a month, we watched the attacks pile up. Now that the activity has died down, I responded to all the criticism in one fell swoop.

Check out the entire thread, including my response, and feel free to add your own two cents.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

In my annual New Year's Day message (which I have since posted to our blog), I made my technology prediction, dubbing 2006 the year of mobile video.

For your reading pleasure, I've rounded up some other technology predictions:

Dennis Kennedy sees a comeback for document assembly, the use of RSS feeds for project management, mobile billing automation, and much more.

Alan Meckler sees the arrival of true broadband as opposed to today's midband. This article also features predictions by six other industry leaders.

The San Jose Mercury News thinks you'll soon write briefs in your Web browser.

Chris Pirillo has the most dramatic predictions, including Google's stock crashing, exclusive iTunes video deals that lock out the competition, a terrorist attack on the Internet, and much more.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Email remains the most popular online activity, yet many people in both the mainstream and alternative media dislike it with a passion. They rarely have anything nice to say.

I don't mind when people point out actual flaws (every medium has flaws after all), but lately I've noticed widespread dissemination of false information, most of which goes unchallenged. For example, I recently read a blog Post asserting that email newsletters do not feature a search mechanism.

The ability to search has nothing to do with the medium and everything to do with the underlying content management system. For example, you can search our newsletters in the TechnoLawyer Archive. Alternatively, you can collect and search them using regular email programs such as Outlook and online email programs such as Gmail.

I've seen plenty of blogs with no search mechanism. Again, it depends on the content management system, not the vehicle.

In 2006, when you come across people badmouthing email, ask them if they could live without email. That should shut them up.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Coming January 13, 2005 to Fat Friday: John Webb reviews a little-known Web-based case management system, David Caracappa revisits a previous post with some plug-in suggestions for Firefox and Opera and sounds off on vendor pricing disclosure practices, and John Harris explains how his firm's document naming system works while Daniel Eichorn offers a tip on how to simplify such file naming conventions. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is 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. Please subscribe now.

Coming January 12, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Steven Finell explains how to construct a set of case documents with one click, Brad Jensen reviews Authentidate's Electronic Postmarks and discusses its importance for law firms, Aaron Morris reviews MyWebExPC, a remote access alternative to LogMeIn and GoToMyPC, and Stephen Bickle compares WiFi security to Powerline security while Don Springmeyer discusses his experience with Powerline networking. In addition, this issue features links to 10 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.

Coming January 10, 2005 to TechnoFeature: Most people do not use drive imaging technology, or they do so incorrectly — both a grave mistake according to attorney and technology consultant Eric Van Buskirk. In this article, Eric walks you step by step through partitioning your hard drive and discusses how to setup a drive imaging routine that eliminates many of the mysteries of Windows troubleshooting. Read on if you've never understood drive imaging — or even if you think you did.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Tuesdays, TechnoFeature is a weekly newsletter that contains in-depth articles written by leading legal technology and practice management experts. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.