TechnoLawyer

TechnoLawyer member Virginia Burrows writes in with the following tip: "We use Adobe Acrobat and Worldox 2002. If the PDF files are saved in a folder which Worldox indexes, the PDF documents are text searchable as soon as indexed."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Recently, we let you know about FileHand in our TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter.  TechnoLawyer Michael Etchison responds as follows: "Filehand looks very interesting. I suppose I could just go ahead and believe the company about its not being spyware. But is it too much to expect that when a product loudly proclaimed as "free" but which becomes crippled in 30 days unless you buy it have its price listed?"

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Below you'll find one of the five articles from today's edition of TechnoLawyer NewsWire:

Small Firms Get Their Wish
By Neil Squillante
The lost city of Atlantis. King Arthur and the knights of the round table. The paperless office. Affordable document management for small firms. Until recently, the stuff of legend. But thanks to Authoritative.net's FileCenter 1.5, firms with 1-20 lawyers can now employ a "simple yet powerful" document management system with paperless office capabilities. With FileCenter, you can store, find, and route via e-mail or fax both electronic and paper documents. Regarding the former, FileCenter's integration with Microsoft Office and other popular applications makes it easy to store electronic documents in their native file format. Regarding the latter, FileCenter features "integrated scanning software" with OCR capabilities that works with most popular scanners and digital copiers. FileCenter's "FileFind" full-text search technology makes it easy to retrieve all the documents you've stored. When it comes time to work outside of the office, you can use FileCenter's "FolderShare" on-the-fly VPN technology to synchronize your files across any number of computers, including your laptop. When you plug your laptop back into your network, FileCenter seamlessly synchronizes all the files that have changed. No longer will you need to use kludges like e-mailing files to yourself, copying files to a flash drive, or using remote control software. FileCenter also eliminates the need for separate backup software thanks to its built-in "FileBackup" technology, which can backup your files to a secure off-site data center. Locally, FileBackup keeps the last ten versions of every document. FileCenter requires Windows 2000/XP. Pricing starts at $299 for a single user. Learn more about FileCenter.

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.

Corel WordPerfect has experienced something of a rebirth lately in TechnoLawyer.  Not only did we recently distribute a number of WordPerfect 12 reviews in Topical Compilation, but Corel returned to TechnoLawyer as a sponsor after a three year absence.  TechnoLawyer member Pamela Packard adds to the cavalcade of coverage with this quick take: "I recently bought WordPerfect 12. It is wonderful. For another point of view from a paralegal perspective, I find Word to be the least user friendly software I have ever used. Generating table of contents is the biggest pain in the world, pleading footers take way too much of my time, just to name a few pet peeves. The secretaries where I work quite often feel the same."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

In a recent issue of Answers to Questions, Dave Markowitz discussed the NetBEUI networking protocol and when it might require implementation.  TechnoLawyer member Ivan Frockt writes in with this warning for PCLaw users: "Don't forget that NetBEUI is a no-no because of its tendency to cause problems with PCLaw."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Blinkx, which we covered recently in TechnoLawyer NewsWire, has launched version 2.0 of its desktop and online search software.  Among its new features, Blinkx 2.0 can now search for TV clips on the Internet.  Also, a beta of Blinkx 2.0 is now available for Mac users.

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 response to a review of ABSplus Backup System in the September 10, 2004 issue of Fat Friday, TechnoLawyer member Martha Matthews offers this rejoinder: "I have had no problem with ABS Backup. I take it with me on trips so I have access to work I need to do. I also use it as a conduit between my desktop at work and laptop at home."

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

In his recent review of Firefox in our Topical Compilation newsletter, Fred Kruck begrudgingly returned to Internet Explorer thanks to certain sites that don't work in Firefox. TechnoLawyer member Bernard MacArthur has some advice for Fred: "There is a plug-in for Firefox that you might find useful: http://ieview.mozdev.org." This plug-in enables you to open a Web page in Internet Explorer while in Firefox.

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

On December 8, 2004, we distributed several reviews of Google Desktop Search in our Topical Compilation newsletter. A number of TechnoLawyer members have since pointed out Google Desktop Search's limitations and its competition. For example, Sandor Boxer writes "Until I stop using Eudora as my e-mail program and WordPerfect for word processing, Google Desktop Search will not have much value." Regarding the competition, Ed Poll writes "I really like X1.  It works like a dream and indexes my entire drive, including WordPerfect files. Try it, I think you'll like it."  Meanwhile, Douglass Shachtman writes "Since I am also a WordPerfect user, I followed Dave Stratton's advice and downloaded Copernic; it has been fantastic."  Finally, several members have written with caveats about Google Desktop Search's privacy implications.

About Quips
A Quip is a brief member contribution for which we don't have room in our Answers to Questions or Fat Friday newsletters. Instead, Quips appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

The September 29, 2004 issue of Topical Compilation contained several reviews of Gmail.  If you'd like to take Gmail for your own test ride, I'd be happy to give you an account — just e-mail me. I have 6 Gmail invitations so first come, first served.

Update: These invitations are long gone!

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.