Main

Legal Software & Web Sites Archives

January 13, 2007

FedCirc.us


FedCirc.us is a portal of patent caselaw information built on a foundation of timely, accurate and considerate reviews of appellate level court decisions. Content is organized to provide quick updates on the latest developments in the law and to facilitate focused legal research. Red flags point out cases overturned and statutes/ regulations changed.

http://www.fedcirc.us/

GimmeTen! feature provides a place where patent professionals can quickly scan the ten latest case reviews. See something interesting? Just follow the link provided and you'll jump to the full case review. You can always go straight to the GimmeTen! feature by entering the following URL in your browser: 10.fedcirc.us

Youth Law Center

The Youth Law Center is a public interest law firm, based in San Francisco, that works to protect children in the nation's foster care and juvenile justice systems from abuse and neglect, and to ensure that they receive the necessary support and services to become healthy and productive adults.

Several publications and training media are available for download.

The resource links cover the nation.

Paint.NET

Paint.NET is free image editing and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing.

Ask City

Ask City is a new (about a month old) mapping product on the Internet. Key categories are Businesses and Services, Events, Movies, and Maps & Directions. The three pane interface allows users to conduct multiple searches, revise itineraries, create multi-point driving or walking directions.

Advanced features include multipoint directions and annotation tools that allow you to draw and write on a map before forwarding to friends. Available aerial photos seem more up-to-date than other similar services.

January 30, 2007

Citizendium

Main Page - Citizendium Pilot

The Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um), a "citizens' compendium of everything," is an experimental new wiki project. The project, started by a founder of Wikipedia, aims to improve on that model by adding “gentle expert oversight” and requiring contributors to use their real names.

WebCite®

WebCite

WebCite® is an archiving system for webreferences (cited webpages and websites), which can be used by authors, editors, and publishers of scholarly papers and books, to ensure that cited webmaterial will remain available to readers in the future. If cited webreferences in journal articles, books etc. are not archived, future readers may encounter a "404 File Not Found" error when clicking on a cited URL.

A WebCite® reference is an archived webcitation, and rather than linking to the live website (which can and probably will disappear in the future), authors of scholarly works will link to the archived WebCite® copy on webcitation.org

WebCite® is an entirely free service for authors who want to cite webmaterial, regardless of what publication they are writing for.

February 6, 2007

Todoist

Simple todo list manager: Todoist

Todoist is a simple, efficient and dynamic todo list manager.


The main focus of the application is to help you get organized!


It's a perfect fit for Getting Things Done people.


Sign up now, get organized and become more productive!

February 15, 2007

VYEW

Vyew.com - FREE Anytime Collaboration and Live Conferencing™

Vyew provides a virtual space to share information and work together.

Get your point across visually. Host live conferences and interact in real-time. Post documents and presentations for review and commenting anytime.

100% web-based

Collaborate on Any File Type: PPT, DOC, XLS, PDF, JPG, +

Share Your Desktop or Screen Captures

Whiteboard, Annotate and Comment

Text-chat and Tele- conference

Free version and premium version both available.

Vyew integrates several useful tools while being 100% web-based = no installation hassles. It’s incredibly easy to learn and works similar to other applications such as MS PowerPoint. It’s safe, reliable, and you don’t need to install or configure anything. All you need is a web browser (IE 6+, Firefox, or Safari) and an Internet connection (high-speed recommended).


February 17, 2007

TimeToMeet

Find a meeting time the easy way: TimeToMeet.info

TimeToMeet is a simple, web-based tool for finding a common meeting time with other people. It works for meetings of two people and for group meetings. TimeToMeet can manage time zone differences, so it's also useful for scheduling international phone calls.

How does it work?

When you create a meeting with TimeToMeet, every participant receives a personal link that they use to access TimeToMeet and respond to your request.

Using a simple scheduling interface, TimeToMeet will ask everyone for times when they are available, meaning: when it's most convenient for them to meet.

As everyone replies, TimeToMeet calculates the overlap and notifies you so that you can confirm a final time.

Try it out: Create a test meeting and invite yourself.


TimeToMeet is web-based, which means that your participants only need a web browser to respond to your requests. They don't even need to be registered with TimeToMeet.

Their regular service is free and there are no costs, no matter how much you use it.

When you sign up your free account, you also receive all the additional features of their Pro Accounts during the first month; you can decide later if you find them useful.

Blawgs.fm


Justia Blawgs.FM

This site features links to the most popular Blawgcasts; i.e., pod casts on legal issues, many done by other lawyers.

Blawgcasts are sorted by category and the site is searchable.

Blawg Post tags and a "cloud" for recent search terms give this site a very Web 2.0 feeling.

Direct links to the most recent blawgcasts keep you current.

February 18, 2007

Vox

Vox - Your world online. Start a FREE personal blog today!

A new service, Vox (www.vox.com), offers free personal blogging sites where you can decide who will see each posted item. If you post pictures of your children, for example, you can mark them for family-member-only viewing. But if you write a book review, you may mark it for friends as well as family, or even for public viewing.

Featured in today's Sunday NYTIMES here.

February 20, 2007

Yugma

Yugma : FREE Web Conferencing, Online Meetings and Web Collaboration: about

Yugma is a free web conferencing service that enables people to instantly connect over the internet and to collaborate using any application or software, using both Windows and Mac. Businesses can connect on-demand and real-time with clients, prospects or employees whether they are across the city, nation or even the globe.

Popular uses include presenting sales proposals, product demonstrations, conducting training, project management, customer service, team reviews, remote support and troubleshooting, and collaboration by web communities such as Skype, Jotspot and Salesforce.com.

Yugma is reliable and secure; adapting to organizational security models like AD or LDAP.

The name Yugma is a word from the Sanskrit language meaning "the state of being in unified collaboration." Yugma, Inc. is a privately held venture-backed company headquartered in Minnesota, USA and has offices in Minneapolis and India.

February 22, 2007

LinkedInABox

LinkedInABox: Unleash Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedInABox™ is a simple widget that can be embedded on any web page and provides a summary of your personal profile, as presented in your LinkedIn account.
Your log-in details will not be stored and will be used only to retrieve your profile details.

February 23, 2007

VESID Resources for Impartial Hearing Officers

NYSED Certified IHO


VESID
(the Vocational and Educational
Services for Individuals with Disabilities)
and the University at Buffalo Law School
have partnered to provide you with the
training and resources you need as an
Impartial Hearing Officer

New Postings & Alerts

Laws & Regulations

State Review Officer (SRO) Homepage

Commissioner of Education Decisions

Court Decisions

Impartial Hearing Reporting System (IHRS)

VESID Special Education Publications

February 25, 2007

ExpressPDF

ExpressPDF :: Convert online Word, Excel, Web pages to PDF Free !

ExpressPDF is an online service that lets you convert your Microsoft Office documents to PDF.
This service can also convert Web pages to PDF !

...

Hat Tip to Tom Mighell--Inter Alia

February 26, 2007

Special Education Law Blog

Special Education Law Blog


A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal statutes and regulations.

Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, a Chicago, Illinois attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, and other guest authors.

February 28, 2007

Clipmarks

Clipmarks | Firefox Add-ons | Mozilla Corporation

With Clipmarks, you can clip the best parts of web pages. Whether it’s a paragraph, sentence, image or video, you can capture just the pieces you want without having to bookmark the entire page.

Save what you clip, post it to your blog, send it to friends or share it with everyone on the Clipmarks site.

Works with: Firefox1.5 - 2.0.0.*ALL

...

Via TechCrunch:

Their CEO, Eric Goldstein, was a lawyer who was fed up with cutting and pasting citations into a Word file only to discover that the 100 page mess became unreadable and unusable. He and his team launched a first iteration of the product, which Marshall looked at months ago, but the latest version is considerably more fully-featured and quite interesting.

Ning

Robert Scoble has filmed an excellent demo of Ning from CEO Gina Bianchini.

...

Why should I, as an attorney, care about "social networks"?

If you substitute "solo practice" and/or "small firm"and your clients for each time you hear "social network", you will begin to get some idea of the possible uses.

You can do your own highly sophisticated, 2.0 web site, for free (ad sponsored) in a few minutes. Just watch the demo to see how easily you can do this yourself.

Child Welfare Information Gateway: Adoption

Adoption

Resources on all aspects of domestic and intercountry adoption, including adoption from foster care. Includes information for prospective and adoptive parents; information about searching for birth relatives; and resources for professionals on recruiting adoptive families, preparing children and youth, supporting birth parents, and providing postadoption services.

...

Child Welfare Information Gateway consolidates and builds upon the services formerly provided by the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse and the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information. The information and resources from the former NAIC website and more are available here.

March 1, 2007

vLex.us

vLex.us

Introducing vLex.us

An ever-growing resource of information for legal professionals, including all Supreme Court Cases since independence, Federal Law and Regulations and a search engine for open-acess web journals.

March 3, 2007

JAJAH


JAJAH - web-activated telephony

JAJAH is an innovative and simple way to make cheap phone calls using the Internet without headphones, microphones or having to install any software at all. JAJAH connects two standard telephone machines, whether they are landline or mobile, local or anywhere else in the world, regardless if the owner is connected to the Internet or not. JAJAH is just like using your regular phone, only a lot cheaper!

JAJAH works from your web browser and no installation of any kind is necessary.

The calls made through JAJAH WEB are phone-to-phone, which means you don’t need a headset, a microphone or a special phone to use it, so you don’t have to be tied to your computer. JAJAH WEB also uses the web browser, so you don’t have to download or install any kind of software to use it.

You can try JAJAH for 5 minutes to any landline destination for free. If you want to keep using JAJAH after the trial, you will need to register.

A call made by JAJAH is exactly like a regular call – you use your regular telephone device (i.e. regular or mobile) and not a headset connected to a computer. JAJAH only initiates your call.

Making a call is very simple. In trial mode simply go to the JAJAH web site at http://www.jajah.com/. You will see that the screen is divided into two main sections: "my phone number" and "my friend's phone number." In "my phone number," you can see your country is already selected for you. All you have to do here is enter your area code and phone number (for example: 098 7654 321). The second stage is to select your desired destination number - first choose the country to which you want to call and then enter the area code and phone number. Now click the CALL button. Your phone will now ring. Pick it up and hold while JAJAH connects your call. If you have already registered, all you need to do is select one of your source numbers, enter your desired destination number (or pick it from your address book) and click the CALL button.

...

The Online Books Page

The Online Books Page is a website that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. It also aims to encourage the development of such online books, for the benefit and edification of all.

Long Time Lost

Long Time Lost

Long Time Lost is a free "service" that allows you to create a "search" for someone you lost touch with. That "search" is then indexed by Google (and other search engines) and then when that person you are looking for (or someone who knows them) does a "Vanity Search" (the process of searching for one's own name on Google)... they find your "search" and can respond to you and reconnect. All information is handled through the system so your private information like your email address isn't out there on the net.

It's new, it's Web 2.0, it's powered by Google, it's Ruby on Rails... and it's FREE... so check it out.

March 7, 2007

New York City Civil Court: Contact Held Insufficient to Sue eBay Seller


Law.com - Contact Held Insufficient to Sue eBay Seller

Mark Fass
New York Law Journal
March 7, 2007

In a case of apparent first impression, a Staten Island, N.Y., judge has ruled that a single eBay transaction between a New York buyer and an out-of-state seller is insufficient to establish personal jurisdiction in a breach of contract action.

One sale, "without more, does not constitute sufficient purposeful availment to satisfy the minimum contacts necessary to justify summoning across state lines, to a New York court, the seller of an allegedly non-conforming good," Richmond County Civil Court Judge Philip S. Straniere held in Sayeedi v. Walser, 10610/06.

...

(read full article on law.com)

March 9, 2007

My Yahoo! is All New!!

My Yahoo!

A fresh new look

Newly designed Yahoo! modules
New page colors and themes

More flexibility and control

Drag and drop modules anywhere
See more stuff with a new four column layout

Save time with fewer clicks

Read articles without leaving your page
Get quick overviews with the editable Personal Assistant

Plus more...

Share your page with friends
Choose what you see with advanced settings

March 10, 2007

Waxxi

Waxxi : About Us

Waxxi is a presenter and producer of live and archived interactive podcasts.

Waxxi’s Interactive Podcasts are open to anyone who wants to be a part of the experience, and have the chance to ask their guests a question, or comment on something relative to the topic. Hundreds globally will participate.

Their inaugural event brings people from Slovakia to Sweden, New Zealand to the Netherlands, China to Chicago, Brazil to Boston, Tokyo to Texas, and beyond. It is truly a global conversation.

Waxxi will also launch a business-focused global social network. The groups will be formed around the interactive podcast topics, such as business blogging, Web 2.0, Investor Talk and so on. Groups will also be formed by the demand, or suggestions, of members.

Waxxi's business model is to provide organizations and corporations a ‘private label’ service in building and customizing interactive podcasts and social networks.

...

Join them for a global conversation with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

When: Thursday, April 5, 2007 from 1:30PM-2:30PM EST.

March 12, 2007

scanR


Scan, copy and fax with your camera phone or digital camera

Turn your camera phone into a scanner, copier, and fax. Clean photos of documents, whiteboards and business cards. Extract any text and contact informationStore, search and share online

Try scanR for free now.

...

Hat Tip to Rick Georges a Florida solo attorney and author of Law.com's Future Lawyer blog. You may contact him at rgeorges@futurelawyer.com.

March 13, 2007

MEDICARE DRUG PROGRAM (PARTD)-PLI Newsletters

TRAINING OUTLINE
Valerie J. Bogart
David Silva
Selfhelp Community Services, Inc.

PLI has some of their very useful training materials available online for free. For example, here is a 50-page "outline" of Medicare Part D, with specific references to NY plans, including EPIC.

If you would like to sign up for PLI's free newsletter(s), click here.

March 15, 2007

Ms.JD

What is Ms. JD? | Ms. JD [beta]

Concerned by the rates at which women opt out of the legal profession, the lack of representation of women in the highest courts and echelons of the legal community, and the role of gender in the progression of many women’s legal careers, a group of female law students from Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley), Cornell, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, Stanford, UCLA, UT Austin, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, and Yale came together and created Ms. JD. Serving women in law school and the legal profession, Ms. JD will be an online community that provides a forum for dialogue and networking among women lawyers and aspiring lawyers.

...

Ms. JD will launch at a national conference co-hosted by Yale Law Women at Yale Law School on March 31, 2007.

Legally Female: What Does It Mean To Be “Ms. JD”? is a collaboration between Yale Law Women and the national blog, Ms. JD, that explores the status of women in the legal profession. The conference will spark collaboration to improve the standing of women in legal careers and law schools. Panels will stake out common grounds where women in law can connect across boundaries of geography, institutions, and practice areas. Legally Female’s goals are (1) to foster professionally transformative alliances through new communications technologies, and (2) to share tools and strategies to enhance the experiences of women in law.

Conference participants will discuss the evolution of women’s positions in the legal profession and the ways that technology is changing what it means to be a woman attorney. The conference will also harness the amplifying power of the Internet by uploading speaker content and inviting live bloggers to share panelists’ insights across the web. Most importantly, conversations and projects begun at the conference will grow and expand online after the conference ends.

For more information, email ms-jd@legallyfemale.org .

...

Hat Tip to Carolyn Elefant of My Shingle.

March 16, 2007

PERSONAL INJURY. PUNITIVE DAMAGES--3rd Dept

Defendant, a pharmacist, plead guilty to criminally negligent homicide by causing the death of a two year old child by leaving narcotics unsecured near the child, who ingested them. After default, court awarded at inquest $75,000 (wrongful death/pecuniary loss), $250,000 (conscious pain and suffering) and $1,000,000 (punitive). On appeal, punitive award was set aside and remitted for new determination, with redetermined award of $750,000 being affirmed. Grossly negligent, or wanton or reckless conduct, indicating a conscious disregard of the rights of others, warrants punitive damages.

Appellate Division noted that punitive award was less than three times the awards for wrongful death and conscious pain and suffering, an acceptable ratio under State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. v. Campbell, 538 US 408 (2003).

Guariglia v. Price Chopper Operating Co., Inc.

March 17, 2007

Cooliris Previews

Cooliris Previews - Discover More...

Cooliris Previews is a free browser add-on that lets you preview links without clicking or leaving your current page. Now you can browse faster than ever!

Cooliris Previews currently works for links on Google (Web, Images, News, Groups, Froogle), Yahoo!, AOL, Ask, Flickr, Newsvine, BBC News, CNN News, Craigslist, eBay, Del.icio.us and RSS feeds. They are working on a version which will support all websites.

It works with Firefox; Flock; Safari; and IExplorer.

CoolIris is easy to install and use, very fast, and will speed your browsing.

UPDATE: I noticed some slowing in my browser, Safari, and some hanging of windows; i.e., not closing, together with multiple visits from the SPOD (for non-Mac people--"Spinning Pizza of Death"), indicating slow operation. I deleted CoolIris and things are back to normal. I can't recommend it for Macusers at this stage of its development. Your milage may vary.

March 23, 2007

LLRXCourt Rules, Forms & Dockets

LLRX -- LLRXCourt Rules, Forms & Dockets

This site includes links to over 1,400 sources for state and federal court rules, forms and dockets.

...

Our old friends at LLRX are still around and keeping up with our research needs, as is expected from Law Librarians. This unique, free searchable database is maintained and continually updated by Margaret Berkland.

...

Hat Tip to Sabrina I. Pacifici, founder, editor, and publisher, whose free newsletter, bespacific is well worth a look.

SeaMonkey

The SeaMonkey Project

Web-browser, advanced e-mail and newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and HTML editing made simple -- all your Internet needs in one application.

This version is compatible with computers running Mac OS X 10.2 and newer or Windows 95, 98, 2000, and 2003, as well as Windows XP. Themes, extensions, and plugins are available to customize your new browser.

...

Editor's Note: Some of us are of an age to remember the Sea Monkeys" ads on the last page of our comic books. Just add water!!

March 26, 2007

IRS e-News Subscriptions

e-News Subscriptions

The IRS offers fifteen (15) free e-Newletters on various topics. Subscribe here

My personal favorite is e-News For Tax Professionals., which provides the latest national news for the tax professional community, as well as links to resources on IRS.gov and local news and events by state.
It also includes the former IRS Digital Dispatch.

March 27, 2007

Litigation Articles & Legal Research Collection

Litilaw Legal Research & Litigation Related Articles

You'll want to review this free collection of hundreds of recently published articles of interest to litigators and related legal professionals. All articles are full-text, written by lawyers and have been published as part of continuing legal education (CLE) seminars, in legal journals, or are of similar quality.

...

Hat Tip to Bob Ambrogi

March 30, 2007

The Legal Talk Network

The Legal Talk Network - The Misconceptions of E-Discovery

Today, e-discovery has become vital to attorneys and to their law businesses, however, some misconceptions exist such as Microsoft Vista’s effect on e-discovery. On Lawyer 2 Lawyer, Bob Ambrogi talks with the experts, Stephen D. Whetstone, Esq., VP of Client Development & Strategy for Stratify and Attorney Craig Ball, trial attorney and computer forensics examiner, to weigh in on the misconceptions of e-discovery and what the future holds for e-discovery. Co-host and attorney Craig Williams will be back on the next Lawyer 2 Lawyer show!

***

This is an excellent example of the materials available on The Legal Talk Network.

March 31, 2007

ABI Bankruptcy Exchange

ABI Bankruptcy Exchange

The ABI Bankruptcy Blog Exchange collects several blogs about bankruptcy into one convenient site.

...

This is an excellent resource for those of us who don't do bankruptcy, as well as those who still do.

Eyejot

Eyejot


Eyejot is the first, comprehensive, client-free online video messaging platform for both personal and business communications. It offers everyone the ability to create and receive video messages in a self-contained, spam-free environment. With no client to install, you can start using Eyejot immediately with any browser, on any platform.

Eyejot easily works with all of the popular Web browsers on Windows and Mac OS X. Chances are, you already have the Adobe Flash Player installed so there is nothing more for you to install (for more information see system requirements)

April 20, 2007

Loki

Loki - You Can Get There From Here

Find out exactly where you are. With just one click, Loki will pinpoint your location on a map.

Loki is an Internet local search and location sharing application that lets you automatically use the most important variable when looking for information your current physical location. Think about it....when you shop, check for news, check traffic, look for social events, think about things to do, search for a movie - in almost every case the answer depends on where you are.

Location sharing means that you can tell others where you are. Loki lets you do this two ways. First, you can click the 'Email' button and instantly send your location to anyone through your preferred email program. Second, you can send your location to mobile phones via text messages by using the SMS button. Finally, you can automatically share your location through various 'friend finder' programs such as Frappr or Where.com.

Once you've registered your account in the Loki options, your location will be automatically updated at the time interval you choose and your friends, family and colleagues will be able to see where you are. Check out Features and to learn more about how it works.

Loki is for Windows XP and IE6 or Firefox. Sorry, no Macs-yet; but Mac OS X and Linux are coming.

Download

April 24, 2007

Atticus Graduate Top 10 Calls

Atticus Online - Audio

To commemorate its 100th Graduate Network call, Atticus has selected their Top 10 picks of those calls and they are available for you to download - FREE. These calls were selected as the most popular by their graduates.

Subjects range from how to get away from the billable hour, to using technology more effectively, to innovative marketing ideas, and to basic practice management. Enjoy these free audio programs.

Atticus is a leading practice management education and training organization for attorneys.

...

Full Disclosure: The poster was a presenter in an Atticus conference call on technology in 2005 and received a very nice fruit box of pears and apples as a gift.

May 4, 2007

New York State Civil Service: "How to Conduct a Job Interview"


How to Conduct a Job Interview サ Department of Civil Service

A job interview provides a valuable opportunity for you and the candidate to learn more about each other. Learning more about candidates will enable you to predict more accurately how each candidate might perform in the specific position to be filled. Candidates also have a right to learn about the job for which they are interviewed.

You can get the most from the interview by carefully planning in advance what you want to learn from candidates as well as what they will need to learn from you.

This very practical site has lists of questions you may not ask as a matter of law and questions you should ask to find the best person for the position. There are also helpful forms and checklists, sample interviews and advice on documentation.

MindMeister

MindMeister - think together

MindMeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions.

Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map - and see each other's changes as they happen. Using integrated Skype calls, they can throw around new ideas and put them down on "paper" at the same time.

MindMeister supports all the standard features of a classic mind mapping tool - only online, and with as many simultaneous users as you like! There is a free LIVE DEMO on the home page

.

May 8, 2007

LLRX.com

LLRX.com | Legal and Technology Articles and Resources for Librarians, Lawyers and Law Firms

Our old friends at LLRX.com have redesigned their site and come up with a clean, neat new look. They continue to provide useful information; e.g., court rules and forms, along with interesting and useful articles.

Uberlawlibrarian Sabrina Pacifici continues to publish the site, which has convenient links to her beSpacific blog.

May 10, 2007

Weebly

Weebly - Website Creation Made Easy

Easy Drag & Drop Interface
Variety of Designs
Numerous Content Elements
Photos, Videos, Maps, and more
Free Hosting
No Technical Knowledge Required

Quick, easy, drag & drop web site creation and its free. Content elements, such as videos, pictures, maps, and text are added to your website by simply dragging them from the Weebly bar to your webpage.

Try the live demo.

May 15, 2007

BibMe

BibMe - the fully automatic &; free bibliography maker (MLA, APA &; Chicago)

If you do any academic writing or research, your task just got easier. Search for a book, article, website, or film from their database, or enter the information yourself. Add it to your bibliography. Download your bibliography in either the MLA, APA, or Chicago formats and include it in your paper.

Yes, there are legal references, so try your hand at using it.

May 16, 2007

FTC: Office of General Counsel

FTC Office of the General Counsel

OGC has developed a summary of the Commission’s legal authority, which outlines the statutes enforced by the FTC. The OGC also issues a quarterly Litigation Status Report, which summarizes the current status of pending court actions involving the Commission. OGC also plays an active role in advancing the development of the law, and, when appropriate, files amicus briefs for the Commission.

BRINGO (Beta)

BRINGO : Stop Talking to Machines and Talk to a Real Human

If you are tired of dialing 1-800 numbers and not being able to get through to a human, BRINGO cuts through all of that so you don't have to.

Here's how it works:

Find the company you'd like to call by category (credit cards, mortgages, loans, health care)

Enter your phone number.

Wait a few seconds while they navigate the phone tree.

BRINGO calls you back, pick up your phone and you're done. No more phone trees.

May 23, 2007

File format converter for Word released

If you are often unable to open documents sent to you by someone using Office 2007 on a PC, help is here! MicroSoft just released a stand-alone Macintosh application that converts .docx documents - that is, documents saved by Word 2007 for Windows in the Office Open XML file format - into rich text format (RTF) documents so that they can be automatically opened in either Word 2004 or Word v.X.

To obtain this free application, click here.

May 26, 2007

JURIST - Paper Chase

JURIST - Paper Chase


Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news weblog, powered by a team of 20 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

Subscribe to Paper Chase by e-mail. JURIST offers a free once-a-day digest

May 31, 2007

Boston Globe: Blogging defendant unmasked as "Flea"-settles case.

Blogger unmasked, court case upended - The Boston Globe

By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff | May 31, 2007

It was a Perry Mason moment updated for the Internet age.
As Ivy League-educated pediatrician Robert P. Lindeman sat on the stand in Suffolk Superior Court this month, defending himself in a malpractice suit involving the death of a 12-year-old patient, the opposing counsel startled him with a question. Was Lindeman Flea?

Flea, jurors in the case didn't know, was the screen name for a blogger who had written often and at length about a trial remarkably similar to the one that was going on in the courtroom that day.In his blog, Flea had ridiculed the plaintiff's case and the plaintiff's lawyer. He had revealed the defense strategy. He had accused members of the jury of dozing.With the jury looking on in puzzlement, Lindeman admitted that he was, in fact, Flea.

The next morning, on May 15, he agreed to pay what members of Boston's tight-knit legal community describe as a substantial settlement -- case closed.

...

Entire article from BOSTON GLOBE

June 10, 2007

Wyzo

Wyzo - The Media Browser

Wyzo is a new browser that focuses on optimizing your online media experience. Wyzo gives you access to all your favourite media sites, downloading media content and informing your friends about your discoveries.


Wyzo integrates your torrent downloads inside their download manager. Now you can manage your web and torrent downloads from the same window. Start downloads with just one click.

Wyzo allows you to browse the web securely using the latest protection and safety technologies. Built from the ground up on the Firefox core, Wyzo will make sure your experience is smart, safe, and hassle-free.

Wyzo is available for OS X and Linux is coming soon.

June 11, 2007

Safari 3 Public Beta

Apple - Safari 3 Public Beta - Download

Now available for Windows XP or Vista as well as Mac OS X 10.4.9.

Blazing Performance
Safari is the fastest web browser on any platform.

Elegant User Interface
Safari’s clean look lets you focus on the web — not your browser.

Easy Bookmarks
Organize your bookmarks just like you organize music in iTunes.

Pop-up Blocking
Say goodbye to annoying pop-up ads and pop-under windows.

Inline Find
Search any text on any website with the integrated Find banner.

Tabbed Browsing
Open and switch between multiple web pages in a single window.

SnapBack
Instantly snap back to search results or the top level of a website.

Forms AutoFill
Let Safari complete online forms for you, automatically and securely.

Built-in RSS
RSS tells you when new content is added to your favorite sites.

Resizable Text Fields
Resize text fields on any website: Just grab the corner and drag.

Private Browsing
Keep your online activities private with a single click.

Security
Apple engineers designed Safari to be secure from day one.

Download

June 18, 2007

Thoof

Thoof - About

Thoof is a website that offers interesting news articles, websites, videos, photographs, and other links from around the web. Everything on the site is posted by Thoof readers, and can also be improved and edited by those same readers. What makes Thoof unique is a sophisticated algorithm which discovers a reader's interests and tailors the stories to each reader's individual tastes. Every Thoof reader will see a personalized page with stories he or she will find interesting. All that you, as a reader, have to do is simply read what you like, and Thoof takes care of the rest!

...

Choose Your News with Thoof

...

If you have not received an invitation, but would like to, please visit http://prelaunch.thoof.com/ and provide your email address to get added to the Thoof invite list.

Special Education Law Blog

Special Education Law Blog


A special education legal resource discussing case law, news, practical advocacy advice, and developments in state and federal laws, statutes and regulations. Postings include insight and sometimes humor from Charles P. Fox, a Chicago, Illinois attorney who is also a parent of child with special needs, and other guest authors.

...

This is an excellent resource for parents of individuals with disabilities in education. It is parent-oriented.

June 26, 2007

NEW: NYSBA Real Property Section Blog

Their Section is pleased to announce the debut of the new Real Property Law Section Blog. You can read the Blog at http://nysbar.com/Blogs/RPLS and if you wish to comment on a post simply click the comment button at the end of the post.

Just like here.

June 28, 2007

RealPlayerBETA

New RealPlayer Instantly Downloads Online Video — www.RealPlayer.com

Change the way you experience Internet video
Now RealPlayerBETA gives you the power to download Web video instantly

The new RealPlayer gives you the ability to download videos from thousands of Web sites with just one click. Watch them whenever and wherever you want. Find the Internet video you're looking for – and Real it in.


Download Internet videos with one click


Build your own video playlist


Burn your favorite videos to CD or DVD*

*DVD burning feature only available with RealPlayer Plus
Note: The newest RealPlayer is currently available only for Windows. The new RealPlayer is a beta version of their software.

July 8, 2007

iTunes U & iTunes 7.3

iTunes U gives higher education institutions an ingenious way to get audio and video content out to their students. Presentations, performances, lectures, demonstrations, debates, tours, archival footage — iTunes U is based on the iTunes Store, where millions of people already get their music, movies, and TV shows. Now there’s an area of the iTunes Store devoted entirely to education, where it’s easy to search thousands of audio and video files from schools across the country.

Colleges and universities build their own iTunes U sites. Faculty post content they create for their classes. Students download what they need, and go. Available for Mac, a PC, or an iPod.

Already, more than half of the nation’s top 500 schools use it to distribute their digital content to students — or to the world. Any school can open all or part of its site to the public, from alumni to parents to anyone with a love of learning.

iTunes U requires iTunes free software. Version 7.3 is available for Mac, and PC here.

The National Agricultural Law Center & The National AgLaw Reporter


The National Agricultural Law Center is the nation's leading national and
international resource and provider of objective, scholarly, and authoritative
agricultural and food law research and information. Its website provides access to Center publications and serves as a gateway to agricultural law resources on the Internet.

The National AgLaw Reporter is a regularly updated electronic newsletter dedicated to reporting developments of interest to the agricultural and food law communities. Case Summaries are concise summarizations of recent judicial developments in agricultural and food law. Federal Register Digest provides a brief summary of some of the most significant regulatory changes affecting agriculture published in the Federal Register since January 1, 2002. Agricultural Law Update are archive issues of the monthly newsletter of the American Agricultural Law Association from 1998 to 2005. Judicial Officer Decisions published here represent all major decisions rendered by that office since January of 2002. All are available for free at:

GEORGETOWN LAW LIBRARY: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW RESEARCH TUTORIAL

This tutorial will introduce you to the topic of administrative law research. For the general practitioner who does not work in a regulatory practice, the skills covered in this training session will be essential should you need to research adminstrative law.

July 12, 2007

Do-It-Yourself Forensics

Legal Technology - Do-It-Yourself Forensics


By Craig Ball
Law Technology News (entire article)
July 12, 2007

...

The safest way to forensically preserve digital evidence is to engage a qualified computer forensics expert because no one is better equipped to prevent problems or resolve them should they arise. But when there's no budget for an expert, there's still an affordable way to meet a duty to forensically preserve electronic evidence: do-it-yourself.

...

See how to do it here.

July 27, 2007

YouDeparted.com

YouDeparted.com - Welcome! Prepare for the unexpected. Release instructions, estate info, and messages if something happens to you.

YouDeparted.com helps organize and pass on your information and thoughts if something happens to you. It helps protect your family from undue costs and distress.

Nevada based YouDeparted provides an encrypted electronic safe deposit box with up to 5GB of space that can be accessed by loved ones in the event of a members death

Members use the service to store important information and last messages. When a member passes away, designated family members and friends may unlock the account. Before an account can be unlocked, a minimum number of Recipients set by the member must independently verify that member’s passing. Once the account is unlocked, Recipients are granted access to information specifically left for each of them, and the emails and letters written earlier by the member are sent out.

July 30, 2007

ABA Journal Redesign Results in New Law Portal

About Us | ABA Journal - Law News Now

Breaking legal news, updated as it happens by their staff of reporters throughout every business day.

Analysis from more than 1,000 legal blogs, written by lawyers who are experts in their fields.

You don’t have to come to the website to stay current with the latest legal news. You can receive free Daily and Weekly e-mail newsletters. You can add their RSS feeds to your feed reader. You can read their Mobile Edition on your Internet-capable cell phone or BlackBerry.

ABA Journal Home

August 1, 2007

CaseHawk

CaseHawk : Home

CaseHawk is a law firm management web application.
CaseHawk runs on their server with guaranteed security and reliability. There's no need for complicated installation or upgrade headaches. Use your browser for practice management on line.

Checkout the demo and screenshots.

Please contact them if you would like to sign-up for the beta release.
They're looking for small firms to help test their product.

August 8, 2007

Firefox 2


The award-winning Web browser is now faster, more secure, and fully customizable to your online life. With Firefox 2, they’ve added powerful new features that make your online experience even better.

Download Firefox 2 here

August 11, 2007

Texty

Texty: scms

Simple Content Management and Syndication
Texty says: "Never open a HTML page again for a minor text change!"
Step 1: Input the text you want on your web page at their site.
Step 2: Copy and paste the Texty into your HTML source code.
Step 3: Edit your Texty anytime at their website.

August 15, 2007

TokBox


About TokBox


Tokbox is a free service that lets you talk with your friends over live video - it takes just a couple of seconds and always works.

Here's how it works: you sign up and we give you a link. When you want to talk with anyone, it takes seconds: just give them the link - they click and you chat.

You can also put TokBox on your social network profile, blog or personal webpage. Anyone who is browsing will see a "Push to Talk" option. As soon as they click, they connect to you over live video.

Check Out TokBox

August 26, 2007

Offender Locater

Scan and locate sex offenders who live in and around your neighborhood. Enter an address or ZIP code into this free service and locate registered sex offenders near you. This service applies Web 2.0 technology to produce a "mashup" of registered sex offenders with their addresses.

Click on each sex offender located for a mug shot and short criminal history.

Click Here for this Free service.

Sorry, but it does not work with Safari. MacUsers will need FireFox.

August 28, 2007

Amnesty™ Hypercube 0.1.5a

Effortlessly move web widgets, games and videos out of your browser and onto your desktop.

Public alpha for Mac and Windows available now.

Collect, manage, share and publish "web widgets" -- snippets of code meant for your blog, home page or MySpace profiles.

Already using Dashboard? Any widget in Amnesty Hypercube can be pushed into your Dashboard with one click, which makes it a perfect extension to Tiger's native widget environment.

Already using Sidebar? Any widget in Amnesty Hypercube can be pushed into your Sidebar with one click, which makes it a perfect extension to Vista's native widget environment.

And to help you manage the largest widget library available, Amnesty Hypercube automatically imports web widgets from over 150 providers.

September 4, 2007

But What Would Prof. Kingsfield Say?

TeachingLaw.com -AspenLaw Studydesk Software Application

TeachingLaw.com
Diana Donahoe

Description:
Legal Research and Writing goes digital! TeachingLaw.com is an electronic legal research and writing coursebook that provides professors and students with a more interactive and collaborative learning environment. Now students can read, research, and write simultaneously and digest material more thoroughly and efficiently. TeachingLaw.com integrates all course materials into one, convenient location and offers a hands-on approach to learning legal research and writing strategies, analysis, sources, documents, editing and citation.

Teachinglaw.com is designed to provide you with a textbook for your course that integrates legal research with legal writing. In addition, it provides a courseware package that allows you to access and edit pre-packaged writing and research assignments as well as upload your own assignments.

The price listed for the course is $102.00. One assumes that is the price per user; but this is unclear.

Strange Name-Great Blog!!

Supraspinatus;

Supraspinatus
(SOO-pra-spy-NATE-us)

The Official Unofficial Blog of the New York State Bar Association Health Law Section has a unique name; but is chock full of health law-related posts and links--neat graphics, too.

Paul Gillan, who runs the NYSBA Health Law Section listserv, announces the kickoff of Supraspinatus, the "Official Unofficial Blog of the NYSBA Health Law Section". The purpose of the blog is to provide a forum for the timely sharing and discussion of news and developments relative to New York health law practitioners. The blog will serve as a complement to the listserve and the Health Law Journal, which combined will provide a full panoply of reference and analysis resources to health law section members.


Click Here for Supraspinatus.

September 8, 2007

CrossExam.com--Expert Witness Transcripts


Expert Witness Transcripts CrossExam.com

CrossExam.com is a fully text searchable Internet database consisting solely of expert witness deposition and trial transcripts.

Attorneys and other legal professionals preparing for trial can see how particular experts have testified in prior cases by searching their database by expert name, case name, or expert type.

Each deposition costs $150.00. Contribute expert witness transcripts to CrossExam.com and earn cash and research credits. Their on-line demos make uploading from any file format quick and easy.

Worth a look.

September 13, 2007

Onebox

Virtual PBX Service | About Onebox

Onebox provides a comprehensive suite of outsourced virtual phone services which enable small companies to leverage the features and functions of a Fortune 500 phone system without the associated expense. Their Virtual PBX service lets small companies operate much like large enterprises with a simple, outsourced telecommunication service.

Their Executive Service costs about $20.00 per month.

Their flagship product, Onebox Receptionist, provides all the features you would expect from an in-house phone system, but in a simple, cost-effective service which can be implemented today.

Their Virtual PBX services are designed to meet the communications needs of larger offices.

September 18, 2007

Citebite

Citebite is an interesting new tool that can help you link directly to quotes on web site pages. Just paste the text you're
quoting into the dialog box, include the URL where the quote came from, and
voila! You'll get a URL that takes you back to that page, with the quoted
passage highlighted in yellow.

The above is from Tom Mighell, whose Inter Alia is well worth adding to your favorites, bookmarks, or RSS feed.

September 20, 2007

Zotero

Zotero - The Next-Generation Research Tool

Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work — in the web browser itself.

FEATURES
Automatic capture of citation information from web pages

Storage of PDFs, files, images, links, and whole web pages

Flexible notetaking with autosave

Fast, as-you-type search through your materials

Playlist-like library organization, including saved searches (smart collections) and tags

Platform for new forms of digital research that can be extended with other web tools and services

Runs right in your web browser

Formatted citation export (style list to grow rapidly)

Free and open source

Integration with Microsoft Word and OpenOffice

September 21, 2007

OpenOffice 2.2.1


OpenOffice 2.2.1, a multi-platform office productivity suite is an open-source alternative to commercial suites. It includes a word processor, presentation software, and a drawing program. More than 65 languages are supported. This version is compatible with Windows 98 plus or Mac OS X 10.1 plus.

Download here.

September 25, 2007

Yugma

Yugma : Free Web Conferencing, Online Meetings, Web Collaboration Service, Free Desktop Sharing, video conferencing, remote control software, net meeting: home

Yugma Works
Instant real-time desktop sharing
Virtual meetings and web conferencing
Whiteboard, annotate and share files
Windows, Mac and Linux compatible
Invite up to 10 people for free
Free teleconferencing
Get Yugma Widget for your website
Easy, secure and reliable
No spyware, adware or malware

Watch Demo

October 4, 2007

UC Berkeley Releases Entire Course Lectures Free on YouTube


Press release – "Further expanding public access to its intellectual riches through the most popular Web destinations, the University of California, Berkeley, announced today (Wednesday, Oct. 3) that it is making entire course lectures and special events available, free of charge, on YouTube. UC Berkeley is the first university to make videos of full courses available through YouTube. Visitors to the site at youtube.com/ucberkeley can view more than 300 hours of videotaped courses and events. Topics range from bioengineering, to peace and conflict studies, to "Physics for Future Presidents," the title of a popular campus course. Building on its initial offerings, UC Berkeley will continue to expand the catalog of videos available on YouTube."

Via beSpacific

These first offerings are mostly biology and physics; but one can see the potential for broadening the catalog.

October 5, 2007

Proskauer on International Litigation and Arbitration:

Welcome - Proskauer on International Litigation and Arbitration

Proskauer on International Litigation and Arbitration is written and presented by the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department and International Practice Group of Proskauer Rose LLP, an international law firm serving clients globally.

The IPG's e-book provides an essential guide to clients for managing, resolving, and avoiding international litigations/arbitrations and cross-border regulatory investigations and proceedings.

Its also free for anyone interested in reading it online.

***

Via Carolyn Elefant at Legal Blog Watch

October 7, 2007

President Kate's Blog

NYSBA President's Blog

You really should drop by NYSBA President Kate Madigan's blog and catch up on all the things Kate has been doing in her year as our President.

I'm particularly impressed with Kate's increased use of and ease with the latest technology.

Hear Kate on the Lawyer 2 Lawyer podcast with Bob Ambrogi discussing Age Discrimination in the Legal Profession.

November 2, 2007

FLOCK 1.0

Flock 1.0 is meant to be a "social" browser. It has integrated photo-sharing and instant messaging integrated into its design. Its designed for use with social networking sites. Users can access new information about friends and contacts via RSS feeds.

This version is compatible with computers running Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. Macintosh and Linux versions are also available.

Download for free here.

November 16, 2007

Dutch Police Claim First Real-Life Arrest for Virtual Burglary

The First Post: Attacked in cyberspace? Call 999

News that Dutch police have arrested a teenager for stealing 4,000 euros worth of virtual furniture from an online, virtual-world hotel is the latest bizarre twist in an ongoing cyber-saga, in which virtual world property crimes are attracting real-life law-enforcement.

***

The unfortunate Dutch 17-year-old is accused of tricking players out of their passwords, and using the information to steal virtual furniture, which he and a gang of five 15-year-old accomplices were storing in their own virtual hotel rooms.

***

Read More

November 19, 2007

Inmate Locator

Click here for links to inmate locators in a number of US States. Each locator is a little different. They can be searched in different ways and the amount of information about a particular prisoner can vary widely from state to state. Additionally some states place restrictions on how information from penal databases may be used.

Not included are:

The New York State Department of Corrections Prisoner Lookup.


The New York City Inmate Lookup.

November 30, 2007

Friday, Nov 30: Virtual Citizenship / New Technologies Symposium

Last minute notice about an online symposium right now (Friday, 9 am - 4:30 pm):
This takes place in the Second Life virtual world:


Hosted by Wayne State University, this symposium will launch a broader research, teaching, and service project that can help us understand what citizenship means in the 21st century and can help our students, staff and faculty use emerging communication and information technologies to become better citizens. Live video of the entire day's events will be streamed into Second Life. More info:
with instructions on joining in Second Life here:


Speakers include:
* Russell Dalton, Professor of Political Science at the University of California Irvine, whose recent study called The Good Citizen looks at the attitudes and behaviors of young people
* Fred Stutzman, graduate researcher at the University of North Carolina's School of Information and Library Science, whose research and active blog outline both the theoretical and practical aspects of social network software and its role in academic and political life.
* Wendy Chun, Associate Professor of Media and Modern Culture at Brown University, who will be talking about "Imagined Networks".
* Vernor Vinge, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at San Diego State University and award-winning science fiction writer, whose recent Rainbows End is insightful in its thinking about how ubiquitous computing might affect everyday life.

When: Nov 30 6:00am - 1:30pm (PST) check your local time:
Where: Teaching 2 (135,124,22)

Mogulus-Broadcast Live

Mogulus サ Broadcast Live. - Flash Player Installation

Start your own live broadcast using content from around the web or your own webcam, and assemble a dream team of producers.

Mogulus is now in Beta. Check out its site and the FAQ for more information on this exciting new service, which makes live web casting available for anyone with a web cam, including solos and small firms.

What a way to add value to your legal web site or blawg!!

December 3, 2007

MacSanta

For each day of the MacSanta promotion, starting
01-Dec-07 and running through 24-Dec-07, five different developers
will offer a 20 percent discount off their normal pricing during
that 24-hour period (Pacific Standard Time).

After the day on which they're featured on the MacSanta home page,
all products will be offered at a 10-percent discount, through
31-Dec-07. The site has an RSS feed to which you can subscribe in
order to receive updates as they appear.

***

From Tidbits..subscribe to this free Mac newsletter.

December 4, 2007

United States Attorneys' Manual

United States Attorneys' Manual

There are literally hundreds of forms and memoranda available here.

December 6, 2007

Project Sunlight-NY

Project Sunlight

Currently, Project Sunlight allows you to search data related to a Elected Official, campaign finance, legislation, lobbying activity, registered corporations, recipients of state government contracts, corporations and charities. The website also offers educational videos on relevant laws, an educational glossary, and basic information on how state government works. In order to access these materials, go to the “information” option on the homepage. You can do so by clicking here or go directly to available educational videos by clicking here.

December 7, 2007

CCleaner

CCleaner - Home

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!

***

Click here.

Photo Organizer

start [Photo Organizer] At its most basic level, Photo Organizer is (yet another) a multiuser web-based photo gallery engine. It differentiates itself by focusing on asset management, aiming at the needs of professional photographers rather than the more typical “I need to share some images on the web and blog about it” crowd. It does not make the assumption that just because you have an image, you want to share it with someone. It combines “we'd like to show people some photos” with “we have a lot of photos we just store and annotate.” To that end, Photo Organizer is highly scalable, capable of handling tens of thousands of images with ease. Coupled with robust importing, exporting, searching, tagging, and printing capabilities, it is intended to act as a photographer's primary image repository. Photo Organizer is Free Software licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL)

December 12, 2007

Lexbe.com

Lexbe.com: Litigation support services, case management, legal document scanning, e-Discovery, OCR and conversion

Lexbe.com is a web-based case analysis and document management application. Case analysis features include fact and issue analysis, case calendaring, tracking of contact and case participants, deposition analysis, case research and dynamic timeline generation.

Document management features include full-text search, automatic OCR, document sorting and retrieval, native file upload, document coding, document encryption and off-line access. Lexbe.com is available on a monthly basis with no set-up or cancellation fees.

***

For more info.

Litilaw

Litilaw Legal Research & Litigation Related Articles

Litigation Articles & Legal Research Collection

This is Lexbe.com's free collection of over 500 recently published articles of interest to litigators and related legal professionals. All articles are full-text, written by lawyers and have been published as part of continuing legal education (CLE) seminars, in legal journals, or are of similar quality. Litilaw links to copies of articles available on the internet, or hosted by them at the author's request.

December 14, 2007

Basic Legal Citation (LII 2007)

Basic Legal Citation (LII 2007)

This work first appeared in 1993. It was most recently revised in May 2007 to reflect changes appearing in the third edition of the ALWD Citation Manual, published in 2006. It is also keyed to the most recent edition of The Bluebook, published in 2005.

***

From our old friends at the LII, specifically former Dean of the Law School at Cornell, Peter W. Martin. Dean Martin was instrumental in guiding the original NYLaw Net committee as it groped its way toward NYSBA's first web site. His concept of "...adding value..." to publicly available legal materials and making both available on line is as valid today as it was back in the early 90's.

December 17, 2007

"Legal Technology - Stay Informed: It's Really Rather Simple

Legal Technology - Stay Informed: It's Really Rather Simple

Stay Informed: It's Really Rather Simple
By David Whelan
Law Technology News
December 17, 2007

Lawyers have used current events tools to monitor case law, statutory and regulatory change for years. Thomson Corp.'s Westlaw and Lexis- Nexis provide easy ways to save the perfect search and even update it automatically. But these tools also can be used to monitor client activity. Whether you are using Thomson's Watch or LexisNexis' Total Alerts -- or one of many free resources on the Web -- there's a way to make the process even easier, using RSS.

RSS, a.k.a. Really Simple Syndication, is pervasive on Web sites and in databases where data is updated frequently. An RSS file is a simple text file that is created by one computer so that another computer can look at it and see if it has new information.

Take a blog, for example. When an author publishes a new post, the RSS file for that site incorporates a link, and often a description, of the new post. Researchers who have subscribed to the RSS feed will have a tool, whether an intranet page or an RSS reader, to monitor the updates. When the RSS file is updated, the researcher sees the new posting automatically.

The breadth of possible RSS sources is enormous, because resources extend far beyond fee-based research databases. Blogs, online newspapers and magazines and news aggregation sites all offer news feeds in the RSS format, and users can supplement the significant content in their fee-based databases by using free RSS feeds. Like e-mail alerts and clipping services that trigger as news happens, RSS updates occur when content is added to the original source, so it's easy to monitor client news and activities without a dramatic increase in e-mail-triggered alerts.

***

For the remainder of this excellent article, please click here.

January 6, 2008

Hyplets

Hyplet - Your Online Signature

Hyplets are FREE personal IDs and online Flyers, which you can easily add to emails and Web pages, allowing you to enhance your online presence and promote your content with a single click.

Utilizing the Hyplet Editor you can create and customize you own personal Ids and Flyers, and publish them through the Publish section of Hyplet.com or the Hyplet Browser Add-on.

With the Hyplet IDs, you can have your selected contact details on a stylish online card, which you can set as your email signature on Outlook, Outlook Express, Yahoo Mail, and Windows Live Hotmail.

23andMe

23andMe

A web-based service that helps you read and understand your DNA. After providing a saliva sample using an at-home kit, the site provides interactive tools to shed new light on your distant ancestors, your close family and most of all, yourself.

Costs $999.00 per kit.

January 14, 2008

FeedDemon 2.6 for Windows


FeedDemon for Windows -Award-winning RSS Reader and News Feed Reader

Free Download

Looking for a great way to view and manage your RSS feeds from your desktop? Look no further than FeedDemon, the most popular Windows RSS reader.

Bring the power of RSS right to your Windows desktop with FeedDemon.
Get your news and information instantly.
Customize the way you read and organize feeds.
Download podcasts to your iPod or Windows Media Player.
The easy-to-use interface makes it a snap to stay informed with the latest news and information. You can completely customize the way feeds are organized and displayed. Set up custom news watches based on keywords or use the powerful search to find articles. You can even download podcasts and audio files and have them show up on your portable audio device. In addition, FeedDemon synchronizes with NewsGator Online and the rest of the NewsGator RSS Suite. The software is pre-configured with dozens of feeds, so you can unleash the power of RSS right away.

New Version! Top new features in FeedDemon 2.6:
"Panic Button" – detects when you have a ton of unread items and offers to mark them (or a subset of them) as read
Significant performance improvements
Redesigned newspaper UI
Significant improvements to offline reading support, including redesigned "prefetching" of feeds
Inline page search
Attention reporting/APML export

RSS Reader for Mac - NetNewsWire 3.1--Now FREE


RSS Reader for Mac - NetNewsWire

Free Download

Looking for an easy-to-use RSS and Atom reader for your Mac? You've found it! The Eddy award-winning NetNewsWire has a familiar three-paned interface and can fetch and display news from thousands of different websites and weblogs.

New Version 3.1!
Bring the power of RSS right to your Mac OS X desktop.
New! UI update with new toolbar icons.
New! Performance and memory enhancements including an improved Combined View which uses multiple pages to display long lists of items.
New! HTML Archive feature - saves news items as HTML files on disk. These files are compatible with any web browser.
Desktop integration – Address Book, iCal, iPhoto, Growl, Twitterrific and more.
Great new look – improved Combined View, feed "cover art", full-screen mode, and tabs with thumbnails and animations.
Synchronized clippings – read your saved articles from the web or another NewsGator reader.
Microformat detection for contacts and calendar events.
Automatic checking for newer versions of the software.
Automatic download of podcasts and transfer to iTunes.
Smart lists to aggregate news from your feeds based on criteria.
Lite Version--no more!!

NetNewsWire is now free! You can get all the cool features of NetNewsWire at no cost.

Download NetNewsWire 3.1

****

Hat tip to TIDBITS

January 22, 2008

Blogonize

Blogonize - an easy to use innovative blog host!

Get Started with Blogonize!

Create your free blog with them, and gain access to a set of FREE tools; including the "Hot Page" which showcases popular blog entries, and use of AJAX to lessen load time - Blogonize is a free, hosting blog solution, comparable to WordPress and TypePad.

Thanks to TechCrunch.

January 23, 2008

Ambrogi on 5 Most Notable Legal Sites of 2007

Legal Technology - Changing the Online Legal Landscape

Changing the Online Legal Landscape
By Robert Ambrogi
Law Technology News
January 23, 2008

Fire up the Klieg lights and tidy up your tux. It is time to honor the five most notable legal sites of 2007. We focus on the sites that made news or should have made news -- not necessarily the best or the worst, but the ones that most altered the online legal landscape.

***

Read entire article.

***

Avvo
Public Resource.org
Altlaw
ABAJournal
Justia

***
Anything Robert Ambrogi writes, especially on legal technology, is well worth reading. He has a practical bent to his observations and doesn’t get lost in academic distractions. Ambrogi looks for free or low cost resources online.

Visit Robert Ambrogi’s Legal Sites.

January 31, 2008

Real Estate Space

Real Estate Space


The Commercial Real Estate Finance Law Blog, with notes on real estate law and the real estate business from a Massachusetts lawyer.

***

Sometimes its useful to view something like real estate law and finance from a broader perspective than your next New York closing.

Doug Cornelius presents an excellent example of an attorney with a large, old-line firm who enjoys keeping current on his field with a personal blog.

RSS feed and email updates are available. Cornelius shares publications and forms from his practice.

Well worth a look. Check out his use of embedded documents, some of which are hosted on a new site called Docstoc.

February 1, 2008

SoloSez

About Solosez.net - ABA's Solo Center

SoloSez (pronounced 'so-low-says') is an electronic mail discussion list that has matured into a worldwide community of more than 1,800 solo and small firm practitioners. SoloSez is an on-line resource for lawyers to share and obtain information on a wide range of personal and professional subjects: legal questions, client referrals, topical issues, practice technology problems and solutions, travel information, jokes, or just to gloat about a court victory or vent about a local judge. Hosted by the ABA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division, this Internet tool is changing the way many solos practice law.

***

Subscribe to Solosez

You might want to try the digest option if the traffic is messages is too heavy.

NYSBA's First Webcast: The Presidential Summit

NYSBA

Click the Play Button on this site to watch an excerpt from the January 30, 2008, live webcast of the Presidential Summit at the NYSBA Annual Meeting. "Youth at Risk" and "Globalization" were both on the agenda.

I was impressed by the video quality. Even in the full screen mode, there was very little degradation of the video signal.

The camera was well-placed and not intrusive. The presentations were almost like being in the room. It was fun to spot familiar faces in the crowd.

Congratulations to President Kate Madigan and her Electronics Communications Task Force for this historic broadcast. FULL DISCLOSURE: this blogger is a member of the ectf.

More content will be available soon.

February 6, 2008

Issuu

Issuu - You Publish

Have a document? Simply upload it to Issuu. It's free, and you can post it anywhere. On your website, blog and even on Myspace and Facebook.

Issuu lets you upload a PDF and then flip through it on a dedicated Webpage or in a small embedded widget. Click on the widget and it takes you to the full page.

February 8, 2008

ePrintable.com

FREE Printable Calendars : Printable Custom Calendar from ePrintable.com

ePrintable.com is a website where you can generate printable weekly planners and monthly and yearly calendars for free. With just a few clicks you will be able to personalize these calendars by adding an image and any text you'd like. Just select the calendar type and choose from their collection of pre-selected images and quotes, click the button, and your printable 2008 calendar is ready to be printed out! Don't forget to bookmark this site if you like it!

Flexadex

Flexadex Online Address Book

It's an application that runs right in your web browser.
No downloading required.
It's FREE.
Access your addresses, contacts, or whatever other info
you choose to store here, from anywhere in the world.
You can store up to 1000 entries, for FREE.
It has intuitive functionality, with no frivolous features to slow you down.
It's fast... AND it's flexible.
Sign up for your own Flexadex.

Try the demo.

February 20, 2008

iPaper

Meet iPaper | Scribd

iPaper is a document format built for the Internet. Like a YouTube video, iPaper documents are Flash widgets which you embed in your existing web pages. PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and many other document formats can all be displayed on the web using iPaper.

View a video demo.

February 22, 2008

NCJRS

About NCJRS

NCJRS is a federally funded resource offering justice and substance abuse information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.

NCJRS services and resources are available to anyone interested in crime, victim assistance, and public safety including policymakers, practitioners, researchers, educators, community leaders, and the general public.

NCJRS offers a range of services and resources, balancing the information needs of the field with the technological means to receive and access support.

NCJRS offers extensive reference and referral services to help you find answers to your questions about crime and justice-related research, policy, and practice.

February 26, 2008

Our Friends from LII have a Blog

サ About LII Announce

Announcements, featured content, and the occasional bizarre legal information factoid from the LII.

LII Announce looks very good.

Tom Bruce's Blog

» About – nameless for now –

Thomas R. Bruce is co-founder and director of the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School, the first legal-information web site in the world. He has been the principal technical architect for online legal resources ranging from fourteenth-century law texts to the current decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Bruce has consulted on Internet matters for numerous commercial and public organizations on four continents. He has been a fellow of the Center for Online Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, and a Senior International Fellow at the University of Melbourne Law School. He is an affiliated researcher in Cornell’s program in Information Science, where he works closely with faculty and students who experiment with the application of natural-language processing techniques to legal texts. He currently serves as a member of the ABA Administrative Law Section Special Committee on e-Rulemaking, and is a longtime member of the board of directors of the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction. He has been known to play loud music at odd hours.

Tom Bruce of LII has his own blog, which is currently unnamed; but well worth your attention.

February 29, 2008

Acoo Browser

tabbed web browser,Internet Browser,Ad Filter,popup blocker,privacy cleaner,mouse gestures... - AcooBrowser

Acoo Browser is a powerful multi-tabbed Internet browser based on the Internet Explorer engine (IE 5 or greater required).

Acoo Browser provides a user-friendly GUI interface, including tabbed document windows, dockable panel groups and customizable toolbars.

Acoo Browser allows user to surf multiple Web sites within one browser window. It also includes many advanced features such as Mouse Gestures, built-in syntax highlighted HTML source viewer, powerful built-in Web page analyzer, built-in calculator, RSS Reader, recoverable Popup Blocker, Ads Filter, ActiveX Filter, script error suppression, Cleaner, external tools, web page zooming, URL Hotkey, URL Alias, Integrated search engine support, skinned window frame, and much more...

Acoo Browser can block annoying pop-ups, banner Ads, flash Ads and other Internet Ad annoyances automatically without interfering your surfing. There is also detailed logging record in Acoo Browser, and you may know the Ads sites killed by Acoo Browser so as to improve your setting.

Download here.

March 15, 2008

ABA TECHSHOW BUZZ Page

ABA TECHSHOW BUZZ

At ABA TECHSHOW 2008, they're going "social" in a big way! They're harnessing the power of the Internet to help their conference attendees communicate and network better with each other. This ABA TECHSHOW Buzz page will be a place where you can read blog posts, see pictures from the conference, follow updates from attendees, or even check out some of the websites being talked about at the show - all for free!

TECHSHOW BUZZ Page, its almost like being there--but cheaper.

***

Thanks to Robert Ambrogi.

March 16, 2008

True Knowledge

[true knowledge]™ - home

True Knowledge is an internet search company based in Cambridge, England. Their unique technology represents general knowledge in a form that computers can understand and process.

They are using it to build a repository of the world's knowledge that can be used to directly answer questions from humans and other computers.

Think of this as a Wikipedia-type search engine, just starting up. It should be interesting to watch the growth. Will it become a phenomenon like Wikipedia or will it fizzle. If you enjoy sharing your knowledge, legal and otherwise, with others, try the beta.

March 22, 2008

Library of Congress Webcasts

Library of Congress Webcasts

The Library of Congress is posting dozens of speeches and other presentations on all sorts of issues, in topics including biography, performing arts, education, government, law, poetry and literature, religion, and technology.
***
Thanks to Tom Mighell & his Internet Legal Research Weekly.

March 23, 2008

Searchme

Its hard to imagine anything new in searching; but these folks have come up with visual previews of pages, which can be used with the traditional line search. Searchme is now in private beta. Watch the videos and sign up if you are interested.




Rocketmatter

Here's a Case Management System, which is entirely web-based.

With Rocket Matter, your calendar, contact, and billing information is:

secured on routinely updated enterprise level servers

stored in a highly secured facility where several municipalities maintain mission critical systems

placed on a network monitored by security experts 24 hours a day

available to you anytime, anyplace via encrypted connections

backed-up daily to comply with malpractice standards

Early adopters will receive a signing bonus; i.e., a discounted rate of $50.00 per month per lawyer and $15.00 per month per staff person.

Check out their blog for more info.

April 1, 2008

PLoL Offers Free Case Law Online

The March 18 New York Law Journal carried a short piece on a new website, the Public Library of Law (PLoL for short), which purports to be the largest collection of free case law anywhere. Here's a rip from their main page:

Searching the Web is easy. Why should searching the law be any different? That's why Fastcase has created the Public Library of Law -- to make it easy to find the law online. PLoL is the largest free law library in the world, because we assemble law available for free scattered across many different sites -- all in one place. PLoL is the best starting place to find law on the Web.
What is available on PLoL?
Cases from the U.S. Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals

Cases from all 50 states back to 1997

Federal statutory law and codes from all 50 states

Regulations, court rules, constitutions, and more!


PLoL also includes free links to paid content on Fastcase. PLoL is already the Web's largest free law library, but with additional links from Fastcase, it is one of the most comprehensive law libraries in the world.
Check out the site at www.plol.org.

***

The above post is courtesy of our fellow section blogger, Paul Gillan, whose Supraspinatus (health law) blog is worth a place on your favorites, bookmarks, and feeds.

April 11, 2008

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Oral Arguments

Commonwealth v. Ora

First Amendment-- The Commonwealth is appealing a District Court order allowing a defendant's motion to dismiss a criminal complaint for open and gross lewdness where the judge ruled that the defendant's nude dancing was protected by the First Amendment.

Enjoy commentary by Robert Ambrogi.

***

For more oral arguments before the SJC.

***


April 13, 2008

PDF Online

Convert to PDF for Free

PDF Online claims it converts more than 20,000 documents to PDF per day.

It converts these formats into PDF:

-MS Word (DOC | RTF)
-MS PowerPoint (PPT)
-MS Publisher (PUB)
-MS Excel (XLS)
-HTML (MHT)
-Text (TXT)

**
I can never figure out what to do when I receive a MicroSoft Publisher document. Publisher has no Mac or Linux equivalent and, unlike most other programs, there is no conversion available. The best solution one can come up with is to find a way to convert the Publisher file to pdf. A little searching came up with PDF Online. The site is covered with ads; but it does what it says it will; i.e., convert the Publisher file I uploaded and email it back to me as a pdf attachment. There was no charge. You can't ask for more than that.

April 25, 2008

Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus

Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus


Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus is a free antivirus solution, that scans your computer for malicious programs (such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, worms, dialers etc.), monitoring every action executed by the user or by the operating system and being able to react promptly when a malicious program is detected.

This version is compatible with computers running Windows 2000, XP, and Vista.

April 27, 2008

NYTIMES: Lawyers Open Their File Cabinets for a Web Resource

Lawyers Open Their File Cabinets for a Web Resource - New York Times

JDSupra.com, a new site, is stocking a free, virtual law library by persuading lawyers to do something highly unusual: to post examples of their legal work online for use by one and all, no strings attached. Many of the documents are articles and newsletters that can be understood by ordinary mortals who want more background on a legal issue, or who would like to find lawyers with expertise in a particular area.

***
OTHER innovations in virtual law libraries are concerned with new search technology for legal information on the Web. Thomas Smith, a law professor at the University of San Diego, is the co-creator of a search engine called PreCYdent, now in the beta, or testing, stage, that uses legal citations to find related information (www.precydent.com).

April 30, 2008

Google Earth 4.3 released

The newest version of Google Earth enables you to see 41 new cities in
3D, including Boston, Tampa, Zurich, Hamburg and Tokyo, along with
much faster 3D building rendering, new navigation control down to
street level, the ability to view the sun at any time of the day, and
more. They've also brought Street View from Maps to Earth and added 12
new languages.

http://earth.google.com

May 2, 2008

Optimizing Your Web Site: The ABC's of SEO

Law Practice Magazine :: Optimizing Your Web Site: The ABC's of SEO


By Sharon Nelson and John Simek of Sensei Enterprises

Lawyers are constantly asking what single investment they can make to help grow their practices. Well, a not-to-be forgotten principle is that monies sensibly invested in Web sites will always return the investment. The bedrock element of “sensibly” involves optimization to attract visitors.

Recently we taught a seminar on legal Web sites and part of it, of course, was about search engine optimization (SEO)—which, essentially, is the art of properly constructing your site to get the highest possible rankings from search engines. Rather to our surprise, we learned from participants’ comments that many lawyers now understand how important search engine optimization is—but they also remain fairly clueless about how to achieve it.
To help rectify the situation, let’s address the fundamental questions about SEO to greatly up the odds that you invest in a first-class, creative Web site and that you know what to watch from there. Please bear with us—if you can absorb the material that follows, you will be well on your way to developing a site that really helps your bottom line.
***
Read entire article with helpful list of "do's and don'ts" to optimize your web site.
***
Hat tip to LegalEase blog.

May 15, 2008

Baltsoft announces free PDF converter online site

Lithuania-based Baltsoft has announced its online PDF conversion site, which enables users to convert MS Word documents images, web pages and vector graphic files to PDF documents.

Example: you need to convert a Power Point (PPT) file into PDF. Use the "Browse" button to locate the source file on your local PC, select it and click the "Convert" button.

May 19, 2008

Evernote

What is Evernote? | Evernote Corporation

Evernote allows you to capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at anytime, from anywhere.

Everything you put into Evernote is synchronized across all of your devices.

Get an invitation.

***
Super Blawgger Robert Ambrogi has a review of Evernote today on Law.com.

***

May 20, 2008

Google Health

Google Health has launched in beta, providing free, online storage in one location for all of your health records.

Google wants you to gather your medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies in one place. They say this will:
Keep your doctors up to date about your health
You will be more informed about important health issues

Google says they will store your information securely and privately. They will never sell your data. You are in control, you choose what you want to share and what you want to keep private--subject, of course, to a subpoena.

Our cheeky British friends at The Register have reviewed the new service and have some questions and raise some interesting issues; e.g., what happens to HIPAA protections?

May 22, 2008

ScribbleLive.com


About

Watch as an event unfolds half way around the world at a conference or a meeting, or next-door at a concert, community gathering or sporting event, all from the comfort of your computer or mobile device.

ScribbleLive allows broadcasters, publishers, educators, lawyers, corporations, social groups, writers, students, bloggers and individuals to be instant publishers, live to your screen.

Logging in is a snap. They seamlessly integrate with your FaceBook, MSN Live or your Open ID account so you don’t have to remember another ID and password. Since there is no need to install software or learn some complicated back end, you can create your event in seconds. Give it a name and off you go. Now, send out the invitation to your friends to help you cover the full story. They instantly become your team or writers, photographers and editors and ScribbleLive ensure you are all on the same page.

Once that post hits the page, in seconds, you can instantly edit your text right in the post without the need to leave the comfort of the browser. The update instantly appears on everyone’s screen.

Don’t want to be the writer, no problem. Just click on someone else's event to watch as the event unfolds.

II you would rather see the post from the newest to the oldest, just log in, and reverse the order.

ScribbleLive is not a chat line; this is a collaborative, real time journaling of events as they unfold.

Its easy to use, you have instant access, the posts appear in seconds without the need to reload, you can edit instantly, you have unlimited users that can watch the event and its totally new in this Beta.

June 1, 2008

Google Sites now open to everyone

Google has made it easy for anyone to set up a website and share all types
of information — team projects, company intranets, community groups,
classrooms, clubs, family updates, you name it — in one place, for a
few people, a group or the world. You can securely host your own
website and add as many pages as you like — all for free.

http://sites.google.com

June 2, 2008

Jungle Disk

JungleDisk - Reliable online storage powered by Amazon S3 ™ - Jungle Disk

Jungle Disk is an application that lets you store files and backup data securely to Amazon.com's S3 ™ Storage Service.

Store an unlimited amount of data for only 15 cents per gigabyte

No monthly subscription fee, no startup fee, no commitment

Your data is fully encrypted at all times

Data is stored at multiple Amazon.com datacenters around the country for high availability

Access files directly from Windows Explorer, Mac OSX Finder, and Linux

Automatically backup your important files.
With Amazon S3 ™ there is no minimum and no maximum amount of data you can store.

June 5, 2008

280 Slides

280 Slides - Create & Share Presentations Online

With 280 Slides, there's no software to download and nothing to pay for – and when you're done building your presentation you can share it any way you like.

Features
Take It With You
They store your presentations securely on their server so you can take them anywhere in the world where there's an Internet connection.

Download to PowerPoint
With a single click you can download a copy of your presentation in the Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 format.

Built-In Media Search
Add photos and movies to your presentation directly from popular web services like Flickr and YouTube.

Publish to the Web
Put your presentation on SlideShare, e-mail it to a friend, or embed it directly on your own website, all with just a few clicks.

Themes
It's easy to make a great looking presentation with their built-in themes.

Run in Your Web Browser
280 Slides runs right in the browser, with no download and no installation, and it works just like the desktop applications you're used to.

June 6, 2008

Opera Browser (9.50 Beta 2)

Opera browser

Opera has a small but dedicated following among those who like speed browsing. This latest version (9.50 Beta 2) has security code which detects malware at the link level, rather than the domain level. This should make it easier and safer to visit sites which required caution in the past.

Desktop, mini, and mobile versions can be downloaded here.

June 8, 2008

Global Legal Information Network (GLIN)

Global Legal Information Network

The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) is a public database of official texts of laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by governmental agencies and international organizations. These GLIN members contribute the full texts of their published documents to the database in their original languages. Each document is accompanied by a summary in English and, in many cases in additional languages, plus subject terms selected from the multilingual index to GLIN. All summaries are available to the public, and public access to full texts is also available for most jurisdictions.

Click on "More Search Options".

June 11, 2008

NYS Department of Health Webcasts

The New York State Dept. of Health has a number of very important boards, committees, and councils which meet on a regular basis to discuss and determine the number of doctors, hospitals, and medical equipment available to the citizens of the Empire State and what all this will cost. Many of those meetings are now available via live webcasts.

Among those whose meetings will be webcast are the State Hospital Review and Planning Council, arguably the state's most important decision-making body on health care issues.

Meetings from January 2008 onward are being archived for ready reference.

June 13, 2008

Scribus

scribus.net | Scribus Open Source Desktop Publishing

Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to Linux/Unix, MacOS X, OS/2 and Windows desktops with a combination of "press-ready" output and new approaches to page layout.

Underneath the modern and user friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.
***

Download.

June 18, 2008

OUT-LAW.COM

OUT-LAW.COM: IT and e-commerce legal advice and support

OUT-LAW has 8,000 pages of free legal news and guidance, mostly on IT and e-commerce issues.

It also has more of a breezy, British attitude toward blogging. Pinsent Masons even has a link for "Fun".

Here's the firm's description of their site:

"OUT-LAW.COM is not just another law firm web site. It explains IT, e-commerce, privacy, software, tax, employment and other issues that businesses need to know about and it's updated every day. It's not just an advert for the firm behind it. Instead, the site explains what you need to know in terms that you can understand and it gives supporting legal documents for free where most others would charge."

Skype 4.0 Beta for Windows

Download the beta version of Skype for Windows

Free Skype-to-Skype calls.
Free video calls.
Free instant messaging.
Call phones and mobiles, send SMS.
And the full set of features is coming. Stay tuned for more releases.

System requirements
PC running Windows 2000, XP or Vista. (Windows 2000 users require DirectX 9.0 for video calls).
Internet connection – broadband is best (GPRS is not supported for voice calls).
Speakers and microphone – built-in or separate.

To make video calls you’ll need a computer with at least a 1GHz processor, 256 MB RAM and of course a webcam.

For High Quality Video calls you will need a high quality video webcam and software, a dual-core processor computer and a fast broadband connection (384 kbps).

Technical details
Version 4.0.0.145 File size 24 MB. Beta release. Release date: June 18, 2008. File name: SkypeSetup-Beta.exe
***
Download Now.
***
Sorry--no new Mac version yet. DownLoad Skype 2.7 for MacOs X

June 27, 2008

SHIPtool


SHIPtool brings pricing and timing information from different carriers to your finger tips. It allows the shipper to see and compare different shipment pricing and delivery options from the same page and then guides them to Carrier page to process their shipments.

Compare pricing and timing
Select the carrier
Ship from the chosen carriers
Save money and time on the shipment
It’s FREE

Tracking included

PDFCreator | pdfforge.org

PDFCreator is a free tool to create PDF files from nearly any Windows application.

Key Features:
Create PDFs from any program that is able to print
Security: Encrypt PDFs and protect them from being opened, printed etc.
Send generated files via eMail
Create more than just PDFs: PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, EPS
AutoSave files to folders and filenames based on Tags like Username, Computername, Date, Time etc.
Merge multiple files into one PDF

PDFCreator is free, even for commercial use! It is Open Source and released under the Terms of the GNU General Public License.

Download PDFCreator now. Sorry, Windows only.

Adobe Acrobat 9.0 Released

Adobe has officially released the new 9.0 version of Acrobat, which allows you to combine different file types into one PDF Portfolio. The new version is available as a free download on a 30 day trial basis (Windows only).

Rick Borstein has posted more details on his site, Acrobat for Legal Professionals.

June 30, 2008

Real-time stock quotes on Google Finance

You can now access real-time last sale prices from both the NASDAQ and
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Google Finance, Google.com and
other search properties. It's free - there are no
subscription fees or registration.
http://finance.google.com

July 1, 2008

Email Newsletter Software from AWeber Communications

If you are thinking about creating a firm email newsletter, check out AWeber Communications for low cost options.

With their Broadcast tool you can:

Create and send your newsletters now, or schedule them for later

Pick from over 50 pre-made templates, use your own, or create messages with the built-in editor

Segment subscribers, send split tests and track your response

Get started today for $19 a month and send email follow ups and newsletters to up to 500 subscribers.

Or, pay $193.80 annually and save $34.20 every year.

Other pricing options are available for over 500 subscribers.

July 8, 2008

Family History and Genealogy: USA.gov

Family History and Genealogy page includes the following topical links:
Genealogy resources, by state
Gravesite locator for veteran cemeteries
Ship passenger arrival records, 1820-1982
Census finder

***

Hat tip to beSpacific

The New York State Parent Education and Awareness Program

Certified providers statewide help separating or divorcing parents better
understand the effects of their breakup on their children. The program,
which in many cases is free, offers parents practical skills to help
their children adjust to their new family situation.

See the Program’s web page with a list of providers and contact information, www.nycourts.gov/parented

Court Interpreting Services

This web page includes details about the role of court interpreters and
general requirements of the position. The online page also provides
the public with information about obtaining interpreting services, at no
cost, in over 100 languages, www.nycourts.gov/courtinterpreter.

CourtHelp--Official Court Forms Free

CourtHelp is a web page where court users can download official court
forms, at no cost, for family law, divorce (uncontested) civil law and
other court matters, http://www.nycourts.gov/courthelp/forms.html

July 10, 2008

New York State Bar Journal

The New York State Bar Journal is now available online in a convenient pdf format.

Click here to download the July/August issue.

I think I'm going to have a lot more shelf space from now on.

July 24, 2008

Knol from Google

Knol: a unit of knowledge

A knol is an authoritative article about a specific topic.


From Google: "A few months ago we announced that we were testing a new product called Knol. Knols are authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects. Today, we're making Knol available to everyone.

The web contains vast amounts of information, but not everything worth knowing is on the web. An enormous amount of information resides in people's heads: millions of people know useful things and billions more could benefit from that knowledge. Knol will encourage these people to contribute their knowledge online and make it accessible to everyone.

The key principle behind Knol is authorship. Every knol will have an author (or group of authors) who put their name behind their content. It's their knol, their voice, their opinion. We expect that there will be multiple knols on the same subject, and we think that is good."

***
Hat tip to beSpacific.com

eTrack-Webcivil Supreme & Local

eTrack is a free case tracking service offered by the New York State unified Court
System which enables you to receive email Case Updates and Appearance Reminders
for Civil Supreme and Local Civil Court cases. It is part of Webcivil Supreme, which
contains information on cases (both Active and Disposed) from all 62 counties in New
York State and WebCivil Local, which contains similar information from the New York
City Civil Courts.

Other courts may be available at the main eCourts site.

August 1, 2008

SeeThroughNY

SeeThroughNY is a web portal with data from counties, cities, towns, villages, school districts and public authorities throughout New York.

Click the buttons on the site to search government payrolls, contracts, expenditures, and links to additional information and supporting material on other websites.

The contracts should be of interest to public sector lawyers.

***

As you can well imagine, everyone is busy looking up someone else's salary, so the traffic to the site very heavy and may perform slowly at first.

The Hague Justice Portal


The Hague Justice Portal is a gateway to information, news and research on the Hague organisations in the fields of international peace, justice and security. It improves access to the Hague courts, tribunals and organisations and encourages academic debate.

Free E-mail alert subscriptions are available.

August 3, 2008

CriminalSearches.com

Last month, PeopleFinders, a 20-year-old company based in Sacramento, introduced CriminalSearches.com, a free service , supported by ads,which lets people search by name through criminal archives of all 50 states and 3,500 counties in the United States.

You'll want to read the site disclaimer carefully before use:

The data on this site provides only public record information and is intended for your personal use only. Our data should not be relied upon to determine an individual's actual criminal record since the offense listed is sometimes generic and could represent several different charges. Assumptions should NOT be made solely on the offense displayed on this web site. Our data includes more than criminal records, such as traffic and other minor offenses, so people listed may not be actual criminals. Also, not all criminal records result in conviction, nor do they all provide dispositions of guilt or innocence. Charging decisions made by the State Attorney's Office or from the outcome of criminal trials should be obtained from the source.
*** Hat tip to NYTIMES:

August 4, 2008

Law of the Pacific Islands: A Guide to Web Based Resources

This is for all of us middle-aged folks who dream of practicing law in a tropical paradise. No ties or power suits allowed. Thanks to our law librarian friends at llrx.com.

This Resource guide deals with internet sites providing Caselaw, Legislation and Government home pages for the Pacific Island region. There are also links to several relevant journals, and to academic sites providing dedicated Pacific Law web pages, or Centres dealing with Pacific Law.

***

Hat tip to beSpacific.

August 5, 2008

CiteGenie--Beta


Citegenie is a FireFox extension which will automatically copy text with correct citations from Westlaw and other websites.
This Latest version: 0.2.3.3beta92 is presently in open beta release for testing. This beta is open to anyone who would like to try the beta version of GiteGenie. You can also discuss the beta version in the Beta Testing Forum.

Please Note: If you chose to install CiteGenie from this page, Firefox may block the install with the message "Firefox prevented this site (www.citegenie.com) from asking you to install software on your computer." If this happens, please click on the "Edit Options" button that will appear in the top right corner of the window, and chose to "Allow" www.citegenie.com to install the update. Then close the "Allowed Sites" window and click on the install button again.

Note to Macintosh Users:
CiteGenie only works on a Mac with Firefox 3.01 and higher. If you are using an older version of Firefox, please upgrade Firefox before installing CiteGenie.

***

You may need to tweak the configuration settings. There are multiple options for citation formats. This extension has some interesting possibilities for FireFox utility. Your milage may vary.

August 15, 2008

800notes.com


Phone Number Comments


Did you receive a call but the caller did not leave a message and the Caller ID says "Unavailable"? Type the phone number in the box on this site and click "Get Details" to find out who is using this phone number.

This site will help you identify calls from scam artists, FDCPA violators, identity theft phishers, and others of similar ilk.

August 19, 2008

Free Case Law on lexisONE

Free caselaw on lexisONE now goes back ten (10) years.

August 21, 2008

Jott

Jott.com | Voice to Text Notes & To Dos. Email & SMS Reminders. Hands-free Email & Text Messaging. Group Messaging.

With a simple phone call to 866-JOTT-123, you can capture notes, set reminders and calendar appointments, stay in touch with friends and family, and interact with your favorite web sites and services...all with your voice!

Simply call Jott and tell them where you want your message to go. They capture your voice, turn it into text, and send it to the destination you chose.

Jott plans range from free to $12.95 per month. Check plan prices here.

DSM-IV-TR

DSM-IV-TR chapter index | Mindsite

The DSM-IV-TR is a categorical classification system of mental health conditions. The most recent version was published in 2000. It is the standard reference work in the field of mental health.

Now, you can browse selected components of its contents online at Mindsite to obtain information about the features, culture, age, gender, prevalence, course, and familial patterns for a variety of mental disorders.

August 25, 2008

The Government Domain: Back to School for Constitution Day 2008

The Government Domain: Back to School for Constitution Day 2008 | LLRX.com

The Government Domain: Back to School for Constitution Day 2008 - E-gov expert Peggy Garvin guides researchers, educators and librarians to key online resources available for teaching, training and educational activities associated with the September 17, 2008 celebration of Constitution Day in the United States.

***

Hat Tip to beSpacific.

August 26, 2008

gOS


gOS - a Google good OS for your Mum | The Register

What's free, looks like Mac OS X, just works and is actually Linux? The answer is gOS, which recently launched a new beta that builds on the distro's initial success and adds new tools like integrated Google Gadgets for Linux.
When it launched onto the scene late last year, gOS (which stands for good OS) made quite a splash for getting Linux into the U.S. retail giant WalMart. Through a partnership with PC manufacturer Everex, gOS brought Linux to your parents' generation via WalMart.
But chances are, if they picked up a gOS equipped machine, Mom and Dad would have no idea they were running Linux. Like the Xandros distro that Asus packages with the EeePC, gOS doesn't trumpet its open source credentials or advertise its infinite customization options. It just works.
That's part of what makes gOS "Linux for the rest of us." The distro isn't intended to be powerful, nor is it a desktop package from a company that makes its real money off server installations as many Linux distros are.
gOS has one simple goal: make a lightweight, web-heavy operating system that anyone can use.

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Our friends at The Register have a review of the Linux Operating System you are likely to find on that new Netbook you just bought.

August 29, 2008

Windows Internet Explorer 8, Beta 2


Windows Internet Explorer 8: Home page

For those still using Internet Explorer (Windows only), here is the latest, more stable version of IE. Download and try the new features: "Suggested Sites"; "In-Private Browsing"; "Accelerators"; and tabs that reopen quickly.

September 3, 2008

Google Chrome

Google Chrome - Download a new browser

One box for everything
Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages.

Thumbnails of your top sites
Access your favorite pages instantly from any new tab.

Shortcuts for your apps
Get desktop shortcuts to launch your favorite web applications.

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Google's new browser is in Beta; i.e., a work in progress with a few bugs still to work out; but it will give Windows users a first glance at Google's take on using its web-based applications in place of software programs residing on your computer.

Mac and Linux folks will have to wait.

September 9, 2008

Google News Archive Expanding

Official Google Blog: Bringing history online, one newspaper at a time

From Google:

Today, we're launching an initiative to make more old newspapers accessible and searchable online by partnering with newspaper publishers to digitize millions of pages of news archives. Let's say you want to learn more about the landing on the Moon. Try a search for [Americans walk on moon] on Google News Archive Search, and you'll be able to find and read an original article from a 1969 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Not only will you be able to search these newspapers, you'll also be able to browse through them exactly as they were printed -- photographs, headlines, articles, advertisements and all.

This effort expands on the contributions of others who've already begun digitizing historical newspapers. In 2006, we started working with publications like the New York Times and the Washington Post to index existing digital archives and make them searchable via the Google News Archive. Now, this effort will enable us to help you find an even greater range of material from newspapers large and small...


News archive search provides an easy way to search and explore historical archives. In addition to helping you search, News archive search can automatically create timelines which show selected results from relevant time periods.

Otherinbox

OtherInbox helps you to spend less time reading and managing your email. Instead of having a single email address such as johnsmith23@gmail.com, you get an unlimited number of email addresses at your own domain name such as johnsmith.otherinbox.com. Any address @johnsmith.otherinbox.com goes to OtherInbox, so you can easily assign a different email address to every website. Without having to set up any folders or rules, your email gets organized so that it’s easy to jump right to the messages you care about most. Also, if a website starts to send you spam, you can stop it with the powerful new Block button.

OtherInbox is currently being made available via a private Beta program. For more information on OtherInbox, or to request access to the private Beta, visit: http://www.otherinbox.com/.

September 15, 2008

New NYSBA Site

NYSBA | Home

I am please to announce that our new and improved website has been launched.

Please click on the link below to see what everyone in the legal profession is talking about.

http://www.nysba.org/

I wish to thank the hard work and effort of the ECTF in helping to create our new appearance. I also wish to thank in particular, Barbara Beauchamp, Erin Corcoran, John Nicoletta and Rich Martin. Their work in creating a very appealing, functional and easy to navigate site was outstanding.


Charles J. Siegel, Esq.
Chairperson
NYSBA - Electronic Communication Task Force

September 16, 2008

look.fo

look.fo - short web search aliases

Use look.fo to create instant links to Google search results for any term you can think of. Share look.fo links over IM, email, SMS or Twitter without ever having to look up exact URLs.

Want to share a funny video? Need to point someone in the right direction? Send a link in the form of look.fo/el-chupacabra-youtube or look.fo/how-to-cut-and-paste. Next time you tell a friend to google something, save them a step and have them look.fo/it.

September 19, 2008

Otherinbox Update-Free Beta Trial

From Alex:

Thanks for writing about OtherInbox on your blog. The TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco earlier this month was a great forum to launch our new service to the public and we were really honored to be chosen to participate. We’d like to invite you to join our private beta that we announced at the conference, and we’re happy to extend the invitation to your readers as well! Because we’re in private beta, you need to have a special URL to sign up. This URL will work for 26 invitations (one for you and 25 for your readers) if you want to post as a followup on your blog.

http://beta.otherinbox.com/signup/lennyesq

Please let us know if you have any questions about the service. Thanks again!

~ The OtherInbox Team

September 23, 2008

FireGPG-FireFox Extension for Encryption

Recent events involving a political figure's Yahoo account have put email hacking and the need for encryption front & center. Here are some possible protections.

FireGPG - use GPG easily in Firefox !

FireGPG is a Firefox extension under MPL which brings an interface to encrypt, decrypt, sign or verify the signature of text in any web page using GnuPG.

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FireGPG isn't a key manager. You must install the GnuPG software!

On GNU/Linux and Mac OS, it's GnuPG. You can install it with your favourite package manager (like Synaptic, YaST, Yum, etc.) or from its official website.

If you are using Microsoft Windows, you have to download WinPT and GPG, and install it at the default location.

Gmail's support

FireGPG adds some features to the Gmail1 interface, to let you use GPG's features directly in your webmail. More webmails will probably be supported in the future.


Inline detection

FireGPG is able to detect PGP blocks in any page (for example a public key), and lets you easily manage these different blocks.


API

FireGPG has an api, api, that allows you to design a website that uses GPG's features on the client, for examle to authenticate a user for an administration pane


Translations

FireGPG is currently translated into Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Türkish, Serbian, Spanish and Swedish.

September 27, 2008

Campus Mental Health: KNow Your Rights

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law -- Advocating for the Civil Rights and Human Dignity of People with Mental Disabilities

Campus Mental Health: Know Your Rights! is designed to inform students who want to seek help for mental illness or emotional disorders about their legal rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws. The 27-page guide is also available online at www.mymindmyrights.org. It also includes information about where and how students can seek help, who can have access to information about their treatment; what kinds of academic accommodations they can request; what happens if they need hospital care; and what types of assistance and support are available for them.