Facebook Settings You Need to Check Now! - 01/26/10
0 Comments Published January 26th, 2010 in UncategorizedFacebook Settings You Need to Check Now!
If you have a FaceBook account this New York Times article ‘The 3 Facebook Settings Every User Should Check Now’ is a must read http://tinyurl.com/y9s38ol.
Failure to correct settings in Facebook may make public all of your pictures, status updates, personal information and what information is being indexed by search engines.
Negatively interpreted information about your personal life could have a huge negative impact on your professional success so don’t delay – make these changes today!
Heads Up!! Put Down Your Cell Phone.
I had the day off yesterday and I admit it – I watched Oprah. The TV was supposed to be keeping me company while I completed an onerous household task. Instead I was gut punched by the program. The show’s topic brought home in graphic terms the impact of distracted driving. The statistics are terrifying. According to http://www.distraction.gov/ , a driver is four times more likely to be in an accident while talking on a cell phone. That is the same risk as driving with a .08 blood alcohol concentration. Using a hands free phone does not change the statistics. You are eight times more likely to be in an accident if you are texting and driving.
This point is the most sobering. There is a 37 percent reduction of brain activity associated with driving when you are talking on your phone. Read that again. That means you are driving using only 63% of your attention, acuity, reflex time…..who would do that? Among many others, busy, stressed, time crunched lawyers do this and more. Do you talk on the phone, dictate and work on your laptop while driving? I know several people who get in the car, hook the seat belt, start the engine and hit the speed dial on their phone. Is that person you?
Review the statistics at http://www.distraction.gov/ . Then, for those you love and those who love you, and everyone else on the road, reevaluate your priorities. If you have children who drive talk to them.
If you are driving – drive. Don’t do anything else.
The Oyez Project - www.oyez.org
If you are interested in what is happening or has happened at the Supreme Court go to www.oyez.org .
“The Oyez Project is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality ‘tour’ of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.” (from www.oyez.com/about )
You can browse for cases by issue, court term or view recently updated cases. The court calendar shows the docket at a glance. The “Browse the Justices” section provides biographical information and financial disclosure reports for the justices.
The impressive and fast audio accessibility to the oral arguments is worth a look and listen! Bookmark this valuable well designed site!
New FTC Regulations Impact Advertising
There is a large and successful PI firm in Michigan that has always advertised heavily on TV using satisfied client testimonials. Over the weekend their advertisements changed and there are no longer testimonials telling the viewers how much money was received in settlements. This style of advertisement has long been the standard for the firm and I have been wondering what prompted the change. This morning the pieces fell neatly into place when I viewed an advertisement for an ABA CLE class Counseling Clients on the New FTC Regulations Regarding the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements . These changes clearly have implications for attorney advertising. The new rules are far reaching and impact not only TV and web advertising but also blogging. Learn more at: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising or by signing up for the ABA class. The FTC link offers more resources including video explanations of the rules at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm.
Check out the new regulations and be sure your firm’s advertising and blogging are not in violation.
Eliminate Long URLs
Use www.tinyurl.com to make long URLs short! This following URL has 337 characters in it. Perhaps the most valuable use of TinyURL is when it is necessary to put a URL in a printed document. No one would want to type this address.
Using www.tinyurl.com the link can be transformed into www.tinyurl.com/yzndtwa which was created automatically by allowing TinyURL to determine the new URL. Alternatively, by using the option to name the URL yourself www.tinyurl.com/doghouseChristmas was created. “Doghouse” was taken but the addition of Christmas created a unique URL. Once created the new URL stays active indefinitely. An additional option is to create a URL using the preview feature. This will allow you to see where the TinyURL is going before actually going to the site.
Check out the additional features available at the TinyURL site and add it to your favorites or links toolbar.
SnagIt for Screen Capture!
If you ever have the need to capture the image on your computer screen, check out SnagIt. This application has been around for several years and it just keeps getting better. SnagIt lets you capture exactly the portion of your screen you want. It can capture a scrolling web page, the links, the video or the activity on your desk top in addition to a static shot of any portion of your screen. Narration can be added to a video capture allowing creation of tutorials. There are also annotation tools and other features that make this powerful software worth every penny of its $49.95 price tag. A free 30 day download is available for PC users and a new Beta version is available for Macs users to test.
MILO - Mac User Group
If you are using Mac computers in your law firm and haven’t found MILO keep reading. MILO is the Mac In Law Offices group on Google Groups. From the web site, “MILO is a place for attorneys and other professionals to learn and share information to more effectively use Macs in law offices. We encourage open discussions, and we welcome your constructive input….”
With 1862 members all interested in the Macs in law firms, membership in this group can only be a good thing. One of the best aspects of the group is the option to receive posts in a journal email, which compiles topics for the day into a single email. (This is an option you need to select when you join.)
Recent threads include these topics:
Setting up new office
BeeDocs 3D Timeline – Tips…
Software recommendations for new attorney’s office
MacPhone Home
Adobe Portfolio
Dead PowerBook worth fixing?
To join go to here and click on sign in and apply for membership. Membership is not automatic. Write a short statement about why you want to join and wait for your reply.
If you are a lawyer and use a Mac or want to use a Mac this group is for you!
Just for fun! Wordle
This is the description of the website copied directly from the site.
“Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.”
This application has potential to create custom holiday cards, invitations to events, or graphics for your custom calendar. Create one and frame it for your child’s teacher. Let your imagination soar and have some fun. If you have a list of words you want to specifically appear, inserting the one you want to hold a place of prominence more times than others will do the trick. After you have created your word cloud use the Edit, Layout, Language, Color and Font options to customize it even further.
Because Wordle runs in a Java Applet the only way to copy it is by using the screen shot method. Using an application like SnagIt make doing the screen shot very easy. Even without a SnagIt the Print Screen button will copy the entire screen. The image can then be pasted into any application. PowerPoint makes editing the graphic easy with the crop features. The FAQs for Wordle also have some tips for copying the images.
Great Free Adobe Acrobat Resources
If you are not sharpening your Adobe Acrobat skills you should be! Start by keeping up with everything Rick Borstein posts on his blog at http://blogs.adobe.com/acrolaw/ . In addition to great resources Rick creates, this blog will also keep you informed of upcoming training offered for free by Rick and his colleague Mark Middleton. Adobe has focused manpower and mega resources on the legal market for Adobe Acrobat users. These resources are fantastic and free. Use them to up your skill level.
If you are shopping for Adobe Acrobat, note that the Pro version has functions specific to the legal environment that are not available in the Standard version. These include Bates Numbering and redaction. Both versions are very effective for scrubbing metadata from documents. One of the best ways to obtain Adobe Acrobat is with a new scanner. Some scanners include Acrobat Standard in the price of the scanner. You can upgrade to Pro for around $150.
If you are currently using Acrobat 8 or 9 check out the following links for Thirty Dirty Tricks for each version of Acrobat. Go though the list and make the changes in your Adobe preference settings and at least read the remainder of the list.
Secure passwords on your PC/laptop and mobile devices.
There are many options available to help you securely manage passwords. Ironkey flash drives allow the user to carry an encrypted flash drive which will save your passwords, remember your favorite web sites and also provided an encrypted environment to more safely transport your files. The 1GB drive starts at $79.00 and there are a variety of options to choose from.
Another option is Keeper desktop software from Callpod. Keeper will store and organize a multitude of passwords, user names and account notes, and it requires you to remember only one password! Attempting to log in five times, with the incorrect password will lock you out. Keeper is available for Windows, MAC, Linux OS and mobile iPhone, Android, and Vodafone. The application also features an Auto-Logout Timer which you set to a specific time frame to logout. Additionally your data can be exported in a number of formats for your backup should you have a full out hard drive disaster. Of course if you are not careful with the backup file, the whole exercise of buying Keeper could be pointless.
Keeper has a 15 day free trial and the purchase price is $29.95. Currently you can get the mobile version for free. If you have both versions, then you can synch your mobile with your computer and have a mutual backup system in place. If you are carrying a card in your wallet with all your user names and passwords written on it, it is time for you to check out Keeper or a similar application.