From the excellent SmartPros newsletter:
Client-Centric Marketing: What Clients Want makes a compelling case for August Aquila and Bruce Marcus's Client at the Core: Marketing and Managing Today's Professional Services Firm.
Here are some excerpts from the review's excerpts from the book:
· Because clients are more sophisticated in the ways of the law and accounting, they no longer accept the advice of the professional without questioning, challenging, demanding more reasoning and detail.
· Because of the complexity of business today, clients demand that their professionals know more about the clients' business and industry than ever before.
· Professional services always function best when trust is at the heart of the relationship, but the corporate scandals of recent years have eroded that trust. That trust must now be regenerated.
· Where once the narrow structures of a profession were sufficient to serve clients, clients now demand a broader spectrum of capabilities. The more broadly educated and well-rounded professional is the one with the greater advantage in meeting the needs of today's clients.
These excerpts are singing one of my songs - note the emphasis I placed on client-driven technology initiatives in the law firm portion of this post. I've added the book to my reading list."
Source: DennisKennedy blog, 30 August 2004
Ernie writes: "After reading Judge Posner's thoughtful blog post at Larry Lessig's site I was moved to go back and read his 20 Questions Interview with Howard Bashman. I particularly liked his explanation of why opinions that are written by the judge are better than opinions written by judicial clerks:
"In general I think you'd find that the most interesting and accessible opinions are those that are judge-written rather than clerk-written, or if the clerk wrote a first draft the judge rewrote it thoroughly. The reason is not that the judges are smarter than the law clerks, though obviously they are more experienced, but that law clerks write as it were defensively, conscious of their inexperience and reluctant to produce something that looks like an individual product. Clerk-written opinions tend to a dreary uniformity and often fail to disclose the considerations that actually moved the court to its decision."
The federal trial judge I clerked for would let us write the first draft of an order and reasons, but then it was extensively rewritten by him. I learned more about how to think and write clearly by observing him rewrite my words than I did from anything else I was exposed to in law school or in practice. Judge Posner is completely correct when he says that law clerks write 'defensively' and are prone to 'dreary uniformity.' At least that was true of me, and of the people who clerked about the same time that I did."
Source: Ernie the Attorney, 30 August 2004
Tom Mighell posts: “Chris Sherman reviews the new MoreGoogle, a downloadable program that provides additional information about your Google search results. The main feature of the site is that shows thumbnail images of the sites returned by your query. But MoreGoogle has...well, more. You can also find related sites, Amazon product information (if it's relevant), and site access statistics, among other things.”
Source: Inter-Alia, 31 August 2004
Walter Olson posts: “The traditional "firefighter's rule" holds "that firefighters, police and rescue personnel accept an inherent risk of injury or even death in their jobs and generally cannot sue those they're hired to protect. Their recourse is worker's compensation claims, according to the rule. But lobbying by powerful unions and court decisions have led some states to limit the rule's scope or rescind it altogether." I'm quoted in the article criticizing recent moves away from the rule. "New Jersey is one of 11 states that allow police officers, firefighters and rescue personnel to file civil lawsuits when they're injured through the negligence of individuals or entities." (Tim Zatzariny Jr., "Police officers sue over injuries on job", Camden (N.J.) Courier-Post, Aug. 30). For more, see Sept. 30, 2003; Apr. 1 and Jul. 16, 2004.”
Source: Overlawyered, 31 August 2004
In the news: “Wage-and-hour pioneer Mark Thierman is championing a new class of wage slave: stockbrokers. Wage-and-hour class actions are often portrayed as battles between corporations and low-wage workers. This time, though, Thierman and his co-counsel are fighting on behalf of potential class members that, as Thierman puts it, "earn so much money that nobody even thinks of them being entitled to overtime."
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire, 31 August 2004
Copyright 2004 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
From the blog: “A nationwide telephone survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and comScore Networks finds that using a search engine is the second most popular Internet-related activity. About 38 million Americans conduct search engine queries daily. Survey "respondents ... say they locate the information they are seeking 87 percent of the time when using a search engine." Moreover, "92 percent of searchers surveys expressed confidence in their search skills, claiming they can find what they want when searching online."
What's interesting is the disparity between statistics like this and the findings of business surveys such as the one conducted a few months ago by FIND/SVP. It found "84 percent of respondents feel that Web searches take longer than they should due to poor results, costing businesses an estimated $31 billion in wasted time."
SEE, Data Memo on Search Engines
PEW, 12 August 2004
RELATED, FLAWED ONLINE SEARCHES COSTING U.S. BUSINESSES $31 BILLION EACH YEAR
Press Release, 17 June 2004
RELATED, Want Business Info? Try Library
Business Courier, 27 August 2004
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
30 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From the blog: “As Internet2 promises speeds 100 times faster that the average broadband connection, CNN takes a brief look at the history and the future of Internet technology. The concept was born in a lab on 2 September 1969. Email followed in short order, and then later, the TCP/IP and hypertext transfer protocols. Jump ahead to present day to witness the birth of Internet2 (available at select universities and institutions) and the Semantic Web (still in the lab).”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
30 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Sabrina posts: “From Blogoscoped, this Quote Finder "checks possible sources or quotations for every sentence of a text using Google."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
30 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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From the blog: "Marketing master Bill Flannery and I will present our Webinar, "Strategic Business Development for Higher Profits" on Thursday, October 7. The first time we broadcast it in July there were more than 50 professional firms -- including one from London -- attending. Visit http://www.lawmarketing.com/index.html to register.
When we polled the audience in July, we discovered some interesting facts:
· Very few firms know what their client's total legal (or accounting or consulting) budget is. This is a real shortcoming if you're trying to increase your "share of the client's wallet." You can have a practice that is billing more hours, making more revenue, but decreasing in client share. The only way to find out is to ask the client but their professional services budget is. If you are a trusted advisor, they'll tell you.
· Many firms are starting to form formal client teams. I was very heartened to see this becuase it is such an effective marketing approach. Informal teams may exist too, and Bill calls these "shadow conspiracies to commit marketing." The formal teams focus on the client's latent needs (the firm is already working on the express needs) because this is where the new business is to be found.
We also got some important marketing points across --
1. 60% of client teams will fail because the most greedy, dysfunctional partner will assume the leader role. 10% will succeed because a leader who serves the team
2. The best team leader is like Henry Fonda in the movie "Twelve Angry Men," where he tried to understand the viewpoint of other members of the jury and he didn't seek power for himself.
3. Only 2-3% of clients use all the practices of a professional firm. Most cherry pick individual practices from a variety of firms. This means that somebody else is getting work that you could be doing.
4. Only 42% of law firms have conducted a formal client satisfaction survey in the last two years, according to a 2003 BTI Consulting survey. If you don't know what your clients want or are planning, you're missing out on a lot of potential revenue.
5. An aggressive goal for forming client teams is 10-12 in a year. About five per year is reasonable.
6. Partners should take their CMO or marketing director along on new business calls. Otherwise the marketer has no real idea of how to direct the firm's promotions. Also, the marketer will be able to see if the partners are totally mucking up their presentations by talking about themselves, by speaking instead of listening and by failing to hear client needs.
We'll be presenting the program again on Thursday, October 7. Visit http://www.lawmarketing.com/index.html to register.
Source: Professional Marketing Blog, 28 August 2004
Carolyn Elefant writes: "And the winning marketing idea from the ABA E-Report's most recent contest? Volunteer."
Source: MyShingle, 29 August 2004
Robert Ambrogi posts:
“From the chapter on knowledge management comes this:
It should come as no surprise that professionals in the field of knowledge management have a compulsive urge to share knowledge. That may explain why one of the best gateways to KM resources on the Web is the KMWiki. What, you might ask, is a wiki? It is a type of server software that allows visitors to a Web page to freely add and edit content. "Open editing," as it is sometimes called, allows people with common interests to share information and ideas easily in a single Web location. The KMWiki, while little more than a collection of links to KM resources elsewhere on the Web, stands out because, unlike other collections of links, it is the product of not one person, but of the various KM professionals who contribute to it. It is a modest-looking page that accurately calls itself a "super index."
(Excerpted from the second edition of The Essential Guide to the Best (and Worst) Legal Sites on the Web.)”
Source: Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites, 26 August 2004
From the e-newsletter: "URLinfo from FaganFinder is a terrific resource -- just plug in a URL, and you can instantly connect to all kinds of information about that site -- general registration information, related sites, cached pages, and much more. This is definitely a tool to keep around if you need to research a website. Chris Sherman has a review over at SearchDay."
http://www.faganfinder.com/urlinfo/
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3398511
Source: Internet Legal Research Weekly
Volume 5, Issue 24, August 29, 2004
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From the e-newsletter: "Blinkx is a new search tool that doesn't rely on keyword searches to find sites for you. Instead, Blinkx takes up residence in programs like Outlook, Word, and your web browser, and sits quietly in the background, watching the words you write and the sites you visit. If you want to learn more about the site you're viewing, just click Blinkx and you'll see suggested links. This sounds like it might be a bit intrusive, but it's certainly an interesting concept."
http://www.blinkx.com/
http://www.internetweek.com/allStories/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=26807135
Source: Internet Legal Research Weekly
Volume 5, Issue 24, August 29, 2004
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Tom Mighell posts: “If you aren't paying attention to your metadata you should be. Workshare, the company that sells the DeltaView product, is sponsoring Metadatarisk.org, the "definitive source for content security." You'll find lots of good resources here, from learning about metadata to safe removal of metadata from your documents.
Not surprisingly, this site was introduced along with Workshare's new metadata removal product. I'm not sure how well this new product works, but I'm all for metadata removal tools. I am still a big fan of Payne Consulting's Metadata Assistant. Give one of them a try.”
Source: Inter-Alia, 27 August 2004
From the e-newsletter: “This site describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, consumer advocate for voters that monitors "the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases." The site's original articles analyze and comment on political claims and statements, providing summaries and the facts. Searchable. From the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.”
http://www.factcheck.org/
Source: LII Librarians' Index to the Internet
NEW THIS WEEK for August 26, 2004
Copyright 2004 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, LII.
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From the e-newsletter: "Lexis provides instructions for fixing features disabled by Windows XP SP2. Features affected include printing, downloading and emailing documents, LexisNexis Company Dossier and features that open a new browser Window. (LawLibTech, 25 August 2004)
RELATED, West Warns about XP SP2 Issues
TVC Alert, 19 August 2004"
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
27 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Glenn posts: "I never thought of weblogs as a vehicle for promoting civility amongst lawyers, but my good friend Carolyn Elefant see it as just the right tool for the job.
I think the important lesson here is that regardless of how you use a weblog it can be a powerful communication medium. It's probably one of the least expensive ways you'll ever find to publish information, and have others be able to get access to it. I personally believe no lawyer should be without one."
Source: ESQlawtech, Ltd.
27 August 2004
© 2002-2003 ESQlawtech, Ltd. All rights reserved.
From the e-newsletter: "West announces the available of wireless service via BlackBerry. "According to a recent American Bar Association technology survey, 42 percent of respondents now use handheld communication devices while away from the office, an indication that 'mobile lawyering' is fast becoming a reality for many attorneys."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
27 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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In the news: “When his client's recent rape trial ended in a hung jury, defense lawyer Joseph G. Cavallo decided to hire some of the jurors to get advice, to the tune of $50 an hour. While hiring a juror is not a crime or prohibited by professional conduct rules in most states, ethicists disagree about the propriety of the ever more common practice. Some see it as just good lawyering, while others warn that it introduces a profit motive to a jury system already under scrutiny.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire, 27 August 2004
Copyright 2004 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tom Mighell posts: “Walt Mossberg, who always has something interesting to say about new technology has this basic but useful introduction to spyware.”
Source: Inter-Alia, 26 August 2004
From the e-newsletter: “Junk faxes are a costly problem for businesses, and they are starting to fight back. The article highlights a Denver company's dispute with Countrywide Home Loans Inc. over alleged illegal junk faxes. Below is a brief description of my experience with junk faxes, and the resources and strategies (limited) I used to stop them.
Over the summer, the fax machine in my home began receiving an increasing number of junk faxes. At first, I ignored them. But when they began to absorb noticeable quantities of paper and ink, I tried to do something about it.
If the junk fax provided a removal number--many do not, I called it and followed instructions for removal. However, I quickly began to suspect that doing so was much like clicking a spam removal link. It confirmed a live fax machine, and served only to increase the number of faxes.
Next, I tried tracing the calling numbers. This is much more difficult than it sounds because illegal faxers do not provide their fax phone numbers as required by law. With persistence, and the use of resources such as JunkFax.org, I traced many of calls, with about 95% certainty, to one source.
I wanted 100% certainty so I worked with the security folks at my local telephone company. Unfortunately, the junk faxers used an international carrier, who would not cooperate.
Bottom line: If you have to publish your fax number, chances are good that junk faxes will target it. Doing something about it requires a lot of man-hours. You'll have to decide if the payoff (stated in the article, and explained at JunkFax.org) is worth it. For me, it was easier just to change my number. The phone company was willing to it (once) at no charge. But I'd pay to do it again.”
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
27 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Sabrina blogs: “Anatomy Of Trial Technology: "Trial technologies are all the buzz for legal technologists, early adopters, vendors, and consultants - but have they made it to the main stream practice of law? This article traces availability and use of trial preparation and presentation software, court technology, and more through the most recent ABA Legal Technology Survey Report volume on Courtroom and Litigation Technology." by Catherine Sanders Reach.”
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
25 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “Making customers hunt for products is usually considered bad in retail marketing. The longer it takes someone to find an item, the more likely it is that they'll get frustrated and go somewhere else. This tension does have to be balanced with the desire to expose customers to as many offerings as possible. But there's a difference between walking past rows of cookies to get to the milk and not being able to find the milk at all . . . Boutique law firms have a marketing advantage in some ways. By focusing on one or a few related practice areas or industries, they immediately narrow down the amount of "chaff" a potential client has to paw through to get to the goods."
Read full text
Source: THE PRACTICE PAPER, Edited by Joel R. Zand, Esq.
A FindLaw Resource for Solo Attorneys and Small Law Firms
August 25, 2004, Issue # 200
Copyright (c) 2003 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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"Are You Ready to Blog?
It is now commonplace to read newspaper and journal articles that mention the impact of blogging on one facet or another of the corporate, political or social networking environment. Sabrina I. Pacifici's presentation includes stats, articles on in-house and corporate blogging, examples of topical and resource specific blogs, and services to help you track blog updates.
Metaforix@Health: Free Online Resources for Public Library Users: Texas and New York
Lois C. Ambash continues her exploration of online resources available from remote locations to holders of public library cards, with an emphasis on full-text health related materials and content.
Notes from the Technology Trenches: How Permanent Is That Storage?
Procedures and resources that assist in the process of protecting the integrity of digital content maintained by libraries is the focus of Cindy Carlson's column this month.
CRM At Law Firms: What to Tackle Second
Andy Havens addresses how firms can effectively implement and benefit from a customer relationship management system.
After Hours: Fall Festivals
With fall fast approaching, Kathy Biehl anticipates the upcoming food festivals around the nation, and offers links and resources about events from Oktoberfest to Høstfest (the largest Scandinavian festival in North America).
FOIA Facts: Why Backlogs Matter
Recently released statistics from the DOJ document a significant increase in the number of FOIA requests. Scott A. Hodes addresses the consequences of the resulting backlogs, both within agencies and to the public.
Wisdom From the Grammar Goddess: My Pet Peeves
Diane Sandford shares her "personal list of grammatical pet peeves culled from years of editing and from simply listening to others mangle the English language."
Burney's Gadgets for Legal Pros: The Dell Axim X30 Pocket PC
Brett Burney reviews the latest generation Pocket PCs from the market leader in PC sales."
Source: LLRX Update
22 August 2004
Copyright © LLRX TM, Law Library Resource Xchange, LLC. All rights reserved.
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In the news: “Gone are the days of wine and roses for law students as the nation's law firms rethink the on-campus interview. In an effort to woo the brightest while keeping an eye on their pocketbooks, many law firms are reducing the number of schools they visit, calling back fewer candidates, and sharing interviewing costs with other firms. And at large firms, the days of the inefficient recruiting committee appear to be numbered.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire, 26 August 2004
Copyright 2004 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
From the e-newsletter: “Yahoo's doing a bit of good-natured horn-blowing in its new blog. The result is quite informative. Learn about some hidden (not publicized) search tricks.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
25 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Genie blogs: “Statistics released recently by the Internet Storm Center indicate that it takes about 20 minutes to comprise a new unpatched Windows computer. The statistic is down by 50 percent from the previous year. When you connect a new machine to the Internet, you should immediately run the Windows update and install all security patches.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
25 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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“From the Washington Post (reg. req'd), Trading Privacy for Convenience -
'Registered Travelers' Give Up Personal Information for Shorter Airport Lines.“
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
25 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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In the news: "Spurred by the slow economy, many in-house legal departments are relying more on lawyers in countries where professional salaries are lower. While no one expects the American legal profession to be shipped abroad wholesale, there could be less business for U.S. patent and litigation shops and even large general practice firms. One market research firm predicts that more than 489,000 U.S. lawyer jobs -- nearly 8 percent of the field -- will shift abroad by 2015."
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire, 25 August 2004
Copyright 2004 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
Dennis posts: "Although a free registration is required, it's a small price to pay for the good collection of articles on electronic discovery (the acronym for which is, somewhat mysteriously, EDD) on LawTechnologyNews this month. Good articles from George Socha, Craig Ball, Donna Payne, Albert Barsocchini, Ross Kodner and others.
Don't forget the great virtual roundtable discussion on electronic discovery on Law Practice Today and the great set of articles and resources at DiscoveryResources.org."
Source: DennisKennedy.blog, 24 August 2004
Carolyn Elefant writes: “This article, Clever, aggressive lawyers joining the rush for customers, Pittsburgh Tribune (8/22/04) discusses some of the advertising techniques used by Pittsburgh lawyers to tout their practice specialties to the public and of course, includes some general commentary on the propriety of such advertising (after all, what article on lawyer advertising is complete without a comment from a bar official?). The article also mentions one of myshingle's contributors, Mark Sindler.”
Source: MyShingle.com, 23 August 2004
Carolyn Elefant writes: “Has your practice reached a point where you feel that you need an associate part of the time, but where you don't feel sufficiently confident of continued workload to commit to a full time hire? Why not join up with other solos and share the expense of an associate. That's the approach taken by the solos discussed in this article, PURSE STRING PARTNERS: Sharing Expenses Can Minimize Risks When Hiring Help, ABA Journal, (August 2004). The solos interviewed in the article believe that informally sharing the risk of an associate is preferable to other alternatives (such as hiring a law student or recent grad) - though they caution that to make the arrangement viable, it's necessary to put in place a written agreement about how the employee’s time and costs will be divided. Seems that sharing can work not just for associates but for the cost of law student interns, paralegals and other support staff who can free solos up to pursue more lucrative opportunities.”
Source: MyShingle.com, 23 August 2004
If you are running Windows XP BE AWARE that in a few weeks Microsoft will automatically install XP SP2 on your computer - which may not be that great of a deal!
Read: "Even More on XP SP2"
Audience: All XP Users
From the folks at Tourbus: "As promised, Microsoft started pushing Windows XP Service Pack 2 ["XP
SP2"] to Windows XP Home users through Automatic Updates last Wednesday.
XP Professional users can expect XP SP2 to be available through
Automatic Updates sometime after this Wednesday, August 25th [weather and squirrels permitting.]
Last week I mentioned that if you want to make sure that you get XP
SP2 as soon as it is available for your computer, Microsoft recommends that you let them download and install it for you. First, make a System Restore point:
Then, just enable Automatic Updates in Windows XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
That's it. XP SP2 will be pushed to your computer sometime in the next couple of weeks.
I DO *NOT* RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO THIS, THOUGH! In fact, I *STRONGLY* recommend that you wait at least a couple weeks until you upgrade your computer to Windows XP SP2. Why? Well, there are bound to be problems with XP SP2 that no one expects--like, for example, 40 different programs that "seem" to stop working once you install XP SP2 [see http://tinyurl.com/4uvng]--and I would MUCH rather these problems happen to someone else's computer instead of yours. By waiting a few weeks [or even months], you give Microsoft and the other software vendors time to fix these unforeseen problems.
You need XP SP2. Just not until later this Fall.
And I'm not the only one who's recommending a wait and see approach to
XP SP2. For Fred Langa's take on this, check out
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-08-16.htm#1
---------------------------------------
Delaying the Automatic Update of XP SP2
---------------------------------------
How can you temporarily delay Microsoft from automatically installing
XP SP2 onto your home computer? Well, you have to options:
1. Download and install Microsoft's free XP SP2 Blocker Tools; or
2. Disable Automatic Updates in Windows XP.
Choose one or the other, but PLEASE don't do both.
----------------------------------------------------------
Download and install Microsoft's free XP SP2 Blocker Tools
----------------------------------------------------------
To download and install Microsoft's free XP SP2 Blocker Tools, just hop on over to
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=33517
and download Microsoft's free "XP SP2 Blocker Tools." These free tools will temporarily keep Windows Update from installing XP SP2 onto your computer for 120 days.
The XP SP2 Blocker Tools installation process seems a little intimidating at first, but it's really quite simple. If you have Windows XP and want to delay the automatic installation of XP SP2,
1. Click on the Download button on the right side of
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=33517
2. When asked if you would like to open or save
[XPSP2BlockerTools.EXE] to your computer click on the Open button.
3. Click on the Yes button to agree to the [five page, two thousand word] end user license agreement.
4. When asked to type the location where you want to place the extracted files, click on the Browse button.
5. Scroll to the top of the list, choose your Desktop, and click on the OK button.
6. Click on the OK button again to extract the files.
7. Close your web browser and any other open program.
8. On your desktop you will see five new icons. Double-click on
XPSP2Blocker. A window will open telling you that the Action
[was] successfully completed, and the window will automatically close after 5 seconds.
9. Feel free to delete those five new icons from your desktop.
You won't need them again.
That's it. Windows Update won't try to install XP SP2 onto your computer until mid-November.
-----------------------------------------------------
Temporarily disable XP's built-in auto-update feature
-----------------------------------------------------
If you would rather not download and install Microsoft's free XP SP2
Blocker Tools, your other option is to temporarily disable XP's built-in auto-update feature until you are ready to upgrade:
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance. [If the Performance and Maintenance category is not visible, click Switch to Category View.]
3. Click System.
4. Click Automatic Updates and uncheck Keep my computer up to date."
Source: TOURBUS
Volume 10, Number 7
23 August 2004
Copyright 1995-2004, Rankin & Crispen - All rights reserved
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Tom Mighell posts: “One of the ideas that I harp on in my seminars (and advice that I often fail to follow myself) is that a legal researcher should not rely solely on one search engine. A smart researcher makes use of multiple tools, including different search engines. Now there's a website that can show you the difference between the results you get at different search engines. Just type in a search query at jux2, and you'll see how the results differ between two search engines. The beta site includes Google, Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves -- hopefully it will eventually add more search engines to the mix.
While we're on the subject, Tara Calishain has been thinking about the differences between the two search engines, and came up with Four Things Yahoo Can Do That Google Can't (PDF File). Some good stuff there.”
Source: Inter-Alia, 24 August 2004
From the e-newsletter: "FOLDER ACCESS is a security tool that lets you lock your files and folders with your personal password. The free version allows locking of only four folders, or buy the pro version for $19.95. Download at http://www.lockfolder.net/."
Source: Neat Net Tricks Standard Issue 180
1 September 2004
Copyright 2004 by Neat Net Tricks. All rights reserved.
To subscribe send a blank email to info-neatnettricks@silver.lyris.net
Tom Mighell posts: “There's a new virus out there, the Rbot-GR, that is more invasive than any worm yet imagined. Why? Because not only does it cause harm to your computer, but it also takes control of your webcam and microphone, sending images and audio back to the hackers.
For those of you who sit in front of your computer a natural, take heed.”
Source: Inter-Alia, 25 August 2004
From the e-newsletter: “How many ways can people tell you they do not want to pay a debt? Let me count the ways.”
Read full text
Source: Legal Humour News - August 25, 2004
(c) 2004 by Daniel Strigberger. All rights reserved.
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In the news: “The bar exam is over, summer is nearly gone, and your job as a new associate is about to begin. You are bursting with talent and determined to succeed at your new job. But how? What does it take to be a successful associate? What do partners want from new associates? Here's what more than a dozen highly accomplished lawyers have to say.”
Read full text
Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire, 223 August 2004
Copyright 2004 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
From the e-newsletter: “A researcher, who is also a member of the Web site MoveOn.org, discovered it was leaking personal information when he searched Google for video clips the group sponsored. The search yielded pages that should have been secure, and which contained the "subscriber's name, email address and the mailing lists to which he or she is subscribed." The Web site has fixed the problem.
The story underscores the problem of poorly secured Web sites, which search engine (not just Google) crawlers locate, retrieve and index. Companies should regularly check their security by performing such searches and by studying the hacking techniques revealed at Web sites such as "I'm Johnny. I hack stuff." Individuals might want to run queries on themselves, using some of the same techniques, to ensure their personal information remains private.”
RELATED, Find Credit Card Numbers on Google
TVC Alert, 4 August 2004
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
23 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “Lycos yesterday released a beta version of its new discussion search engine. Without naming specific sources, site documentation says it crawls discussion forums and bulletin boards. This gives it potential as a tool for finding opinion about companies, their products and services.
Test queries indicate sources include Yahoo Groups, MSN Groups and .org domains. I also found results from Weblogs and Q & A sites such as the Question and Answer section of The Virtual Chase.
ALSO, Lycos Introduces People, Discussion Search Tools
Searchday, 23 August 2004
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
24 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From Sabrina Pacifici: "The Call Is Cheap. The Wiretap Is Extra.
· Related reference from the FCC, August 4, 2004: FCC Adopts Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Declaratory Ruling Regarding Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. See also the text of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (CALEA).
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
23 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Sabrina blogs: "From internetnews.com, this article details an update to software of interest to the legal community which facilitates the removal of sensitive information generated during the collaborative preparation of client related documents."
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
23 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “The article provides statistics--reported by the spam filters--on the effectiveness of fighting spam with filtering technology. I wouldn't have included this article except for the helpful bit of information that appears at the end. It consists of javascript for providing an email link on a Web page. Because of the coding of the script, a spam crawler is unlikely to detect (and spam) the email address.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
23 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “U. Washington law professor Anita Ramasastry explores the current federal laws -- and the proposed new federal law -- that could be applied to address the phenomenon of "phishing." As Ramasastry explains, phishing is a particularly pernicious type of Internet identity theft scam --one that involves fraudulently copying legitimate businesses' emails and websites in an attempt to extract information from the business's customers on false pretenses.”
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Source: FindLaw's WRIT Legal Commentary
August 16 - August 20, 2004, Issue #212
Copyright (c) 2004 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved
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From the e-newsletter: "Who's A Rat? is a Web site bound to cause a stir. Launched yesterday, it purports "to assist attorneys and criminal defendants" by sharing information about informants and law enforcement officers. The information provided includes "the informant's or officer's full name, age, location, race and occupation; agencies he or she works for; facts that bring the subject's credibility into question; known illegal activity and criminal record, if applicable; and picture, if available." Accessing the database requires registration and the disclosure of your own identity or that of your attorney's. (Thanks to Gary Price for the tip.)
SEE, Who's A Rat?"
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
18 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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John posts: "I first found and blogrolled this blawg a few weeks ago and I've been reading it ever since. It's really a great read. If you are a would-be or beginning criminal defense lawyer, you need to read it. I'm a PD is nice work. You go, girl!"
Source: The Legal Reader, 19 August 2004
In the news: “The United States' reputation as a litigious society aside, some estimates show that jury trials have shriveled to less than 2 percent of all cases filed. The good news is this could well signal a faster disposition of cases. The bad news for law firms is their younger attorneys may be lacking those all-important courtroom chops. Providing lawyers with trial experience nowadays is "a real struggle," observes one firm partner.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire, 19 August 2004
Copyright 2004 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
From an e-newsletter: “Rick Johnston has four cell phones in his briefcase, a gun in a holster, and enough multinational contracts under his belt to keep a law firm busy for years. But Johnston, chair of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz's International Transactions and Trade Group, doesn't mind the first two because the third makes working in Iraq worth the risks. "You try to go where the competition is not going," Johnston said. "People are getting killed in this market, so not a lot of companies are going there. It's dangerous but really not as dangerous as people feel it is.”
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http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_3090078,00.html
Source: THE PRACTICE PAPER, Edited by Joel R. Zand, Esq.
A FindLaw Resource for Solo Attorneys and Small Law Firms
18 August 2004, Issue # 199
Copyright (c) 2003 FindLaw, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Sabrina recommends: "The ABCs of Intranet Learning
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
18 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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From an e-newsletter: “In an email communication yesterday distributed to a public discussion group for law librarians, West warned that Windows XP Service Pack 2 could prevent subscribers from printing from Westlaw.com. The essential part of the message reads: "In westlaw.com, SP2 may suppress pop-up windows, which are used to display the user's Print options. If you have installed the XP update, you may find your print functionality affected. To enable full Print functionality, users need to add westlaw.com as a trusted site. This allows West to support enhanced print functionality, thus eliminating steps in the process of printing a document. A link to step-by-step instructions appears on the westlaw.com log-in screen. No password is necessary to view the instructions."
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
19 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “The best protection against viruses spread by email is to display all email in plain text. And, of course, don't open email attachments unless you are absolutely, positively sure of the sender. The reason you should set email to display as text instead of HTML is, HTML emails can contain code that executes upon opening the message.”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
19 august 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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Sabrina posts: "From InformationWeek, Special Report: Readers Take The Offensive Against Spyware. Includes the following articles:
· What Is Spyware And Why Should IT Care?
· Readers Share Their Spyware Strategies
· Strategy 1: Tools, Tools, And More Tools
· Strategy 2: Developing Enterprisewide Strategies
· Download Software Recommended By Our Readers"
Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici
18 August 2004
Copyright ©2002-2004 BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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From the e-newsletter: “WholeSecurity is touting its new Web Caller-ID product as protection against phishing schemes. It's a browser plug-in that claims to "detect Web pages dressed up to look like legitimate e-commerce sites."
SEE, Web Caller-ID Product Information
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
18 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. All rights reserved.
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From his blog: “Bill Dyer starts off talking about the famous McDonalds coffee case, but quickly moves on to give a great example of how to deliver an effective voir dire on behalf of a defendant in a products liability case. His post belongs in a textbook."
Source: Ernie the Attorney, 17 August 2004
From the blog: "For the first time in Canada, a court has ordered a man to give his ex-wife monthly support payments for their dog. Kenneth Duncan, a truck driver in Edmonton, was told to pay $200 a month in alimony towards the upkeep of Crunchy, a St. Bernard. ...Had Crunchy been a child, the monthly payment would have been $691." ("Albertan ordered to pay ex-wife $200 a month for pet support", CBC News, Aug. 10). More on pets in divorce: Feb. 17, 2003; May 14-15, 2002.
Source: Overlawyered, 18 August 2004
In the news: “For all their achievements in the legal profession, women are still scarce among the plaintiffs bar, representing only 13 percent of the members of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. In fact, a greater percentage of women have risen to the rarified rank of general counsel at Fortune 500 companies than have joined ATLA. Why the difference? Prominent plantiffs lawyers offer their theories.”
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Source: Law.Com's Daily Legal Newswire, 18 August 2004
Copyright 2004 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
From the e-newsletter: “Computer forensics experts the National Institute of Standards and Technology have published the second edition to a guide that provides step-by-step instructions on finding digital evidence. Forensic Examination of Digital Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement is available as a PDF download at the Web site of the National Institute of Justice. Chapters cover topics such as assessing, acquiring and examining evidence and documenting and reporting. The publication also contains sample worksheets and sample requests for service forms.
SEE, Forensic Examination of Digital Evidence
April 2004”
Source: TVC Alert, The Virtual Chase
17 August 2004
(c) Copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ballard Spahr Andrew