Lost your iPhone?
By Michael Morse | January 7, 2010
I love this new application for the iPhones with built in GPS. I have not yet made the plunge into the AT&T iPhone, but I think about it often. AT &T is actually getting better and better according to articles I am reading. Anyway, I digress. For $100 a year you can get the MobileMe service. You simply go to the website and it will show you exactly where you phone is. You can also send the phone a signal so it will beep loudly for minutes. You can also send it a message that would pop up to a thief or someone else who took your phone. Lastly, if it is stolen, you can remotely erase the entire phone through the MobileMe service. I have heard that the new Droid phone has this feature built in for free. I hope this catches on with all phones.
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New Year’s Resolutions
By Michael Morse | January 4, 2010
I read in the New York Times this past week that only 8% of New Year’s resolutions are kept up with past the month of January. One of mine was to post at least one blog a week to my technology blog. The past couple of months has been busy and has taken me away from writing. However, I just spent 2 weeks in sunny Florida reading and playing with my kids. I have stumbled upon some great new gadgets and websites that I am excited to share with you. I wish you a very happy new year and all the best in 2010!
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“Googling It” Just Got Better
By Michael Morse | December 16, 2009
Google recently unveiled 5 new features that takes the top search engine to new stratospheres.
1. Near Instant Voice Translation
Not only can you search by voice, “how to make holiday cookies” for example, but it’ll also translate right back to you in spoken Spanish via your mobile phone. That’s right, during the launch presentation, a google employee spoke a paragraph of words in English and within seconds the same words were spoken back in Spanish. This is great if you want to brush up on your Spanish skills or find yourself in Mexico looking for the closest restaurant
2. Customized Suggest Based on Location
Google Suggest just got better too. Now when searching on your mobile phone, it’ll recognize where you are and customize the search results. If you’re in Detroit and you type in “Lions” you’ll get links to the Detroit Lions, If you were in San Diego you might get links to the famous San Diego Zoo.
3. Google Product Search Combined With Inventory Feeds from Local Retailers
While searching for a product from Best Buy for example, Google Product Search will tell you where the nearest store with the product is and if that product is in stock
4. Near Me Now
Searching for a restaurant near you just got easier on your mobile phone. Now Google will offer streamlined and focused search categories like restaurants or stores on the front page. By clicking a category you’ll see the closest-by search results which have been ranked by user’s ratings.
5. Google Goggles
This is a visual search function that works with photos you take on your mobile device. Take photo, click a button and Google will analyze the image and text in the photo and search for it.
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I Wish I Could Quit You: New “Cure” for Cell Phone Addicts
By Michael Morse | December 1, 2009
If you’ve bought a new car in the last few years, it’s likely it came with a hands- free device option. That probably made you feel better about talking and driving.
Until now.
A few companies have taken safe driving to the next level.
Zoomsafer, Aegis Mobility, and obdEdge use systems that detect if, when, and how you’re driving and will automatically turn off your phone so you’re unable to make or receive calls. Essentially these services are doing for you what you can’t quite seem to do yourself: turn off your phone.
Using your phone’s GPS signal or nearby cell phone towers, these services will disable your phone if it detects that you’re driving.
Has cell phone addiction gotten so out of control that we need technology to turn off our technology? Sure, we all know the cell phone comes with an off switch but how many of us really use it?
Even when using ear pieces or hands-free sets, we’re still at a heightened risk while driving: a study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that drivers are four times more likely to have an accident if they are talking on the phone – hands-free or not – while driving.
Sync, another safety measure for drivers was developed by Ford and Microsoft which uses voice commands so you can dial a call by speaking the person’s name you wish to call. Sync will also read your text message to you aloud.
So, if you’re like many people who can’t quite pull the trigger on the off switch, let these services do for you what you couldn’t do yourself. The roads will be a safer place and you’ll cut your risk of getting into an accident.
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Google Search for Lawyers
By Michael Morse | November 20, 2009
Google came out with a cool and free application that I think will change the way some lawyers search. My law firm will not be giving up our Westlaw and Lexis accounts anytime soon, but with free search tools like this, I can see that happening in the near future.
The Federal database includes US Supreme Court opinions from the beginning of time and State opinions back to 1950. You can hyperlink to other cases which are cited within a case. It is really easy to use. When you open it up, you can search case law or journals and articles. Make sure you have the right button checked before your search. Here is the site: http://scholar.google.com/
Enjoy!
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Why Google it if it ain’t broken? –Google now offers you more ways to search.
By Michael Morse | October 28, 2009
At first I was filled with dread at the thought of more ways to search on Google, don’t we already get enough? So much information pops up and sifting through the search results are already time consuming and sometimes overwhelming.
I’ve often resented those “advanced search options” offered on some websites. Enough search engine advancements have been made that one should already be able to search efficiently wherever you are, so “advanced search’ seems redundant (not to mention more time consuming).
However, I was quite pleased with the latest incarnation of Google Search. http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=142143
Google offers a few new search options that really cut down and focus your search time. Say you’re Googling that new scanner you’d like to purchase. Before the new search options you’d get a variety of material: price quotes, advertisements, a reviews, a random blog mention, the company’s website etc.
Google – before the new search options:
Google – after you click “show options”:
With “Show options” on the left hand side you’ve now got categories to specifically select the type of information you’re looking for. Put in “Fujitsu Scanner” and you can sort by Forums, Reviews or News to narrow in on what you need to know before you buy.
It also offers more timely results (this was to compete with social networking sites that offer minute to minute updates.) Now, with the new Google Search you, can also select : Any time, Past hour, Past 4 hours, Past week or Past year. Results will now include information from sites like Twitter and Facebook.
I admit after searching for several items: Thai carryout, iPhone apps and San Francisco, I used the “show options” function and was thrilled with the efficiency and accuracy and the results were spot on. We found a great new Thai place, some unique spots to visit on a recent trip to San Francisco and some fun new iPhone apps that convince me even more that I need to buy the iPhone.
Check out this new search option, I hope you find it as useful as I do.
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Funny and Interesting Web Site
By Michael Morse | October 20, 2009
I stumbled upon www.dump.com this morning and loved it! This site contains cool, funny, bizarre images that are good for the whole family. Here are just a couple of my faves.
Governor Schwarzenegger’s Breakfast Uploaded From His Twitter Account
Let me know your favorites as well. More later.
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Have you thrown away all of your typewriters yet?
By Michael Morse | September 30, 2009
If not, this handy tool will allow you to do so today! No more ribbon or correction fluid purchases or messes. We presented this tool at the MAJ/ABA techshow a couple of weeks ago and it got more oooh’s and ahhhh’s than anything else we presented.
Adobe Acrobat has a Typewriter Tool. You can type on any document using this tool. For example, a set of interrogatories that your opponent will not send you in Word format, or a fax form that needs to be filled out. You no longer have to print out, type or write on, sign, and then scan back in. Simply use this tool and an electronic signature and you are all set.
Here are the instructions straight from the Adobe help website for your convenience:
- Choose Tools > Typewriter > Show Typewriter Toolbar, and then click the Typewriter button.
- Click where you want to type, and then begin typing. Press Enter to add a second line.
- To change the text properties, select the text, and then use any of the following tools in the Typewriter toolbar:
- To change the text size, click the Decrease Text Size button or the Increase Text Size button. Or choose a typeface size from the pop-up menu.
- To change the line spacing (leading), click the Decrease Line Spacing button or the Increase Line Spacing button.
- Choose a color from the Text Color pop-up menu.
- Choose a typeface from the typeface pop-up menu.
- To move or resize Typewriter text block, select the Select tool, click a Typewriter text block, and drag the text block or one of its corners.
- To edit the text again, select the Typewriter tool, and then double-click the Typewriter text.
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The Demise of the Dictaphone?
By Michael Morse | September 22, 2009
Voice mail took the place of the answering machine, digital cameras replaced film, and now a new iPhone app could potentially replace your Dictaphone. Unless you are like me and refuse to upgrade to an iPhone until Verizon has them. I am using a Philips Digital Dictation device as are all of my lawyers. But I digress.
However, if I did have an iPhone, the new, sexy iPhone app called DocWrite www.docwrite.com is intriguing. It allows you to capture your ideas on the run with a simple download to your iPhone. Once you download, DocWrite promises, “You’ll have a completely mobile and secure, end to end digital documentation management system for dictation and transcription.”
You can easily capture all your ideas on the go with your iPhone or iTouch and even better, no need for your IT staff.
But this isn’t some lightweight dictation diversion, DocWrite gives you advanced features including insert and overwrite that are found in higher end dictation devices.
They’ve developed software specifically targeted toward people who need to document what they’re doing at any given moment: anytime and anyplace.
Using this mobile solution, you’ll no longer be bound to your desk to capture that next million dollar idea or plan.
With all this free time, you might just have time to clean off your desk or maybe even take that much needed lunch break today.
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Nice of them to visit, but will they stay awhile?
By Michael Morse | September 21, 2009
Turns out most visitors to legal websites only stay an average of two minutes.
So, how can you get people to take off their virtual coats and stay awhile?
- Fresh Content: if your content is unique, relevant and interesting your visitors will stay longer.
- Multi-Media: make your site more compelling by adding video, graphics, and audio to liven up the experience.
- Fast-load: pay attention to how fast your site loads. People no longer wait for loading pages or slow links
- Print: make your posts available for printing. While printing they’ll also browse around for other points of interest on your site.
These are just a few things you can do to not only increase the amount of time they’ll stay on your site but also make sure they’ll come back for more. More tips can be found here.
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