I recently attended the KMWorld web event “Developing a Knowledge Sharing Culture in the 21st Century.” The speaker, Ashley Gorringe from Google Enterprise, provided some insights into Google’s vision of cloud computing and how it can create a culture that allows all aspects of an organization to move insync. Here are some highlights from the discussion:

Characteristics of work tools that are designed for today’s knowledge worker:

• Utilize the power of networks. Must be social.
• Not tied to a desktop computer.
• Can access information and projects very quickly.
• Must work on mobile devices.
• Access information anytime and from anywhere.

We note with sadness the passing of Margaret Banks the Doyenne of Canada’s law librarians. She died on Thursday at the age of 81. Slaw readers of a certain age will remember her meticulous work “Using a law library: a guide for students and lawyers in the common law provinces of Canada” which went through six editions between 1974 and 1994. . . . [more]

There is a draft copy of the new Alberta Rules of Court available.

As you learned from Slaw the new Rules of Court are scheduled to come into force on November 1, 2010.

There is this big caveat to be aware of:

Please note: This draft of the new Alberta Rules of Court is provided for information purposes only, and is subject to further revision. The new Alberta Rules of Court have not yet received the final recommendation of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, nor has the regulation been made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. Reference

A number of groups have taken to Twitter for weekly scheduled chats. The conversation from everyone (whether you have them in your Twitter contacts list or not) is pulled together with a designated tag. Of course, this only works if you have a public Twitter account; with closed accounts only those who follow you will see your part of the conversation.

One of the latest entries into the Twitter chat arena is KMers, organized by Robert Swanwick, affectionately known to everyone as Swan. KMers covers topics in the area of Knowledge Management.

Previous chat events have included:

• The Changing

Much excitement in the lead-up to BIO 2010, the international biotechnology convention being held this week in Chicago.

The Ministry of Research and Innovation released a new Life Sciences Commercialization Strategy, which explains where at least part of their recent budget increase will be going. We’ll see how it’s received at BIO over the next few days.

At least some of the biotech trends we’ve been following at the Cross-Border Biotech Blog will receive a warm reception at BIO this week: the conference features sessions on commercialization by non-profit foundations, comparative effectiveness and personalized medicine, follow-on . . . [more]

I am in the process of preparing for the upcoming CBA BC Branch Women Lawyers Forum event Defining Moments – Leadership and Ethics. I am presenting on “Defining Success on Your Own Terms,” which is an interesting exercise. What is success anyway? I know what success does not look like – for me, pretty much most of 2003.

When I started law school in 1997, I was spurred by an interest in public affairs and advocacy for women and children. By 2003, I found myself as an associate in the commercial real estate group of a large law firm, . . . [more]

The recent decision of Justice Dougald McDermid to impose a temporary publication ban in the trial of those accused of murdering Victoria Stafford has caused a considerable furore. (See the Star story.) According to McDermid’s order the press may only say the following:

As we previously reported, Terri-Lynne McClintic was scheduled to appear on April 30, 2010, in the Superior Court of Justice at Woodstock but because of a temporary publication ban, we are prohibited by court order from providing any further information until further order of the court.

Speculation is that whatever is being suppressed will in fact wind . . . [more]

The City of Toronto is gearing up for its mayoral elections over the next few months, and public transit tops the list for issues of public interest. But one incident on the Toronto subway system has residents worried about safety.

On Apr. 24 at 8:30 p.m., 79-year-old Yusuf Hizel was traveling eastbound on the Bloor-Danforth line when he was assaulted by two individuals who took his wallet. Although the train was full, nobody intervened or attempted to obtain assistance from subway officials. The incident appears to have happened relatively quickly, which may have also limited the ability of other . . . [more]

In just over two weeks’ time we’ll be changing the design and layout of Slaw. It’s been three years since our last makeover, so we’re due to be visually freshened up.

But more exciting is the fact that we’ll be introducing many new columnists and giving them, well, a column of their own. We’ve sought out experts to write for you on a number of broad themes. You can expect a column a week on each of the following: the Practice of Law, Legal Technology, Outsourcing, Legal Marketing, Legal Information, Justice Issues, and Legal Publishing. As well, of course, our . . . [more]

In the Globe on April 28 there was an entertaining profile of Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House by Michael Valpy that covered some of his family background, university experience and his part on the Bill C-399 of 1996. Unfortunately, the Bill is not available from the Parliament website, but there is a version of it here. Further links here, and much more on Milliken here. . . . [more]

You would think that after a week spent wielding words I would have had enough of those pesky signifiers. Oddly, though, I feel the urge to write about them in this week’s fillip. The “odd,” I think, is what I’m attracted to.

Here’s the setup.

The English language is a very loose bag containing something like three-quarters of a million words, though the very idea of counting words is nonsensical. It’s no wonder, then, that many — most? — in this hoard are strange to me. I mean, who apart from a chemist is likely to be familiar with osotriazoles . . . [more]

A Patent Prosecution Highway (“PPH”) program was implemented between the Canadian and US patent offices in 2008 to accelerate patent examination and issuance. Under the PPH, an applicant with allowable claims in either a US or Canadian patent application may request that the other country’s patent office provide a fast track examination to the corresponding application. The sharing of search and examination results between offices is intended to expedite and improve the quality of examination.

As an example of how the PPH works, if a US patent application is examined and claims are approved as patentable (“allowable”) by the US . . . [more]