As traditional computers and laptops increasingly compete against mobile devices like Apple’s iPads and iPhones, every business that operates online will be forced to reevaluate the effectiveness of their delivery. Asking questions like, “How well have we replicated our web experience on mobile devices?” Or, in cases where the mobile interface has been completely re-engineered, “What’s missing when comparing the two experiences?”

Admittedly, the necessity for this kind of comparison is still in its infancy in the legal market. But probably not for much longer; higher percentages of mobile visitors may be here in as little as 12 to 18 . . . [more]

This has been a busy week for privacy news.

Anne Cavoukian, the Ontario Privacy Commissioner, released her annual report entitled “2011 Access & Privacy – Ever Vigilant”. Topics discussed in the report include privacy by design, biometrics, mobile devices, lawful access legislation, and open data. From the report:

The theme of my 2011 Annual Report — Ever Vigilant — was chosen in large part because this year Ontarians faced what I consider to be one of the most invasive threats to our privacy and freedom that I have encountered in 25 years of safeguarding citizens’ rights and championing openness and . . . [more]

I was asked to present this week at a special lunch session of the Toronto Association of Law Libraries as one of several speakers to discuss tablets and their apps. In my case, I will discuss the new iPad (or iPad3, as it is sometimes called).

If interested, set out below are my general comments on iPads along with a list of apps I most frequently use. . . . [more]

I’m not a big gamer. I had a blast with Angry Birds for a bit and then lost the lust for launching the anti-pig petards. So when I’m trying to kill time in the absence of wifi, I’ll turn to good old solitaire — Klondike by threes, if it’s of any interest. I’ve noticed something odd about the game, whether on my desktop, smart phone or tablet. At least, I think I have. The cards the computer serves up don’t seem to be random. I’ll have a four face up at the bottom of one of the columns and . . . [more]

Any Smartphone in a Storm

There is no perfect smartphone for lawyers. In fact, the most important part of the smart phone is probably the phone part, since it enables you to keep in contact with your clients, your office, and other parts of your life. Once you’ve established that baseline – your phone is a phone – then it becomes a matter of very personal choices. It’s not about who has market share, it’s all about you. This has always been true for solos and smaller firms, but choice is even emerging at larger law firms. Most of . . . [more]

The Journal of the Digital Humanities just released its inaugural issue. It is an open access journal with a new take on the peer review process. As described in the editorial, the idea of community is the starting place for the journal. 

Reversing the ‘closed’ selection and review process usually used, the journal starts with the materials noted on the Digital Humanities Now blog, which itself is a selection from the materials available through all the websites included in the very comprehensive Digital Humanities Compendium. Interestingly, anyone can add their site to the Compendium, so accordingly there is . . . [more]

Every once in a while, someone in one of my classes asks, Aren’t there any tools for Legal Project Management?

(“Every once in a while” means every other session or thereabouts. It’s a common question.)

I answer this in three ways that I’ll share here.

“Tools” Does Not Mean Technology

First, “technology” is not a synonym for “tools.” It is at best one set of tools among many. To be specific, it is a minor set.

You can manage legal projects perfectly well without technology, and certainly without purpose-built “project management” technology. Lawyers Abe Lincoln and Clarence Darrow, for example, . . . [more]

CALL/ACBD’s 50th annual conference is only weeks away. The CPC, our volunteers and the CALL Executive are looking forward to welcoming you to Toronto’s Royal York Hotel, and to the many events we have planned. I’ve already raved about the program and the social events. This conference also offers a few innovations which I hope you will enjoy.

CALL/ACBD launched a new website earlier this year, and the 2012 CPC was the first group to use the new conference templates. Feedback on its usability and structure would be very welcome, and will go into our report to the Executive and . . . [more]

I vividly remember the salesperson coming to our home as a child, brandishing the 32 shiny, leather-bound volumes. “This,” he said, “is the Encyclopedia Britannica.” Although we had the Vic-20, we simply didn’t have the same access to information online that we do today. As an insatiable bookworm who already professed an encyclopedic knowledge on everything I claimed to be right about, I was completely enthralled.

We ended up settling for the Britannica Children’s Encyclopedia. As I recall it met its eventual demise being cut up into pieces for its pretty pictures for use in elementary school projects in . . . [more]

I was relating to a BigLaw colleague how I had recently spent a weekend at a CLE event in rural Australia where it was a 53 year tradition. Again I learnt a lot from my audience some of whom had probably attended each year.

A striking fact was that 85% of the 134 attendees were male. This was to be contrasted with a colleagues recent experience where her legal team and their client met with the other side. It was an all female event. She suggested that the reason there are so few female practising lawyers outside large cities was . . . [more]

Yes, “The new iPad”, not the iPad 3, or the iPad HD, and no doubt millions of people will rush to buy one. In Q4, Apple sold 15.4 million ipads – which is more than any PC manufacturer sold of theirPC lines. 

I upgraded to a Google Galaxy Nexus phone a few weeks ago – and for a short time actually had cutting edge tech for both smartphones and tablets. That is always going to be a short-lived experience.

The new iPad features a higher resolution display, quad-core processor, better camera and HD 1080P video recording (like the iPhone 4s). . . . [more]

On average, the typical lawyer does not use cutting edge technology, and even if we do have the latest smartphone or tablet, we generally don’t push the envelope for its use. It is worthwhile though (at least for those of us who might be described as tech geeks) to think about how we might better use the tech we have now, and what might lie ahead. For example:

Microsoft announced in November a modified version of the Kinect that is designed to work with PC’s, rather than the XBox. So Minority Report like gesture control can now be used, for . . . [more]