Category: Blog
Moving from dual monitors to a large single monitor?
Posted by Scott Bassett in Good Deals, Hardware Friday, 30 July 2010 06:00 No Comments
As a long-time advocate of dual monitor setups, I feel a bit strange writing this. Yesterday I replaced my dual monitor arrangement on my primary desktop PC with a single 25 inch LCD widescreen monitor. For the last several years I used a 19 inch standard format monitor along side a 15 inch standard format monitor with this PC. But the PC is located in a public area of the house and because of the counter/desk configuration, they were at different heights and presented a not-very-neat appearance.
This week Staples has a Hanspree 25 inch widescreen LCD on sale for $199.99. It received stellar user reviews on the Staples site. So I was intrigued. Then, when I received an email coupon for 20% off any single item at Staples (excluding computers, but not monitors), that brought the price down to less than $160. I don’t recall ever seeing a 25 inch monitor that cheap. My local store doesn’t carry the monitor, but I stopped by and placed the order there (the coupon is good in-store only). The monitor was delivered by UPS the next day.
Let me say that I am impressed with the quality of the image so far. Until now, I was using VGA analog connectors for each of my dual monitors. The new monitor connects to my PC’s video card via HDMI cable. I am surprised at the improvement in sharpness. It could be that this is a better monitor (running at full 1080p resolution), or it could be that the digital connection is superior, or both.
Managing this much screen real estate on a single monitor can be a challenge. I opted to treat it as if it were actually two smaller monitors side by side. This is easy to do with free software called WinSplit Revolution. It lets you divide a large monitor into what can could be called sub-screens. Presently, I have my email client open on the left half and my web browser on the right half. I find this dual screen within a single monitor setup very easy to use so far.
The take-away is that if you don’t have room for dual monitors or don’t want to bother adding a dual-head or second video card to your PC, a large (25 inch or larger) widescreen monitor, when combined with WinSplit Revolution, is a viable option – and very cheap too!
Make copy and paste easier by assigning extra mouse buttons
Posted by Scott Bassett in MS Word, Microsoft Office, Other Stuff... Thursday, 29 July 2010 06:48 No Comments
This is a great tip found on Lifehacker that is especially useful in law offices. As an appellate lawyer, I often copy text from other documents or sources into my briefs. Most lawyers do the same thing when constructing all sorts of legal documents. This task can be made easier by assigning extra mouse buttons to the copy and paste functions.
Unless you have a very basic mouse (perhaps the one that came bundled with your computer), odds are your mouse has buttons you don’t use. For example, I have a Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2 connected to my desktop PC. It has two extra “thumb” buttons on the left side plus, as is true of most mice with scroll wheels, the wheel can also be used as a separately programmed push button. I simply downloaded the latest version of the IntelliMouse driver software from Microsoft’s web site, installed it, and assigned the large thumb button to Control>C for copy and the scroll wheel push button to Control>V for paste. Now I can copy and paste in my MS Word legal documents (or any PC application) entirely with the mouse without touching the keyboard of even right-clicking.
Even slicker is the programming features of many Logitech mice. The Logitech software (unlike the IntelliMouse software – unless I am too dumb to locate the setting) allows you to assign functions to the left and right scroll wheel tilt (did you know that you can horizontally scroll by tilting the wheel? – well that may not be so useful with today’s widescreen monitors unless you work with large spreadsheets, but it does let you move one character at a time left or right when working in Word).
But you don’t really need the mouse manufacturer’s specialized driver. You can download and install the free Auto Hotkey utility to program special functions to your mouse buttons (and keyboard). Auto Hotkey is a little clunky to work with, but if you don’t mind creating your own scripts (be sure to read the documentation for detailed instructions), it does the job.
Two New Features Coming to Firefox to Keep You in the Browser
Posted by Ed Emmerson in Web/Tech Tuesday, 27 July 2010 17:40 No Comments
Life within the browser is a place people find themselves more and more as web applications creep into our personal lives and the business world. Simple builds of Google ChromeOS are starting to pop up with some frequency now. ChromeOS will be an operating system that is simply an interface between you and all of your applications and data which will be living, breathing and resting in the cloud.
The transition from traditional client/server and desktop applications to a pure web based experience is going to take place over a long period of time and there are some that question if the full leap can be made. Make no bones about it, the full leap will be made. The question is how and over what period of time. No one can definitively give an honest answer to that question. It will be different for different people and different industries. Given the legal world’s normal rate of technology adoption, I have no doubt that a lawyer will be asked to turn off the lights and close the door on traditional software architecture. It will happen most likely after the power supply blows out on the only machine left that could run WordStar 3.
This is where the browser comes in; as the bridge. The good old gateway between your hard drive and an Amazon EC2 cycle of processing power will be around for a while, so you might as well get comfy. Firefox has always been a browser for the tinkerer. It’s ability to add functionality from extensions that are as simple as changing the font a web site presents itself in to editing a YouTube video has always made it the browser of choice for those that like to customize the experience.
Law Office Tech Deals for the Week of July 25, 2010
Posted by Scott Bassett in Good Deals Sunday, 25 July 2010 07:38 1 Comment
Sometimes you find good tech deals in strange places. This week’s Big Lots circular features a GatewayLT2016U netbook for $199.99. This Windows XP Home netbook is actually an Asus Aspire One D250 rebadged originally for sale by Verizon Wireless in the fall of 2009 bundled with its expensive 3G wireless data plan. It sold then for $149, but you had to sign a two-year service contract at $40 to $60 per month, making this standard netbook very costly over the long haul. But at $199.99 without a data plan, it is an acceptable price on a slightly-behind-the-times netbook, even if the 3G option is not used.
What isn’t clear from the Big Lots ad is whether Verizon left the 3G radio in these units operable when it dumped them for resale by Big Lots designated as refurbished. If so (the ad shows a 3G sticker prominently displayed on the netbook’s right palm rest and a quick search of the web suggests the 3G capabilities are intact), this could be more of a bargain by allowing you to add it to your current Verizon plan or obtain 3G service on a month-to-month or even prepaid basis without the need for a long term contract. You will pay about $100 for a Verizon 3G USB modem tied to an expensive data plan for two years anyway, so this is like getting the netbook for only $100 and saving potentially hundreds by avoiding the tie-in to a two-year contract.
While you are at your local Big Lots to check out this netbook, they have HP 4GB USB or SDHC flash memory devices on sale for $9. This is a good price for name-brand 4GB storage devices. If you decide to buy the Gateway netbook or already have a 10 inch netbook, Big Lots has a decent Icon netbook sleeve for $7 and a simple Travel Solutions corded optical mouse for $9.
If the 3G option is of no interest to you, and you want a more current netbook, Best Buy has a member of the critically acclaimed Toshiba Mini series for $299.99 or bundled with a Toshiba external DVD burner for $349.98. If you are interested in a mobile broadband data plan and are convinced you will take full advantage of it each month for the duration of a two-year contract, Best Buy is offering a Verizon Wireless USB Mobile Broadband modem for just $1 with a two-year contract and giving you $100 off any notebook or netbook computer. You can also get $100 off a notebook or netbook if you spend $99.99 on the highly-regarded MiFi mobile hotspot device and sign a two year data plan contract.
If you are a notebook or netbook user, Staples has the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 6000 on sale for $29.99. It uses a blue laser to track on almost any surface, including carpet or rough unfinished wood (such as a park bench). The USB receiver is small enough to leave plugged into your computer at all times or you can stow it inside the bottom compartment of the mouse. The mouse also has an on-off switch to help preserve what should be ten-month battery life on a single alkaline AA.
Getting back to the notion of strange places for tech deals, Kmart has the Android OS based Augen 7″ Internet tablet (think smaller and much cheaper iPad) for $149.99, plus save another $5 with this PDF coupon. There is very little info on the Web concerning this device, which appears to be a brand new product. If it runs a version of Android that is fairly modern and access to the apps in the Android Market has not been blocked (although there are workarounds), this could be a true bargain of tablet computer. In general, Wi-Fi enabled touch-screen Android devices like this should be able to do just about anything one might do on a netbook, including web browsing, email, viewing videos, listening to music, editing documents, etc. Hopefully someone will take the plunge a post a report on its capabilities. Update: I was able to buy one at my local Kmart on Friday. It isn’t much of a risk since Kmart has a 90 day return policy. In fact, they print the return deadline right on the receipt. Mine is October 27. That should give me plenty of time to decide if this is a keeper. So far, it is a pure Android experience with no overlays like Motoblur or HTC sense. That is the good part. But the resistive touch screen hard to get used to after using a capacitive touch screen phone. I do like running the Kindle app on it and having access to my ebooks. I also have it connected and working well with my Gmail and Exchange email accounts. It also plays .avi format movies well (several episodes of 30 Rock, for example). More info in future posts.
Nearly Three-Quarters of Lawyers Sometimes Telecommute
Posted by Scott Bassett in Mobility Thursday, 22 July 2010 17:16 No Comments
A report in the ABA Journal reveals that 71% of members surveyed sometimes work from places other than their offices. The breakdown is as follows: Lawyers are telecommuting at home (88 percent), in hotels (32 percent), in others’ offices (21 percent), in public places such as libraries or courthouses (14 percent), and in coffee shops and cafes (12 percent). Ninety-five percent use computers away from the office, 89 percent use laptops, and 79 percent use BlackBerrys or smartphones. This information makes me more comfortable with my tendency to blog about mobile lawyering issues.
