INTERNET LEGAL RESEARCH WEEKLY
March 31, 2002
Tom
Mighell
Welcome to Issue #65 of the Internet Legal Research Weekly, a newsletter that delivers relevant and timely legal research information, and other fun stuff, to your inbox every Sunday. If you like what you read, please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to do the same! To subscribe, all you have to do is send an e-mail to ilrw-subscribe@topica.com. It’s free!
For those of you who are celebrating, have a Happy Easter Weekend……
And away we go…..
No news or article this week…just a grab bag o’fun!
Help Desk
Last week, we started a series on computer security, with a look at ways to encrypt your data. This installment will examine firewalls, which help keep unwanted hackers out of your computer. If you have DSL or a Cable modem, you could be particularly vulnerable to attack from the outside world – your “always-on” connection makes it easier for digital intruders to access your computer. If you have Windows XP, you already have a built-in firewall available. I’m not a big fan of XP’s firewall
because it prevents me from conducting Internet voice calls, and I can never tell if it’s working. Instead I’ll suggest using ZoneAlarm, which you can download for free. If you want something a bit more robust, you can try ZoneAlarm Pro ($50), or Norton Internet Security (also $50). I have been testing ZoneAlarm’s new update, and since installation two weeks ago it has blocked 302 intrusions on my computer, of which 124 were presumed to be “hacker activity.” I don’t know about that, but it’s pretty eye-opening to see how often other computers try to contact my own PC.Do you have a question about searching the Internet or your computer in general? Drop me a line at tmighell@swbell.net– I’ll post your question (don’t worry, I won’t use your real name) and try to get an answer for you!
Legally Relevant – Sites on the Internet
Country-Based Search Engines
When you’re searching for a resource from a particular country, you might not want to use a general search engine. That’s where this very simple page comes in handy. It was last updated in 2001, but still provides links to over 1,500 search engines worldwide. Just select the country on which you want to focus and you’ll get a listing of search engines based there. Nothing fancy, but still a good set of links.Employment Law Information Network
ELIN is a free employment law resource designed for employment lawyers, in-house counsel and human resources professionals. It’s operated by a lawyer, and he sure has packed a lot of information into this site. The links are divided into “Resource Zones”: Federal Laws & Regulations,
Human Resources, and Employment Law Articles. The home page offers the latest employment law headlines, which appear to be updated quite regularly. I’m not sure if the section on laws and regulations is complete, but it certainly looks substantial. The area on employment law articles is pretty impressive; just select the federal or state articles you want to read. Each state provides a listing of topics, with arrows beside the topics with available articles. The Human Resources Area provides links to sample forms, policies, and contracts. And I’m just getting started! Check it out.HighTechAttorney.com
Unfortunately, this site is restricted to lawyers who practice in the field of technology law – are there any of you out there? To register, you have to send an e-mail to the operator of the website, who will then verify you are a technology lawyer. Then you can get access to e-mail lists and a library of forms useful in the field. Since I can’t try it out, I can’t recommend it – any technology lawyers out there willing to give it a shot and tell us about it?Law on the Web
For our British readers, this website from The Centre for Law and Computing at the University of Durham. Law on the Web functions as a directory of over 200 links to mostly free websites that might be useful to lawyers. From the looks of it, these sites are geared toward lawyers working in the United Kingdom and Europe – however, they’re a great set of links for researchers anywhere to start their search for British or European legal resources. You can search the directory alphabetically or by topic.National Legal Aid and Defender Association
The NLADA represents and provides resources to legal aid and public defender programs across the country. Unlike HighTechAttorney above, you do NOT have to be a member of the NLADA to register for the site – and it’s free to boot. There are tons of links here to explore; you can find civil, defender, and communications resources, as well as information on training and conferences and job openings. Members also have their own special section with even more resources.Power Reporting
This fantastic set of links is designed for journalists, but I won’t tell anybody we’re using them if you won’t. At the top of the page is a list of links by “Beat,” Companies, People Finders, Search Tools, Reference, Government, and more. This basically gets you to all of the information on the site, but don’t ignore the menu on the left side – there are some hidden goodies there, too. One of the cool things I found there is “Alerts for Journalists,” which points you to websites that will send you e-mail to notify you of developments in all of the “Beat” categories listed. Also, check out the Newsroom Treasure Hunt, and tell me how you did.SearchEDU
How often do you need to search sites that end in .edu? This suffix is primarily for colleges and universities, and SearchEDU claims to search them all. The search engine indexes and ranks over 15 million university and education pages in order of popularity. My search for “marching band” returned over 10,000 results (okay, so it wasn’t a great query, but I certainly got a large response). Give it a try the next time you need to do some university research.The Legal Marketing Consortium ($$)
For those in need of help in their marketing skills, the Rainmaker just might be able to help. Joseph E. Wilson, an Illinois attorney, offers tele-coaching, personal coaching, and seminars for the whole law firm. Since I don’t know anything else about him, I don’t have an opinion one way or another. You’ll have to learn about him for yourself.QuickBrowse
Not necessarily a legal research tool, QuickBrowse is a cool way to get all the information you need delivered in one place each day. Just sign up for the free service, let QuickBrowse know which sites you visit on a daily basis, and receive them ALL on one page. Let’s say you read the New York Times, CNN, and Slate Magazine each morning; QuickBrowse takes all three websites, and puts the home page of each in one long scrolling page. Sure, it’s a LONG page, but you don’t have to go from site to site – arguably this can cut your reading time considerably each day. Give it a try!ARDS Support Center
Those who practice medical malpractice law may have come across cases where ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) was involved. This site is presented by the ARDS Support Center, Inc. – I’ve never heard of them, so make sure you satisfy yourself about the quality of this site before completely relying on the information provided. You can get information on the diagnosis and treatment of ARDS, as well as support resources for patients and family.Finally, some goodies for you this Easter Holiday weekend:
First, let’s go on a virtual Easter egg hunt. What’s that, you ask? “Easter Eggs” in the computer world are hidden features placed by programmers in software applications. They can be lots of fun, if you know how to find them. If you’d like to find some cool Easter eggs, check out this page of Easter eggs from CNET.
Have some fun with the hungry rabbit -- but don’t let your cursor get too close!
And for those who want to play a computer game but don’t have the patience or coordination for a real video game, try out this version of Pong: The Text Based Game.
Well, that’s it for Issue #65 – I hope you liked it! If you did, pass this along to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to subscribe. Also, feel free to drop me an e-mail any time if you have questions, or if you have websites or other topics you want included in a future issue.
Tom Mighell
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Questions? New websites? Just want to talk? Send me an e-mail at tmighell@swbell.net.