INTERNET LEGAL
RESEARCH WEEKLY
May 30, 2004
Tom
Mighell
Memorial Day Edition
Welcome to Issue #155 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 visit Inter Alia and fill out the subscription form -- it's free!
An announcement -- I'll be on a bit of a hiatus the next two weeks, first in Indiana, and the next getting ready for our annual Bar show, Bar None. This year's show is entitled Suebiscuit, and it promises to be a lot of fun! If you want to learn more, head over to Barnoneshow.com. I'll see you back here on June 20!
And away we go…..
Opera wins the RSS race
The latest version of the Opera browser, 7.50 for Windows, auto-detects RSS newsfeeds and allows you to add them to a "watchlist" for further browsing. Finally, a browser with newsreading capabilities!First lawsuit over spyware
Internet marketing company WhenU is suing the state of Utah, alleging its new anti-spyware statute unconstitutionally limits the right to advertise. Interestingly, WhenU is also one of the companies whose information was removed from Google's index.Passwords you should never use
As you know, I talk quite a bit here about making sure your passwords are strong enough to withstand a potential (if remote) hacking attempt. I have given tips on the best ways of selecting strong passwords. Here's an article that points in the other direction: a list of passwords you should never use, because they are so easy to discover. If yours is on this list, you need to re-think your password strategy.The month in search engines, April 2004
In case you missed the search engine news in April, Chris Sherman has the highlights with the Search Engine Milestones of 2004. And if that doesn't satisfy your need for news on search tools, then check out Greg Notess' Internet Search Engine Update.Personalized search -- not ready for prime time?
One of the hot new ideas in search technology is the "personalized" search -- customizing your search experience to your own personal interests. Although the idea is promising, the technology has not quite caught up. Danny Sullivan covers these issues in Is It Really Personalized Search?West newsclippings delivered to you
West's clipping service, IntraClips, is now available for delivery via RSS. Cindy Chick has more on the new service. This is a huge advance from one of the big legal research companies -- find a way to take advantage of it!Handy way to search Google News
Tara Calishain has created a nifty bookmarklet for searching Google News. Just drag the link to a toolbar in Internet Explorer (there's one for Opera/Mozilla too), and you can run a Google News search simply by highlighting words and clicking the link. Thanks, Tara!More than a search engine?
Danny Sullivan laments the possible return to the days where search engines had to do much more than just search in order to attract users, in Return to the Sad Days of More Than a Search Engine?The battle for our desktops
Who will win? It looks like Google has plans to offer a desktop search tool, one that's different from a toolbar or a deskbar.Movie reviews with your search results
Just type in a movie name at Ask Jeeves (like The Day After Tomorrow))(don't use quotes), and you'll see a quick synopsis of the movie, along with links to reviews, show times, and trailers. It apparently only works with new movies, though.Yahoo's Toolbar takes it up a notch
In addition to the features most search engine toolbars have, the new Yahoo Toolbar also features Anti-Spy, which claims to find and remove spyware and other unwanted programs. Let's see if it works better than Ad-Aware, Spybot, or Spyware Sweeper at ridding your PC of malware.Blawgs of the Week
The TaxProf Blog, published by Paul Caron, a professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, debuted on -- that's right -- Tax day, April 15. Ideoblog is a blog about ideas, which the author is quick to point out are not beliefs or opinions. The author is Larry Ribstein, a law professor at the University of Illinois College of Law. Brian Leiter is a Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Law & Philosophy Program at the University of Texas School of Law. He's also the author of The Leiter Reports, with editorials, news, and updates on all sorts of legal topics. The folks at the Pierce Law IP Mall bring you the IP News Blog, with the latest intellectual property law news and information. Finally, Hoosier Mediators is just what you'd expect -- a group of mediators throughout Indiana spreading the message about the benefits of mediation.A tip for Outlook users: when you are setting an appointment, you don't have to know the exact date. In the Start Time box, just type in the time you want to use -- Next Thursday, Two weeks from Saturday, Christmas -- and Outlook will (usually) come up with the right date. It also works with abbreviations.
Do you have a question about searching the Internet or your computer in general? Drop me an e-mail at tom(at)inter-alia(dot)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
Fed 101
Learn more about the Federal Reserve Bank in this easy-to-use guide for educators. Learn about the history and structure of the FRB as well as the financial services it offers; other topics include Banking Supervision and Monetary Policy. If you're brave enough, take a FED101 quiz.Codices
A publication of the Venice Commission (a European commission discussed in a recent issue of the newsletter), Codices regularly reports on the case law of Constitutional Courts and other courts of equivalent jurisdiction in Europe and other parts of the world. Clicking on the Codices link will take you to a framed page which is a little difficult to navigate, but provide a number of ways to view results. You can search or browse the contents of the publication and its case law. A little clunky, but some terrific information here that appears to have been updated last in February 2004.LawKT.com
LawKT stands for Law Knowledge Tools, and it's a service of Surfwax, the great meta-search tool. The goal of LawKT is to help lawyers and law firms make more efficient use of information on the web. There are three versions available: KT-Lite provides one-stop searching of law firm publications, news, and government sites. The main page has a search function, or you can browse the hundreds of legal keywords to find articles related to that particular subject. KT-Pro offers the same access to law articles, plus the ability to search thousands of law-specific sites. KT-Enterprise is a product for a multi-lawyer firm, and in addition to the features above also offers collaboration tools and extranet capabilities. This site deserves a good look.MapMachine
National Geographic has redesigned its online atlas, and the changes are impressive. There are maps and data available in a variety of ways: world maps, countries and continents, maps dealing with recreation, conservation and ecology, trip-planning tools, historical maps, images from space, and more. Customize your own maps, and save them for later review.National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
A professional bar association founded in 1958, the NACDL boasts over 10,000 members, who advance the mission of the nation's criminal defense lawyers to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or other misconduct. On this site you can view News and Issues, ranging from attorney-client privilege to terrorism, learn about upcoming CLE events, read recent articles from Champion Magazine, and more. Members have access to expanded content.
Finally, some fun and useful sites to start off your week:
It's tough to send large files by e-mail, especially when the recipient's e-mail provider won't allow files above a certain size. Enter Dropload, where you can upload your file for 48 hours, and the recipient can then come and download the file without incident.
Satisfy your bowling needs at Gutterball, where you can play in a Retro or Cosmic Bowling alley.
Well, that’s it for Issue #155 – 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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