INTERNET LEGAL
RESEARCH WEEKLY
May 1, 2005
Tom
Mighell
Welcome to Issue #189 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!
And away we go....
Non-law blog of the Week
Why leave your desk, when the folks at Google Sightseeing can take you there for free? They use the great new satellite images from Google Maps to show you the best tourist spots in the world, and other stuff, too.Yahoo! New news
Have you seen the newly-updated Yahoo! News page? Very cool! The news sections are now tabbed, and when you hover your mouse over a headline you'll see a thumbnail of the story. There's also a "My Sources" tab where you can add RSS feeds from various news sources.More mobile offerings
I have been on a mobile kick lately -- the search engines have been pushing a lot of great new mobile features. The latest is MSN's real-time traffic alerts. Just specify the metro area and the times you want to receive alerts, and MSN will push traffic information to your mobile device via SMS. You have to have a .Net Passport to participate. Read more about it at Real Time Traffic Alerts via SMS.Yahoo Gets Personal, Too
Not one to be left behind, Yahoo! has released its improved version of My Web Search, in response to Google's Search History Beta that was released last week. The Yahoo offering seems to be a lot more comprehensive; in addition to saving your search history, you can also e-mail or IM links to others, and you can share your bookmarks via a public folder or RSS feed. Yahoo! wants you to use this as your Bookmarks folder, so it gives you the ability to import your bookmarks. And saving pages is a cinch -- if you use the Yahoo! Toolbar there's a button built-in. Alternatively, you can use a bookmarklet to save the pages.Blawgs of the Week
Here's a new crop of law-related weblogs for you to pick: First, Steve Terrell is a lawyer from Indiana that I have known for several years. He has been to ABA TECHSHOW a number of times, and I have had the great pleasure and honor of speaking at past editions of the Indiana Solo and Small Firm Conference, at his recommendation. Now Steve has taken the plunge and entered the blawg-o-sphere, with his brand-new Hoosier Lawyer. There you'll find his observations on law, and the practice of law in Indiana. Welcome, Steve! Blawg Wisdom offers advice about law school from those who are in it. Great idea. For you students out there who have engaged in moot court competition, and you lawyers who for reason are obsessed about moot court, this blawg is for you. Mootness: The Moot Court Blog provides competition results and news, as well as resources and commentary about interscholastic appellate advocacy. Macondo Law is "dedicated to matters of interest to federal criminal defense lawyers in Puerto Rico - regardless of legal relevance." It's published by Tom Lincoln, a federal criminal defense lawyer in San Juan.Ernie Svenson, my friend and co-blogger over at Between Lawyers, has it right when he talks about technology: while it has the enormous potential of simplifying our lives, more often than not it just makes things more complicated and confusing. That's why he's started up his new blog, techfengshui -- to help make technology more useful for all of us. Check it out. Rulemaking looks to be a blog on a unique and terrific subject: it's published by the folks at Administrative Codes and Registers, "an organization of dedicated folks who, in at least some respects, regulate government regulators. This blog has been created to help the members of ACR learn about blogs, RSS news feeds, and share information." Finally, another blog from the Law Professor Blogs Network? Yup -- it's the Tech Law Prof Blog, hosted by Jonathan Ezor and Michelle Zakarin, both of the Touro Law Center.
Caught in the 'NetUpdate on Outrageous Internet Researchers
In a follow-up to my post last week on Tom Delay's comment that a judge using the internet for research was "outrageous," here's an article from Declan McCullagh on Defending Delay's Internet Assault. McCullagh has a good point: although a judge should be able to use the internet as a resource, no judge should accept facts found on the internet as true, in place of properly-admitted evidence at trial or on appeal. While I'm not sure that's what Delay had in mind when he made his comment, it's certainly something to consider.
The Inbox -- Your New Filing Cabinet
I have advocated the "Getting Things Done" method of dealing with your e-mail for some time, the goal being to get your Inbox as lean as possible, so you're not drowning in e-mail. Now comes word that, rather than cleaning their inboxes, more and more people are using online e-mail as storage. Now that sites like GMail and Yahoo! Mail are offering 1GB and 2GB storage capacity, many people are taking advantage of this free space.I don't use Web-based e-mail for my work or personal mailing, and whenever I want to store something I have more than enough room on my computer or backup drive. But I suppose this is a good option for those who don't have the available space. One nice tool that GMail offers is the "labels" option, GMail's version of folders. You can label ("tag") an e-mail with multiple descriptions, so it will be easier to find later.
We're in Week #2 of "10 Things To Do Before You Call for Help" -- a series of steps to take before you call in tech support or computer expert:
#2: Check your connections. This seems obvious, but check all of the cables connected to your computer to make sure they are plugged in properly. Believe it or not, these cables have a way of working themselves loose. Get behind your computer and make sure everything is connected. You may also have to open up your CPU box and make sure that all the cards are properly seated in their slots, too.
Next week: The Good Old Reboot.
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
U.S. Fire Administration
The mission of the USFA is to reduce life and economic losses due to fire and related emergencies, through leadership, advocacy, coordination, and support. As you can imagine, there are a LOT of resources here. There are links to Training and Education, Fire Safety, Firefighter Fatalities, Fire Statistics, Grants and Funding, Hotel/Motel Fire-Safe Lists, Incident Reporting, Fire Department Census, Research Projects, and much more. This week you'll find materials for Arson Awareness Week.WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
Part of the World Intellectual Property Organization, these pages offer information on the arbitration and mediation services offered in international commercial disputes between private parties. You'll find a lot of information background, as well as rules for mediation and arbitration, fees and procedures, and recommended arbitrators and mediators.192.com
Billed as "the largest UK directory enquiry service," 192.com is a pretty nifty site. It reminds me a lot of Yahoo! or Google Local -- just type in a name and a location in the United Kingdom, and you'll get results in Business, People, Local, as well as Maps and Routes. You can search over 13 million directory listings for free, but you must register (for free) to get full details. Even more information is available if you purchase "credits." The map feature is very cool for quickly locating businesses and people.Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Another government web site this week, which means another site packed with tons of great information. AHRQ wants to find out what works and does not work in health care, to translate research findings into better patient care, and provide policymakers and leaders with information needed to make health care decisions. The site is divided into 7 main areas: Clinical Information, Consumers & Patients, Funding Opportunities, Data & Surveys, Research Findings, Quality Assessment, and Public Health Preparedness. You'll also find resources on Child, Women, and Minority health issues.American Law and Economics Association
The ALEA "is dedicated to the advancement of economic understanding of law and related areas of public policy and regulation." Its membership is made up of primarily academic and practicing lawyers and economists. This site is primarily for members, although there are some nice sites on law and economics under the Links button. If you have an interest in this area, give it a look.
Finally, some fun and useful sites to help waste away your Sunday or Monday morning:
Colorama is a thinking game that starts out easy and gets progressively harder.
Tired of lengthy e-mail exchanges just to schedule a meeting? Pointment wants to help -- it helps you schedule your meeting in one place and allows people to vote so you can find the best meeting time for everyone:
Well, that’s it for Issue #189 – 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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