INTERNET LEGAL
RESEARCH WEEKLY
March 19, 2006
Tom
Mighell
Welcome to Issue #226 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!
Search for Usenet's Fun Stuff
Usenet is still one of the great sources of information, including pictures, audio and video. Guba is a search engine devoted to searching for and viewing content that's posted to Usenet. You can view the videos with a built-in flash player, and you can even subscribe to RSS feeds for your searches, so future videos are downloaded directly to iTunes, or your newsreader.Get absorbed in this calendar
Check out Spongecell, billed as "the absorbful calendar." This is a very simple calendar to use and share with friends. It's so easy, you can just type in "Happy Hour every Friday from 5:00-6:00," and Spongecell will automatically create a recurring entry for you. Certainly not a good option for your work calendar, but this is a nifty tool for friends or groups.FirstGov Debuts New Search Tool -- Did anybody notice?
Did anybody outside the search engine world notice that Firstgov launched FirstGov Search last month? Sure, you're probably familiar with FirstGov, the government directory/portal that has been around for awhile. I'm not sure why they created a search engine for FirstGov on a separate page, but there it is. Interestingly, when you conduct a search you'll get results from two different search tools: the main search results appear to be provided by MSN Search, but to the left it looks like you're getting clustered results from Vivisimo. Even better, the clustered results can be sorted by Topic, by Agency, or by Source.Another forum search tool
As I mentioned on Monday, online forums like Usenet are terrific places to find hidden bits of information. And as more people realize this, search tools are appearing to cover this area of the Internet. One such tool is BoardTracker, which is now tracking over 15 million threads in more than 25,000 forums (or is that fora?). You can search in all categories, or narrow your query to a particular topic.Collaborate on Spreadsheets with Numbler
Numbler is one of those new Web 2.0 sites that make it embarrassingly easy to collaborate on spreadsheets. You can import Excel spreadsheets or CSV format files, or create your own from scratch. The formula syntax and behavior is similar to Excel, but you shouldn't expect full functionality. It's a nice way to work in real time with others on spreadsheets, rather than mail them around from person to person.Blawgs of the Week
Here's a selection of the law-related blogs I featured this week on Inter Alia:
- First up, The TurboLaw Blog is a companion to the TurboLaw web site, which provides forms software to the legal community. The blog is about a lot more than the software, though -- so stop by for a look.
- This second site isn't really a law-related weblog -- but blawgcoop wants to make it easier for law students, law professors, or legal practitioners to get their blog started. They'll host your blog, and the cost to you is based on the number of users on the domain; the more users, the less you'll pay.
- The Benjamin Franklin Legal Foundation is providing news, information, and opinion about public interest law over at probonolaw.
- Innovative Legal Solutions features "an informal discussion of how one attorney attempts to provide legal service while enjoying a meaningful and fulfilling life." It's written by Andrew Magwood, an attorney with a specific emphasis on business, insurance and risk management.
From time to time, Word acts up, and a document may become damaged or corrupted. There's a way to recover this information, however, and it's pretty easy:
If you're using Word 2002 and above, go to the File menu, select Open, and navigate to the affected file. Highlight that file, click the drop-down arrow next to the Open button, and choose Open and Repair.
If you're using Word 97 or 2000, choose Open from the File menu, then select Recover Text from Any File from the Files of Type drop-down menu. Choose the affected file, and click Open.
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
Federal Election Commission
I'm still making my way through various federal web sites, and the FEC is next up on the list. Of course you'll find information about the agency, but the best resources are found on the links to the left. Top of the list is Campaign Finance Reports and Data, where you can search the Disclosure Database or view and download electronic filings. Enforcement Matters are also available, as well as a link to the laws and policies regulating elections.LegalEthics.com
I have probably mentioned this site before, but it's well worth a re-mention. David Hricik of Mercer University School of Law and Peter Krakaur update the site on a semi-regular basis. The home page contains links to recent ethics news, but the real meat of this site can be found through the two drop-down menus at the top of the page. Just choose a category and then a topic, and you'll be taken to a collection of links on that subject. One of the best legal ethics sites online.Mexican Laws ($$)
Ever tried to research Mexican law, but couldn't read Spanish? Here you can buy "quality translations of Mexican Laws, Regulations, Decrees, and Standards at the best prices." You can choose from a number of categories (including labor, environment, social security, health, agriculture, and more), or order a package deal. Prices appear to run from the $20 range up to $100.Partnerships Against Violence
The Partnerships Against Violence Network "is a 'virtual library' of information about violence and youth-at-risk, representing data from seven different Federal agencies." Most of the information here is found in the Research Database, where you can search by keyword or by topic. The information provided is primarily about current Federally-funded research on violence; there's a description of the research project and other factual data about when and where it took place.Drugs.com
There are a number of drug information sites online, and this one appears to be pretty good. You can search for drugs by keyword, or you can browse the extensive directory. Each description includes information on the pharmacology of a drug, its contraindications, side effects, precautions, and even an image of the pill, if available. There's also a Pill Identifier that can tell you what a pill is after you fill in a few descriptive details.
Finally, a few fun and useful sites to start off your week:
Ready to start investing online? The Investing Online Resource Center will give you the basic information you need to start.
In MotherLoad, you can operate a mining machine on the planet Mars.
Well, that’s it for Issue #226 – 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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