Web sites for road warriors.Mobility for 21st-century lawyers means more than having a portable computer. Road warriors
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team famously comprised of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis, though other members can arm themselves for real and virtual travel with products and services found along the information highway. Equipment and services Personal digital assistants. Handheld personal computers, called personal digital assistants (PDAs), are beginning to rival laptops as essential equipment for mobile attorneys. Although these devices were used in the past mostly as portable electronic calendars and address books, newer PDAs offer wireless e-mail and Internet access See how to access the Internet. , as well as paging features. Some even combine a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). with a cellular phone. Information about PDAs can be found at the Web sites of several manufacturers. Palm, Inc. (www.palm.com) makes the PalmPilot series, perhaps the most popular handheld computers among lawyers. Handspring (www.handspring.com), founded by former Palm employees, produces a growing competitor, the Visor. Microsoft offers PDAs made by Casio.compaq, and Hewlett Packard that use Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. (www.microsoft.com/ mobile/pocketpc). Motorola's PageWriter (www.motorola. com) comes with PocketParalegal software. Research in Motion (www.rim.net) is a Canadian company that makes the Blackberry family of wireless handheld devices. The two big electronic providers of legal information, West Publishing and LexisNexis, are moving into wireless legal content for PDAs on their respective Web sites (www.wireless.westlaw.com and www. lexisonewireless.com). Users can access the text of a case as well as its citation history, among other features. Handango Business Solutions (www.handango.com) sells PalmPilots with a preloaded suite of software for the legal professional, including access to Westlaw for wireless users. Other sites offer advice and tutorials for PDA users. An online newsletter at www.pdajd.com also provides links to hardware and software vendors and, for Palm users, downloadable copies of legal documents--many of them free--including the text of the Federal Rules of Evidence The Federal Rules of Evidence generally govern civil and criminal proceedings in the courts of the United States and proceedings before U.S. Bankruptcy judges and U.S. magistrates, to the extent and with the exceptions stated in the rules. Promulgated by the U.S. . More legal content for PDAs can be found by going to www.memoware.com and clicking on "Law & Gov't" or by visiting the electronic book publisher PeanutPress at www.peanutpress.com. Other sites for a more general audience include www.pdabuzz.com, www.ugeek. com/pdageek, and www.Nearlymobile.com (for Palm users). Cellular phones. The cellular phone industry is trying to make its products more like digital assistants by adding organizer features such as calendars, address books, and to-do lists. Now, the creation of a wireless application protocol (WAP (1) (Wireless Access Point) See access point. (2) (Wireless Application Protocol) A standard for providing cellular phones, pagers and other handheld devices with secure access to e-mail and text-based Web pages. ) has produced "smart phones" that let users access Internet text on the phones' small screens. Users can also type a message and send it to the recipient's telephone number. Two drawbacks are that the sender and receiver of a message must be on the same phone network and the message must be typed on a phone's numeric keypad A four-row keyboard of digits used on calculators, computer keyboards and telephones. See keypad. (hardware) numeric keypad - A standard feature of PC keyboards, consisting of a rectangular array of 17 extra keys at the right-hand end: 0-9, ., Num Lock, /, *, -, + and Enter. . Information about this hybrid breed of cell phones can be found on manufacturers' Web sites, including www.audiovox. com, www.ericsson.com, www.kyocera. com, www.mitsubishi.com, www.motorola. com, www.nokia.com, www.panasonic. com, and www.samsung.com. Attorneys who prefer to talk rather than type into a phone may want to use services such as Yahoo! by Phone (phone. yahoo.com) and WeType4u.com (www. wetype4u.com). Those who hold free Yahoo! accounts can dial an 800 number and check e-mail and voice messages. WeType4u.com offers a telephone transcription service. Users dictate copy over the telephone, and the company guarantees that a completed document will be returned to the customer via e-mail within 24 hours. CyberTranscriber (www. speechmachines.com) and CyberSecretary (www.cybersecretary.com) provide similar services. Three Web sites offer consumers comparisons of the cellular phone service plans provided by carriers serving most metropolitan U.S. markets: www. getconnected.com, www.point. com, and www.telebright.com. Digital voice recorders. Attorneys who want to capture their thoughts or dictate a memo anywhere, not just over the phone, are using digital voice recorders. Products such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking (www.dragonsys.com) and Lernout & Hauspie's Voice Xpress (www.lhsl.com), which come with legal vocabularies, enable users to dictate documents and download them into word-processing programs. Lernout & Hauspie acquired Dragon Systems Dragon Systems, Inc., was the company that created DragonDictate and Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It was founded in 1982 by Drs. James and Janet Baker and bought by Lernout & Hauspie in 2000. last year and announced that it expects to combine the best technologies from each product "over time" to create next-generation products. Norcom (www.norcom-electronics.com) sells recorders containing Dragon NaturallySpeaking Legal Suite. IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) (www. ibm.com) offers ViaVoice digital voice recognition software. ViaVoice is bundled into digital recorders made by Dictaphone (www. dictaphone.com) and Olympus (www. olympus.com). Other digital dictation Digital dictation is a method of recording and editing the spoken word in real-time within a digital audio format. Digital dictation offers several advantages over traditional cassette tape based dictation: Car consoles. Last year, General Motors Corp. debuted its Internet-linked Oldsmobile Profile sports sedan A sports sedan is a descriptive term applied to a sedan or saloon automobile that is designed to look and feel "sporty" - offering the driver more connection with the driving experience. Most vehicles in this category overlap with the compact executive car classification. . The Oldsmobile is dead, but the technology lives on in other GM cars that carry the OnStar Virtual Advisor communications system In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and data terminal equipment (DTE) usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole. (www.onstar. com). Users can activate the system by voice command and place a person-to-person call hands-free or receive e-mail or Internet text read by a synthesized voice. Clarion, an independent automotive supplier, makes a similar product, the Clarion AutoPC (www.autopc.com). Portable scanners. The ability to scan documents at a remote location for subsequent transfer to a computer file makes the discovery process easier. The search for a lightweight, compact handheld scanner A scanner that is moved across the image to be scanned by hand. Handheld scanners are small and less expensive than their desktop counterparts, but rely on the dexterity of the user to move the unit across the paper. Trays are available that keep the scanner moving in a straight line. that will scan the bowed surfaces of many discovery materials and will be supported by its manufacturer over the long term makes the process harder. In 1999, Hewlett Packard introduced the Capshare 920 "e-copier," which met with the approval of many techie A technical person. See hacker and programmer. lawyers. However, the company has discontinued the product, although it may still be available from some retailers at discount prices. (See, for example, the technology products section of www.law.com.) Wizcom Technologies, Ltd. (www. wizcomtech.com) makes the QuickLinkPen, which allows a user to scan text, tables, and charts for transfer to a computer, PDA, or smart phone by running the highlighter-like device over the material. Canon Computer Systems, Inc. (www. ccsi.canon.com) produces the BJC-85 color bubble jet printer Noun 1. bubble jet printer - a kind of ink-jet printer bubble-jet printer, bubblejet ink-jet printer - a printer that produces characters by projecting electrically charged droplets of ink , a portable printer that can double as a sheetfed-only scanner with the addition of a scanner cartridge. Other equipment. Keeping equipment powered on the road is a challenge. Traveling users need batteries; adaptors for use in cars, trains, and airplanes; and transformers and adaptors for telephone jacks and power outlets in foreign countries. They can find these products by searching the Software & Technology section of Findlaw (www.findlaw.com) and online catalogs like Hello Direct (www. hello-direct.com), Lawyerware (www. lawyerware.com), the Mobile Office Outfitter (www.mobilegear.com), MobilePlanet (www.mplanet.com), RoadWarrior (www.warrior.com), and Teleadapt (www. teleadapt.com). Resources Hotels and air travel. Information on the technology offerings of 60,000 hotels worldwide can be found using the Advanced Search function at www.allhotels.com. Business travelers can find information about high-tech communication in 125 countries at WorldRoadWarrior (www.worldcell.com). Web site information can ease the hassle of travel. Air travel news is the focus of Frequent Flyer frequent flyer Hospital practice A popular term for a Pt who is regularly admitted to a particular ER or health care facility, for various reasons (www.frequentflyer.oag. com) and--in conjunction with travel technology--BizTravel (www.biztravel. com). The latest information on flight schedules can be found at the tracking service of Thetrip.com (www.thetrip.com), which also provides information on transportation between major airports and downtown areas here and abroad. Flight departures and arrivals, along with the weather in major U.S. cities and in regions around the globe, are covered by the Weather Channel's Web site at www. weather.com. Those traveling internationally may be unaware that carrying a computer or cellular phone to a foreign country is considered the "export" of a controlled product under U.S. Department of Commerce regulations. Encryption software Encryption software is software whose main task is encryption and decryption of data, usually in the form of files on hard drives and removable media, email messages, or in the form of packets sent over computer networks. in your equipment--particularly if you are traveling to certain countries, such as Russia--can pose unexpected problems. The department's Bureau of Export Administration posts information at www.bxa. doc.gov. Reference sites. Here are online publications geared to the technology-equipped attorney: the Law Library Resource Xchange, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control (www.llrx.com), Law Technology News (www.lawtechnews.com), and Legal Technology Online (www.digitallawyer, com). The American Bar Association American Bar Association (ABA), voluntary organization of lawyers admitted to the bar of any state. Founded (1878) largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Bar Association, it is devoted to improving the administration of justice, seeking uniformity of law has created a Web site called "elawyering" devoted to "lawyers serving society through technology" (www.abanet.org/elawyering), and its publications division offers a book--now four years old--entitled A Survival Guide for Road Warriors, by Daniel S. Coolidge and J. Michael Jimmerson. Information for business travelers in general can be found at the Web sites of self-styled "televangelist tel·e·van·gel·ist n. An evangelist who conducts religious telecasts. [Blend of television and evangelist.] tel " June Langhoff (www.langhoff.com), Mobile Computing Using a computing device while in transit. Mobile computing implies wireless transmission, but wireless transmission does not necessarily imply mobile computing. Fixed wireless applications use satellites, radio systems and lasers to transmit between permanent objects such as buildings Online (www.mobilecomputing.com), and Roadnews (www.roadnews.com). With new equipment and services available online, the arsenal of the road warrior A person who frequently travels with laptop and cellphone. can be a powerful one. Digital assistance Personal digital assistants are beginning to rival laptops as essential equipment for mobile attorneys. Peter C. Quinn is editor in chief of the ATLA ATLA Association of Trial Lawyers of America ATLA American Theological Library Association ATLA American Trial Lawyers Association ATLA Air Transport Licensing Authority (Hong Kong) ATLA Avatar: The Last Airbender Law Reporters. The products and services mentioned in this column do not constitute an endorsement of any product or service by TRIAL or ATLA. |
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