Looking For A New Desktop Computer

Desktop computers are not obsolete.  They are generally cheaper than comparable laptop computers, have bigger keyboards, allow for bigger monitors, and have greater capacity.  Yes you can get a docking station, but if you are going to go to that trouble you may as well just buy a laptop and a desktop.

Lawyerist.com (one of my all time favorite internet places to visit) has just posted its review of the best desktop computers.The best Windows all-in-one: Dell XPS One 27.  The best Apple all-in-one: 27″ iMac  [I definitely concur on this one!  Have one at home.  Love it!].  The best Windows CPU: Dell Inspiron 660.  The best Apple CPU: Mac mini.  The best monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2412m.  The best keyboard: Apple Keyboard.  The best mouse: Logitech Wireless Performance Mouse MX.

Please click here to read the entire article, and to learn more about these hardware hits!

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law #Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

A Must Read Technology Blog For Lawyers

Nicole Black is a lawyer in New York.  She is also a legal technology guru, particularly in the areas of social media, case management, and mobile technology.  Today she is most important for her Legal iPad blog. Her blog focuses on legal technology for lawyers, with a heavy emphasis on iPads and iPad apps.  She also identifies and reviews new iPad accessories.

I read Nicole's blog religiously, and her insights and identification of lawyer technologies is invaluable.  Please click here to read the Legal iPad.  Better yet, subscribe to it so you always get the latest and greatest from Nicole.

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law

#Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

Apple Helps With iPad Coaching

As part of iTunes, Apple has created iPad How To's.  These audio podcasts can be listened to from within iTunes.  Best of all, they are FREE!  Topics include:
1     Share 3D Model Information
2     Markup and Complete PDF Documents
3     Create Diagrams and Charts
4     Collaborate on Projects
5     Edit PowerPoint Presentations
6     Convert Handwritten Notes to Text
7     Stay Connected with Colleagues
8     Manage Project Checklists
9     Collaborate on PDFs
10     Organize and Send Invoices
11     Create the Perfect Chart
12     Clearly Communicate Ideas
13     Track and Manage Projects
14     Manage Your Construction Punch List
15     Access Your Company Contacts
16     Talking Is the New Typing
17     Securely Access Board Documents
18     Close and Manage Sales for Your Store
19     Find Meeting Times Worldwide
20     Present Business Intelligence Data
21     Track Work Hours and Expenses
22     Organize Business Assets
23     Keep Track of Business Meetings
24     Capture and Manage Data
25     View Sales Dashboards
26     Manage HR Requests
27     Work with Signed Documents
28     Manage Corporate Expenses
29     Draft Apps and Websites
30     Take Better Notes
31     Share 3D Product Models
32     Work on Excel Files
33     Host Online Meetings
34     View and Markup CAD Drawings
35     Work on Word Files
36     Create Incredible Charts
37     Manage ZIP Files
38     Import Photos
39     Manage PDFs
40     Deliver Amazing Presentations
41     Process Sales Transactions
42     Access Documents on SharePoint
43     Manage Meeting Agendas
44     Manage iOS Devices
45     Access Business Intelligence Data
46     Create and Share Diagrams
47     Access International Keyboards
48     Annotate PDFs     iPad in Business
49     Send and Receive Calendar Invites

There are also how to stories, deployment articles, and more.  If you are a podcast fan wanting to learning more about how to use your iPad, Apple has created a great resource.  Click here for a visit.

Please be sure to visit www.hardinglaw.com, the website for the law firm of Harding & Associates, for more information on California family law.

#Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

Visual Note Taking

True story.  Some years ago I was handling a multi-day family law trial.  We were fighting over which spouse would have day to day control of the family owned winery.  I was representing the wife.  The husband was represented by a friend of mine.  He was, and still is, an icon of our family law bar.  He had associated another lawyer who "specialized" in civil trial work (I never understood why because she was not nearly the trial lawyer that he was).  During the trial the husband's family law lawyer and I were sitting right next to each other at the crowded counsel table.  On the third day of trial that "trial specialist" was pouring through financial statements with the husband's accounting expert.  I was bored.  The judge was bored.  Apparently the husband's family law lawyer was also bored.   I looked over at his legal pad, and he was fast at work drawing a sketch of a military jet plane zooming in to bomb a tank.  It was the kind of stuff I remember drawing when I was in the fourth or fifth grade.  What was different was that scattered on the page he had written keywords and brief snippets and notes of the direct examination that was being conducted.

"Having fun?" I whispered in his ear.
"My trick for staying focused" he whispered back, looking at me with a grin.
He saw the quizzical look on my face.  "Sketching keeps me moving.  I am not really aware of what I am drawing.  But somehow it helps me to listen.  When I hear something important I write it down.  Then for some reason the artwork helps me to remember the notes."

This fascinated me.  I tried it.  He watched.  (Note: we both knew what the witness was going to say, so it was not as if I was missing anything, or sharing any secrets with him).  I didn't have my friends forty years of experience as a lawyer, so the "important stuff" wasn't as easily perceptible for me; but the sketching really did not compromise my ability to pay attention to what was going on.  Rather than drawing airplanes and tanks I drew bunches of grapes, and dollar signs, and a tractor like the one they had at the winery....

This was my earliest adoption of visual note taking, and it would become a skill that I would apply to everything I do as a lawyer.  It would also evolve into my adoption of mind maps as a thinking and practice tool.  Some may say I am making an excuse to try and be a comic book illustrator.  I am not.  Visual note taking is a serious tool!

Mike Rohde has written a book entitled The Sketchnote Handbook: the illustrated guide to visual note taking.  In fact, he even has a website and videos dedicated to visual note taking.  His book and website offer solid examples and methods of developing the technique for visual note taking.  If you want to expand the power of your brain, you should check this stuff out.  Click here to visit Mike's website.  This is good stuff!

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law 

#Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

Strunk and White Still Rules

As a group we lawyers are not identified as great writers.  Even though writing is the bulk of what we do, our letters, pleadings, briefs, and articles are not always artful.  The plain English movement begs us to write better -- but artful legal writing still remains elusive.

Unfortunately this vacuum of style isn't going away.  If anything, younger lawyers are as awful at writing as their predecessors.  It seems that writing is being neglected in our schools and colleges.

For this post I am going very low tech.  As a liberal arts major in college, reading and writing is what I did.  Tests were essay based.  Homework and class projects were essay based.  We wrote papers.  Written words were the wings that carried me through college.  Beyond religious texts, the bible in my education was The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.  I did two things every day during my student life.  I put on fresh underwear, and I made sure I had my copy of Strunk and White.

In 2011 Time Magazine named The Elements of Style one of the 100 most important books of all time!  As explained in Time:

Reading the “Little Book” is almost like sitting in an elementary English class, which seems to be how the authors intended it. Strunk and White waded through the totality of our vast and complicated language and boiled it down to a terse 105 pages, including a glossary and index.

So powerful, so important, so essential is The Elements of Style, that it has its own Wikipedia article.

Of course there are critics everywhere, and Strunk and White do have their detractors.  I am not one of them.  The Elements of Style is only 105 pages.  Think about that. . . The power to master the written word in such a tiny package!  That is magnificent!  If you don't own The Elements of Style you need to buy it today.  Get the paperback copy.  Read it.  Press it open on your desk while you write.  Refer to it constantly.  Your writing will improve, and so will your lawyering.  You can buy it for ten bucks.  Go to Amazon, or your neighborhood bookstore, and get a copy.

Want a second option, consider  Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges by Scalia (Yes, that Scalia) and Garner.

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law

#strunkandwhite #thelementsofstyle #Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

Amicus Attorney Is In The Cloud

Amicus Attorney is one of the stalwarts of law practice management software ("PMS").  A cloud based version of the product has recently been released.

Amicus going to the cloud could be a good thing, and it could be a bad thing.  Undoubtedly Amicus Attorney will eventually become a cloud only platform.  If you are an Amicus user, or thinking about adopting Amicus keep this in mind.

The new product does require Microsoft exchange for email processing, which could big a big step up for small firms; and some reviewers report that the conversion process can be daunting.  For the most part though the reviews of the Amicus cloud platform are most positive.

Amicus Attorney is created and sold by Gavel & Gown software.  GG has done lots of great things in the PMS biz.  It's transition to the cloud is a big deal.  Over at the Legal Loudspeaker blog there is a great review of the new cloud platform.  Please click here for a visit.  Of course there is also plenty of additional info at the Amicus Attorney website.

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law 

#amicusattorneycloud#Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers

The Best Smartphones & Sprint

I have been using iphones for years now.  I have been more than content, so I have not studied the alternatives, other than to know that there is a lot of great stuff out there.  Which phone is best?  To me that is kind of like comparing pink cotton candy and blue cotton candy.  It's all good!

LG Optimus G from Sprint

That doesn't mean that there aren't other folks out there that do pay a lot of attention to smartphone options.  One of those people is Zach Epstein.  Zach writes for the Boy Genius Report.  He has recently posted his end of year 2012 review of the best smartphones available from Sprint.

Samsung phones dominate Zach's list.  Of course that list includes the iPhone.  Zach also sings the praises of the LG Optimus G.  If you are looking for a new phone, and perhaps considering Spring as your carrier, take a look at Zach's very helpful article.  There are also links to his reviews of the phone available from the other flagship carriers.

Please click here to read Zach's original article.

Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law#Harding&AssociatesFamilyLaw

#smartphones #californiafamilylaw #divorce #family law #superlawyers #americanacademyofmatrimoniallawyers #Pleasantondivorce #AlamedaCountyDivorce #ContraCostaCountyDivorce #lawyers