2007 Website of the Week Archive

For the Week Beginning December 31, 2007
www.irs.gov -- There will be delay for some taxpayers to file your income tax return for the upcoming tax season due to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). It's purpose was to target a small number of high-income taxpayers who could claim so many deductions that owed little or no income tax. Because of the recent legislation changes, the IRS is currently updating their system and may not be able to process forms for those affected until Feb. 11, 2008.

Returns that include the following forms cannot be filed until Feb. 11, 2008:
-Form 8863, Education Credits
-Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits
-Schedule 2, Form 1040A, Child and Dependent Care Expenses for Form ---1040A Filer
-Form 8396, Mortgage Interest Credit
-Form 8859, District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit

For additional information and updates about the AMT Tax Reform Act please go to www.irs.gov.

For the Week Beginning December 24, 2007
www.tankonempty.com -- Have you ever wanted to know how far you can you go after the gas light in your car comes on? If you click on the make and model of your car, you will get the average and maximum miles you can travel before your car truly runs on empty.

For the Week Beginning December 17, 2007
www.googleguide.com -- There are other search engine options besides Google, but Google still dominates the search engine landscape. Most lawyers are proficient at using search engines because the techniques are not that different from digital legal research. But power searching is one area where the poor need to improve and the good can always get better. GoogleGuide lets you start your path to improvement by selecting whether you are a novice, an expert or a teen. The lessons are simple and clear. The real attention getter on this site is GoogleGuide's pair of 2 page quick reference guides, suitable for two-sided printing and maybe even laminating. Even Google "experts" out there will appreciate the Google Calculator Cheat Sheet.

For the Week Beginning December 10, 2007
www.find.pcworld.com/50678 -- If you are shopping online this holiday season, this website gives 10 important tips for recognizing and avoiding online shopping security risks.

For the Week Beginning December 3, 2007
www.magicmud.com/Lawyers%20Photos.htm -- Need a special gift for a lawyer or something for your office? Check this out. Among other subjects, they produce custom designed lawyer figurines at a decent price. They're not of a serious nature -- more "cute" than anything -- and would be suitable for the newly-admitted lawyer all the way up to a senior partner in your life.

 

For the Week Beginning November 26, 2007
2007 Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers
Our friend, Reid, has composed his 3rd Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers, expanding his noteworthy recommendations for you (or other lawyers in your life). There is not a tie, gavel or kitschy brass scale on this list--just gifts that any lawyer would love to have--if they had the time to find it themselves and tell you about it!

A word about Reid Trautz. Reid is an active member of the ABA Law Practice Management Section, currently serving as the chair of the LPM Publishing Board. He's also a member of the ABA General Practice Solo and Small Firm Section Technology Board and a past liaison to the ABA Joint Committee on Lawyer Regulation. He is admitted to the Bars of Minnesota, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Check out his blog! http://reidtrautz.typepad.com/reidmyblog/2007/11/index.html

For the Week Beginning November 21, 2007
www.traffic-simulation.de/ -- When dealing with traffic accident cases, there can be an occasional question about highway design and traffic load and flow. You have to consider whether the traffic may have been a contributing factor in the accident. Now there is a tool that may serve as a model for your underlying assumptions. You have the ability to adjust several variables to see what impact they have on traffic flow. The text is in English, but measurements are in kilometers (to convert, just multiply 1 mile by 1.609 kilometers). This is clearly a starting point, not an end point, in winning your case.

For the Week Beginning November 12, 2007
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html -- I know, I know . . .this is an oldie but goodie and it's worth a rerun. Attention solos, small firms and lawyers representing small businesses looking for tax info: look no further. The Internal Revenue Service's Small Business One Stop Resource page is geared specifically toward small businesses and the self-employed. Information includes how to figure employment taxes, access to downloadable IRS forms, retirement plans, and free products, such as the Small Business Resource Guide CD-ROM, which contains all the business tax forms, instructions and publications to successfully manage a business. And there's more, including extensive information on starting a small business, complete with checklists.

For the Week Beginning November 5, 2007
Blackberry for Smaller Firms
Research In Motion Ltd. (www.rim.net) has introduced software that allows smaller businesses to use its BlackBerry phones with their corporate e-mail systems. The program can accommodate as many as 30 users.

The software starts at $499 per company, and Research In Motion will initially give away the cheapest versions for free to businesses that buy five new BlackBerrys.

For the Week Ended October 29, 2007
This Stolen Laptop Will Self-Destruct in 5 Seconds

www.absolute.com -- If you need your stolen laptop, PDA and/or cell phone to be rendered useless in 5 seconds, it's now reality. You may feel you don't need this type of protection, but just imagine a thief prowling through the client information and passwords you store on any of these portable devices. You might change your mind.

For the Week Beginning October 22, 2007
www.arrestfree.com -- If you are representing a client who needs to clear up a past minor arrest record, arrestfree.com may be able to help. This web site is dedicated to helping folks straighten out minor arrest offenses by providing expungement services. The company will, for a fee, provide telephone support and an interactive web site to help pull records and determine whether the records are eligible for expungement.

For the Week Beginning October 15, 2007
http://techsupportalert.com -- Have you ever wondered where you could go when you have a tech problem? You might say "there's got to be a utility to fix it."  This is the place. There's a list of the best ever free utility programs and materials to help you get the job done.

For the Week Beginning October 8, 2007
How Stuff Works
www.howstuffworks.com -- Maybe you've wondered how light sticks work. Maybe you've wondered how credit scores work. Or maybe you've wondered how vampires work... then again, maybe not. But if you did wonder, this would be the place on the Web to look. Despite some of the wacky topics, the site is actually very organized. There are nine separate topic areas, or "channels," with everything from "ComputerStuff" to "TravelStuff." Under each channel, there are subchannels -- allowing you to dig even deeper for topics. There's also a search engine, which helped me find "How DVRs Work."

How Stuff Works is not just a website, it's also a series of books, CDs and print newsletters. Careful which links you click; many are really ads in disguise. I learned at least one thing from this site, and that is that I'm not as curious about how things work as I thought I was. But I may actually use this site the next time I think "How DO they do that?"

 

For the Week Beginning October 1, 2007
www.seatguru.com-- The ultimate source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities and airline information.

  • Detailed seat map graphics.
  • In-depth seat specific comments denoting seats with limited recline, reduced legroom, misaligned windows.
  • Color-coding to help identify superior and substandard seats.
  • In-seat power port locations.
  • Galley, lavatory, exit row and closet locations.

For the Week Beginning September 24, 2007
http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/ -- It's very generous of the ABA (American Bar Association) to give all of us access to some of their great resources for free, whether we are a member of that organization or not.

Law Practice TODAY is the E-zine of the Law Practice Management Section, the same folks who bring us Law Practice magazine and a slew of great books. The current edition has a great article on client management entitled "Ten Golden Rules to Make Your New Client Happy" by John Remsen, Jr.

Take advantage of some of the best minds and writers in the legal profession, on topics ranging from marketing to technology.

For the Week Beginning September 17, 2007
www.fuelcostcalculator.com -- It's not too early to calculate the cost of driving during the upcoming holidays! This site calculates trip costs with information tailored to your vehicle. Enter your location, destination and car model information and you'll get an instant estimate of what your trip will cost. Nifty!

For the Week Beginning September 10, 2007
www.altavista.com -- Do you have a website? If you're interested in knowing what other sites link to yours go to the search engine Altavista (In the search bar box, type in your URL. Then hit the Enter key or the search button and you will see a list of all sites that link to your URL. You can improve a good website by looking at other websites.

For the Week Beginning September 3, 2007
www.efax.com -- allows you to fax from your desktop.

For the Week Beginning August 27, 2007
www.corel.com/vista - WordPerfect and Microsoft Vista.
If you're thinking of upgrading to Windows Vista and are a WordPerfect user, you may be wondering if the platform and program are compatible. Good newsÂ….

Corel states, "Most users on previous versions of WordPerfect Office, Microsoft Office or other Corel software are eligible to upgrade to the Vista-compatible WordPerfect Office X3 for as little as $159. If you need more information about WordPerfect or other Corel products running on Windows Vista, please visit www.corel.com/vista. For more information about Corel WordPerfect Office X3 or to download a free trial version of the suite to test on the new OS, please visit www.corel.com/wordperfect.

Most boxes on store shelves (and all those purchased from Corel's eStore) are already enabled to run on Windows Vista. Copies of WordPerfect Office X3 purchased before the release of Windows Vista are automatically updated when you connect to the Internet after installing the office suite on Windows Vista. Users can also download a special patch from www.corel.com/support to make WordPerfect Office X3 work with Windows Vista.

For the Week Beginning August 20, 2007
www.gabar.org/programs/law_practice_management/forms/ - We've had a lot of requests lately for basic practice management forms. The site above contains a good selection of:

  • Case Management Forms
  • Client Agreements, Interview Forms and Surveys
  • File and Work Management Forms
  • Firm Financial and Employment Agreements
  • Miscellaneous Management Forms

    If you don't see what you need, give us a call at 404-527-8772 and we'll do our best to get what you need.

    For the Week Beginning August 13, 2007
    www.thinkgeek.com -- A veritable cornucopia of stuff to satisfy anyone's geeky side. You can acquire loads of other exotic, geek-inspired goodies (i.e., a t-shirt with a caffeine molecule on the front). My favorite new products are Puppy and Kitty no-staple staplers which those from 5 to 105 years old would love. When you've decked out your space, you can defend your stuff with a motion-detecting, foam-disc-shooting sentry!

    For the Week Beginning August 6, 2007
    Upcoming Casemaker Training
    www.gabar.org/programs/law_practice_management - Free on-line legal research is available to all Bar members. Learn how to effectively use and navigate the Georgia Casemaker library. Two training classes will be offered at the Bar Center on Monday, August 27 and Thursday, August 30 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Each session is limited to the first 10 attendees. Download the registration form and fax it to Kim Henry at 404-287-8394. Please register for the class by 12 p.m. the day before the class is scheduled.

    For the Week Beginning July 30, 2007
    Need a New Outlet for Low-Cost International Telephone Calls?
    www.jajah.com and www.rebtel.com - JaJah and Rebtel are two communications companies that are changing the international communications game. They are both offering cheap to free international calling. Visit their websites to see exactly how they work. They are easy to use and can save you tons so check them out.

    Our thanks to Clark Howard for this week's site. Visit his website at www.clarkhoward.com for more consumer tips.

    Web site for the Week of July 23, 2007
    www.shrm.org - Society for Human Resource Management. This will be an interesting site for your HR professional or firm administrator to review.

    For the Week Beginning July 16, 2007
    www.spacejock.com/HamTime.html - If there are any ham radio operators out there, you might appreciate this free download. If you want to stay within FCC broadcast regulations, a callsign announcement is required at least once every ten minutes. HamTime runs in the corner of the screen and gives you an audible alarm when that announcement is due.

    For the Week Beginning July 9, 2007
    www.news.google.com - If it isn't already, this site might become your favorite newspage. It has up-to-the-minute breaking news (and it tells you how aged the news is).

    For the Week Beginning July 2, 2007
    www.shopzilla.com - New comparison shopping sites keep popping up, but nothing beats Shopzilla's search tools and merchant ratings. We all need to buy stuff!

    For the Week Beginning June 25, 2007
    http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html - Attention solos, small firms, and lawyers representing small businesses looking for tax info: look no further. The Internal Revenue Service's Small Business One Stop Resource page is geared specifically toward small businesses and the self-employed. Information includes how to figure employment taxes, access to downloadable IRS forms, retirement plans, and free products, such as the Small Business Resource Guide CD-ROM, which contains all the business tax forms, instructions and publications to successfully manage a business. And there's more, including extensive information on starting a small business, including checklists.

    For the Week Beginning June 18, 2007
    www.goodnewsdaily.com - Tired of nothing but bad news? This website runs the whole gamut of good news from technology to entertainment. As one reviewer states "Good news; what a concept..."

    For the Week Beginning June 11, 2007
    You Can Have Your Own "Stealth E-Mail"
    www.contactify.com/ - We all agree that spam is a real problem. You probably get enough of it to realize that it is completely out of control. There is no sure way to cut down on spam. However, we can certainly take precautions.
    For example, you shouldn't post your e-mail address online. A better solution is to use a contact form. Of course, this is difficult if you don't have a Web site.
    Contactify has a solution for you. It will create an e-mail form for you. Just give out the Web address. The messages will be delivered to your inbox. And spammers won't have the time to use it!

    For the Week Beginning June 4, 2007
    www.tlrcblog.com - Yep, this week's website is a blog. It's the Trial Lawyers' Resource Center. This one focuses on trial lawyers, but everyone can get tips and tricks from this site. There are some interesting segments, such as "what to wear to trial," case specific ideas and much, much more. Have a look!

    For the Week Beginning May 28, 2007
    www.alltheweb.com - This is one of a few new text-search engines recently tested by PC Magazine. This was their all-around favorite of the new ones. Although Google is still the undisputed "champ" overall, you may find this new text-search site useful. Our test subject was "Asiatic Lily," which brought up a number of excellent/useful sites not seen before. Give it a try!

    For the Week Beginning May 21, 2007
    Law Practice TODAY
    www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/ - It's a very cool thing that the ABA (American Bar Association) lets all of us utilize some of their great resources for free, whether we are a member of that organization or not. 
    Law Practice TODAY is the E-zine of the Law Practice Management Section, the same folks who bring us Law Practice magazine and a slew of great books. Take advantage of some of the best minds and writers in the legal profession, on topics ranging from marketing to technology.

    For the Week Beginning May 14, 2007
    http://bensbargains.net - Daily listings of some of the hottest deals on computer equipment and related toys. A number of items are actually free after rebate!!!

    For the Week Beginning May 7, 2007
    www.farecast.com - Interested in knowing WHEN to buy an airline ticket? This site helps you find the best airfares if you're buying tickets right now. But the major feature is that it tracks fares over time, letting you know whether prices are likely to move up or down over the next week. I used this site on my last two trips, bought the tickets when prompted to do so and saved quite a bit of $$$$$$.

    For the Week Beginning April 30, 2007
    www.google.com/ig?h1=en - Going well beyond just searching, it incorporates any gadgets you might use for your e-mail accounts and calendar, RSS news feeds (from mainstream and legal news, to law-related blogs) and Google custom news alerts. This can help streamline your data gathering and, with the Google Marks bookmark tool, you can get to your sites without having to be at a particular computer.

    For the Week Beginning April 23, 2007
    http://del.icio.us - Do you change computers as often as you change your socks? With this site, you can access your web favorites no matter what computer you happen to be using. Del.icio.us is also available as a browser plug-in. It's fast, it's free and there is no advertising.

    For the Week Beginning April 16, 2007
    www.Just1Key.com - Have you reached the point where you need a password manager? At $2.49 per month, this is the only online password service with real security. To prevent hackers from grabbing your passwords, Just1Key uses a Java applet in a browser window, into which you enter your central password; the applet encrypts the password before sending it to the server. Once that's authenticated, Just1Key sends your encrypted passwords list back to you, the applet decrypts the list and you can read it.

    For the Week Beginning April 9, 2007
    Answers.yahoo.com - If you have a Yahoo ID, you can post or answer questions, which are funneled into diverse categories ranging from amusement parks to taxes in India. Answers come astonishingly quickly, and most of them are good answers. A question about whether to overclock (aka: speed margining) an Intel processor garnered three answers in less than 5 minutes, while it took approximately 15 minutes to get an answer about what fertilizer to use for a potted lime tree.

    For the Week Beginning April 2, 2007
    www.KensingtonPowerAdapter.com - You may not realize this, but there's a better-than-average chance that most of your gadgets' power supplies can step down (or up) the voltage that comes down a foreign wire. (Check your AC adapter; you'll find a range of voltages supported, usually from around 80 volts to 220.) That means you don't need an expensive, heavy power converter, but just a way to plug your standard American two- or three-prong plug into voltage in foreign lands. This model from Kensington looks capable and the product cost is only $15 (or less - depending on the vendor).

    For the Week Beginning March 26, 2007
    http://www.bespacific.com - Sabrina Pacifici, longtime legal technology guru and doyen of a popular legal technology webzine, LLRX.com, focuses on the expanding resources in the public and private sector related to law and technology news. Daily postings provide updates on issues including copyright, privacy, censorship, and much more.

    For the Week Beginning March 19, 2007
    Not Law-Related, but Lots of Fun
    www.orisinal.com - Dozens of free Web-based games, gorgeously designed and relatively simple to play, which is perfect for non-gamers looking for an engaging way to waste time. Choices are presented as icons on the home page (no names, no explanations) but this only heightens the joy of discovery. Keep spiders off your cake, protect dragonflies from rhinoceros beetles, toss tiny umbrellas to baby birds as they fall out of their nest-all you need is your mouse and maybe your arrow keys to maneuver. For more silly diversions, try Little Fluffy Industries (www.littlefluffy.com), which is part blog, part portal: editors review and link to new online games every day.

    For the Week Beginning March 12, 2007
    Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body
    www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/visibleproofs/ -- Explore the following three online activities that will whet your appetite to learn more about various forensic developments and techniques.
    1. Medical Views presents two medical examiners' perspectives on their work, first-hand experience in medico-legal autopsies, and something called Virtopsy. Explore the world of a medical examiner.
    2. Anthropological Views introduces forensic anthropologists and their work with human remains. Examine skeletal remains, a human rights case, and three anthropologists' perspectives on their work.
    3. Technological Views offers insights into the scientific and technological advances that have extended the capabilities of forensic analysis. Examine historical developments in forensic identification, crime scene recording, DNA analysis, radiology, and toxicology, all of which are integral part of the forensic investigations of our time.

    For the Week Beginning March 5, 2007
    www.ResidentAgentInfo.com -- If you and your staff need to know how you locate service agents in the various states. This is a complete list, including those states who charge for this public information. Our thanks to Terry Berger for his exhaustive work on this site.

    For the Week Beginning February 26, 2007
    www.lawmarketing.com -- The Law Marketing Portal is a great website for browsing for current ideas and developments. You might find articles, interviews and transcripts of seminars on legal marketing and billing issues. Many experts feel that the alternative fee arrangement question is at least as much a marketing issue as it is a financial issue.

    For the Week Beginning February 19, 2007
    Interested in Converting Your Voicemails into Text (for FREE)?
    www.simulscribe.com -- Although we can't fault the companies in the cell phone industry for wanting to increase their bottom line, those companies are constantly finding ways to use more and more of your minutes: costing you more and more money. For example, the voicemail prompts you hear these days are longer than they've ever been. Even when you check your own messages, the prompts are slow and long. But, creative people are always coming up with ways to work around the system. A couple of companies have come up with a way for you to have your voice mail message translated to text messages. Simulscribe.com, is offering a one-week, free test-drive. But look for a free program coming - you simply send an e-mail message to gamma@apinvox.com. When it is ready to go in this country, you'll get it free for one year. Watch out, though, and be sure to check if your cell phone provider will charge a punitive fee to have your voicemail rerouted. Keep an eye out for these services.

    Website for the Week Beginning February 12, 2007
    www.tinyurl.com - Ever get those super-long URLs in an e-mail and attempt to copy and paste them into your browser? You can now eliminate that old "copy and paste; copy the remainder and paste" routine at this site. You can load in the long URL and the site converts it to a short URL that will work every time you need to get back to that site. You can even send the little guy back to the person who tagged you with the long URL in the first place.

    For the Week Beginning February 5, 2007
    www.naco.org - National Association of Counties. Find codes and ordinances, official names and addresses, and data and demographics. A wealth of information.

    For the Week Beginning January 29, 2007
    www.cablestogo.com - If you're looking for quick-ship cables of any kind and a plethora of computer-related gizmos (i.e., cable configurators, KVMs and switches, tools and testers), this is the place.

    For the Week Beginning January 22, 2007
    Legal Marketing Association
    www.legalmarketing.org - The Legal Marketing Association (LMA) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to serving the needs and maintaining the professional standards of those involved in marketing within the legal profession. LMA provides vital and timely information on a wide variety of legal marketing issues. LMA members have access to a wealth of resources including national and regional educational programs, the monthly journal Strategies, an active listserv, an online job bank, compensation surveys and other industry-specific market research, topical white papers and much more. More than networking - LMA provides real tools and a knowledge bank to empower members to build successful practices in today's competitive legal marketplace.

    For the Week Beginning January 15, 2007
    International Legal Technology Association
    www.iltanet.org - For nearly three decades, ILTA (International Legal Technology Association) has provided peer-networking and information resources to those who support technology in law firms and law departments worldwide. The non-profit user group is truly peer-powered. For information about ILTA, or to obtain a membership application, visit the website.

    For the Week Beginning January 8, 2007
    www.blinkxtv.com -- Search for TV news clips and other video bits from more than two dozen sources, including ABC News, BBC News, Fox News, ESPN and C-Span. There's plenty of lighter fare, too--a search for Nicole Kidman pulled up a documentary clip from Biography.com and assorted movie reviews and trailers. Blinkx has its own way of indexing clips that makes it more effective than other video search engines for finding particular segments within a broadcast, and each video stream starts off at the point in the segment that's most relevant to your query.

    For the Week Beginning January 1, 2007
    www.thefreedictionary.com -- What's the first thing you'd like to see when you open your Web browser? Most of us want quick access to information, along with search and reference tools. At the same time, we like the fun stuff, too. That's what's so great about this week's site: You can customize it to suit your tastes. You can start a Web search, or you can look up terms in a number of specialized dictionaries.

    Then there are the fun parts. There's a horoscope section, games, quotes and articles. Don't like these sections? Simply remove them -- and replace them with something that interests you. Nifty!