Feb 14 2009

You Can Run But You Can't Hide: Free Public Records Search on Facebook

Can this be true? Social media giant Facebook and TrueScoop have teamed up to offer free public records search on the site, according to Adam Ostrow over at Mashable. Holy moly! This line got me: “when you do a search, it’s broadcast to Facebook’s News Feed.” Oh, the humanity! How long do you think this Facebook application will remain available? Comments? Anyone?

You Can Run But You Can’t Hide: Free Public Records Search on Facebook

Virtual Make-Overs: Easy, Fun and Creative!

I saw this nicely organized Vista desktop on Lifehacker today. Using some add-ons listed in the article, Kseve composes an image that looks strikingly like one of my desks. I really love the sticky pad widgets!

While this is on a Vista desktop, I believe the modifications can be done in XP as well.

I think it worth the time to organize and modify the space you stare at for much of your day. I did a little desktop modding myself this weekend, with the result below:

I used Rocket Dock to make my Windows desktop icons and shortcuts more Mac-like. I also used Window Blinds and some customized skins from DeviantArt to skin my programs and menus. My desktop is vastly more user-friendly than it used to be. Plus it is far more fun to look at (as an illustrator, I am a big fan of Japanese manga and anime). Don’t get tied into those pre-defined views imposed by your operating system: get creative and have a little fun organizing your virtual office!

Here We Go Again

: Image via Wikipedia

Why does on-line research get smacked around so much? Is it based on a belief that if something is too efficient and effective, it can’t possibly be good for you? Law Librarian Blog has an entry about Online Law Research – Pros & Cons here. Of the four points raised, only one can be fairly qualified as a “pro” – ease of searching. The author Holly McCarthy then cites the cons as “technological dependence” (what?), the working advantage of the “old fashioned” method (defined as “actually reading the documents), and an implicit assumption that if one is using on-line resources for research, they are not actually learning precedent.

I am not sure how Ms. McCarthy made the logical leap that performing research on-line rather than in the bound volumes means that you are not actually “reading” the cases or understanding precedent. I also am unsure why she concludes that “technological dependence” is a bad thing. Ms. McCarthy suggests that you are either an “expert” or someone who merely plugs in search terms. She makes the bald statement “[t]here are nuances to the written law that don’t translate well in digital format” without any explanation whatsoever.

I think it is fair to say that there is a substantial group of lawyers who specialize in research and writing that are going to take umbrage at Ms. McCarthy’s incomplete and unsubstantiated remarks. I am going to give Ms. McCarthy the benefit of the doubt on this and hope against hope that her statements just didn’t translate well in digital format.