26 | April | 2011 | Advocate's Studio

Hello, Department of Redundancy Department, Hello? When it comes to security, you can never be too redundant. Rick Klau, YouTube product manager, drafted up this useful guide to Google Account security, which lists out a number of actions users can undertake to make sure their Google Account is as safe and secure as possible. Given the reach of Google, these tips are likely to benefit almost every web-izen out there, so head on over to Lifehacker to get the full scoop. Or hit the highlights here:

1. Pick a strong password for your Google Account – Tips here for doing so

2. Make sure your Google Account recovery options are set – account recovery options page here – this includes your backup email address and mobile phone number.

3. Set up Two Step Authentication on your Google Account. Details are here , set it up by starting at this link. You will need to connect it with a mobile device – the download and instructions for setting that up are at this page.

4. Following the two step verification set up, may need to change your phone and app passwords that are communicating with Google. Google has an “application specific password” — can be set up here (see the bottom of the page: “application specific passwords”). There is a password generator, which you can then type into your phone or application’s password field for your account.

5. Take stock of which applications and services have been authorized for access to your Google Account. The list is here

6. Set up a passcode for your Phone. Now.

Klau also lists some security “best practices” – more generalized approaches to online security vis a vis Google that will heighten yours. Most are common-sense, but it never hurts to brush up with a refresher course. Hit the jump above to Lifehacker for more details on the whys of it.

1. Try and use your Google Account when you log in to other services.

2. NEVER manually type your Google account information (username/password) into a webpage that is not owned/provided by Google.

3. Keep an eye on Gmail’s “last account activity” feature if you’re concerned that someone else may be accessing your account. Look at the bottom of the page in Gmail at the “last account activity” link.

4. Don’t email sensitive files as attachments.

5. Don’t send passwords in email.

Thanks Rick!

The Free Law Reporter an electronic case reporter that freely publishes nearly every recent appellate and supreme court opinion, from state to federal US courts, with emphasis on recent. Without getting into the nuts and bolts of the build, the FLR is looking to a free, unencumbered (by whom, I wonder?) law reporter fit for educational, research and practical purposes. It’s source feed pulls weekly so there is a potential lag time involved in securing results. Tapped sources include the appellate courts of the 50 states and the federal government. The service culls the slip opinions that are fed to it every week, and then organizes the opinions into “ebooks”, with each state and federal jurisdiction gathered into a volume. FLR is also working out its search function: basic keyword searching is now available and facet searching and “more like this” functionality is coming soon. Coverage starts January 1, 2011, so it is not much for archive searching. However, as it very cleverly formats the “ebooks” in the .epub format, they are viewable on virtually any desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone and e-reader device, allowing interested parties to read the most current decisions in the relevant jurisdiction easily and efficiently. Right now, the feed include everything that comes from a given court including “unpublished” opinions, orders, and motions, which screams out for some level of filtering, which FLR promises is coming soon. And the FLP is actively soliciting law professors and other legal professionals to assist in a project to tag and add headnotes to opinions!

Limitations notwithstanding, the FLP is precisely the type of research geared to modern practice that we should be clamoring for. Once clever developers learn how to harness the massive flow of legal information generated from our court and legislatures, make that information accessible and usable, then the old models of electronic research, with their hefty paywalls, invariably will have to change. It can’t happen soon enough for me.

Hat tip to Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites.