Monthly Archives: December 2012

Dec 17 2012

Bookmarklets In iOS Safari? Sign Me Up!

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I browse A TON on my iPhone and iPad and have gnashed my teeth in the past about how mobile Safari does not offer a very easy way to add bookmarklets to make the browser and your applications more compatible. I have used kludgy workarounds in the past to deal with some of the issues. Newer versions make it somewhat easier. As I am usually wont to do, I find myself once against smiling and thanking Amit Agarwal over at the Digital Inspiration blog for a great means of adding bookmarklets to your current version iOS Safari browse so that you can, say, send a page to Readability, Instapaper, Kindle or Evernote, translate to English, shorten with Goog.le, download as PDF, share on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ or more generally to other sites with a universal bookmarklet, subscribe in Google Reader, and much, much more. So freaking cool!

 

It is a simple as navigating to Amit’s blog post at the link above, selecting the desired bookmarklet from a dropdown menu in the post, bookmarking the page in Safari, editing the saved bookmark by removing everything from the URL that’s before the # symbol and clicking “done.” That is it. He also offers a handy video for the visually inclined learners. Couldn’t be easier.

 

Chrome for iOS, which I really really like, offers bookmarklet support as well. Get the goods on how to work with them over at iDownload Blog.

 

Make your mobile browsing a LOT more effective with these awesome bookmarklets. And don’t thank me, thank Amit! And go subscribe to his awesome blog, so you can get his fantastic tips straight from the “horse’s mouth.”

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Dec 17 2012

Skimzee’s Web Tool, Bookmarklet & Chrome Extension Summarize the Web

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Skimzee is another free tool to help you combat information overload on the Internet. Via web site, bookmarklet or Chrome Extension, you can summarize most news stories, content from YouTube, Twitter or Facebook, Wikipedia, and control the size of the summary with an adjustable slider. The site also incorporates an RSS finder/reader function in that it allows you to search for feeds, add them and create groups of them from the Settings page accessible at the little gear icon at the upper right on their site. You can get the summaries from your home page – hover over the results and click to expand the “view summary” link. Some will not show that link – particularly if the site is behind a paywall, or uses Javascript, or is password protected.

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A Latest Stories drop down on the Feeds tab lets you browse by subject. You can also click on trending or latest videos, or Facebook feed or wall, if you set up your Skimzee to access such content. Search tab allows you to enter search terms or a specific URL for summary treatment. A drop down arrow next to the search box allows you to select / deselect your target content. Skimzee also prompts you with popular page links at the top.  The settings page from the gear button allows you to customize your Skimzee experience, including what page is summarized when you navigate to Home, what feeds to show at startup, what Summary Bookmarks to include along the top, what and how to summarize via the bookmarklet or extension as you browse the Web, what RSS feeds to include and how to show them, and more.

Skimzee

There are other tools out there that help you make sense of the Web by personalizing your experience and showing you news deemed of interest to you. Skimzee takes a different approach by giving you access to all the news, albeit in shortened, summarized form. If that is your preferred method of parsing, then Skimzee might be of interest. Check it out – and check back in. Would love to hear what you think.

Dec 12 2012

Lots of Legal Apps For You

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Want to check out new legal apps for your mobile device? Thank the fine folks over at the UCLA School of Law / Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library for a very nice list of interesting tools to boost your mobile, legal productivity. There are nearly 60 apps listed, some of which I have mentioned here in the Studio before, but plenty more that are new to me and maybe new to you. I won’t mention them all here – hit the jump above for the complete list. But I do have to mention a few that look particularly fun, such as the following (quoted from the site):

 

wolfram

 

The Wolfram Lawyer’s Professional Assistant is a legal reference tool that provides access to a dictionary of legal terms, statutes of limitations for each state in the U.S., a tool for calendar calculations, a variety of calculators, and crime rate and demographic data. The app is powered by the Wolfram|Alpha computational knowledge engine and is compatible for use on all iOS devices. The app sells for $4.99 and may be downloaded from the iTunes App Store.

 

 

 

mobiletranMobile Transcript is an app that provides attorneys with the ability to read deposition transcripts formatted for their devices. Transcripts are uploaded by attorneys’ court reporters to the Mobile Transcript website, which in turn downloads the transcripts to the attorneys’ devices (court reporters must hold asubscription with Mobile Transcript to be able to upload transcripts). The app allows attorneys to highlight and flag text. The app is FREE and is available for use on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices, as well as Droid and Blackberry devices. For iPhone and iPod devices, the app may be downloaded from theiTunes App Store. Mobile Transcript has a separate app optimized for the iPad that may be downloaded from the iTunes App Store. The app for Blackberry smartphones may be downloaded from the Mobile Transcript website, and the Droid version may be downloaded from Google Play.

 

legalnewsapp

 

The Legal News Reader app is a simple RSS feed aggregator that retrieves important news stories from a number of legal news sites, thereby allowing the user to keep up to date on developments in the news in one convenient place. The app allows users to comment on articles, to read comments left by others, and to share stories with others. The app is $0.99 and may be downladed from the iTunes App Store.

 

 

 

pocketThe PocketJustice FULL app provides you with abstracts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s constitutional decisions and access to audio files for its public sessions. The app includes voting alignments and biographical sketches for all 110 Justices, searchable transcripts, and information and audio for more than 600 constitutional law cases heard in the U.S. Supreme Court. The full version of the app is available for $4.99 and may be downloaded from the iTunes App Storefor use on the iPhone and iPod Touch (a FREE version may also be downloaded from the iTunes App Store, but it offers fewer features). The app may also be downloaded for use on Android devices from Google Play for $4.99.

 

 

And there are lots more to check out. Load them up and head out with your law office in your pocket.

Dec 12 2012

DocRun’s Legal Doc Generator Uses Artificial Intelligence

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More Software-As-A-Service fun for those seeking assistance on legal documents – check out DocRun. This is not your run-of-the-mill on-line document resource spitting out a list of form docs. DocRun asks users a few questions and then creates a document by employing its proprietary artificial intelligence software to customize the document to the user’s specific needs. Sort of like having your own Robo-Lawyer.  Worried about a one-size fits all answer to document drafting? The site promises that documents will :

 

work wherever you are. The top-tier lawyers behind DocRun’s software have accounted for the unique laws of all 50 states, ensuring the documents work exactly as they should.

 

Ambitious. Documents also come with plain language explanations of each section to help boost understanding of what you are signing. DocRun promises to store your documents securely on-line, so you can safely access them from anywhere and there is no charge for storing them. While on-line, you can share documents and collaborate with others on them, without the versioning problems of email. In fact, you can keep saved versions and revert, or simply view the evolution of your document. Annotate with notes so you can revisit questions or ideas as you move through the process of finalizing a document.

 

Of course, this legal document creation site comes with all the anticipated disclaimers about the fact that the site is not providing legal advice, doesn’t constitute the practice of law, and does not create an attorney client relationship. The site currently is in private beta and fees are not discussed on the page. However, you can request and invite and give it a run to see how it works.

 

With all apologies to Philip K. Dick, do android contract lawyers dream of electric sheep? Check out DocRun and see if it helps you sleep more soundly.

Dec 5 2012

Let’s Talk iOS Gmail

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Native email on the iPhone and iPad has always left a lot to be desired, particularly if you are a Gmail user. Same has historically been true for Gmail users on iOS. However, with a major refresh of the universal iOS app yesterday, Gmail has really come into its own on the Apple mobile front. I’m not sure whether buying uber-popular email app Sparrow had anything to do with it or not – I’m just happy with the results.

 

Obvious changes include improvement in the physical UI, which is simpler and easier to view, and responds beautifully on my iPhone 5. Other improvements clearly had me in mind as well – I am thrilled that the newest version not only has multiple sign in, but allows really simple switching between accounts with icon-based buttons. You can add up to five Gmail accounts within the app – I’ve filled up four slots already.

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Another new benefit is better integration with other Google products – clearly the direction Google has been heading in with all its products. You can now add calendar invites and events from within Gmail without having to switch to another app. And you can post to Google+ from within your Gmail, such as +-ing a post.

 

There are notifications, now, if you prefer to have your incoming email accompanied by a charming tone and a lock screen note. Really. Some people like that.

 

Easily add photos or scribbles to your emails. Yes, scribbles. You can draw something and attach it.

 

Search in the iOS app is now predictive – Google will offer up options as you type your query. Certainly speeds things up a bit. And, with infinite scrolling you can slam through 150 emails with a few swipes, without having to reload after 50 items.

 

All of the new features have usability in mind. I like the new app so much, I am thinking of moving it to the tray. A lot of these features have already been available in the Android version, which really is no surprise at all. And Google also updated the Android version yesterday as well, keeping it well ahead of the iOS version with pinch-to-zoom on individual messages and swipe (left or right) to delete or archive. There is also an ability to “auto-fit” a message to your phone’s screen, a thumbnail view of attached images that can be tapped to open a swipeable gallery, and the ability to attach phone-captured videos to an email. For phones with Android 4.0 or higher, unfortunately, but still pretty cool.

 

Both apps are free. What are you waiting for?

Dec 5 2012

The Intersection of Social Media & … Motion Practice?

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O.k. I know it. I am breaking my own rule. I vowed not to post again about another attorney’s misfortune. But I seriously can’t resist this one, because it involves court practice and social media and, therefore, fits within the general topical framework employed around here. My advice? Don’t mess with Texas. Again.

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Hat Tip to Above the Law