This is an early prototype—the .1 release—but even in its infacy, Ubiquity, a Firefox plugin, shows it has the potential to change the way we interact with the web. As it is now, you have to go visit a website in order to use a tool. Like an RSS reader, Ubiquity brings everything you want, when you want it, right to you.

Check it out:

To download the Ubiquity add-on for Firefox, click here.

here is a lot of talk about optimizing web sites for search engines, but what about optimizing your web site for potential clients?

Search-engine optimization (SEO) is about making it easy for a search engine to index your page. The easier it is for Google to figure out that you are a family lawyer in Minnesota, the better your page will register. This is why content is so important; the more “Minnesota” and “family law” appear in your content, the more clear it is that someone searching for “Minnesota family law” is looking for a page like yours.

But what about PCO (potential-client optimization)?

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For quite a while now, I have been using Plaxo to manage my contacts. The great advantage of Plaxo is that it syncs with a variety of software—I use it with Outlook (two different copies), Thunderbird (ditto), and Gmail. The mobile version of Plaxo is also fast enough that you can access it even from an older smartphone instead of your local contacts.

With Plaxo, you can also sync your Outlook calendar(s), tasks, and notes.

LinkedIn does much the same thing, along with the social networking aspect. Both LinkedIn and Plaxo will automatically update contact information for any of your contacts who are also members, which is a handy feature.

Enter a new player, Keepm, which focuses solely on contact management. It will import from Gmail, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, etc. For someone who just needs a central contacts repository and does not want to muck about with all the social networking that comes with Plaxo and LinkedIn, Keepm looks like a simple, lightweight, and central contact manager.

[via Lifehacker]

Visit mypractice

In a bold move, the MSBA has started up mypractice, a social networking website for Minnesota lawyers based on Google’s OpenSocial platform.

My membership is still pending approval, but if you are on, connect with me!

Like it says here:

Adam Engst and Glenn Fleishmann weren’t getting the kind of sales they wanted, so they released their <a href=”http://wireless-starter-kit.com/free_download.html”>great starter guide on wireless networking</a> for free. It is from 2004, but at a glance, most of the information still applies. Particularly useful for attorneys will be the sections on wireless security, both on your own network and on the road.

Great freebie.

Here is the description of the seminar from MCLE:

Tech Tuesday: Computer and Network Security for Lawyers
Presented by Sam Glover; moderated by Peter Berge and Todd Scott

Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. CDT
1.0 ethics credit
Tuition: $75

Part of the ongoing “Tech Tuesday” webcast series, streaming the first and third Tuesday of every month.

In this Tech Tuesday installment we will cover the risks to client confidences inherent in the use of computers, databases, and the Internet by lawyers. It will explore the ethical duties to keep client confidences under Rule 1.6 and best practices for securing the digital data which has become central to running a law office.

Presented by Samuel J. Glover, Samuel J. Glover & Assoc., Minneapolis; moderated by Peter H. Berge, Minnesota CLE, St. Paul, and Todd C. Scott, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual, Minneapolis.

Follow this link to register.

My mantra when it comes to law office technology is “simplify, simplify, simplify.” I chant that to myself while wrestling with billing preferences in Billing Matters, always to no avail. Technology is no good if it makes your life more complicated or difficult. I suppose I will never really reach that point where everything works perfectly and just the way I like it, but dammit, I can try.

One of the things in my office that just doesn’t belong is my telephone. It looks old and archaic, and it’s honestly one of the least-used peripherals in my office. Plus, it isn’t connected to anything else. I love being able to manage everything from my computer. So, I am thinking about getting rid of it.

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