bruceb news

Rocket Matter is one of the most likable online services for small law offices. It handles case management, timekeeping, and billing in clean, well-designed screens presented in a web browser, with all data stored online. Take a few minutes and sign up for a demo! It’s an easy, pleasant way to get an idea of how an online program can take over functions that have traditionally been done by programs installed on your local computer. I watched a demo last week and came away with warm fuzzy feelings – nice people offering a nice product.

I’m not going to describe all the features – the Rocket Matter web site does that better than I can. […] continued

Small law offices have had few appealing options for case management and billing in the last few years. The only choices have been old warhorses that are showing their age badly, with interfaces that were obviously designed decades ago, and in some cases running on databases that are long obsolete. Amicus, Time Matters, Abacus, Timeslips, and the rest – quirky, tired, buggy (despite their decades of development), and increasingly unable to cope with new operating systems and new versions of other office software.

The landscape is finally changing. I’m going to call attention to several new programs and services for law firms and small businesses that look just grand. […] continued

Attentive readers will recall that a new platform for thin and light notebooks was announced by Intel a couple of months ago. The first Ultrabook notebooks are hitting the market in November. I haven’t seen these in person but they strike me as being good representatives of what everyone should be looking for in a notebook these days.

The Asus ZenBook UX31 is now available and getting rave reviews for its solid construction and stunning performance, at a starting price of $1,099. It’s a 13.3” notebook built on Intel’s new Ultrabook chipset, vanishingly thin and weighing less than three pounds. […] continued

A new model of phone has been introduced roughly every day in 2011 but none of them have been very interesting.

Until now. Let’s take a look at three big developments in the phone world.

(Fair warning: I do not have any personal experience with any of these phones. They undoubtedly have quirks and limitations and exciting bits that might flavor your experience. Your mileage may vary; it’s all I can do to keep up with the product launches and press releases.)

Apple iPhone 4S

Apple’s new iPhone 4S is a collection of small changes, not big ones: a great camera, a voice-activated assistant named Siri (which apparently is really marvelous), and some welcome file syncing to make it easier to get photos and music on and off the phone. […] continued

Previously:
Sync Files With Dropbox
Dropbox For iPad, Android
Dropbox, Androids, And Security
Dropbox Updated To Version 1.0
Sharing Files With Dropbox

Dropbox is profiled in the cover story in this week’s issue of Forbes. Since many of you rely on Dropbox, you might find it interesting – and perhaps reassuring – to read the article and confirm that Dropbox is a well-capitalized, well-run company with elegantly simple technology and a profitable business plan.

[If you’re new to Dropbox, this article has some background. At its heart, Dropbox is a free program to sync files among each of your computers and mobile devices; files in the special “Dropbox” folder appear on all the computers and devices running the software linked to your account.

[…] continued

Recently I set up a Cisco RV220W wireless router, and a Cisco WAP4410N wireless access point. They are part of Cisco’s small business line and cost roughly twice as much as comparable consumer products – roughly $260 for the router, for example.

The wireless range extended far beyond my expectations. There are so many variables that it’s pointless to list a random number of feet. Let’s just say that I had a strong signal through many intervening walls far beyond anything I would have guessed from my previous wireless experiences.

As you upgrade your equipment, you are more likely to be able to take advantage of the current wireless standard, 802.11n, which offers as much as five times the speed and twice the range of old stalwart 802.11g. […] continued

Apple’s brilliant success since Steve Jobs returned in 1997 has made it the largest company in the world by almost any measure, with a market capitalization that exceeds Microsoft and Intel combined. iPhones define the smartphone market, even if they do not completely dominate it now that Android has taken the lead in market share. iPads, however, so completely dominate the tablet market that Amazon opted not to directly compete but instead to seek a different niche that will leave Apple as the undisputed king of the 10′” tablets – for now, at least.

Apple’s lineup of Mac computers and its releases of OS X upgrades are watched by bloggers and the media almost as lovingly as its mobile devices. […] continued

This is likely to be a short-lived problem but perhaps knowing about it will help a few of you avoid some anguish.

PayPal sends email messages about transactions in your PayPal account – typical formatted HTML messages with a logo and a couple of images.

Starting on Wednesday, PayPal mucked up the code in its template for some of those messages, causing one of the image links to point to a nonexistent online location.

When Outlook tries to preview PayPal messages, there is a lengthy delay and Outlook displays “Not Responding,” as if it has crashed.

It’s not Outlook’s fault. After a minute – or two or five – the message is displayed and Outlook goes back to normal. […] continued

Many people instinctively protect their privacy. In their minds, it’s not anybody else’s business where they shop, who they visit, what they talk about, or what movies they watch.

The divide is getting wider between naturally private people and the rapidly growing number of people who simply do not have that instinct and are living their lives in public with no reluctance and little regret. Facebook is the obvious source of much of the information being made public but it is only one of many ways to put your life online. Between Facebook posts and photos and location-based phone apps and activities tracked by advertisers, almost everyone is able to be followed online to some degree, voluntarily or not. […] continued

Keeping your computer up to date with patches has become the most important element of being secure online. New studies show that fully patched systems have significantly more protection against malware spread by poisoned web sites and the other forms of viruses and malware floating around.

The monitoring and updating service that I offer for a few dollars each month is just as important for your security as your antivirus program. If you haven’t signed up yet, give me a call or drop me a note. It takes seconds to install and gives you the peace of mind that Java, Flash, Adobe Acrobat/Reader, and other third party products are up to date all the time, in addition to Windows, Internet Explorer, Office programs, and more. […] continued