Inexpensive BackUp Solution

Do you back-up your electronic client folders on a regular basis? If not, you could be headed for disaster should something happen to your computer. There really is no excuss not to backup your critical files on at least a daily basis. External USB hard drives are fast and generally cost around $100. There are several backup software solutions that are free or almost free. One in particular is InstalBack 2 a utility developed by PC Magazine. Check it out at the following location:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2151920,00.asp?kc=PCPC10707DEM3C0001175

Recycle Used Electronics via USPS For FREE

Yesterday, the United States Postal Service announced it was launching a pilot project with Clover Technologies Group, a nationally recognized company that recycles, remanufactures and remarkets inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics to provide FREE postage for recycling ink cartridges and small electronics. This service is available in 1,500 Post Offices around the country. To read the complete press release, please see: http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2008/pr08_028.htm

Virtual Computing

Do you want to be a virtual lawyer? Or more simply, perhaps you need to access your office files when you're writing your pleading late at night. No need to drive to the office or get an early morning start to complete your work, you need remote access to your computer.

If you are using Windows XP or Vista, you can configure your computer for allowing remote access. Believe it or not, Microsoft has put together an excellent guide for configuring remote access. It's really not that hard to configure. Why not make your life easier by allowing yourself to access your desktop files from anywhere Internet service is available.

Microsoft's guide can be found at the following address: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/remoteintro.mspx

Disposable E-mail Addresses

Purchasing or downloading something on the web that requires an e-mail address but you don't want to give away your address for fear that you will be spammed? Here's the site you need to bookmark -- 10 Minute E-mail (10minutemail.com).

This site will create an e-mail address for you that will be valid for 10 minutes! You can retrieve and post messages right from the site for 10 minutes before the address expires.

This 10 minute address might save you hours of unwanted spam!

Digital Pen

Are your typing skills not as sharp as you wish? Would you rather hand write notes or documents?

Maybe what you need is a digital pen.

Digital pens capture your written thoughts on paper and can be stored electronically to your computer. No need to type handwritten notes, a digital pen will capture everything for you.

Logitech, as well as other companies, make digital pens. If you rather hand write documents, you should seriously consider this option.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/digital_pen/devices/408&cl=us,en

Shop for Technology Items Online

Wondering where you can get the best price for that latest technology gadget? Chances are you'll find it much cheaper online than on the shelf. It's always best to shop around. Why not do it online. Saves on gas for your car and is delivered to your door within days. Depending on the company shipping is often included.

Some of the good web sites include: http://www.pricegrabber.com/ and http://www.froogle.com/.

For the deal of the day, check out http://www.woot.com/ which offers one product every day at a reduced rate.

Adding Outlook to Your Desktop

Here's a cool FREE program that allows you to keep your Outlook calendar on your desktop. Now you don't have the excuss of not being able to see your calendar! Check this one out at http://www.michaelscrivo.com/projects/outlookdesktop/.

Telephone Service - VOIP

If you have not considered using the Internet as a telephone provider, you need to think again. Companies like Comcast, Vonage and PhonePower! offer outstanding service at a fraction of the cost of traditional telephone companies.

Speaking from personal experience, I never miss one of my VOIP telephone calls since I have features like caller id, enhanced voice mail which can e-mail a copy of my voice message or I can be directed to the web, and simultaneous ring with up to 5 different telephone numbers, I never miss a call unless I want to!

If you need to stay in touch with business contacts, the courts or family, you really should check out these unbelievable features at rock bottom prices!

Calculating Time between two dates

Calculating credit for time already served? You need to add this web site to your Favorites! No more calculating by hand, this handy web site does it all for you!

http://www.timeanddate.com/

Keep Your Documents and Calendar Online

Do you work in multiple locations and have a difficult time remember where the latest version of your document and calendar are? Well, Google has just the thing for your and it's FREE.

Check out Google Document and Calendar. An excellent way to keep yourself organized and never lose documents from traveling or equipment failure!

Site Specific Searches

Have you ever looked for something specific on the State of Michigan web site (http://www.michigan.gov/) and not been able to locate it because your search results produce thousands of hits? Well, you're not alone.

A better option is to go to Google and execute a site specific search. From the Google search box if you include "site:michigan.gov" (for example) with your search terms, you will limit your search to that domain. It's a very quick way to search web sites that Google has already indexed. If you can't remember the "site: " simply go to the advanced search of Google. It's right there!

Filing Supreme Court Pleading and Need Headers for Transcripts? You need Acrobat Standard!

Just as in Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat allows creation of custom headers and footers. You can add date, title of document, page numbers to headers or footers and have that information display to the left, center or right.
To add headers and footers:

Choose Document > Add Headers & Footers.

In the Add Headers & Footers dialog box, click the Header or Footer tab.

To include text in the header or footer, do the following:

To add the date of creation, click in one of the boxes (left, center or right), choose a date style from the Insert Date menu, and click Insert.

To add a page number, click in the one of the boxes (left, center or right), choose a page number style from the Insert Page Number menu, and click Insert.

Select the font and type size. The font and size apply to all headers and footers created in the session. You cannot apply a different font or size to part of the header or footer.

To add text: Type the text you want to appear in the appropriate box or boxes. Text typed in these boxes appears left-aligned, centered or right-aligned.

To specify page options, do any of the following:

Choose which pages to apply the header or footer to. You cannot specify different ranges for headers and footers.

If you want page number to start at a number other than the page’s sequence in the document, select Start Page Numbers At and specify the number you want.

To keep the header and footer size constant when printing the PDF document in large format, select Prevent Resizing/Repositioning When Printing.


To set white space around the header or footer, set the margins. The top margin setting applies to headers. The bottom margin setting applies to footers.


Click Preview to preview the results. Preview displays all header and footer information, including previously added headers and footers.

OCR, Adobe Acrobat and Typewriter

Now that you have a scanner and need to copy and paste or word search a document, you need to invest in Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional.

The Adobe Acrobat (version 7 and higher) program has an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program built in. By selecting the OCR option, Acrobat quickly runs through your document and recognizes the characters. This allows you to copy and paste from the Acrobat document, word search and export to word processing documents.

The Adobe Typewriter feature which was released in Acrobat v. 7.05 allows you to activate a "typewriter" so that you can type anywhere on a document. In the legal profession, forms seem common place. SCAO forms, local court forms and vouchers often require a piece of paper be inserted into the dinosaur typewriter for completion.

The Typewriter tool, when activated, allows the user to fill out forms that do not contain interactive fields. Simply put, you can click anywhere on a PDF and type!

To activate the Typewriter tool, from the Tools menu select Typewriter and then again on Typewriter.

To add text to the document, click on the Typewriter icon and click anywhere in the document to begin typing.

For those that do not own a copy of Adobe Standard or Professional, the free-reader can also utilize the Typewriter if the provider of the original document activated the Typewriter tool when they created the document.

Perhaps it is time to finally dispose of that old electronic typewriter!

Do I need a Scanner?

Attorneys practicing criminal defense in Michigan seriously need to consider a scanner as part of their necessary computer needs for manipulating text (i.e. copy and paste) and for the completion of forms. See upcoming topic on Adobe Typewriter.

So what scanner should you consider? In a small office, you should certainly consider an All-in-one printer many of which can print, copy, scan and fax. As far as printing goes, speed and color options are important. I prefer color printers that have multiple color cartridges. HP is a good brand. As for scanning, don't waste your time looking at scanners that do not contain a document feeder. You certainly don't want to have to feed your scanner one page at a time. Again, HP offers some excellent products at very reasonable prices.

If you are in a larger office, look to your high-speed copiers to scan directly to your computer or network.

While assembling your case folder, taking it with you or finally archiving it, an electronic case folder is much easier to take with you and finally archive. Remember memory is cheap and you can easily burn case information to a thumb drive to take with you!

AutoText is basically the same as AutoCorrect but for larger blocks of text. You could use AutoFormat to quickly insert a boilerplate of text from a sentence to several paragraphs or a signature block in your documents. This is excellent feature to automate your document production.

To take advantage of AutoText, type in the text you wish to insert at a later time. Highlight that text and select AutoText from the pull-down menu Insert. Then click on New and give your entry a name and click Ok.

To insert your AutoText in another location, position your curser where you want the insert text to display, then click on Insert and AutoText and Normal. Select the entry you wish to insert.

AutoFormat and AutoFormat As You Type in MS Word

If you ever encountered Microsoft Word automatically inserting bulleted lists or automatically number your points, you have first-hand experience with AutoFormat. The AutoFormat options are found under the pull-down menu Tools and then by selecting AutoCorrect Options and then clicking on the AutoFormat tab.

To prevent this from happening further, you should uncheck the Automatic Bulleted Lists under the tab AutoFormat and also Automatic Bulleted Lists and Automatic Numbered Lists under the Tab AutoFormat As You Type.

MS Word: (c) vs. ©: You need AutoCorrect

AutoCorrect is used to correct common typographical errors or expanding abbreviations with few key strokes. The AutoCorrect Options are found under the pull-down menu Tools and then by selecting AutoCorrect Options.

To correct the “©” problem, select “AutoCorrect Options” under the “Tools” pull-down menu. Select the (c) “row” and then strike the delete button. This will permanently rid your computer of this problem. Perhaps while you remove this annoyance, there are other common phrases that you type repeatedly, that you can abbreviate and let Word complete for you and save you time. Why not add, "csc1" for "Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree" It's a lot less to type!

Paste or better yet -- PASTE SPECIAL

A common problem that surfaces when producing word processing documents in Microsoft Word is formatting when copying text from other sources.

Today's tip: Paste Special will remove the format from copied text in the clipboard. Best of all, the inserted text will default to the document paragraph's current formatting. I often hear frustration from attorneys around the State that MS Word changes paragraph formats. Creating headaches to find the problem and then correct it.

Paste Special will solve that problem.

The "Paste Special" in combination with the option “Unformatted Text” removes all paragraph formatting, fonts and graphics of the original copied material.

a) Highlight text and copy.

b) Select the Edit pull-down menu and select Paste Special. It is listed immediately below Paste.

c) Select Unformatted Text in the Paste Special dialog window and click Ok.

Too much to remember? In Microsoft Word, you can create a macro and assign it to a pull-down menu or a keyboard stroke depending on your preference. Here's what you need to do:

1. In Microsoft Word: Click on the Tools pull-down menu and then on Macro and Macros again.

2. Type the name: Paste_Plain_Text in the Macro Name box.

3. Click on the Create button.

4. Paste the next line where the cursor is flashing

Selection.PasteSpecial Link:=False, DataType:=wdPasteText

5. Click on File and then Close and Return to Microsoft Word.

6. Click on the Tools pull-down menu and then Customize.

7. Click on the Commands tab.

8. Scroll down in the Categories list (left side of the screen) and click on Macros.

9. In the Commands list (right side of the screen), click on Paste_Plain_Text.

10a. To create a keyboard shortcut, click on the Keyboard button and select the key combination you wish assign. Most likely you will select Ctrl + Shift + c.

10b. To create an icon or text in a pull-down menu, click and hold on the Paste_Plain_Text in the Commands list and drag it to either a pull-down menu or within an icon toolbar.

Greetings and Welcome

Welcome to Legal Tech for Michigan's Criminal Defense Lawyers.

This Blog will take up technology issues facing Michigan's Criminal Defense Attorneys by focusing on effectively utilizing word processing programs to document scanning to courtroom presentation and other time saving tips. Please feel free to suggest topics for discussion and look for announcements of upcoming training sessions around the State!

Welcome!

John Powell
Webmaster
State Appellate Defender Office