Tech Tips (NLADA Substantive Law Conference 2010)
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Presenters: * Kathleen Brockel, NTAP * Rachel Medina, NTAP Contributors: The tips represent the "best of" various tech tips contributed by past "Tech Tips" presenters including Glenn Rawdon (LSC), Molly French (Colorado Legal Services), Joyce Raby (Consultant), Matthew Burnett (Pro Bono Net), and David Bonebrake (NTAP).
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Tech Tips (NLADA Substantive Law Conference 2010)
- 7. Legal & Topical Research Tools
- 9. Public Library of Law
- 10. Justia
- 11. Jureeka
- 12. Podcasts! Podcasts aren’t new, but there are some great legal podcasts out there you should check out. LegalTalkNetwork.com has some great podcasts designed for the legal aid community. Some highlights include the Kennedy-Mighell Podcast for legal technology info, and Lawyer2Lawyer , which was named best podcast by the ABA
- 13. Cite Genie Download this plug-in at www.citegenie.com to automatically copy citations with your text from pages like Westlaw and Lexis.
- 14. Scheduling Meetings & Calculating Important Dates
- 16. Step 1: Proposed Dates & Time
- 17. Step 2: Emails & Message
- 18. Step 3: Email to Participants
- 19. Step 4: Participant Responds
- 20. Step 5: Participant Availability Chart
- 21. Step 5: Confirmation to Participants
- 22. Doodle Sample
- 27. Syntax for Calculating “Tickler” Dates
- 28. Excel – Calculate Days Between Dates (NETWORKDAYS)
- 29. NETWORKDAYS: Calculating work days minus holidays & weekends A13 First Day A14 Last Day A15:A18 range of holiday dates
- 31. 7 TIPS TO IMPLEMENT STYLES IN PLEADINGS
- 37. Modifying A Style in MS Word 2007
- 44. Word - Tables of Authorities Categories
- 46. Managing Mail
- 47. Delay Sending Mail from Outlook
- 50. Enable Google Undo Send Settings LABS Undo Send Enable
- 51. Click “Undo”
- 53. Word Shortcuts
- 54. Keyboard Short-cuts: The Standard Short-cuts “You should know by now” Description Short-cuts Open a new word doc; Open a previously saved doc Ctrl+N; Ctrl+O Closes the active window, but does not Exit Word Ctrl+W Closes Microsoft Word (or other open program) Alt+F4 Searches for specified text in the active document Ctrl+F Selects all text and graphics in the active window Ctrl+A Remove selection from active document (place on clipboard) Ctrl+X Copies the selection to the clipboard Ctrl+C Inserts the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point (cursor) or whatever is selected Ctrl+V Saves active document with its current file name, location and format Ctrl+S Prints the active file Ctrl+P Undo the last action. Reinstate the last action. Ctrl+Z; Ctrl+Y Format / Unformat text (Bold, Italic, Underline) Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I, Ctrl+U
- 55. Keyboard Short-cuts: Diacritic Marks Diacritic Mark Keyboard Short-cut The acute accent – (café or fiancé) Ctrl+ ' (quote) before typing the vowel. The grave accent - (là or où) Use Ctrl+ ` (tick) before typing the vowel. The circumflex accent – (côte, fête) Use Ctrl+Shift+ ^ before typing the vowel The tilde - (piñata, jalapeño) Use Ctrl+Shift+ ~ before typing the letter. The umlaut- (Chloë, naïve) Use Ctrl+Shift+ : (colon) before the vowel The cedilla – (façade, soupçon) Use Ctrl+ , (comma) before the letter The ring – (the Angstorm symbol - Å) Use Ctrl+Shift+@ before the letter The compound AE - (hæmoglobin) Use Ctrl+ & before a The German S - (straße) Use Ctrl + & + s
- 56. More Keyboard Shortcuts: Text Formatting
- 57. More Keyboard Shortcuts: Paragraph Formatting
- 58. Translation Options in MS Office: Translation ScreenTip
- 59. Translation Options in MS Office: Web Translator
- 60. Tips for Making Sense of Data Using Excel
- 61. Excel Conditional Formatting: Highlight Cells Rule Example: Highlights cells with values greater than 50
- 62. Excel Conditional Formatting: Top/Bottom Rules Example: Highlight Cells with values above the average
- 66. Data/Subtotal Creates Quick Subtotals and a Grand Total!
- 68. Cool Stuff From the Web & All Things Google
- 69. Shorten your URL to send in Emails or put on social networking Check out http://bit.ly/ TIP: If you create an account with bit.ly, you have access to reporting features that tell you how many people actually clicked on your link.
- 70. Edit a Scanned Document Need to edit a scanned document? Check out these options; www.free-ocr.com www.onlineocr.net
- 71. Xmarks
- 72. Quick printing part of a web page
- 73. Converting video, audio, or pictures to a new format www.formatoz.com to convert a wide variety of formats.
- 74. Netlingo
- 78. iGoogle Join NTAP for Legal Services iGoogle desktop trainings Aug. 2 & Sept 14.
- 79. Cool Google Stuff…(from PC Mag) To learn to use Google Earth to create GIS maps using CMS and census data join NTAP training on Sept 9 th !
- 83. How to locate a Stolen Laptop
- 84. How to Locate a Stolen Laptop v2
- 85. How to Lock Down your Cell Phone
- 86. How to Lock Down your Cell Phone v2
- 87. Thank You (special thanks to all past “Tech Tips” presenters who contributed all of the tips in this session) Slides available at lsntap.org
Editor's Notes
- Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) allows you to search and read opinions for US state appellate and supreme court cases since 1950, US federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy courts since 1923 and US Supreme Court cases since 1791 (all of this is subject to change as new cases are added). It also includes citations for cases cited by indexed opinions or journal articles which allows you to find influential cases (often older or international) which are not yet online or publicly available.
- http://www.plol.org/ Free online legal research website launched a couple years ago. It bills itself as “the largest free law library in the world.” Has federal statutes and cases; state cases back to 1997. Tools like Sheperds and Keycite can be purchased on a per transaction basis.
- An automated legal information platform. Information is entered by lawyers and law students, making information available to the public.
- A lot of you are probably pretty familiar with Podcasts. Essentially, podcasts are just audio files that are delivered over the internet. You can listen to them on your iPod or iPhone, but you don’t have to. Most podcasts play through the website that hosts them. http://legaltalknetwork.com/ Lawyer 2 Lawyer – Robert Ambrogi
- Who has used a meeting scheduler? Sent one out or received? These take no implementation or learning time but SAVES lots of time for all concerned. These are 3 free online options. Each works just a bit differently.
- Organizer can enter up to 12 dates and times, indicate the length of the meeting and adjust the timezone.
- Organizer enters participant email addresses and a message
- This is a sample of the email that a potential participant receives. Participant clicks on the link. The organizer also receives a confirmation.
- Participant checks the days and times they are available and can also enter a message.
- Both the organizer and participants can view the chart. Organizer confirms the meeting date and time and an email is sent to participants.
- Once the organizer confirms the meeting time and date, the participants receive a confirming email.
- This is a Doodle scheduling sample – very similar to Meeting Wizard.
- If you want easy access to your Outlook work calendar you can syncronize it with your Google calendar. You can choose to do it both ways or either way. The tool is a free download from Google. http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=89955 To set up Google Calendar Sync: Make sure you're using a supported operating system and Outlook version . Download Google Calendar Sync (version 0.9.3.5) at http://dl.google.com/googlecalendarsync/GoogleCalendarSync_Installer.exe Once a dialog box appears, click Save File . The downloaded file should open automatically. If it doesn't, manually open it from your browser's download window. Click OK to confirm that you're aware this is an executable file. Read through the Google Calendar Sync Terms of Service, and click I Agree . Follow through the Installation Options and click Install to finish the set-up process. Once Google Calendar Sync is installed on your computer, the Google Calendar Sync Settings window will appear:
- Here is the Outlook calendar
- Here is the Google Calendar
- So you want to set up reminders in your calendar of when discovery is due, when you should prepare status conference materials, when jury fees are due, etc…. You could count on a calendar or you could simply input one of several date codes in the “Start Time” field under a particular appointment and find the date you are looking for. Keep in mind, however, that Outlook is giving you the absolute calendar days calculation taking into account weekends and holidays. This method is still useful for setting up ticklers, especially if your habit is to give yourself a cushion of 5-10 days (e.g., for mailing or just because your diligent). If you have the need to calculate court days only and need to exclude weekends and holidays, I recommend setting up a date calculator in Excel. (see our next tip!)
- You can easily determine the number of court days between 2 dates by using the “NETWORKDAYS” function in Excel. Go to: Formulas: Insert Function: “NETWORKDAYS” This is an Excel function. It includes a list of court holidays which the calculator will take into account in determining the number of “work” or court days between the two dates you enter into the calculator. You can also insert rows into the list of holidays in order to modify and customize the calculator to work for any particular court in your jurisdiction.
- Step 1: set up the holiday table Step 2: set up the date range table Step 3: pull up the formula: Formulas: Insert Function: “NETWORKDAYS” NOTE that you enter the table references not the actual dates. So enter A13 for start date, enter A15:a18 for the holidays. NOTE weekends are automatically excluded.
- First, modify the font. Note that all changes to the font style should be made by selecting the various options from the Format list. Using the shortcuts under the Formatting heading often leads to odd formatting settings sneaking into your settings.
- Redaction tool not available/supported from Microsoft for Word 2007. However, there is an open source tool available for download that integrates natively with Word 2007. See blog post: http://blogs.msdn.com/microsoft_office_word/archive/2008/09/22/a-word-2007-redaction-tool.aspx And download site: http://www.codeplex.com/redaction Great if you need to share a confidential document, but don’t want to alter the document by deleting all of the words or names. You have the choice of either going through and individually deleting certain words (like I’ve done in the example) or you can choose to mark all of a certain word. Once you’ve highlighted all the words you’d like excluded, choose “redact” and a new document will be created with those words or names blacked out. You’ll also still have a copy of the document with those words intact. Go to the link for the quick download.
- The tool provides you with the option of marking items as you go. Or, you may “find and mark” which works similar to a find and replace function. When all items have been marked, then select “Redact Document” to complete the redaction.
- Do cases, courts, and page numbers haunt you in your dreams? Categorizing cases in a Table of Authorities is easier than you think!
- Most trial and appellate briefs are likely to have at least two different categories of authorities. Here are some sample categories you could set up before you begin to mark your citations: Supreme Court of the United States, Other Federal Authority, State Court Decisions, Statutory Provisions, United States Constitution. Of course, your local rules may require a specific organization of authorities much different from this example. It is quite easy to set up your own, so that when you run the Table of Authorities, it organizes all of your marked citations accordingly. Use the short-cut Alt+Shift+I. Then select Category. You’ll find that the first seven categories are pre-defined. Scroll down until you find an unused option (8, 9, 10, etc.). Replace the # with your own custom categories, keeping in mind that Word will sort your cases in the order in which the categories are represented in the list. THEN, be sure to select the appropriate category as you mark your citations. Insert your table and watch how nicely all your authority lines up!
- Have you ever wished you could get an email back? While I can't show you how to do that, I can show you how to delay sending it to give you time for second thoughts. Open Outlook and select Tools, Rules and Alerts, then create a new rule. On the Rules Wizard pick Check Messages after sending, Click next, then don't select anything on the conditions screen that comes up next. Confirm you want it for all messages by clicking Yes on the pop up box,
- On this screen select "defer delivery by a number of minutes. In the step 2 box pick the number of minutes you want the delay.
- If you want some messages to be able to go immediately, create an exception, such as setting the importance to high, or it could be a special character in the Subject line.
- Msg then goes into your “drafts” box
- After you install the utility, you can configure it to look for key words that indicate you meant to have an attachment. If the message contains those words and there is no attachment, you get this flag. If a message has one of the key words but you didn't intend to send an attachment, you just click Yes.
- I’m sure all the techies in the room use most of these shortcuts all day long. But perhaps your staff or volunteers do not. Print this list for every desk and include it as part of employee orientation or training.
- These are used less often, but are very handy for those working in a diverse area.
- There are 2 options for doing automatic translations in MS Office 2007. The first one is the translation screen tip, which really only lets you translate 1 word at a time, but can be very convenient if you’re proficient in the language you’re trying to use, but just need a little help here and there. The tool comes ready to translate into Arabic, English, French, and Spanish, but if you go to the MS Office website you can download add-ins to include many other languages. There are many negative reviews out there about the reliability of this this tool, but I found that as long as you don’t rely on it exclusively, it can be very helpful.
- The second option for translation is much more detailed, and a better option for someone who isn’t familiar with the language they’d like to use. To use this option, simply type out your whole document in English and then choose the “translate” option. A side bar will come up where you can choose the language you’d like to translate to. Unlike the Translator Screen Tip, this option comes pre-loaded with most languages, so you won’t need to download any add-ins. Once you choose your language, a web-based version of your document will be created in the language you’ve selected.
- The Excel Conditional Formatting options are a great way to highlight your data for a report or presentation. In the example, I selected a series of numbers, chose the “greater than” option, and chose to highlight all the values greater than 50. There are many other options, including “text that contains” for cells that have text rather than numerical values.
- My next tip is also in Excel Conditional formatting. The top/bottom rules options allows you to highlight the top percentage, average, or values as well as the bottom. In the example, I chose to highlight all the values that were above average in my series of numbers. All of these options can really help make your reports stand out and help you make your point. There is also a “more rules” option, where you can go into more depth with choices like “highlight duplicates”, or you can even make your own rule if the rule you’re looking for doesn’t exist.
- To transpose your data or flip your chart making your rows columns and your columns rows, simply select the data, copy it (Ctrl+C), select where you want the new transposed spreadsheet to appear, choose Edit>Paste Special (or Paste>Paste Special from the Home Tab in MS Excel 2007), check the Transpose option, and click OK.
- Excel Short-Cuts: "F4" (switch from absolute to relative reference & vice versa): Manage your calculations within a table by setting whether the reference should be absolute or relative. Computations that are relative will change automatically as you insert columns and rows. That automatic reaction in Excel can wreak havoc on a spreadsheet if you meant the reference to remain the same. Absolute references are preceded by “$”; Excel will add a “$” before each reference in a calculation when you select the calculation and “F4.” "alt-enter" (line break w/in a single cell): Manage your own text wrapping by using alt+enter to begin a new line within the same cell. "Ctrl+Shift+A" & "Ctrl+A" (reveal formula format or use formula wizard); Let’s say I remember that there is this cool calculation called networkdays, but I have no clue how to use it or what order the references should be included between the parentheses. I can type “=networkdays” and then select Ctrl+Shift+A and Excel will give me the format as follows: “=networkdays(start_date,end_date,holidays)” Alternatively, if I need even more help, I can select Ctrl+A and I will get more help from the Formula wizard. "Data/Subtotal" (auto subtotal and grand total lines inserted by Excel!): You don’t have to create rows for subtotals on your own. Let Excel do the work. Make sure you have common names in the first column for items that you want to have subtotaled. You can have second levels of differentiation in the data – just put the second label in the second column. So, for instance, if you want to subtotal costs for meals only in a reimbursement spreadsheet, a row in the first column would say meals, and the second column breakfast; the next row would say “meals” again, and the next column lunch, and so on. Then to create your subtotals select Subtotal under the Data Tab or menu, tell Excel which columns you want totalled and watch the magic.
- Make sure you have common names in the first column for items that you want to have subtotaled. You can have second levels of differentiation in the data – just put the second label in the second column. So, for instance, if you want to subtotal costs for meals only in a reimbursement spreadsheet, a row in the first column would say meals, and the second column breakfast; the next row would say “meals” again, and the next column lunch, and so on. Then to create your subtotals select Subtotal under the Data Tab or menu, tell Excel which columns you want totalled and watch the magic.
- Xmarks (www.xmarks.com) is an extension for Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari that synchronizes bookmarks and passwords between computers (and browsers).
- Save paper by only printing the part of a web page you need. It’s easy: Highlight the text you want to print, then press Ctrl+P or select File->Print from your browser menu. In the Print dialog box that appears, in the Print Range area click on the radio button Selection, then click OK. Only the selected portion of the Web page will print.
- Use this online dictionary to figure out tech jargon, text-speak, and other “netiquette” questions. Is all of this cyberslang to you? Wondering what those cryptic text messaging acronyms mean, or what the right netiquette is for using them? Netlingo is a good place to find out. There’s a dictionary with down-to-learn definitions of techie jargon, and a section dedicating to helping people decode those mysterious text messages and emoticons. Who knew there’s even an text messaging acronym for Starbucks?
- Simply put, RSS is a way to have electronic articles delivered directly to you, rather than you going out and finding them. Instead of going out and browsing multiple web pages, you sign up to receive articles from specific websites and blogs, and those articles are gathered together and displayed using a program for you to read at your convenience as they are published live. In short, it is an information overload tool to manage and sort through content relevant to your work that is published daily.
- You can add more tabs (i.e. a specific legal services tag). One idea: incorporate all legal services rss feeds into tags. NEW later this year Customized Igoogle for legal aid. See NTAP trainings Aug 2 @ 2:00 EDT & Sept 14. This training will provide an overview of how to setup the Next Generation Legal Services Desktop based on the igoogle.com content model on your desktop. An example desktop template will be provided as well as a list of Google Gadgets that may be helpful to you in service delivery
- 1. Sky: Browse the universe at sky.google.com . Also available in Google Earth . NOTE if interested in learning to make Google Earth maps with Client data see NTAP training Sept 9 2. Search nearby: If you find a destination on the map—say, a hotel—in the info bubble, you can "search nearby" to find the businesses and attractions close by. 3. Use business name/category in directions search: Instead of looking up the address of a store and then having to get directions from one to the other, simply type "deli mountain view, ca TO ice cream mountain view ca," and the search results will provide you with a list of businesses to choose from and provide directions from point to point. 4. Public transit directions: Plan trips using public transportation at google.com/transit. For cities where transit is available, a search for directions will also provide the option for directions using public transit. 5. My Maps: Create your own maps by adding lines, markers, pictures , and videos to a Google Map . You can also collaborate on maps with friends (or the public), and make it publicly available or private. 6. Check gas prices: With mapplets like GasBuddy, you can see gas prices throughout your area. Go to maps.google.com, select "My Maps", and browse the directory for "Gas Prices by GasBuddy.com." There are plenty other useful and fun tools in the directory, such as AccuWeather.com Weather Snapshot, Area Calculator, and Real Estate Search. 7. Check traffic: In many cities across the country, Google provides real-time traffic information. For instance, type in "New York, NY" and click the "Traffic" button in the upper-right corner of the map to view traffic patterns, road closures, and construction sites. This feature is also available in Google Maps for Mobile. 8. Street view: View and navigate high-resolution, 360-degree street-level images of various U.S. cities. Just click the Street View button and drag the "person" icon onto a blue outlined street. Street View is also available for driving directions and in Google Earth. 9. Editing Google Maps: You can now add or edit business listing information to Google Maps. 10. Weather in Google Earth: Get weather forecasts, conditions, clouds, and radars in the "Weather" folder in the Google Earth layer menu. 11. Weather: To see weather conditions and a four-day forecast for any U.S. location, type "weather" and a city or zip code. For example: "weather 94114" or "weather Kansas City KS." 12. Movies: Find movie info by typing "movies," or the name of a current film, into the Google search box along with your location (city and state or zip code). For example, "Sex and the City Atlanta GA" or "movies 02459." 13. Area codes: Enter an area code in the Google search box to see the location of a phone number. 14. Package tracking: Enter the tracking number of a package from FedEx, UPS, DHL, or USPS into the search box. 15. Flight status: Check the status of a U.S. flight by typing the name of the airline followed by the flight number. For example, to see the status for United Airlines flight 134, search for "United 134." 16. Measurement conversions: You can get height, weight, and cooking measurement conversions. For instance, type "2 liters to cups" to see how many cups are in two liters. 17. Currency conversions: Google's built-in currency converter. Simply enter the currency conversion into the search box. For example, "80 pounds to dollars." 18. Calculator: Supports basic and advanced operations. Just type an equation into the search box. 19. Definitions: Type "define" followed by a word in the Google search box to get the definition, like "define perspicacity." You can also do this via SMS. 20. Q&A: Ask a fact-based question or query ("population of Japan") by typing it into the Google search box. You'll see the answer at the top of your search results as well as a link to the source to find out more. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2321879,00.asp
- Google’s Accessible Search is a version of Google with the results optimized for users who are visually impaired or blind. It is still in beta mode, but it is designed to make it easier for people who use screen readers to navigate through search results and identify accessible websites. It also allows users to use hot-keys to browse the results. It’s a good tool to keep in mind for clients who have difficulty searching the web because of visual impairments, and also a way for you to gauge how Google views the accessibility of your site.
- Let’s say you’re here at NLADA, the conference has ended, you’ve checked out of the hotel and four hours to kill before your flight. What do you want to do? Find Sushi in Denver? Check the score of the game back at home? Text Google - 466453 to get an instant answer. Here are some example queries. You can type of cuisine put your city or zip to get a list of nearby restaurants. Or check your flight time by sending flight, your airline abbreviation and flight number. You can even get simple translations and facts from Google 411.
- The free way (Prey) Prey is a free application that allows you to set up your computer to do a number of things should it be stolen or go missing: You can set it to periodically access a web page you create (or use the preyproject.com website) – your computer goes missing, you delete the web page and the computer receives a 404 page not found error and begins to send you reports like the following: The status of the computer A list of running programs and active connections Network and wi-fi information Screen shots of the desktop A picture of the physical surroundings (if the machine has a webcam)
- Fee Based (Absolute Software) Absolute Software , which makes Lojack for Laptops, which provides a remote-kill feature so if a portable is stolen, you can send a command to wipe out specific files--or even the entire contents of the hard drive. It also has the option to help you locate your computer and help recover it. So what do you do with this information? Well you don’t go confront the thief – you contact your local law enforcement and provide them with this information and presumably they go get the bad guys.
- Tip 8 - to Lock Down a Cellphone if it is stolen The free way The free version is to find your cell phone’s imei number – a 15 digit number that is probably underneath your cell phone battery. Or enter *#06# and the imei number will display on the screen. Each cell phone has a unique imei number. If you cell phone is lost or stolen you can call your provider (from someone else’s phone ) and give them that number. They will then lock down the phone so it can’t be used in any way. Each phone has “phone specific” methods you can use yourself to lock a remotely and/or wipe the data from it – however they may cost you – check out your vendors websites for information specific to your phone.
- Fee Based Bluefish Wireless has a product called Central that will allow you to erase all the data from your Palm Treo if it is ever lost or stolen. The product is $14.95. http://www.bluefishwireless.com/download/central.html www.blackberryapps.com sells a product called e-GPS for 2.99 that will “It allows you to remotely send a command to your phone that will have your phone email you: its GPS location, your address book with all your contact information, as well as remotely wipe your phone and SD card to protect all of your information. Also if you have misplaced your phone at home or office, you can send an alert command, and have it ring, even if the sounds are turned completely off or set to vibrate. Once downloaded and activated, it runs in the background, and works by command, through email or SMS.” If you have an Iphone, the product you need is MobileMe which does a number of things besides allowing you to locate and/or wipe clean your Iphone – for $99 per year subscription. Buy MobileMe at www.apple.com .
- Past Tech Tips presenters include: Glenn Rawdon, Legal Services Corporation Joyce Raby, Consultant Molly French, Colorado Legal Services David Bonebrake, NTAP Matthew Burnett, Pro Bono Net