Barry Bayer

Commentary September 9, 2011

Is a tablet right for your practice?

The combination of the tablet and the cloud is as big a change to the current world of personal computing as was the introduction of the graphical user interface to the world of DOS.

Commentary August 5, 2011

Law Office Technology: When the next best thing … isn’t

In the last couple of weeks I’ve acquired two new pieces of technology: DirecTV and an HTC Evo 4G. Neither is solely applicable to the practice of law, but both can be. Neither are particularly new or high-tech — although each might have been considered high-tech just a few years ago — and both have been around for at least a couple of years. But I have spent an inordinate amount of time lea[...]

Commentary June 10, 2011

TECH: E-speaking voice recognition

Recently, I wrote about Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Version 11, the latest product in Nuance's Voice Recognition dictation system. I didn't test the $800 full legal system with customized dictionary and voice commands for the legal industry but just the base $200 system for ordinary human beings (i.e., nonlawyers).

Commentary May 6, 2011

Tech: Free e-books in the public domain

The increase in the popularity of e-books, both commercial and in the public domain, is understandable considering they present good value, are easy to acquire and are easily read with the relatively inexpensive commercial readers for currently published books. I am becoming addicted to the offerings of the Nook and Kindle.

Commentary April 8, 2011

TECH: Installing browser on flash drive easier than expected

Recently I reported on Encrypt Stick which, among other things, supports a "privacy browser" on a USB drive. (The $40 program also has a password vault and an file encrypt/decrypt module.) The privacy browser was rather weak, although it did have some privacy benefits.

Commentary March 11, 2011

Tech: Should there be a tablet in your future?

Faithful readers of this column know that I am an advocate of laptop computers for most "on the go" legal work for the modern lawyer these days.

Commentary February 11, 2011

Tech: Keeping information private with VPNs

Last month I discussed methods for keeping your private communications private. This month I’ll continue with a discussion of virtual private networks (VPNs).

Commentary January 14, 2011

Tech: Keeping your information private

My life is an open book to anyone who is seriously interested in reading it. I didn't plan it that way, but I'm at peace with it.

Commentary December 17, 2010

Holiday gift ideas for technology-minded attorneys

It has been my tradition for a couple of decades to skulk around the stores, the websites, the magazines and the press releases to get some idea of what lawyers immersed in the latest technology - and their colleagues, employees, friends and relatives - might wish to give or get. It is a dirty job, and I love doing it.

Commentary December 10, 2010

A primer on passwords and privacy

Internet privacy is a hot topic these days. I could go on and on about the privacy issues involved in data encryption, virtual private networks and saving data to "the cloud." Today, however, I am going to discuss passwords - how to choose them and how to keep track of them.

Commentary November 5, 2010

Easy and economical video conferencing

More and more frequently these days I am invited to view a "webinar" wherein a software or hardware developer is pitching a new product for possible review. Or sometimes a CLE provider will broadcast a lecture about some area of the law. Or I have reason to discuss my analysis of a client's problem and a computer conference is more practical than traveling to the client's office in the Chicago sub[...]

Commentary October 8, 2010

A look at Microsoft Office 2010

I wrote a column a few weeks ago questioning whether a tablet computer might be in your future. Although the Apple Macintosh is still an excellent, if pricey, choice, the ...