Oh, my silicon darling the trials and tribulations of the year just past are now over, for you have been released from the stuttering performance of that version “.0” operating system by the grace of a “.1” upgrade. Once again there is joy in your interface, in the bright icons that grace your desktop, and… Continue Reading
Tech and Tales from the Rural Lawyer
Welcome to an El Nino Year
While January 2014 saw the little law office on the prairie dealing with outside temperatures usually seen cooling superconductors and had me emulating the Michelin Man every time I bundle up to go outside, 2015 has blown in under milder conditions. Something I hope will prove to be a positive omen for the year to come… Continue Reading
Happy Holidays
It’s Black Friday and winter has rudely interrupted my turkey induced post-Thanksgiving coma, blowing all thoughts of participating in the day’s joyous crass commercialism from my mind. Instead those cloud-laden winds blowing down from the chilled Canadian prairies have chased me into the warm confines of my office to face the day’s few administrative tasks.… Continue Reading
Happy Thanksgiving
One of my flaws (of which there are scores, so figure that this is merely one of a legion) is that my oddly twisted brain has linked giving thanks to (a) an annual tryptophan-induced somnambulation twixt dining table and davenport and (b) the words “so long” and “all the fish”. Neither of which are the… Continue Reading
Hallowed Horror
It is that time of year when thunderstorms roll across the prairie to herald the forthcoming fall, dropping rain and trees with joyful abandon and walking across the night sky on legs of electricity and light. As I bumbled into my office on the morning after a particularly raucous example of the species had traipsed… Continue Reading
County Fairs, Tractor Hill and Cool Tech
September marks a time of transition here on the prairie; the oppressive heat of summer is giving way to the more temperate climes of fall and the cultivators, sprayers and mowers that are the hallmarks of summer field work make way for the lords of the harvest – the combines, grain trucks, and gravity wagons.… Continue Reading
Mind Mapping
To whoever is in charge of the global thermostat, I’d like to register a few words of dissatisfaction. While I fully understand that it is not uncommon for the air of a midwestern July to be humid enough to cut and for the temperature to provide a gentle counterpoint to January’s chill, but your latest… Continue Reading
Horsepower, Hydraulics, and Law Firm Technology
Out here in the little law office on the prairie, horsepower and hydraulics rule, so the term mobile is very, very broad; this is farm country where 1200 pound hay bales are stacked in the barn like Lego™blocks, and 2000 pound cows are lifted to table height to save the farrier’s back. Folks out here… Continue Reading
The Zen of Tech
Sham Harga had run a successful eatery for many years by always smiling, never extending credit, and realizing that most of his customers wanted meals properly balanced between the four food groups: sugar, starch, grease, and burnt crunchy bits — Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms In the spirit of Sham Harga, one runs a successful… Continue Reading
Outcomes, Not Technology
Different seems to be the watchword for today’s new breed of lawyers; these rising stars with their different philosophies on billing, on marketing, and on the practice of law in general. We are seeing the birth of a legal counterculture, marked not by long-hair and tie-dyed T-shirts but by iPads, smartphones, and SaaS clouds. Out… Continue Reading