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Ross Ipsa Loquitur

By: dmc-admin//June 9, 2004//

Ross Ipsa Loquitur

By: dmc-admin//June 9, 2004//

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Part II

Editor’s Note: In the May 26 issue of the Wisconsin Law Journal, Ross Kodner and Tom Rowe began their review of essential tools for mobile lawyers by talking about the importance of having the proper tools to achieve true legal road warrior status. Tom’s seven tips covered a variety of practical and recreational ideas including reflections on the Toshiba Portege 2000 laptop computers he uses and the SD (secure digital) card slots he uses in those computers. This week, Ross offers his recommendations.

Ross’ Mobile Quality of Life

Gadgets and Tips:

Prosser

Ross Kodner

I have the same kind of SD card slot in my Hewlett-Packard zd7000 laptop. Note that it is also MMC (Multi-Media Card)-compatible. Even better, it reads several other “digital film” types including SmartMedia and Sony Memory Sticks. I use mine constantly for “spot backup” on one SD card; on another card I keep my photo album. It’s the perfect digital alternative to frayed family pictures in the wallet. On a third SD card, I keep my MP3 files.

eCost.com and TigerDirect.com seem to always have the best prices on CompactFlash and SD cards. The last time I looked, they had 256MB SD cards for about $50 (major brand name SanDisk cards).

I’ve been mildly obsessed by USB flash drives, in a quest for the most interesting ones for the gadget programs I do, as well as the best approach to quickly transfer patch files, update software, etc., to and from client systems. Two standouts are the ThumbDrive Secure from Trek (www.thumbdrive.com/secure.htm) and a model called the ThumbDrive Touch that goes the next level in security, using a biometric thumbprint pad built in (www.thumbdrive.com/prd_info.htm). Very cool! The appeal of these is that anything stored on them is automatically encrypted and requires a password for access.

Next, and my current favorite, is the Kanguru MicroDrive + from Interactive Media (www.kanguru. com/microdriveplus.html). In addition to the built-in memory (either 32, 64,128 or 256 MB), there’s an SD card slot on it, so you can plug in up to another 256 MB.

As for MP3s, I listen to them from my laptop, since when I’m flying, the laptop is usually open. For headphones though, I went dual-purpose with a set of Sony’s folding active noise-canceling phones. Normally, they’re just a nice pair of great-sounding folding headphones. But flip the little switch and like those high-priced $300 Bose units, they send an active noisecanceling signal that effectively cancels out that unbelievably irritating and subtly mentally draining drone of airplane engines (as well as screaming infants and droning seatmates).

Getting back to MP3s, I think the Creative Nomad and iPod are cool, but I tend to like my gadgets really small. The one I’m using and utterly enamored with right now is Rio’s Nitrus. This is a 3 oz. musical wonder that packs in one of the new ultra-tiny 1” 1.5 GB hard drives (similar to the 4 GB hard drive in Apple’s pricier and hard-to-find iPod Mini. It holds about 500 MP3 songs, has nearly 16 hours of rechargeable battery life and is priced at about $180.

My official award for the genuinely weirdest USB device for the bone-weary legal road warrior is the USB Vibe. Don’t laugh … at least not yet! This is a 3-inch round plastic pad with little plastic “bumps” — a USB cord provides the power that creates a pleasant massaging, vibrating effect. While you can expect some wink-winks and snickering from your airplane seatmate, the thing actually works — pressed against a tight shoulder, it feels … well … soothing. From Grandtec.com for about $10.

Of course my trusty old Kyocera 6035 Smartphone was my digital safety blanket … it was the electronic equivalent of comfort food for me. I couldn’t imagine going ANYWHERE (even out to the garage) without it. But it got to the point where it was about 14 months old and showing the signs of intensive use. I replaced it 12 months ago the then de rigueur and now passé new Kyocera 7135 Smartphone (service through Verizon). After three months of continuous operational problems with the once-trusted Kyocera, Verizon has agreed to replace it with Samsung’s new i600 phone. This is one of the first wireless phones to run Microsoft’s new Windows Smartphone operating systems. More to come about this new über-gadget in a later column.

Another necessary gadget on the road is:

The mobile version of the Paper LESS Office — Visioneer’s latest Strobe XP100 scanner. It’s their new, superlight USB scanner weighing about 12 oz and … drum-roll, please … no power brick! Instead of a brick, it draws its power directly from the laptop’s USB port. The Strobe XP100 comes bundled with the current PaperPort 8 and Textbridge software. This smaller, lighter scanner has replaced the prior slower Antec Attache I had been using (www.visioneer.com). It is available for under $180.

The next group of gadgets has also become “essential” to me these days:

Kensington’s FlyFan part of Kensington’s “Fly” series of USB accessories that started with the FlyLight. A small, virtually silent and surprisingly powerful fan that is at the end of a flexible metal stalk that plugs into the USB port and is powered by it as well. The FlyFan directs a really pleasant flow of air wherever you point it. It achieved lifesaver status during last summer’s heat. Under $25, although I recently purchased another one at an Office Depot for $5 courtesy of a $20 instant checkout rebate!

SIIG USB 2.0 4port USB minihub. There are a dizzying array of small USB hubs available that give you extra USB ports. However, this one is the most road warrior-friendly of any I’ve encountered. It’s form factor lets it slide into an unused stacked pair of my laptop’s Type II PC Card Type slots when not in use. This is the best way to ensure that
it doesn’t get lost in the dark depths of my laptop bag. I love this thing and use it constantly to enable all the various USB gizmos I carry around. I stumbled across it at a Fry’s expedition on my last West Coast trip for about $20 (www.siig.com).

Maxtor Onetouch 200 GB portable USB hard drive backup system with built-in Retrospect backup software. This is my mobile full-drive data backup system. The drive is lightning fast and couldn’t possibly be easier to use. You literally press one button and it activates the a full hard drive backup process. Through a fast USB 2.0 connection to my laptop, I am able to backup about 45 GB of information in under 2.5 hours — that’s really quick. The only drawback is that it weighs about 3 pounds — meaning it’s relegated to my suitcase. Highly recommended for maximum ease of use though. It can also be used as a regular, quick, large capacity additional hard drive. Maxtor makes models ranging from 120 to 300 GB with pricing from about $160 to $350 (www.maxtor.com).

I still carry all the basics including a digital/analog modem line tester from IBM (about $30) which ensures that I don’t inadvertently plug my modem cable into a high-voltage digital phone line, frying my laptop and generally ruining my world in the process. I also carry a Belkin 20-foot retractable CAT5 network cable to plug into the increasingly more common high-speed Net access ports in hotel rooms, a WebSpider 20-foot retractable modem cable, a Swiss Army CyberKnife 34 (luggaged, not laptop bagged, unless you’re just spoiling for a full body search at the nearest airport metal detector!), a really little screwdriver set, a small flat roll of duct tape designed just for travelers (actually, I could probably skip everything else and just bring the duct tape), the same Targus cordless optical mouse that Tom uses for when

I just don’t feel like using my Toshiba’s pointing stick, all in a nifty padded Travel-on bag I found in a San Diego luggage store recently. It’s intended to be a toiletry kit but it makes the perfect mobile gear bag.

Laptop cases, of course, are a subject in and of themselves. I obsessively collect them, in an endless quest for the “perfect” bag. I must have a couple dozen on my basement gadget shelves and at present, I’ve cycled back to my trust Tumi 2640 SafeCase (www.luggagepros. com/mpb/04007004.shtml for a pic) light, really comfortable with nearperfect weight distribution, holds a ton of stuff and built like a tank. About $350 in better luggage stores and web merchants, it’s still the best case I’ve ever bought.

My latest Victorinox WebMobilizer Plus comes in a close second for its superb balance between “brief-style” bag and wheeled carry-on; with the really nifty feature that when the handle is pushed back into the case, the roller-blade wheels actually retract back up into little housings in the case. It runs $425 list but a little bit of haggling at a luggage store actually yielded a much more reasonable $360 and a free leather luggage tag thrown in. I hate to admit it, but one of the better laptop carrying bags I’ve ever found was a $20 wheeled cordura nylon backpack I found at a Target store. With my laptop safely ensconced in an $80 Victorinox C2 padded suspension system laptop sheath, it doesn’t attract the attention of the laptop-bounding thieves I suspect are in every airport.

Cameras travel with me relatively often. My digital choice is a nearly year-old Kodak CX4330. I bought it for a number of reasons, the most important of which were that it has an SD slot for digital film so I can read the cards in my laptop’s SD slot, it has the best user interface I’ve ever seen on a digicam, and the Kodak one-touch docking/hot-syncing function which we use in the office. The fact that it also has a great glass lens, and that it’s a 3.1 Megapixel camera for under $225 that also happens feels good in the hand didn’t hurt either.

So the bottom line is that while the road might be a strenuous, stressful and often lonely place for legal road warriors, you can leverage your interests in technology to improve the quality of your life — and turn the road once again into a pleasant adventure. Let us know how you find some peace on the road — we’re interested in hearing.

Both Tom and Ross spend as much time on airplanes and in airline lounges as they do at home, perhaps more.

Tom Rowe is an attorney and Founding Principal of Practice Management Partners, Inc. in Cary, North Carolina where he devotes his time assisting law firms and legal departments in the implementation of the Time Matters case management system. Tom is the former Vice-President of Sales for Data.TXT, Inc., the publishers of Time Matters case management software. He can be reached at [email protected].

Ross Kodner is also an attorney and Founder/ President of MicroLaw, Inc. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ross spends his time consulting with law firms and legal departments continent-wide assisting them in integrating technology into their practices. He is also the developer of the widely known Paper LESS Office? process.

Ross can be reached at [email protected].

©2003 Ross Kodner / Tom Rowe, All Rights Reserved.

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