Finding The Most Current Information Means Including “Blawgs” In Your Searches

The term “blog” is derived from “weblog.”  As Wikipedia describes blogs, “A blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. ‘Blog’ can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”

When blogging first began, primarily tech-savvy types engaged in it.  With remarkable speed, however, blogging has caught on with the larger Internet-using society.  Through free services such as WordPress and Blogger, and the growing popularity of micro-blogging platforms, blogging has become a permanent, respected part of the Internet world.

When lawyers began setting up “law blogs,” they were nick-named “blawgs” to reflect their legal content.

Rise Of Blogs/Blawgs As Authoritative And Reliable News Sources

Today, many blawgs are considered highly influential and authoritative.  For example, the Law Professor Blog Network has a variety of well-done blogs covering many different legal topics. You can link to an example of one which I follow here entitled Law School Innovation, which gives you an idea of the general format of this network of blogs.

Because of the constantly updated content, blogs are often one of the first places that information about current events appears.  This is particularly true when news is being reported on from around the world. Perhaps you have heard reference made to the “24/7″ news cycle?

For “blawgs,” and this depends on the individual blawg, its author, and its focus, I find that legal issues are almost always covered with greater depth than most traditional media.  Blawgs like those in the Law Professor Network are written by recognized experts in the particular subject matter.  In many instances, I find the information to be more timely and reliable than traditional media.  Blawgs often are more up-to-date with current events and judicial opinions that even a website such as Westlaw or Lexis Nexis.  For example, I logged onto Westlaw yesterday.  On its home page, I found links to 3 cases in the “Legal News Section,” at least one of which was somewhat dated and not “new.”  I should note that the site has been updated at the time of my writing this post with 3 new cases all dated December 3, 2009.  Even with this update, however, bloggers are still able to produce the same or better information faster.

It is also my opinion that the information you receive on blogs is more reliable than traditional media which is principally concerned about ratings, popularity of topics, and (at least with TV and radio) providing content within programming time constraints.  Many bloggers are simply unconcerned with such matters, and can express viewpoints or thoughts that mainstream media outlets would not permit.

Finally, many legal bloggers continue to follow issues as they develop.  Because of this, you can follow cases of interest as they develop, persons of interest, or even legal issues or subjects.

I am not suggesting that “blawgs” can take the place of Westlaw or Nexis Lexis.  However, because of the sheer amount of legal information that is being reported on “blawgs,” you can conduct better research and obtain far more comprehensive results by including “blawgs” as part of your standard research regimen.  “Blawgs” greatly enhance and complement its results.

Use News Aggregators Or Readers To Follow Blawgs That Interest You

My recommendation is to find some “blawgs” on subjects you research often.  Make sure you follow authoritative blawgs that provide information upon which you rely.  If you check out blog directories such as Technorati, you will find that blogs are rated there according to certain criteria. For “blawgs” in particular, the American Bar Association maintains a directory of blogs of interest to lawyers, which you can check out here.

Once you have selected some blawgs to follow, many ways exist to keep track of them.  If you use Google, for example, you can elect to add the “feeds” from the “blawgs” to Google Reader.  Other similar services exist that allow you to follow “blawgs” and to customize how the “blawgs” are presented for greater visual appeal, ease of reading, and ease of use.  create more appealing, user-friendly – some notable examples are Twitter, Blog Catalog, Feedly, and Bloglines.

My reader of choice is Google Reader.  However, I am not a fan of how the Reader is designed.  I currently use Feedly because it allows you to set up your blogs in a magazine-style format which I find more pleasing than the relatively nondescript design of the Google Reader page.  An added benefit of Feedly is that if you follow a blog by adding it to Google Reader, the blog will also be automatically added to Feedly.  In other words, one click to Google Reader adds your blog of choice to both services.  This provides me with added assurance that, even if Feedly were to stop their service, my blogs are all kept in the Google Reader.

Consumer Reports To AT&T – Your Report Card Says “F” – That Means Flunk

The Internet has been buzzing today with the latest results from a survey taken by Consumer Reports.  Consumer Reports surveyed 50,000 consumers, including AT&T customers, specifically inquiring about their level of satisfaction with various aspects of telecommunication services.

The results = AT&T customers aren’t satisfied.

In fact, out of a total of 50,000 consumers surveyed in 26 cities, AT&T was dead last in 19 of those cities.  Particularly in areas of customer service, staff knowledge and problem resolution, AT&T flunked.

To make matters worse, Verizon scored the highest, doing well in all categories in the survey.  By now, the advertising battle between Verizon and AT&T has become the stuff of Internet legend, with Verizon dealing AT&T the advertising equivalent of a one-two punch – first with its “There An App For That” commercial and now with “The Island of Misfit Toys” commercial.  You can link to the Island of Misfit Toys commercial here.

In response to the survey, AT&T spokesperson touted the company’s low turnover rate as proof of their customer satisfaction.  Is AT&T for real?  Low turnover wouldn’t have a thing to do with the fact that AT&T customers, or at least many of them, are locked into contracts and can’t dump AT&T, and it wouldn’t be affected in the slightest by the fact that AT&T has exclusivity over the iPhone.  Naw!

Apparently, despite these scathing results, AT&T will continue to delude itself into believing that its customers actually do love it.  If you are interested in reading more on this topic, I recommend checking out Mashable’s article by Barb Dybwad here or Adrian Kingsley-Hughes’ article for ZDNet here.

Numbers Show Internet Users Flocking To Social And Status Update Sites

A study released by the Pew Internet & American Life project on “status updating” on the Internet strongly suggests that, if you are not on the social networking bus, then you are potentially missing out on an ever-growing client base.

In a recent article in “Real Lawyers Have Blogs,” Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog writes:

“Some 19% of internet users now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others. This represents a significant increase over previous surveys in December 2008 and April 2009, when 11% of internet users said they use a status-update service.”

He goes on to write, “Of particular note for lawyers is that median age of those using Twitter and social networking sites.

• Median age of a Twitter user is 31, which has remained stable over the past year.
• Median age for MySpace is now 26, down from 27 in May 2008.
• Median age for LinkedIn is now 39, down from 40.
• Median age for Facebook is now 33, up from 26 in May 2008.”

These numbers leave little doubt about the popularity of social networking sites, and with the possible exception of MySpace, these services are not only being used by teenagers or “gen-Y’ers.”

Bolstering these numbers from Pew, yesterday Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg released an “Open Letter” to all Facebook members, which reads in part:

“It has been a great year for making the world more open and connected. Thanks to your help, more than 350 million people around the world are using Facebook to share their lives online.”

And, people are not just sharing random, personal information about their day-to-day existence.  Social networking has expanded to include a variety of professional networking sites, most notably LinkedIn, but also including networks such as Ryze, Meettheboss, PartnerUp, Talkbiznow, Yelp, and Ecademy.

For lawyers, in particular, a professional networking site that has been around for a little while now, but often gets left out of many discussions is Avvo.  Avvo is an interesting service because it gives lawyers an opportunity to post substantive articles that members of the public can view.  By allowing its members to do this, Avvo is creating a platform for lawyers to demonstrate their proficiency in a particular area of law or with a particular legal problem.

A word of caution – each of these professional networks targets a slightly different type of member.  Ryze, for example, focuses mostly (though not exclusively) on new entrepreneurs.  Meettheboss is a networking service for upper management professionals.

If you embark on a plan to include social networking as part of your firm’s marketing plan, educate yourself about a site’s membership demographics.  Visit the sites, conduct research into the sites, and perhaps read some reviews about the site and what it offers.  Only through adequate research can you structure your firm’s brand for maximum benefit.

Sounds time-consuming?  It can be.  To help get you started, however, here is a handy list of online social networking sites I found on Wikipedia when I embarked on this same process.  While not an exhaustive list, it does include most of those mentioned in this article.

I hope you find this list useful.  If you find other useful resources along these lines, please share them with us.  Also, feel free to let us know how your “education” is going by sending us comments.

Now That You’re Twittering – Try Tweetlaw; Tweet Your Business Card

On November 27, 2009, I posted an article here entitled “To Tweet Or Not To Tweet.”  Judging from the number of page views I have received, the topic of Twitter is one of interest to you.  Because of this interest, I have decided to provide more specific information about Twitter.

My previous article was written with the “non-twittering” lawyer in mind, designed for someone who had never even set up a Twitter profile.  These follow-up articles are written for someone who has already set up a Twitter profile, and has a basic understanding of how to “tweet.”  My goal is to gradually introduce the “Twitter Newbie” to some Twitter-based services or features that are particular useful to attorneys.

For this article, let’s start with 5 such services or features that will take you to the next level of “twittering:”

Tweetlaw – So, now you have your Twitter profile, and you have figured out how to send out a “tweet.”  Unfortunately, you are discouraged because there are so many people “twittering,” and you would really like to focus more on networking or interacting with other legal professionals.  Enter Tweetlaw.

Tweetlaw allows users to “connect and tweet with legal professionals” for free by linking to your existing Twitter account.  Give it a try.  Connect here to Tweetlaw.

Tweet Your Business Card – twtBizCard is a service that allows you to create a Twitter business card and send it in your “tweets” by inserting special text into the body of the tweet – #twtbizcard.  The service has a very user-friendly site with instructions on how to set up your Twitter business card.  The service is free, so there is certainly no harm in trying it out.

Tweet My Job – Tweetmyjob.com boasts as being the “world’s largest Twitter job board.”  So, if you are out there looking for work, you might want to consider this non-traditional way to land that next job.

Twitter Job Search – Similar to Tweetmyjob.com is Twitterjobsearch.com.  However, Twitterjobsearch is a search engine, so it works a little differently than Tweetmyjob does.  For Firefox users, Twitterjobsearch can be downloaded as an add-on search engine, and you can use it to search for work right from the Firefox browser.

Follow Congress – Perhaps, your work as a legal professional encompasses policy issues, legislative advocacy, lobbying, or political activities of some kind.  If so, you may benefit from Twitter services that track members of Congress.  One such service is Congressional140.  You can investigate this service as well as others at Twitter Fan Wiki, a free and open public wiki.

I hope you find these resources useful.  More will be posted in a future article, so stay tuned.

Malware Scam: Ignore Emails Claiming To Be From CDC About H1N1 Profile

If any of you, or your clients, have received an email purporting to be from the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) and asking you to set up a profile for an H1N1 vaccination program – ignore it!

According to an excellent article by Elinor Mills on ZDNet’s blog:

“the fake alert informs recipients that as part of a “State Vaccination H1N1 Program” they need to create a profile on the CDC Web site. The link in the e-mail goes to a fake CDC page where the visitor is assigned a temporary ID and a link to a vaccination profile that is actually an executable file containing a copy of the Kryptik Trojan targeting Windows, according to an AppRiver blog post on Tuesday. Once installed, “this Trojan will create a security-free gateway on your system and will proceed to download and install additional malware without your authorization,” the post warns. “It also enables a remote hacker to take complete control of your computer.”  You can link to the full article here.

“Twitter” Declared 2009’s Most Popular Word; 2nd Most Popular Search Topic

According to an article yesterday by Mashable.com’s Ben Parr, “twitter” is officially the most popular word for 2009.  The most popular word award is based on data collected by the Global Language Monitor.  Last year’s most popular word was “change.”

Twitter failed to secure the top spot as most popular search topic on Bing.com’s list, however.  The online sensation was supplanted by the search topic “Michael Jackson.”  You can see the year’s top ten most popular search topics here.

This year, Twitter also changed its status question.  The 140-character social network service became famous (or infamous) for the question, “What are you doing?”  According to the service’s blog, this question was selected because Twitter was originally conceived as a mobile status update service.  Now, the company writes:

“The fundamentally open model of Twitter created a new kind of information network and it has long outgrown the concept of personal status updates. Twitter helps you share and discover what’s happening now among all the things, people, and events you care about. “What are you doing?” isn’t the right question anymore—starting today, we’ve shortened it by two characters. Twitter now asks, “What’s happening?”

Amazon.com Revolutionized Internet Commerce

We are knee-deep in 2009’s “Cyber Monday.”  Today, tens of millions of Americans will turn to the Internet to shop for the holidays.  “Cyber Monday” has become such a holiday shopping ritual that it is easy to forget that online shopping is a relatively new phenomenon.

One company, above all others, stands out as responsible for creating a secure atmosphere where consumers could conduct online commercial transactions – Amazon.com.  When Amazon.com was launched in 1995, commercial transactions on the Internet were limited to transactions such as pornography, online gambling, and the like. At the time, consumers were highly reluctant to share credit card or other financial information online, and for good reason.  Commerce on the Internet was highly insecure in comparison to today.

At the time it was launched, Amazon.com followed an unusual business model.  The company predicted that it would not be profitable for several years.  True to this model, Amazon.com was not profitable, while other businesses around it grew exponentially as part of the “dot come bubble.”  When that bubble burst, however, many of those companies went belly up, while Amazon.com persevered.  The company expanded from being merely an online bookseller to offering an array of products.

On November 21, 2005, Amazon entered the S&P 500 index, replacing AT&T after it merged with SBC Communications. On December 31, 2008, Amazon entered the S&P 100 index, replacing Merrill Lynch after it was taken over by Bank of America.

In 1999, Time magazine named Bezos Person of the Year, recognizing the company’s success in popularizing on-line shopping.

It’s Cyber Monday!

It is officially “Cyber Monday,” the kick off for the U.S. online holiday shopping season. It is estimated that some 85 million U.S. shoppers will opt today for a less chaotic alternative to “Black Friday” by turning to the Internet.

Traditionally, “Cyber Monday” is the day when you can find some deep discounts on electronics.  For example, Dell is offering some good deals on electronics through its “Cyber Monday Page,” which you can link to here.  Similarly, Amazon.com has a wide variety of items for sale on its “Cyber Monday Hub,” which you can link to here.

Keep in mind that these sites, and others, have timers on the specials, so check them out sooner rather than later.  As of writing this post, for example, Dell had a timer on its “Cyber Monday Page,” showing about 15 hours left on its specials.

U.S. News & World Report’s Money & Finance has a good article discussing where to find a number of good Cyber Monday deals.  You can check out that article here.

Need A Shopping Idea For ‘Cyber Monday’ – How About A Smartpen?

Image via CrunchBase

The term ‘Cyber Monday‘ refers to the Monday immediately following the day after Thanksgiving, now referred to as ‘Black Friday.’  Unlike ‘Black Friday’ which focuses on traditional shopping, ‘Cyber Monday’ is the kick-off of the holiday online shopping season.  ‘Cyber Monday’ is the perfect day to find that perfect gift for a Cyber Lawyer.

If you are looking for a neat ‘Cyber Monday’ gift, but are stumped as to any good ideas, why not consider a Pulse Smartpen?  Try as we might, at one time or another, even the most virtual lawyer needs a pen, and often the ability to audio record.  For example, you show up a few minutes late for a seminar.  We’ve all been there, haven’t we?  Because you were running late, you forgot your laptop (the unthinkable!)  Or, the only two plug-ins in the room are already taken.  You want to take notes, but your handwriting is atrocious or your handwritten note-taking skills aren’t what they used to be.

The Pulse Smartpen combines both a pen and a voice recorder in one gadget.  However, it does a lot more.  Using a tiny infra-red camera near the tip, the Pulse Smartpen is able to record everything that you write or draw.  A built-in computer stores what the pen records, writes, or draws for later uploading.  Plus, you can download  additional applications for the Pulse Smartpen at Livescribe.com.

Caveat: This little gadget isn’t cheap, and you have to purchase special paper to enable some of its features.  It comes in 1 GB, 2GB, and 4GB models, each with an increasingly higher price tag.  Personally, I would not even bother with the 1 GB version.  At the time of writing this article, the 2GB version was priced from $159-169.  You can see a price comparison on the 2GB pen by linking to a CNet article here.  However, if you have the dough, for just $40 more, you can get the 4GB pen.

I don’t have one of these pens yet, so take this review as the personal opinion of someone who just thinks this is a nifty little gadget.  If you think so too, then you may want to check out the Livescribe website here.  The company also has a Facebook page, which you can check out here. The Facebook page has a short video which explains the pen’s features.

As always, if any readers have personal experiences with this gadget that they would like to share, please feel free to comment.

To Tweet Or Not To Tweet: The Pros And Cons Of Twittering Lawyers

For all the media attention (or hype) that it receives, many lawyers remain cautious, if not skeptical, about the value of Twitter.  Utter such unlikely terms as “retweet,” “twitbin,” or “twitpic” among a group of lawyers at a continuing legal education seminar, for example, and you are likely to get a lot of “sideways” glances.  But, should lawyers”twit that” old-fashioned behavior, and jump on the “tweet deck?” (or some other Twitter app)

In true lawyer fashion, my answer is — it depends.  Twitter is a powerful tool, but it cannot be used carelessly by lawyers.

When I first heard about Twitter, I thought to myself what a load of ?!?!  Not too long afterwards, however, I found myself reminded by a law school chum – stunned because I had a Facebook page – how negative I had been toward another classmate who suggested (way back in 1993) that we all get “email addresses” to communicate better with one another, that it was the wave of the future.  I, along with many of my law school compatriots at the time, thought this other classmate was, well, not entirely well-hinged.  How wrong we were.

Because of my previous error, and at the insistence of friend and colleague, Lori J. Paul, I decided to give Twitter a second glance.  When I did, I discovered at least part of the disconnect I think many lawyers experience when they first learn about Twitter.  Describe Twitter to any “non-twitterer,” and frankly, it sounds ridiculous, shallow, and more than a bit narcissistic.  At first glance, Twitter does not come across as the powerful marketing, research, and collaboration tool it actually can be.

To be sure, Twitter is fraught with ethical implications for lawyers, ones we should all keep in mind.  R. Crowley’s article on Blawg House is a good article to review, which you can link to here.  This particular article also has an informative PDF you can download by Steven C. Bennett entitled, “Look Who’s Talking:  Legal Implications of Twitter Social Networking Technology.”  I have also uploaded a copy to the Box.net widget on my other blog, “Civil Rights and Wrongs.”

Crowley points out 5 valuable ways lawyers can ethically use Twitter:

• expand their network;
• comment on legal issues and trends in their practice area;
• build their reputation;
• showcase their expertise by linking to content they have published; and
• receive news updates relevant to their practice area.

However, as the Bennett article points out, “Twitter messages…for all their informality, must be treated with the same caution as messages in any other form…”  Problems of particular concern to lawyers using Twitter are:

• Divulging privileged or confidential information in Twitter messages, whether intentionally or inadvertently;
• Giving legal advice and thereby establishing an attorney-client relationship, again whether intentionally or inadvertently; and
• Engaging in prohibited solicitation for legal work.

Bennett’s article suggests that lawyers establish a Twitter protocol, a suggestion with which I agree.  Therefore, I do recommend that you take the time to download the Bennett article and read it carefully.

Having been forewarned of some of the pitfalls of careless “twittering,” how do you “tweet” in the first place?  The first step is to go to Twitter.com, set up a free account, and create a user profile.  Once you have done this, you will want to find other individuals or organizations that you want to “follow.”  Those whom you choose to follow may be people or companies with which you are already familiar.  However, I encourage you to think of Twitter as a way to get to know some people, companies, organizations or ventures that you would not otherwise have an opportunity to know.

One good place to find other professionals already using Twitter is by checking out various Twitter directories on the Internet.  One example is the Twitter Yellow Pages,  Twellow.com.  Another example is Just Tweet It.  Directories such as these frequently list users by profession, making it relatively easy to zero in on a particular target market.

Once you have your account going, and you are following some Twitter users, you will need to find one or more Twitter “apps,” software applications that assist one in using Twitter. Almost no one still logs onto Twitter.com to access or use Twitter, as that process is simply too cumbersome and it does not maximize Twitter’s benefits. That’s where “apps” come into play.

When it comes to choosing an “app,” there is no right or wrong choice.  If you decide to become a “twitterer,” then pick the “app” that you like, one that is easy to learn and use, and one which gets you the information you desire.  However, finding an “app” can be challenging.  Do a search for Twitter “apps,” for example, and you will find an overwhelming number of search results.

Because there are so many “apps” for Twitter,  I thought I would list a few of the free ones out there and then provide additional articles that contain many others from which you can choose.  Where applicable, I have noted my own personal experience with the “app,” and whether I recommend it or not.

1. Twitter Search (formerly Summize) – this tool allows you to find conversations happening on Twitter by utilizing directed keyword searches.
2. Twitbin – for Firefox users, this add on allows you to manage your tweets directly in the Firefox browser.  I have personally used Twitbin.  I liked it especially when I was a brand new Twitter user.  It ran smoothly, even in the sidebar, something I cannot say for all Firefox add ons.  And, it was easy to learn.
3. Tweetdeck – Tweetdeck is a great desktop application.  Using Adobe Air, this application allows you to customize Twitter in many ways, including tracking your tweets in real-time, tracking those whom you are following, and even tracking those who mention you in their tweets.  Tweetdeck also provides suggestions for others you might enjoy following, and it works with the iPhone.  Perhaps most important, Tweetdeck is incredibly easy to learn and use.  I have personally been using Tweetdeck for several months now, and highly recommend it.
4. TwitPic – If it is photo sharing that interests you, TwitPic is an “app” you may want to check out.
5. TinyURL – One of the limitations on a “tweet” is the fact that it can only be 140 characters long, even though there are “apps” to help you exceed this number.  Because of this limitation, you will need to shorten long website addresses as much as possible to maximize the number of characters left for your text.  There are a number of “apps” that achieve this goal, collectively referred to as “URL shorteners.”  TinyURL is one of the more well-known among these.
6. TwitThat – TwitThat is a very simple Firefox add on that allows you to tweet any page of the Internet you are viewing with a couple of clicks.  I personally use this add on and it has consistently performed without any problems.
7. Hoot Suite – Hoot Suite is the latest Twitter “app” to catch my eye, and it looks like a fantastic product.  Calling itself the “professional Twitter client,” Hoot Suite allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts, social networks, track your statistics, and much more.  As I become more familiar with this product, I will post more information on the blog.

The information I just provided is the veritable “scintilla” of the Twitter “app” universe.  To aid in your search for the perfect “app” that will help you get the full benefit of Twitter, I recommend the following blogs/articles:

• twitterappsguide.com
• thesocialmediaguide.com – download the free “Twitter Cheat Sheet” and the article entitled “The Ultimate List of Twitter Tools”
• top-twitter-tool.blogspot.com
• einfo.blogspot.com
• mediapost.com – check out the David Berkowitz article entitled “Make A Twitter List And Check It Twice”

I hope you found this article useful and informative.  I received no incentives or freebies of any kind for the reviews in this article, and anticipate receiving none as a result of these reviews.  In the future, there will certainly be more to blog about on the subject of Twitter and its uses (or misuses) for lawyers.  So, stay tuned, and I hope to see you all in the “Twittersphere.”