If you’re having trouble updating to iOS 5 right now (generally resulting in an Internal Error popup), you are not alone. It seems that the problem is actually due to an overwhelming number of phones downloading, updating, and pinging Apple’s servers.

Don’t fret. The easy solution is to keep trying to update. Lucky for you, there’s a more expedient way to do it. Unfortunately, I’m at work right now, so I can only write this how-to for those of you running OS X.

1. Download iOS 5 (presumably you already have or you wouldn’t be here.)

2. Locate the .ipsw file. More than likely, this will be located in a hidden folder. The way to get into it is to click on your desktop, select the Go menu, and then click Go to Folder.

3. In the Go to Folder box, type in ~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates/ and press return.

4. Copy the .ipsw for iOS 5 to another folder (your desktop, perhaps).

5. In iTunes, click on your iDevice, and hold option while clicking “Restore.”

6. Click the .ipsw file you just downloaded.

7. Repeat until it works. It may take upward of 15 tries.

Of course, if you’re the patient type, you could probably just wait until tomorrow and I’m sure the issue will resolve itself. I’m not the patient type.

Mandatory Legal Disclaimer: on the off-chance that this deletes all your phone content or bricks your phone, I’m not responsible. You’re doing this at your own risk.

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1. Pennsylvania Docketing Bookmarklets

Warning: If you’re running AdBlock software, you may want to put this page on your “Do Not Block” list or you may not be able to view the screencast.

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First, let me say that it’s great that Pennsylvania makes their criminal and appellate docketing sheets available online. However, the website isn’t awesome. It’s generally slow to load, and sort of a pain to navigate. My biggest beef is that in looking up Common Pleas dockets, you have to click your mouse at least 5 times to enter the docket. That’s why I decided to write these bookmarklets. If you’re like me, you pull up an annoying number of dockets every day, and the aggregate of time you save by not navigating the Unified Judicial System website would not be inconsequential. Enter the bookmarklets.

If you’ve never used a bookmarklet before, they’re exactly like bookmarks except that they run javascript code rather than linking to a website.

Adding the Bookmarklet

1. Open this page containing the Pennsylvania Docketing Bookmarklets in a new window.
2. Click on the first link called “Appellate Dockets” and drag it to your browser’s bookmark bar. (Hint: you may have to enable it in your browser if you don’t see it. Google it.)
3. Do the same for the link called “Common Pleas Dockets.”

Internet Explorer users, you may have to right click on the link and choose “Add to Favorites” and then drag and drop it onto your “Links” bar from your favorites view.

From now on, when you want to pull up a Pennsylvania Docket, all you have to do is click on those bookmarklets (from any page you happen to be on) and enter the docket numbers into the alert box that pops up.

If you run into trouble or bugs, feel free to post. This will work on most browsers, but is probably incompatible with very old versions of Internet Explorer.

For most Pennsylvania lawyers and law students, you can stop reading here. Congratulations. You’re done.

A Discussion for Out-of-State Programmers

Let’s look at the code before we start the discussion:

javascript:(function() {
docket=prompt('Appellate Docket No:');
var thedocket=docket.split(' ');
var casetype=thedocket[1].toUpperCase();
var theURL='';
var catdocket='';
if (casetype=='CD' || casetype=='FR')
theURL='http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CommonwealthC
ourtReport.aspx?docketNumber=';
else if (casetype=='EDA' || casetype=='MDA' || casetype=='WDA')
theURL='http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/SuperiorC
ourtReport.aspx?docketNumber=';
else if (casetype=='EAL' || casetype=='MAL' || casetype=='WAL')
theURL='http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/SupremeC
ourtReport.aspx?docketNumber=';
else {
alert('Unknown case type. Please email legalgeekery /at\ gmail.com with the docket number.');
return;
}
var i=0;
for (i=0; i < 3; i++) {
if (i==3)
catdocket = catdocket.concat(thedocket[i]);
else
catdocket = catdocket.concat(thedocket[i], ' ');
}
location.href=theURL+catdocket.toUpperCase()})();

As you can see, the code isn’t terribly elegant, but it is straight-forward. We can only do this so easily in Pennsylvania because the URL is uniform across the same courts, with the only variant being the docket number. I’m guessing this is a common practice, but there’s probably a hack-around in most jurisdictions. If your jurisdiction is substantially similar, feel free to work from my bookmarklets as a template.

To other bookmarklets is a bit more complex in that there are a few error handlers to account for different (but still correct) ways people can input the docket number, but the code is fundamentally the same.

You are free to distribute or modify the bookmarklet, but please give me credit (and maybe a link!).

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Many of us view sensitive materials every day on our personal computers, tablets, smart phones, and e-readers. What happens when the newest gadgets or processors roll out and we want to upgrade our devices? If you’re like me, you put your current device up for sale on Craigslist or eBay, or send it along to an electronics trade-in website, like Gazelle.

Theoretically, that sounds reasonable. The problem arises where people resell these devices without adequately erasing data from their hard drives. I say adequately because you, as a loyal LG reader, are smart enough to know that you should delete your data before sending it along to a third party. Unfortunately, as Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander is so fond of pointing out, “Nothing is ever easy.”

Many lawyers seem to think that simply reinstalling the machine’s operating system is sufficient. It’s not. In fact, when you reinstall Windows or OS X onto a machine without first performing a secure hard drive wipe, much of your data is still relatively accessible. Depending on the type of installation you’ve performed, the data may even be accessible by a relative computer novice.

Mobile devices and gadgets aren’t completely free of potential liability, either; although some mobile devices are certainly more amenable to resale than others. iOS, which runs on all iPhones and iPads, has had a secure delete function for years. This iOS feature simply deletes the encryption key used to access your data. It is unclear whether or not the underlying data is actually deleted, though. Android devices don’t seem to have such a feature baked into the operating system, but third-party apps — created solely for the purpose of securely deleting your data — are widely available.

Are most lawyers theoretically capable of securely deleting their data? Maybe. Are most going to do it? Probably not. For those people, the obvious solution is to either not sell old electronics, or have a third-party handle the data wipe.

My intent wasn’t to argue one way or the other, but rather, I am hoping to get a dialogue started and possibly raise some awareness about lawyers recycling electronics. To those ends, I pose the following question: knowing that it’s very difficult or impossible to completely erase sensitive client data from your personal electronic devices, is it ethical to resell those devices?¹

What do you think?

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1. The caveat being that this is generally only true if your machine is purchased by a hacker or computer guru.

Related posts:

1. Lawyers and Law Students: Hold Off On Upgrading That iPad
2. How Lawyers Can Make Their Smartphones Smarter
3. Only 9% of Lawyers Look to Blogs for Technology Advice

Note: the following is a contributed article written by Jeff Stalnaker, CEO of PrivacyStar.¹

Outside the courtroom, legal professionals use their communications skills to generate referral business, leads and relationships with individuals, existing clients, past clients and other legal professionals, making their smartphone a key tool for success. However, there are two glaring weaknesses of this tool: unwanted calls and no caller ID like that which is found on a landline.

Landline usage is dropping by over 10 percent per year as more and more individuals and businesses are moving to the exclusive use of mobile phones as the primary means of communication. As a result, telemarketers and data providers are now gaining access to mobile phone numbers as it is used in email signatures, business cards, purchases and other places that require contact information. This unfortunately means that those annoying sales calls that were once only received on the landline number are now calling mobile phones.

The lack of caller ID on smartphones can also be detrimental in many situations. Have you ever intentionally missed a call from an unrecognizable number and found out from the voicemail that it was an existing or potential client? Have you ever had to excuse yourself from a client call or in person meeting due to an unrecognizable number only to find a telemarketer on the line?

What you may not know is that there are now apps available to block telemarketing calls and identify the name of a caller with a number even if it is not saved in your address book.

Below are some key features to look for when selecting a smartphone productivity app for Caller ID, blocking capabilities and other call administration features:

Caller ID: Be sure to select an app that provides the same type of Caller ID functionality that is traditionally found on landlines – name and number associated even if the information is not in the address book. A good Caller ID feature will show the name of the person calling the moment the phone starts to ring by tapping into outside databases before you even know there is someone trying to contact you.

Telemarketers are now using Internet and VoIP to generate mobile spam, and as a result, more and more people are receiving text messages from unknown callers. The same Caller ID function listed above can also be provided for text messaging. Ensure this functionality exists before purchase.

Call Blocking: More often than not, a legal professional’s phone number is out in the public domain, making it available to telemarketers and other vendors who will call to make their sales pitch. There are over 150 million telemarketing calls made every day in the United States alone. To ensure that repeated unwanted calls do not continually occur, smartphone users can protect themselves with comprehensive call blocking.

A good call blocking feature provides users with the ability to block individual numbers, entire area codes or a string of digits for a truly personalized service. Callers do not realize they are being blocked and you will not hear a single ring. Look for services that provide you with a log that shows when a blocked call has tried to call you and at what time.

As discussed above, unwanted text messages are becoming more of a problem everyday. Smartphone apps now provide the ability to block these messages the same way as blocking callers.

Reporting: If you are on the Do Not Call Registry, certain smartphone apps will provide you with the functionality to report telemarketers directly to the FTC.

Certain smartphone apps provide users with the ability to report callers directly to the FTC by a simple touch of a button. This is a must have feature in order to regulate these abusive callers and get them to stop calling you.

Telemarketers and debt collectors will continue to obtain cell phone numbers both illegitimately and legitimately and intrude into both professional and personal lives. Individuals must take action by placing themselves on the Do Not Call Registry and by implementing key features on their smartphones in order to take back control and ensure their valuable time does not go waste.

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1. About PrivacyStar: PrivacyStar, a smartphone app available on the Android Market and BlackBerry App World, provides users with the ultimate control of their smartphones by delivering a network-based privacy and preference service to wireline, wireless, VoIP users and smartphones. Its users have blocked over 120 million calls and filed over 150,000 complaints directly to the FTC. Law.com readers recently named PrivacyStar an app that no counsel should live without. For more information about PrivacyStar, please visit http://www.privacystar.com/.

Related posts:

1. Only 9% of Lawyers Look to Blogs for Technology Advice
2. Lawyers and Law Students: Hold Off On Upgrading That iPad
3. US Senators Ask Apple/Android/Blackberry to Remove DUI Checkpoint Apps

This post was inspired by a review copy of a study by Andrew Z. Adkins III entitled, “Case, Matter, and Practice Management System Study” (now available for free by signing up for TechnoLawyer) (hereinafter “the Study”).

And so, with that foundation:

You’re Doing It Wrong, Installment the First: Your Not-Entirely-Tech-Impaired Lawyer Friend Should Not Be Your Primary Source of Technology Software Advice!

Most of us have at least one or two colleagues who we tend to associate with computers or technology. Is it any surprise that you would go to that friend if you were looking for information on new software or technology? Not really. Is it surprising that you’re more than five times more likely to rely on that friend for legal technology advice than you are to consult a blog dedicated entirely to cutting edge legal technology? One might think so, but according to the Study, only 9.4% of respondents would consult a blog to look for or find information on new software technology while 51.3% look to their colleagues.

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1. And they got pretty close, with a reported 95% confidence level, +/- 5.3%.
2. I should note that while you may expect that with my physics and math background I would have an opinion on whether this is an accurate model / representation, my statistics knowledge is very limited and I honestly can’t say one way or the other.
3. A fantastic webcomic you should definitely be reading if you’re a real geek.

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It sounds harmless enough: in the past when someone requested to add you as a friend on Facebook, you would get a request allowing you to “Add” or “Ignore.”  Facebook recently announced that the “Ignore” button would change into a “Not Now” button.   No big deal, right?  Not necessarily.

To understand why we as lawyers and law students need to be aware of this new “feature,” we need to understand the mechanism behind adding a Facebook friend.  When someone requests that you add them as a friend, they immediately start receiving your public activities on their personal timeline.  By public, I mean status updates you mark as available to everyone.  This is the default setting which can and should be changed.  People continue to receive  your updates until you elect to ignore them.  So in the past, no real harm done because you would get the email and choose whether to add or ignore them off the bat.

Now, it is likely that people will start clicking “Not Now” assuming that it has the same effect as “Ignore.”  It does not.  Instead, when you click on “Not Now,” the requestor will still receive your updates in his or her timeline.  Even if you have a privacy setting that hides your wall from non-friends, the update still goes into his or her timeline if the setting is set to public.   See below for an example.

I created a fake account and added my real account.  I then added my main account from my fake account and clicked “Not Now” on the resulting request.  When the fake account views my real account, my wall isn’t visible, so I might assume that people don’t have access to my status updates.  Not so.  As you can see, this message was inserted into my fake account news feed.

So the moral of the story is: (1) make sure your privacy settings are as restrictive as you need them to be — in particular, make sure to set pictures and status updates to Friends Only if you’re concerned about that sort of thing; and (2) make sure that once you click “Not Now,” you go into your Friend Request page and ignore them permanently.

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As some of you know, Barbri offers the ability to access bar prep materials on your iPhone or iPad for a fee.  What you may not know is that the Barbri Mobile device has some serious limitations:

1. You can’t use your Barbri account on both an iPad AND an iPhone (and if you upgrade to, say, the iPhone 4, you’re similarly out of luck).  You’re limited to logging in with one device, and if you log in with another device, your Barbri account is locked down and you have to call tech support to have them unlock it.

2.  Barbri Mobile isn’t *really* made for iPad — it just happens to be compatible.  What does that mean?  It means that if you want to stretch the app out to the full size of the iPad, everything is going to look really blurry.

3.  IT IS $300!  I have a feeling that at some point Barbri will realize that this price tag is absolutely insane for the ability to access the exact same materials we can access on our computers, but in the meantime we have to deal with this pricing insanity.

Thankfully, there is a solution to all three of these problems.  It’s called iTeleport.  Okay, so it’s not free, but it is the best VNC app that I’ve tested on the iPad by far.  It’s $25, which is pretty expensive for a mobile app, but it’s a universal app (one price for both the iPad and the iPhone version), it’s already updated for iOS 4 multitasking, and it’s WAY more affordable than $300 if you’re super poor like me.

What Does it Do?

The idea is fairly simple.  You set up your computer at home with the barbri software running (either the Windows, OS X, or online version — it doesn’t matter) and iTeleport will display on your iPad or iPhone whatever is on your computer.  It will let you interact with the program as well, so you can select your answers and set up your exams just like you would on your computer.

Setting it Up

Step 1:  Download iTeleport directly onto your iDevice or download it here.

Step 2: Follow these instructions if you have a Mac, or these instructions if you have a PC.

Step 3: Run the iTeleport app, and enjoy your $275 savings.

Tips

• Maximize the StudyDesk software on your computer before starting up iTeleport.  That way you’ll take advantage of the screen real estate and won’t have to worry about windows getting stuck behind windows.
• Swipe up with three fingers to hide the toolbar.
• Turn “Touchscreen Mode” ON in the options.  That gives it a more iOS-like feel.  That way you don’t have to worry about messing with the mouse cursor.

I may update with more tips as I begin to use my iPad/iPhone to work through the practice tests.  In the meantime, please let me know in the comments if you find any good tips.  If you have problems getting the program up, I’m not sure if I can help, but I’ll try if I have time.

Good luck on the bar exam!

[3/30/2011 Addendum: As commenter legalpun points out, this will not work if your goal is to watch the Barbri videos. Audio is generally not transmitted through VNC.]

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For those of you who subscribe to the Legal Geekery podcast, I’m happy to announce that no longer will you have to look at the drab gray album cover I unapologetically yoinked from my Legeeke comic.

The new art was designed by Aira Saunar, and you should definitely go check out her stuff if you like anime.

Here’s the large version:

And the cover as it’ll appear on your iPhone/iPad/iPod/iTunes:

Yep, it’s definitely us standing in front of SCOTUS.  If you’re experiencing a weird sense of deja vu, let’s just say we had some pretty awesome inspiration.  Yep.  That’s how we roll.

Hope you like the new look.

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So I was one of those dorks waiting in line at 6am on Saturday morning when the iPad launched.

I had my new “toy” in time to attempt to run my Advocacy II trial from it.  I looked at a lot of apps that might make this possible but I settled on ReaddleDocs.  Having successfully completed my trial using only the iPad, I’m very happy with its performance (and with ReaddleDocs).

ReaddleDocs is capable of reading pretty much any file format you throw at it.  You can also mount it like a wireless network drive, or sync it through an online storage program like Dropbox.  I’ve used both methods, and they both work flawlessly.  I prefer the Dropbox method because I can edit my files on my laptop and then sync them to the iPad without any added effort.

The other nice thing about both methods is that Readdle preserves the folder structure.  What I mean by that is that I had a bunch of depositions in my “depositions” folder under my “Cooper v. Bennett” main directory, and when I imported it into Readdle, that file system was maintained, so I didn’t have to organize my files.

The other nice feature is bookmarking.  For my crosses, I had page and line bookmarked to depositions for impeachment purposes.  Of course, there are tons of other uses for bookmarking in the legal profession, but that’s how I’ve used it so far.

So those of you considering dropping the money for an iPad or those of you who are just curious about this $600 tablet of awesomeness, feel free to ask questions in the comments.  I’ve spent a lot of time researching it, playing with it, and buying a ton of apps, and I might just have the answer.

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Even if you’re not a huge nerd like me, you’ve probably heard about what the New York Times has been calling “iPhonegate.”  Long story short, Gizmodo purchased a phone thought to be a prototype for their 4G iPhone.  Turns out that in doing so, they may have violated federal and/or state laws.

After all the buzz, the DA pushes for a search warrant to search a Gizmodo editor’s house, and lots of computer equipment and miscellaneous items are seized.  Gizmodo’s attorney writes a badass lawyer-pants letter to the investigator, which causes the DA to hold off the search until the law can be considered.  The law in question, the EFF has said, should shield Jason Chen’s equipment from being searched, as he’s arguably a member of the press.

I sort of feel like I need to pop some popcorn and furiously refresh Gizmodo.  Check out this thread on Gizmodo for a good outline of all the events (with links and court documents).

p.s. 4G iPhone looks sick.

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