Criminal Defense Law With An Apple

I thought that Mac Students had shut down. But Erik couldn’t stay away. Nice to have this blog back. But Scripting for Lawyers seems to have disappeared. Looks like the whole site is gone. Too bad.

There is a lot of hype this week about Windows 7. Living in the Pacific NW, the echo chamber for the hype is even louder. Still, I read this article today from Chip Bit that surprised me. See, for some of my colleagues, the number one issue with Vista was the complete and shockingly widespread incompatibility with so many programs and drivers.

In fairness, Microsoft had to do this. Dead weight. MS already had a bloated OS that was continuously backward compatible with most everything ever made for Windows 95 and up. This seemed like a hopeless strategy. It made the OS slow and constantly prone to attack. So it was rumored that backward compatibility would have to be addressed. I guess this is how they do it:

“Because from a compatibility standpoint, if it works on Vista, it will work on Windows 7. If it doesn’t work on Vista, it won’t work on Windows 7.”

That’s lame. But from another source the story continues that MS is offering a virtual environment for XP software. If you buy the right version of Windows 7. So there you go. That is the fix. If you were waiting for Microsoft to come out with something that would work with your novel piece of software from Windows 98, you can use it in a virtual environment on 7. If you were waiting for Microsoft to make a novel piece of software…well, hold onto your copy of XP and we’ll see. 

I have recently upgraded from Grand Central to Google Voice. So far, it looks very promising (including a written transcript of voice messages). I look forward to providing a full review after 30 days of use.

I read a few reviews of Sugar Sync last year and I had just finished tinkering with Dropbox and MobileMe. Both programs left me unsatisfied and I couldn’t come up with a good solution. MobileMe was slow and unstable. Drop Box had a clunky interface and lacked some critical features (albeit, it was beta).  Others, like Jungle Disk, were met with mixed reviews. I put the whole project off for a while.

After 30 days with Sugarsync…wow! No problems. What I dig about this software is that a physical file (the magic briefcase) resides on my hard drive and then uses the cloud to sync across the other computers. So far, four computers are syncing flawlessly. I think the “magic briefcase” is what makes this product standout against other cloud solutions. This, coupled with the iPhone application makes Sugarsync a new favorite. I can now access any file from my office on my iPhone. Sweet! Now, if I could just get Circus Ponies Notebook on my iPhone, the planets will have aligned. 

Of course, for a proper review, head on over to Mac Esq’s review. He also has some question and answers on Sugarsync. Bad news, since those posts, Mac Esq has turned his back on Sugar Sync and embraced Dropbox. 

But for our us, Sugarsync is more intuitive and works better than any other solution we have spent 30 days with. Of course, I am still in the honeymoon stage (and we don’t have the “over 25,000 files” problem that Mac Esq dealt with). I just purchased a year subscription and we will see how things go from here.

The folks over at Mac Litigator saw this great deal on Circus Ponies Notebook. I am a huge fan of Notebook and consider it one of my core programs in managing cases. The deal is good for one day only. If you are seeing this on Tuesday, cue the violin.

So my iPhone was stolen. Bummer, right?  I am still in the first 5 months of this contract, so no subsidized phone. Thanks to all the folks that called and said, “My iPhone was stolen (so they could jailbreak or ebay),” AT&T doesn’t allow you to get another unsubsidized phone while still in contract. I own a 2 year plan and need a phone to go with it. Eesh.

I am not trying to sound flippant. I am mad. But I have an assault case that I am preparing for trial and I do not need to stretch this pain out. No point in being angry at Apple or AT&T.  They didn’t steal my phone. Okay. So get over it and buy the unsubsidized iPhone. But wait. What about everything on my iPhone? All my client contacts and the privileged data on the phone? Well, it is not lost. Once I purchase the new phone, I have my apple Address Book and iCal “push” all the info via my MobileMe account. It takes a while to set up email (it did last time too), but it is up and running within 20 minutes. 

The Phone, the Phone!

But what about the data that is still on the old phone? Preventing sensitive data from falling in the wrong hands is critical. It should be true for all your electronic data. Here, you have to do the smart thing. The iPhone should be set to lock after  1-5 minutes. Your iPhone should have Pass Code turned on. Then… the nuclear  decision. “Data Wipe” after 10 attempts to unlcock (these options can be found in your “General Settings”). Why is data wipe no big deal? If it is your phone, you go plug it back in to your Mac and everything is repopulated. If it is not your phone, you lose, everything is gone, nothing to see here but an empty phone. 

So what about all the calls that our new friend is making to far away lands. My contract was set to unlimited minutes and data plan (some of my clients have the gift of gab). So no lost minutes. Still, there was the potential for sabotage. If someone could figure out how to get in to the phone, or stole it before the lock turned on, they could wreak havoc on my email, calendars and address book.  The next sync could be a disaster. Good new/bad news. The good news is that you can call AT&T 24/7 and have the phone disconnected. It disconnects the phone number and data plan. This makes the iPhone an instant iPod touch. The bad news is that when you do this, if someone calls, the number will go to a pre-recording that says, “this phone number is not taking calls at this time.” So that makes getting a new phone set up a priority.  So I sent one last text message, giving the nefarious holder of my phone a chance to return the phone with a reward. Then, shut it down. 

It’s Over Now & Looking to the Future

At the end of the day, I am still pretty mad. It was an expensive lesson. And what was the lesson, you ask? Patience. See, my iPhone was in my car (it slipped deep beneath the seat). But life goes on. And knowing things are safe and can be restored within 24 hours is a bonus.  

I am considering adding  Instamapper or Gadget Tracker. This is the closest thing there is to a lo-jack, besides TUAW’s solution. I think it might be helpful. I doubt I  would have Seattle PD help me track down my phone. But it might have been nice, if, let’s say, I just lost it.  I am still deciding on the wallpaper that is a “if found” page or I found your phone.  If you can overlook aesthetics, there are also some lost and found websites that allow you to put a sticker on your phone and have the person contact the website for a reward. After looking further, there is a host of choices in this arena. Folks over at Makeuseof.com have a roll your own application.  if you have suggestions, preventative or otherwise, to help survive an iPhone loss, leave it in the comments.

Covered over at Apple Briefs. 

Generating a noticeable bit of buzz in the world of Case Management systems is Deskspace. Before product launch, the Director at Deskspace, Nick Lightbody, has been getting input from lawyers in different practice areas. The developers have been reworking the user interface and integration with Filemaker 10.  The company has suggested a beta release in the coming months.We will continue to follow the developments of the product and post new information as it becomes available.

Being covered, tweeted and blogged everywhere is the Kindle application for the iPhone. I look forward to checking out the Kindle excitement that is buzzing around my iPhone-toting colleagues. I downloaded it a few days back.  Just need to find some time to sign up for an Amazon account.  We are also drafting up our popular multi-part series: “What software do you use?” Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

The beta for Apple’s web browser is out. You can download it here.  Top Sites and Cover Flow seem to be the exciting additions. We’ll keep an eye on the reviews and keep you posted on what we think of the Safari in the weeks to come.  Note: I would not recommend beta versions on office Macs. Try it out on the home computer.