Category Archives: Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools

Facebook Gets A Facelift

Written On July 21, 2008 By Bob Kraft

An increasing number of lawyers are using the social networking Web site Facebook for making connections with lawyers in other practice areas or other geographic areas. Personally, I have three of my firm’s blogs listed at Facebook, and encourage readers to join the Kraft & Associates Blog Network there.
A story today by the Associated Press [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Practice Tips

Need Computer Repairs — Be Careful Who You Hire!

Written On July 14, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The geniuses in our Texas Legislature have been at it again. This time they managed to pass a law, admittedly written by the private investigators’
lobby, that will require every person who does computer repair in Texas to be a licensed private investigator. And if you pay a non-licensed person to fix your computer, you’ll be [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Political and/or Judicial

Featured Link – Map Of Free Wi-Fi Hotspots

Written On July 5, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Traveling to a new area and need wi-fi access? Check ahead of time with WeFi.com. That’s a user-donated map site of wi-fi networks. Some of these are commercial and some are just unsecured private networks. The unsecured ones might be accidental or might be private sites that the owners have deliberately left unsecured so others [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Featured Link

It’s Independence Day – When Did We Lose Our Liberty?

Written On July 4, 2008 By Bob Kraft

This is the 4th of July, and I’m on the computer in the time between a picnic this morning and dinner and fireworks this evening. I was struck by the irony of an article in the New York Times on this Independence Day. The article is evidence of the chipping away at our individual liberties, [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Consumer Information

Featured Link – ChunkIt! Web Search Assistant

Written On May 28, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I got an e-mail ad for this product, and it actually looks as if it might be helpful for Internet searches. Here’s a quote from the ad:
It’s called ChunkIt and it’s a FREE browser search tool you can add to your Web page to make searching easier on every Web site. For example, if you [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Featured Link, Internet Research or News

Featured Link – All My Faves

Written On May 20, 2008 By Bob Kraft

All My Faves is a handy site that shows icons for dozens of the Internet’s most popular Web sites. No more searching required — just go here and click on whatever you’re looking for.

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Featured Link, Internet Research or News

Featured Link – Web 2.0 Directory

Written On April 24, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Are you one of those baffled by all the talk of Web 2.0? Here’s the Wikipedia definition:
Web 2.0 is a trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to facilitate creativity,
information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.
These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based
communities and [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Featured Link, Internet Research or News

Featured Link – Internet Crime Complaint Center

Written On April 22, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The federal government has a Web site where you can report all those
Internet scam e-mails you get every day. Not that it will do any good,
but maybe you’ll feel better after complaining. Here’s the explanation
from the Internet Crime Complaint Center:

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Consumer Information, Featured Link, Government

Beware Of A “Rootkit” Virus

Written On April 14, 2008 By Bob Kraft

These new rootkit viruses are driving people nuts. Here’s a quick tip from Tom Mighell’s Internet Legal Research Weekly:
Viruses are tricky, but rootkits are especially diabolical.  A rootkit is a program that digs deep to the root of your computer, and hides itself there.  If something is wrong with your computer and your regular troubleshooting [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools

ABA Techshow Is Finally Here!

Written On March 12, 2008 By Bob Kraft

It’s Wednesday night before Techshow begins Thursday morning with a welcome from this year’s Chair, my friend Tom Mighell. Having Tom as Chair of ABA Techshow surely means the 2008 conference will be even bigger and better than the other dozen or more that I’ve attended.
We’ve moved from the Sheraton to the Hilton Chicago, and [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools

Finding Wi-Fi On The Road

Written On January 22, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written before about finding Wi-Fi hot spots on the road. It’s getting easier to do as more and more businesses and hotels offer connections. In Texas, all the highway rest stops have Wi-Fi now, and other states are joining this trend. Besides the usual Starbucks hot spots, Wi-Fi can be found in many public [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools

Link of the Day – End User License Agreement Analyzer

Written On December 26, 2007 By Bob Kraft

Do you ever take the time to read the end user license agreements (EULAs) that pop up each time you buy or download a software program online? No, neither do I. But now there’s a free program that will read the EULA for you, and alert you to any tricky language. Just visit JavaCoolSoftware.com and [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Link of the Day

Link of the Day – Free Online File Backup

Written On December 23, 2007 By Bob Kraft

None of us backs up computer files as often as recommended, but there’s a great free service that makes backing up both painless and automatic. You can get a completely free online backup of up to 2 GB from Mozy.com. That’s not enough for all your photos and video, but it’ll cover your spreadsheets and [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Link of the Day

Ask.com Gives Option Of Deleting Your Search History

Written On December 11, 2007 By Bob Kraft

The Dallas Morning News reports today that the search engine Ask.com is allowing people to delete their search history at that site. The new policy, called SearchEraser is due to debut today.
The article points out that Google and Microsoft retain search histories for 18 months, and AOL and Yahoo retain them for 13 months.
The only [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Internet Research or News

Link of the Day – Google Guides

Written On December 5, 2007 By Bob Kraft

Many thanks to my friend Jim Calloway for his alert about the nifty Google Guides, especially the two-page Google Cheat Sheet and the Google Calculator Cheat Sheet. Thanks Jim!

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Internet Research or News, Link of the Day

Link of the Day – Datamancer Computer Keyboards

Written On December 3, 2007 By Bob Kraft

If you’re looking for a Christmas gift for me, hurry on over to Datamancer.com and check out the gorgeous hand-made computer keyboards there. I can’t afford to buy one for myself, but I’d be glad to accept one from you…

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Link of the Day

Link of the Day – Protect Yourself Online

Written On December 2, 2007 By Bob Kraft

The San Jose Mercury News recently had a nice collection of tips for safer Internet use. Most are common sense, but it never hurts to review the basics:
1. Make sure your operating system’s automatic updates and firewall are turned on.
2. Use security programs including anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and subscribe to security updates.
3. [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Link of the Day

Wildcard Tip For Google

Written On November 29, 2007 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a quick Google tip. You can use an asterisk as a wildcard for one missing word in a Google search. For instance, if you can’t remember what the C in USCIS stands for, you can type "U.S. * and immigration services" and Google will pull up the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services Web site.

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools

Link of the Day – Tips For Managing Your E-mail

Written On November 8, 2007 By Bob Kraft

Courtesy of The Hamster Revolution Web site, here are some tips for managing your e-mail. We all seem to be drowning in e-mail these days, constantly battling spam and hoping that the important message manage to survive our filters. These tips will help you spend less time and still accomplish your purposes with e-mail.
•Send less. [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Link of the Day

Link of the Day – Distraction-Free Writing (For Mac Users)

Written On October 14, 2007 By Bob Kraft

I don’t use Apple computers, although I’m more and more tempted to make the switch. I came across this very simple program for Mac user. All it does is block out everything else on your screen except a word processing program. The idea is to help those of us who are too easily distracted by [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Practice Tips