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It doesn’t suck!

Download the FastCase legal research application for the iPhone at fastcase.com/iPhone

Posted via email from practice (redux)

… websites that aggregate 3rd-party applications compete for your favor. Case in point,  the following 5 iPhone app aggregators are featured in this post on RWW

Chorus
AppsFire
Yappler
Appolicious
App Genius

This is where survival of the fittest takes on a whole new meaning. Even the folks at Read/Write/Web aren’t sure which one is the best of the best. Now, if only our industry inspired such creative aggregation, maybe someone would have a shot at unseating the Legal Research Duopoly that rules our lives.

Hey, a guy can dream …

According to this piece in the Silicon Valley Insider, the iPhone only picked up 5,000 subscribers in its first weekend on sale in China. China Unicom says it’s pleased with the launch of the iPhone however. Reuters reports that the phone should add revenue in the 4^th Quarter for China Unicom (China’s #2 carrier). Of course compared to the rip roaring success that Apple is used to, this was an underwhelming weekend. But consider that the iPhone gets no WiFi in China an can retail for as mcuh as $1,025 unless it is bought with a phone contract, in which it can also be free.

Another day another buzzword. Today it’s the real-time web - one in a series of recent developments making the web more useful. Now the web

• travels with our handheld devices (mobile web)
• alerts us when something happens (web of things)
• keeps us informed as things happen (real-time web)

Much high-quality writing about this comes from Read/Write/Web, host of the Real-Time Web Summit going on right now. Here are some of the companies they’ve featured thus far:

• identica.ca: open-source twitter client like status.net (formerly laconi.ca)
• superfeedr.com: real-time parsing of RSS feeds
• waze: crowd-sourced traffic tips and directions
• zensify: social network topics via weighted tags
• allvoices: distills input from citizen journalists
• pachube: the www connected to your house, etc. (my addition to the list)

While the legal applications for these developments are virtually limitless, even day-to-day applications are intriguing.  At last my refrigerator can call, IM, or e-mail with a reminder to go grocery shopping; or it may just transmit a pre-programmed list to the store based on the fridge’s lastest contents (adjusted for plans to have the neighbors over). Events that I upload from my phone to my calendar are communicated to the refigerator which can remind me to buy party supplies, etc. The list goes on and on.

Now if you don’t mind I’m going to tell my house to raise the room temperature in time for my arrival this evening.

Happy Birthday Clio

What do you get the legal SaaS company that has everything? More features of course.  Clio burst onto the scene at 2008’s ABA TechShow and hasn’t stopped since. In fact by the looks of things the race to add features is in full swing. Here’s a brief review of the Clio that was and is. Not enough Clio for you? Check out our 2009 TechShow report, complete with interviews with principals Jack Newton and Rian Gavreau. Keep up the good work guys.

Who knew? It turns out that free tools online can help you achieve your personal, financial, and practice goals. Below you’ll find the 10-step plan to do it.

1.  Get the big-picture of what you want do to using software like mindjet.

2. Develop task lists via Remember the Milk, Google Tasks, etc.

3.  Use services like Bing and Hunch that give suggestions.

4.  Record your progress via Springpad and like services.

5.  Use tools like Diigo, Zotero, and Laterloop, to save work.

6. Searchpad can help integrate the results of your research.

7. Calendar and organize using services like Ning and Meetup.

8. Build or participate in communities of goal-oriented people.

9. Review content-sharing sites like WordPress, YouTube, etc.

10. Refine, reconfigure, repeat.

Sites to Checkout

Geezeo tracks personal finances in a community of like-minded people. The site just launched a Facebook application.

Mint: the more famous and earlier financial website recently purchased by Intuit, the makers of Quicken. Imagine the possibilities.

Goalmigo is an online community that helps you set, track and find supporters to reach your goals.

112 Apps that help you Get Things Done (GTD) is a great list, but of course who has time when you’re getting things done?

From 5 Steps to Getting Unstuck and Pursuing Your Goals