Helping you get more done…even if it’s by accident.

With the launch of the AppStore came the not-so-funny proliferation of tip calculators.

Of course, not one to be picked last for the kickball team, I chose mine early (”Check Please”) and I’ve been a loyal apologist (is that being redundant?) ever since.

Last night, I fired up by iPhone to learn that there was an update for CheckPlease. What, praytell, could they be doing to improve on that little piece of magic that tells you what to tip. Thankfully, they told me before had to decide whether I was tight-rolling my jeans, or leaving them cuffed….

Oh, golly jee - Expert Mode! Whatever could that be? Now, I had chosen CheckPlease specifically because of simplicity. So, I’m wasn’t sure I wanted to venture into Expert land with too much bounce in my step. I mean, look at this -

What else could I possible need? And, to boot, I own a Bank of America Visa card shown at the top. (How did they KNOW?). But, valiantly, I figured I’d fire up Expert Mode to see what all the fuss was about. I mean, I’m not above learning something new…

Lo and behold…Expert Mode….

Yup, you got it. Expert mode is deducting the sales tax before you calculate the tip. In essence, leaving less money than if you just calculated the percentage tip off of the check total. Now, I’m not going to lay this at CheckPlease’s doormat. I’ll assume that they were kowtowing the pressures of consumers demanding an “expert mode.” But, you - consumer? - if you’re using Expert Mode, you’re a tightwad. I won’t argue about this.

Agile Web Solution’s hugely popular 1Password launched its iPhone app partner yesterday. 1Password is the go-to password/secret manager for Macs and can now be called the best password manager for the iPhone.

Initial Impressions

When you first launch the program, it prompts you to set an 4-digit unlock code to access the main program and another “master code” to access some of the more sensitive information contained inside the program. This can include everything from your login information and saved forms for websites to secure notes to “wallet” type information.

To use the program, you enter your 4-digit unlock code and then you view some of the saved content. You can choose whether to have that saved content be subject to entering the master code or now. By default, anything that is imported from your 1Password computer information is tagged to be “master-code” dependent. This is helpful because otherwise you’d have to go into every saved item and configure it. Truthfully, if you’re serious about security, there is absolutely no reason why every item in there should be anything but master-code locked.

Like a few of the iPhone apps out there, 1Password makes wonderful use of the ability to open a browser page. That permits you to the website (in all of its Safari-like glory) using your secure login information, without switching applications.

While I would like to see something stronger than a 4-digit passcode to access 1Password, that concern is mitigated by the ability to lockdown absolutely everything in the program with the master-code (which can, and should, be long, complex, etc.)

It looks like Agile Web is looking to make the iPhone version of 1Password a paid-for application. Fine, I guess, if people are buying it standalone. The fact that it is an iPhone application also means that hoards of Windows users will now have, er, access to this great application, but I think that the iPhone version should be free to existing Mac 1Password license holders. Let’s see if they do the right thing.

In full disclosure, I’ve just signed up to belong to the affiliate program at MacUpdate. They’ve got a great bundle whereby you get 10 applications for $65. They include Parallels, SoundStudio, Hazel, Leap and DVDRemasterPro.

The retail cost for Parallels alone is more than $65 and the other programs are real gems. Unlike MacHeist’s newest bundle, most of the applications are showing up here for the first time - at least for me.

You can help line my pocket with a very little bit of money by clicking through the following link to purchase the bundle. Today’s MacUpdate Promo, 40% off

Let’s see what this whole monetizing thing is about.

“I don’t care to listen to you today…”

Join Victor Medina, Grant Griffiths, Finis Price and Ben Stevens in a roundtable discussion about using Macs in the law office.

Comments? Send them to milochat@macsinthelawoffice.com

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Download the podcast directly by clicking (or right-clicking) here

Chuck Newton, who runs the Third Wave Lawyer, recently had a post on his thoughts about the Macbook Air and further on about the value proposition of using Apple products or Macs in the Law Office.

Chuck makes the usual commonly misguided points about Macs, which makes even the reluctant-fanboy in me feel the need to respond. So, let’s take these one at a time:

Chuck says:

I am all about cheap and I hate cell phone bills coming in in the hundreds of dollars a month. That is also the reason I have been unimpressed with the MacBook Air. I am not into novelty and design as an excuse to take money out of my pocket. That ended with me when I bought a Pet Rock in the 70s. Apple is all about being the end thing, and some lawyers like that. It is pretty. It is cool.

Well, I guess that one lawyer’s experience is hardly dispositive of an issue, but let me tell you about the cost of my Apple products (I’m assuming you’re points concern the non-cross-platform items, i.e. not iPods or iPhones). I run a small law firm in New Jersey that has 4 attorneys and 2 staff members. Put aside the issue of whether I need all of these people or the overhead for a second and let me tell you that the entire office uses Mac computers. Here are the ages of the computers we have: 1 laptop (Macbook) from 2006, 2 eMacs (all-in-ones) from 2000 and 3 PowerMac towers from 1998. That’s right - I have 3 computers that have been functioning for 10 years. So, the average money I spent in hardware per year for the last 10 years for those users was $200 per attorney. For the “staff” computers the cost is much lower (maybe $50 per attorney per year). If one is all about cheap, you can’t do better than that.

At the same time, in the last two years, I have spent $0 in IT costs and about 15 minutes in down-time when I thought one of the eMacs was broken and drove to my neighborhood repair dude (who fixed a loose internal connection, charged me nothing, and had me back in the office working in those 15 minutes). So, in running the firm, I have almost no down time and no upkeep costs simply because of the fact that I’m running Apple machines. When I worked for a firm that used Windows, they had a bevy of “loaner” laptops for the folks whose machines needed repair. I needed the loaners anywhere between 2-3 times per month. Imagine what that would have cost if I was running the large firm.

Finally, and I only disclose because I think it’s relevant to the conversation, about $0.50 of every dollar goes to profit. There is no way I could maintain that kind of margin if I were running Windows machines. I don’t have any IT firm on retainer to help me to stay running. The shelf life of my computer hardware is ridiculously off the scale. I finally upgraded some machines because if their inability to run the newest software (which is 4 generations beyond what it was when they were first purchased).

The point is - there is no way I could agree to the position that using Macs in my law office presents a higher cost proposition than Windows.

Chuck also says:

And, these lawyers are willing to burden their practices with the costs of apple products (both as to purchase price and in operating it in this Windows environment in which lawyers must too often compete).

First, as a true fanboy, I’d have to take you to task for not capitalizing the “A” in Apple (you are off Steve Jobs’ Xmas list). But, my second point is that that statement is just wrong. I have a number of clients who have been with the firm longer than 10 years. We’ve never used anything but Mac products. We’ve never needed to have a Windows machine to operate in the Windows environment (which of course I will admit is the case). Between the Mac’s native ability to create, read and comment on .PDFs and the number of free (FREE) office suites that create, read and edit Word and Excel documents - there’s never a translation problem. In fact, clients were surprised to learn that we run a Mac environment precisely because there was never a problem.

Another point that should be made is that running Macs allows me to better compete with other lawyers because of the superior way in which they allow me to be creative. A few concrete examples - my proposals, presentations and work product is better on an order of magnitude as compared to my fellow Windows-using colleagues. Part of that can be done with software that comes right with the computer (and should be deducted from any comparison on price) and other costs as much as $29. Now, others can say that all of that flourish is unnecessary, but I would argue it’s what contributes to the thought that all lawyers are boring (and I don’t mean you, Chuck - anyone who posts as much good jazz as you do can’t be boring - but you get my point). Without shipping it out to trial presentation firms, graphic designers or marketing gurus, I can create all kinds of great brochures, stunning “powerpoint” presentations and even my own letterhead at no or little costs. Plus, I have fun doing it. The hardware and software allow me to work (serve as tools) and I don’t have to spend any time learning how to use the tools - there’s inherent value in that. As an example, if the difference between a micro-notebook running Windows versus Mac OSX natively is truly $1,400 as suggested (and I would take issue with that), and you spend more than 10 hours tinkering with stuff that you don’t want to be tinkering with - haven’t you made that money already?

Actually, let me address the cost difference comparison being suggested. To say that a sub-notebook running Windows (and I’m familiar with most of them) is comparable to the MacBook Air is to purposely discount or ignore any of the advantages of the Air. For instance, most of the Windows machines compromised by reducing the size of the keyboard and screen size (and quality). For people who think that pecking things out with their thumbs is frustrating, try typing on a slightly-smaller-than-usual keyboard where nothing is where your muscle memory is telling you it is. The Air, on the other hand, has a full-sized keyboard, and as a writing machine - that’s crucial for me. The other thing about screen size and quality I can see if people don’t want to pay more for that. I would suggest that a screen that uses LED and saves battery life is preferable to one that doesn’t (forget about the environmental advantages - just focus on spending more time working, less money on batteries) and that’s worth something to me.

Finally, there’s no way that I would recommend an Air to a new-convert as their sole working machine (and here I open myself up to a price counter), but the Air is really more of a second machine. What you want (and I know you want one, Chuck) is a Macbook. It’s an excellent laptop, only about 5 lbs., and powerful enough to run your entire office. In fact, until last week, it served as my only computer for the last 2 years. It’s never been down, it’s never given me the blue screen of death and I don’t have to spend my precious time tinkering with how to get it to work “right.”

So, if you give me enough time and enough of your ear, I promise I can convince you to switch. In fact, it’s almost sacrilege that a cost-sensitive, solo-practitioner who’s at the bleeding edge of how to be a lawyer is using anything but a Mac. In fact, you should listen to our podcast (which I recorded, produced and published for free from my Macbook) to hear some other, more notable, folks tell you the same thing….you do have an iPod, right? Here’s the link.

See - I even managed to avoid being a reactionist-jerk in my response. That’s better than average for challenging a Mac-fanboy to a duel.

Posted by Victor J. Medina,
Medina, Martinez & Castroll, LLC

So, I talked myself into needing a MacPro for the office. I reasoned that my Macbook was getting long in the tooth having served as my main computer for the past two years (which for me, meant running 10-12 hours a day, every day). I want the notebook to last and it’s a fine “firm” presentation machine on an ad hoc basis. I also needed to get the wrist area replaced due to orange staining and a chipped cover. I’m hoping that my AppleCare warranty covers it all, but I won’t be shocked if it doesn’t. Point is, now that I have a new computer, I can finally send it away for a couple of days to relax and recharge at the neighborhood Certified Apple Repair Shop.

With that in mind, I started shopping for a desktop with an eye to buying the Macbook Air v.2 in the near future as my new traveling notebook. I mean, I need a laptop for home use. Thus, I said to myself, I’ll need a workhorse for the office - something extensible and upgradeable, which meant a MacPro. I shopped around for price (am I really going to notice the difference between the bottom two graphics cards? Don’t everyone shout “yes” at once) and decided to go with a refurbished unit from Apple. I bought the current entry model for about $400 less than the list price. I could have found it slightly cheaper on Craigslist or Ebay, but I know Apple, he’s been over my house for coffee, and I know that in a pinch he’ll take my call, even if he’s in Canada at the time.

After the computer arrived (no thanks to FedEx leaving it in Reno a few extra days to see the “sights”), I ran Migration Assistant to move my stuff from the MacBook to the MacPro. Mind you, I’ve bought about 8 or so new computers from Apple in the last two years (not all for me, calm down) and I’ve set each of them up new and just copied over the files, applications and preferences that I needed. I figured this time that the Migration Assistant would be easier - I had work to do, dammit. Boy, was I wrong!

As soon I finished moving stuff over, I opened GarageBand to do a little audio editing (what did I buy it for, if not processor intensive work, I thought). BAM - kernel panic! I restart it and bam, kernel panic again. So, after some prompting from a friend, I called Apple to chew them out a bit and get some help.

First, a word about the fine folks at Apple support. Finest bunch of people I’ve ever called while annoyed at something I purchased. Exceedingly polite, great Canadian sense of humor - every phone call was a pleasure. All 5 of them…

To make this long story short enough to keep you reading to the end, I had to reinstall Leopard in order to fix the problem. The computer is working now, but I’m a great deal less excited than I was on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to using it and making myself feel good about the fact that I have this cool, shiny, refurbished computer. But first, I have to go re-install OSX Server.

I’m sure that will go forward without a hitch….

In our first MILO Chat Podcast, my friend Finis Price mentioned how much he was using Quicksilver and how useful he found it. I, on the other hand, let him know exactly what class of moron I was and how I couldn’t figure out how to use it.

I’ve since become less of a moron. I downloaded Quicksilver and used it for two weeks as a quick launch program. I would have Quicksilver running in the background and as I needed an application that wasn’t (or sometimes, as I got adept, was) on the dock, I would punch in my quick keystroke and launch the application I needed. Sometimes I had a problem remembering the name of the program I needed to open (like I forgot that the program is called “Swift Publisher” not “Program that does that cool layout stuff I love.”

I downloaded the MacBreak video with Merlin Mann that shows how to use the “Action” part of Quicksilver more effectively. Of course, it requires that the necessary plugins have been downloaded, and therein lies the problem. I have tried downloading the necessary plugins 5 or 6 times already and it chokes my Quicksilver and goes nowhere.

So, I have a great, free quick launch program for my computer, but I don’t have that awesome program that everyone seems to be raving about.

I’ll keep trying, but if you have any hints or suggested solutions…I’m all ears.

Posted by Victor J. Medina,
Medina, Martinez & Castroll, LLC

Well, I’ve heard you and it’s quite clear that everyone wants to download the inaugural MILO Chat podcast.

Bear with me as I learn how to include all the shiny buttons that make downloading to iTunes a one-button procedure. I’m also figuring out how to create an RSS feed that will allow you to subscribe to this podcast and get regular updates as you would for any podcasts produced by the “professionals.” It shouldn’t be difficult, which just proves to you how wholly inadequate I am for the task.

Until I’ve shaken out all the cobwebs, here is a link to a downloadable version of the MILO Chat podcast. Whether you’re on a Mac or a PC, the link below should provide a right-click or control-click option to download the podcast as a saved file onto your desktop or directly into iTunes.

Keep on the lookout for major changes — if this becomes popular enough, the four of us, including the monkey, may just have to find a new home for our little show.

Download the podcast here

And, let us know what you think….

No pithy title. No lazy link love to another review. Just a straight up review of the software that most likely saved my career.

I have had a problem with my hands for quite some time. As a lawyer, I do a fair amount of typing, whether that’s for e-mail responses or in drafting letters and agreements. At the same time, I spent a number of years playing the piano recreationally. All of this has resulted in me having a dull pain in my hands whenever I type too much after a long day.

Before I switched to Macs, I ran a speech recognition software called Dragon Naturally Speaking. It was pretty good, but the law firm that I worked for got me the “legal” edition of the software, which I think was a few versions behind the really good software. After I switched to Macs, the only piece of software that was out there for speech recognition was iListen by MacSpeech. To be frank, it wasn’t very good. In fact, with all due respect to MacSpeech, it was terrible. So, for the last two years, I have been writing things out longhand, typing everything, and generally living with the dull pain that resulted.

As many people who are interested in speech recognition software know, MacSpeech announced that they were launching a new speech recognition software called Dictate. This was really important news because rather than relying on the old Phillips engine that powered iListen, MacSpeech had been able to license the engine that powered Dragon from Nuance, and that was what was going to be running the new Dictate software. They made this announcement at MacWorld, even winning a Best of Show award for Dictate. I was very excited and placed my order right away.

Then, I spent the next month and a half checking the status of my order two or three times a day. Finally, last night, I learned that my copy of Dictate was shipping out and would arrive today. I installed it right away and have been playing with it for the last three hours. As you might have guessed, I’ve been drafting this entire review using Dictate.

What can I say? It’s fabulous. I mean, I only did the basic training, and I’d be surprised if the software got one word wrong for every thousand that I’ve spoken. I’ve used it so much that my keyboard, which is attached via Bluetooth, has power down and lost connection with my Macbook. If it does miss a word, it is most likely because I’ve gotten lazy with my dictation not because it has misinterpreted the context or word I’ve spoken.

It takes contractions with ease, and laughs at my challenge to interpret capitalized words like iListen, iPhone, iPod, Dictate, Mac ad nauseam. It even does an excellent job of controlling my computer, such as opening and quitting applications, inserting text before and after other text, and switching between applications.

If I’m being fair with this review, and I’d like to think that I am, I should point out that the software has a couple of bugs. These have less to do with the speech recognition part of the software, and more to do with some of the internal functionality of the commands that you can use to make your speech recognition smoother. Specifically, it has a quirky little bug that copies text after an insertion point somewhere higher in the document and places it at the end of wherever you resume dictating. Not being a programmer, I have no idea why this happens. Also, as many other people have pointed out in their preview of Dictate, the program does not allow you to correct a word by selecting it and choosing from a number of options. Though the company has been very clear that it intends on adding that particular feature in a subsequent version.

Why is this important for you? Well, I’m not sure that it is. But, this is ridiculously important for me because it means I can now rest my hands for the better part of the working day. And, I honestly believe that this software has extended my career by at least a few years. Unfortunately, it also means that I have no excuse for being more productive during the day.

Of course, if you use the program long enough, you will be speaking your punctuation in everyday life. And, that’s going to get annoying for your family very very quickly.

Posted by Victor J. Medina,
Medina, Martinez & Castroll, LLC