The word freedom has long been used to rally people into mindlessly accepting something. What is freedom? It's a word you learn slowly, and not because you're stupid. But because you can't point at freedom like a tree and say "hey Johnny, that's freedom over there." So, what winds up happening is you learn to accept interpretations that your tribe inculcates upon you.

People rarely pipe up and say "hold on, what exactly do you mean when you say freedom?" We're conditioned to blindly accept that the word means something sort of specific, or that it means more or less the same thing to lots of people.

The word "innovation" is like freedom, except it's for tribes that roam the plains of technology. What does innovation mean, exactly? It means nothing useful (to most people, anyway). It's simply a tribal rallying cry. It's like those birds that sing a beautiful song, and you think "oh that's such a pretty melody." In reality, the bird is letting other birds know to stay away from his territory.

These songbirds exist in all realms of our world, seemingly purveying information but in reality simply marking territory.

An example would be the devout Android user who comments when Apple has a major event to announce new products. The devoted bird from the Android tribe is compelled to quickly proclaim after hearing the announcements "Apple's version of innovation is to copy features that Android has had for a long time, and rebrand them as their own." The commentary has to end on a really strong note, so here's what we get: "I predict that, next, Apple will adopt a cute little robot looking character that looks like a walking apple. Then, they will start naming their "new" versions after fruit."

Right, that's totally plausible.

Of course, Apple's Phil Schiller was using the same technique when, after announcing the new Mac Pro, said "can't innovate anymore, my ass!" The Apple tribe loved it. Because they're predisposed to accept their tribal leaders' definitions.

When we talk about innovation and freedom it's good to remember that people who trumpet those words aren't even trying to convey useful information. These words are simply containers for entrenched viewpoints. If you want to figure out what innovation is you're on your own. No one is interested in helping you understand what innovation really is.

Or freedom either, for that matter.

Ever notice how the only people who seem to know exactly what "freedom" means are politicians and people with strong agendas?

The downside is people sometimes feel like "hey you put information out for free, so you must have lots of time on your hands, so I can just email you and ask you more questions."

I don't have lots of time. Most people have no sense of that. People just want help, and if they find someone helpful they cling. I understand, and sympathize.

My PDF for Lawyers blog spawns a fair number of email questions. Probably 90% of the time the problem isn't one I've encountered, or would be likely to encounter. But if I can help quickly, I'll give it a shot

That means I fire up google and type in key words. To come up with a focused search I think "how would the average person with this problem describe it in a search?” That's the kind of thought process the person who asks me the question should be better at than me. I have to think like them to get a good search.

Anyway, I type in some words and get a result. Then I check the search and see if the results seem off. If so I modify the search slightly. If not, I copy the best result into an email and send it them.

For example the other day I ran into a friend at the coffee shop and he saw me typing on my iPad Mini. He said that he didn't like his Mini because the battery life was too short. He asked if I thought something was wrong with it, and I said yes. The iPad mini should get 10 hours of battery life. He thanked me, but I could tell he wasn't sure what to do about the situation. I had some theories, but if I started telling him what they were he'd never remember and it would all sound kind of intimidating.

When I got home I did a quick Google search and found an article on Apple's troubleshooting forum precisely on point. It took me about 30 seconds of searching and evaluating to figure out that this article had a 90% chance of solving his problem, or guiding him in the best direction to solve it.

I don't mind answering people's questions if I can do a quick 30 second search. I usually let them know that's how I found the answer—to implant the notion that it's something that they could've done themselves. What I DO mind are vague email requests “to get together so I can pick your brain.” If I accepted all of those requests, which are totally innocent and well-meaning, I'd have a lot less time to write blog posts. And less time to answer short email questions that most people could easily answer themselves.

And according to an unidentified source with law enforcement, "the portion of the boat’s interior on which Mr. Tsarnaev had written would likely be cut from the hull and presented in court as evidence should he go to trial."

That seems a little over the top.

The owner of the boat has suffered enough, hasn't he? Is it really necessary to hack the poor man's boat to pieces to get the incriminating note into evidence? If so, our legal system's requirements of proof are out of whack.

Even if the boat note was the single critical piece of evidence needed to convict Tsarnaev, you have to wonder why they can't just take a picture of the note and use that at trial. Well, you'd wonder that only if you hadn't gone to law school, and learned always to suppress common sense.

• The Bar Exam - Thousands of morons have passed - so can you
• Partnership - you can make it, if you know what to kiss, and whose
• Understanding what lawyers do - and how to stop them doing it to you

I also remember this passage: “there are no funny lawyers; only funny people who made the wrong career choice.” Perhaps, Mr. White was talking about himself. He was definitely not talking about the nice fellow who writes a “humor column” for my state bar journal.

The fellow who writes the column is probably a great lawyer, and definitely did not make the wrong career choice. His column is written for a certain group of lawyers: weary ones full of smug assurance, trundling into the twilight of their careers. Topics that disgruntle veteran lawyers are a staple.

In the last edition he wrote about text messaging. It was entitled TMMAO, which he never defined. The point was to grumble about the crazy new text messaging culture.

His set up was that he had compiled a list of “officially sanctioned TM messages” that were supposedly prepared by the “Text Messaging Subcommittee” of the state bar. And here are some of the “funny” messages that he translated for us:

• WTF - where is the file?
• IBFC - I’m begging for a continuance
• WWTCLEEE - When will this CLE ever end?

So, like I said, he didn’t make the wrong career choice.

They say you shouldn’t try to dissect humor. But that’s only if you want the humor to remain funny. Since this stuff isn’t funny, let’s carve away.

First of all, the only group of lawyers who MIGHT find this funny are the wizened trundlers we talked about earlier. “Ha, ha ha,” they’re laughing their asses off at these ‘common lawyer scenarios.’ Common scenarios for lawyers include:

• they never know where their files are
• they’re never prepared for trial, and
• they hate CLE programs and only attend because they have to

I guess old legal guffers find it funny that these things are still commonplace, and unlikely to change. Their clients probably don’t. And, I’m guessing, neither do new recruits to the profession—you know, the ones who know a lot about text messaging and its many arcane shortcuts.

Still, younger lawyers are probably the only ones who get the “joke” hidden in the title of the article. TMMAO is based on LMAO. So it clearly means “text messaging my ass off.” Young lawyers who haven’t become cynical aren’t going to find it funny. And older lawyers who don’t text message much won’t even get it.

Some non-lawyers will get it, but not find it funny. They’ll be clients of dusty old lawyers, folks who crave the day our profession will finally embrace change instead of smugly shrugging it off.

Here I mostly bellow and rant. But the other sites offer useful tips for actually accomplishing things. Crazy, I know.

For example:

• PDF for Lawyers - a blog to help legal eagles use PDFs more effectively. Simple, practical tips. That's it. Oh, and I'm writing a book for the ABA to pull together all the useful stuff I know about using Adobe Acrobat. Interested? Then click here to sign up for my free email newsletter and get my best PDF tip once a month. Free.
• Blogging for Lawyers - the blog that goes with the book I wrote a few months ago for the ABA. Learn how to set up a blog, or how to direct a person you hire to set it up for you. And if you have a blog already, learn how to make it more effective. If you have at least one hour a week, you can have an effective law blog, and raise your online profile. And what lawyer wouldn't want that? Well okay, apparently this guy.

On Wednesday I'll be in Jackson, Mississippi talking about my favorite tips for solo and small firm lawyers: Little Big Firm; how to do more, and appear more professional, with less effort and less money. If you happen to attend the talk, check out all this incredibly useful, free information I've put out there for you. You're welcome!

Here are a few of my favorite tips from each one of them:

• Liveson.org - A site that helps with your "social afterlife." Motto: "when your heart stops beating you'll still keep tweeting." In other words, the site will keep your Twitter stream going when you die. How will it come up with new material? Well, by analyzing your past tweets and seeing what kinds of things you used to blab about. Britt Lorish recommended this, which prompted Lincoln Mead to say "look for Zombie Britt's future tweet urging you to come to TechShow 2040."Big laughs all around for this tip.
• Erik Mazzone brought up Literally Unbelievable - a site that captures the surprised reaction of people who read improbable things on Facebook (or anywhere online) and then believe that the wild account is literally true. Like, for example, these Facebook reactions to things posted on the Onion, which people somehow mistook for the truth. He also recommended Twitter.com/KimKierkegaard - which is what it would look like if Kim Kardashian and Soren Kierkegaard had a joint twitter stream.
• Internet search expert Mark Rosch mentioned SearchSystems.net - a free site that has 55,000 links to public records around the United States, where you can find information by state or category. Mark also recommended BiddingTraveler.com - a site that lets you see comparative pricing information from Priceline and Hotwire. Seems powerful, and useful.
• FindTheBest.com is a review site that's unbiased and data-driven, and since it came recommended by Lincoln Mead I know it's worth checking out. While you're at it also check out Instructables.com - a site that teaches you how to do weird but useful things. Like what kinds of things? Well, for example: how to create a glow in the dark Gin & Tonic. Or how to rurn a disposable camera into a stun-gun. That kind of stuff.

There were a lot of funny recommendations, but mostly it was incredibly useful. Once it was over the elation turned quickly to sadness because the conference was officially over. I had a blast at TechShow, as I always do, and I commend Britt Lorish and the TechShow Planning Board for an outstanding conference.

I'll say it again, as I do whenever I mention TechShow: If you practice law, and own a computer, Tablet device, or smartphone, you will learn amazing things here that will help you save time and money, and --more importantly-- help you do a better job for your clients. Next year you should be here!

• How to create keyboard shortcut to quickly "print to PDF"
• How to set up to present wirelessly in court with iPad
• Great website for learning to automate your Mac
• Larry Staton's online repository of useful Applescripts

If you would like to get this kinds of information (not just Mac-related stuff) delivered once a month by email subscribe to our newsletter - - just click here.

On Friday night at 7 pm, Barron Henley and I will be doing a Taste of TechShow dinner at Tamarind Restaurant; the theme of the dinner will be "document assembly" but I doubt that will be the dominant topic of conversation. Typically, the dinners are a way to get to know some of the speakers better in an informat setting. Barron is a great guy, and I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time. There are still spots open as of now if you want to join us.

If you're coming to TechShow I hope to have a chance to chat. If you're not coming you'll probably get a small sense of what happens if you follow my tweets. Jeff Richardson of iPhoneJD.com has a good rundown of some of the Marquis events.

In this 1 hour CLE you'll see me, and and a legal technology trainer named Adriana Linares, demostrate apps and tips straight from our iPads, so you can follow along on yours. Among the things we'll demonstrate are:

• Setting up your iPad for maximum security & mobility
• Document management: getting them on the iPad and synching them
• The power of speech on an iPad: Siri & the Google Search app
• Best apps for lawyers for calendaring, e-filing and trial display

The seminar will take place on Friday, March 29th at noon, and is accredited in Louisiana for 1 hour of CLE credit, including 'Law Practice Management'. For more information, and to sign up for the seminar (early bird pricing is in effect for a limited time!), CLICK HERE.

And use the the promocode 'ernieattorney' to get 10% off the early bird pricing. But act swiftly because the venue has very limited seating, and this is always a popular session.

My mother was born in Panama and lived there most of her life. She moved to New Orleans right before I was born (in New Orleans) and stayed up until I was 12. That's when she got fed up with the United States and moved back. She didn't tell my brother and I that she planned to move back; she told us we were going there for the summer. But when summer ended she enrolled us in a Panamanian school, where English was taught as a foreign language. I was teased for being "a gringo" and did poorly in every class except the foreign language class.

I hated my mother then. And it dawned on me that it wasn't the first time she'd forced me to deal with a language barrier.

When I was first born she spoke to me only in Spanish. And shortly after I was born she hired a Spanish-speaking maid. All day long, the only thing I heard was Spanish, so that's what I learned to speak. My dad was worried that I wasn't going to be ready for school. He kept insisting that my mom teach me English, but she refused. I don't remember how I learned English, but I do remember that I had trouble in school from an early age,and was always behind my classmates in every subject.

I hated that too. But what could I do about it?

Now I don't hate those experiences; I cherish them. Feeling like an "outcast" made me trust in my own perspective. Learning another language taught me how much our perspective is shaped (and limited) by the words we use to describe things and events. Living in another culture also expanded my awareness. Yeah, all those things I hated turned out to be valuable. Who'd have guessed?

Weird how that works.

At first, challenges foist upon you seem unfair, but later you find out they're actually special treasures. Maybe that's why we should judge people and events so quickly. We're not as adept at knowing what's going to be good for us as we think we are.

And Panama, the country that I used to think was a third-world junkyard, turns out to be a booming economic juggernaut.

It took about 2 weeks for me to "get qualified" and then accepted, but I've been using the service for a little over a week. I'll have a lot more to say about it in a future blog post (so far it's amazing!), but for now here are some factoids about Zirtual. A January 2013 Venturebeat article and All Things D article reveal some interesting things about the company:

• Tony Hsieh of Zappos is an early investor ($2M), because he likes the company culture and emphasis on customer service.
• ZA's get 7 weeks of training on making customers happy.
• Service is invite-only because demand always exceeds supply of virtual assistants.
• Zirtual charges between $197 and $997 per month for virtual assistant services.

If you appreciate tech tips like this, then click here to subscribe to my PaperlessChase email newsletter.

Update on 4/3/13 (after 1 month of using): I'm even more amazed at how useful this service is. My virtual assistant has been given almost complete control over my calendaring, which makes my life a lot easier. She can call people to set up appointments for me and simply enter the event directly. She then emails me to let me know it's done.

Having a virtual assistant call or email folks who have forgotten to pay an invoice is a powerful way to send the message that you expect to get paid. There are so many other ways that a VA is useful, and no doubt each person will have different needs and find different benefits. I'd say for many solo and small firm lawyers this is a great way to hire a part-time, tech-savvy, well-trained "employee." If you don't like the service you just cancel it. Much easier than how it works with "real employees."

Update on 4/10/13 - My friend Megan Hargroder got a Zirtual Assistant, and her blog post offers more reasons why this kind of thing is packed with potential for most solo and small firm folks.

Why would I would let people see that information? Well, because I don't mind if people know where I am. I've found that being open about that kind of thing (1) usually doesn't really register at all with most people, but (2) sometimes leads to interesting and useful serendipitous encounters.

I've met a lot of great people simply because I have this blog and use it to share my perspective on things. People who don't care for my perspective don't read the blog, but those who do are sometimes drawn in.

And that turns out to be a good thing. If you have been thinking of starting a blog, or you have one but want to know more about how to make it more interesting and useful, feel free to get my book or check out OneHrBlog.com, which is the site that accompanies the book.

I hate getting coin change. Whenever a store clerk hands me coins I
immediately look for a tip jar to put them in.

It's a convenient fix, but also kind of awkward because it makes one seem a
bit too lordly. Which is why I will quickly add a dollar to the tip jar:
partly as a tip, and partly a "disposal fee" for making the clerk have to
deal with pesky worthless pieces of metal.

Pay phones are basically obsolete. The coins we used to put in them cost
more to make than they're worth. And no one wants them. Why is no one
working to stop this insanity?

In the past year I’ve done a few seminars on how lawyers can get more out of their iPads. They’re always well received, and I like doing live events. But increasingly, I’ve felt that the best way to get folks oriented on their iPads is with an online webinar, where the audience can see my iPad projected onto their computer screen. That way they can follow along on their own iPad as the presentation happens.

My buddy David Sparks (a California lawyer and major Mac guru) believes the same thing, and so we’ve set up a site called Nerdy Professionals to tackle this challenge. More importantly, we’re going to do an online webinar on Friday, March 1st entitled ‘iPad Basics.’ The webinar is for all professionals who want to optimize their iPads for maximum security and mobility.

For more information, and to register for the webinar, click here, and use the promo code ‘ernieblog’ to get 10% off the attendance fee.

The Sony RX-100 camera was rated the best point-and-shoot by the Wirecutter, and has outstanding Amazon reviews, including this one by a serious photo-geek named Phillip Greenspun. So I ordered it. I've been trying to find the perfect small camera that also takes great pictures. This one is pricey ($640) but I'm looking to have it replace my DSLR, and so far it's looking completely plausible. It has a Zeiss lens and takes great pictures in low light situations.

The key to great photography is knowing how to get the most out of your camera, and almost always that means ditching the standard manual and finding a book written by a professional photographer who uses the camera and can tell you the optimal set up, and most important features. The Sony RX-100 has a crappy manual; but I found a great book by Alexander White called Photographer's Guide to the Sony DSC-RX100 on Amazon. With that book on my Kindle I was able to figure out how to quickly set things up and how to quickly capture the pictures I want to take.

Here are some examples of flower pictures I took using the Macro setting (as he advised). And here are some Black & White photos taken with the street shooting set up he suggested using. Having the book helped me get out of my "DSLR mindset" and try new things that work well, but which I would never have tried—things I would never have had attempted (because I thought they were lame and amateurish) if I hadn't read a book by an accomplished photographer on how to use the Sony RX-100.

I love having a camera I can fit in my jeans pocket, and which I'm therefore inclined to have with me at all times. In that sense it's better than a DSLR, or even a Micro 4/3's camera, and definitely more versatile than an iPhone.

Hardly a day goes by that a lawyer, or a security expert talking to lawyers, doesn’t suggest that “Dropbox is too flawed for lawyers to use.” People who demonize Dropbox (or any cloud service) often offer a flood of verbiage, but rarely offer a balanced, thoughtful assessment. And they almost never offer realistic solutions.

I was recently directed to this ‘securityblawg’ post, because it was proudly cited by a lawyer concerned about Dropbox. The post, drones on for 2,862 words before noting “[u]ltimately, every lawyer will need to make his or her own decision about the appropriateness of using Dropbox for client work.” And then it recommends, of course (since it’s written by a security firm), that lawyers should “encrypt sensitive information before placing it on Dropbox.”

Right. That’s sort of a given. Did we need almost 3,000 words to support that advice?

You rarely hear security experts begin a blog post by pointing out an ironclad security principle: no security system is perfect, and the attempt to craft “perfect security” invariably leads to minimal usability (see e.g. Get Smart’s depiction of the problems with the Cone of Silence for a goofy parody that actually illustrates the point perfectly).

You rarely hear security experts begin by conceding another “security fact of life”: namely, that if a hacker or some evil doer is intent on getting into your data, then the odds are, with enough time, they will.

The way that lazy, marginally-skilled hackers get into your data is typically not through Dropbox, or any other cloud-provider’s failings, but through social-engineering or guessing your bad passwords. Or just camping out at a place where lots of people with bad security habits tend to frequent.

Let’s ask questions that get to the heart of the most common security problems. Here’s a few, and I submit these should be required to be discussed before answering any question that comes up about Dropbox. For example…

How many lawyers out there log into secure accounts while using the free Wi-Fi at a local coffee shop? How many click on links in emails that say “Is this really a picture of you?!!” How many use an easy-to-guess password? How many don’t bother to log out of their office computer while they go to lunch? How many leave it open overnight? How many use the same easy-to-guess password for all their online accounts? How many lawyers use one of the 25 most common passwords, such as “password” or “123456”?

Answer: probably lots. So, let’s not waste words on mumbo jumbo. Let’s get real.

Security is about making assessments, and weighing risks, benefits, and contexts. There is no “one size fits all solution” for security. In the end, the security gurus will wind up saying “it depends.” Some will say this after thousands of words that they copy and paste from prior articles; because they always say the same thing. And they usually end with “and make sure you encrypt your sensitive data.” But what about putting serious security problems in a larger context?

The cloud is only one context; we don’t talk about the ones that have always been problematic, and which are actually the most insidious problems, because we’re too busy obsessing about “the cloud.” What about old-fashioned security mishaps?

For example, I know an attorney who talked on a cellphone with his client about case strategy, while standing next to an opposing counsel in an airport gate. I know because I was that opposing counsel. And, for what it’s worth, I walked away so I wouldn’t hear his conversation. Sometimes ‘not listening’ is the right thing to do.

Conversely, when most people hear about common security problems, and what it takes to address them, they don’t walk away. And they don’t listen.

You can rail about Dropbox and the cloud all you want. The real security problems lie not in the clouds, but in ourselves.

If you like documentaries, as I do, then I highly recommend The Queen of Versailles. The film profiles a rich timeshare guy named David Siegel who married a trophy wife (former Miss America, I believe) and they had a slew of kids. Despite the fact that they lived in a huge mansion in an exclusive gated community in Orlando, they wanted a bigger house.

They planned to build the biggest house in the United States. And they called it “Versailles” because it was modeled after the famous French Palace. The cost of the house would have been well over $100 million. This was before the real estate meltdown. The Siegels, like many other folks, were super-optmistic, and greedy. They were also pathetically self-absorbed, which is why they agreed to let a filmaker named Laura Greenfield follow them around for a few years. Big mistake.

The movie is fascinating because it starts like a typical reality TV show, except instead of Ozzy Osbourne or Gene Simmons, it’s a time-share real estate mogul. A big time-share business is more like a super-rock band (e.g. KISS or Black Sabbath) than you’d expect. So there is the voyeueristic appeal of seeing into the private lives of some quirky rich people, and the people that cater to them.

But what’s really interesting is how the Siegels come to grips with the economic downturn, which threatened every project he had going, including his cherished “Versailles.”

Early in the film, Siegel proudly claims that he alone was responsible for getting George Bush elected because of his work in Florida (which he says, on camera, he doesn’t want to discuss because what he did “might be illegal”). Flash forward to late 2008, when the bottom is dropping out of the financial system, and when Siegel and his tribe have to face some serious cutbacks.

He has to forego his limos and jet plane, and cut his household staff from 13 to 4. His wife’s dogs are pooping all over the mansion and no one has time to pick it up, so they step in crap from time to time. The kids don’t feed their lizard so it dies, and one of them complains it’s because no one would take her to the pet store to get more food (the house is filled with food and no doubt some of it would have saved the lizard).

Clearly they have too much stuff, and not enough people to manage it. But that doesn’t stop his wife from continuing to binge-shop, buying obscene amounts of toys that she has to cram into 3 cars. When they get home they pass through the garage, which is strewn with toys and bicycles that kids don’t play with anymore. They don’t have time to use all the crap they have, much less take care of it.

In the end, Siegel is bitter and astonished that his empire has crumbled. He says his kids they may have to get real jobs when they graduate from high school, and that they’ll have to borrow money for college (he never put any away for their college education). He blames his misfortune on greedy bankers, and never once acknowledges any responsibility for miscalculation or excessive borrowing.

And now that the film is out and getting attention, he’s even more bitter (and unable to accept responsibility). So he’s suing the filmaker for defamation. But a U.S. Judge doesn’t seem to believe his case has merit. What a shock!

One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Siegel is talking to the Orlando real estate agent who is supposed to find a buyer for Versailles (which is only half-way finished). The agent is supposed to be an expert in luxury properties, but she keeps pronouncing ‘Versailles’ with an ‘s’ at the end. It’s a small thing, yet somehow compelling.

Many of the people in the movie have lots of money (or had it), but virtually none of them have any self-awareness. Apparently, that can lead to big problems.

For those of you that visit the site directly, you notice that I changed the look a bit. This look is based on a Squarespace template called "Five" and it's clean and simple. I like it, and I hope you do too.

The main benefit of switching over to Squarespace 6 is that it'll be easier to post now. I can used Markdown, which makes it much easier to create links. And I can even email posts in. So no more excuses for not creating more posts.

If you have any comments or suggestions I'd love to hear from you at ernie@ernestsvenson.com. Thanks for your continued readership!