ABA Site-tation Gets a New Look

ABA Site-tation, a blog that covers technology issues facing the legal community, recently re-launched at a new address and with an updated look. Check out the the great information it offers on security, online tools, and mobile computing. – K

Get Wikipedia on the Go

Yesterday, LifeHacker announced that Wikipedia launched its site for mobile devices. – K

Tech Tip: Text Your Clients

Yesterday, I mentioned that some clients have asked advocates to contact them by text message rather than by phone. Since not every advocate has a work cell and most advocates don’t want to text clients from their personal number, I thought that I’d pass along an article from LifeHacker on how to send text messages with e-mail. And for those of you who need to brush up on common abbreviations so that you can decode the messages that your clients send back, check out this list. – K

Webinar on Online Tools & Trends To Be Aware Of

Steven Nipper of the InventBlog is hosting a free webinar on online tool and trends on December 16 at noon Eastern. From the agenda, it looks like it will cover a variety of topics including social media, mobile technology, and what comes next. Justin Foster of Tricycle, Inc. will be the presenter. – K

In Tough Economy, Lower Income Mobile Consumers Turn to Iphone

comScore, Inc. recently released a report that for the first time shows the demographics of iPhone owners. It reveals that “while 43 percent of iPhone owners earn in excess of $100,000 annually, the strongest growth in users is coming from those earning less than the median household income.”  Specifically,  the report indicates that “iPhone adoption since June 2008 rose 48 percent among those earning between $25,000 and $50,000 per year and by 46 percent among those earning between $25,000 and $75,000. These growth rates are three times that of those earning more than $100,000 per year.” As we’ve suggested in the past, mobile technology has enormous potential for delivering legal information and advice to low and moderate-income individuals. -M

2008 EJC Materials Now Available Online

Thanks Bill Jones at the ABA, all of the session materials available for 2008 Equal Justice Conference are now online. Materials from the last five years are archived here. Many of the technology related session materials for the 2008 Conference are also available on LSNTAP. Next year’s conference is scheduled for May 14-16, 2009, in Orlando, Florida. -M

Techno.la 2D Barcode

One of the cooler new apps available for the iPhone is a free 2D Barcode reader by 2D Sense (download here). By taking a picture of a two dimensional barcode with a mobile device equipped with a camera and 2D Code reader, you can access the information contained in the code. As an example, I’ve generate a QR Code (left) that contains a bookmark for techno.la. You can generate your own QR code here, or by using this Firefox add-on. While 2D Barcodes are not yet widely used in the U.S., like text messaging they have the potential to provide targeted legal information and referrals to clients with mobile devices wherever the code is made available. For a good example of how 2D Barcodes can be used to connect the virtual and physical world, check out Semapedia. If you don’t have an iPhone, see whether your phone is supported by BeeTagg, which reads Datamatrix, QR Code and their proprietary BeeTaggs. -M

Texting for Legal Aid

A recent article in the Daily Post (Wales), which was highlighted in today’s Brennan Center Legal Services E-lert, reports:

“Callers in desperate need of a lawyer in Wales will now be able to seek free legal advice by text message. An operator will return calls when mobile phone users text their name followed by the word ‘legalaid’ to 80010. Specialist advice on problems such as debt, inability to pay bills, or bailiff collection orders are offered through the service. … The new scheme has been launched by Community Legal Advice, a free, confidential advice service paid for by government legal aid money.”

For more information on text messaging in the legal services context (including ideas on how to implement projects like the one described above), be sure to check out Liz Keith’s presentation on “Mobile Technology, Social Media,and Serving Low Income Communities” (PDF) from this year’s Equal Justice Conference. -M