All Our Tips
Create an if Found Lockscreen Message on Your Portable Devices
I know your smartphone and iPad already have their device access passwords enabled (meaning anyone picking up your device can’t access the information on it without punching in a password). And if they don’t – sit down right now and turn the access 
password on. Otherwise the information on the device is accessible to anyone that happens to find it. If you are a lawyer and you have client information on the device, this is a critical step for protecting the confidentiality of client information.
But what happens if someone finds your device? Will they be able to figure out who it belongs to?
You could go the old-fashioned route and put a physical label with your name and number on it, but there is an easier way.
The operating systems on most devices have a configurable message on their lockscreen. If you go into your device’s settings, you will most likely find a place that you can enter your name and phone number. This info will appear on the screen when your device is locked. No, it won’t guarantee you will get your device back if it is lost. But there are honest people out there and it could help.
Your Wireless Dead-Spots Can Actually Get a Life
Do you have wireless dead zones in your office or home where your signal weakens or even drops? Well, good news is on the way. You can breathe immediate new life into your Wi-Fi coverage with a wireless range extender.
They come in various shapes and forms. Some plug into your electrical outlets and use your internal electrical wiring to carry signal, while others simply plug-in to your wall outlet, and connect wirelessly in a snap to your router.
We have had a difficult corner where our wireless signal has nearly always been compromised. The product I chose to solve our problem was the D-Llnk DAP 1320 wireless range extender.
By locating the wireless extender strategically in a location where signal was strong, we were able to carry the signal around an L-shaped corner, and presto voilà, problem solved, with three healthy bars now showing on my iPad’s wireless signal indicator.
By far, the DAP 1320 is the best reviewed product it its category for its ease of installation and superior performance.
About the size of an old iPhone 4 charger, set-up on the DAP 1320 couldn’t be simpler. To get started, you simply press a button on the wireless range extender, then press another button on your router, and the 1320 essentially does the rest.
As a final step, quickly configure the 1320 via your web browser to set your new wireless network name and password, and you are done.
At a cost of $39.95 it is pretty hard to argue with. Once installed, the expanded netwoprk hub will appear as a discrete network when you are searching for available WiFi signals.
Choose the extended network you have named, enter your password and you will be up and running.
So today’s tip is: Breath life into your wireless network – use a wireless range extender to inject new vigour and strength into your Wi-i-Fi networks.
– Garry J. Wise, Toronto (@wiselaw on Twitter)
Calculating Dates
Some of the high use items linked from our firm’s intranet are calculators. I am not talking about the e-quivalent of a device that helps find the square root of 9*, but rather tools that help calculate things for context.
We have tipped you previously on calculating present value and currency calculators but we haven’t talked about date calculators.
Time and Date AS is a Norwegian LLC that gives people free time and date related information and services via timeanddate.com. This site offers multiple points of assistance including a date calculator that lets you add or subtract days, weeks, months or years from a date.
Do you use any groovy (preferably no cost) tools that you would like to share with research tip readers? Click on Submit a Tip in the footer to share.
*The square root of 9 is 3 – did that math using my brain: another calculator!
Protect Your Smartphone or Tablet With a Good Case
It takes just one accidental drop to kill an iPad or smartphone.
And unfortunately, if the glass cracks, they are difficult or even impossible to repair. To prevent this from happening you want to protect your device with a good case. But there are cases and there are cases. Pretty but flimsy plastic cases will do little to protect your device if you drop it. You need to invest in a good case.
I really like OtterBox cases. Otterbox makes cases 
for iPhones and iPads, as well as Samsung, Motorola, LG, HTC, Nokia and even BlackBerry phones. They have several lines of cases that offer various levels of protection. They are very well designed and are super-reasonable in price, often the same or only slightly more than many of the junk cases out there. While some OtterBox cases have a screen protector that is integrated in the case, many also come with a standard stick-on screen protector.
For general use I like the cases in the Commuter line. They are reasonable sized and give you 2 levels of protection, a hard outer shell and a silicon liner to absorb an impact. The Preserver series will keep your device dry. The Resurgence line includes a 2,000 mAh lithium ion battery. The Defender series is big and clunky, but will protect your device from just about anything. There are other series as well, and they also make dry boxes.
You can and they are available at many retail stores.
A Time to Relax
♫ So go on, indulge yourself,
that’s right, kick off your shoes, put your feet up,
lean back and just enjoy the melodies.
After all, music soothes even the savage beasts. ♫
Lyrics and Music by Dexter Holland, recorded by Offspring.
There is a time to work …and there is a time to kick back and take it easy.
We happen to be in that magical time between Canada Day and Independence Day for our cousins down south.
So our post this week is – seize the moment and take the time …to relax…to detune…to enjoy the company of friends and family.
Turn off the office. Leave the smartphone on the desk.. take a deep breath….and feel the tension easing away.
The work will be there …what is important is to get away ..mentally, physically……realize that the summer lies ahead…and to make time to spend that time with those near and dear to you.
Life is not something that can be banked or rewound. We have to live it going forward. We can’t go back and rebuild bridges that have been burnt.
Take the time.. enjoy your friends and family …relish the fact of being alive and being with those who are near and dear to you.
Most of all cherish those close to you. Lean back and just enjoy…
-David J. Bilinsky, Vancouver.
Defining Research Value
A Slaw.ca post by Lynn Foley last week provided the inspiration for today’s tip.
Lynn asked Slawyers to consider what their clients perceive as value using the lens of the ACC Value Challenge. I ask Slaw Tips research readers to consider how the discrete piece of legal research they are doing adds value for the client.
One of the most important skills a legal researcher can bring to a project is the ability to focus on the question they are trying to answer. There are a ton of information sources available that any question can be filtered through, so the value part of research is knowing which parts of that ton should be set aside and which must be reviewed in order to fully answer the question without doing extra steps that are unnecessary and occasionally costly.
Today’s tip: stay focused on the question you are researching to add value.
Be a Dropbox Wizard With These Keyboard Shortcuts
Regular readers of the Tuesday Tech Tip will know I get excited about keyboard shortcuts. This week I want to cover some of the keyboard shortcuts that are available in Dropbox. 
Although most of you will be used to navigating Dropbox with your mouse, you can actually do many things with keyboard shortcuts. It is worth your time to learn these keyboard shortcuts as you will be able to complete common tasks more quickly than you would if you were using a mouse. Here is a list of some handy Dropbox keyboard shortcuts (Mac users please substitute the Command key for Ctrl):
- Cursor Up will select the previous file (hold Shift at the same time to select several files)
- Cursor Down will selected the next file (hold Shift at the same time to select several files)
- Ctrl+a will select all files
- Cursor Left will move up a folder level
- Cursor Right will open a folder
- / will search
- Enter will download or open the selectedfile
- Ctrl+c will copy the selected file(s)
- Ctrl+v will paste the selected file(s) into the current folder
- Ctrl+c will copy the selected file
- F2 to rename a file
- Delete to delete the selected file(s)
- Ctrl+z to undo the most recent move, copy rename or delete
And if you can’t remember all these shortcuts, just remember pressing ? will display them for you.
Golden Moment: Handling Client Complaints
♫ Through the fire and the flames we carry on! ♫
Lyrics and music by: Herman Li, ZP Theart, Sam Totman, Vadim Pruzhaniov, recorded by Dragonforce.
Jo DeMars, of NetNeutrals (www.netneutrals.com) spoke at the 2014 Online Dispute Resolution Forum at Hastings College of Law at the University of California in San Francisco. This post is based on her most excellent presentation on Wednesday June 25, 2014. While her comments were presented in the context of resolving disputes that arise in e-commerce, her advice applies to virtually any consumer complaint, including client complaints regarding legal services.
She stated that most, if not all, people who have a complaint regarding a product or services are looking for five ‘psychological currencies’ from the provider. These are:
- They want a chance to tell their story;
- They are looking for a reasonable explanation of what went wrong;
- They are looking for assurance that their complaint will be dealt with;
- They wish to be thanked for their business; and
- They hope to receive an apology.
Her advice is that any provider should not hesitate to offer as many of these psychological currencies to people who are unhappy with your services. Why? Simply, it costs much more money to attract a new client vs. the cost to keep an existing client.
She explained that people who are feeling caught in this process typically go thru the same process: First they Feel; then Think, and lastly they Do/Behave.
She stated that when clients are feeling strong emotions, they are incapable of hearing you. You need to take care of the emotions before you can take care of the problem.
Accordingly she advises keeping calm. At the outset, your tone is everything and sets the stage for all that follows. Anger defusion is job #1. Once that is taken care of then the client is moving into a mindset where they can start dealing with the issues at hand.
She stated that many individuals or businesses hesitate in offering an apology. Jo stated that they should take time to master the Art of the apology:
- Clearly and completely acknowledge the problem
- Offer an effective explanation
Be honest with your clients and in particular, offer an honest apology to the client for how things transpired and the effect that this has had on them. Just hearing that a person or organization truly regrets what has happened to someone is a powerful message to help resolve a client complaint.
She also stated that it is important for the person or organization to tell the appropriate story. There are several components to this:
- own the problem,
- find allies if possible,
- take responsibility for making it right,
- follow thru, and
- tell the final chapter.
Her final advice was taken from firefighters: Run thru the flames – not away from them. It is easier and better to run to the problem thru to the other side than to run away from them.
-David J. Bilinsky, Vancouver (written in San Francisco), BC.
Look for Open Source Texts
I like to think I know about all kinds of sources – partly because I usually remember what I share. Sometimes I just miss things though. Today’s Tip could come with the Beatles as the background music:
I get by with a little help from my friends
Thanks to my new colleague Josette McEachern, who posted on the Edmonton Law Libraries Association Blog, I now know that there is an open and free version of the Income Tax Act Annotated provided by Lexum.
Use Hidden Level App on Your iPhone to Hang Pictures
You can never trust your eye 
when it comes to hanging pictures or other similar situations when things have to be level. But no need to run to the toolbox – just grab your iPhone. Open the Compass app, swipe to the left and bingo, you have a handy level that will help you hang a stubborn picture that just doesn’t seem to want to hang correctly on the wall.
