♫The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train’s got the disappearing railroad blues…♫
Lyrics and Music by Steve Goodman, recorded by Arlo Guthrie.
What’s happening to iGoogle?
According to Google, “iGoogle will be retired in 16 months, on November 1, 2013. The mobile version will be retired on July 31, 2012.”
With respect, this decision appears to be either badly explained or inexplicable. I imagine that there are thousands, if not millions, who use their iGoogle home page as a quick way to organize all the RSS feeds that they find interesting. A personal dashboard that allows you to overview your e-world quickly and easily.
Why you ask? According to Google: “We originally launched iGoogle in 2005 before anyone could fully imagine the ways that today’s web and mobile apps would put personalized, real-time information at your fingertips. With modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android, the need for something like iGoogle has eroded over time, so we’ll be winding down iGoogle on November 1, 2013, giving you a full 16 months to adjust or easily export your iGoogle data.”
OK – so Google – you are winding down iGoogle – but *where* are these alternatives that you mention? Easily adjust or export your data? To do that we need an alternative.
This indicates the problem with depending on cloud-based computing. Once you get accustomed and dependent on a cloud-based platform, there is nothing stopping the developer from killing it and leaving you in the lurch. (more…)
♫ Said we’re Diverse City, we’re colourful goods
It’s said we’re Diverse City, we’re colourful goods
It’s just a state of mind, we gonna shine the way that we should, baby…♫
Music, Lyrics and recorded by: The Diverse City Band.
Today innovative lawyers are finding new clients and new ways of rendering legal services by using the vast array of services offered by the Internet. This isn’t just about blogging, using social media or using Skype, although those do factor into the equation. In the words of the eLawyering task force of the American Bar Association:
eLawyering encompasses all the ways in which lawyers can do their work using the Web and associated technologies. Think of lawyering as a “verb” – interview, investigate, counsel, draft, advocate, analyze, negotiate, manage… – and there are corresponding Internet-based tools and technologies.
This ability to render legal services virtually opens up vast ways to reach out and serve clients as compared to a traditional “bricks and mortar” practice. Think of online forms, unbundled legal services, private discussion forums, deal rooms, document depositories, cloud (public, private and hybrid) services and more. Unlike a traditional office that keeps traditional business hours, a virtual lawyer could work from home asynchronously, at all hours of the day, rendering legal services to fit their schedule, at lower cost and in a way that meets their client’s needs. (more…)