The eye naturally moves left to right. It’s what’s most comfortable to us. That lead to the developer’s decision to move the navigation menu from the left side of the Dashboard to the top of every screen. There is nothing wrong with a vertical list, but when it comes to looking at organization, a horizontal layout is easier on the eyes.
The New Bill4Time: Layout Enhancements
Preview of the New Bill4Time
Over the past couple of weeks, the Bill4Time staff and members of the Bill4Time user community have been testing the new version of Bill4Time time tracking software. Now, we need your help to discover any last minute issues before releasing the new version to everyone.
The Rise of Touch-Screen Techology
Bill4Time is proud to be part of the Kennedy & Mighell Report by Legal Talk Network. Here’s a little commentary to give you some insight into one of their podcasts.
The legal technology duo is at it again! In this podcast, they respond to the reality of how most lawyers are still not using computers for note-taking. The legal pad is still prominent in the court houses and conferences. Maybe touch screen technology is a good contender.
In Defense of the Computer
The greatest benefit to using a computer when taking notes is the fact that your notes are already digitalized. And this opens a flood of benefits:
- You don’t have to go back and retype your notes.
- You can quickly copy and paste little tidbits of the conference and Tweet them.
- You can quickly extract the most important parts of your notes.
- You have all your information condensed in a single place.
- You can transfer your notes quickly to a spreadsheet, a flash drive, email, etc.
- And if you’re tracking your time, you have it right there on your screen!
iPhone, Windows 7 and the Legal Technology World
Remember those computer notepads? You used a stylus to write things on the screen? Well, it didn’t fly so well with lawyers. Some embraced it but the problem was the format. Since many weren’t using it, it was a hassle to convert the documents all the time.
In the podcast, Kennedy and Mighell made a good point how the iTouch and the iPhone have made it a lot easier – and a lot more fun – to embrace new technology. The number of fun apps and practical apps are tremendous. It’s super easy to use and there’s this “social seal of approval” of the product. With the mass use of it, chances are, the computer experts already went through the main bugs ahead of time. For a few months now, there has been much dialog over the rumored iPad: an Apple notepad that doesn’t require a stylus. It’s just one step further towards the touch-screen movement.
And now we have Windows 7 with touch screen capabilities.
Replacing the legal pad and embracing the kind of legal technology is almost already done:
- We are used to carrying an electronic device wherever we go.
- We are used to typing information about events in real time as we text.
- Many of us are used to touch-screen technology with ATM machines, smart phones and PDA’s.
I can’t say for certain how fast touch-screen technology will be in every courtroom, but I can definitely say that this movement just might reduce the number of tendinitis cases! But seriously, it will increase efficiency in the transmission of information in the legal world.
Bill4Time v2.0: First Impressions
The creators and developers of Bill4Time time tracking software have been working day and night to bring you V2.0. And it is almost here! Around the office, we are doing some internal beta testing – and that includes everybody! Now I’m not a web architect or a developer. I’m just a regular user who’s attention span is only so long (or short). If I find something beneficial, such as good time management, I will take the time to learn something. But after a while, I’d need a little rest. Sound familiar?
Simple Solutions to Social Media
Bill4Time is proud to be part of the Kennedy & Mighell Report by Legal Talk Network. Here’s a little commentary to give you some insight into one of their podcasts.
Lawyers are pretty fearless. They do a lot of the dirty work that we find intimidating in the courtroom. It can be pretty cut-throat and ruthless out there. For the rest of us non-lawyers, those tough dramatic scenes you see in the movies is enough to make your blood pressure go up a few notches.
But there are only a few things lawyers find a bit intimidating. One of them is technology (so I’ve been told). It encompasses the complicated – such as HTML, C++ and JavaScript – to the very simple, namely social media. Or is it that simple? Not according to thousands of lawyers who have talked to Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell, legal technology experts from LegalTalkNetwork.com. Each social media site seems like a completely different social planet: you have different configurations, features, and communicating vehicles to new a few.
The Argument for Social Media for the Technology Skeptical
Social media is here to stay. It can’t be ignored when the growth of social media adoption is rapidly increasing.
There have been well-established companies that have taken far too long embracing technology and are struggling now to catch up because they see their underdog competitors taking their clients. You don’t want to be part of the statistics. The fact of the matter is that legal technology experts indicate social media to be the main way people are going to communicate in the future. Start now while there is still a big window to allow a learning curve. It takes time to build a following just as it took time to build your clientèle. So how do you start?
The Simplest Answer
Kennedy and Mighell offer a single answer: try a few and see which works for you. It’s ok to not embrace all of them. Start out with finding where your audience frequents. Ask yourself things like:
- Do many of my clients use their Twitter account often?
- Are my clients on Facebook on a regular basis?
- How often do my clients visit LinkedIn?
The key factor is not if they have an account there, but if they use it regularly. You can get these answers simply as asking them or looking them up in Google. You can see how active they are by seeing the amount of followers, friends, and sub-groups.
Once you find one or two social media sites that work for you, stick with it for a while. For starters, try to:
- Join groups that appeal to you.
- Follow like-minded people.
- Send out a friendly “hello” to people in those groups.
See what others are doing, especially those that you already respect and see are comfortable in interacting on the site. Do what they do. Soon you will find that the more you contribute, the more you will get responses. I wouldn’t recommend anything that promises things like hundreds of Twitter followers overnight. In the end, it won’t do much for you. Building a social media presence will take some time and effort, but in a short time, you will develop a good network and things will unfold. Sometimes to learn the path requires walking it.
Manual for Social Media Sites
Don’t you wish there was a manual for these things? With the dynamic nature of technology, the manuals are written as we go along. You can find a bunch of How To articles on the web, but here are few to get you started:
- The LinkedIn Blog
- Google Results for Using Twitter for Business Development
- How to Use Facebook for Professional Networking
Listen to the podcast and get more information to enrich you social media know-how and get you going on the technology wave!
Time Tracking and Traffic
Did you know that the difference between a bike ride and a car ride over a 4 mile commute is 15 pounds of pollutants? That’s right, according to the League of American Bicyclists, a single person can make this kind of impact on the environment. And a realization of this kind of environmental influence has been spreading to more people through the years. According to the Seattle Department of Transportation, the number of U.S. bicyclists has increased by 100% since 1985. As it continues to rise, the need for more bike lines, trails, and facilities also rise.
And Morris is at it again! Well, it’s more like one more charity before the ALYN Hospital Wheels of Love Bike Ride. If we could integrate our time tracking software with his bike, I’m sure he’d be riding 24/7. This time, the charity was to help Transportation Alternatives in New York City, a bicycling advocacy group. Last Sunday, September 13th, the NYC Century Bike Tour held its annual event. Proceeds from it will go to improve and develop new bike lanes and greenways in the city. New York City is notorious for bumper to bumper traffic so every cyclist counts!
We at Bill4Time encourage you to do your part in helping your community – whether it be taking alternative means of transportation, volunteering or donating to a nonprofit organization. Every effort counts.
Track time. Give time.