Category Archives: Hardware

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Using a ScanSnap to Go Paperless

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Anyone familiar with my blog knows that I am a big proponent of storing every document in every file electronically. When I talk about this, one question that many people ask is what kind of scanner to get. One of the most popular scanners is the Fujitsu ScanSnap. This scanner is reasonably priced, works well, and is easy to operate. Three qualities that I am sure have helped its popularity.

Knowing the right hardware to use, however, is only part of the battle. You also have to know how to integrate that hardware into your workflow. Recently Rick Borstein posted a tutotial on how to best integrate a ScanSnap with Adobe Acrobat.

As with many of Rick’s posts, he takes you step-by-step (including handy pictures) through how to best set the scanner up to use it with Adobe Acrobat. If you are considering adding a ScanSnap to your desktop, you definately want to check out Rick’s post.

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Another Convert to Multiple Monitors

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I think that the single best thing you can do to improve your productivity is to add a second monitor to your desk. I was happy to see that someone else has jumped on this bandwagon. Michael Morse recently explained:

I can tell you that out of all the new technology that I have introduced in my office in the past few years, the second monitor has made the biggest splash.  I tried it first, and then I got 2 more for a couple of my secretaries.   After a few days I pretended that I was going to take it away from them and they freaked out!

I could not agree with Michael more. If you have never tried dual monitors, check them out immediately. You will be amazed at the improvement in your efficiency.

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ScanSnap Tips & Tricks

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For many years, most people I know in the legal technology field have been suggesting the Fujitsu ScanSnap as a great scanner at a reasonable price. I too do not hesitate to recommend the ScanSnap to anyone who is looking for a scanner.

If you are someone who uses a ScanSnap, you should check out the ScanSnap Tips & Tricks forum. The site has several tips to help you use your ScanSnap more efficiently.

Hat tip to Ernie at PDF for Lawyers for pointing this site out.

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Palm Pre Presentation

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I just finished watching the presentation that Palm made at CES when it introduced the Pre. Like many others, I have feared that Palm was dead. However, I am really excited about what Palm is doing with the Pre. I like the sound of the new OS as well as their emphasis on synergy. If you are at all interested in smartphones, I urge you to watch the presentation.

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A Great USB Drive

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Of course, there is no substitution for encryption to ensure that your information remains secure. However, you can add additional layers of protection by making your data difficult to find or recognize. To this end, ThinkGeek has a great product that they call the Hacked And Frayed Spy Flash Drive. The device is described as a “2GB flash drive cleverly disguised as a frayed and broken USB cable.”

Bruce Schneier notes:

This is a 2 Gig USB drive disguised as a piece of frayed cable. You’ll still want to encrypt it, of course, but it is likely to be missed if your bags are searched at customs, the police raid your house, or you lose it.

The comments on Schneier’s post raise a question I had, namely whether it would be better to have a complete cable rather than a frayed cable.

If you want to make your own cable, check out this post from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

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With Monitors, Size Does Matter

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A recent study from the University of Utah reveals something that anyone who uses larger and/or multiple monitors already know: If you use a larger monitor or multiple monitors, you are more productive. Specifically,

People using the 24-inch screen completed the tasks 52% faster than people who used the 18-inch monitor; people who used the two 20-inch monitors were 44% faster than those with the 18-inch ones.

The Wall Street Journal Business Technology Blog further reports:

The study concluded that someone using a larger monitor could save 2.5 hours a day. But James Anderson, the professor in charge of the study, tells the Business Technology Blog to take that result with a grain of salt: It assumes that someone will work non-stop for eight hours, which no one will, and that the tasks they perform will all benefit from a larger screen, which isn’t always the case. But things like moving data between files are ideally suited to bigger or multiple screens. Anderson, who uses a computer with two 20-inch screens and one 24-inch one, recommends that businesses take the time to match employees with the proper size screen based on job requirements.

If you have never tried using multiple monitors, you should. If you are unsure where to start, have an article about using multiple monitors on my Files page. Also, don’t forget your staff. It’s great if you increase your productivity, but don’t leave your staff using 15 inch CRT, while you are using 24 inch LCDs. You want your staff to be productive as well.

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A Great Solution for Network Attached Storage

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The Affinity Law Office Technology Blog has a post on a great and cheap solution for network attached storage (NAS). They suggest using an older desktop PC and the FeeNAS server operating system. I have not yet tried this software, however, this is a project that I have been considering and I am quite pleased to find a free software solution.

If you are looking for a similar solution, this may be something you want to check out.

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Looking for Help with a My Documents Problem

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I have a computer problem that has been giving me fits. I hope that someone here can help me with this.

I have a computer in which the power supply and part of the motherboard got fried. I would guess the problem origianated in the power supply and then killed part of the motherboard. Anyway, I pull the hard drive, pop it in an external case and fire it up. It appears to be working fine. I can access everything on the drive EXCEPT for the stuff in the My Documents folder.

For reasons that I won’t go into, we need to recover the files from this My Documents folder. (Please note, this is not my computer and it is not my fault that there is not a good backup). The drive appears to be working fine and every other file on the drive is intact and able to be retrieved. Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to access the files within that folder?

Update: I guess I should have been a little more clear in my question. A commentor asked for clarification:

Are you going through C:\Documents and settings\[user]\My Documents?

Yes, this is how I am attempting to access the folder. I have also attempted to redefine this folder as the My Documents folder for the new computer.

Are you getting some kind of error?

Yes, I am being told that the folder is not accessible. This is the message I get anytime that I try to access the folder (even when I try to designate it as the My Documents folder for the new computer).

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A New E-Reader

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I am a big fan of ebooks. They are certianly more portable than regular books. Although I read my ebooks on my Treo, I am always happy to see advancements in e-reader technology. engadget has a post about a new e-reader from Plastic Logic.  This device is thinner than the Kindle, plus it is flexible. Additionally, it’s display is 8 1/2 x 11. This means that it likely won’t fit in your pocket. However, it should fit just fine in a briefcase. This decision seems to make sense in that Plastic Logic is marketing this to the business market.

Of course, the downside is that it does not connect direclty to Amazon to download books over a cellular network. Instead, you connect to your computer via a USB cable, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.

Although the video below is a sales presentation, it does give a nice overview of the product.

Also, you can find some pictures of it here.

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Extending Your Laptop’s Battery Life

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PC Magazine has a great article on extending your laptop’s battery life. The article contains suggestions that we are all familiar with such as dimming your screen and not using the DVD drive. However the article also contains more substantive tips.

Some of these include:

  1. Turn off ports. Disabling unused ports and components, such as VGA, Ethernet, PCMCIA, USB, and yes, your wireless, too. You can do this through the Device Manager or by configuring a separate hardware profile (see next step).
  2. Create Power-Saving Hardware Profiles. Configure your laptop for the various scenarios in which you use it (on a plane, at the coffee shop, at the office, and so on). You can do this through the Hardware Profiles menu by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Preferences or by using a freeware utility such as SparkleXP (for Windows XP users).
  3. Configure your display to turn off when not in use. This is different from just using a screensaver, because in many cases a screensaver still requires the display’s backlight to be on. You can set the interval to turn the display off in Windows’ Power Options—found in the Control Panel.

The article contains several more tips, all of which will help you extend your laptop’s battery life. i urge you to check it out.