Parallels on a Windows Network

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I’ve been in the same office for 15 years. For giggles I decided to move to another office recently. It is a little bigger and has a better view. Also, it is good to shake things up once in awhile. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize until after I got all my furniture moved that there is no ethernet into my new digs and as far as the network is concerned, I fell out the window.
So my PC box sits in my computer stand with its two monitors silent while I attempt to get someone to wire it up. Mainly out of necessity but also out of Mac geekiness, I decided to see if I could exist on a windows network with nothing but my MacBook Pro. Turns out I can.
We use a specific program that is a relational database for lawyers called TimeMatters. It is PC only and although the program can be frustrating, one thing it does very well is keep all of your data on the server. So I booted up parallels and had an extended call with a very smart PC friend of mine and in about an hour we had my Mac securely on the network with TimeMatters installed on my laptop and working flawlessly in Parallels. For the last few days I’ve been doing most word processing in Pages and jumping over to Parallels for the database management stuff. I’m very pleased at this newfound ability and amazed why I didn’t take steps to make this happen earlier.
I’ve frequently used Parallels for another legal PC only program, CaseMap, but interacting with the office database on my Mac seems to step it up a notch. It makes me feel a little bit of a rebel. The lone wolf.

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Okay, maybe I’m laying it on a bit thick, but I’ve had very few problems. Once Parallels sent one of my cores spinning up for no apparent reason. I logged out of windows and rebooted the virtual machine and everything sorted itself out. Other than that, no complaints. And the fact that my cable installer seems to be busy doesn’t really bother me so much either.

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A Lawyer’s Take on Macworld 2008

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In addition to being an affirmed Mac geek, I am also a lawyer. So as I spent the last several days talking to developers and roaming the halls of Macworld, a few things in particular got me excited about practicing law with my Mac.

Macbook Air

Apple’s new machine is a real eye catcher. It is just three pounds and manages to keep a 13 inch monitor. While this would be really nice for the roadwarrior or running around in depositions and trial, the $1800 price tag makes me look twice. If you really need thin and are willing to sacrifice a bit of functionality (no ethernet or firewire) you may want to check it out. I’m sticking with my Macbook Pro for the time being.

MacSpeech

For those of you former PC users who miss having DragonDictate in your toolbelt, fret no more. I was never a big fan of iListen, but the folks at at iListen recently acquired the license for the Dragon recognition engine for use on the Mac. Their new product, MacSpeech Dictate will be releasing next month and looks fantastic. I spent about an hour at their booth and am very impressed. I also watched David Pogue fawn over it as it produced very accurate and quick results.
I wasn’t alone in my opinion that this product will change things. It was one of the “Best of Show” award winners by several publications. Put this one at the top of your list for productivity boosters.

OmniFocus

I’m a big fan of the Omni Group applications. I use OmniOutline, OmniPlan, and OmniGraffle to manage much of my caseload. I got in early on the beta of their OmniFocus task management application and it was just released as a 1.0. This application is fantastic for keeping all the plates in the air. I did an extended review of it at Macsparky.com
I talked to the folks at Omni and they are going to do everything in their power to get these applications on the iPhone once the iPhone SDK releases.

BusySync

For the small offices that don’t need the expense of a server but want to sync iCal calendars between multiple desks, there is a great little application called BusySync. For a cost of $20 per computer, you get seamless bonjour and net syncing between machines. They have a new version due out soon that will also allow for Google calendar syncing.

Bento

FileMaker is the best application for database intensive solutions. If you are running a small practice, FileMaker’s smaller application, Bento, looks really robust.

Billings and Daylite

Marketcircle continues its place at the top of small office management software. They had a nice booth and made regular presentations. I was unaware of some of their interesting add-on products like Daylite Delivery and the FileMaker connector. These guys fill a very particular niche.

Fujitsu ScanSnap

I love my Fujitsu ScanSnap. It is a reliable, fast scanner with a small footprint. Now they have a portable version, the S300M, that retails at $295 and looks perfect for those depositions on the other side of the country.

Smart Board

Smart Technologies has a very impressive device you install over your LCD television that allows you to create a virtual white board like you are John Madden. The price point is steep. I was told “around $5,000” but it sure is nice.

Storage – Drobo and TimeCapsule

While TimeCapsule is aimed as a consumer device, 1TB storage with a built in wireless “N” router is a pretty attractive product.
I was also impressed with the Drobo that allows you to drop up to four swappable drives in with no headache. Interestingly, if you pull out a drive while it is running (or if the drive dies), Drobo automatically moves the data around to protect its integrity. The Drobo device costs $500 without any drives.
For all of you Mac lawyers, I highly recommend visiting Macworld sometime when you get a chance. Not only will you find some great tools for your practice, you’ll probably have a good time while you are at it.

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EyeTV Woes

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Well Apple didn’t give me the magic tablet I was hoping for, but they did make the Apple TV much more interesting for me. I do a lot of home video and I was halfway to buying one before. The price drop combined with the ability to rent HD movies puts me in the “will buy” category.
Since I’m intending to do that, I thought I would also get an EyeTV device to allow me to get recorded content onto the Apple TV and my phone. They had a very good deal at Macworld and I picked one up. I have a bit of free time today so I started setting it up but unfortunately the software disc is blank. It has elgato’s printing on the disc, it says “eyetv3”, but when I put it in my Mac, there is nothing on it. The finder opens up showing a “recordable disk”. To make matters worse, I am unable to find a digital download of the eyetv software so my idea of recording tonight’s playoff previews on my Mac are dashed.

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I sent an email to elgato. I’ll keep you posted on just how good their customer service is.
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Update 1.20.08
The elgato customer service is actually very good. I received an email this morning with the download link and an apology. Apparently in their rush to get to Macworld with the new software they had a batch of bad disks.
I hooked it all up night and it delivers as promised … almost.
In order to get the DVR function working their television guide provider (TitanTV) has got to have your specific cable provider in their system. Mine is Cox communications which apparently didn’t make the cut. This could be operator error. I’ve only been trying to figure it out for an hour.

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Macworld Adventures, Day 3

Yesterday I spent the morning in the west hall where I saw a few things interesting:
Wiretap Studio Pro
I finally got a good look at this application. It is very impressive. On the fly preview of the encoding and file size could save me a bunch of time. I may have to switch to this one. Stay tuned.
Fluid Mask 3
This application is $199 but does an excellent job of removing background in about 2 minutes. If I was a graphics professional, I’d be all over it.
Avery Design Pro
The label people have some excellent Mac friendly software to work with their products. I”m in the beta and will keep you posted. It should release in a few months.
Plasq Doozla
A fun little drawing application that I may end up buying for my kids.
I also got to meet Kenji Kato, who was very friendly and helpful with his greenscreen video demonstration.
I had lunch with the podcasting gang.

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From left to right that is Allison Sheridan, Yours truly, Victor Cajiou, Katie Floyd, and Don McAllister.
It is funny how we’ve all just physically met the last few days but we all get along as if we’ve known each other for years.
In the afternoon I hit the South hall one last time and then returned to the hotel to refresh for the Mac Podcaster meeting and mingle in the evening at Jillian’s. The podcast was lively and the mingle afterward was even more fun meeting people from all over the world that love all things Macintosh.
This morning I’m packing up and heading back to Macsparky headquarters. It has been a fun few days but I’m ready to get back to my family and my “other” job. I have marked the days for next year – January 5-9, and already look forward to coming back.

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Macworld Adventures – Day 2

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Today I recovered from my travel day and got an early start. I met up with some podcasting friends before the show started and was one of the first through the doors when it opened. I spent the whole day going through the south hall and talking to lots of the small and a few of the big developers.
I’m writing this late so I’m going to just touch on some of the high points.

1Password

The 1Password folds are continuing to refine their application. They now have a working beta on the iPhone that auto fills the forms. This is a blessing for a phone that lacks cut and paste. I think it is some sort of dark magic.
MacSpeech
They licensed the dragon engine and built an OS X (intel only) engine around it. It looks really good. They are talking about a February release and this is one application that could really help me out.

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Eye-Fi
Imagine this. You take a picture on your point and shoot with this special SD card. You then walk into your house and your camera sees your iPhoto and downloads the pictures over your wifi network while you are still unloading the car. You had to see it to believe it. Recognize the face in the picture?

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Tune Ranger
It syncs all of your iPod libraries including ratings and play counts. This one looks very useful.

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BusySync 2.0
Sync’s all of your family (or business) calendars over bonjour and to Google calendar. It looks really slick and includes features like automatic back up. Maybe this will solve a cause of marital disharmony in the Sparks house.
Office 2008
The Microsoft update looks good. Maybe that is what happens when you wait 4 years to update the product. Or maybe it is actually good. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

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I watched the word presentation that looked interesting and the powerpoint presentation that really looks about 10 years behind Keynote.
iPod accessories
There are a LOT of iPhone accessory vendors. After awhile they all started to look the same to me except for the one below. That one is certainly unique.

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There were more, but its late. One observation I can make is how fun it is to watch these small independent developers amaze me ingenious applications. One guy had a web application that could read HyperCard stacks!
In the evening I went to the Cirque du Mac party and got to spend time with some of my favorite Mac friends including Don McAllister from Screencastsonline, Adam from MacCast, Victor from the typical MacUser, Jonathan from MacTipsDaily, John and Dave from MacGeekGab and I made several new friends. The band sounded fantastic.
Now its off to bed and tomorrow I am hitting the West Hall.

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