Technola : Public Interest Law & Technology Updates & Commentary : Matthew Burnett & Kate Bladow : Tech Advice for the Non-Profit Legal Sector

Women Who Tech announced the panels for its upcoming 2nd Annual TeleSummit. This free, live event features topics relevant to women in the nonprofit, political, and business worlds, including

• open source software;
• tools for online communication;
• social media return on investment (ROI); and
• launching a start-up.

The TeleSummit, scheduled for May 12, 2009, is free, and registration will open in April 2009. To be notified when registration opens, you can sign up on the Women Who Tech website for e-mails about the event, follow WomenWhoTech on Twitter, join the Women Who Tech group on Facebook, or join the Women Who Tech group on LinkedIn. - K

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Think Facebook and Twitter are just for people who have a lot of extra time? Perhaps Online Social Networks: Making Your Connections Work for You will change your mind. This article from the Immigration Advocates Network March 2009 Newsletter outlines existing opportunities for members to network with others interested in immigration issues; however, it is also a great introduction to how social networks can be used to increase communication and collaboration. - K

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Just a quick post to point out that Common Craft has posted another technology-related video. This time they cover Computer Software in Plain English. More information about Common Craft is available in these previous posts: What's Under the Hood? and Technology, Plain English, and Whiteboards. - K

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From jurisdiction to jurisdiction, courts are not named consistently. A district court in one state might be a court of general jurisdiction; however, in another, a district court might be a court of limited jurisdiction. To help clear up any confusion, the National Center for State Courts has published charts of the structure of the state courts. - K

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For those of you who have checked the About page, it should be no surprise that for the last week or so, I've been watching the flooding in North Dakota closely. Fortunately, my family and friends are safe and relatively warm and dry; however, with the Red River of the North headed towards a crest of 43 feet (by-passing the record crest of the 1897 flood) and with residents' too recent memories of the 1997 flood and Grand Forks' destruction, they are understandably anxious and worried.

From a distance of over 1500 miles, I've been incredibly impressed with the area's ability to get information out and recruit volunteers. Like most places, North Dakota currently has a group of people who have thoroughly integrated technology into their lives, a group that hasn't, and a group that is somewhere in between, so the effort to get information out has been a combination of traditional and new media efforts. In addition to round-the-clock news coverage from the Fargo Forum, KFGO, and KVLY TV, technology played a key role. A few of the tools that are being used and that might interest Technola readers:

• Twitter: People are reporting the current flood stage and other current news. (Search hashtags: #flood09, #fargoflood, #redriver, #NDfloods.)
• A Facebook group is a place to connect with others and gather information.
• Mapping is being used to create a mashup of flood announcements, display areas being evacuated, and identify areas in danger at different flood stages.
• Automatic telephone notifications are being used to round up volunteers and notify people who need to evacuate.
  
• YouTube videos are being used to instruct people on how to build a sandbag dike and show what sandbagging is like.

People unfamiliar with the North Dakota landscape may enjoy this great series of photos from USGS pointed out on Twitter by Steve Drees. They document the rise of the river in Grand Forks, North Dakota, which is about 100 miles north of Fargo. You can also check out the Fargo SkyCam to see the level of the Red River to see the current level there.

Although I feel like we have to mention it too often, free legal resources exist for people recovering from disasters at National Disaster Legal Aid site. In addition, ABA LTRC posted a round up of disaster resources yesterday. - K

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The Georgetown University Law Library has published an online guide to free and low cost legal research. The Guide includes links to online resources for case law, constitutions, statutes and codes, legislative history, administrative regulations, and low-cost legal databases. Thanks to @shrivercenter for pointing this out. -M

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Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, was the first computer programmer. The story is that her mother, Anne Isabella, was spurned by Lord Byron, and because of that, Anne encouraged Ada to pursue subjects that were rational and not romantic, wishy-washy, or crazy, like the subjects Lord Byron pursued. So Ada studied mathematics from an early age, later working with Charles Babbage on the design of his Analytical Engine and creating the first computer program. Most computer scientist know her namesake--the computer language Ada.

Unfortunately, the fact that computer programming started with a woman doesn't mean that women are flocking to careers in science and math today. To recognize the women who are and encourage others to follow their lead, Suw Charmna-Anderson declared March 24 to be Ada Lovelace Day and asked the blog-o-sphere to write about women excelling in technology.

I spent a fair amount of time thinking about who I wanted to highlight, and I decided that I couldn't choose just one. Today, you are getting a list of three.

• Beth Kanter - Beth uses technology to build community and connections with other people and then shares her experiences at Beth's Blog. Through her blogging, which is part thinking aloud, part reference, and part resource guide,  Beth looks at how technology is being used in the nonprofit community and from that distills best practices as well as areas for additional research.
• Allyson Kapin - Allyson has a variety of titles, but I think that she's best described as a cheerleader for good. Not only does she work with nonprofits to develop online strategies that will help them to change the world, but she is also Blogger-in-Chief for Care2's frogloop, where she explains the finer points of online networking, and the founder of Women Who Tech, an annual telesummit for women in technology. In her spare time, she reminds technology conference planners to include women on panels and as speakers.
• Michelle Murrain - Michelle is a nonprofit techie, who focuses on open source content management systems; however, she has a variety of interests. One thing that I admire about her is that she is able to talk and write about technology in plain language but also able to talk "geek." And from following her on Twitter (@pearlbear) and reading her blog, I get the feeling that she's not afraid to call a spade a spade.

And, of course, there are many more that I could easily add to this list. If you have a particular woman who you think should be recognized, please let me know in the comments. - K

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M & R Strategic Services published a case study of Oxfam International's end-of-the-year online fundraising campaign: Weak Economy, Strong Campaign. While Oxfam's resources, even in lean years, are more than the typical legal aid organization, this case study outlines some best practices that organizations of any size can use in their fundraising campaigns.

• Focus on one major problem to let people know why they need to give to your organization now. This is different than reminding the community that your organization is a worthy cause. Your potential donors need to know why to support your organization instead of the many other worthy organizations that are also asking for money.
• Let people know what will happen if they don't give. Oxfam included language in their appeal that said, "If we don’t hit our goal, programs may be scaled back." Legal aid organizations are already scaling back. When you ask people for money, tell them that if they don't give, more programs may be scaled back, and how many more low-income individuals may not have access to lawyers.
• Test various messages to see which works best. Instead of just guessing what language will convince people to donate, test it and see what language actually works. (This is often called "split testing" or "A/B testing." ) You may be surprised.
• Start planning your campaign now. Don't wait until just before it needs to be implemented.
• Use a short video to appeal to emotion. According to M & R, "Make me laugh, make me cry, or go home."

For me, the most important point that this case study makes is "ask." Your donors are out there. You need to remind them why your organization is important and then ask for their help. - K

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Thanks to Travis August for pointing out a Washington Post story that reports how people who are homeless are using technology to stay connected to their families, friends, and employers. - K

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TechSoup is hosting a free webinar on Thursday March 26^th at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific) on “Mobile Technology for Advocacy and Activism.” This session will explore how to use mobile technology, including voice, SMS, applications, and the mobile web, for activism and engagement. You can register online here. -M

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In late January, Technola reported the existence of the Confickr botnet. The scariest part of that report: experts weren't certain how the botnet was going to be used or when. Well, they now know a bit more.

First, the good news. According to the New York Times, experts know when the botnet is supposed to be activated--April 1.  The bad news? Confickr has mutated to make itself even more difficult to remove. And researchers still don't know what the botnet is intending to be used for. - K

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My very first post to Technola was about drop.io, a free online collaboration and file sharing tool that I used to host files that were too large to email. Since that time, drop.io has introduced so many new features and become so central to my productivity that it warrants another post. Here it is.

At its most basic, drop.io allows you to post files online in a password protected space with different levels of permissions. For example, I might create a drop for a project working group so that I can share monthly call notes and project status reports, password protect this “drop,” and allow members of the group to download, add, or delete content from the drop. But that’s just the beginning. Each drop also comes with a conference call number, which I could use to host my monthly calls, and a unique email address, fax number and voicemail number, which members can use to forward relevant emails, leave a voicemail or send fax transmissions to the drop. Additionally, each drop now comes with built-in chat, and can be integrated with Firefox, Facebook and Twitter. You can easily archive a drop in a zip file and syndicate your content using RSS, email alerts and SMS. A paywall can also be setup if you want to charge for content in your drop.

Whether you’re interested in a simple online file sharing tool or a more complex collaborative workspace, drop.io is a fantastic solution. Each free drop is limited to 100 MB, but you can upgrade for $10 a GB per year. Drops can also be customized using templates that they provide or custom colors and you can even upload your logo. To learn more about drop.io, I would encourage you to watch their "how to" video and check out these sample uses. They also provide a list of features here, and a blog (which, along with the rest of their site, uses drop.io) here. -M
 

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In late February, Matthew pointed out a few browser testing tools to help you see how your site renders in different browsers. Microsoft just announced an addition to that list: Microsoft SuperPreview. According to the post on SitePoint, the full version, which hasn't yet been released, will support Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. Currently, a free pre-release version lets you test IE6 and IE7 as well as IE8 if it's installed. - K

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I’ve long been a fan of Alltop, the self-described “online magazine rack of popular topics,” so I was thrilled that Technola was recently added to the law category (scroll down … down … a little further … further … there). Not only does this mean that we can display a clever Alltop badge (left) on our site, it also means that we can put Technola front and center in our custom Alltop aggregator, which includes many of the nonprofit, law and technology blogs that we love. As with most things we do, it’s a work in progress, but hopefully it will inspire you to build your own. If you do, be sure to share it with us; we’d love to see what you’re reading. -M

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My Pro Bono Net colleague Tory Messina pointed out two documents from the DC Bar Foundation that aren't technology-related but are likely of interest to Technola readers. These documents, Summary of Listening Session with Pro Bono Counsel and Summary of Listening Sessions with Legal Services Providers, highlight how pro bono counsel and legal services providers are being affected by the economic crisis and how they are trying to cope. My impression: the picture is pretty bleak.

While these documents focus on DC providers, I'm guessing that their comments reflect what is being seen more widely. I'd love to hear whether or not this is true. Let me know in the comments. - K

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A blog post from Kenneth W. Davis, Sending Fewer Envelopes, caught my eye, reminding me that good writing encourages people to keep reading. Particularly for our client community, many of whom may not be strong readers, we need to remember that less really is more. - K

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The National Legal Aid and Defender Association's Cornerstone Magazine recently published an excellent article entitled "Meaningful Web Access for LEP Clients: Examples from the Net" by Liz Keith, Leah Margulies and Michael Mulé. The article "discusses the obligation to translate website content and highlights emerging and distinctive ways that programs are using Web technology to help ensure essential resources and information are accessible to LEP clients." If you are responsible for client-facing websites, including your own organization's website, please take a few minutes to give it a read. -M

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CommonCraft, a company that creates Paperworks videos and that Technola has highlighted before, has again rushed to the rescue of both techies and their users. This time they explain how computers work.

Common Craft--the many people that I've tried to explain hard drives, RAM, and processors to send you their heartfelt gratitude. - K

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A critical vulnerability has been found in Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 and earlier versions. Here is the information available from the Adobe site:

This vulnerability would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this issue is being exploited.

Adobe recommends users of Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9 update to Adobe Reader 9.1 and Acrobat 9.1. Adobe is planning to make available updates for Adobe Reader 7 and 8, and Acrobat 7 and 8, by March 18. In addition, Adobe plans to make available Adobe Reader 9.1 for Unix by March 25.

More information and the updates are available here. -M

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We'll be writing more about the new the improved blog in the weeks to come, but for now we just want to dedicate some space to Kevin O'Keefe and the amazing team at LexBlog for their generous support. Kevin and his staff are a hard working, bighearted bunch, and that counts for a lot in our book. If you're a lawyer or law firm and considering blogging, you probably already know that LexBlog is a fantastic solution. If you also care about the people behind the product, we hope that you take LexBlog's support of projects like ours to heart. We love what we do, and there's nothing better than to work with a team that clearly feels the same way about their work.

We'll be making tweaks and catching up on our posts in the next few days. In the meantime, please email us with feedback on the new site at technolablog@gmail.com. We'd love to hear what you think. -M&K

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Over the next few days we'll be busy making some exciting changes to Technola and won't be able to add any new entries.  In the meantime you can always check out these great blogs or catch up on any one of our 375 past posts. Just don't forget to check back on Thursday (3/12) for Technola  2.0! -M&K

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Alyssa Gregory reviews 30 websites that provide free stock photography in her recent post on SitePoint, an online information provider for web developers and designers. -M [Thanks, Ken!]

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Interfaith Worker Justice recently launched a new website, "Can My Boss Do That?", which provides U.S. workers with information on issues like work rules, hiring and firing, work safety, pay, benefits, time off, and protecting your rights at work. -M

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Nicholas Gaffney provides a slew of free web tools in his Marketing the Law Firm Newsletter article, "Free Web Tools for the Way You Work." While many of the apps on this list will be familiar to you, Gaffney offers some excellent suggestions on PR and collaboration tools as well as advice on how lawyers and law firms can use these tools effectively. -M

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If you were to ask me about Montana's environmental disasters, the first place that I'd likely tell you about is Berkley Pit, a gigantic hole created by the Anaconda Company's open-pit mining of copper. It's the natural story to tell. In fact, it's become a tourist attraction - even The Daily Show has visited.

But unfortunately, as horrible as Berkley Pit is, it isn't the worst environmental disaster that has happened in Montana. That honor belongs to the area surrounding Libby, Montana, where W.R. Grace and Company mined vermiculite laced with asbestos until 1990. In this area, around 1,200 people have developed asbestos-related illnesses, and since 2000, the EPA has spent $120 million to try to clean it up. W. R. Grace and Company allegedly knew that asbestos was being released since 1956, and in 2005 the US Department of Justice began criminal proceedings against the company. Finally, just last month, the criminal trial began.

While this case is incredibly interesting for many reasons, coverage of the trial is especially noteworthy. In a joint project between the Schools of Law and Journalism, students from the University of Montana are following the trial and publishing their notes and analysis on a blog as well as live-tweeting the trial on Twitter. Their coverage provides amazing access to the courtroom. They are telling the story in a professional, yet engaging, way and in my opinion, it is much more fascinating than any episode of Law & Order.

For more background information about Libby and its vermiculite mine, read the Wikipedia articles on Libby, Montana and W.R. Grace and Company, and watch the documentary Libby, Montana. All of these sources cover the issues much better than I can in this blog post. And check out the U of Montana's coverage of the trial. It's a nice example of how new media platforms can open courtroom doors and educate the public about the justice system. - K

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Mike Monahan, Director of Pro Bono at the Georgia State Bar,  pointed out this map of unemployment rates from the New York Times. A great example of mapping, the images tell a terrifying story, especially when you look at the one year change in unemployment in rural areas and manufacturing centers. - K

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You can now find photos from the LSC TIG Conference on the LSC TIG Conference Facebook page, which is available to everyone whether or not you are a Facebook member. Conference attendees can relive all of the great memories, but more importantly, those of you who couldn't attend have a chance to put faces together with the voices and names that you've heard over and over again. A few people that readers of Technola might want to check out: AJ Tavares, the techie behind I-CAN! E-File; Ed Marks, who understands how tech and mission should fit together; Glenn Rawdon, beloved technology grant funder; and, of course, my former and current deputy directors, the Al(l)isons. - K

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February was a short month, but if your month was anything like ours, I'm certain that there was plenty to fill your days. Just in case your days were so busy that you fell behind on reading Technola, here's our end of the month round up, highlighting a few of our readers' favorite posts.

• Twitter 101
• Foreclosure-Response.org To Launch on February 18th
• The Differences Between LegalTech and TIG
• Tech Tip: Google Cheat Sheet
• How Many Foreclosures This Year?

And if you caught all of those, check out these interesting posts that I found this month.

• 2009 Nonprofit Video Awards - NTEN
• 8 Benefits of Having a Nonprofit Blog - Britt Bravo
• Crimes Against Hypertext - SitePoint

Happy Reading! - K

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