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

Here's a quick wrap up of technola's top posts for 2010. First, the most popular posts based on the number of page views.

1. A2J Author 3.0 Released
2. Recently Released Legal Resources
3. Will You Blog With Me?
4. ESRI Announces Mapping Software Donation Program
5. 2010 "Future Trends in State Courts" Explores Social Media in the Courts
6. NTIA Announces Two BTOP Grants Focusing on Increasing Access to Justice
7. Public Libraries and Access to Justice Conference Materials
8. Are Legal Aid Programs Posting Video Online?
9. Online Video Series Wrap Up
10. Listen to Archived Virtual LegalTech Sessions

And then the most popular posts based on engagement (page views, comments, links clicked, and so on) as rated by PostRank.

1. Will You Blog With Me?
2. NTEN NTC: Lots of Tech Conversations Online and Off
3. A2J Author 3.0 Released
4. Technology Sessions at the 2010 Equal Justice Conference
5. Lex Mundi Launches LawForChange.org
6. National Pro Bono Celebration Blogging Round Up (Part 2)
7. National Pro Bono Celebration Blogging Round Up (Part 1)
8. We Love the Cloud; We Hate the Cloud
9. Broadband Adoption in Low-Income Communities
10. Gov 2.0 Expo Looks at Technology and Transparency

Happy Reading! - K

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Several new blogs have been added to technola's Blogroll under "General Legal Aid and Public Interest Law Blogs," including the Pro Bono Institute's The PBEye and Richard Zorza's Access to Justice Blog. This brings the total number of blogs covering public interest law to forty-three. Am I missing any? - K

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December is going to be a slow month for Technola - both Kate and Matthew have vacations planned - but that doesn't mean that you won't have enough to read. First, if you missed any,  you can catch up on Technola's best posts from November:

• Penn Law Students Create Videos to Help Immigrants Avoid Fraud
• Two Tweets to Make You Think
• Twitter List of Legal Aid & Pro Bono Organizations
• A Conference or Two for Everyone
• Google Scholar Blog Post Round Up

Next, you can review NTEN's Member Appreciation Month blog posts One of my favorites: How To: Create a Listening Dashboard for your Organization by Amy Sample Ward of NetSquared.

And of course, December marks the end of the year and the end of the decade. You'll see plenty of "Best Of" and summary posts this month. To get you started: Newsweek put together The Decade in 7 Minutes.

Happy Reading! - K

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The fall time change came just in time. That extra hour let me catch up on some much needed sleep before launching into a packed November. Did you use your extra hour wisely? If not and you need some help getting ahead, here's the "CliffsNotes" to catch you up on Technola's top October posts:

• Firefox Add-ons for Legal Research
• Delivering the Message with a New Medium: National Pro Bono Celebration Week 2009
• Webinar Today: "Using Social Media to Network with Other Advocates and Promote Your Work
• Thanking the Lawyers Who Go Above and Beyond: National Pro Bono Celebration 2009
• Illinois Legal Aid Online Launches "LiveHelp" Project

And after that, I recommend that you check out a few others:

• Will law firms have no other alternative than to blog? - Real Lawyers Have Blogs
• Ronald Staudt: Web + Law = A2J - ABA Journal's Legal Rebels
• Guest Post by Nedra Weinreich: Fruit Salad - or, Selecting Your Target Audience - Beth's Blog

Happy Reading! - K

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Another month gone and only three more until the end of the year. Unfortunately, after summer, time seems to speed up, propelling me ever more quickly toward the new year. If the same happens to you and you fell behind with Technola's posts, here are September's top five to catch you up:

• My Name Is Kate and I Am a Listener
• Census Bureau Announces Increase in Poverty
• Social Networking Webinar Now Available Online
• 2009 Court Technology Conference Videos
• New Report on New Media and Social Change

 And if you find some extra time, check out these great posts:

• 20 of the 60 Tips in 60 Minutes - Virtual Law Practice
• Social Media Recap from NMC 2009 - CogDogBlog
• Ken Adams: Word Miser - Legal Rebels
• Mobile Technology Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations - DIOSA

Happy Reading! - K

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August's over. And in the upper Midwest at least, it sounds like summer's wrapping up, too. Reports from North Dakota are of morning lows of 45 degrees with heavy dew. If you packed too much into August and couldn't keep up with all of Technola's posts, here are the top five:

• Social Networking Primer for Poverty Law Advocates and Organizations
• Justice Served Announces Top Court Websites for 2009
• Unlocking the PACER Paywall
• Common Craft Releases "SharePoint in Plain English"
• Can Lawyers Blog to Fulfill Pro Bono Responsibility?

And for those of you who are looking for some extra reading for the upcoming holiday weekend, a few great posts from others:

• Social Media, Social Media Access to Justice? - SC Access to Justice Weblog
• The easiest instructions for how to start a blog - Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist
• TechSoup.org is getting more than just a refresh - ext337
• Ask the taxgirl: Volunteering and Charitable Deductions - taxgirl

Happy Reading! - K

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Ugh, it's August, my least favorite month of the year. Why? Humidity. If July was for camping out in the hammock, August is for hiding out in the basement and trying to stay cool, at least in Baltimore. So for the next month, that's where you'll find me--in the basement catching up on my blog reading and writing. Will August heat be driving you inside, too? Why not use some of that time to check out Technola's top July posts?

• Examples of Social Networking Policies
• Get Legal Help Without the Cost
• Nolo Offers Free Foreclosure Survival Guide
• Have You Hugged Your System Administrator Today?
• This American Life Episode on Pro Se Litigants

If you have some extra time, I also suggest these posts.

• 22 Ways a Blog Can Rock Your Non-Profit's Social Media Campaign - John Hayden
• 3 Steps to Success on Facebook - Use It Today!
• Avoiding Data Conversion Hell - Idealware
• Gather Around the RoundTable - NTEN

Happy Reading! - K

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It's summer in Baltimore-hot and humid. Fortunately, my planned yard renovations were finished before the end of May, and now I can retreat to the backyard hammock with some good reading without feeling too guilty. If you're also lucky enough to be able to spend some of your summer catching up on reading, might I suggest a few Technola posts? Here's a few of June's best.

• New York Launches Interactive Forms for the Public
• ABA Manual on Sale: "Innovative Fundraising Ideas for Legal Services"
• Sunlight Foundation Suggests Facelift for SCOTUS Website
• Collaboration Software Compared
• Evidently I Was Wrong. I Love My Kindle

Already read those and looking for something new? Check these out:

• What Makes for a Good Blog? - 43 Folders
• 30 Different Uses for RSS - louisgray.com
• Priming the pump of efficiency - Seth Godin
• ALL staff - not just the volunteer manager - should involve volunteers - Jayne Cravens

Happy Reading! - K

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The Equal Justice Conference is over, the TIG deadline has passed, and Memorial Day has come and gone, meaning summer is officially here. If you've planned to spend some of your lazy summer hours catching up on Technola's posts, here is the list of May's best.

• Using Video to Share Your Story
• Free Friday: More Online Case Law
• More File Converters
• Tech Tip: Find Out Who Links to Your Site
• Teen Choice of Social Network Sites

And if you're looking for some additional reading, check out these posts:

• Is SaaS more secure? - Idealware
• Saas and Security - the Response! - Idealware
• Nonprofit Website Mistakes: Lack of Transparency - The Nonprofit Consultant Blog
• How to Live Blog (Or Twitter) An Event Effectively - Social Media Today

Happy Reading! - K

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End of April already? It seems like it was just March last week. In case the month disappeared as quickly for you and you weren't able to keep up with the Technola feed, here's April's top five:

• One-Page Technical Cheat Sheets
• Beyond LexisNexis & Westlaw: New Online Legal Research Guide by UCLA
• Three Public Interest Websites Nominated for Best Law Site in 13th Annual Webby Awards
• Free Friday: Getting Started with Social Media Webinar
• Why Lawyers Should Write More Plainly

And if you're all caught up with Technola, check out some of my favorites from other blogs:

• Unfair and Deceptive Data Trade Practices - Schneier on Security
• 09NTC How to Decide: IT Planning & Prioritizing - Amy Sample Ward’s Version of NPTech
• 50 Terrific Social Sites for Law Students and Lawyers - e-Justice Blog
• 47 Awesome Twitter Tools You Should be Using - deontée.com

Happy Reading! - K

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For me, every one of the thirty-one days of March was filled, and I suspect that yours were, too. In case you missed any of our readers' favorite posts from March, we're bringing you a list of the top five.

• April 1: Revenge of the Botnet
• Fargo Floods
• Libby, Montana and W. R. Grace and Company
• Security Updates Available for Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9
• Free and Low Cost Legal Research Guide from Georgetown Law Library

And for our loyal readers who already caught all of those posts, check out these interesting posts.

• Software for Collaboration - Idealware
• Now that Mom's on Facebook - Idealware
• Best Practices for Blogging - lex exposita

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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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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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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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January was a busy month for Technola.  Matthew and I posted forty-eight articles (an all-time high),  launched our blogroll, updated the resources page, and started experimenting with @accesstojustice, a Twitter feed of access-to-justice news and information from the U.S. and abroad. If you need to catch-up, here are our readers' favorite posts from the month:

• I-CAN! E-File Launches for Tax-Filing Season
• WhoCanISue.com Officially Launches
• Pew Release Report on Adults and Social Networking
• LSC Posts TIG Presentations
• A Few New Legal Aid Blogs and Twitter Profiles

And while I'm highlighting posts, I thought I'd take a moment to point out a few interesting posts that I found this month:

• ROI (Results on Insights) of Online Communities - Beth's Blog
• Respect PSA - ARC of North Virginia and ARC of Virginia
• How to use TweetDeck - Blogging Art and Practice
• 22 Ways A Blog Can Rock Your Non-Profit's Social Media Campaign - Socialize Your Non-Profit's Social Media

Happy reading! - K

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As promised, we just published our first-ever technola blogroll. It's broken up into 7 categories, each stocked with blogs that we read on a regular basis, which range from pure technology blogs to legal aid and poverty law blogs. We look forward to hearing from you about other interesting, topical blogs in the comments.  -M&K

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After a brief hiatus, the technola "resources" page is back up with additional sites and more complete descriptions. It now includes three categories:

• Legal Aid/Public Interest Law Technology;
• Nonprofit Technology; and
• Law Technology

We'll do our best to keep it updated over time (please add your suggestions to the comments). Also, we'll soon be publishing a blogroll with all of our favorite law, technology, and nonprofit blogs. -M & K

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In December 2008, Kate and I launched a Twitter profile to report news and information on access to justice issues in the United States and abroad. In less than a month, we've grown to almost 180 over 200 followers and have posted more than 200 updates. If you have a twitter account, you can follow @accesstojustice here. Alternately, you can subscribe to the RSS feed here. If you want to learn more about how attorneys and legal professionals are using twitter (and what they're saying), check out LexTweet, a great new service from Kevin O'Keefe (@kevinokeefe) and his crew over at LexBlog. -M

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For those of you who are catching up on your blog reading during the holiday lull, I've put together two lists of technola's top posts in order to make your job easier. The first list is simply the most popular posts based on the number of page views.

1. Podcasting 101
2. Free Friday: Web-Based Project Management
3. Free Friday: Census Data and LEP Seminar
4. Dangerous Websites
5. Free Friday: Mind/Concept Mapping Software
6. Firefox, Gimme My Memory Back!
7. Blog Action Day 2008: Share Your Thoughts
8. Online Tool to Help Simplify the Stimulus
9. Opportunities to Provide Legal Help to Veterans
10. Arkansas Does It Again

The second list is a bit more nuanced. After reading Beth Kanter's post, I used PostRank to measure how much readers engaged with each technola post (left comments, clicked on links, bookmarked post on del.icio.us, and so on). Then I identified the top posts.

1. BlogHer: Reflections on Live Blogging and Tweeting
2. Blog Action Day 2008: Share Your Thoughts on Poverty
3. Simplify Collaboration - Use a Wiki
4. NPR Launches New API
5. Technology, Plain English, and Whiteboards
6. Opportunities to Provide Legal Help to Veterans
7. Who is Hosting This?
8. 2008 EJC Materials Now Available Online
9. The Hippest Law Librarian on the Block
10. Commissioners Close Self-Help Center in San Antonio

Happy Reading! - K

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Today, I'm at the BlogHer DC conference. After a bit of technical trouble, I'm online and will be attempting some live blogging later this afternoon, but if you just want to keep an eye on the real-time highlights, keep an eye on me at Twitter. - K

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On August 22, 2008, technola made the Wordpress Blogs of the Day, which features WordPress.com blogs that have gained the most popularity. It's not quite Alltop, but not a bad showing among the other 3,904,806 or so Wordpress.com blogs. -M

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Matthew's gone to Johannesburg, South Africa for the next week, and he's instructed me to keep you informed about the high points in both the legal aid and technology worlds while he's away. (I told him no promises, but I'd try.)

What Matthew's trip really means, however, is that he's left me in charge of technola for the next week. Fortunately, for those of you who have come to know and love this blog, I don't have any radical changes in mind -- after all, Matthew will be back next week. But you may notice a little mission creep as I have a few posts in mind that go a bit further afield. Stay tuned. - K

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One of the cooler new apps available for the iPhone is a free 2D Barcode reader by 2D Sense (download here). By taking a picture of a two dimensional barcode with a mobile device equipped with a camera and 2D Code reader, you can access the information contained in the code. As an example, I've generate a QR Code (left) that contains a bookmark for technola. You can generate your own QR code here, or by using this Firefox add-on.

While 2D Barcodes are not yet widely used in the U.S., like text messaging they have the potential to provide targeted legal information and referrals to clients with mobile devices wherever the code is made available. For a good example of how 2D Barcodes can be used to connect the virtual and physical world, check out Semapedia. If you don't have an iPhone, see whether your phone is supported by BeeTagg, which reads Datamatrix, QR Code and their proprietary BeeTaggs. -M

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We're pleased to announce that you can now follow technola on Twitter. Our "tweets" will include blog posts, comments, follow-up on past posts and quick quips and tips that don't warrant a full blog post. To learn more about Twitter, check out Twitter in Plain English. -M

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Now that TIG is over, I've moved on to the other items on my to do list.

1. Sleep. √
2. Catch up on my Catonsville Times reading and crossword puzzles. √
3. Look into Feedburner. √

The first two don't need much explaination, but I suspect that number three may. No, I am not considering becoming an arsonist. Feedburner is actually a tool for bloggers. It lets us more easily track how many people are subscribed to our feeds and, for commercial ventures, more efficiently profit from content. While Matthew and I aren't looking to profit from our content, we do like to know what people are interested in. So now technola has the burn.

If you are already subscribed to our feed, you don't have to do anything. You could subscribe to our new feed. It is a little bit prettier and fancier than are old feed. You can quickly e-mail an article to another person or save it to del.icio.us. But you don't have to.

If you haven't subscribed, you now have two options. You can either subscribe to our feed or sign up to get an e-mail when we post new content. If you are interested, see the links on the right-hand side. - K

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If you want to get your daily dose of technola, but don't always have time to read the posts, check out the technola del.icio.us tag. We tag all of the tools and resources that we feature in our posts, so that you can have instant, unmediated access to the goods. You'll find the del.icio.us RSS feed here, and while your at it why not subscribe to technola's full RSS feed? If you're new to RSS, or just want a refresher, check out these resources:

• All About RSS
• Beth's Blog: RSS Beginners Guide and Video
• What is RSS? -M

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