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

The Office 2007 file format looks like an XML file but acts like a ZIP file. According to Microsoft:

The Office Open XML Formats are based on XML and ZIP archive technologies. The new file format in Microsoft Office Word 2007 divides the file into document parts, each of which defines a part of the overall contents of the file. You can easily create, change, add, or delete data in a Word 2007 file programmatically or manually.

Nifty, huh? You can create and edit a Word 2007 document without opening Word. If you don't want to create a document from scratch but do want to see what's inside, take an existing Word 2007 file with a .DOCX extension and change the extension to .ZIP.

The July 2009 issue of LJN's Legal Tech Newsletter points out that this both good and bad for law firm IT departments. The Office Open XML Formats let other non-Microsoft data be stored in the file. However, this increases the chance that metadata and other information will inappropriately be shared with others. To find out how to protect yourself, see how to remove hidden data and personal information from Office documents.

And if you haven't heard of metadata before or are looking for more information about legal and ethical issues, check out The Posse List's E-discovery: Metadata grows in legal significance. - K

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Want to help the Online Document Assembly Project win $5,000 cash and $25,000 worth of donated software in Microsoft's and TechSoup's Show Your Impact contest? Yes? Great!

It's easy. You just need to vote for the "Increasing Access to Justice" entry in Microsoft's and TechSoup's Show Your Impact contest by June 10, 2009. Here's how:

1. Go to Microsoft Impact Story Contest.
2. Register or log in.
3. Vote for "Increasing Access to Justice" in the Transformations to Maximize Impact category.
4. Vote for at least 2 other programs. (Preferably, your two other choices are in other categories.)
5. Cast your ballot.
6. Tell your friends to vote.

The first round of judging is by the public, or more specifically any individual from a Microsoft donation recipient organization, TechSoup or Microsoft, and any of those individuals' friends, family or contacts. (If you are reading this post, you qualify.) To move on to the second round, the "Increasing Access to Justice" entry needs to be one of the top nine voted-for entries in the Transformations to Maximize Impact category. So please vote!

Need to know more about Online Document Assembly, the project that consumes my days, before you vote? Check out the profile that The Chronicle of Philanthropy published in February.  -K

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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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Every year Microsoft hosts the Professional Developers Conference, a huge attraction for developers and architects who want to know where the Microsoft platform is headed. Typically this is the conference where they announce major changes like this year's demonstration of Windows 7. However, the conference registration alone runs around $2,500, which means that most legal aid techies won't be attending.

Fortunately Microsoft has recorded many of the sessions and made them available online, so that you can keep up with what is happening in the industry from the comfort of your office. Session topics include Visual C++, C#, creating secure SQL Server applications, how Silverlight works with Python, and more. - K

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