- Vlingo. This app has a setting called "Safereader" which will read your emails to you. Not perfect when you receive several emails in a row, but still a great tool when on the road. This way, you know when you have an email that requires you to pull over and respond to right away. It works with bluetooth. No one should read emails or texts while driving, and doing so in my jurisdiction is against the law. Another great feature of this program is that you can dictate emails or text messages. Actually, that is its primary function and Safereader is an add-on. The over-the-air transcription service works not 100%, but very well. Just remember to speak normally rather than trying to improve your enunciation. http://www.vlingo.com/
- Documents to Go. Same program that I have on my iPad and I have reviewed in that context. For when you desparately need to edit a document someone sent you. I'd rather edit on my iPad, but sometimes desperate circumstances call for desperate measures. http://www.dataviz.com/products/documentstogo/
- Forward Reply Edit. This functionality should be default on the blackberry. This allows you to edit something that you are replying or forwarding. Useful if person 1 has send me something, and before I send it to person 2, and I want to delete person 1's commentary first. http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/2813
- Opentable. For making or changing reservations. Though really that is what assistants are for.
- Mobipocket Reader. This is an ebook reader for the Blackberry. I prefer the Amazon kindle app for Blackberry generally, but the annotated Income Tax Act is only readable on the Mobipocket platform (which is ridiculous given that it is owned by Amazon). For when you really need to know what that Income Tax Act provision says. http://www.carswell.com/description.asp?DocID=6822
- LinkedIn. For keeping up with your connections and colleagues.
- The Weather Network. Do I need to take my umbrella with me to the meeting? http://www.theweathernetwork.com/mobile/applications
- Worldmate. When I travelled more, I used this app all the time. It accomodates the time zone changes well and integrates into Outlook. If I travelled monthly, I would be a paying user. http://www.worldmate.com/
Monday, December 20, 2010
Essential Blackberry Apps for the mobile lawyer
Monday, December 13, 2010
The iPad on Vacation
The vacation was pre-multitasking (iOS 4.2).
Drafting documents. I used Documents To Go. I type very fast on the on-screen iPad keyboard, which is just the right size (and is why I do not think the Blackberry Playbook will be as good). Watch out for auto-correction by the iPad however. Some strange words sometimes creep in as a result. The feature can be turned off, but usually it picks the correct word. The inability to copy footnotes from one document to the other is a serious hindrance to using the iPad for serious drafting.
Drafting on the iPad is best if you can let go of the need to format, which is better done on the desktop.
I also used iAnnotatePDF for reviewing and annotating PDFs. Some prefer Goodreader, but this app has worked well for me. The toolbars are clunky and ugly, but functional.
The lack of multitasking was a real pain, but given that iOS 4.2 has since been released there is no point in dwelling on that.
Accessing the internet. I went on vacation before I had the SIM card installed, but I would have been reluctant to use it in the US given roaming charges anyway. For extensive use when in another country, probably best to obtain a local SIM card for the duration. This is feasible given the month-to-month nature of iPad subscriptions.
Without 3G, the only connection option is either your computer or Wifi. I ended up in a condo with only a wired connection. I tried to use my macbook, which my wife took along, to create a wifi hotspot. Although Apple products "just work" for many things, it does not "just work" when trying to access the internet through a Mac as a wifi hotspot. After extensive searching of the internet, I found some rather complicated instructions for doing it, while in the room, but now back at the office I can no longer find them (there are instructions that do not work that are easy to find). Good luck trying.
On the airplane. For no rational reason, airlines are insisting that the iPad and other electronic devices are turned off. It's been well-established that aircraft electronics are well shielded from consumer electronics, since mobile phones are frequently left on by accident (see http://www.economist.com/node/10312057). If consumer electronics caused planes problems, landing in an urban setting would be fraught with accidents. The recent effort to have wifi aboard planes demonstrates the lack of foundation that this restriction has. It is even more foolish when one considers that there is a "airplane" mode that turns off the wifi and 3G transmitters. On a short-hop flights, the taxiing, take-off and landing can actually consume a fair chunk of the flight and it would be far more pleasant to be able to read during those times. Perhaps they are more worried about a bumpy landing sending my ipad flying into another passenger's head.
Relaxation. I didn't take enough reading material with me, to my surprise. So I used the Amazon Kindle app to buy a book. I didn't even have to buy given the number of free classics available. Also, while on vacation, the Economist came out with its dedicated app. While my paper copy languished in my mailbox, I downloaded the app, signed in, and downloaded the latest Economist onto my iPad to enjoy while on vacation. The iPad was also a useful way to take some children's books for bed-time reading, since physical books take up a lot of space and add weight.
Drafting documents. I used Documents To Go. I type very fast on the on-screen iPad keyboard, which is just the right size (and is why I do not think the Blackberry Playbook will be as good). Watch out for auto-correction by the iPad however. Some strange words sometimes creep in as a result. The feature can be turned off, but usually it picks the correct word. The inability to copy footnotes from one document to the other is a serious hindrance to using the iPad for serious drafting.
Drafting on the iPad is best if you can let go of the need to format, which is better done on the desktop.
I also used iAnnotatePDF for reviewing and annotating PDFs. Some prefer Goodreader, but this app has worked well for me. The toolbars are clunky and ugly, but functional.
The lack of multitasking was a real pain, but given that iOS 4.2 has since been released there is no point in dwelling on that.
Accessing the internet. I went on vacation before I had the SIM card installed, but I would have been reluctant to use it in the US given roaming charges anyway. For extensive use when in another country, probably best to obtain a local SIM card for the duration. This is feasible given the month-to-month nature of iPad subscriptions.
Without 3G, the only connection option is either your computer or Wifi. I ended up in a condo with only a wired connection. I tried to use my macbook, which my wife took along, to create a wifi hotspot. Although Apple products "just work" for many things, it does not "just work" when trying to access the internet through a Mac as a wifi hotspot. After extensive searching of the internet, I found some rather complicated instructions for doing it, while in the room, but now back at the office I can no longer find them (there are instructions that do not work that are easy to find). Good luck trying.
On the airplane. For no rational reason, airlines are insisting that the iPad and other electronic devices are turned off. It's been well-established that aircraft electronics are well shielded from consumer electronics, since mobile phones are frequently left on by accident (see http://www.economist.com/node/10312057). If consumer electronics caused planes problems, landing in an urban setting would be fraught with accidents. The recent effort to have wifi aboard planes demonstrates the lack of foundation that this restriction has. It is even more foolish when one considers that there is a "airplane" mode that turns off the wifi and 3G transmitters. On a short-hop flights, the taxiing, take-off and landing can actually consume a fair chunk of the flight and it would be far more pleasant to be able to read during those times. Perhaps they are more worried about a bumpy landing sending my ipad flying into another passenger's head.
Relaxation. I didn't take enough reading material with me, to my surprise. So I used the Amazon Kindle app to buy a book. I didn't even have to buy given the number of free classics available. Also, while on vacation, the Economist came out with its dedicated app. While my paper copy languished in my mailbox, I downloaded the app, signed in, and downloaded the latest Economist onto my iPad to enjoy while on vacation. The iPad was also a useful way to take some children's books for bed-time reading, since physical books take up a lot of space and add weight.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Note taking apps for the iPad
I use NoteTaker HD for taking all notes. I use a Griffin stylus to make notes, name them after my client, then email them at the end of the day for my assistant to file in our document management system. Paper is eliminated (previously, my assistant was scanning my paper notes then shredding/recycling the paper notes). http://www.softwaregarden.com/products/notetakerhd/
MacWorld has reviewed some other note taking apps that you might try: http://www.macworld.com/article/155961/2010/11/ipadnotes.html?lsrc=top_2
MacWorld has reviewed some other note taking apps that you might try: http://www.macworld.com/article/155961/2010/11/ipadnotes.html?lsrc=top_2
Friday, November 26, 2010
iPad Productivity Apps for the Canadian lawyer
There are some admitedly fun iPad apps, but at least 90% of my use of the iPad is productivity. These are the apps that I use most frequently:
1. iAnnotate. This app is great for reviewing and annotating PDFs. I use it all the time to read and annotate. I highlight text (if possible with the particular PDF), circle text, and make notes all over the place, much like with paper. It has good intgration with Dropbox, but not as good as Documents to Go (see below) because you browse the downloaded documents from Dropbox separately from the non-downloaded ones, whereas Documents to Go combines the browsing. The GUI could be improved, but it is certainly not a deal breaker. My only problem has been uploading large PDFs (these are PDFs that are long and have been OCRed) back into Dropbox. With some, I had to give up, transfer them iTunes at home, and then put them into the dropbox folder at home and then check them back into our document management system at work. That is not the ideal workflow. http://www.ajidev.com/iannotate/ US$9.99.
2. Note Taker HD. I now take almost all my notes using this app. It saves paper. I used to take paper notes, then have my assistant scan them into our document management system so they are always electronically accessible with all other file documents. With this app, I take the notes, name them for the appropriate client, and then email them to my assistant at the end of the day for filing. This workflow works well. There are two editing modes in this app. Edit 1 works like a normal page, but you have to manage the "wristguard" line so that your wrist does not cause problems. Edit 2 I actually use more. You see the page on top, but you insert text along the bottom in a larger box. I find this works better for me. http://www.softwaregarden.com/products/notetakerhd/ You can use your finger to do all the writing. I bought a griffin stylus ($19.99 at Bestbuy) and it is excellent with this product.
(I use the above two apps in the office all the time. The ones below I tend to use only out of the office.)
3. Documents to Go. This is a great app for editing documents. I use it mostly for Word documents. The downside is the lack of ability to copy footnotes from one document to another. If they already exist, they are easily readable, but that is not sufficient. I am really pleased with the Dropbox integration. It refreshes the list of documents in Dropbox or a Dropbox subfolder, with the non-downloaded ones shaded out. Complex formatting is not possible, but that is what assistants are for. My experience is that the iPad on-screen keyboard is the perfect size for typing. I doubt that the RIM Playbook's smaller screen size will allow typing to be as easy, but we'll see. I use this app on my blackberry too. http://www.dataviz.com/products/documentstogo/iphone/index.html?device_id=735 $16.99.
4. iTeleport. $29.99. I use it for accessing my home computer. You may be able to set it up to access your work computer, depending on your firm's rules. Easy to set-up to work on your home network, much more complicated if from an external network. Indeed, it's about as much fun as setting up a linksys wireless router (I have an apple Airport express router at home; it is fantastic).
5. WiFi HD Free - for finding wifi hotspots. Use it while on a wifi to search areas you frequent regularly, and then save the results. That way you can use it offline to determine free wifi near you. Works over 3G as well. This is to save on 3G data costs. Plus wifi is surely faster.
6. Dragon Dictation. This app works very well in translating what I say. The downside is that it requires a connection, so I am reluctant to use it over 3G but love it over wifi. It is actually useful now that multitasking is possible: dictate, copy, paste. Free.
7. OpenTable. Free. I use this for finding restaurants and making reservations for networking lunches, though I find my assistant is better for that.
8. Airdisplay - $9.99. Turns my iPad into a second monitor for my MacBook. Also works on my Mac Mini, but I found I really don't need three screens.
9. Pulse. I use this app to keep up on client news. I did google news searches for my clients, then inserted the URL for those searches into google reader through the google reader webpage. I then set up Pulse to access my google reader account. http://www.alphonsolabs.com/ An alternative app is My Newspaper, but not quite as nice to look at. www.mynewspaperforipad.com/
I like the Dropbox app. For PDFs I do not need to annotate, it is a great app for reviewing. The problem with the dropbox app is really a problem with the iPad. You can open a document from the dropbox app in Documents to Go or iAnnotate, but the changes are not available to the Dropbox app. There is no central file location that all the apps can access. This is the biggest downside to the iPad. This also also reduced the utility of the dropbox app since I instead access PDFs in my Dropbox through iAnnotate and Word documents through Documents to Go, making the dedicated Dropbox app redundant.
I am still looking for a good whiteboarding app. Whiteboarding can be done with Note Taker HD, but I wonder if there is a better app for it, especially if you end up needing to go "off the page".
These are the applications that might be of use to you or that I wish were of use to me:
1. CCH Mobile http://www.downloadcheapapp.com/go-out-app.php?id=29774 This would be great if it had Canadian tax content and were available as part of a Canadian subscription to CCH's Canadian tax product.
2. Citrix Receiver http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=2300386 As stated in another blog, this type of Citrix app is not comptaible with my firm's citrix servers.
1. iAnnotate. This app is great for reviewing and annotating PDFs. I use it all the time to read and annotate. I highlight text (if possible with the particular PDF), circle text, and make notes all over the place, much like with paper. It has good intgration with Dropbox, but not as good as Documents to Go (see below) because you browse the downloaded documents from Dropbox separately from the non-downloaded ones, whereas Documents to Go combines the browsing. The GUI could be improved, but it is certainly not a deal breaker. My only problem has been uploading large PDFs (these are PDFs that are long and have been OCRed) back into Dropbox. With some, I had to give up, transfer them iTunes at home, and then put them into the dropbox folder at home and then check them back into our document management system at work. That is not the ideal workflow. http://www.ajidev.com/iannotate/ US$9.99.
2. Note Taker HD. I now take almost all my notes using this app. It saves paper. I used to take paper notes, then have my assistant scan them into our document management system so they are always electronically accessible with all other file documents. With this app, I take the notes, name them for the appropriate client, and then email them to my assistant at the end of the day for filing. This workflow works well. There are two editing modes in this app. Edit 1 works like a normal page, but you have to manage the "wristguard" line so that your wrist does not cause problems. Edit 2 I actually use more. You see the page on top, but you insert text along the bottom in a larger box. I find this works better for me. http://www.softwaregarden.com/products/notetakerhd/ You can use your finger to do all the writing. I bought a griffin stylus ($19.99 at Bestbuy) and it is excellent with this product.
(I use the above two apps in the office all the time. The ones below I tend to use only out of the office.)
3. Documents to Go. This is a great app for editing documents. I use it mostly for Word documents. The downside is the lack of ability to copy footnotes from one document to another. If they already exist, they are easily readable, but that is not sufficient. I am really pleased with the Dropbox integration. It refreshes the list of documents in Dropbox or a Dropbox subfolder, with the non-downloaded ones shaded out. Complex formatting is not possible, but that is what assistants are for. My experience is that the iPad on-screen keyboard is the perfect size for typing. I doubt that the RIM Playbook's smaller screen size will allow typing to be as easy, but we'll see. I use this app on my blackberry too. http://www.dataviz.com/products/documentstogo/iphone/index.html?device_id=735 $16.99.
4. iTeleport. $29.99. I use it for accessing my home computer. You may be able to set it up to access your work computer, depending on your firm's rules. Easy to set-up to work on your home network, much more complicated if from an external network. Indeed, it's about as much fun as setting up a linksys wireless router (I have an apple Airport express router at home; it is fantastic).
5. WiFi HD Free - for finding wifi hotspots. Use it while on a wifi to search areas you frequent regularly, and then save the results. That way you can use it offline to determine free wifi near you. Works over 3G as well. This is to save on 3G data costs. Plus wifi is surely faster.
6. Dragon Dictation. This app works very well in translating what I say. The downside is that it requires a connection, so I am reluctant to use it over 3G but love it over wifi. It is actually useful now that multitasking is possible: dictate, copy, paste. Free.
7. OpenTable. Free. I use this for finding restaurants and making reservations for networking lunches, though I find my assistant is better for that.
8. Airdisplay - $9.99. Turns my iPad into a second monitor for my MacBook. Also works on my Mac Mini, but I found I really don't need three screens.
9. Pulse. I use this app to keep up on client news. I did google news searches for my clients, then inserted the URL for those searches into google reader through the google reader webpage. I then set up Pulse to access my google reader account. http://www.alphonsolabs.com/ An alternative app is My Newspaper, but not quite as nice to look at. www.mynewspaperforipad.com/
I like the Dropbox app. For PDFs I do not need to annotate, it is a great app for reviewing. The problem with the dropbox app is really a problem with the iPad. You can open a document from the dropbox app in Documents to Go or iAnnotate, but the changes are not available to the Dropbox app. There is no central file location that all the apps can access. This is the biggest downside to the iPad. This also also reduced the utility of the dropbox app since I instead access PDFs in my Dropbox through iAnnotate and Word documents through Documents to Go, making the dedicated Dropbox app redundant.
I am still looking for a good whiteboarding app. Whiteboarding can be done with Note Taker HD, but I wonder if there is a better app for it, especially if you end up needing to go "off the page".
These are the applications that might be of use to you or that I wish were of use to me:
1. CCH Mobile http://www.downloadcheapapp.com/go-out-app.php?id=29774 This would be great if it had Canadian tax content and were available as part of a Canadian subscription to CCH's Canadian tax product.
2. Citrix Receiver http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=2300386 As stated in another blog, this type of Citrix app is not comptaible with my firm's citrix servers.
Using the iPad for legal research: external legal research products
I do mostly tax research, so that involves CCH Taxworks and Canadian Tax Foundation's TaxFind, discussed in another blog entry. But sometimes I need other research products. The most commonly used ones are, I believe, Quicklaw, CanLii and WestlaweCarswell. How do they work on the iPad?
Quicklaw: it works great in the iPad safari browser so far.
CanLii: it also works great on the iPad safari browser.
WestlaweCarswell: also seems to work well in iPad's safari.
If Quicklaw and Westlaw can make their web-based legal research products compatible with any browser and accessible on the iPad, why cannot CCH?
Quicklaw: it works great in the iPad safari browser so far.
CanLii: it also works great on the iPad safari browser.
WestlaweCarswell: also seems to work well in iPad's safari.
If Quicklaw and Westlaw can make their web-based legal research products compatible with any browser and accessible on the iPad, why cannot CCH?
Monday, November 8, 2010
US Tax Law Professor and the iPad
At the following link:
... http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c4eab53ef0133f1ea3b00970b
Apparently the IRC is worth US$0.99.
How lucky they are - no Canadian tax app to date.
... http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c4eab53ef0133f1ea3b00970b
Apparently the IRC is worth US$0.99.
How lucky they are - no Canadian tax app to date.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Using the iPad for legal research: external tax research products
I have just bought the iPad. I do intend to use it for work, though there are a lot of other fun uses for it. If it were not for the mobility potential, I would not have acquired it.
Why not wait for the Blackberry's playbook? I'm not looking forward to the smaller screen. I think RIM made a mistake there. However, I could be proven wrong. I was, after all, a disbeliever about the iPad when it was first announced.
In terms of potential, the iPad is great with its combination of Wi-Fi and 3G (on my model). It has some limitations. As a tax lawyer, I use two main research products: CCH Taxworks, and the Canadian Tax Foundation's ("CTF") TaxFind library. They are different products and both are essential. They probably represent about 90% of my research time. The CTF website works great. All frames based, it is easy to navigate, search and read on the iPad. However, of the two products the CCH Taxworks product is probably more important. It contains a broader range of primary resources (case law, legislation, CRA materials) whereas the CTF resource is secondary: commentary on cases, CRA, etc.
CCH Taxworks does not work with anything except Internet Explorer. That's fine in the office, but is a real pain outside the office. I have a Mac at home and use Safari or Firefox, neither of which works with CCH Taxworks. CCH Taxworks was therefore destined not to work on any Apple related product, unless you remote desktop or citrix into work servers running Windows and Internet Explorer. The problem is exacerbated by the CCH Taxworks' use of java, which is not permitted on the iPad. So, my primary research tool does not work on the iPad. Given that the Canadian Tax Foundation can make their product work on multiple browsing platforms, as can lexisnexis for Quicklaw (more on that in a future post), this is a ridiculous state of affairs.
There is a work around for some. If you had Windows at home with Explorer, you could use an app for the iPad called iteleport. This allows you to control your home computer using your iPad from a remote location. You could use iTeleport to use Explorer on your home computer to use CCH Taxworks or a similar product.
Citrix is another potential work around. However, the Citrix app for the iPad (a Citrix Receiver for those in the know) is not compatible with the Citrix used on my firm's servers.
There is a CCH iPad app for tax research in the U.S. Hopefully it will migrate to Canada.
Carswell puts out the Practitioner's Income Tax Act. It is well annotated. Carswell also makes available a Blackberry version through a Blackberry ebook format called Mobipocket. It seemed like a great idea until I tried to actually use it. It is fine for reading sections, but the navigation could use improvement and I have trouble scrolling left-right to read annotations. This is the kind of thing that would be perfect on the iPad, but Carswell used an ebook format that has digital rights management. I do not mind the digital rights restrictions, but there is no Mac OS X or iOS ebook reader that is compatible with that format. What is most surprising is that the format is not compatible with Amazon's Kindle (a Kindle app is on my iPad). Amazon owns Mobipocket, so this makes no sense.
In summary, the iPad does not work with most tax research, except by using iTeleport to use Explorer on your home computer.
Why not wait for the Blackberry's playbook? I'm not looking forward to the smaller screen. I think RIM made a mistake there. However, I could be proven wrong. I was, after all, a disbeliever about the iPad when it was first announced.
In terms of potential, the iPad is great with its combination of Wi-Fi and 3G (on my model). It has some limitations. As a tax lawyer, I use two main research products: CCH Taxworks, and the Canadian Tax Foundation's ("CTF") TaxFind library. They are different products and both are essential. They probably represent about 90% of my research time. The CTF website works great. All frames based, it is easy to navigate, search and read on the iPad. However, of the two products the CCH Taxworks product is probably more important. It contains a broader range of primary resources (case law, legislation, CRA materials) whereas the CTF resource is secondary: commentary on cases, CRA, etc.
CCH Taxworks does not work with anything except Internet Explorer. That's fine in the office, but is a real pain outside the office. I have a Mac at home and use Safari or Firefox, neither of which works with CCH Taxworks. CCH Taxworks was therefore destined not to work on any Apple related product, unless you remote desktop or citrix into work servers running Windows and Internet Explorer. The problem is exacerbated by the CCH Taxworks' use of java, which is not permitted on the iPad. So, my primary research tool does not work on the iPad. Given that the Canadian Tax Foundation can make their product work on multiple browsing platforms, as can lexisnexis for Quicklaw (more on that in a future post), this is a ridiculous state of affairs.
There is a work around for some. If you had Windows at home with Explorer, you could use an app for the iPad called iteleport. This allows you to control your home computer using your iPad from a remote location. You could use iTeleport to use Explorer on your home computer to use CCH Taxworks or a similar product.
Citrix is another potential work around. However, the Citrix app for the iPad (a Citrix Receiver for those in the know) is not compatible with the Citrix used on my firm's servers.
There is a CCH iPad app for tax research in the U.S. Hopefully it will migrate to Canada.
Carswell puts out the Practitioner's Income Tax Act. It is well annotated. Carswell also makes available a Blackberry version through a Blackberry ebook format called Mobipocket. It seemed like a great idea until I tried to actually use it. It is fine for reading sections, but the navigation could use improvement and I have trouble scrolling left-right to read annotations. This is the kind of thing that would be perfect on the iPad, but Carswell used an ebook format that has digital rights management. I do not mind the digital rights restrictions, but there is no Mac OS X or iOS ebook reader that is compatible with that format. What is most surprising is that the format is not compatible with Amazon's Kindle (a Kindle app is on my iPad). Amazon owns Mobipocket, so this makes no sense.
In summary, the iPad does not work with most tax research, except by using iTeleport to use Explorer on your home computer.
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