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ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
Helping Lawyers Solve the Technology Puzzle
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The Incidental Traveler
Keeping Track of Congress
Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
Ordinances, Ordinances and More Ordinances!
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The Incidental Traveler
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Perhaps you are not a road warrior, but on occasion find that you will need to travel for work. Frequent business travelers know all the tricks of the trade – which hotels to choose, where to get wifi access, the layout of major airports, and where to grab a little sleep if the need arises. Fortunately, the Web offers some sites that can get even the most infrequent traveler up to speed, armed with enough knowledge to make the most of any situation.
- Airports.com
Airports.com is an intuitive domain name that provides exactly what you would hope for – links to 378 airport websites worldwide. Simply type in the airport code or location, or browse airports alphabetically. A link to the airport’s official website will be provided, along with a “TSA Security Wait Time”. The wait times are predictive averages rather than real time, but they will give the traveler an indication of how long she might be standing in line on a given date and specific time. Airport websites vary in their usefulness, but most will at least provide a terminal map and ground transportation information. This information can be vital when making a close connection or knowing how much cash to have on hand to reach your final destination.
- JiWire Hotspot Locator
If you find yourself in the airport for any length of time and have Wifi-ability, check out the JiWire Hotspot locator to see whether you can connect in the airport. JiWire provides a directory with location, vendors, standards, and rates for wireless access to the Internet listed by airport. While some airports are completely covered, others only provide access from frequent flyer lounges. Don’t have a wireless card/account? Find the nearest Wayport’s Laptop Lanes or Neptune Networks. Both provide wired access for laptops/notebooks, plus desktops, high speed Internet access, printers, faxes, and other business necessities.
- SeatGuru
When booking a flight online, most systems allow you to pick a seat. However, if you are not a frequent traveler and you do not have the luxury of traveling first class, picking a seat blindly can lead to cramped spaces and uncomfortable rides. SeatGuru to the rescue! Once you find out what type of plane you will be taking, open SeatGuru and choose an airline and model. SeatGuru will provide information such as legroom, headroom, and other dimensions. The site also marks seats by comfort level, warning travelers of seats that do not recline or are excessively noisy. If you have a long flight or long legs, this site makes picking a seat an easy choice.
- TripAdvisor.com
There are a lot of travel sites online. In fact, it is hard to know which one to pick. The thrifty traveler will use several looking for the best flight, best hotel, and best quality at the best price. Quite a shopping trip. TripAdvisor can help narrow down the list by providing a list of rated hotels, based on a combination of evaluations in guidebooks, articles and user opinions. Although the site is very cluttered, it does help take some of the guesswork out of choosing a hotel in an unfamiliar city. From the homepage choose a city, then either browse or search for a hotel. Each hotel listing provides user reviews, articles from newspapers and trade magazines, and reviews from guides such as Fodor’s, Frommers, and CitySearch. There also forums and other resources. Of course, user reviews tend toward very positive or very negative, but they still offer a reality check when compared against travel guides. The “quick check” button on the upper right allows you to run a simultaneous search across Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, and Hotels.com by check-in/check-out dates and number of guests. Each of the search results will open in a different window, but this does allow you to quickly price compare across all of the major suppliers. In addition to hotels, TripAdvisor links to city tourism information, including transportation, restaurants, site-seeing, forums, maps and more.
- Sleeping In Airports
A tongue-in-cheek site for the worst case scenario – you are stuck in the airport overnight. This site provides real life experiences from people who either get stuck or choose to spend the night in an airport. Ratings on staff friendliness, cleanliness of facilities, and other information most of the flying public probably doesn’t want to dwell on is included.
Catherine Sanders Reach
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Keeping Tabs on Congress
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GovTrack.us
GovTrack allows you to keep track of pending legislation, specific topics, and legislators by integrating information from various sources such as THOMAS, the United States Senate and House websites and OpenSecrets.org. GovTrack.us also provides cross-referencing among different sources. For instance, if a bill is mentioned in a floor speech by a senator, a link is provided to that bill. Run by Penn graduate student Joshua Tauberer, the site requires registration with an email address and a password; you can then select legislation, topics and/or legislators for monitoring, and you can elect to receive daily or weekly email (or no notification at all) showing updates on your monitored items. When showing information, GovTrack always tells you the information source, assuring the credibility of the information.
Information about Senators and Congresspeople includes voting records on individual pieces of legislation, and links to official websites and campaign contribution information at OpenSecrets.org. Statistics are given for legislators regarding missed votes, successful bills, and top contributors, along with a "Relative to Peers" index showing how the legislator compares to others on that particular statistic. Also provided are speeches and bill sponsorship.
You can also track the status of current legislation. Search for legislation by number, topic, or sponsor and place it on your monitor list. Status and a link to the text of the bill are given, as well as "The Money Trail," showing which organizations have contributed to the campaigns of the sponsors. For the techno-savvy, GovTrack also provides blogroll mentions for registered blogs. GovTrack is a great place to track legislation and get a big-picture view of your legislator and his record.
Laura Ikens
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Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
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My neighborhood's Starbucks is strictly a to-go place for me. It's not lacking in tables and comfy chairs for its customers. But by 9AM on a weekend, all available seating is taken up by students, writers, and others taking advantage of the coffee shop's wireless Internet connection. While I wait for my Caramel Macchiato, I can't help but wonder if these wireless disciples understand the serious security risks that can accompany wireless web use. While some hotspots providers like T-Mobile are working on protecting its users through higher security protocols, problems still exist. "Evil Twin" wireless hackers can hijack a legitimate network and gain access to other computers logged into that hotspot. Sniffer devices can easily obtain user passwords. Let's take a look at some products that can help you enjoy the convenience of the wireless web without leaving your computer open for attack.
- McAfee Wi-Fi Scan
Wary about a hotspot you're about to access? McAfee's newly released Wi-Fi Scan identifies sham and unsafe networks. The scan also looks at the wireless network connection and hardware. If dangerous elements are found, McAfee will recommend elimination and general security solutions. This useful tool is absolutely free to users who agree to McAfee's End User License Agreement.
- HotSpot VPN
Looking for a police escort to ensure a secure trip to your web-based data? It's time to get familiar with VPNs. Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are one of the most effective ways to battle against wireless security woes. These networks protect your data through encryption and other measures. They protect data and prevent unauthorized users from accessing the network. HotSpot VPN provides access to this technology at a cost a personal computer user can easily afford (an introductory rate of $8.88 a month). A three day trial period is available for the wary consumer. While the program is affordable and easily downloaded, customer support is a weak spot. Users with support questions are directed to a message board. The board is frequently updated and answers are quickly answered, but the process may be intimidating to less sophisticated computer users.
Molly Kilmer Flood
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Ordinances, Ordinances and More Ordinances!
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Muncipal Code Corporation
Have you found yourself looking for the Clayton County, Georgia Code of Ordinances? How about the Burrillville, Rhode Island Zoning Ordinance? The Muncipal Code Corporation offers online codes for over 1,100 municipalities. Choose your state from the Online Library or from the Resources menu on the home page. Once you've chosen your state, a list will be provided of municipalities within that state which have online codes available.
Three types of searches are available. Use the keyword box for simple keyword searching. The advanced search gives many options including "all of these words," "exact phrase," among other options. A checkbox can be clicked for word stemming as well. The Boolean search lets you construct your own search and provides a table of Boolean terms to assist you in forming your search. Codes are arranged with left navigation table of contents, so you can click on a section and search within it for your terms, or search the whole code.
The Municipal Code Corporation also sells individual copies of codes and provides codification services for municipalities. If you need a municipal ordinance and don't have that municipality's code in your library, try http://www.municode.com first before heading out to your local library.
Laura Ikens
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