You are at a fork in the road. Time to choose between doing things the old way or trying something new.

By Erik J. Heels

First published 12/1/2008; Law Practice magazine, "nothing.but.net" column; American Bar Association

After I graduated from high school, my friend Jon and I flew across the Atlantic with our backpacks and traveled around Europe by train. I remember arriving in France… [click here to read more]

I heart Gmail.

By Erik J. Heels

First published 04/01/2008; Law Practice magazine, "nothing.but.net" column; American Bar Association

My wife works at the hospital where I've had surgery three times in the last three years. When I joked that I should get a free toaster for being such a good customer, she bought me one for Christmas. Since we've been together (20 years in 06/2008), we've owned… [click here to read more]

Small businesses need a plan for backing up and restoring their data.

By Erik J. Heels

First published 10/1/2007; Law Practice magazine, "nothing.but.net" column; American Bar Association

I have lost no data (knock on wood) since October 2002. And in that case, I purchased a 15-year-old Macintosh to restore the one file that I lost. (See Zen And The Art Of Data Restoration, nothing.but.net, May 2003.)… [click here to read more]

How to defend your brands on the Internet.

By Erik J. Heels

First published 7/1/2007; Law Practice magazine, "nothing.but.net" column; American Bar Association

In 1997, if you had a domain name and a registered trademark for your brand, you were in good shape. In 2007, it takes more to protect your brand on the Internet, because the definition of "brand" has expanded to include things that aren't necessarily… [click here to read more]

LinkedIn reminds of what email was like in 1992.

By Erik J. Heels

First published 4/2/2007; Law Practice magazine, "nothing.but.net" column; American Bar Association

In the spring of 2006, I criticized LinkedIn for three reasons: (1) it generated spam from strangers, (2) I was concerned about the privacy of my address book, and (3) real relationships are better than virtual relationships. Looking at the proverbial LinkedIn glass… [click here to read more]

Neither OS is perfect. Each could learn from the other.

AUTHOR's NOTE: The ABA is (thankfully) moving to a content management system (i.e. a database) for its website, which means that, for now, ABA archives are even harder to find than they were previously. So I'm not sure if this sidebar actually was previously published by the ABA or not. I've been… [click here to read more]

Use a read-fire-aim approach to technology.

By Erik J. Heels

First published 1/2/2007; Law Practice magazine, "nothing.but.net" column; American Bar Association

My friend Paul and I were recently discussing the security and privacy risks associated with using web services such as social networking and web-based email. I commented that I was shocked at how willing some people are - including lawyers - to trust these service… [click here to read more]

A technology evangelist's work is never done.

On 08/25/06, I wrote an article entitled "Steal This Article" that first appeared in the ABA's Law Practice magazine on 10/01/06 and on the ABA website on 10/28/06. Yesterday, 12/30/06, that article disappeared into the ABA archives. It is no longer searchable, findable, or useful. It is as if the article had never been… [click here to read more]

Organizations large and small - including the ABA - need to evolve on the ever-changing Internet.

By Erik J. Heels

First published 10/28/2006; Law Practice magazine; American Bar Association

[Note from EJH: This article differs somewhat from the version published online today by the ABA. In particular, the title has been changed. For reasons that I hope are obvious, I prefer my title. I… [click here to read more]