Author: Alex Heshmaty
Alex Heshmaty is technology editor for the Newsletter. He runs Legal Words, a legal copywriting agency based in the Silicon Gorge. Email alex@legalwords.co.uk.
Drones: an introduction
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more commonly known as drones, generally refer to aircraft without an on-board pilot, which are controlled remotely or by computer software. Originally the preserve of the military carrying out surveillance or deploying bombs, drones have been adapted for a wide range of uses in all kinds of industries including agriculture, security […]
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Apps for lawyers
Over the last few years, apps have proliferated on smartphones and tablets and there are now over a million individual apps available for both Apple and Android devices. Although generally only games and entertainment apps receive attention from the press, there are also many apps available for professionals, including lawyers. It’s worth noting that the […]
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Wearable technology
The first incarnation of wearable technology consisted of the calculator watches which were popular in the 1980s. Mainly produced by Casio, these were mass marketed and relatively cheap but came to be seen as tacky. Aside from telling the time and calculating sums, functionality often included stop watches, countdown timers, a multitude of alarms, phone […]
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What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin refers to a type of digital currency known as a cryptocurrency, as well as the peer-to-peer system on which it relies. Bitcoin describes itself as “an innovative payment network and a new kind of money”. Cryptocurrencies are based on principles of cryptography and generally entail complicated mathematical equations which need to be solved in […]
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Google Hummingbird takes flight
As the world’s most popular search engine celebrated its 15th anniversary in September 2013, it revealed a new search algorithm named Hummingbird. According to the head of search at Google, Amit Singhal, Hummingbird represents the most dramatic change to Google search for over a decade. Google has been reluctant to disclose any specifics of the […]
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Google Drive and Chromebook
Much has been written about the pros and cons of working in “the cloud”. Even in this Newsletter, if you search under “cloud computing” you will find 26 articles, written over several years! Just to re-cap, the essential concept is that data is stored in an online location which is accessible from an internet-connected device, […]
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Skype for lawyers
Launched in 2003, Skype was one of the first mass market freely available forms of internet video conferencing. It took advantage of early developments in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to allow users to communicate with each other using their microphones and webcams. Previously video conferencing had been prohibitively expensive for the general public […]
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DIY law
Before asking a professional for advice, these days most people consult the internet. Whether it’s a question about how to fill in a tax return or a query on a medical ailment, they Google their issue first to find out if they can solve it themselves. DIY is no longer the domain of household improvements […]
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Legal apps arrive
A brief history Oxford Dictionaries Online defines an app as “a self-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfil a particular purpose; an application, especially as downloaded by a user to a mobile device”. It is the latter half of the definition – especially in relation to iPhones and other smartphones – which popularised […]
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Why email newsletters?
As marketing becomes increasingly important for law firms, various advertising methods are being employed in an attempt to attract new prospective clients – including a plethora of search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) campaigns. However, the vast majority of business for most law firms comes from its existing client base. It is […]
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