The key purpose of TABS3 is to produce an invoice at the end of each month for each client/matter number. The invoice lists the amount of time spent on each task, a description of the task, and a total dollar amount which is the amount of time spent times that particular timekeeper’s billable rate.  It then lists costs expended on behalf of that client/matter number. 

The only information I have actual access to is the name, address, and phone number for each client/matter number, who the responsible attorney is for that particular client/matter as well as how much money is owing on that particular client/matter.  I can search the database by client name and then look at the list of matters under that  client.  If I have the client/matter number, I can go directly to that client/matter for the information I am looking for. 

The administrator can run the various reports at the end of the month showing how much time each timekeeper billed and how much money was received for each timekeeper’s client/matters.  From this database, reports are run by the administator at the end of the month to show the financial situation of the firm.  I do not have access to retrieve this information.

I do not find TABS3 to be very user friendly.  If an attorney does not send out a bill for a client/matter in a given month and does not report that they want to “hold” that bill for the month, there is no way to go back after month end closing and put a hold on that account.  Therefore, you have to send the client two separate bills, one for  one month and another bill for the next month.  It is really frustrating.  The only way to get around this is to manually combine the two bills into one using word processing.

I have used other forms of billing in past jobs in which I was able to print a prebill at any given time, make any necessary adjustments and then print the final bill.  I have to have the administrator make those adjustments.  If she is doing this for all legal assistants, it can take some time to get my bills taken care of.  If I need a report showing all time billed, costs and payments on a client/matter for a certain period  of time, I have to go to the administator.  There is only one person in our office who does this.  If we are getting ready for trial and need this informaiton, we need to make sure we request it on a day that the program administrator is in the office.  OF course, if she calls in sick, we are just completely out of luck until she returns to the office.  This again is very frustrating.

I find that the speed of TABS3 could stand improvement as well.  If there are several people entering time at the same time, the system can slow down considerably.  I would recommend to  the database developers to do something to speed this process up.  All time for one month has to be entered by noon on the first work day of the next month.  Therefore, there are many users on the program from 8-noon on the first work day of the month.  I am not sure if it is the developer or just our firm, but I would like to see the users of the program have more access to reports, etc. that we need from time to time.  All in all, TABS3 is good.  When there are problems it is usually caused by the person entering the data such as a wrong client/matter number, wrong timekeeper number, etc.  TABS3, like any program, is only as accurate as the person entering the data.

Wikipedia was founded by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales and formally launched on January 15, 2001.  It started as a complementary project for Nupedia.  Nupedia was a free online English language encyclopedia project whose articles were written by experts and reviewed under a formal process.  By the end of 2001, Wikipedia grew to approximately 20,000 articles and 18 language editions.  Wikipedia became the largest encyclopedia when it passed the two million article mark in September 2007.  Wikipedia is known as an online source of breaking news which is constantly updated.  Wikipedia was the first particular “Web 2.0” service.  It was followed by “YouTube” and “MySpace.” 

Wikipedia has been targeted by critics for its systemic bias, inconsistencies, and its policy for favoring consensus over credentials in its editorial process.  It has also been criticized for be susceptible to vandalism as well as unverified information.  Encyclopedia Britannica undergoes formal peer review process.  No article in Wikipedia undergoes formal peer-review process and changes to articles are made available immediately.  No article is owned by its creator or any other editor.  Wikipedia “makes no guarantee of validity” of its content.  Wikipedia does not censor itself, and it contains materials that some people, including Wikipedia editors, may find objectionable, offensive or pornographic.  In 2008, Wikipedia rejected an online petition against the inclusion of Muhammad’s depictions in its English edition, citing this policy. The presence of politically sensitive materials in Wikipedia had led China to block its access to parts of the site.

In a September 8, 2008 article entitled “The Pros and Cons of Wikipedia” written by staff writer, Nathaniel West, of the Journal Gazette/Times Courier online edition of jg-tc online which serves Mattoon, Illinois, it is reported that Wikipedia is a notorious culprit of being a seemingly reliable site that continues to muddy the waters with sometimes questionable facts.  They contend that Wikipedia’s content can be submitted and edited by users who are not always qualified or objective.  “And the temptation to abandon the long quest for multiple, accurate sources and settle down in a monogamous relationship with Wikipedia can prove almost overwhelming – espeically to the busy college student.”  An English instructor at Lake Land College said that Wikipedia is a good place for students to behin understanding a topic.  Many teachers at Lack Lane prohibit students from citing Wikipedia as a source.  They say that it is a quick shop to get background information afer which the student should do in-depth research.  A history instruction at Lake Land assigns projects in which the students are required to use Wikipedia, but not for the reasons you would think.  He said, “the assignment calls for students to compare the coverage of particular topics in the textbook with Wikipedia.”  Wikipedia can be useful to and lead the reader to reliable sources.  Instructors overall believe Wikipedia’s flaws are not necessarily enough to undermine the whole enterprise.  It can be a valuable source of background information, but it is not the final source for academic writing.

Thomas Chesney, a Lecturer in Information Systems at the Nottingham University Business School, published the results of his own Wikipedia study in the November 20, 2006 edition of the online journal First Monday, and he came up the conclusion that experts rate the articles more highly than do non-experts.

Chesney had 55 graduate students and research assistants examine one Wikipedia article apiece. Each participant was randomly placed into one of two groups: group one read articles that were in their field of study, while group two read randomly-assigned articles. Respondents were asked to identify any errors that they found.  Those in the expert group ranked their articles as generally credible, higher than those evaluated by the non-experts.  Chesney did not expect these results but had a possible explanation: “It may be the case that non-experts are more cynical about information outside of their field and the difference comes from a natural reaction to rate unfamiliar articles as being less credible.”

Whatever the reason for the results, Chesney urges caution in extrapolating too generally from his study. For one thing, the sample size was small. For another, 13 percent of those in the “experts” group reported finding mistakes in their assigned articles.

Whether this is better or worse than traditional, expert-based encyclopedias depends on who you ask.  Nature did a highly-publicized comparative study between Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica in 2005 in which they found that the two were similar in terms of accuracy.  Britannica disputed those findings and still claims to offer a more reliable product.

Chesney’s study was not intended to settle the debate.  He states that, “whatever Wikipedia’s comparative accuracy, plenty of people (academics included) are using it, and he simply wanted to see whether Wikipedia could be considered accurate enough to be worth using”.  His study suggests that it can, but that caution and further research needs to be used before citing anything learned from Wikipedia as a fact.

I do not believe that Wikipedia is a credible “sole” source for research.  I  believe it can provide good background information.  I am currently taking a legal research class.  In legal research, I have learned that you use legal encyclopedias for background information only, not as a primary source of research.  This is a good rule for any type of research using any type of encyclopedia.  As for the content of Wikipedia’s versus the content of a traditional encyclopedia, I believe, given the facts above, I will continue to use Wikipedia, but I will use it only for background information and will back it up with further research.   

Wikipedia – from Wikipedia itself

WikipediaThe Pros and Cons of Wikipedia

There are two types of VoIP.  The first being telephone adapter based.  This service allows the use of regular telephones and can usually make calls to any regular phone and receive calls from any phone.  This service gives one the feeling of using a traditional phone service.  The second VoIP service is softphone service which is a software-based phone sysem which requires using the computer to make and receive calls.  There is usually a no-cost option if both sides are on the same serivce.  You can make calls to any phone in the world from your laptop, no matter where you are in the world just as long as you have an Internet connection.  With this service one is usually charged a per-minute charge when calling regular phone numbers.  The downside to this service is that you might not be able to receive a call from a regular phone. 

The biggest advantage to VoIP is the cost.  There are many VoIP services available and the amount of money you pay for this service will depend on which company you go with.  Most VoIP providers include features such a call forwarding, call waiting, and three way calling.  Not all VoIP systerms require the use of a computer.  Some use a digital VoIP phone or adapter that can be used with a regular phone.  There are advantages to using a VoIP phone rather than a compute based application.  A digital VoIP phone is simple.  It is usually no more complicated than placing a normal phone call.  VoIP phones are portable.  You can take it anywhere you go just as long as you have a Broadband internet connection as it has an address built into it that is unique to your phone.  Some providers offer a Web interface which allows customers to log in and place calls from anywhere in the world.  Companies who have employees that travel a lot and make a lot of calls from the road may want to consider this service.  It is not as convenient as a cell phone but it is normally less expensive since this service works in foreign countries where a cell phone may not. 

VoIP, like any service, has its disadvantages.  The first disadvantage is the sound quality.  With sufficient bandwidth and good equipment you can get fairly good sound quality with a VoIP system.  When a file needs to be sent over an IP network from one point to another, the file is broken up into a series of packets.  The packets are transmitted in sequential order.  Because of the distributed nature of the Internet, the packets may arrive at point B in a sequential order or they may be out of order.  Another disadvantage is compatibility.  There is no universal standard when it comes to PC to PC VoIp calls.  Some sysems will only allow calls to others who are using the same software.  Because VoIP is a computer based system, you will not be able to place a call unless your computer is turned on and the VoIP software is running.  VoIP phones or computer based VoIP sysgtems require an external power to functions.  a VoIP system also requires the Internet to be available.  If you lose power or your Internet connection, VoIP will not work.  One important disadvantage is that 991 service does not work properly over a VoIP phone system.  When you call 911, the phone company looks at either your landline phone service or cell tower that you are communicating through to put you in contact with the nearest 911 dispatcher.,  The caller’s location cannot be determined by traditional means with VoIP systems.  If you dial 911 from a VoIP system, you likely will not be put in contact with a local 911 dispatcher.  There is an experimental program which may eventually allow VoIP calls to be routed to the correct 911 dispatcher by looking at the caller’s IP address.  This is possible because IP addresses are distributed based on geographic area.

As I was researching VoIP systems, I was thinking that I have Comcast “digital service” and wondering if this was actaully a VoIP system that I have.  I found that cable companies purchase VoIP service from true VoIP providers at a wholesale rate and pass it on to consumers (like me) at an inflated price.  “Digital Service” is nothing new or special, it is the same VoIP internet phone service that is offered at nearly half the cost by VoIP providers like Vontage, 8X8 and AT&T.  The biggest disadvantage I have found is that when I lose power or my Internet connection, I lose my phone service.  That is when I need to depend on my cell phone.

It is up to the individual or the business to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of VoIP.  For me personally, I have no problem with my “Digital Service” which is actually a VoIP service except if I lose my power or Internet connection.   When I am making a phone call or receiving a phone call, it is just the same as if I had a traditional phone line.  The only difference is that I get call waiting, caller ID, call forwarding, etc., as well as unlimited long distance anywhere in the United States for one set price per month.  When I had a traditional phone service, I paid extra for each of these services.

TechEncyclopedia; The Pros and Cons of VoIP

This is me

I use TurboTax to do my taxes.  I prefer to go to Staples, OfficeMax, etc. to purchase the software in CD format.  I am contemplating installing VISTA (Windows 2007) on my desk top and laptop computers at home.  Again, I would prefer to have this in CD format.  The only time I prefer to use a web-based software is if the software is needed immediately.  Convenience is the only thing that would drive me to to use web-based software.

Compairing CD-ROM vs. Web-based training approaches

The Best and Worst of Web and Desktop Applications

I have a Dell All-In-One printer at my home and I have to say that I love it.  They are convenient for someone like myself who does not use it on a daily basis.  It seems like a great idea to have a printer, scanner, copier, and fax machine all in one place, there are some cons to this process.  These all-in-one printers are convenient but can be costly.  The printer cartridges are not cheap.  If your fax machine breaks and you have to take it to a shop to have it fixed, you also have to send your printer, copier, and scanner.  I love mine and so far I haven’t had any problems.  If I had this machine at work, where I am constantly using all of those functions, I do believe I would have my fair share of problems.