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Factoid Cake Quiz
Every issue of Afinety+ will feature a "Factoid Cake Quiz." Answer this question right, and be eligible for a drawing to have a delicious cake of your choice delivered directly to your office!
Last issue's question: True or False: The American Bar Association approves of the use of the cloud to manage law firm data, files, and software applications.
Answer: The answer is TRUE (with some guidelines). Read more about it in this article published by the eLawyering Task Force, Law Practice Management Section, American Bar Association, January 15, 2011.
Congratulations to Chris Miyasaki of Arnold LaRochelle Mathews VanConas & Zirbel LLP for winning last issue's cake quiz!
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak earned money in college by selling "blue boxes" to other students. What were the "blue boxes" used for?
- A blue box attached to a pay telephone and created the proper signals to allow a user to make free phone calls.
- A blue box attached to a TV cable line, allowing the user to watch free cable TV.
- A blue box connected their TV to a keyboard, allowing the first on-screen "video games" to be played at home.
THINK YOU KNOW?? Click here to answer _________________________ |
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TECH TIP!
Surf and Download
More Safely!
This issue's Tech Tip was provided by Don Bitters, Systems Engineer of the Afinety Pittsburgh PA office.
The best defense against spyware and other unwanted software is not to download it in the first place. Here are a few helpful tips that can protect you from downloading software you don't want: - Only download programs from websites you trust. If you're not sure whether to trust a program you are considering downloading, enter the name of the program into your favorite search engine to see if anyone else has reported that it contains spyware.
- Read all security warnings, license agreements, and privacy statements associated with any software you download.
- Never click "Agree" or "OK" to close a window. Instead, click the red "x" in the corner of the window or press Alt + F4 on your keyboard to close a window.
- Be wary of popular "free" music and movie file-sharing programs, and be sure you understand all of the software packaged with those programs.
- Use a standard user account instead of an administrator account. For more information, see Why use a standard account instead of an administrator account.
Questions? Call Afinety's great support staff at 877.423.4638.
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Partner Corner:
First American Legal Finance and City National Bank
"IT LEASING
FOR LAW FIRMS"
Technology can be a strategic asset - or a drain on resources.
Traditionally, law firms treat technology as a capital asset, similar to office furniture and office space. Purchases are analyzed each year against the merits of other capital expenditure requests.
Lately, there has been a shift to treating "technology as a utility," as it can be a far more efficient approach. Firms that treat technology as a utility choose not to directly own the technology. Instead, a third party owns the technology and the firm adopts a "pay-as-you-go" approach, much as it does for electricity, or any other utility.
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Greetings!
Hello and welcome to our Fall issue of Afinety+. As many of you know, the IT landscape continues to change at a very rapid pace. We strive to keep you informed of the latest and greatest features that will especially affect small to medium size law firms and businesses. Our November seminar series will feature Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 8. This is an exciting product with an all new touch interface; however, please note that you should carefully check compatibility of existing applications before upgrading. Our engineers at our Technical Center in Pittsburgh, PA have been busy testing the newest MS releases and have noted that Windows 8 is not yet supported by Symantec's anti virus program. We are suggesting that you hold off on upgrading unless you are certain that all existing programs are indeed compatible.
We will continue to test all new releases so that we can safely recommend them to our clients as solid business solutions. Stay tuned for more information about other new products!
Angie Moskalenko
Afinety, Inc.
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Law Firm Automation - in 1972
by Doug Hafford - VP Consulting Services, Afinety, Inc.
In 1972 I was a sophomore at Grossmont High in La Mesa, California. Most of my interests at that time had little do to with the legal industry and more to do with sun, surf, sand and my basketball career. I was only able to grow to 5'10" and the NBA was standoffish so I eventually found my way to IT consulting. Looking back, it is hard to imagine how a staff person in a law firm in 1972 could see into the future but the seeds were indeed there. So let's look back and see what exciting technology was available. The IBM Typewriter When I formally started in the business, a lot of what we did was to replace IBM typewriters with Personal Computers. The IBM "Selectric" II Typewriter introduced in 1971 (ten years after the original Selectric), featured a number of additions to typing technology. Its unique "dual-pitch" mechanism enabled the typists to switch ... READ THE FULL STORY
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Client of the Quarter: Madory, Zell, Pleiss & McGrath APC
Every quarter, Afinety selects a firm to name as the "Outstanding Client of the Quarter." This quarter we would like to recognize Madory, Zell, Pleiss & McGrath APC. The firm will receive a catered lunch delivered to their Tustin office, along with our thanks and admiration.
All of our clients are special to us and the relationships we form with them are very much a partnership. The Outstanding Client of the Quarter is selected for their professionalism as well as the benefits they receive from Afinety's unique standardization and planned refresh approach. A professional firm like Madory, Zell, Pleiss & McGrath APC requires a professional computer system and this becomes part of their own clients' perception of the firm.
We caught up with firm's legal administrator, Marilyn Hodges, who started with the firm in 1962, as well as attorney / network administrator, Patricia Scidmore, who has been with the firm since 1992... READ MORE
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Afinety Seminar Series Presents: "Windows 8"
Only 2 More Dates in Southern California: November 2012  !!
Windows has been reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. You won't want to miss a preview and demo of this new & exciting operating system, Windows 8.
Join us for our seminar and learn:
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Highlights of Windows 8 -
All-new touch interface -
Fast & fluid Start Screen -
App based, Cloud Connected -
New Surface Tablet, Laptops and All in Ones -
How will this affect business today and in the future -
Should you upgrade? -
What's new: upcoming Microsoft releases -
Hands on demo of the new Microsoft Surface Tablet!
Orange County, Tuesday, November 6th
Hyatt Regency Irvine, Lunch Seminar 11:30am - 1:30pm
West Los Angeles, Tuesday, November 27th |
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Afinety: Out & About
Afinety is "Out & About" throughout California. We hope to see you at future events!
- Afinety November Seminar Series: Microsoft Windows 8. Click here for more info.
- NorCalPROS Flavors of Spain, November 8, 2012. Afinety will be co-hosting a special networking event at the Knoll showroom in San Francisco. For more information, please contact Angie Moskalenko at amoskalenko@afinety.com .
Past Events:
- ALA Regions 5 & 6, Anaheim, October 11 - 12, 2012: Afinety took part in the Association of Legal Administrator's Regions 5 & 6 Conference and Expo. It was fun (and educational!) for everyone involved. Afinety and the CAPROS hosted a disco party, featuring a live DJ. Everyone brought their dancing shoes!
- GLA ALA Justice Jog, September 30th, 2012. This year's 5K Run/Walk in Century City raised money and awareness for "CASA" (Court Appointed Special Advocates of Los Angeles). The trained volunteers at CASA are appointed by a Judge to advocate for foster children navigating them through the court system. Afinety was happy to participate once again as a Gold Sponsor with a team of runners.
- Raymond G. Alvarado Scholarship Reception, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, September 27, 2012. Afinety joined AlvaradoSmith and friends for this special event to celebrate and help raise funds for Latino students who are currently attending law school.
- OC ALA Lunch General Meeting, September 26, 2012. Afinety was invited to provide a presentation on Cloud Solutions. Doug Hafford described the present solutions as well as future solutions that law firms can expect to see in the near future.
- Afinety's Annual Client Appreciation Event, September 21, 2012. Our guests were treated to a buffet dinner under the stars, plus special entertainment by "The Integrators!" Thank you to all of our clients, business partners and friends who attended.
  
 
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"The Integrators" in Concert! |
(if you are having trouble viewing this video in the email, you can cut and paste this link to your browser: http://tiny.cc/82b4mw)
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OC-SoCalPROS Golf Tournament, September , September 15, 2012 Afinety co-hosted a 9-hole golf tournament at the beautiful Aliso Creek Golf Course in Laguna Beach.
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OC Paralegal Association Conference, September 8, 2012. Doug Hafford presented options for Email Archiving to OC Paralegals for their annual conference in Newport Beach.
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