IE security flaw one more reason to switch browsers

Users of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser should read this. A serious security flaw in IE has been discovered that could be exposing personal information stored on your computer to hackers. As of this morning it has not been fixed.

So far the attacks have only been detected in IE7, but other versions of the browser may be vulnerable as well.

Maybe it’s time to switch browsers. I recommend Mozilla’s Firefox, Google’s Chrome, or Apple’s Safari.

Community Divas: “a podcast about communities”

Connie Crosby and Eden Spodek released the first episode of a new podcast earlier this week called Community Divas. It’s “a podcast about communities” with a focus on social media tools and their use in building and strengthening various types of communities – be they physical, virtual, or a combination of both.

Episode 1, released August 10, features the first part of an interview with Jay Moonah of MediaDriving.com. Jay gives his perspective on what a community is, and talks about his experiences with blogging, podcasting, and “unconferences” such as Podcamp Toronto, as well as social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. Following the interview Connie and Eden discuss Twitter, and Connie explains how her account was deactivated, then reactivated, during Twitter’s recent efforts to curb spam accounts.

The podcast is available on the Community Divas blog, or by subscription via iTunes. You can also get updates by following Community Divas’ Twitter feed, or by checking out their fan page on Facebook.

Episode 2 is scheduled for release on August 24.

A survey for people who make websites

Attention web masters, designers, developers, writers, editors, and everyone else who makes websites: A List Apart has just released their 2008 Survey For People Who Make Websites!

The survey aims to get a picture of how web design is practiced around the world. It is open to anyone, anywhere, who has anything to do with making websites. So if this is you, take the survey!

Submit to the power of the webmaster

HA! I might have to get myself one of these.

Report compares legislative tracking services

A new report released earlier this week compares two British Columbia legislative tracking services, QP LegalEze and Quickscribe.

Published by Crosby Group Consulting and commissioned by Stem Legal Web Enterprises Inc. the paper aims “to provide an objective comparison between Quickscribe and QP LegalEze”.

The report is titled Quickscribe: A Comparison and Evaluation Report. It found that Quickscribe has several advantages over QP LegalEze, including:

• faster system updates than QP LegalEze;
• more competitive pricing;
• easier navigation for users;
• superior ‘alert’ technology for updates;
• more accessible customer assistance;

Download the full report (39 pgs) at:
http://www.crosbygroup.ca/pdf/whitepaperquickscribe.pdf

An executive summary (12 pgs) is available at:
http://www.crosbygroup.ca/pdf/executivesummaryquickscribe.pdf

Featured on Inter-Alia

Many thanks to Tom Mighell for selecting LibTech Life as the Blawg of the Day over at Inter-Alia! This blog joins a lengthy and rather impressive list of other blawgs that span a variety of law-related topics.

Take a moment to visit Inter-Alia. While you’re there, be sure to check out Tom’s Internet Legal Research Weekly newsletter, which he has been diligently publishing since way back in 2000. Also check out the recently published Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies, which he co-authored with Dennis Kennedy.

Michael Geist at UBC: “E-Publishing and the Law”

Yesterday evening I attended a lecture at UBC’s St. John’s College by Michael Geist, hosted by the Canadian Journalism Federation, on “E-publishing and the Law”. Dr. Geist spoke about what he referred to as the “new normal” – for knowledge, creativity, and public participation – that is being shaped by the internet and related technologies, and how the law and public policy needs to reflect that.

His talk covered a lot of issues: copyright reform, intermediary liablity, net neutrality, access to information, and more. I did take a bunch of notes and planned to try to summarize the talk here. Then this morning I discovered the whole thing had been liveblogged by one of the attendees. There is also a video posted on Dr. Geist’s own blog of a similar talk he gave at Osgoode Hall a few days earlier. So rather than waste time reading what I have to say about it, I strongly encourage you to go and read the liveblog and watch the video for yourself. A whole lot to think about.