MMP - Replacement Tips

MMP - Replacement Tips  

I had a retro moment today while thinking about the band the Replacements. I remember watching them on SNL (1986) and was blown away by the performance (you'll know what I mean if you Google the SNL episode). The only thing about today's MMP in common with the band, is the name.

When texting or emailing I often include my email address in the body of the message. Most often than not, I make a mistake typing the address because I'm in a hurry. Instead of typing out the address use a code to insert the email automatically into the message. To set up text replacement for an iPhone or iPad:

1. Go to Settings - General - Keyboard - Text Replacement
2. Tap the Text Replacement and in the upper right corner of the screen tap the + 
3. In the Phrase box type in your email address i.e. thereplacements@domain.com
4. In the Shortcut box type in two @@
5. Tap Save

As you are typing out your message or email press the @@ and space. Your email will be inserted into the message - no more typing it out! If you have secondary email address that you use, follow the same steps but use three @@@ instead for the code.

The second replacement tip is for Word. When writing a letter or report I usually consult a thesaurus to check for synonyms. Highlight the text that you want to find a synonym for, and press Shift + F7. A panel will pop up on the right side of the screen showing a list of related terms to choose from. Such a nifty tip courtesy of MS Word.

MMP - Jing

Jing Screen Capture 

There are a number of screen capture utilities out there and I'll talk about some of them as extensions to Chrome in an upcoming Monday Mouse Potato post. But, today I wanted to let you in on my favourite screen capture program Jing. The reason I like Jing is that it's really easy to use; the icon sits discreetly at the top or side of you screen; offers some nice features to add to the capture; and I can avoid going to the Start menu to try to find the Windows Snipping Tool - bonus!

So let's get down to what Jing can do. Once you've downloaded the program a sun will appear on the screen. Hover the mouse pointer over the sun and 3 rays pop out from the icon.

To capture something on the screen, click on the circle with the + sign. A cross-hair appears. Press the left mouse button down to draw a rectangle over the area you want to capture. Let go of the mouse button and the capture will pop-up with 4 choices:

1. Capture Image (Icon with a square within a square)
2. Capture Video (Video strip icon)
3. Redo Selection (Arrow icon)
4. Cancel (X icon)

 Choose capture image, and then add arrows, text, captions and highlights if needed. Once you're happy with the capture, save it to your computer as a PNG file (Portable Network Graphics) to use in reports, emails and presentations.

You can also capture action, up to 5 minutes long and save it as a video file (files can be large) with voice over if needed. Videos captured in Jing are saved as SWF files or flash videos. F.Y.I. you'll need Flash Player on the machine in order to play the videos.

This Just In - April

This Just In is a list of titles the library received in the month of April.

Annotated Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security Act, 16th ed. KF 3649 C36 P 2017

The Practitioner's Income Tax Act 2017, 51st ed. KF 6499 ZA2 P72

✦Each LSUC CPD title has a hyperlink to the library catalogue AdvoCAT, and the T.O.C.

 

7th Annual In-House Counsel Summit KF 1425 .A75 L393 2017

11th Annual Family Law Summit KF 505 .ZB3 L393 2017b

21st Annual Intellectual Property Law: The Year in Review KF 2979 .A2 I5737 2017

The Annotated Alter Ego Trust and Discretionary Trust 2017 KF 733 L393 2017

The Annotated Powers of Attorney for Property and for Personal Care 2017 KF 3827 .I5 L393 2017

Family Law Practice Basics 2017 KF 505 .ZB3 L393 2017

Harassment in the Workplace: Understanding the New Obligations KF 3464 .A75 L393 2017

The Oatley McLeish Guide to Motor Vehicle Litigation 2017 KF 1290 .A8 O27 2017

The Six-Minute Administrative Lawyer 2017 KF 5402 .A5 L393 2017

The Six-Minute Commercial Leasing Lawyer 2017 KF 593 .C6 S594 2017

The Six-Minute Criminal Lawyer 2017 KF 9620 .ZA2 L393 2017

Wills and Estates Practice Basics 2017 KF 755 .A75 L393 2017b

MMP - Epic Privacy Browser

MMP (Monday Mouse Potato) Epic Privacy Browser 
Are you ready to opt out of the big companies collecting your data by tracking, tagging, and profiling your every move on the web? Want to minimize your digital footprint? If you’ve answered yes to these questions you might want to try Epic.

The Epic browser protects your searches; blocks thousands of trackers, cookies, and widgets; and is even secure on public WiFi. By clicking on the red open socket (Epic’s built-in proxy) in the top right corner of the browser you can take advantage of encrypting your data, and hiding your IP address. The umbrella icon, in the same location, lets you access ad, and third-party cookie blocking. One other important feature is that that when you close Epic, the browsing history is completely deleted from your computer.

Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge, IE, and others will offer some measure of security, and privacy although not at this level. Epic may not replace your other browsers but it’s a good choice if you’re looking for a niche gateway for sensitive searches.

The Library Files - HeinOnline

A quick intro to HeinOnline

Looking for an online legal database for research? HeinOnline is one of my go-to sources, and on more than one occasion has saved my bacon. Provided by The Law Society of Upper Canada, members can log-in to HeinOnline with a username and password. The database has multiple options available for emailing, printing and downloading pages and sections of a volume, all for free!

From the obscure to the ubiquitous, Hein contains over 2,300 full-text journals such as the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, McGill Law Journal, and Advocates' Quarterly, just to name a few.

Below, I’ve listed only a handful of the thousands of materials available in the database:

• The English Reports Full Reprint Vols. 1-176 (1220-1867)

• Chart of Reports which includes the title abbreviations, date range, and a link to the volume and case

• The Revised Statutes of Canada, 1886 to 1985 + supplements

• Provincial Statutes (historical)

• Canada Supreme Court Reports

• Legal Dictionaries

• Pentagon Papers

• Legal Classics containing more than 4,500 work such as Graunde Abridgement by Anthony Fitzherbert, 1565, and the Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books; with an Analysis of the Work by William Blackstone, 1852

• U.S. Treaties

• U.S. Supreme Court Library

If you need a username and password for HeinOnline just contact us at the library. The LSUC changes the log-in information approximately every 6 months, so if you’re suddenly locked out of Hein, flip us an email and we’ll provide you with the updated log-in info.

MMP - Which Way is Up?

This is the inaugural Monday Mouse Potato post. On the MMP you'll find tech tips, tricks, and techniques unearthed by your geek enthusiast.

MMP (Monday Mouse Potato) Which Way is Up?
Half the time you can't tell which way is up. You try plugging in a flash drive or a usb cable into the port, and you plug it in the wrong way. Before you plug-in, look down. Only one side has the forked USB logo on it, that's the top/right side. But lots of flash drives don't have logo. So how do you tell what's the right vs the wrong side? If you turn the cable or drive over you'll notice what looks like two jigsaw puzzle pieces put together, that's the wrong side. From now on you’ll never plug a usb cable or flash drive in the wrong way again!

Welcome to the BLA Reference Point!

Welcome to the BLA Reference Point!

You might be asking yourself, what's in it for me if I keep reading? Our goal is to provide you with an open-shelf of blog posts about library info, research tips, tech 4-1-1, and hopefully a post that will have you saying, "it's all that and a bag of chips!"