Orbicule | Witness

Witness turns your Mac into a home alarm system, using itsiSight camera as a motion sensor. If motion is detected, Witness sends mugshots and video to your iPhone or iPad.

Some apps offer a live video stream. While that sounds cool at first, it has many disadvantages. In contrast, Witness uses advanced motion detection to notify you right away when an intruder is detected.

If nothing happens at your house, Witness remains silent. No need to interrupt you when everything is just fine.

Witness can be set to restrict motion detection to human faces. This may come in handy if you have pets running around the house.

Witness uses the location of your iOS device to automatically arm your alarm when leaving your house and to disarm it upon your return.

Watch live images from any Mac in your alarm system. There are no limitations on how many Macs you can add to a single Witness account: you could add an entire computer lab.

A single-user license is $39.00 U.S. Witness requires a Mac with a built-in iSight, running Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6). Sorry, Mac only-no Windows.

Witness 2 – Watch your home from your iPhone or iPad (themactrack.com)
Witness (kk.org)
Witness Home Alarm System Gets AppleScript Support, Sneak Peek, Face Detection (macstories.net)

Bars Rally Around Suspended Attorney-NYLJ

Read entire NYLJ article by Andrew Keshner.

Several bar organizations are supporting the effort of a suspended Long Island attorney to challenge in the state’s highest court what he describes as the overly strict approach of the Appellate Division, Second Department, to enforcing disciplinary rules governing attorney escrow accounts.

***

Mr. Galasso argues in court papers that the Second Department wrongly used a strict liability standard that required attorneys “to be insurers of all escrow deposits” and “unfairly results in a lawyer’s law license being posted as additional collateral for his costly designation on an attorney escrow account.”

“[A]side from imposing an unattainable level of managerial and investigative skills upon lawyers, the Appellate Division has declared that attorneys in operating escrow accounts, beyond any financial exposure they may face, must now post their licenses as some sort of additional collateral to their exposure in damages,” Mr. Galasso argued. He later added, “With this holding, the prospects of finding attorneys willing to hold client escrow will be bleak. In the end, the public will suffer as well.”

The New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the Nassau County Bar Association, Matrimonial and Family Law Bar Association of Suffolk County and the Bronx County Bar Association all plan to file amicus briefs urging the Court of Appeals to grant Mr. Galasso’s motion for leave to appeal.

Empire Justice Center: SSA Requires Electronic Filing

Seal of the United States Social Security Administration. It appears on Social Security cards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Read entire article here.

Author: Louise M. Tarantino| Catherine M. Callery (Kate)

The Social Security Administration has announced the first electronic service that must be used by representatives who request direct fee payment. 77 Fed. Reg. 4653 (Jan. 31, 2012), and revised on March 8, 2012. 77 Fed. Reg. 13968. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-03-08/pdf/2012-5673.pdf.

Beginning March 16, 2012, “appointed representatives [will be required to] file certain appeals [requests for reconsideration and requests for hearing] using our electronic systems in matters for which the representatives request direct fee payment.” This announcement applies to the filing of requests for reconsideration and requests for hearing in Title II and SSI disability claims. On March 8, 2012, SSA revised the original Federal Register Notice to clarify that the electronic filing requirement also applies to Form i3441, the Disability Report – Appeal.

***

SSA’s March 7th webinar on the requirement and filing appeals online is available “on demand” at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/webinars/FilingaDisabilityAppealOnline.html. These rules are effective for appeals filed on or after March 16, 2012.

Postable – The easiest way to get people’s mailing addresses.

Postable solves a simple problem: nobody seems to have anybody’s mailing address anymore. Email addresses and phone numbers don’t help when you want to send somebody an actual piece of mail. Whether you’re getting married and need to collect hundreds of mailing addresses, sending out Christmas cards or even if you just want to have a complete, up-to-date address book once and for all, Postable makes it extremely easy. They promise never use any piece of information submitted to this site for any reason other than to provide you with an amazing Address Book. Feel free to reach out to them on facebook and twitter.

Collect your Friends Address Info using Postable Service(beast4romtheeast.wordpress.com)
Postable Is a Simple Way to Get Friend’s Addresses [Webapps](lifehacker.com)

Probation and Pretrial Services Tool Puts Clients on the Map–U.S. COURTS NEWS

A new software application will give the

federal court system’s probation and

pretrial services officers much more

information about their clients – offenders

and criminal defendants.

The Probation and Pretrial Services Clients

Mapping Application, slated to be rolled out

in late March, is another tool in keeping

tabs on persons under supervision. The

client mapping feature is familiar to anyone

who has used online maps to pinpoint or get

directions to a location. The application

does more, however.

It can, for example, highlight on a map

which offenders have been convicted of

certain types of offenses, which clients are

subject to a given type of supervision

condition, and display offenders by the

degree of risk they present for recidivism.

You can learn more about the new application in the March issue

of The Third Branch newsletter.

Adobe “Photoshop” CS6 beta

Download the Photoshop CS6 beta. Download now | Read Online


Introducing Photoshop CS6 beta
Discover the latest breakthroughs in imaging magic, editing speed, and creative abilities that will soon be available in Adobe Photoshop CS6 software. Download the Photoshop CS6 beta and see for yourself how the world’s best digital image editing software is about to get even better.

Help mold the final product
You and your feedback play an important role. Be a part of the Photoshop CS6 development process by sending us your feedback through the Photoshop CS6 beta Forum on Adobe Labs.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Beta now available for download(technologytell.com)
Adobe Releases Free Photoshop CS6 Beta (geeky-gadgets.com)
Adobe’s Photoshop CS6 Beta: Even a Little More Magical(techland.time.com)
Adobe Releases Photoshop CS6 Beta (technocraz.com)
Adobe Releases Photoshop CS6 Beta (pixiq.com)

Baum Firm Reaches Settlement With Attorney General-NYLJ

Read entire NYLJ article by Andrew Keshner.

Steven J. Baum, who led what was once New York’s largest foreclosure firm before it closed its doors last year, has agreed not to handle foreclosure cases for lenders and servicers for two years under a settlement agreement with the New York Attorney General‘s Office.

Mr. Baum, his managing partner Brian Kumiega, the Baum firm and Pillar Processing will also pay $4 million under the deal.

According to the attorney general’s office, between 2007 and 2010, the Baum Firm filed over 100,000 foreclosure proceedings and represented many of the largest servicers of residential mortgage loans. Pillar was formed by the firm to handle the bulk of the foreclosure processing.

The attorney general’s office claimed that the Baum firm “repeatedly” filed legal papers in foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings “without taking appropriate steps to verify the accuracy of” allegations, the lender’s right to foreclose or to file a bankruptcy proof of claim.

***

Foreclosure and ‘Home Retention’: a New Firm by Ex-Baum Lawyers(blogs.wsj.com)
Robo-Signing Lawyer, Steven Baum, Has Feet Held to the Fire by Judge(axsmithlaw.wordpress.com)

Introducing Phone Amego

You have phones, maybe several. AND You have software on your Mac for organizing your

contacts, calendar, email, notes, and other information about the people you interact with.

Before Phone Amego, these islands didn’t talk to each other. Now they can.

What’s different about Phone Amego is:

* It does both dialing and caller ID.

* It embraces the iPhone and the Internet.

* It is designed to work with many popular phones.

* It includes a lightweight CRM that integrates with other tools as needed.

* It focusses on Mac-to-phone integration,

not trying to be another phone or answering machine.

Try a free 21-day trial.

Buy a single license (2 computers) for $29.99 or a Family Pack (5 computers) for $49.99.

Phone Amego: Manage Your Phones From Your Mac (mac.appstorm.net)

Rob Reid: The $8 billion iPod

Comic author Rob Reid unveils Copyright Math (TM), a remarkable new field of study based on actual numbers from entertainment industry lawyers and lobbyists.

TED: Rob Reid: The $8 billion iPod – Rob Reid (2012) (ted.com)
Rob Reid: Copyright infringement? Enlist the cutting edge field of ‘copyright math’ (nextlevelofnews.com)
Rob Reid on Understanding Copyright Math (readwriteweb.com)
Must watch video: Rob Reid at TED: The $8 billion iPod (hilarious Copyright Math) (mediafuturist.com)
TED Talk: Rob Reid Investigates MPAA’s Piracy Claims with “Copyright Math”(slashfilm.com)
Copyright Math and the Institution of Cultural Goods(indiginous.wordpress.com)

Lawyers in Transition Free Webcast: “How to Find a Public Service Job”

Lawyers in Transition Free Webcast

“How to Find a Public Service Job”

Monday, April 23, 2012
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

Register Online
www.nysba.org/April23rdWebcast

2012 Career Development Free Live Webcast Series

Sponsored by the Committee on Lawyers in Transition

This webcast is free* to all attorneys, but pre-registration is required.

Panelists will discuss strategies and techniques for seeking, networking and finding a position in the public interest or in local, state or federal government.

Featuring

Christopher J. Muller
Counsel to the Commissioner
Columbia County Department of Social Services

Lillian M. Moy, Esq.
Executive Director, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Inc.

Henry M. Greenberg, Esq.
Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP

Wayne G. Hawley, Esq.
Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel, Conflicts of Interest Board

This program is part of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Lawyers in Transition series of free, live webcasts on Career Development to help lawyers better manage their careers during this tough economy. If you are looking to make a career change, leave your current job, or transition back to the workforce after time away from the profession, the Committee on Lawyers in Transition is here to help. Designed to help attorneys in transition, the career development series of programs offer advice and resources to increase the odds of finding rewarding work.

Please note: This program does not carry MCLE credit.

In the Albany area? Attend in person.*
The live program will be held at the State Bar Center, One Elk Street, Albany, NY.

*NYSBA members are invited to attend in person to be a part of the live audience at no charge. The non-member, in person registrant fee is $25.

In-person participants must arrive by 11:30 a.m. Pre-registration is required.
Please note that your name must be added to a security list to enter the building.

Register online: www.nysba.org/April23rdWebcast