Tilts at Windmills

Defense Attorneys and Google Voice: Should I Give My Cell Number to Clients?

2012-02-15T11:04:38Z

As a public defender, I know attorneys who think it’s a bad idea to share their cell numbers with clients, and I’ve heard enough stories about clients with boundary issues to understand why. Consequently, many attorneys make calls exclusivly from their office phones, or if they have to use their cell, say to make a call from court, they block its caller ID. This imposes limitations on how they interact with their clients and what they can do for them. Google Voice offers an alternative. Consider:

2) Clients can’t reach an attorney who’s away from her desk without going through some intermediary, like an office mate who relays messages. This can lead to long games of phone tag.

3) Attorney’s can’t text with clients. At first you might ask, “Why would an attorney want to text with clients?” To which I would offer that in my experience, texting makes communication easier which leads to better representation. For example, I’ve had a hearing impaired client for whom texting was a must. I’ve had clients who never pick up the phone when I call but always reply to texts. Some clients never check their voicemail, and some clients always have a full voicemail box. Some of you may be concerned about there being a record of texts, but ask yourself if the same concern stops you from leaving or accepting voicemails. I don’t use texting for extensive conversations or sharing confidential information, but it’s great for reminders and quick questions. Of course, your client has to have a cell phone and texting for this to matter, but again, in my experience most do.

Ideally, the state could provide us with work cells. We could turn them off at the end of the day or before we went to bed, but I imagine the chances of such an expenditure are quite small. This is where Google Voice comes in. It helps address all of the issues above while providing a few added perks, like the ability to forward calls and transcribe voicemails.

Google Voice is billed as way to replace multiple phone numbers with a single number that goes where you want it to. At its base, it’s a call forwarding system. You sign up for a Google Voice account, choose a Google Voice number, and set up forwarding to your phone(s). Your Google Voice number can ring your office, home, and cell all at once if you like. Or it could just ring one phone, allowing you to take advantage of its other offerings. It works with texts too. So even if you don’t have a cell, now you can send and receive text messages from your computer.

You can set up call screening based on your contact list and control if a call is forwarded to you or sent straight to voicemail. You can schedule times of the week or times of day when forwarding is okay, and times when it is not. There’s a lot to play with.

To screen a subset of your contacts, adjust the settings under “Groups.” To set up a schedule for when calls are forwarded, click “Edit” for the phone in question, and make the desired changes under “advanced settings.”

2) It allows you to make and receive calls and texts from your smartphone or your computer, and the number that comes up on caller ID is your Google Voice number. So you aren’t sharing your cell number.

3) It can transcribe your voicemails and send them to your email, text them to your phone, or display them on your smartphone. This is great when you’re in court and can’t leave to listen to voicemails. The transcription isn’t perfect, but at least you can see who called and get a sense of what they need.

4) It offers conference calling.

5) You can even block Callers.

If you’re interested, Google Voice is free. So there’s no harm in checking it out. Simply visit: http://www.google.com/voice
If you already have a Google Account (e.g., Gmail), you can add Voice by signing in. However, you may want to consider creating a work account to keep your private and professional lives separate. After all, that’s probably why you aren’t just using your personal cell. To set up a new account, make sure that you aren’t logged into any Google services, and follow the directions on screen.

How to Make a Jeffersonian Bookstand

2011-01-07T04:44:14Z

The video below is a bit of a departure from my usual science fare. It shows the construction of a bookstand modeled on one found in Thomas Jefferson’s office at Monticello, and it was a lot of fun to make.

Tabletop Explainer, now with Captioning

2011-01-07T08:16:43Z

Recently I caught this video describing some of the new captioning features on YouTube, and it spurred me into finally captioning all of the Tabletop Explainer videos. One of the coolest things was a new “automatic timing” feature. To produce captioning, all you need is a transcript. You just upload the transcript, and Google will synchronize the text with your video’s audio–no need to enter time codes. To see it in action, watch the video below.

My “Secret” Summer Project in Open Source Crowdsourcing

2009-08-04T06:02:12Z

In addition to serving as Professor Farnsworth’s research assistant, interning with Navy JAG’s Appellate Defense Division, and a few paying development jobs, I’ve been working on something else in my “spare time.” I’ve been playing this one pretty close to the vest because experience has taught me that this type of project doesn’t always reach maturity. That being said, time to share. It’s a rather heady collaboration between the non-profit eCitizen Foundation, the Berkman Center, and some folks over at the Media Lab. We’re attempt to do one thing well, open-source-distributed-human-evaluation of web content. Here’s a rough scope I put together that we’re discussing with a developer later today. I’d love your feedback, esp. if you think you might be a user.

The Case Hunt

2011-08-25T17:18:25Z

This has been an amazing summer. In fact, the last year has been pretty darn cool. I left teaching to attend Boston University Law School last fall, and to say that I’ve been busy would be an understatement. CommunityCOUNTS did it’s part in the election, and I’d like to think that its Ask The President forum helped nudge the administration into launching its first online town hall. My work even got a nod in the ABA’s Student Lawyer.

Overall, law school has been quite enjoyable. I participated in the ABA’s client counseling and negotiation competitions, and I’ve made many good friends. I developed a code-based study routine I call the LawBot. Basically, I codify black-letter law into if-then statements. I figured, that since you never learn anything as well as when you teach it, I should teach a computer how to take my tests. My notes may have looked like computer code, but they were darn useful.

My favorite part of law school, however, has been the summer. I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with my favorite professor (Ward Farnsworth) on a new text, and I’ve had the chance to get my hands dirty interning with the Navy’s Criminal Defense Appellate Division in DC. For those Futurama fans out there, no, this Professor Farnsworth does not own an intergalactic shipping company. He is the author of The Legal Analyst: A Toolkit for Thinking about the Law and a really great guy. In fact, The Legal Analyst was recommended to me before I even decided where I was going to law school. It’s a great read, and I wish more of my classes were like those taught by Professor Farnsworth.

Anywho, I’m back in Boston and working for Farnswoth finding cases for a criminal law text he’s writing, and in a moment of down-time, I thought I’d remedy my long silence. I’m such a bad blogger. I blame twitter.

Geeks + Wonks = Fun Times

2009-12-07T15:17:25Z

So for those of you curious about what I was doing down in DC the two weekends ago, here’s a little highlight video put out by the organizers. If you look very carefully, you’ll see me in the B-roll.

Also, you can find more videos here.

I’m a Bad Blogger and 25 Other Random Things

2011-08-25T20:04:39Z

I’ve really been neglecting this blog, and for that I’m a little sad. Luckily no one reads it. So it’s not like I’m letting anyone down. Anywho, yesterday in a fit of insomnia, I finally gave in to peer pressure. Below you’ll find my “25 Things” note. If you don’t know what I’m taling about, you aren’t on Facebook. Here’s an explanation. The phenomenon is really a derivative of an old blogging challenge. So it seemed right to post it here as well.

1) I was once told that blogging about my job was disrespectful. That week, a few of the things I had “complained” about magically got fixed.

2) My first job was a summer internship for the DOD. Soon afterwards, I decided I never wanted to work for the military. Now I really want to be a JAG (as well as 50 other things ;).

3) I once had a living room apartment. My “room” was separated from the rest of the apartment by a shower curtain, and my bed was an air matters. I didn’t have a TV, radio, or computer. I did, however, learn to love running, and the Sunnyvale library.

4) I’m the president and CEO of a very small corporation, and yes, we’ve even payed someone’s Social Security.

5) I was voted “most unique” by my graduating class, and I’d like to think they weren’t being mean. :\

6) The summer of my freshman year in college, I took a 3,000 mile bus ride from New York to California to confess my love to someone. I knew they didn’t feel the same way, but I felt I needed the “closure” to move on with my life, and it actually worked. That is, I got closure and a lot of time on a bus to think about what I wanted out of life.

7) I’ve filed a Freedom of Information Act and had the results cited by a columnist/blogger I really admire. Thanks Ben Goldacre

8) I was the first person on my father’s side of the family to graduate from a four year college.

9) On my mother’s side, I was a third generation teacher.

10) I once did a national radio interview on NPR’s Day to Day, and my name’s shown up in Newsweek and the Washington Post, all for a part-time project I ran out of my tiny Edinburgh flat. It involved YouTube and American politics. ;)

11) I’ve lived abroad. I was teaching physics and science in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was arguably the best single year of my life. I was there on a Fulbright teacher exchange, and I can’t say enough good things about the program.

12) I’ve had a student tell me to go F*#& myself, and once I had a student removed to stand trial for murder. I was onYouTube breaking up a fight. And for the record, the student was found guilty.

13) My first job out of college was with the US Secret Service, and for an unrelated reason, I visited the West Wing and got to see the Oval Office. It looks just like the movies.

14) I was an Auxiliary Police Officer in Cambridge.

15) I think the two most attractive qualities have to be passion and compassion.

16) Duty and honor aren’t just words to me.

17) I still get a shiver down my spine when I hear the national anthem, and for over a decade, I’ve carried around a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution.

18) I feel very lucky nearly every day.

19) I miss my students and teaching. However, I really do think I can do more with the law.

20) I’ve applied to be an astronaut. It was more about applying than getting the job, or so I say now. ;)

21) When I first registered to vote, I registered as an independent. Then I decided I wanted to have a say in the primaries. So I switched affiliation.

22) I am a startling combination of my parents. Even professionally, it looks like I’m set to follow in each of their footsteps.

23) I’m an accomplished procrastinator. The fact that I’ve gotten this far in writing this list is proof. (I should be doing something else. For goodness sake look at when I posted this.)

24) In kindergarden I was the class’s best “cutter.” I wielded scissors like a surgeon. I was, however, the worst skipper.

25) The phrase “sadly not havoc dinosaur” is an anagram of my full name.

Wicked Awesome!

2009-03-09T02:50:14Z

Okay, this is just getting wicked awesome! Twittervotereport.com is soooo winning the Golden Dot this year. My hats off to the entire team. It’s just the coolest thing I’ve seen in so long. Be sure to make a twitter vote report today, and while you’re at it, why not Video You Vote too? Also, if you see any problems at your polling place in need of immediate assistance, call 1-866-Our-Vote.

Will this have a “net” effect? (Election ’08)

2011-01-07T04:51:09Z

So if you’re curious what’s been taking up my free time, here’s the answer–communityCOUNTS, both dot com and dot us. Dot com is my turnkey solution for small media outlets, and dot US is my attempt to change the way we interact with the presidential candidates. You’ll remember dot US from this great NPR interview. Now I’m trying to build up interest with the video below. Please, share it with your friends.

How to Navigate by the Sun

2011-01-07T04:53:52Z

For those of you interested in such things, “Yes” I will be finishing the relativity series. It’s just that the animation will take a little time, and I’ve had other priorities. Until then, however, enjoy this latest Explainer.

Now you can find out where you are even if you don’t have GPS. Learn how to find south along with your latitude and longitude using only a few household items. I should note, that in using the home-made quadrant cited, the precision of your findings will be rather low. Don’t worry, you’ll be within a few hundred miles. ;)

Transcript:
The Tabletop Explainer
(Honda Pilot DIY Contest Entry)
How to Navigate by the Sun

Today if you want to know where you are, chances are you�ll use one of these, but we�re going to go ahead and focus on using the materials here and the sun to figure out due south, your latitude, and your longitude.

Our measurements of time are based on the apparent motion of the Sun, the stars, and the moon. Which means a lot of information is packed into your watch.

Take for instance the idea of noon. Before standardized time zones, noon was simply the time of day when the sun crossed an imaginary line connecting due north and due south, called a meridian.

Let�s look down on the earth from the north pole. Here in Somerville, noon occurs when the Sun is due south. In Beijing it�s the same thing.

Anyhow, at local noon in the northern hemisphere, the sun is due south, at midnight, it�s half a world away.

We could make a clock with an hour hand that went around once every 24 hours, but most hour hands go around twice a day. This means the hour hand moves half as fast as the sun appears to.

Meaning if you take your watch and point the hour hand at the sun, halfway between the hour hand and noon is due south. In the southern hemisphere it�s due north.

So the next time you need to find south, just take your watch hold it parallel to the ground, point your hour hand at the sun, and halfway between the hour hand and noon is due south. Now that�s if you�re in the northern hemisphere. Keep in mind, your watch doesn�t run local time. So if daylight savings time is in effect, you�ll have to subtract an hour, and thanks to standardized time zones, you�ll be off by a few minuets. Plus there�s the fact that the geometry of the situation means that things will be less precise around sunrise and sunset, but you get the idea.

Now how does something like this [points to sextant] help us find out where we are. Well this is a sextant, and it�s really just a super-protractor.

You look at one object, like the horizon, through the sighting scope and a half mirrored piece of glass lets you line up the reflected image of some other object like the sun, the sextant telling you the angle between the two. [fade to table of materials]

You can make a similar device called a quadrant from these materials here. It�s basically a protractor that we are going to affix a straw to as a sight and a string too, to help us find the vertical. You can print these plans out from the URL you�ll see here.

http://www.davidcolarusso.com/handouts/quadrant.pdf

A quadrant lets you measure the angle between the horizon and an object, in this case, the sun. So do not look through the sight. Instead, place an object behind the quadrant, and look for the shadow cast by the straw. When the shadow�s a circle, you�ve got the sun lined up.

Two numbers can describe every place on earth: latitude and longitude. These are measured in degrees from two imaginary lines, the prime meridian, and the equator.

All points at a certain longitude are the same amount of degrees east or west of the prime meridian, and all points at a certain latitude are the same number of degrees north or south of the equator.

We know from working with our watch that at noon here in Somerville, the sun is due south. That is, it falls on an imaginary line connecting north and south�a meridian. So let�s look at the noon-time sun.

Keep in mind, the sun is really far away. So anyone pointing at the sun will point in the same direction.

Knowing this, if the sun were directly above the equator, we could find our latitude by simply finding the angle between the sun and overhead.

That is, 90 degrees minus whatever our quadrant reads.

Unfortunately, the sun doesn�t stay directly over the equator. The earth has a tilt in its axis. So over the year the sun moves above or below the equator by roughly 23 degrees.

This is called declination, and we simply add or subtract it from our measurements.

Sailors used to produce books listing the sun�s declination for every minuet in the year, but today you can find this on the web

We know local noon is when the sun crosses the local meridian, and probably noticed that a meridian is also a line of longitude. So if you know when noon happened you already know you longitude.

All we have to do is convert our time to GMT, the local time at zero longitude. Every minuet the sun covers a quarter of a degree. So if your noon took place 5 hours and 4 minuets after noon GMT your longitude is 76 degrees west.

3 hours before GMT, 45 degrees east.

Of course, we had to find local noon first.

To do that, plot the mid-day measurements from your quadrant against your watch time. They�ll make a curve and the top of the curve is local noon.

I�m David Colarusso for the Tabletop Explainer.