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MS Windows 8 ' First Look
Let me start by relaying my initial reaction to Microsoft Windows 8: “Wow, this is different ' I really want a touch screen!” Whenever Microsoft comes out with a newly designed Office Suite or Operating System I need to step back, take a deep breath, and remind myself of the perspective I need to take. I look from a technical and training view, but most importantly a legal user's perspective. This is how I'm approaching this column: Not as a gamer, home user, book author, etc. From the sole practitioner to the attorney or legal assistant at a large law firm, I hope to provide some useful points to get you started and keep you out of trouble.
User Interface
Windows 8 is intended to be a “touch screen” operating system. You can still use the mouse, but it is very unintuitive and time consuming in trying to find the hot spots that actually present the feature you're looking for. Once you do however, it's a little easier. To take full advantage of Windows 8, you'll need to upgrade much of your hardware. (I'll list the hardware requirements later in this column.)
Windows 8 works in two very different screens; the new Start screen, which is meant to replace the Start button, and the standard Windows desktop. The Start screen is for launching an application, which generally opens in the standard desktop if you're working in a standard application and not a Metro App (see Terminology Tip 2, below). Finding the computer settings in either of these screens isn't intuitive, but we'll cover that.
The good news is, when you are working in most of your legal applications, it will be in the standard Desktop window. Thus, all of your normal keyboard and mouse functionality within that application will be the same.
Keyboard Tip 1: Use the CTRL + ESC keys to toggle between the two screens, or use the Windows key on your keyboard to toggle. ALT + TAB will still cycle you through the running applications. Using the mouse, point to the very upper left corner of the screen to see the pane of running applications and click the one you need to switch to.
Tiles
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.