Linux is pretty.

I am just a couple of baby steps from being able to take my entire office with me (well, not the furniture) wherever I go. My files are all digitized and stored (encrypted) on my laptop (and backed up daily), I send and receive faxes electronically, and I use Skype so that I can pick up my phone from anywhere I have a wireless connection. Most attorneys are willing to receive e-mail rather than paper mail, and since at least half of my work is in federal court, electronic filing means I do not need to generate paper. (Come on, Minnesota state courts!)

The only thing I need is a way to get my paper mail electronically so that I only have to stop in once in a while to pick up original copies. If I someday hire a secretary or paralegal, then they can do it for me, but until that day, I still have to stop in the office every day or so to check my paper mail.

(I could also use a portable scanner, but there are plenty of options; I just don’t want to carry one around.)

As you may remember, I recently took off for Europe with nothing but a USB drive and my Blackberry, audaciously leaving my laptop running UltraVNC on my desk at home. Fortunately nobody took that as an invitation to ransack my home. Here is how it all panned out.

Phone

I did bring along my headset for Skype, but I never needed to use it. Instead, I used my cell phone once or twice, at $.99/minute. Steep, but quite convenient for short phone calls.

A possible roadblock is the fact that many internet cafes will not let you access your USB drive. Look for gaming cafes, which have faster computers, faster connections, and give you more access to the computer.

E-mail and scheduling

E-mail access from my Blackberry worked flawlessly in France and Spain. I left it in the hotel room where it would not interfere with my sightseeing and checked it once or twice a day. It allowed me to keep in contact with co-counsel, potential clients, and staff, although with my autoreply going, I did not feel obligated to respond to anyone as quickly as usual.

The Blackberry worked equally well for scheduling, although my need for it was virtually nil.

Access to client files

I did need to access my computer once, and it was a piece of cake using UltraVNC. I had the good luck to drop into a gaming cafe in Paris. The USB socket on the computer didn’t let me push my drive all the way in, however, so I had to download the UltraVNC Viewer from the website. This was nearly as easy, and made me realize I should just store the file on my web space, which I have done. The connection was a bit slow, but it worked well enough that I could use my computer at home just as if I were sitting in front of it.

All in all, I was only mildly inconvenienced by being away from home. I didn’t leave without notice, so my workload was obviously far lighter than usual, but I was able to get to everything I needed. When I returned, all I had to do was a bit of scanning of mail, and I was back up to speed with no other catching up. It might have interfered with my vacation a tiny bit, but I was grateful when I returned to work not to have post-vacation stress that might make me hesitate about going away next time.

It is somewhat ironic, I suppose, that a geek such as I should be so late to the game on this, but I just got my first PDA/mobile phone. Quite exciting. I did use a Palm for a while, but I never liked the way it synced my appointments.

This, on the other hand, is far better, and I love the full keyboard. And I can finally check my calendar without opening my laptop!

Now, before I lose all credibility, I want to admit that I am a slow adopter of technology, by necessity, since I am a practicing attorney, after all. And as I have said before, I prefer software to hardware and gadgets. I go slow and test thoroughly because I cannot afford to waste tons of time switching from one system to another.

But this is a fantastic piece of kit (although I am sure I will maim my thumbs ere long.