Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: May 7, 2007

LLRX.com Launches Redesigned Site With Enhanced Features and Usability

I created and launched LLRX.com in 1996 and have always strived to maintain a site dedicated to sharing best practices on a range of research and technology related issues relevant to legal professionals. Keeping these goals in mind, launching the newly designed LLRX.com, which premiered with the April 2007 issue, was an endeavor over one year in the making, involving alot of discussion, review, design, redesign, testing, and tweaking…some of which is still underway. To my friends who indulged repeated refrains of, “but does this look better than this,” thank you. And a very special thanks to Darlene Fichter, whose genius has been an inspiration which helped me bring my site to where it is today.
The other part of this journey is thanks to the terrific team at Justia – Tim and Stacy, Danilo, Nick, et al. – who provided the programming expertise to compliment my research, publishing and usability experience. Converting a decade of content coded by ‘yours truly’ was a challenge in and of itself, but we also crafted a new site design, navigation structure and search features.
We preserved the best of the old site, such as the Court Rules Forms and Dockets database, while grounding the new site in an open source content management system, Drupal, providing enhanced layout, navigation and usability, and offering more options to access the depth of source materials that are hallmarks of the site. This is accomplished via drop down menus that appear on the top navigation bar, topical navigation choices that consistently appear on the far right hand side of each page, and by employing the new Google Custom Search so that readers may query for content on LLRX, LLRX and beSpacific [my blog on law and technology news, updated daily], or for results from the legal web. Also, a “printer friendly” option has been added to make it easier to read articles once you have printed them.
Authors may submit an article directly to me any time, so I will take the opportunity now to invite authors, new and returning, to contribute their expertise, via presentations, guides, articles, and columns, to the LLRX global community numbering over 120,000 readers each month. Thank you for participating in this community, and I look forward to hearing from you. Best — Sabrina.

New GAO Reports: Aviation Security, Global Health, Hospital Quality Data, Maritime Security

Aviation Security: Risk, Experience, and Customer Concerns Drive Changes to Airline Passenger Screening Procedures, but Evaluation and Documentation of Proposed Changes Could Be Improved GAO-07-634, April 16, 2007 Global Health: Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Has Improved Its Documentation of Funding Decisions but Needs Standardized Oversight Expectations and Assessments GAO-07-627, May 7,… Continue Reading

DOJ Issues New Installment of ADA Technical Assistance Materials

Tool Kit For State and Local Governments (new chapters 05/07/07): “On December 5, 2006, February 27, 2007, and May 7, 2007, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice issued installments of a new technical assistance document designed to assist state and local officials to improve compliance with Title II of the Americans… Continue Reading

TSA Public Statement on Employee Data Security Incident

Follow up to May 5, 2007 posting, Missing TSA Hard Drive Has Data on 100,000 Employees, this additional update from the TSA: “Today the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced a benefit package to provide employees and former employees affected by the data security incident with free credit monitoring for up-to one year. In addition to… Continue Reading

Recently Released CRS Reports on Iraq, Iran, South Korea, China, Pakistan

Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated April 27, 2007 U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians, Updated April 27, 2007 Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, Updated April 25, 2007 China’s Anti-Satellite Weapon Test, April 23, 2007 The Proposed South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), Updated April 23, 2007 Pakistan: Significant Recent Events, April 9,… Continue Reading

DNA Forensics: Expanding Uses and Information Sharing

DNA Forensics: Expanding Uses and Information Sharing, September 2006 – “This report explores the history of DNA use by forensic investigators, considers the economics of DNA use as it relates to public safety, and reviews privacy concerns regarding the release of an individual’s genetic information. The report also explores issues associated with combining criminal history… Continue Reading

85% of American Adults Use Cell Phones or Internet According to Pew Research

Press release: “Fully 85% of American adults use the internet or cell phones – and most use both. Many also have broadband connections, digital cameras and video game systems. Yet the proportion of adults who exploit the connectivity, the capacity for self expression, and the interactivity of modern information technology is a modest 8%.” Related… Continue Reading

World Health Organization Launches Clinical Trial Database

Kai Ryssdal, Marketplace: “The World Health Organization said [May 4] it’s going to provide online one-stop shopping for information on clinical drug trials. Doctors, researchers and curious patients now have access to the results of 50,000 clinical trials in the U.S., Britain and Australia. It’s a big deal because, as it stands now, a lot… Continue Reading