North Coast Connections

I cop to a lame excuse for not blogging lately, but I've been wrestling with a couple of issues that have taken my time. The first was a business trip to Saskatchewan, and the second was a complete meltdown of my desktop computer.

The Canadian trip was fun and rewarding. I got the chance to work closely with a lot of Canadian court managers grappling with technology issues. Theirs is a "common law" court and not a separate branch of government, which is pretty standard in English courts. Nonetheless, they experience the same problems as we do trying to manage US courts, such as an extreme rise in self-representation, taming the paperwork, making a formal record of proceedings, security, etc.

Just before I left, my desktop computer started acting strange ... it would freeze up, not access the Internet, and finally failed to recognize a thumb drive I was trying to use to load some files onto my laptop. I tried "system restore," which is a shaky venture for Windows users in which you try to use a "wayback machine" to restore your computer to a previous (presumably well running) state. Surprise - it didn't work. When I tried to use dial-up to load files via the Internet, it failed to recognize my modem. I knew this was serious so I held my breath and tried to reload Windows, which wipes out EVERYTHING and forces you to reload all your software programs.

OK, all you Mac-heads and open source freaks out there can quit laughing. If I thought I could get away from working in a Microsoft-head world, I would do it. But all those pesky clients live, think and breathe MS, so I have to grin and bear the idiosyncrasies of Windoze.

Back to my Windows reload ... most computers used to come with an emergency Windows reload disc. Now, they mostly come with a portion of the hard drive partitioned to hold the reload which is accessible by pressing one of the function keys while booting up. So guess what? IT DIDN'T WORK. It still wouldn't recognize any of the drives, modem or network card. Grrrr. So I used my laptop to surf the HP site to order a Windows reload disc by mail.

By this time, I realized I was had. If I bought a new desktop, I would either have to get one of the few remaining with Windows XP as the operating system or (gasp) upgrade to Windows Vista. Drat. That meant that most if not all of my old software would have to be upgraded as well. Double drat. For those of you unfamiliar with the good, the bad and the ugly of Windows Vista, see my previous posting of the top 10 reasons to (and not to) upgrade.

I opened my wallet wide and ordered a new HP desktop with Windows and while I was at it, I ordered MS Office 2007. Now instead of productive work, I will be slaving over a new shiny black box, loading software and cursing under my breath. They arrive on May Day. How fitting.

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Posted by Chris Crawford at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I admit it. I'm a big fan of open source systems and software. Like many of you, I switched to Firefox as my web browser some time ago and never looked back. When I recently signed up to AT&T's DSL service, they kept trying to cram Microsoft Explorer down my throat and I didn't budge. My latest foray into open source is the email program called Thunderbird by Mozilla, the same folks that bring you Firefox.

One of my main motivations for not using Microsoft products for web browsing and email service is that they are the #1 target of hackers and viruses. Since Microsoft has the most users, they are the most vulnerable. I suppose when open source goes mainstream and becomes the first choice of users, it, too, will become the prime target. Until then, I am happy with being #2. I haven't made the plunge into an open source office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, etc.), but friends speak very highly of Open Office. I may have to give this a try when I eventually pick up a new PC with Microsoft Vista operating system since none of my other software will likely run on it.

What has made the Thunderbird experience so pleasant is the ease with which the software is found, loaded and operating. I even customized the presentation themes and fixed a buggy delete function without having to endure help desk hell. The software has a "knowledge base" that (after you exhaust their Frequently Asked Questions), you can access for plain text descriptions and links on hundreds of related software operating topics. Since this knowledge base exists in a Wiki setting, power users are able to edit and update the listings based upon actual experience instead of marketing or risk management concerns.

I am now in the market for a good contacts and calendaring system. I have an ancient version of Daytimer that no longer makes or services the software. I have tried ACT, Goldmine, and even (shudder) Microsoft Outlook. None of them are as easy, intuitive and versatile as Daytimer.

So if you want to give some of the open source products a whirl, start off with Firefox web browser. If you're like me, you'll soon be testing similar open source products. And you'll be glad you did.

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Posted by Chris Crawford at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been doing a lot of consulting work in various family courts of late. While a manager tends to look at work in an orderly fashion, it's hard not to get caught up in the emotional upheaval that occurs in children's lives who, for no fault of their own, often find themselves in a bureaucratic nightmare called family court while their families sort through conflicts associated with divorce (or worse, child neglect and abuse cases). The American Bar Association published an interesting article about British and American courts that are beginning to do a better job of outreach to youth.

The Brits now invite comments from young people concerning proposed changes in the family court system. Most US courts appoint a separate lawyer for a child involved in abuse and neglect cases, and judges solicit direct input from kids concerning the outcome of these cases. Divorce cases are a little tricky in that children have no legal standing in the actual dispute other than custodial issues and child support. However, California courts (and a growing number of others) mandate mediation in custodial disputes and mediators are trained to seek a child's views as part of the settlement effort and development of a parenting plan.

One thing is for certain … our traditional adversary system of justice does not work well in the family courts. US courts are using a lot more innovative approaches to resolving these disputes, including mediation and even one-judge-one-family assignments. This involves identification of ALL cases pending in court involving a particular family and bringing all the cases in front of one judge. Not surprisingly, a drunk driving case by one spouse, a domestic violence charge by another and a delinquency charge against a child may all be related to root family problems such as substance abuse that, if addressed, could resolve all these cases at once. The alternative is to try and address these issues piecemeal and hope everything works out (it usually doesn't).

So, this is my lame excuse for not writing blog entries more frequently. I have been out laboring in the fields of justice trying to make our country's family courts work better. The good news is that courts are asking for help and are serious about trying new approaches. And in some instances, a child may lead them.

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Posted by Chris Crawford at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)