Hoosier Lawyer

I'M THROWING THIS MAC AWAY . . . . . . . . . OH, WAIT -- THIS IS COOL ! ! !

My great experiment with switching to Mac nearly came crashing to a halt this week.  But just when everything seemed hopeless and I was ready to pack up my MacBook Pro and take it back, we found a solution to my networking issue.  After that, I downloaded my case management software, loaded it, and "ta-dah ! ! !" -- it connected to my server and we were up and running at full speed.

The major issue that was plaguing me from the outset was the inability of my new MacBook to fully connect to my assistant's PC, where my case management data is stored.  One of the great touted advances of Leopard its its ability to "plug and play" with PCs on a network.  And while my new Mac immediately showed my assistant's computer as a "shared" computer, it would not allow me to connect as a user.

Assistance from the Apple Store on networking issues really wasn't helpful.  I got some help from the MacLawyers listserve which allowed me to connect to my assistant's computer as a "guest", but that did not allow me to change files on her computer, which is critical to the functioning of my case management system.

So with a recommendation from the Apple Store, I bit the bullet and called a consultant for an in-house visit.  He assured me over the phone that this would be a simple issue calling for his minimum 1-hour fee.

He showed up Wednesday -- nice guy who seemed to know his stuff.  Well about 3 hours later, I believe the line was "I've don't know why its not connecting.  In all the years I've been doing this, I've never seen this."

ARRRGHHHHHHHHHH   ! ! ! !

This is the point in our story when I'm ready to throw the Mac out the window -- well, not really.  But I did seriously think at that point that at the end of the day, I would box up the Mac and take it back to the Apple Store

But my consultant was persistent.  And about 30 minutes after that point, he called me in and we had the connection.   There was no specific problem that he found, and in fact, the computer still doesn't show the connection the way it should.  However he worked the problem and found a solution.  Even better, he was able to write out instructions and show me how to set up the computer to share files with other computers on the network.

HURRAY ! ! !    But would it work when he was gone?   Quiet miraculously, the answer is "YES"!

After he left, I downloaded a new copy of my case management system -- Practice Advantage 9.  With some help from the tech folks at Lexis, I was able to download and install the software, connect it to my assistant's computer, and access all the case data.

Even better, we were able to download and install the remote laptop version, create the needed clone library, then sync up the data base with the remote data base.  This means I can now take my computer with me and have access to all my files, including documents, emails, contacts, calendar, and even billing information.

And amazingly, the loading and setup of Practice Advantage went through without a single hitch.  Just clicking "Next" a lot, dragging and dropping a file, and watching the little green bars mark the progress of the operation.

So as of now, my MacBook is networked, my critical case management system is functioning, and my WordPerfect (yes, I'm still a committed WordPerfect user), is up and running.

So we're locked and loaded, and ready to roll.  And just in time.  I've got an appellate brief due in 10 days.  Gotta go.

Mac Transition -- Week 1 Report

The jury is still out on the transition from PC to Mac. 

Overall, I really like the Mac computer.  I had my first One-to-One lesson at the Apple Store, and it generally went pretty well.  I'm starting to learn some of the different ways which files -- particularly photos -- are handled in the Mac environment.  It will take some getting used to, but the learning curve in that area is not particularly steep.

I continue to have frustration about two particular issues -- and to date the Apple folks have only been minimally successful in alleviating that frustration.  First and foremost is the inability to network to my secretary's computer.  Despite the fact that my Mac shows the Reception computer on its shared list -- along with my IBM Thinkpad, which is now attached to my network in another office -- but I still cannot connect in that way with my secretary's computer.

I did receive some advice via the MacLawyer email list which helped.  By using my secretary's computer IP address, I can connect and access the files.  However I am connected only as a guest, which means I can't change anything (unless I load it on to my computer and save it there), and I lose the connection if I turn off my computer, or click the wrong button.  This means I cannot yet work toward using my case management system, which depends on being able to manipulate the data, which is stored on my secretary's computer.

Second frustration -- though not as great -- is that the Apple store tech did not transfer all of the designated data from my laptop and 3 external harddrives on to my new MacBook.  This included a failure to transfer any data from Outlook into the Mac Mail system.  This was exaccerbated by the fact that the tech left the CD used for doing this in my CD drive, so when I tried to start up my MacBook, it wouldn't start, instread trying to boot off the CD.  After some confusion and frustration, my assistant actually figured out to check and see if there was a CD in the drive.

All in all, I'm not ready to throw out the MacBook yet.  I can see that it is really well designed and well-conceived.  But I am beginning to have growing concerns about the networking issues.

More to come

Mac Conversion -- Day One in the Office

Today was the first day in the office with my new Mac.  It's been a bit of a mixed experience so far, but I'm still excited about the potential of my new MacBook Pro.

Friday, I took loaded up my new MacBook, my old Thinkpad, and 3 external harddrives which I have been using, and took them to the Indianapolis Apple Store at Keystone at the Crossing.  I left them for data to be transferred to my new Mac, and for loading some basic Mac I-Works programs.

By early Saturday afternoon, I received the call that the data had been transferred and I could pick up my new computer.  Unfortunately, I left my copy of Fusion and Windows XP in the office, so they could not help me load it.  But Erin at the Apple Store spent nearly an hour going over some basics in operating the Mac system.

Sunday was a study in frustration.  One flaw I've found in the Mac is that when you enter a password for the computer, you do it only once -- that is, you don't have to repeat typing in the password.  This means that if you make an error, such as hitting "Cap Lock" instead of "caps", or hitting the wrong key -- you get a password different from what you intend -- and what you remember.

That was the case with me.  Because you have to enter the computer password to load software, it became a very frustrating experience for me.  Likewise, the same was true of trying to sync up my I-Pod to the new computer (which, thanks to the Apple Store people, already had my 7,400 songs already loaded on the new MacBook).  All of this ended up with me making a third trip to the Apple Store in 3 days for some tech help.

In the end, we got the password mess straightened out, and I got Fusion and Windows XP loaded.  With a little help from a listserve of Mac lawyers, I also was able to load WordPerfect into the Virtual Windows environment.

Monday, I spent time setting up my email.  It involved a little frustration, but not any more than I expected.  The tech support at Iquest helped me through the process, and soon my email was humming in.  I did find out, however, that the Apple store had not transferred over my addresses and email data from my Thinkpad Outlook program.  But I'll be able to work around that for a while.

I was very pleasantly surprised that it took almost no time to set up the Mac to print on my office printer.  It was just a couple of clicks, and I was printing away.

Not so with networking to my assistant's computer.  The Mac was able to "see" my assistant's computer, but would not connect to it.  That's the next major step, since her computer stores my case management data.

So, we move on to Day Two.  May have to set aside the Mac learning curve for a couple of days so I can get some work done. 

Big MAC Attack -- Making the decision to switch to Mac

ell, I've done it.  I've joined the counter-culture.  I've thrown caution to the wind.  I've started batting lefty.  Indiana has gone blue, and I've gone MAC.

After months of consideration, reading articles, surfing the net, and talking with converts and traditionalists,  I made the decision to replace my wonderful Thinkpad (one of the last actually manufactured by IBM) with a MacBook Pro.

Over the next months, I hope to keep a bit of a journal going on this blog about my experiences, which I plan to eventually turn into an article in Res Gestae on the experience of converting to Mac.  Whether it is a story of joy and triumph, or a  "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing", is yet to be determined.

As with the story of the Zen Master from the movie Charlie Wilson's War,  "We'll see."