Interesting and Useful Web Sites 2008
By Jim Calloway, Director, OBA Management Assistance Program

For this month’s manage-ment and technology theme issue of the bar journal, my Law Practice Tips column will highlight several interesting and useful Web sites. (Note that they do not have to fit in both categories.) These are not just for the legal profession. So feel free to go to www.okbar.org for the online version of this column and send the link to any friends or acquaintances. And of course, the online version of the column has live links that make it easier to visit the sites.

First up is Howstuffworks.com. This site is hardly new. It was founded by North Carolina State University professor Marshall Brain in 1998 and has won numerous awards. But it is still tops in providing simple explanations for an incredible variety of topics, along with many interesting articles and top 10 lists. Whether it is a lawyer who doesn’t understand something involved with a case or a parent wanting to answer a child’s question and maintain the illusion of being all-knowing for another few years, a quick search on this site gives you information that you can understand and explain to another individual.

Another classic site is dictionary.com, which along with its sister site, thesaurus.com, is a great resource for wordsmiths. But for online dictionary power search, check out OneLook.com, where you can drop in a word or phrase and search more than 900 online dictionaries, including some pretty obscure and technical ones.

Have you heard about others watching movies or TV shows online for free, but always thought they were probably doing something illegal? Check out hulu.com, a joint venture of NBC Universal and News Corp. “Limited commercial interruptions” pay the bills, so it is free and legal. Most importantly, the movies, TV shows and other clips are clear and sharp when viewed full screen on a computer monitor. Don’t try using this site at work or you’ll soon be castigated by your co-workers as a bandwidth hog. (Viewing probably won’t work well with the Internet connection at work anyway.) But if you forgot to set the digital video recorder and missed The Daily Show or Late Night with Conan O’Brien, here’s the place to find this week’s episode. There are a surprising number of full-length movies there as well.

FixYa.com is an online community of individuals who will help you fix and troubleshoot your broken products from automobiles to electronics.

Speaking of free online help, if you are a WordPerfect user in a Word world, don’t forget about WordPerfect Universe where WordPerfect users and experts share tips and assist each other with problem solving and advanced techniques.

Kayak.com remains my favorite Web site for travel searches, including airline travel. It does not have the ability to bid blind for extremely cheap hotels and car rental, like Priceline.com. But the ability to search seven or eight airlines at once, mark possibilities as your favorites and then go back to the favorites for the final culling is a real timesaver.

If you’re interested in the opinions of others before you book your travel, TripAdvisor.com has a large collection of reviews and other information about hotels, cruises and restaurants.

If you’re having trouble finding the 800 number for a business, you can always visit www.hardtofind800numbers.com.

Would you like an online document repository to share computer files like docu-ments, photos, videos with groups of others? Well, drop.io will allow you to set one up in few moments. It requires no technical expertise. You can allow others to upload documents or set a password where only you can upload them. The only catch is that you have to set a time frame so that if no one has downloaded a document for a specified time frame, like six months, the entire repository self-destructs just like in Mission Impossible.

WebMD.com is probably the best-known free online medical research site. If you’d like to overdose on medical research sites, you can check out a column that the South Carolina Bar’s Practice Management Advisor Courtney Kennaday and I wrote on that topic here: http://tinyurl.com/6dwx9y.

I’ve probably mentioned this one in this space before, but the motherload of all online reference sites is RefDesk.com. Everyone should visit this site at least once and slowly scroll down the main page just so you know all of the resources that can be located there.

I seem to have an unhealthy fascination with the Official Seal Generator. The site allows somebody with no training whatsoever to design a seal or coat of arms. There are many images that can be incorporated and options to change the colors and create all sorts of different designs. Once you finish, there is a file that you can download to your computer. The real entertainment would come if you would go to your local hobby store and buy some of the paper that allows you to print and iron these images onto t-shirts and other articles of clothing.

Addictomatic.com allows you to create custom Web pages with the latest Internet buzz about any topic. So if you have an interest in a particular movie star or software application, this can be your one-stop shop for all the latest on the subject. It searches numerous news sites from across the Web and compiles the latest headlines for your page.

I tried to avoid “legal” Web sites for this column, but don’t forget OKNewsBar, which is our constantly updated news service powered by RSS newsfeeds. I say it is just like having free electronic advance sheets for Oklahoma appellate court and U.S. Supreme Court opinions.

Of course, it’s hard for me to include a collection of Web sites in the Oklahoma Bar Journal without mentioning that Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog has practice management content updated almost every week as well as links to Web sites and other resources. There’s even a feature on the site now so you can subscribe and receive the postings by e-mail.

Finally, if you would like to have a directory of a huge number of useful Web sites that is very well organized, I direct you to Allmyfaves.com. This is a simply incredible collection. For time wasters, check out entertainment or the weekly faves.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal Nov. 8, 2008 - Vol. 79; No.29.