Allwaysync as a Backup Solution for the Small Law Office

As the techie in the office, I am responsible for the data backup strategy. To put it simply, think back to college when you were pulling that all nighter to finish the final paper and you got that blue screen of death and the smart ass passing by said "hope you saved." With the ever increasing move to digital file keeping in the legal world testing fate is no longer an option.

There are a number of strategies for protecting data. Vaulting, where data is kept backed up off-site, is one of the best. At the very minimum,  some sort of redundancy is required.

I've been testing AllwaySync to keep a mobile laptop synchronized with the files I'm working with on the office network, to both keep files current and to protect the hard work I have put into creating them. The program works as advertised and it is fairly easy to set up. Just tell the program the folder on the local and remote computers to keep synchronized, analyze the folders, tell the program how to resolve conflicts, and sync. The program has an option to do a scheduled sync but I have yet to test it.

AllwaySync is free for personal use.

OfficeTab

The internets are abuzz this morning with posts about OfficeTab.

OfficeTab is an addon for Microsoft Word/Excel/Powerpoint that enables you to open multiple files within a single window using Firefox-like tabs.  The initial reaction is that this is a great feature that should come standard with Word.  One drawback that I've found in the short time I've been using it (the last 20 minutes) is that there is no obvious way to open two instances of Word for purposes of comparing two documents side by side.  There is, of course, the "View Side by Side" option on the "View" tab.  However, if you're like me and have dual monitors set up you would rather have two separate files open.

Additionally, there is some concern over the fact that this is a 5-day-old addon posted from an unknown chinese programmer with questionable Terms & Conditions language.  See the links above.

Original Chinese Page | Translated Page | Direct Download