Microsoft's interactive note-taking tool, OneNote, has some interesting functionality for law firms. Tablet PC users may already be familiar with its features, but it also works on a standard PC or laptop. Microsoft has published a success story of Hughes Hubbard and Reed LLP's enterprise installation of the product. A single license retails around $99 and there is a 60 day trial evaluation version that can be installed on up to 4 computers. Neil Squillante also reveals his recent insights into OneNote in the Technolawyer Blog.

Cornell's excellent legal research website, Legal Information Institute, is migrating the section called "Law About..." to a wiki, renamed "Wex".  Wex is a collaboratively built legal dictionary and encyclopedia. Unlike Wikipedia, Wex contributors are vetted. Authors do not have to be lawyers, but they must have significant credentials to be accepted. Wex FAQ ask the obvious "why not just use Wikipedia" and they respond with a "we might someday, but we'd like a little more control for now". This will be an interesting project to watch unfold in any number of ways. If you feel like adding your knowledge, become a contributor.

ProcessLibrary.com is a website that provides a searchable and browsable database of computer processes to help figure out what you need, what you can get rid of, and what is a security risk. Computers begin to run slowly for any number of reasons - fragmented drives, spyware/adware/malware/trojan/virus/etc, unnecessary processes and more. If you have run anti-spyware programs, scanned for viruses, and still can't find why your computer is running slowly you can check your Windows Task Manager (ctrl + alt + delete) and click on the "processes" tab. Sort by memory usage and work your way down the list. If you see an .exe or .dll that is sucking up your CPU resources that you don't recognize, look it up in the process library. The library will provide a description of the process, some general information about how it works with the system, and whether it is a security threat by defining whether it is a virus, adware, spyware, or trojan. 

The database is updated once a week and the site is maintained by Uniblue Systems, a company that  "develops and markets protection and recovery solutions for small and medium sized businesses, large enterprises, home-based businesses, and home users". This site is very valuable, as removing a necessary process can wreck havoc on your system, and even the most savvy user could benefit from a reality check before stopping a process. For instance, adaware.exe is a virus whereas ad-aware.exe is a popular anti-spyware application. ProcessLibrary.com also offers three live feeds for webmasters, showing Top 5 Processes, Top Security Threats, and Top New Processes. They also have a Process Library News email newsletter that keeps subscribers up to date on the latest processes and security threats.  

If you are looking for a simple, intuitive HTML editing tool to update and maintain a small website, take a look at the low cost ($29) editor Portello. For those whose needs are fairly simple, this tool makes quick work of what could be a multi-step, multi-application process. Portello is a browser plug-in for Internet Explorer that allows you to edit, save, and upload pages to your website in a few clicks. The application installs in a very few minutes and adds an icon to the Internet Explorer toolbar. Click on the icon and a vertical toolbar appears on the left. Setup is easy if you know your website address and the FTP address with username and password. From there you can edit pages in a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor, create new pages from templates, manage your directory and more. 

In BETA now is a CMS (content management system) version, which allows an website administrator to control user access to pages and editing options. If you are using both a WYSIWIG editor or Notepad and an FTP program to manage your website check this freeware out and save a step.

Similar to MyYahoo!, MyWay, and others, Google offers a personalized Google homepage. Simply register with Google and when you visit the homepage it allows you to add from categories such as news, local weather, word of the day and more. You can also customize the page, adding RSS feeds, bookmarks, even your Google search history. The great thing about this portal is the ease of use. You can drag and drop content sections, edit and delete discrete sections of content, and switch to "classic home" in seconds. In addition to other cool features, if you delete a section erroneously Google offers an "undo" option. If you are a Google user, it is worth taking the time to register and set up your own Google launch page.