Law In Film Collection Additions

Some of the most recent additions to our Law in Film Collection include A River of Waste (2009), a documentary about modern industrial system of meat and poultry production in the U.S. and elsewhere, Copyright Criminals (2010), a documentary about copyright, creativity and technological change in the hip-hop music making industry, Capitalism (2010), a documentary by M. Moore about the history of free-market capitalism in post-Reagan America, and Sin by Silence (2009), a documentary telling the story of Convicted Women Against Abuse.  Don't forget that Pace Law Library patrons may check out movies for up to five days and it is FREE.

Google Patent Search

Google Patent search has been around since 2006, but one of the latest Google blog posts writes that this database has been recently updated with more information.

[W]e wanted to make it easier for people to understand the world of inventions, whether they were browsing curious patents or researching serious engineering.

That's why we're proud to announce that the USPTO and Google are making this data available for free at http://www.google.com/googlebooks/uspto.html. This includes all granted patents and trademarks, and published applications - with both full text and images. In the future we will be making more data available including file histories and related data.

Google Patents is in beta version, includes over 7 million patents, and includes advanced search option. You can read more about Google patents here.

Microsoft Office on the Web

Just in case last week's NY Times article Revamped Microsoft Office Will Be Free On the Web slipped by you. According to the article, the latest version, talked about for a really long time, will include the usual Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, but this version will be available online for free allowing users to store documents on the Web. It is scheduled to be available in June of this year.

Users of the new version of Office will be able to share and work on the same documents and presentations over the Internet rather than e-mailing files back and forth to each other.

Copyright Watch

Copyright Watch is a new initiative to provide access to copyright laws around the world. According to the news release,

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL.net), and other international copyright experts joined together to launch Copyright Watch - a public website created to centralize resources on national copyright laws.

Copyright Watch is the first comprehensive and up-to-date online repository of national copyright laws. To find links to national and regional copyright laws, users can choose a continent or search using a country name. The site will be updated over time to include proposed amendments to laws, as well as commentary and context from national copyright experts. Copyright Watch will help document how legislators around the world are coping with the challenges of new technology and new business models.

Read more about the Copyright Watch, search for copyright laws, subscribe to the Copyright Watch blog, or contact Copyright Watch.

Free Web-based Microsoft Office 2010

To follow up on our previous post featuring the free web-based Microsoft Office 2010, here is a YouTube demo video previewing the Office web application in Windows Live.

Microsoft Free Web Based Version of Office 2010

Via ReadWrite Enterprise, Steven Walling wrote an article titled Microsoft Previews Free Web-based Version of Office 2010 where he reviews the free web-based Microsoft office. Starting on September 17, Microsoft has made a limited preview of Word, Excel and PowerPoint available and "has officially said that a more widely-available beta of Web Apps will arrive this fall."

Click the title of the article (above) to access the full article that includes screenshots and short summaries by the author. Can Microsoft compete with already existing services such are Google Documents, Zoho, or ThinkFree? Any thoughts?

Free Library Check Outs With SONY E-Reader

To follow up on our previous post, via Engadget, Sony's Reader Daily Edition will launch in December 2009 for $400. It has a seven-inch touchscreen. It enables to pull content wirelessly. The 3G network will be free but limited to accessing the Sony eBook store.

The new feature (said to be a major advantage over Kindle) is

[t]he library finder service, which enables you to check out ebooks and other digital content from your local public library on any of the Readers -- for free.

The New York Public Library is the flashy public launch partner, but there are "thousands more" looped in through a partnership with Overdrive.com -- check out the huge selection of top-tier content you can get through the Chicago Public Library, for example.

The library buys a fixed number of "copies" of each title and "checks out" the licenses, so you're on a time limit -- licenses will revert after 14-29 days depending on your local branch's rules.

Any thoughts?

New on LLRX - Green Files: Green Resources and Sites On The Internet

Published on July 17, 2009 and compiled by Marcus P. Zillman, the Green Files: Green Resources and Sites On the Internet is a list of resources allowing you find the latest green resources and sites freely available online. The list is in alphabetical order and periodically updated on the author's blog.

Green Files is a comprehensive listing of green resources and sites on the Internet. The below list of sources is taken from my Subject Tracer™ Information Blog titled Green Files and is constantly updated with Subject Tracer™ bots at the following URL: http://www.GreenFiles.info/

Nolo's Law Dictionary for iPhone

Via WisBlawg.com, Nolo has developed a free law dictionary for iPhones. It is available via iTunes and according to the iTunes description,

[i]t contains nearly 4000 legal terms defined in everyday, understandable language.

The dictionary is further described,

You'll find both the legal standards--Latin terms, courtroom jargon, contract basics--and newly minted terms that reflect the ever changing language of the law today. What does it mean to get "dooced"? Do you need that "pre-dup"? Had a run-in with a "patent troll" lately? Nolo is committed to finding and defining the latest twists in legal language that have entered our daily conversations--important words not found in other legal dictionaries. Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary is both authoritative and friendly, but it is not your grandfather's law dictionary.

Read the full description.