Mike McBride on Tech, eDiscovery and Mental Health - Issue #11
Workplace and Careers
Linked: The Term ‘Bullying’ Doesn't Easily Fit the Workplace — www.mikemcbrideonline.com It's true, what we define as bullying among school children with no option to simply leave school doesn't really fit when talking about the workplace, though it is the height of privilege to not recognize that many low-paid workers don't necessarily have that same level of freedom to do so. But, as the quote points out, it doesn't matter what we call it, unprofessional behavior that hurts coworkers and employees has no place in the workplace:
The Hiring Process is Broken — www.mikemcbrideonline.com Yeah I know, not exactly a shocking observation. We've all been through horrific interviewing processes, and even the Wall Street Journal is writing about
More than 4 in 10 family caregivers may have to choose between jobs and at-home duties, study finds — www.msn.com With families grappling with the effects of the pandemic, many at-home caregivers with jobs have reached a breaking point. Here are some possible solutions.
Revisiting “The 4-Hour Workweek” | The New Yorker — www.newyorker.com How Tim Ferriss’s 2007 manifesto anticipated our current moment of professional upheaval.
An Important Lesson - Give a Show to Whoever Shows Up — www.mikemcbrideonline.com Over the weekend, I spent some time on campus here in Corvallis, experiencing some of the Homecoming events. One of the events was a free outdoor concert
Legal Tech and eDiscovery
Quick Thought - Law Firms as a Target — www.mikemcbrideonline.com I know we're all familiar with the fact that law firms make an inviting target for hackers, because we all have a ton of information about our clients,
Good Information on the Current State of the eDiscovery Job Market — www.mikemcbrideonline.com I tuned into a webinar yesterday put on by ACEDS, and then saw today that Jared Coseglia, from TRU Staffing Partners, had posted an article with many of the same points he mentioned on the webinar. If you're in the eDiscovery space or want to get into the eDiscovery space, this is worth a read:
Electronic Discovery Supply Chain Problems — www.litigationsupporttipofthenight.com The worldwide disruption in supply chains is impacting hardware used in electronic discovery. Solid state drives are in short supply for more than one reason. ABF (Ajinomoto Build-up Film) substrate is an insulation material used to protect chips. A Fortune Magazine article posted here, notes that Intel, Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom all have had trouble getting a sufficient supply of the substrate. Silicon wafers are needed for semiconductors. They form a base for integrated circuits. Semi
Linked: You know how to identify phishing emails – a cybersecurity researcher explains how to trust your instincts to foil the attacks — www.mikemcbrideonline.com And so, I wonder if those yearly, semi-annual, quarterly, video training would be a lot more effective if we also shared specific examples of people who got phished, and how they fell for it? Like most things in life, it's one thing to hypothetically know that something could happen, but it's quite another to know that it did happen to someone we know. Someone just like us. That makes it so much more real in our minds, and it appears to make a huge difference in how users might approach phishing attempts.
The Ever-Changing Data Privacy Landscape is Driving Changes Across the Legal Tech Landscape - Compliance Just about any organizational discipline that deals with data has data privacy considerations today and continually changing data privacy requirements are driving changes across the legal technology landscape.
Mental Health
Linked: Making workplaces better for people struggling with mental health will make work better for everyone — www.mikemcbrideonline.com The reality is if you allow people to be flexible and get their work done in the way that makes the most sense for them, individually, they will all benefit from that decision. There won't be a fairness issue because of some accommodation because everyone is getting the accommodation they need to do their best work. What's wrong with that? Isn't that what management says they want?
Linked: Will mental health resources evaporate post-pandemic? — www.mikemcbrideonline.com It just goes to show what I've always said, your company is not your family, it's not even a friend, and it will always do what is good for itself first, second, and always. If something also happens to be good for you, great, but that's never been the goal, so you have to make decisions based on what is good for you, not the company. If you think that's an overly negative thing to say about CEOs and upper management, go read those percentages again, and consider how many of those same people expect your loyalty, and your dedication during difficult times, without offering the same in return. Also, consider how many HR people have proclaimed themselves as being there for employees, and yet also think employees expect too much. It's not overly negative when it's true.
NYSBA Proposes Sweeping Changes Across Legal System To Prioritize Attorney Well-Being - New York State Bar Association — nysba.org Law firms should cap billable hours at 1,800 and make sure lawyers take all their vacation time.
Internet Culture
Everything You Know About Section 230 Is Wrong (But Why?) | Techdirt — www.techdirt.com There are a few useful phrases that allow one instantly to classify a statement. For example, if any piece of popular health advice contains the word "toxins," you can probably disregard it. Other than, "avoid ingesting them."...
Securing your digital life, part one: The basics | Ars Technica — arstechnica.com In this first of two parts, we go over some security steps everyone should be taking.
I Used Facebook Without the Algorithm, and You Can Too | WIRED — www.wired.com Making your News Feed chronological is an enlightening look at what's really happening on the platform.