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Power over the big 'what if?'
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my assigned courtroom waiting to begin another trial, something I am accustomed to doing daily in my job as a court reporter. Suddenly, I noticed my computer screen had turned black. I was sure that I had turned it on and connected it to my writing equipment as I normally would, so this was a problem.
I decided to simply restart my computer, only to find flashes of unidentifiable messages appearing rapidly on the screen. I began to feel frantic. There I was in the courtroom, expecting the judge to enter momentarily to begin the trial, and I was not ready.
What really concerned me was the big “what if”—what if I had some computer virus that was attacking my files from previous court trials and proceedings? As someone who is responsible for safeguarding the record of court proceedings, as well as producing transcripts of testimony upon request, a court reporter’s worst nightmare would be to attempt to retrieve a file for transcription, only to discover it missing or damaged.
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