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The Bloomberg Law Biometric Doohickey

By Robert J. Ambrogi

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Last November, I <a href="http://www.legaline.com/2009/11/reviews-bloomberg-law-smart-time-and.html">published my review</a> of <a href="http://www.bloomberglaw.com/">Bloomberg Law</a>, the recently launched legal research service from business news giant <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/">Bloomberg</a>. One aspect of the service I did not mention in my review is the odd piece of hardware required to log-in. Whereas other legal research services rely on usernames and passwords, Bloomberg Law requires you to log-in using something it calls the B-Unit, a credit-card sized, biometric fingerprint reader that ensures that you and only you log-in to your Bloomberg Law account.<br /><br />You can use it to log-in from anywhere you have Web access. After you enter your usual username and password, a screen prompts you for the B-Unit. Turn it on and its asks you to "present finger." Assuming it recognizes you, an small LCD display says, "ID valid." You then hold the B-Unit in front of your computer screen. After a few moments, a four-digit verification code appears in its LCD screen. Enter that in the space provided on the log-in screen, and you are good to go.<br /><br />Below are some pictures. And, by the way, I'm pretty sure "doohickey" is the correct technical term. <br /><br /><table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0r_7F_CYzd-GZIVbMFoiiA?feat=embedwebsite" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="300" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_iHYDAo93tQY/S3m5FoJvtOI/AAAAAAAAGY0/cRWyZhLd8U0/s400/b_unit1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/ambrogi/BlogPictures?feat=embedwebsite">Blog Pictures</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4BBnBqG36dzCboD0W7PNjA?feat=embedwebsite" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_iHYDAo93tQY/S3m5GiOxDKI/AAAAAAAAGY4/enZO-monJrU/s400/b_unit2.jpg" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/ambrogi/BlogPictures?feat=embedwebsite">Blog Pictures</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/i8CkVt5PImiJOPPFEAwjMw?feat=embedwebsite" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_iHYDAo93tQY/S3m5Jd5nHOI/AAAAAAAAGY8/oBpYLgEbYrw/s400/b_unit3.jpg" /></a></div></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/ambrogi/BlogPictures?feat=embedwebsite">Blog Pictures</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3958829-1640854726462087776?l=www.legaline.com%2Flawsites.html' alt='' /></div>

Full post as published by Lawsites on February 15, 2010 (boomark / email).