Actually using Siri..

Siri is really amazing.Coming into present time and finally getting rid of my 'zoolander' miniscule cricket phone, I am amazed at how much I love technology! Siri is an application available for your phone that trumps any search engine, as it is voice activated and allows you to ask questions as well as direct tasks, (texting, calling etc.)

As you ask Siri any question, or ask it to perform simple tasks, it continues to recognize your voice and adjusts to your dialect and inflection, making each use easier and easier.

It available exclusively on the newest apple phones, but there are other versions, supposedly not as capable as Siri, but will work with non-apple phones.

I like it!

e-REaders and WiFi at ALD

My first experience with my Nook Simple was trying to register it while at CW. This requires connecting to WiFi. I soon learned that e-Readers cannot connect to WiFi at ALD since the security is set so high. I then went to Barnes and Noble where the gentleman was very helpful, actually registering for me in just a few minutes.

Drive safe while dialing your IPhone

It was well worth the 99 cents to download a voice dialer app for my IPhone. The one I choose that work well is VoiceThis. I need only speak the name and my phone will safely dial. Of course, its probably better not to talk on your phone at all while you drive...

Make cool ringtones

There is a free app that I found on my IPhone that enables you to choose any song from your ITunes library and set it up as your ring tone. It is Ringtone Maker and it is easy to use.

Updating Your Nook

Update your nook to make the battery last longer and the pages flip faster.  Go to http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/NOOK-Support/379003184  , look for your exact device and click on "software update".  The version you want is 1.1.0 today.   Just follow the posted instructions and you're good to go!

credit card receipt reprinting

If you need to, you can reprint a credit card receipt. Use the purple REPRINT button at the top of the keypad on the credit card machine.

Aurora Parcel web address

I found the Aurora Parcel website to locate addresses in Aurora for patrons that should be coded as an Aurora Patron. The website address is auroragov.org/apps/portal/pages/property. I saved this as a favorite on my remote desktop. This is helpful when checking an address and it doesn't appear in Arapahoe County's parcel.

Computer VIRUS

PCMatic.com, is a great website to use for your PC. It will save you money & time of dealing with a PC infected with Malware. PCmatic is Safe, Secure & Simple to use. All you need to do is click on the Free Downloaad & the Software Automates the regularMaintance.

ALD VENDING MACHINES & SMART PHONES

If you want to check out DVD's from the vending machines you must have your library card to do so.  I have had my card for so long and can no longer find it but do not necessarily want to get a new number(I have mine memorized).  I was told that you could put an app on your Smart Phone called Cardstar and enter your library card number.  The scanner on the vending machines is sophisticated enough to scan this from your phone and you can then check out without your library card.  I have installed the app on my phone but have not made it over to SG to try it out.

cameraphone lenses

Do you want improve the photographs you take with your smartphone? Upgrade your cameraphone lens! Wired magazine reviewers, in the January 2012 issue, recommend the Olloclip--three photographic lenses in one device that "attaches in seconds" to your iPhone. Other lenses reviewed were the Schneider Optics iPro Lens System (awkward, but still two lenses in one), the Photojojo Telephoto Lens (inexpensive!), and the Turtleback TurtleJacket SLR Mount (which is bigger and heavier than all the smartphones I've ever seen).

Quick Response tip

Although I know that the QR codes seem to be everywhere, I was still surprised to find the info I was looking for in the Garden area of a local nursery recently. Thinking I would have to look through many gardening books to find the answers to my variety of plant questions, the employee who helped me showed me the QR codes on each of the small plastic cards sticking in each plant container with wonderful information about the individual items. This can be a wonderful time saver.

e-reader review

Probably most of you have already purchased your e-reader by now, but in case you haven't, don't buy an Aluratek Libre Touch color e-reader--so suggests Yardena Arar, who awarded it only two out of five stars in the November 2011 issue of PC World. Wired magazine reviewers, in the January 2012 issue, liked the Kobo Touch best (!), then the Nook Simple Touch, then the Amazon Kindle. The Sony Reader PRS-T1 earned a score of only 4 (presumably out of 10).

Technology Predictions for 2012

http://ncare.com/blog/
This is a link to another blog which has some interesting predictions for technology advancements in 2012. You can also read the predictions they posted at the beginning of 2011 and the outcomes of those predictions. Just for fun. (Nexxtepp Technology Services, Inc.)

Google Docs. and Homework Assignments

Young patrons have been coming in to work on their school assignments on Google Docs. Recently they have been having trouble opening their own work and the documents uploaded by teachers and then editing them. Sometimes the documents would come up but in a read only format. Turns out that Google Chrome needs to be installed now for most documents to be edited and resubmitted. Google Chrome is not installed permanently on the teen computers and has to be installed each time if the patron cannot edit their google docs.

N2A (Nook to Android)

For those of you who have purchased the Nook Color, a co-worker told me of a way to change your Nook Color into an Android Tablet.  Android has supplied Micro SD Chips for the price of $34.99 for an 8 g.  All you do is insert the chip into the micro chip slot and once you turn on the Nook it will become android  Os .   and when you remove the chip it once again becomes your Nook Color.  Installing Android OS permanently voids factory warranty. Another cool tip is with android at Marketplace you can download Amazon Bookstore and B&N Bookstore.

Here is youtube video link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLJD9lrrWCM&noredirect=1

Google Goggles

Google goggles  is a free app you can download to your phone and take a picture of a landmark and wait for the search on your phone to tell you what it is. No need to write any text or say anything into you phone.

www.google.com/mobile/goggles

Google Reader

Google Reader is a great way to keep blogs, news, and other information together and organized in one easily accessible spot. It lets users create different categories to organize information in a way that makes sense to them. It also gives the option for users to search for different blogs and news feeds that might suit their interests, and add them to their feed without having to go to each site individually. The service is free and open to all people with a google account. To add a news feed manually, choose the "Add Subscription" option from the upper left corner of the reader page and insert the web address. To browse news feeds that you might be interested in, go to the "Home" option on the left and make sure that you expand all the options, by clicking the plus to the right of the word home. Once you have expanded the Home section, there will be an option to "Browse for Stuff". By clicking that, it will give you tabs to browse, search, or get recommendations from Google. You can unsubscribe to news feeds at any time, just in case you select more than you can read!

Centennial web site

Laurie wrote a StaffBook article about the new on-line look of the city of Centennial (visit http://www.centennialcolorado.com/). Sure, it looks good, but it also looks useful, which is even better. On a quick trip there I found that users can get passport information, peruse a business directory, browse a map gallery, or report a problem, among other things.

Nook's LendMe feature

Did you know you can borrow Nook ebooks from your friends who also own Nooks? Barnes and Noble has a feature called LendMe, with which you can borrow and lend ebooks with people you know. To use this feature, click on "My Nook" at the top of the Barnes and Noble screen, sign in to your B&N account, and under "My Friends" select the LendMe button. To find Nook friends, invite them from your Facebook, Twitter, or Google accounts, or invite them by email. This is another cool way to share books with friends! And this way your books won't come back to you with dog-eared pages or coffee stains. Hehe.

Texting with Whatsapp

Whatsapp is a cross-platform messaging application that you can use on your iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Nokia phones. It uses your internet data plan and allows you to send text messages, pictures, voice notes and video messages for free. It uses the internet instead of sending as a regular text message and using up those precious texts. It costs .99cents for the iPhone and is free on most other devices for the first year, costing 2 dollars (a one time fee as far as I understand) after that initial year is up. I use it for international texting to friends studying abroad or friends from foreign countries and it's instantaneous. Both parties need to have Whatsapp installed on their phone in order for it to work. For more information here's the link to Whatsapp, it's a great way to keep in contact with people domestically or internationally without using all of your texts!

Google "Easter Eggs"

For the holidays, Google has given users the "let it snow" Easter egg to add a little cheer. (Easter eggs are special hidden extras usually found in video games, DVDs, or software). When you Google "let it snow," you will see a soft snow falling on the monitor, and after awhile the screen will frost over. You can use your mouse to scrape the ice away, or hit the defrost button. Some of Google's other Easter eggs include "Hannukah," "askew," and "tilt." Try typing one of these in and see what happens! Note: The Easter eggs only work using Google Chrome, Google's web browser.

DVD Machine Trick

I had a patron who was using an old ALD card (blue and white, with a barcode sticker). She had reserved DVD machine movies using the ALD website, so she had typed her barcode in. When picking up her movies, the machine was not reading her barcode. I tried and tried, but could not get it to work. She did not want to change library card numbers, so a new card was not a choice for her. In a last ditch effort, we photocopied her barcode, it came out nice and clear. It worked!!!! So this is a trick to try when a patrons card is not working, and they do not want a new card.

Geek Squad help

At Best Buy, they haveGeek Squad service where they can help you set up you new e-reader for only $59.97. We offer that service to our patrons for free through Book A Librarian. I offer our service to patrons and tell them what a great service we offer for free compared to Best Buy.

Security on phones and tablets

As more and more patrons come in with their new gadgets we should be reminding them that they should be careful of the security on them. There has been a 22% jump in malware in the first half of 2011 over 2010 with Android having a 76% jump. As the number of devices grows so will infections. Often they are spread through app stores appearing to be a new app or as an app that appears to be a better known one. Try to stick with official app stores rather than getting them from a third party. There are antivirus apps. Lookout Mobile Security, mylookout.com and AVG Mobilation, avgmobilation.com are just two of them. And as always, pay attention to WI-FI security. Use your Web browser to access accounts instead of using apps on your mobile device especially if using it in public.

Timeline

Facebook began rolling out a dramatic new look for its 800 million users Thursday. It's called Timeline and turns your profile page into a digital scrapbook. It's how you can tell the whole story of your life on a single page according to a comment made by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook chief executive, in September. According to a Denver Post article, Facebook places a notification box at the top of profile pages when a user is eligible for Timeline. After accepting the update, users will have seven days to play around with new features before friends will see their new profile. One might note that the opt-in period will be available for a few weeks, after which Facebook will begin moving the people who have not yet opted in over to the new profile. The article suggests double checking your privacy settings because Facebook has a reputation for updating those without warning. Of course 9 news had to show Tim Teboe's page.

Family Health Hstory

Getting together over the holidays is a perfect time to do something we should all do, get a Family Health History. Dr Oz has a Family History form on his website, doctoroz.com. Quiz your family members about their health history and start one of your own health for your loved ones. A very positive use of technology.

For those more "nervous" patrons......

When patrons are nervous about what happens to their personal information when they are done using our public computers, I tell them they can utilize "private browsing". In Internet Explorer the settings are found under Tools and then Inprivate Browsing. When they click on Inprivate Browsing, a new browser window is opened up. They will see a notification at the top of the screen which says "Inprivate". When they close the window after browsing, the setting is removed. In Safari, click on Safari and then Private Browsing. We tell patrons that all information is erased when it goes into the deep reboot, but this may make those who are a little more paranoid feel better when they put private personal or financial information on a public library computer.

Kindle Fire's Must-Have Apps

For those of you who are interested in purchasing a Kindle Fire this holiday season, this is an excellent article on must-have apps for your device. Sometimes the apps available through the Amazon Appstore aren't the best--instead, consider sideloading outside apps (located in the Android Market), which users have found to be much more effective on their new devices. The article lists the top five must-have apps as well as instructions for retrieving them from outside the Amazon Appstore.

Yikes! Watch out for this one!

Earleen, Josh, and I worked with a patron who COULD NOT get his wi-fi to show up on his network connections. All he could select at SG was dial-up. (No such thing as dial-up here.) After checking settings for everything in the world, we learned that this is a problem with newer laptops. There is a toggle button (often F13) on the top row that has an icon of a radio tower. When it is pressed, the wireless is enabled or disabled. Yup, the patron had inadvertantly pressed it. Josh assured me that whenever the library gets new laptops, DS removes this option so patrons can't be switching off the wireless. Phew!

Creating a Link

In order to create a link it is necessary to type the website address with all of its components. That includes making sure that it is begun with the correct URL prefix of "http" or "www" and ends with the correct suffix in the domain name such as; .com (commercial businesses), .edu (educational institutions), .gov (government agencies), .net (network organizations) or (.org (nonprofit organizations). When using the Internet some website addresses are very forgiving, typing in only a portion will frequently take you directly to the website anyway, such as typing only "amazon". However that will not work for creating a link. It is necessary to be complete and accurate with every character in the website address.

Bookbyte.com

Bookbyte.com is a guaranteed buyback program, a textbook-swapping site. Buy a textbook through Bookbyte and sell it back to the company and receive up to 40% off the purchase of new textbooks and a 70% markdown on used books. Return postage is paid by the company. There is free shipping on orders over $50.00. With a new semester approaching this site may be helpful to the students who come into the library looking for textbooks to borrow.

Shopping for an eReader?

We have a narrow window of time to take advantage of ALD's very generous offer to reimburse us toward the purchase of an eReader. (THANK YOU Eloise!) There are several internet sites which compare and evaluate all the devices. The link below is a good You Tube video comparing the Amazon Touch and the Barnes and Noble Simple Touch, both priced at $99.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKXPyGuz-hw

Mark Mullis posted a link to a more extensive article from C-Net which compares many eReaders and tablets, including the iPad:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20009738-1/kindle-vs-nook-vs-ipad-which-e-book-reader-should-you-buy/

Happy shopping!

MY KEY RING THINGY

Do you have a key ring with loads of merchant cards (and our little library card) hanging on it? Now you can consolidate all those into into scannable barcodes on your mobile device. Or if you have a dumb phone like me, you can put them all on one card for your wallet. Here's what Oli has to say about this:
"I know that there are apps that create barcodes. The one that I am aware of is called Card Star. ALD did register with them which means that we are an option on their drop down list when selecting a library. This essentially insures that they are using the correct template for our barcodes Otherwise they can use a generic template which will work as well.Here is a link to it: http://mycardstar.com/"
However, here is the caution statement. When a patron with an Android Blackberry downloaded his barcode, our barcode scanners could not read it. Again, here is Oli's comment:
"I also had the problem with our barcode readers not working with my iPhone. That said, I am not sure about the scanner on the DVD vending machine itself. I think our developer used a smartphone on the vending machine scanner and it did indeed work."
As patrons increasingly use their smartphones to scan boarding passes, etc. they will expect to be able to use their "virtual" library card in their smartphones. And patrons will not be able to check out DVD's from the vending machines without a physical library card, or a "virtual" library card.

Smart Phones Get Viruses, Too

There have been reports recently about viruses infecting smart phones. Apparently, they invade when infected apps are downloaded; the games "Droid Dream" and "Plankton" have carried viruses lately. Several vendors offer antivirus software for cell phones, including AVG, McAfee and Symantec - may be worth looking into!

UltraViolet Digital Copy

New movies can now be purchased in sets with an UltraViolet Digital Copy. This purchase gives you the rights to stream your movie anytime, anywhere, via broadband. It is being promoted as "buy once, play anywhere" technology. Movies can be watched on any compatible device (smart phones, game consoles,Blu-ray, etc..). Flixster is one of the services that offers this new cloud-based technology. Many major studios are putting movies out using this format. Disney is not available on UltraViolet. Also, Apple does not support this format, so these movies can not be downloaded to itunes or Apple devices. There are many pros and cons to this new technology. More movies are being offered in this format, so it is something worth reading about.

"How are you question-mark smiley-face"

According to this NYTimes article, voice-activated technology has been around in smartphones for years. People could easily dictate their text messages or appointments aloud. Now with the Apple’s Siri (introduced fall 2011) the voice technology is much more sophisticated and owners are eager to put it to use.

Siri owners can dictate e-mails, including stating which punctuation and emoticons they want, and when they ask their phone "for the meaning of life," it responds with an, "'I find it odd you would ask this of an inanimate object.'"

Technology executives say that voice technology is here to stay because they help people become "more productive"--which means that we can expect to see more people talking to their iPhones rather than on their iPhones. Ah, the good old days when people just texted in silence.

Sites for Free eBooks

I know we all have been getting lots of questions about eReaders, and interest will only increase through this gift giving season. I came across a video on You Tube which identifies all sorts of sites which provide access to free ebooks, although as the narrator says, a Google search will turn up many more sites. One of his favorite sites is free-eBooks.net

Use this QR code to take a look at the video, or follow this link.

Good Sites to Know

I learned about these two sites today:
- http://www.iconfinder.com/ free icons for presentations
- http://www.grovo.com/ "Grovo is an online education and training platform that helps people find and use sites, and helps sites reach and educate users." You do have to create an account, which is essentially a log in. Grovo offers video-based lessons. The Basic (free) version offers education on consumer products including eBay, Flickr, Skype, and more.

Jane Martel

INKLING

Sometimes it is convenient to keep paper notes of your ideas for a Blog or for your Performance report. This little Inkling pen lets a person scribble ideas when they hit, then save them on a Mac in digital form. The Inkling works on any paper so there is no need to buy special paper.

Wikitude is amazing

Find information about the world around you using Wikitude. You let it find your current location and then displays will be populated with information about the restaraunts, cafes, events, sights, even ATMs found from your current position. Maps can be used immediately, flickr photos, even tweets.

ALD App now Available

The ALD App can now be downloaded to your smart phone!
Type in ald.boopsie.com into your web browser and install. It is my understanding that the app will be promoted in a much larger way to the public at a later date. Currently, the app is in a "soft opening" phase for staff and anyone who manages to find it on their own.
Have fun. It is pretty cool.

How to strip hidden formatting in WORD

A patron called me over to help him with a document in WORD that he was working on. He wanted to know how to change the grammar and spell checker to perform in English, not Spanish. I was somewhat puzzled, because, of course that is the default and we could not seem to modify the proofing option to change that. Plus – he claimed that he did not change it himself, but that the computer application was somehow set up incorrectly. I found Daisy and she worked with him as well. Turned out he had copy/pasted a paragraph from a website and that the settings from that site carried over into his document. They found an option to remove formatting and that fixed it. Another option is to copy/paste into notepad first, then into WORD. Notepad will strip formatting. I did further research on that issue and found that if you select the newly copied text and use CTRL + SPACEBAR, the formatting will be stripped. Another option, which seemed to remove most of the formatting is MORE under the Styles group on the Home tab – there is an option to “clear formatting”.

Know The Operating System Extensions

Did you know that when you save a file the computer adds a three letter extension to the name you give the file.
The extensions tell the computer what program to use to open a file.
These are some common file extensions:
Extension Program that opens it
.doc Microsoft Word
.xls Microsoft Excel
.pub Microsoft Publisher
.ppt Microsoft PowerPoint

Some file extensions used on the internet tell you what kind of file something is:
Extensions What it probably is
.htm A Web Page
.gif A Graphic or Animation
.jpg A Photo or Image
.png A Photo or Image.
.mpg A Movie or Animation
.pdf A Portable Document File
.mp3 A Sound or Music File

Shopping with Apps

Consumer Reports listed several apps to download to your smart phone to help you find the best prices for the item you are shopping for.  For instance-PriceGrabber-will tell you who is sellig what you are looking for at the best price, including tax and shipping fees.  Another App is Foursquare-finds your location and tells you deals at stores, restarants and theaters.  If you are a traveller Kayak will compare prices on flights, car rentals and hotels.  These are just a few of the Apps you can use.  To see more of the Apps check out the December 2011 issue of Consumer Reports.

Donate retired Cell Phones

If a patron ask where can I donate my old cellphone. They can Donate old Cellphones for our Soldiers.( find a drop-off site at CellphonesForSoldiers.com; they'll be loaded with prepaid minutes) so troops can call home.

What's the first book in this series?

We're often asked where a series starts or what's the next title. A lot of you oldtimers are probably familiar with KDL What's Next but maybe some of the new staff have yet to discover it. It's put out by Kent District Library, kdl.org - Books& More - Popular Links. You can do a search by author, title or series. It's not just for adult titles, Harry Potter is in there just in case you've forgotten the order. Don't forget to click on the printer friendly feature so you can print it and give it to the patron! Bookmark it, you'll be glad you did.

Have you heard this iBand?!

May I be the first to wish you Happy Holidays with this tech iBand playing Feliz Navidad on ipads, iphones and musical apps galore! Click here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcexJQM-8W0

Google Music

Google has a music program called Google Music. Google Music is a cloud-powered music player and storage service that lets you keep your music collection online so you can save space on your Android device or iphone/ipad. Just download the Google Music app. Music is purchased or can be found for free via the Android Market (music from EMI, Sony, Universal and other small record companies). You can also upload your music from itunes. There is no syncing. You can listen to you music on any computer (unlike itunes) since this program uses cloud technology. CD's can be burned from this program, and music can be shared with anyone via Google+. For more information visit music.google.com

Website for comparing E-Readers & PC's

I found a website that compares all tablet PC's including the new Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet. This website tabletpccomparison.net is very handy to show patrons who want to compare the newest E-Readers that are out. This website also shows other PC's that are available to shoppers this holiday season.

Respect curriculum site: Operationrespect.org

Peter Yarrow (Peter,Paul & Mary) was speaking, singing and promoting his new book about Puff the Magic Dragon at the Tattered Cover in early Nov. It was great fun to relive the days of Puff, but Peter wants us to know that the song's message is about the feeling of caring for another creature. This led him to his main focus of the evening which was his anti-bullying organization he founded in 1999. It is called Operation Respect and there is a wonderful website for it called www.operationrespect.org
It is a non-profit organization working to assure each child & youth a respectful, safe and compassionate climate of learning where their academic, social and emotional development can take place free of bullying, ridicule and violence. There are several good links for parents, kids and educators with downloads for curricula files and many songs. He feels this is a wonderful for anyone who works with or cares about children as well as all of us who interact with others.

Pinterest.com: New social media and bookmarking website

Instead of bookmarking websites only by web address, Pinterest.com uses visual bookmarking. Pinterest.com allows you to share things that you're interested in with friends and strangers, but also keeps your personal information private, showing only your chosen photo and username to Pinterest members. It gives you the option to connect with your friends from Facebook, Twitter, or email. When using www.Pinterest.com, you "pin" your chosen visual bookmarks to a "board", which is how you organize the things that you're interested in. Your boards can be labeled any way you choose, and you caption each of your pins however you'd like. There is also the option to search different pin categories, such as Food and Drink, Humor, or Fitness, and "repin" any items you find interesting to your boards. This is a fantastic tool that our patrons might really enjoy, because it essentially takes a person's Favorites bar from their computer and puts it in a place that is easy to access from any location that has internet access. It gets rid of the need for different folders for different interests (recipes, organization ideas, crafts, etc). And overall, it's fun!

CELL PHONE BATTERY

I read in PC World Magazine some tips to extend the battery life of your cell phone. 1. Turn the brightness of your screen down to the lowest setting that you can.  2. Turn off Wi-Fi when you are not using it,  3. Turn off the Vibrate feature-this uses a lot of battery power.  4. If you use the GPS feature to help you find addresses, to map out routes for you, or to find movie theatres or eateries shut it off and just turn on when you need to use this feature. 5. If your screen stays lit up for an extended period of time after sending or receiving change the time in your display settings menu.  6.  If any of these tips do not help your battery life you can buy an extended battery.  I have tried a couple of these tips and find that I do not have to charge the battery quite as often.

Changing Print Size

Often a patron is frustrated when the print job won't fit onto just 1 page. Go to print preview and click on 'shrink to fit'. Choose the % you want, then re-check print preview to make sure the job isn't going onto a 2nd page.

To make the print larger for whatever reason, select View and experiment with larger and largest. If that still isn't large enough, select View again and experiment with the Zoom function which has a variety of percentage increments. My patron was amazed that it could be adjusted until he could read it. This is especially helpful for vision impaired patrons who just want to be able to read their email, etc.

30 web sites

PC World, in its December 2011 issue, published an article entitled, "30 Sites You Should Be Using Right Now." The web sites are related to dining, education, finance, health, music, productivity, and travel. The two that I actually plan to use are google.com/flights and airfarewatchdog.com, both of which let users find low air travel prices. I am also interested in runkeeper.com, which allows users to keep track of mileage and pace on-line, and localeats.com, which help find local restaurants in foreign cities (no national chains allowed!). I might recommend khanacademy.org or oyc.yale.edu to patrons looking to further their knowledge. According to the article, the Khan Academy offers short videos covering many different subjects, especially mathematics and sciences, and Open Yale Courses is a collection of "videos of lectures originally intended for undergrad Yale students." What are your favorites?

can't hear?

Janet and I discovered that I need to adjust the volume on the BLACK screen of the computer I use in order to hear anything while I am on my remote desktop.

The Onion apps

For those of you with iPhones or iPod Touches: The Onion has a free app that you can download! You may now enjoy satire anywhere you are. Cinema fans may like the A. V. Club app, which allows you to "take the latest reviews, news, trailers, and interviews with you wherever you go," according to the blurb on the Apple web site.

Puff the Magic Dragon

Dear rascal Puff has made it all the way from the land of Honalee to digiland. To accompany the release of the beloved Folk Song in pop-up book format, there is now an app for Puff the Magic Dragon. The charming interactive app for children is available for purchase on Apple (iPad, iPhone, iTouch) and Android devices. Children can enjoy the interactive experience in 3 different formats: "Sing to Me", "Read to Me"or "Read Myself". The app was demonstrated last Friday evening at the Tattered Cover (Highlands Ranch) by Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame) during an author presentation. Go to www.sterlingpublishing.com/digital to view the app.

Apple Filing May Signal Focus On Disability Market

I lifted this article from disabilityscoop.com.

By SHAUN HEASLEY September 6, 2011

Apple appears to be taking steps to make its popular tablet and smartphone devices more user-friendly for people with disabilities who are unable to use touch screens. In a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office made public this month, the technology giant said it is seeking to patent a method for connecting its products to accessories that could act in place of the touch screen. This may allow people to control Apple products in the future by using devices like a joystick or by doing something as simple as blowing into a straw.

In recent years, Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices have been overwhelmingly popular among people with disabilities who use text-to-speech and other types of applications to replace traditional, costly assistive technology. However, since the products all use touch screens, some with dexterity issues and visual impairments have had trouble with the devices.

The patent application may suggest that Apple is looking to eliminate this hurdle.

Microsoft Translator

Now, with a single click, you can translate any webpage in any language with Microsoft Translator. Simply install the Microsoft Translator as a bookmark, and you can easily change the language of any webpage with one click. This is a pretty cool tool I think will help with some of our patrons who prefer to read newspapers, articles, etc in their native language.

PDF Crowd

PDF Crowd is a really cool website you can use to translate web pages, email coupons, and more into PDF files to make them easier to print. A patron showed this tool to me, and it works great. Give it a try if you have a pesky webpage that just won't print nicely.

Move Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access Toolbar in Word (undo, forward and save buttons) is located in the top left hand corner by the Microsoft Office Button. The toolbar can be moved by clicking the arrow to the right of the toolbar. It can be moved above or below the ribbon. You can also customize items on your Quick Access Toolbar using the drop down menu that comes up when you click the arrow.

safety on the internet

These are website that have information to stay safe on the internet.

http://onguardonline.gov/index.html
This site provides some practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help people guard against online fraud and protect personal information.

http://www.safekids.com/
They advertise themselves as a "Family Guide to making the Internet and technology fun, safe and productive." Try this site for more detailed information about protecting kids on the internet.

http://www.be-cyber-safe.com/
Be Cyber Safe is a good overview of the dangers that are out there for kids while they are online. It's full of information and links to additional resources. Definitely a good site to check out.

What is CLEL?

To read more about some of the concepts discussed at Staff Development Day, in particular information on early literacy for families and kids, visit the CLEL website (Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy) CLEL.ORG. I like it so much, it’s on My Favorites Bar.
Their Mission:
All children deserve the joy of reading and the skills in life that literacy brings. Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy is passionately committed to strengthening children’s literacy through library services and community advocacy.
On this website you can find (among other items):
• Early Literacy Services
• CLEL Blog
• Every Child Ready to Read info
• Info on the Clel 12

Change Case of Letters in Word

A patron had a problem with one line only coming up as capital letters in a Word document. We went to the top and found Change Case or Aa.
When you click on that you will get a couple options to go to Sentance Case; Lower Case; or Upper Case. Click the option that you want and that will change the letters to whatever case is appropriate for your document in Word.

Free remote access and remote desktop sharing @TeamViewer.  Need help troubleshooting?  This is a possible solution.  Other similar sites:

Logmein
Metafilter
Aardvark

The App Gap

This NYTimes article calls to mind the All Staff Day presenter who'd talked about the importance of reading to infants and how that determines their future success. Looks like it's not just reading anymore. Scientists now say that there is an "app gap" between affluent children who are exposed to computers and iPads (i.e. mobile education games) from an early age and low socioeconomic children who are not (i.e. just television). Over half of affluent families will download apps for their children to play with, while more than a third of low-income parents don't even know what an 'app' is. This can set a child even further behind when they are expected to know how to use computers for research and typing essays in school. It looks like along with the problem of reading gaps in children, we need to be concerned about a technology 'app gap' as well.

Adult Literacy

I'm often asked by patrons about English language classes. I tell them what we have available through the District. I recently read an article in Your Hub about an organization, The Learning Source. They've been in operation since 1964. They provide English classes with reading, writing and math instructions. The organization might also serve patrons who are looking for volunteer opportunities in the community. They provide training. More info can be found on their website, coloradoliteracy.org.

ShoeBox App

Clear out the actual old shoebox of treasured old paper photos with this new smartphone app. This free app allows you to use the iPhone's camera as a photo scanner. An Android version will be coming soon. The app lets users crop, rotate, date and tag photos to share with friends through ShoeBox or Facebook. The photos are also stored on www.100memories.com which is the website of the startup behind ShoeBox.

Apps Against Abuse

On Tuesday, November 1, 2011, Vice President Joe Biden announced the winners to the “Apps Against Abuse” challenge he'd launched this summer to use smart phone apps to fight sexual abuse in college campuses. The two winning apps – “Circle of 6” and “OnWatch” – offer users a discreet way to get help and notify a circle of friends and/or the police their GPS location with just a tap of a finger. These apps will be available for free spring 2012 and are a great tool for safety.

.XPS Documents and Printing

Four patrons came in on Sunday 11/6 trying to print documents saved as .xps and were unable to from patron computers. Every PSS at Southglenn worked on this problem (Debbie, Rosie, Jane, Sherry, Emily) and had a hard time coming up with a solution because we were all unfamiliar with this new format. We all tried converting the .xps to a pdf, html, doc, rich text and were still unable to print. A .xps document viewer is needed on the computer in order to successfully print the document. It seems that .xps may be the new Windows' default file when saving an internet document. .Xps is Windows version of a pdf. In order for the patrons to print, they had to email the attachment to a staff member who was able to print it from a staff computer. It would greatly help staff members and patrons if the .xps document viewer was installed on patron computers.

Beyond Skype

We have some SG patrons with a hearing disability. They use the patron computers to "skype" with others in sign language. Only they are not using Skype. They are using Deafchat which is provided by Purple.com. I found it helpful to know that there are other communication programs operating from the cloud. If a patron has a Skype or otherwise account, they can use it to communicate from our patron computers.

Improve your passwords

We all know that you shouldn't use your name as your password, and you shouldn't use the same password over and over. How to build better passwords, and remember them? "PC World magazine" sugests starting with an easy to remember password phrase; a more than one word base is much harder to hack than a single word. Then insert a capital letter or two, and turn one or more of the letters into numbers.

Here's an example: The password phrase "dogsherman" becomes DogSherman, and then
D0gSh3rman (insert a zero for the o and a 3 for the e). This is now my basic password.

To make it unique for the various web sites I regularly use, I'll insert an identifying letter or letters. So for my Facebook account, D0gSh3rman becomes D0gfaSh3rman (inserting "fa" in the middle) and my Wells Fargo online account password becomes D0gweSh3rman ("we" inserted in between the two words).

Hope this helps - how many times has a patron asked us what to use for a password? And gone ahead and used their name?? Now I must get busy and put this advice into practice myself!

What is a .tif file?

A patron received an email attachment with the extension .tif and was very frustrated when she couldn't print it. A google search revealed that "tif" stands for "Tagged Image Format" and is used for storing images; documents produced by digital copiers and fax machines are sometimes .tif files. PDF files of images are more common and preferred, because they can be easily printed, while .tif files cannot.

We found a free software download which promised that we would be able to print .tif files after installation, but it didn't work. In the end, she printed the screen, using Gadwin Print Screen on the patron computer. The resulting image was less than ideal. Here's hoping you never come across this file format!

Access World News

Access World News is the database from Newsbank with newspaper articles from all over the world. ALD has it on trial through Nov. 30 so we can all take a look at it. It is the gateway to the latest news from practically anywhere in the world and is updated daily. The vetted articles can be cited by using hardcopy or by pasting the URL into a document. There are archived videos and images. A person can register to receive e-mail alerts on any subject. This feature might come in handy for medical research, investments, job seekers, attorneys and any type of student research. Anyone newly arrived from a foreign country can keep up on news from home in his native language. Access World News includes both public and private companies whereas Reference USA is for public companies only. Since the articles are vetted this is a good place for students to know what reliable info looks like. There is a tutorial for advanced searches.

WebPac Limitations

At times when patrons are using the WebPacs it appears to them that they can access all of the information that would be available to them on the ALD website because they can actually bring up the website and search to a certain degree following the links. However, obtaining some specific results are not possible. For example; a patron accessed the ALD website through one of the WebPacs. He was interested in Consumer Reports information on a specific appliance. He found the exact article he was looking for and clicked on the link that would take him to the full article. He got only a gray blank screen. The WebPacs do not allow for the in-depth searching one can accomplish as with a full Internet connection. Their primary function is catalog searching. When such a scenario occurs, direct the patron to one of the public access computers in order to accomplish a complete search.

Tips to help speed up Web Searching

Here are some tips and tricks for increasing the value of your web surfing experience. For most of us, the most important one is: be patient, the web is almost always slower than we would like it to be. Do not click more than once on any button or link.

After you have clicked on a link or button, you should see some kind of indication that the browser got your request and is trying to download the next page. These indicators include an animation in the top right corner of the browser window or indicators in the address bar or the bottom left corner of the window.

If you do not get these indications that something is happening, then click the button or link again. If you get impatient and you want to click on some other link or button, click the Stop button first. If you feel that the information retrieved by the browser is incomplete or wrong, click the Reload or Refresh button.

Formatting CDs

At Southglenn, our CDs available for purchase by Patrons, had not been formatted for the operating system Windows 7. Patrons didn't have the time to waste on waiting for the CDs to format. Each format takes about 20 minutes. To format a CD:

Click on My Computer
Click on the Disk (D drive)
The Computer will ask if you want to use it like a USB or a DVD. Pick USB (So that changes can be made and saved to the CD)
The Computer will promt you to format the disk and that it may take several minutes
Click continue with format

Once the format is complete, the disc will be ready for the patron to use and there shouldn't be a problem. Note, the operating systems for Staff computers and Patron computers are different and therefore the CDs will not work on Staff computers. The formating must be done on a computer running Windows 7.

Unable to Save PowerPoint to CD

Last week we had a patron that wanted to burn a PowerPoint Presentation to a CD. She had audio files along with the presentation but was unable to burn anything to a disk. We tried several different discs and computers, but her PowerPoint would not save. The solution that was derived was for her to email the presentation with the new changes and the audio files as one email. In the email it was specified that the PowerPoint and audio files should be saved in the same folder so that when they opened the presentation the audio files would be there as well.

Inexpensive iPhone accessary goes full circle in shooting video

There is an inexpensive new iPhone accessory that has the potential to change the way you shoot video. The accessory, GoPano Micro ($80, gopano.com ) records in a complete circle. The person watching the video can use a mouse to pan and see what is happening all around the camera. The example given was a wedding toast, Shot through a GoPano lens, you would see the best man giving the toast and pan to see the guests and the bride and groom. The camera which fits the iPhone 4 and 4s records a view on a mirror attached to the lens.

CAN I, OR CAN I NOT? THAT IS THE QUESTION.

Can I download OverDrive titles directly to mobile devices?

Mobile devices running Android™ v1.5 (or newer) can use OverDrive Media Console for Android to download and open MP3 Audiobooks and EPUB eBooks.
Mobile devices running BlackBerry® v4.5 (or newer) can use OverDrive Media Console for BlackBerry to download and open MP3 Audiobooks and EPUB eBooks.
Mobile devices running iOS OS v4.0 (or newer) can use OverDrive Media Console for iPhone®/iPad to download and open MP3 Audiobooks and EPUB eBooks.
Mobile devices running Windows Phone 7 can use OverDrive Media Console for Windows Phone 7 to download and open MP3 Audiobooks and EPUB eBooks.

In order to use OverDrive titles on a supported portable device not listed above, you must first download the titles to your computer and then transfer them to the device using OverDrive Media Console.

Competition!

In all forms of new technology, as with most products, there is competition. Should you purchase a Nook or a Kindle? Does the iPhone have better apps than the Droid phone? It all depends on what specs you're looking for and what you want your device to be able to do. PCWorld debates a few tech competitors here, and explains why they think some are better than others. I for one, am keeping an eye on the Kindle Fire, the iPad's biggest competition!

Smart Phones & SHAZAM

Ever been riding in your car listening to the radio or just listening to the radio at home and a song comes on that your just have to know the title of and who is doing the singing-there is an app you can sign up for on your smart phone called SHAZAM.   When you hear the song click on your SHAZAM app and hold it up to the radio-in a few seconds you will have the title and artist from SHAZAM.  Works pretty good!!

Easy Transalation using google

You can use translate.google.com to roughly translate text from one language to another. Just type in the text and then choose the language that you want to translate into from a drop down list. In a flash, the text is translated.

Change password in g-mail

Sherry and I were working with a patron that wanted to change his password  in  g-mail. We were looking all over on the right side of the screen where the infomation  was and couldn't find the settings button. So we just had him sign in and use the  forgot password option. He was then asked his security questions and was able to change his password. The Setting button is on the right hand side of the screen by
 your name, then go to the mail help option and you will find the change password
 option.

Free Advice!

I just found out about a web site that offers both free medical and legal advice through the computer.  It is http://www.avvo.com/.  Just type in your question, and the site taps into 1508 professionals to answer your question with  a personalized answer on just about any subject, embarrassing or not!  A great site to make patrons aware of when we are helping them search  for non-fiction books in any of these areas.

How the print just the text from a web site.

In Microsoft Word, when you paste text from another document-such as a web site-you may not want all the boldface, colors, fonts and other formatting from the original source. Instead of using the regular Paste command you can open the edit menu and click on Paste Special. Then click on Unformatted Text. You'll get just the text, without all the other stuff.

Senior Law Handbook Information

The Senior Law Handbook is available in the Reference collections at all branches with the exception of SG. However, although available, not every branch has the current 2011 Edition. Good information to know if that particular item (any dated year) is in use by a patron or if patrons wish to access the information from home is that it is available online with the most current 2011 Edition. Go online at www.cobar.org/SLH.

15 High-tech Pranks

Is your mouse icon moving in reverse? Have you clicked on the internet explorer browser only to have your computer restart? Is your Google page in a bizarre language?

Here are 15 high-tech tricks that'll haunt your co-worker's computers. This article shows you the who, the what, and the how to play harmless computer pranks and avoid getting tricked yourself.

Google and the End of Caps Lock

Google is releasing a new laptop, the Google Cr-48 notebook, and the most shocking feature is the lack of caps lock button and that their button keys labels are all lowercase.

The caps lock is left over from the typewriter (i.e. it required shifting the ribbon to capital letters and could be locked to emphasize words) when manufactures wanted to the make the transition to the first computers as easy as possible for the public. However, in the 21st century, the caps lock function has become unnecessary since not much requires capitalization and the expectations of proper spelling/grammar has diminished with the increase of e-mail and text messaging. So, does this mark the beginning of removing keys that otherwise take up valuable keyboard real estate?

KINDLE-ASK AUTHORS

A patron came in with his KINDLE-I had just helped him the week before with downloading and requesting e-books.  This time he wanted to tell me about a new feature in Kindle called @author.  This lets the reader ask the author questions while they are reading the book.  If your queston is too long(no more thn 100 characters) it will not go through.  I don't know how many authors are signed up for this service as I do not have a Kindle to try it out on.  But for those of you that do you might enjoy it.

Saving Documents to a CD

Have you ever had a patron come into the library with a CD-R/CD-RW and insist that they were just at the library yesterday (or at another library location), and saved a document to the CD, but now it's not there?!? It can be a frustrating situation for both the patron as well as the staff member assisting them, right? What may be obvious to us, we have to remind patrons to do on a daily basis. Something to remember when helping a patron save a document to a CD-R/CD-RW is that you can't just save the document to the disc and have it work correctly the next time. They need to make sure to select the "WRITE files to CD" option from the tool bar, otherwise the files will "look" as though they are saved to the CD, but they will not actually be on there once the CD has been ejected.

Donate Retired Cell Phones

Recently, I had a conversation with a patron who wanted to know if I knew a good place to donate retired cell phones. "Great question", I said! After a brief google search we found http://www.911cellphonebank.org/. By donating your retired cell phone, you not only provide emergency communication to someone in need, you help fund social programs nationwide. Click on the DONATE tab in the center of the opening page. Then in the paragraph look for "find a drop off location". After entering a zip code and mapping it, you will see Arapahoe County Sheriff listed right at the top of the list of drop off locations. Their location is right near our very own ADMIN Building! Or there is a link to print off a postage paid shipping label. The patron was so pleased to have a program in our community that could potentially help a family or individual in need. We both agreed it is a WIN-WIN way to keep those retired cell phones out of the dump and in the hands of those in need.

Save and Print at closing time

Recently, just before closing time, I have had patrons who try to print items just as the computers are shutting down. So, if their items do not print correctly, we have no way of retrieving them, or trying again, the document is lost. Also, there are others who do not save their work, and lose everything when the computers shut down. When working by the computers at closing, I am going to start announcing 15 minutes before closing "Please save or print the documents you are working on, just to be sure nothing gets lost when the computers shut down." Any other ideas or thoughts?

Fake email address for BYKI

A patron wanted to learn Spanish using our database BYKI. He did not have an email address and one was required to register. (But only to retrieve his password if necessary.) I thought that not having an email address should not stop a person from gaining the knowledge he needs, so I helped him make up dummy email address so that he could proceed.

YouTube saved me $250!!!!!!!!

Our patrons can learn how to do/fix/make tons of things using our databases. Supplement the databases with YouTube and the sky is the limit. My husband's Ipod Gen V had a stuck select button - the button in the middle of the menu wheel. He was ready to go out and buy a new Ipod. Instead, he watched a video on YouTube that showed him how to fix the problem. (He did have to buy a small tool at Microcenter for 5 bucks.) Thank goodness for YouTube!

Cleaning your mouse

If your mouse is the type with a ball on the bottom you can clean the ball. Unscrew the plastic ring around the ball and clean the ball with mild soapy water and dry it. Use a cotton swab to clean off the ball's contact points inside the mouse. Blow into the mouse to remove dust. Replace the ball and screw on the plastic ring.

Amazon's Kindle Tablet

Amazon recently released their answer to the iPad: The Kindle Fire Tablet. While the Fire tablet lacks some of the draws of the iPad such as a camera, ability to connect to the 3G network, and and a smaller screen, it still offers much of what the iPad does at nearly half the cost. Patrons not willing to purchase or not able to afford an iPad may choose this option instead. Check out this article from Bloomberg for more information on the Fire Tablet.

Meetup.com

We've all heard of My Space, Facebook, Linkedin,etc., but a site I hadn't heard of was discussed at great length in a neighborhood newsletter. The site is called Meetup.com and in contrast to the usual social media sites, Meetup is specifically designed to help people connect in person. Yes, really face to face! They can create their own groups or connect with others based on common interests such as learning a language, book discussions, bicycling, hiking, professional interests, etc. You can enter your interest as well as the geographical area specific to you. I can better help the patrons who ask how to find a certain type group they are interested in joining or finding like minded people to get together with.

What is an exe.file?

EXE files are executable program files written for MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows. When an EXE file is opened, it launches the program contained within without the need for additional software on the user's computer.

EXE files are created by programmers using a software compiler. After the program is written in the computer code, the compiler bundles it into a self-contained file which any user can run.

EXE files allow users to launch programs without needing special software to decipher the particular language the program was written in. Patrons can save an EXE file on a flashdrive or CD. Then they can use the flashdrive or CD on a computer that is utilizing Microsoft Windows and run that particular EXE file. To install a program on a computer, the program's EXE file has to be opened first. The EXE file holds all of the important information needed to correctly install the program to the computer. Computer's recognize EXE files automatically, so no extra programs are needed to open them.

1. Hover the mouse cursor over the EXE file.

2. Double click the left-mouse button. This will open the EXE file.

3. Follow the onscreen directions to install the program.

Most email programs will block EXE file attachments to try and stop the spread of malicious viruses. If you are trying to send an EXE file to someone via email, rename the file with a different extension, such as .TXT or .OLD. You will need to inform the recipient that they will need to rename the file back to an.EXE extension before they can run it.

WARNING: Many computer viruses are packaged as EXE files, which are then renamed to resemble common software packages. It is very important to scan an EXE file before opening it, and you should never open an EXE file if you don't know or trust its source.

No Craig's List Photo Preview

When you update a photo on a previously created Craig's List ad, the new picture can not be previewed. Once you click on replace photo, and select a new photo, the old picture will be gone and an outline of the new picture will be in its place. Don't worry, just click continue. The new ad will then be shown, which will include the new picture. It will then be ready to be published.

Print Preview saves paper and money

Many of our patrons don't like wasting paper. On more than one occasion I've helped patrons print something from a web site. Sometimes they are unhappy that that had to pay for two pages instead of just one page especially when the second page only has a few lines on it - like the name of the web site and the page number at the bottom. I've recommended that the patron use the print preview option before they send their document to the printer. They can then request to send only page one to the printer, saving 10 cents as well as a piece of paper.

Other options than Consumer Reports

I found when helping patrons look for large items like furnaces, windows, etc., Consumer Reports is not helpful and very outdated. I suggest to them that we go into ASK and put 'compare furnaces' or 'compare windows in Denver, CO'. I often get many websites that compare large items for them that is very recent. They are happy and want to go to a computer to look at all the websites themselves.

Best Android apps

Have an Android smart phone? I came across a site listing "Best Android Apps". You might like to download one or two yourself, or tell patrons about them.

dirjournal.com/info/best-android-apps/

Arranged by topic - Business, Games, Travel, etc. - I found a couple that have proved helpful. Such fun to shop for apps!!

Aldiko, an eReader app for Android devices

Now that I have an Android smart phone with a large enough screen to make ereading possible, I looked around for a good ereader app. I've loaded "Aldiko" on it, and it's great - free, easy to use. (There is a premium version for $2.99 but I'm not sure what you get - the free app seems fine to me.)

Just another possibility for our patrons when they ask us about eReading - remember there are apps for devices they may already be using!

Having trouble seeing the full screen?

Have you had trouble seeing your whole page or exiting out of your terminal because the corners aren't visible on the terminal run by Apple (the front pod one at SG)? Try signing in from the actual desktop icon rather than the the icon on the lower toolbar.

New Facebook features

Does anyone know how to get rid of the new Facebook page that comes up with every log-in?

EDITING YOUR PROFILE ON STAFF PAGE

First go into Staff Book, then int employee directory type in your name then click on the little icon woth the paper and pencil in the right hand corner.  From there you can change your profile and your picture.

Where is the degree symbol on a keyboard? Inserting special symbols in a word document.

Ever have trouble finding a special symbol while typing a document? A patron needed to type in a degree mark for his homework paper. Go to the insert tab and drop down from symbols to find a complete list. Be aware that not all symbols are available in certain font styles, which is the problem that my patron and I discovered. When we changed the font, the degree symbol was then available.
There are also short cut sequences, usually using the alt key in combination with other keys. It can be handy to learn these if a particular symbols will be used repeatedly. Marks that are used in foreign languages can also be accessed this way, such as the tilt and accent marks when composing in Spanish.

Trouble commenting or adding a post in Blogger.com

I wanted to post a comment on an entry, but I kept getting an error message and was getting frustrated: "cookie value is null for form restoration". I copy/pasted the error message into the blogger.com help/search screen and found that I was not the only person with that problem. I noticed a few messages that some of those using IE9 (like I was) thought that was the problem. Also recommended and tried, but not effective: adding blogger.com to my compatibility view settings, under tools. Finally, I decided to access blogger.com using Mozilla Firefox - It worked! Sometimes trying a different browser may help a stubborn access problem.

CamScanner Phone PDF Creator

Did you know patrons can use their smart phones to scan documents and translate them into PDF files? The free CamScan app can be downloaded onto any Droid phone. Once downloaded, take a picture of the document you want to save with the camera and hit the Adobe icon to translate the jpg photo into a PDF file. From there, hit the menu icon and send the file to your email. You can then print the PDF file, send it to someone else, or save it to your computer. It's like having a scanner in your pocket! To read more about the CamScan app, click here.

Showing Formulas in Excel

Press Ctrl and ` (next to the 1 on the top left of the keyboard...looks like a backward apostrophe). This changes the way the spreadsheet displays and makes it easy to find errors.

Downloading Pictures from a Digital Camera

On our Patron Computers there is a small slot just below the DVD slot.  This slot is for the SD Card that is in the digital camera.  When yuou insert the SD Card a screen will pop up called AUTO PLAY-click on Import Pictures & Vidseo.  Then in lower right hand corner of screen click on Import.  Your pictures will show up on the screen.

Manage your separate email accounts using Gmail as your email hub

If you have multiple email addresses; yahoo, hotmail, etc. then you can access the email on all your accounts from a single place using Gmail, Google's email service. You can make Gmail your email hub and not only receive email from other accounts, but also send messages using those email addresses.

The first thing you'll need is a Gmail account. Then, log onto Gmail and then click the Settings link. On the settings page, click the Accounts tab. Then find and click the add another email link. A new window opens that is the first page of a wizard that walks you through the process of adding another email account to Gmail.

You will need to provide basic information about the account that you want to add. In order to let Gmail send messages using the email account that you added, the service will need to verify that you actually own the account and will ask to send verification to that account before it is activated. Once the account is added, you can send and access messages from any account by choosing it from the drop-down list.

tumblr

Does anyone use Tumblr? It looks like a blogging place.

Digital Folio

There's a new way to do comparison shopping. Digital Folio Inc. a Denver Company is creating free downloadable software also called Digital Folio that automates price checking and product comparisons. It not only slashes the time spent in comparison shopping online, but by making software that embeds in a users Internet Explorer or Firefox web browser, have the process be seemless for users whether they're using a computer or smart phone, or going back and forth between them. In its beginning stages it has a few limitations, but looks quite promising. It has five online retail partners-Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Wal Mart and Sears. At present it is limited to only electronic products or appliances. It only works with Internet Explorer on Windows or Firefox on either Windows or Macintosh.

How's the security here?

We often get asked how secure the library WiFi is. Here are a few tips from the AARP bulletin. Make sure the user has connected to our network not a look-alike, pay attention to what type of encryption is listed, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is an older system not to be considered secure, look for WPA (Wi-Fi protected Accesss) or WPA2. Patrons can install Force-TLS and HTTPS-Everywhere for free on their laptops. They make sure encryption features are being used on websites visited.

Picasa

I went to the Picasa class and found that it is very user friendly.
It was easy to download and easy to move pictures around.
For patrons that want to store, sort or move pictures from one
folder or album to another.
picasa.google.com

NetGalley

For those of you who love to stay ahead of the latest literary trends, take a look at NetGalley. As a library employee, you are considered a "professional reader" and can sign up for an account to preview books that are soon to be published. This benefits the library employee, who can stay up with the hottest books, and also the authors and publishers, because by the time the publication date happens, the book will already have some buzz via word of mouth.
The ARCs, or "galleys" (advanced reader copies) can be downloaded straight to your computer or an e-reader, or print copies can be requested. I have not personally used this tool, but I am very excited to try!

Better ALD web site searching

I recently asked Cynthia Kiyotake for help in understanding the differences in search results when using the ALD web site vs. the Classic Catalog. Patrons - and I have noticed that when searching under "Books - Title" in the search bar at the top of the web site, MANY items are returned; the one we may be looking for can be pretty far down the list. When a "Title" search is done in the Classic Catalog, the item pops right up. Here's what Cynthia said:

On the website search when you choose books – title you are asking iii to do an advanced keyword search. So it is looking for “how” “to” “be” “lost” whenever it appears in a title field regardless of the order of the words, thus your getting so many results .

The catalog returns results looking in the title field database, and based on the same order you input, thus returning possibly different results than the website.

How to use the website search better?

For a title which has commonly used words like your example try putting the quotes around the title. This forces the search to keep the order.

Another tip is to add an author/actor/director if you know it so:

How to be lost ward is better than just how to be lost

Or

Up asner is much more concise than just a title search on up

Or even

Help stockett instead of just help

"NUM LOCK" on Apple Keyboards, and other tricks...

The questions from patrons about "missing keys" on our Apple keyboards seem to come in waves, and the whereabouts of a "number lock" key is at the top of their list. It is the CLEAR key above the "7" on the keypad on the right of the keyboard. Here's a link to a site which shows the Apple keyboard and a list of keys or key strokes for functions patrons (or you!) might be looking for:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1216

type size

To make a web page look bigger on your screen, hold down the control key and press + on the number keypad. To make a web page look smaller on your screen, hold down the control key and press - on the number keypad. I just discovered this, all by myself (accidentally).

More Free E-books!

I just discovered a new site where patrons can download free e-books.  Besides Project Gutenberg, the latest site can be found at obooko.com and was actually voted the 2011 Readers' Choice Award Winner for the best freebie website.  It's worth checking out and passing on to patrons inquiring about e-books.

Linkedin

I received a message on email that someone looked at my profile for Linkedin. I went into my Linkedin account and found I could view who was looking at my profile by going to the lower right hand corner and click 'Who Viewed Your Profile' and see who did and what date they viewed it. I also learned that you can upgrade your Linkedin website by signing up for a Business or Executive Account. This allows someone many extra privileges and can view up to 300 profiles that looked at my profile. The cost for a business account is $20 a month for a year and $75 a month for the executive account. This would benefit someone who is marketing or selling a product so they could see who is looking at their profile.

Closer means better performance!

A Patron had a bazillion internet tabs open on her personal laptop and complained about how slow the internet was grinding. Rosie H gave me the BRILLIANT! idea to have the patron move closer to the public Wi-Fi router. (Look up at the ceiling at SG near the mosaic wall.) The patron was wowed with the improved performance.

EpicMix

This is for all you ski buffs out there. Vail Resorts is enlisting potentially millions of skiers into its marketing efforts next season. This will be the second generation of its popular EpicMix. This EpicMix will be all about photographs. The company is installing radio frequency chips inside all its passes. Professional photographers at each of Vails six ski areas will be able to scan the passes, shoot still and action photos and immediately upload the pictures-free of charge-into each ticketholders EpicMix account. They are counting on people sharing these photos with other people. The idea is to showcase Vail on the internet. How's that for advertising!

SkyDrive.live.com Get Work Done Anywhere

I came upon SkyDrive.live.com from Microsoft in a magazine and signed up in order to introduce myself to the Cloud. I have used it a couple of times and found it to be easy to sign up for and use. Very convenient.

getting to google and amazon from prospector screen

If you are trying to find an item title a patron is looking for but is not sure of the title or we do not have it in our catalog when you  go to the prospector screen there is a button on the right side of the prospector screen that says Find More Resources.You can access Worldcat, google and amazon as well as many more sites.

Using QR Codes in Books

Have you noticed many newer books now include QR codes on the back cover or inside flap? And almost all new YA titles feature a QR code somewhere on the cover. When scanned, these QR codes take the reader to a website where they can watch the book trailer, listen to author interviews, and find many more extras. Pretty cool! Some books now feature QR codes within the text. It's a whole new, interactive way of reading!

Desktop is "off line"

If a public desktop says "offline" and won't boot up with the usual things we try, make sure the blue ethernet cable is tightly seated in the back of the computer. This usually works and is a good thing to try before submitting a ticket.

Excel Gridlines

Do you have a patron who has been working on an Excel spreadsheet and is now wanting to add gridlines? Not a problem. From the Windows emblem in the top left hand corner, go into print, then Print Preview. Click on "Page Setup". Click on the "Sheet" tab. Check the box for Gridlines, and click Ok. You can then print the document from the Print Preview page. Page Setup can also be used for other things like setting margins, headers and footers, etc.

how to eject a cd

The easiest way to eject a disc from a patron P.C. is to use the eject key in the upper right-hand corner of the Mac keyboard (above the delete button). Another way is howAnnette showed me: click on the Windows icon in the bottom left-hand corner--then select Computer--then right-click on DVD RW Drive ( E:)--and then choose Eject.

When will that DVD be out?

A website I use very often is VideoETA.com for patrons that are curious when a movie or TV series is due out on DVD. It's a real quick and easy search by title. It also has news of stars, upcoming movies, and other interesting tidbits for those that like to be in the know. I suggest to serious DVD watchers that they take a look on their own, you can get reminders of when a DVD you're waiting for will be released.

My Mom can't find the pointer!!!

My Mom, age 83 got a new laptop and insisted on using the touchpad instead of the external mouse. But she kept losing the pointer. I went into Settings from her Start button and clicked on pointer options. From there I selected the function to make her pointer "glow" or "ripple" when she touches the control key. She hasn't lost her cursor since. And I made it bold and big so she can't miss it. Some of our patron's might find this useful and we can set it up for them on our patron computers during their session.

Patron does not have their library card number....

This is not so new and clever, but I continue to find that patrons love this tip. When you need to give a patron their library card number, suggest that they store it in their phone. Adults as well as teens always say "Wow! that's a great idea!"

Access this blog from home using Safari

Are you having trouble accessing our new CK TechTalk blog from home using Safari? Try this: Go to your Google account. In the top left hand corner is a selection of Google products like mail, documents, calendar, more. Click on more. Scroll down to blogger. Click on that and it opens up this CL TechTalk blog.

Prescription Drug Discount Card

Today's Hub (August 25, 2011) had an article in it about the prescription drug discount card provided by Arapahoe County to metro-area residents.  In the past, a lot of people came into the library looking for these cards, which we did not physically have.  So know that we will be able to print a card for them from an online website.  Go into http://www2.caremark.com/naco/ and they will have the card to present to a local pharmacist to see if a discount can be applied.  There is no enrollment fee and no limit to how many times the cards can be used.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Great Local Web Site

A patron informed me of a great web site with all sorts of free or cheap local items on it, and I just wanted to pass it along.  It is www.milehighonthecheap.com .  Such things as free movie tickets, inexpensive  local events, and even cheap school supplies ($.29 at Rite Aid) and restaurant discounts can be found here.  I think it is well  worth checking out and passing on to patrons as the opportunity arises!

Checkout Software Problems

Have you ever experienced problems signing on to the Checkout system after rebooting it in the mornings? Ever received the error "local server not found" or "memory block?" The cash register computer has a built in memory to recognize whether or not there is a Mac keyboard attached, and if there isn't, it causes the computer's memory to be blocked, preventing the Checkout software from starting properly. To avoid this problem, always make sure a Mac keyboard is attached. You may occasionally need to reset the keyboard and clear the memory issues by following these simple steps.

Sketchup.com

I don't know if anyone has had a question about  building plans for an addition, patio or landscaping  but I ran across this web site in a magazine and I thought it was great since
I would love to have an addition on my patio. I asked my husband to see if he could draw up plans for an addition. We are working with it. It is Google's Sketchup.com and it is free.

Laptop Security

This tip is from an article I saw in the Denver Post on keeping your electronic devices and ID safe. While most of the tips were common sense regarding keeping anything of value safe, the one tip that caught my eye was "Using bells & whistles" with the security for laptops, especially one that has been taken(stolen) from you. It's a "lo-jack" for your laptop: a program that reports the location of your stolen laptop once it's connected to the Internet.

How to "Print Screen" on ALD patron computers

Gadwin Print Screen is the program to use to "print screen" on ALD patron computers. The "hot key" assigned to this function is F6, at the top of the keyboard. When you have the screen you want to print, hit the F6 key.

First "Destination does not exist. Create it?" may pop up - click yes.
Then a new window will open with the screen to be printed, and commands on the right side. Be sure to make the appropriate selections under "change Destination" to either send the screen to the clipboard, printer, email or file (probably printer). Then click "Continue Output" to send the image where you want it to go, and voila!

This will not work on staff computers, as the Gadwin program is not installed.

A couple of ways to make text size larger when there is no desktop icon to do so...

One way:
- Right click on an empty portion of the desktop
- From the pop-up menu select "screen resolution"
- Select a LOWER resolution for LARGER text

Another way:
- If the attached mouse has a scroll wheel, roll it up while
- holding the CONTROL key down

- To make the text smaller, do the reverse - roll the scroll wheel toward you while pressing the control key

And yet another:
Check to see where the slide bar in the lower right of Microsoft Word and other programs is set... Should be in the middle for best application of font size changes, but can also be "slid" back and forth to make the page larger or smaller.

What To Do When Patron Print Job Won't Display on P&TM

Many of you will be familiar with how to handle this scenario: patron sends print job to the printer but when the patron puts in their card #, the P&TM console shows no job available to print. This happens randomly for various patrons. I helped a patron with this earlier this week and another staff member was not aware of the solution, so thought this would be a good reminder tip for all. After the "Release a Print Job" prompt, type in "staff", a second box will open directly below. Type in the current password. That will allow all of the pending Print jobs to display. Select just the one/s for the patron you are assisting. From this point the patron can use the "Pay from Vending Device" option, if they have money, or you can continue assisting by overriding, again with the current password. After the patron has finished printing it is good practice to close all the pending Print jobs with the "Done" button, rather than letting the seconds countdown close the window. That ensures that another patron could not come up and inadvertently select a Print job that was not theirs.

Google docs

Many patrons use Google docs and get frustrated when things don't work well. Just google "Known Issues with Google docs" and learn such things like cut and paste doesn't work in Google docs. (Not being able to use these features is a bit like operating without thumbs!) Current fixes are also listed.

Playing movies on patron laptop

Movie won't play on laptop? No problem. Open up the VLC Media player in the start-program menu. Voila! Movie plays. Don't try REalPlayer or Windows Media Player. This tip came courtesy of Jay at the Help Desk. I had spent quite some time trying to get a movie to play for a patron. I had never heard of, nor noticed VLC!