I gotta use the word iPad right in the title, it’s required for all tech blogs the day after Apple’s BIG announcement …and I finished this just before lunch. Here’s my take on the iPad thus far, after I was OK with the name of it …until I started hearing all the jokes…
Helpful must-see links on all things iPad are below.
Steve Jobs is a master at presenting,
if only I could learn his presentation secrets …
It’s one heck of an e-reader!
- That color touch screen.
- The elegant page turning for ebooks.
- That faux wooden bookshelf for all your digital editions, this ain’t no Nook.
- And that New York Times that looks like a real paper newspaper with the columns, nice.
- Oh, and it uses a real browser and email and maps and games and everything app-wise an iPod Touch/ iPhone uses.
- And yes, yes, yes, probably another incompatible ebook format with the new iBookstore and more DRM. It’s a pain in the neck for consumer and libraries and readers in general. Not that I like it one bit, but it’s to be expected for some time to come until publishers and big media figure out how to make sense of the new digital world (who woulda seen this comin’!?).
It’s a big beautiful iPod Touch
- iPad has a much bigger touch screen (9.7″) than an iPod Touch (3.5″).
- iPad has same memory specs as Touch (16GB – 64GB).
- iPad can use almost all the 140,000+ apps in iTunes available to iPod Touch & iPhone users. Facebook to games and games and games, Apple demoed a lot of games for this the iPad…
- And interesting price points as low-end iPad is $499 and high-end Touch model is $399.
It’s not-quite-a-netbook
- no hard drive bigger than 64GB
- no physical keyboard (which I’m use to on my iPhone as are millions of kids (and grown-ups) on their iPod Touch & iPhones).
- iPad doesn’t have a built-in camera, a mic yes, but no camera … that camera would be real handy for Skype or video-conferencing or taunting friends when playing games or scanning in barcodes for LibraryThing (saw this on LT Twitter feed!) or even just taking pictures!
- But it does have access to Google Docs online and Apple iWork and other productivity apps thru iTunes.
- So you could kinda use it as a laptop replacement. But you can do the same thing with an iPod Touch & iPhone, albeit on a smaller screen, but those devices you can take anywhere in your pocket, and the later also makes phone calls … I’m not ready to give up my iPhone.
It goes on sale in March, I’ll see you at the Apple Store
… I’ll just be browsing …
The Must-See Links!!!
First Impression Hands-on Reviews
BTW
I “watched” the Apple news conference at home with a sick child (Me, excitedly “It’s for Daddy’s work and it’s historic!” Child’s response … “Can I play Nintendo?”).
So I “watched” on my laptop using the decades old technique of reading updates / viewing photos on various tech blogs (lots of tabs open) from reporters at the conference (found Engadget had the best feed). And then a Twitter post led me to a link on Ustream of another tech blog reporter (Leo Laporte, TWiT) using an iPhone 3G S with built-in video to broadcast the event live … with tinny sound and choppy video … which in turn I watched on my iPhone (even over 3G), until I couldn’t stand it anymore and went back to reading on Engadget … a mash-up, if you will, of the old and the new …
iPad = and another word to add to my custom dictionary so it stops underlining it in red! 
Tags: Gadgets
January 27th, 2010 · 1 Comment
Today a guest blogger on STT!
Shelley Sloboder, Reference Librarian at Burlington (MA) Public Library.
This post comes from a series of emails back & forth between us on where to find free ebooks. Shelley did some great research and I asked if I could share it here as I thought it quite useful.
~
Information about free ebooks…
The largest list of FREE Kindle ebooks is at Irreaderreview:
http://ireaderreview.com/2008/01/19/free-books-for-the-amazon-kindle/
Irreaderreview is a blog written by someone who identifies himself with just one name––abhi and abhi doesn’t have an “About this site or about me section.” Still, there does seem to be a lot of information here. He says he does make money from Amazon when people click through to products that Amazon advertises on his site through the Amazon Associate program. He also authors www.booksummit.com, another blog that is a “Kindle Forum, Kindle Social Network.” It seems to be a Facebook for Kindle users.
Kindle is now offering FREE software that lets you read Kindle books on your PC, Mac, and iPhone / iPod Touch.
The discussion that I came across was interesting. One article said that because Amazon only makes books that work on Kindle readers and Kindle Readers only read Kindle books (now pdfs too), Amazon is positioning itself as Apple did. The other ereaders work with several formats.
I read this on irreaderreview: “Another free source for ebooks is the Sony bookstore. They are in ePub format, and the Sony software needed to access the store runs only on Windows, but these titles be easily converted to Kindle friendly MOBI format with a free program such as Calibre or Stanza. Sony accounts are free, you don’t need a Sony reader.”
Stanza converts ebooks for use on the iPhone.
Calibre converts for several readers including Kindle.
Boston Public Library offers free ebooks in the Adobe ePub format via OverDrive. These are NOT compatible with Kindle. These free ebooks can be checked out using a Boston Public Library eCard, which doesn’t require a visit to a BPL branch.
Adobe ePubs are read via Adobe Digital Editions – a FREE download to your PC or Mac. It also works on a supported Sony Reader.
~
Shelley Sloboder, Reference Librarian
Burlington Public Library
22 Sears Street, Burlington, MA 01803
ssloboder@mvlc.org / www.burlingtonpubliclibrary.org
Tags: Gadgets
So there’s this nifty iPhone app called RedLaser ($2) which is touted as the best barcode reader for iPhone available (consistently high ratings and sales rankings in iTunes). And I have it from reputable sources that it works great on the 1st gen iPhones as well as the iPhone 3G and the new iPhone 3G S. I luv it! I’m scanning anything in the office that sits still … and has a barcode … RedLaser website: www.redlaser.com
RedLaser uses the iPhone’s camera to scan barcodes so you can do on-the-spot price comparisons. It works best on books, DVDs, CDs (who buys those anymore?) and even paper towels and breakfast ceral. But you can also create a link to a custom database so that when you scan a barcode it will link to this custom data source to retrieve results. Yaaawwwnnn…. But what if that custom database was like say a library’s OPAC!?
ooowww aaaahhh ooohhhh!
I’ve heard from fellow iPhone geeks in MVLC and NOBLE who tried this successfully and I created custom database links myself for MassCat, MVLC, and NOBLE … and they work! … It’s slooow, as the iPhone is connecting to your custom data source via a web link thru the iPhone’s browser (Safari) and then doing some RedLaser magic (the RedLaser app without a custom setup is pretty pretty quick).
When you set up a custom database what happens is you scan the ISBN from a book and it takes you right into the OPAC’s public record/circ info! Now when I’m in B&N or Borders I can look up books and see if I can get them at my library for free, except those books I really really need to own myself. It’s like my iPhone is saving me money, the iPhone really pays for itself
To create the custom data source, which is actually the URL for ISBN searches, you follow the step-by-step instructions from RedLaser linked below. They are concise, not detailed as to all the possibilities you may encounter, so it may take some time. And it turns out all OPACs are different! The MassCat (Koha) set-up was easy as the parameter was the same as the example RedLaser gives, whereas NOBLE (III) and MVLC (SirsiDynix) were totally different, so it took a lot of trial and error to get the parameters set correctly.
The good news for you dear reader, who happens to use the MassCat, and/or MVLC, and/or NOBLE networks, is that along the way I realized I could do this on the my laptop’s browser. Email the URL to my iPhone, and save my work as I went along by bookmarking. And then I realized I could save these bookmarks to delicious.com and share with this with other iPhone users! Now you can goto my delicious.com site, email URL to your iPhone, and add link to your homescreen and not spend time figuring this out!
Crystal Ball Alert! I see the future, in a couple years when everyone (or lots of people … or everyone) has an affordable app-phone w/camera (Droids, GoogleFon, iPhone, whatever), the way people search and access OPACs is going to change and this could be really good for libraries and tech-saavy patrons (incidentally you have a slew of tech-saavy patrons already, they’re called kids).
It’ll will get even more exciting when librarians or vendors develop new Evergreen-Koha -III-Sirsi, etc. mobile app that will allow you to do this and place a hold/request an item in one fell swoop! Being a library user in the 21st century is going to be cool!
Hey, it already is the 21st century, let’s get with it!
Tags: Mobile Apps
So I was pretty excited that Windows 7 installed and worked on some of the old laptops we have here at the NMRLS lab (circa 2004-06, see that post here). But I’m now become disconsolate over the fact that I can’t get it work on some of my favorite ye olde desktop PCs … Well I can get it to actually work and boot up (which I was kinda of amazed at). And for old geezer PCs, they’re impressively zippy, but I can’t get them on to the internet!
Turns out there are no approved Windows 7 drivers for the 3Com or Linksys Ethernet controllers these “ye olde”PCs use … and the Vista versions of theses drivers won’t work either … All the PCs are Dells that date from way back in 2002.
The “ye olde” network adapters in question:
Dell Optiplex GX400 + Dell OptiPlex GX 240
Network controller is integrated into motherboard on both these models.
- 3Com 3C905C integrated network card
-Windows link
-3Com link
Dell Dimension 4400
There is no integrated Ethernet or network card on this PC. It uses an Ethernet to USB adapter for its network connection.
- Linksys USB200M ver.2.0 Ethernet adapter
-Windows link
-Linksys Cisco link
So ironically I upgraded an old computer to a brand new version of Windows, it seemed to work just fine, but I just couldn’t get to the internet tubes! So there’d be no updates to Windows, or any software, or even reading of this blog! On the other hand the virus risk would be minimal
VERY USEFUL SITES TO USE BEFORE YOU UPGRADE YE OLDE PCs
Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor
Download, install and run. A full report with compatibility on hardware and software is the result, read it!
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7
A listing of apparently every piece of hardware and software ever put into a PC(!) and site also lists whether Windows 7 will work with hardware or software in question. Compiling this must have been fun for the testers!
In case you’re wondering I didn’t blow away and reformat the Windows XP disks originally installed on these PCs. I installed Windows 7 on another olde hard drive I had kickin’ around and swapped it out. Since the Dimension 4400 uses PCI slots for peripheral cards, I may hunt around for a cheap Ethernet card and try to get Windows 7 going on this PC again.
oohhh … so close …
Tags: Windows
December 4th, 2009 · 2 Comments
OK, here’s another of those things that I heard of long ago (honest!), thought was totally cool, had lots of potential, combines two of my favorite things – tag clouds & graphic design – and then I promptly forgot about it … until today!
And I owe to Mary here in the NMRLS office for showing it off by using Wordle as a way to sort the context of some recent survey results.
Find it, use it, bookmark it here: http://www.wordle.net/
Wordle is fascinating even in black & white just to see what words actually are being used most often whether it be survey results, a strategic plan, a resume, or a blog posting (see below).
In case image doesn’t load (thanks WordPress!), try this link:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23683499/null
Tags: Webware
As I’m sure you know by now, the lines to buy Windows 7 started on October 22nd, and I’m sure you attended a “Launch Party” too!
I’ve completely installed 4 copies of Win7, 3 copies almost installed (see that post here), and had on my MacBook Pro too for a while, so 8 Windows “install experiences” TOTAL thus far.
Three of these have been the FREE Evaluation Copy – Build 7100 on three different machines (as per the license for this formerly FREE release candidate version, kudos Microsoft!). One of these was on a Mac via Apple Boot Camp and two of these installs on older NMRLS computer lab PC laptops.
On Thanksgiving Day I installed the retail version of Windows 7 Ultimate for my mother-in-law on her 17″ HP laptop, upgrading from Vista. I was hoping that the only turkey in the house was basting in the oven! This may have been the most important upgrade I’ve ever performed(!) … given the possibility for familial strife had it not gone well … whew, it went well, albeit with some major quibbles on my part due to the incredible slowness and inane-ness of Windows installs (like not having the Mail and Photo software on the install disc! It was the Ultimate version, shouldn’t it have everything!!!).
Generally speaking, other than the multiple reboots and numerous updates to download after initial install, it went pretty smoothly for a Windows install. But, unlike my experience with Apple OS X or even Ubuntu upgrades, Windows 7 upgrades do take a lot of time … like pretty much write-off-your-afternoon or work-day kind of time. This is mainly due to the fact you need to keep an eye on the machine in case it asks you a question or just plain stops the process … yeah, it’s a project …
TIP: decline the offer to download updates from the internet while performing the upgrade. I’ve never gotten this to work, ever! My experience is that while it makes online attempts for updates it slows the process down and at worst quits out of the whole upgrade process. First thing you should do once Win7 is up and running is run a Windows Update to get your machine and Win7 up to speed.
Please Note that a Windows 7 install will reformat the disc of a Windows XP PC and may blow away any associated files, but Windows 7 retains files and programs when upgrading from Vista. Although, always, ALWAYS! perform a backup before any upgrade!
Also, you may need to re-install drivers for sound cards, Ethernet cards, WiFi cards etc., etc. Which is a pain, but Windows 7 is pretty good about finding these drivers itself or if it’s a Dell, just download the latest, even if it’s for WinXP, and Windows 7 seems to adapt (although, depends on age of your PC components, see my post on Ye Olde PCs here).
Oh, and update your anti-virus too! I recommend AVG Free. Works like a charm on all versions of Windows and is FREE! For spyware/malware, Windows Defender is included in the install, just remember to set it up to run regularly. Or you might want to give Microsoft Security Essentials a try. It’s the new FREE Microsoft anti-virus / anti-malware program.
BTW, pay attention to the little gray flag in the lower right corner of the screen. Yeah, it’s the attention grabbing color of gray … GRAY! This little flag might remind you to install your anti-virus program for instance… as this Mac guy totally forgot about that and was surfing the web (gasp!) before he remembered … I did not have that problem when installing Snow Leopard
—
Below are the system stats on the machines I’ve installed Windows 7 on thus far as well as the Windows Experience Score (WES) which rates your machine on a handy 1.0 – 7.9 scale … yep not 1-10, but 1 to 7.9, gotta luv the Microsoft …
Dell Latitude D620 latop (circa 2006):
2.0 GhzCore Duo T2500 / 2 GB RAM / 80 GB HD / 256MB video
WES = 3.5 (graphics low / hard drive high)
Mac mini desktop (circa 2008):
2.0 Ghz Core 2 Duo T7200 / 1 GB RAM / 120 GB HD / 256MB video
Running dual OS via Apple Boot Camp
WES = 3.3 (graphics low / processor high)
HP Pavilion dv9000 laptop (circa 2007):
1.8 Ghz AMD / 2 GB RAM / 160 GB HD / 256MB video(?)
WES = 3.0 (graphics low / memory high)
Dell Latitude D610 laptop (circa 2004):
2.0Ghz Pentium M / 2 GB RAM / 60 GB HD / 64 MB video card
WES = 2.0 (graphics low / memory high)
—
On the Plus Side: I will say that Windows 7 works much smoother on all the machines that I’ve upgraded.
- No more of those constantly nagging security warnings
- Quicker start up and shut-downs
- The shut-down button actually shuts the computer down!!!
- Very adept at finding and logging into WiFi networks
- Gadgets can be placed anywhere on the desktop
- Graphically more appealing overall
- Even on “older” machines its quicker, certainly rids former Vista PCs of their sluggishness
Tags: Equipment · Windows
To compliment upcoming workshops I’m teaching, here’s an updated re-post from the spring.
I’ve been Jing-ing like crazy lately prepping for a D-I-Y presentation at MLA 2009 in Springfield. If you don’t know already Jing is a FREE program that can take screenshots or make “movies” of whatever is going on on your desktop. It’s a great to show folks ”How-To” use an online resource like say InfoTrac or OverDrive or EventKeeper.
Video is saved and presented in the Flash format and you can store your videos online at a realted site called Screencast. Each of your videos has it’s own URL, or you can link or imbed them from your own website.
Jing also takes single screen shots which you can store online for FREE at Flickr, here’s my collection of Jing tips on Flickr (also linked below).You can also annotate these images before you upload them to highlight or add notes.
Everything I mentioned above is FREE!
Run, don’t walk, to your nearest internet and download Jing now!
OK, so there may some expenses involved … you need a microphone unless you want all your videos to be silent movies. Pretty much any mic will do and if you’re lucky you have a laptop or netbook with mic built-in. NMRLS has USB mics to loan out to our member libraries, just contact Scott, click here to see all of the NMRLS loaner equipment & gadgets.
There is also a Pro version of Jing, it allows you to save video in either Flash or MPEG4 format as well as direct uploads to YouTube. It costs $14.95/year, not bad for a few more bells & whistles. The nice thing about this version is you can edit the video afterward, add another voiceover or a backing music track (see my tips below for another way to do this), as well as link to it off you own server, you don’t need to use Screencast or YouTube.
Here are a few of my YouTube NMRLS How-To videos:
Here are my Jing videos on Screencast.com (via my delicious.com account):
It’s easy, it’s fun, it can be time-consuming …
But, it’s informative, it helps your users, and it’s easy and it’s fun!
Scott's Jing Tips
Tags: Webware
Windows 7 party-hype is cranking up so as a Mac user I gotta tamp that down a bit. So, I’ve been a very happy Snow Leopard 10.6 user since early September, installing it days after Apple’s unexpected early release of their new OS X operating system in late August.
It has a lot of hidden gems and nice visual tweaks as well as navigational tweaks. It seems to work in a much more friendly manner with Windows networks too. Both the Preview and QuickTime have new and easy to use editing features. I keep discovering more nifty tricks every day. MacWorld’s website is a great source for all this. Discovering new things in an OS that make you smile is a good thing … this ain’t Vista …
I’ve installed Snow Leopard on our Macs here at NMRLS which had formerly been running Leopard 10.5. I installed it first on our venerable olde white 2006 MacBook (the first NMRLS Mac), no problem and ending up gaining hard disk space, that’s right recovered a good 11-12GB, which is important on an older 60 GB hard drive (that also need sroom to run Windows in our lab). This was true on every install, I regained hard disk space after the upgrade!
Next were our two circa 2007 Mac minis in the lab, worked like a charm. And then staff circa 2008 MacBook Pros. Nary a problem here either. The install process couldn’t be easier. You pop in the disk, click yes to the EULA and that’s it! No installation key codes, no clicking yes-yes-yes to re-boot seven times, it just does it’s thing, reboots once and it’s ready to use. I know it such a crazy concept for upgrading an operating system … some helpful links below.
Quick Slideshow from NELA2009 with info on what Librarians like about Macs, where to buy & save, and cost comparisons Mac vs. Dell:
- Macs, OS X & the Library at NELA 2009
- Blog Post on OS Smackdown form NELA2009
Helpful Snow Leopard links from Scott:
http://delicious.com/bibliotechy/snowleopard
Below is link to a great Snow Leopard compatibility wiki listing what versions of software work with Snow Leopard by real-world users who have tested it! Also lists what needs to use Rosetta to run. I even contributed to it ’caused it a wiki! http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/
Apple’s list of compatible printers with drivers included in Snow Leopard. For older HP printers I just went to the HP site and downloaded the most recent driver for each and worked like a charm: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669
Find same post, but with slides in full living color at http://stt.posterous.com/
Tags: Mac & OS X
A little something I whipped up for the 2009 NELA Annual Conference this weekend in Hartford, CT. I get the pleasure of being one of the helper hosts in the Information Technology Section’s 2nd Annual Game Room.
Buying Games and Equipment
Game Stop – http://www.gamestop.com/
Goto Store Locator to find store nearest you
- They sell all consoles and games & accessories for those systems (Wii, PlayStation, Xbox, DS, PSP)
- They also sell USED games and equipment – take advantage of this and stretch your budget!
- They take trade-ins, when your patrons stop using a game trade it in for something new!
Online Bibliography
Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
Goto: Programming / Gaming
http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Gaming
Pew Internet & American Life Project – http://www.pewinternet.org/
Very good non-partisan source for data and trends on all aspects of how American use the internet and their computers. Applicable studies listed below.
Goto: http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/Gaming.aspx Or search site with keyword: gaming.
- Major new study shatters stereotypes about teens & video games.
- Teens, Video Games, and Civics.
- Let the games begin: Gaming technology and college students
- Adults and Video Games.
Entertainment Software Association – http://www.theesa.com/
Video game industry professional organization. Promotes video gaming as well as is responsible for rating video games (ESRB).
Book Bibliography
Game On! Gaming at the Library / Beth Gallaway
Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2009.
978-1555705954
Gaming in Academic Libraries: Collections, Marketing, & Information Literacy / Amy Harris & Scott E. Rice (Editors)
Association of College & Research Libraries, 2008
978-0838984819
Tags: Digital Media · Equipment
Here’s a link to a Jing-cast I just did showing you how to link to pretty much anything in iTunes through a web browser. And yes, you do need iTunes installed on your or your intended user’s computers.
How-To video – http://www.screencast.com/t/49AEIUIq
Previous post on Jing – http://www.nmrls.org/ce/stt/?p=113
iTunes U links on Scott’s delicious.com – http://delicious.com/bibliotechy/itunesu
Tags: Digital Media · Mac & OS X · Webware · Windows
