Registration for the Troy Library’s June computer classes opens at 10 a.m., on May 11.
Each month, we offer 14 classes, taught by the Technology Department staff:
Computer Basics 1
Computer Basics 2*
Navigating the Internet
Email for Beginners
Library Resources on the Internet*
What is Web 2.0*
Blogging for Beginners*
Buying and Selling on eBay
Selling on eBay Workshop*
Beginning Word 2007
Intermediate Word 2007
Beginning Excel 2007
Intermediate Excel 2007
Beginning PowerPoint 2007
All classes are free. Most are two sessions (the ones marked with an asterisk * above are only one session), and each session last about two hours. Each class has plenty of handouts, and plenty of time for hands-on experience.
To register, go to our website at troylibrary.info and click on Sign Up for Exciting Classes and Programs at TPL at the bottom of the page. You will be directed to our calendar. From there you can register for any of the above classes, or any of our other great programs.
If you have a question about an individual class, call the Technology Department at 248.524.3542, or email us at techroom@troymi.gov.
Here is a perfect marriage of technology, coffee, and social network sites:
A 16-year-old intern at the German media agency, Blanko, has created a coffee machine that tweets, on the micro-blogging site Twiitter.com.
The intern mounted a web camera on the coffee machine, focused on the machine’s digital display. When the display changes, the image is photographed, and compared to a database of phrases. The matching phrase is then entered into a Twitter account and posted under #blankomat, in German, of course.
Recent tweets have included: 1 KAFFEE (1 coffee), SCHALE LEEREN (flat emptying), SCHALE FEHLT(flat one is missing), and WASSERTANK FÜLLEN (water tank filling).
Here at The Tech Desk, we highly recommend the use of USB flash drives to store data. They are extremely portable, offer large amounts of data storage, easy to use, and are relatively inexpensive.
If you are in the market for a big, new flash drive, pcmag.com lists some current bargains available, including the SanDisk Cruzer Contour, a favorite of The Tech Desk staffer Chris Hunsanger.
Remember not too long ago, when “cordless” phones were big, ugly, and good for a sight-gag on a television comedy show? Well, those phones have gotten their revenge:
The number of U.S. households opting for only cell phones has for the first time surpassed those that just have traditional landlines. Twenty percent of households had only cells during the last half of 2008, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey recently released. This compares with 17% of homes with landlines but no cells.
That ratio has changed starkly in recent years: In the first six months of 2003, just 3% of households were wireless only, while 43% stuck with only landlines.
Six in 10 households have both landlines and cell phones. Even so, industry analysts emphasized the public's growing love affair with the versatility of cell phones, which can perform functions like receiving text messages and are also mobile.
"The end game is consumers are paying two bills for the same service," said John Fletcher, an analyst for the market research firm SNL Kagan, referring to cell and landline phones. "Which are they going to choose? They'll choose the one they can take with them in their car."
About a third of people age 18 to 24 live in households with only cell phones, the federal figures showed, making them far likelier than older people to rely exclusively on cells. The same is true of four in 10 people age 25 to 29.
The data was compiled by the National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the CDC. The latest survey involved in-person interviews with members of 12,597 households conducted from July through December 2008.
As widely rumored, Amazon has announced a new, larger version of the Kindle, the “Kindle DX.”
Amazon is promoting the new Kindle as a textbook reader and has deals with publishers Cengage, Pearson, and Wiley. Amazon is also working with several universities to make the device available to their students in the fall. However, the $489 price tag may limit student usage, unless the cost is subsidized.
The device is also aimed at newspaper readers and will allow people to share personal documents. As the Wall Street Journal puts it, this “underscores Amazon’s ambition to turn the device from a niche gadget to a more mass-market electronic reader.”
The Kindle DX is currently available for pre-order. Amazon is not giving an exact delivery date, saying it will be “this summer.”
First impressions of the new device all popping up all over the Web:
The Troy Library is participating in a nationwide Internet survey to find out how people use the computers and Internet connections in public libraries. The U.S. IMPACT web survey is being conducted by the University of Washington Information School with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Until now, there has been no nationwide research about how library computing services fit into peoples’ lives. How many use computers for entertainment? How many to find jobs? Stay connected with family and friends? Find health information?In addition, how many people have taken computer classes offered by a public library? Have they been valuable?
The goal of the study is to collect data about the ways computers in public libraries help people across the United States. This information will be used to improve these services and to inform policy makers about how best to fund and support them. In these hard economic times, this information will be invaluable.
You can access the survey by going to our website and clicking on the purple and white “Take Our Survey” icon in the middle of the page. The survey is completely anonymous and takes 10 to 15 minutes to fill out. It closes May 18.
The New York Times, the endangered Boston Globe, Britain's Guardian and the BBC scooped up Webby Awards for online excellence on May 5.
The Economist, National Public Radio (NPR) and The Huffington Post were also among the media outlets whose online efforts were rewarded by the 600-member International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
NYTimes.com picked up Webbys for best writing and best practices but gave up the title it won last year as best newspaper website to the Guardian, which won for the fourth time in five years.
NPR earned Webbys for best radio site and for music.
The Onion won in the humor category and ESPN for sports.
The New York Times, Guardian, BBC and NPR also won People's Voice awards in several categories. The People's Voice awards are decided through an online vote by the public.
Comedian Jimmy Fallon was named "Webby Person of the Year" "in recognition of his enthusiastic embrace of the Internet to connect with his fans."
Hot micro-blogging service Twitter was named "Breakout of the Year" while comedian Sarah Silverman was named "Best Actress" for her YouTube hits.
The 13th annual Webby Awards are to be handed out at a gala in New York on June 8.
Microsoft has released the Windows 7 Release Candidate to the public for testing. This is the final stage of the Windows 7 development process. Windows 7 is the successor to the Windows Vista operating system.
The steps to download Windows 7 are as follows:
1. Sign in with your Windows Live ID (or a general hotmail email account), or create a free account here.
2. Go to this page and click on the download link for the version of Windows 7 you would like to download (32-bit or 64-bit, and the appropriate language).
3. You will then be taken to the download page where you can download the .iso file used for the install.
4. After the download completes, burn the .iso file to a DVD (requiring a DVD burner), using a program such as Imgburn (free).
5. Upon completion of the burning process, leave the disc in the drive, and reboot the computer from the CD/DVD drive. Follow the instructions.
After you are all done installing, enjoy Windows 7!
