From April 6, through April 22, the Troy Public Library is sponsoring a Name the Café contest. Library users are invited to submit a name for the Library’s new vending café, which is scheduled to be open in May.
There is no official entry form. You can submit your suggestion via email to Library Director Cathy Russ at c.russ@troymi.gov. Please include the proposed name, and your name and contact information in the email.
On or around April 24, a panel of judges – including the Library Director, the City’s Assistant City Manager, the Friends of the Library President, and a member of the Library Advisory Board – will choose the winning name. A sign with the name and an acknowledgement to the winner will be displayed in the café.
Earlier this year, the Library sponsored a contest among staff to pick a quote to display in the new café. The winner was Technical Services aide Anna Brodak. Her winning submission was “Libraries have become my candy store,” from Julie Kimball, literacy advocate.
April 6, 2009
Sixth Sense Wearable Device Expands the Way You Interact with the World
Here is a pretty interesting eight minute video about Sixth Sense – a wearable device with a projector that allows you to interact with your environment and the Internet in some new and profound ways.
The device was created by Pattie Maes, who works at the Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with her student, Pranav Mistry.
This product was unveiled at the 2009 TED – Technology, Entertainment, Design – annual conference. This conference brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.
The device was created by Pattie Maes, who works at the Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, along with her student, Pranav Mistry.
This product was unveiled at the 2009 TED – Technology, Entertainment, Design – annual conference. This conference brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.
New Source of Reliable, Health Information on the Web
Are you looking for reliable health information on the Internet? Check out healthfinder.gov, a new website of the National Health Information Center of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Available in English and Spanish, healthfinder.gov is full of personalized, actionable health and wellness information and tools presented in an easy-to-read format with simple navigation. Some features of the site include:
Available in English and Spanish, healthfinder.gov is full of personalized, actionable health and wellness information and tools presented in an easy-to-read format with simple navigation. Some features of the site include:
- Quick-reference health guides with facts, actions, and Start Today tips;
- Personalized health recommendations based on age and sex;
- Interactive tools like menu planners, calorie counters, videos, and online checkups;
- Information on specific disease prevention topics;
- Lists of questions patients can take to the doctor;
- Links to information from more than 1,600 government and nonprofit organizations;
- Tools to locate health care providers including federally funded health centers that care for patients, even if they do not have health insurance; and
- A calendar of national health observances, useful in promoting health events.
April 5, 2009
Did Demi Moore and Twitter Help Save the Life of A Suicidal Woman?
Actress Demi Moore has been credited with helping to save the life of a suicidal woman by using Twitter, the online microblogging service, according to the Guardian of London.
On Friday morning, an unidentified Californian woman broadcast a message on Twitter, saying that she planned to kill herself and detailing the methods she would use. Moore rebroadcast the tweet to her 350,000 followers. Twitter users found through the woman’s profile that she lived in Silicon Valley area, and began to contact police to warn them of what was happening.
San Jose police received the reports of a woman intending to harm herself. They found the woman unharmed and took her into custody for evaluation.
The Department’s Public Information Officer Jermaine Thomas, quoted on ABCNews.com, lauded the social-networking site: “This Twitter concept is so new, this is the first time it's led us to what could have been a very real crime.”
Moore said she did not know the woman, but, said the incident was a "prime example of the power of collective consciousness"
On Friday morning, an unidentified Californian woman broadcast a message on Twitter, saying that she planned to kill herself and detailing the methods she would use. Moore rebroadcast the tweet to her 350,000 followers. Twitter users found through the woman’s profile that she lived in Silicon Valley area, and began to contact police to warn them of what was happening.
San Jose police received the reports of a woman intending to harm herself. They found the woman unharmed and took her into custody for evaluation.
The Department’s Public Information Officer Jermaine Thomas, quoted on ABCNews.com, lauded the social-networking site: “This Twitter concept is so new, this is the first time it's led us to what could have been a very real crime.”
Moore said she did not know the woman, but, said the incident was a "prime example of the power of collective consciousness"
April 3, 2009
Troy Public Library Wins World Book/ALA Information Literacy Award
I am pleased to report that the Troy Public Library has received the 2009 World Book/ALA Information Literacy Goal Award. This annual award of $5,000 is given only to two libraries in the country each year: one public and one school. It is designed to encourage and support innovative and effective information literacy programs.
As you can image, we are excited to be recognized.
Our program – Information Literacy for the Job Seeker – will focus on individuals who have little computer literacy and are seeking jobs. Participants will be trained on how information is organized electronically, how communication is handled electronically, and how job sites are searched on the Internet. They will create an electronic resume and an email account to communicate with prospective employers. The program will include hands-on classes, individualized instruction, and a comprehensive workbook.
This Award will be presented at the American Library Association Award Ceremony and Reception on July 14, during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The winning school is the Brockport Central School District in Brockport, New York, for the Brockport Central School District’s Information Literacy Continuum.
No matter your view on federal aid to the automobile industry, in this area we see the impact of the current economic recession in real and personal ways. We all know someone who has lost a job or a house. Those who have limited computer skills are at a disadvantage in this economy. We hope that this program will help at least some of those seeking work to find it.
We will keep you posted on the progress of our project on The Tech Desk.
As you can image, we are excited to be recognized.
Our program – Information Literacy for the Job Seeker – will focus on individuals who have little computer literacy and are seeking jobs. Participants will be trained on how information is organized electronically, how communication is handled electronically, and how job sites are searched on the Internet. They will create an electronic resume and an email account to communicate with prospective employers. The program will include hands-on classes, individualized instruction, and a comprehensive workbook.
This Award will be presented at the American Library Association Award Ceremony and Reception on July 14, during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The winning school is the Brockport Central School District in Brockport, New York, for the Brockport Central School District’s Information Literacy Continuum.
No matter your view on federal aid to the automobile industry, in this area we see the impact of the current economic recession in real and personal ways. We all know someone who has lost a job or a house. Those who have limited computer skills are at a disadvantage in this economy. We hope that this program will help at least some of those seeking work to find it.
We will keep you posted on the progress of our project on The Tech Desk.
Life Publishes New Photos of the Aftermath of the Rev. King Assassination Online
Life magazine recently posted previously unpublished photographs of the aftermath of the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on its website. The photos had languished for decades in magazine's archives.
About a dozen black-and-white pictures that went online include scenes of King's associates meeting solemnly in the civil rights leader's motel room and standing on the balcony where he stood for the last time, and workers cleaning the last of the blood. April 4 is the 41st anniversary of the assassination.
According to the magazine’s website:
[via Yahoo News]
About a dozen black-and-white pictures that went online include scenes of King's associates meeting solemnly in the civil rights leader's motel room and standing on the balcony where he stood for the last time, and workers cleaning the last of the blood. April 4 is the 41st anniversary of the assassination.
According to the magazine’s website:
“On April 4, 1968, LIFE photographer Henry Groskinsky and writer Mike Silva, on assignment in Alabama, learned that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. They raced to the scene and there, incredibly, had unfettered access to the hotel grounds, Dr. King's room, and the surrounding area. For reasons that have been lost in the intervening years, the photographs taken that night and the next day were never published. Until now.”
[via Yahoo News]
Fun Friday: Colbert on Galileo
How often do you see an articulate, funny astronomer on the television?
[via Bad Astronomy]
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Derrick Pitts | ||||
| ||||
[via Bad Astronomy]
April 2, 2009
Harvard Stops Printing Catalogs and Handbooks, Puts Everything on the Web
Harvard University will stop printing its course catalogs, faculty and student handbooks, and results of course evaluations after this semester, The Harvard Crimson reports. Starting in the fall, these guides will be published exclusively on the Web.
The move will save “tens of thousands of dollars,” according to The Crimson. In addition, the course catalog “is significantly out-of-date before the first copy rolls off the presses,” admits Barry Kane, registrar of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, in an unusually candid comment.
The online system will be much more dynamic, said Jay M. Harris, Harvard’s dean of undergraduate education, and will give students access to analysis of course evaluations and data not offered in print versions.
[via Chronicle of Higher Education]
The move will save “tens of thousands of dollars,” according to The Crimson. In addition, the course catalog “is significantly out-of-date before the first copy rolls off the presses,” admits Barry Kane, registrar of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, in an unusually candid comment.
The online system will be much more dynamic, said Jay M. Harris, Harvard’s dean of undergraduate education, and will give students access to analysis of course evaluations and data not offered in print versions.
[via Chronicle of Higher Education]
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