This site offers news and discussion mostly about books, with a sprinkling of information on personal technology and digital literacy.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on what is basically the battle of Aereo TV vs. all the traditional cable TV companies later this week — here’s a link to a USA Today article on the subject titled “Revolutionary cloud TV service faces Supreme Court decision in coming days;”
The decision might just upend the way TV content is watched in the U.S. depending upon how the Supreme Court rules of course!
Have a great day!
Linda
As you may know the library held a press conference yesterday to announce a new vote will be held in the fall to secure funding to keep the library in business.
And as us staying in business and having sufficient funds to take care of all our patrons needs, like for example, upgrading computers and offering free assistance to patrons who wish to learn how to use personal technology devices — does have to do with technology at the library — I’m going to post this info on our Tech Talk blog!
Here is the text of the official Q&A library document regarding the upcoming vote (which is slated to be held October 21, 2104); which offers an more-in-depth explanation of the whole enchilada:
Southeast Steuben County Library Questions and Answers
Library Vote 2014
Q. What is a 259 Vote?
New York State Education Law Section 259 provides public libraries in New York State with the ability to place a funding proposition on a school district ballot. The Southeast Steuben County Library made that request to the Corning Painted Post School District in June 2014 and the vote has been scheduled for October 21, 2014.
Q. When and where will I vote?
The October 21, 2014 will be held in all 8 Corning- Painted Post School District polling locations. If you need to confirm your polling location call, Karen Dutcher at 936-3704 ext. 1001.
Q. What is the proposition that will be on the ballot?
The proposition that appears on the ballot will ask for a “yes” or “no” vote and reads as follows: “Shall the sum of Seven Hundred Eighty-Six Thousand dollars ($786,000) be raised by annual levy of a tax upon the taxable property within C-PP Area School District for the purpose of funding the Southeast Steuben County Library?”
Q. How much will I pay if this proposition passes?
Homeowners in the Corning-Painted Post School District will pay about $0.41 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. This would mean that the owner of a home valued at $85,000 would pay less than $35 a year, and the owner of a home valued at $100,000 would pay about $41 a year. This is equates to approximately $0.67 to $0.78 per week per household.
Q. Who is eligible to vote?
All registered voters who reside in the Corning-Painted Post Area School District may vote; this includes property and non-property owners.
Q. What will happen if the vote fails?
The Library Board will be faced with very difficult decisions. Current levels of programs and services would be further jeopardized. If the October 2014 vote does not pass, then the Library Board would do a thorough public debriefing. It would be important to garner public feedback in regard to next steps at finding a sustainable funding model for the library.
Q. How can those who want additional information about the proposition, or the services provided by the Library, find out more?
The Library will have a table set up near the front entrance, staffed with volunteers, who will have more detailed information. Those who would like a tour of the Library can arrange to have one at their convenience by asking at the Circulation Desk. Groups that would like to have a presentation about the proposition made at their meetings may arrange that by contacting Mary Ann Thomas (607) 654-8576.
Q. How can supporters of the proposition help it to pass?
The Friends of the Library is organizing teams of supporters to help with a variety of tasks designed to help get out the vote. Anyone who would like to help is welcome to join this effort. To find our more, contact Mary Ann Thomas (607) 654-8576.
And also just FYI here are links to some news stories regarding yesterdays’ press conference:
A link to a Star Gazette article:
A link to a Corning Leader article:
http://www.the-leader.com/article/20140619/NEWS/140619455
And a link to a video news story from WETM TV News:
Please free free to share this Q&A information with everyone you know!
Here’s a link to a PDF of the same Q&A document so you can easily download it and share it:
If you have any questions about any of the information in the Q&A document – please let us know! You can call the library at 607-936-3713 and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.
Have a great weekend!
Linda R.
New York Times Personal Technology columnist and reviewer Farhad Manjoo well sums up the new Amazon Fire smartphone!
He thinks, and I concur!, that Amazon missed a great opportunity to offer a solid smartphone at a cheap price — instead they are offering their new smartphone for $199 with a 2-year AT&T contact.
When I purchased my iPhone 5S in March — I didn’t have to put any money down nor did I have to sign a contact — and as Mr. Manjoo well points out the Amazon app store has far, far, far fewer apps than the Android and iOS (Apple) app stores — so you’ll you love the Amazon ecosystem above all others — you’d be better off buying an iOS or Android smartphone.
Here’s a link to the article:
Have a great day!
Linda R.
Hi everyone, here’s a link to a PDF list of the free personal technology programs being held at the Southeast Steuben County Library in July!
Please feel free to print the list off (legal size paper) and/or send it to anyone you know who is interested in learning more about personal technology!
SSCL Digital Literacy Services Programs July 2014
Have a great day!
Linda R.
Hi everyone, just FYI Amazon is holding a press conference as I’m writing this at 1:47 p.m. EST — and is widely expected to announce a brand new and low cost smartphone.
They’ll be a ton of news coverage about this new phone — but just to sum it up — here’s a link to a brief USA Today article on the subject:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/06/18/amazon-smartphone/10751663/
Have a great day!
Linda R.
SSCL
P.S. Update at 3:14 p.m. — Amazon has indeed launched a new smartphone called the Fire Phone — here’s a link to the Amazon Fire Phone description page where you can find more details:
And a link a recorded Re/code blogging of the Amazon Press conference that announced the even earlier today:
http://recode.net/2014/06/18/coming-up-amazons-smartphone-unveiling-liveblog/
Three free songs per week for all patrons of Southern Tier Library System member libraries — including the Southeast Steuben County Library!
They say a picture is worth a thousands words!
With that in mind I’m betting that some of you don’t know all the library resources that you can access for free, via the Internet, 24/7/365?
So check out this PDF and let me know if you have any questions about how to access and/or use these free resources!
Did You Know – Library Resources?
And did I mention the Freegal Music Service which allows all card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries (including ours!) to download and keep three free songs per week — is available now instead of the previous go-live date of July 1st? It is! Check it out!
Have a musical day!
Linda R.
It seems hackers have struck again — this time they’ve managed to get passwords to access Apple’s iCloud system — so just FYI — if you own an Apple device it would probably be a really good time to change your password!
It seems with this particular hacking group — they are remotely locking Apple device and then demanding $100 to unlock them — so just FYI!
And granted the article focuses on people living in Australia but even so — one can’t be too careful in our current high tech age where hacking is rampant!
Here’s a link to a Sydney Morning Herald article on the subject:
Have a great day!
Linda R.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with Amazon Prime – it a service Amazon offers customers for $99 a year; and it includes free 2nd shipping on items purchased from Amazon, free access to Amazon’s Instant Video Library, one free read of an e-book from Amazon’s Lending Library per month and now free access to the brand new Amazon Prime Music Service. Prime Music looks like its going to be similar to Pandora sans the ads.
Here’s a link to a LA Times article on the new Prime Music Service:
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-amazon-prime-music-service-20140611-story.html
And one that takes you directly to the Amazon Prime Music page:
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sa_menu_prime_music?ie=UTF8&node=8335758011
And as soon as I have a chance to really check out the Amazon Prime Music Service, which seems to have launched today, I’ll post an update on this blog.
Have a great day!
Linda R.
P.S. Don’t forget we offer free digital literacy assistance by appointment at the library! So if you have a new e-reader, laptop, smartphone or other tech device and are wondering how to use it — call us today to make an appointment — it is free! You can make appointments in person at the library, by phone – Tel: 607-936-3713 and via email: DIGLIT@STLS.ORG
Join us this Friday, June 13, 2014 for the first in our new monthly series And just a reminder the first film in our new monthly Technology Movie series will be shown this Friday night — June 13, 2014. We’ll be showing the film Short Circuit — the doors open at 6:45 to admit film goers and the movie will start at 7 p.m. sharp. Join us! Linda R.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091949/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 