Tag: Corning

Artificial Retinas (AKA New Tech Assistance For Those With Macular Degeneration) & Streaming Video Update

Linda Reimer

Artificial Retinas (AKA New Tech Assistance For Those With Macular Degeneration): There is a cool  article in the tech section of the New York Times today about a new tech product, the just FDA approved Argus II Artificial Retina made by Second Sight Medical Products. And the Argus II will assist people who have certain types of blindness – namely blindness caused by damaged to the retina – in particular the blindness caused by macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa – to see shapes and outlines. The Argus Artificial Retina consists of a sheet of electrodes implanted in the eye (the retina part) and a camera and portable video processor (the input communication part of the retina system). When all three of those facets of the artificial retina work together they transmit images to the brain through the electrodes implanted in the eye and allow the blind to see outlines and shapes like the lines on a crosswalk or the outline of people. The Argus II Artificial Retinas currently cost about $150,000 and will shortly be available in seven hospitals in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, California, Maryland and Texas. This is very exciting technology as it is only the tip of the high tech ice berg as far as the creation and evolution of tech products that will assist the disabled goes!

Here’s a link to the New York Times article titled Device Offers Partial Vision for the Blind:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/health/fda-approves-technology-to-give-limited-vision-to-blind-people.html?hpw

Streaming Video Update: There have been two big stories in the news this week regarding new streaming video services. The first batch of stories have focused on the confirmed upcoming release of an Intel video streaming player and the second on a rumored Apple event that will supposedly be happening in March to unveil a new Apple TV platform.

The Intel Streaming Video Player: The stories about the Intel streaming video player came about as a result of an interview Intel Vice President Erik Huggers gave to Wall Street Journal staff on Tuesday. According to Huggers Intel’s new streaming box, which is as yet unnamed and for which Intel has yet to announce a release date or a price, is supposed to stream video content in specialized bundles rather like the cable companies already do – although Mr. Huggers indicated the Intel bundled channel service would be different that the current service of cable companies because Intel will be offering smart bundles (assumedly the channel bundles will be tailored to taste by genre but Huggers didn’t offers specific details). Mr. Huggers also said the Intel box will allow viewers the option to watch any program shown on the service in the last week at any time they’d like on any Internet connecting device they own.

For two cents worth from this cable cutter for whatever it is worth (about two cents I’d say!) the Intel box sound very similar to the packages the cable companies already provide – bundles of expensive channels that viewers are forced to take when the bulk of programs they want to watch are only found on ten channels or less – and of course there is no way to get the channels al la carte either from cable companies, with their outdated business model, nor it sounds like from the new Intel streaming video player. But of course as the Intel player has yet to be released we’ll have to wait and see. However, suffice it to say this cord cutter is not impressed! I’m ready for al la carte channels offered via streaming services…

The Rumors About A New Apple TV Platform: There have also been numerous news stories this week, all citing unnamed but knowledgeable sources, that indicate that Apple is planning on holding an event in March to announce what is speculated to be a new platform for the Apple TV – not a new Apple TV set– but instead a new type of Apple TV video streaming system; whether it is a new Apple TV streaming player or a software update that offers new features is currently unknown. However, as perhaps you’ll recall the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs was quoted in his authorized biography as saying: “‘I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ ‘It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.’ No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. ‘It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.'” (Issacson, 2012). And what the current Apple CEO Tim Cook said in December 2012 in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams – that television is an area of “intense interest” to Apple but then of course he wouldn’t comment further on the subject but it did make it sound like Apple is working on something in the TV arena…

And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Apple does announce some sort of new high tech (and possibly evolutionary) television streaming platform in March. And again as with the Intel streaming video player we’ll have to wait and see! One thing is for certain though – we are likely to see a number of new streaming video services and options in 2013!

Here’s a link to a Gigaom article on the new Intel video streaming player titled Intel Media Service Confirmed:

http://gigaom.com/2013/02/12/intel-media-service-confirmed/

Another link to a Wall Street Journal article, titled Erik Huggers On Why Intel TV Makes Sense, on the new Intel player. The article includes excerpts from the interview Intel VP Eric Huggers gave to WSJ staff on Tuesday:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/02/12/erik-huggers-on-why-intel-tv-makes-sense/

And a link to the Cult of Mac site where you can watch the video interview Tim Cook gave to Brian Williams last December:

http://www.cultofmac.com/204964/watch-tim-cooks-full-interview-on-last-nights-nbc-rock-center-here-video/

And a final link to a Slashgear article, titled Apple TV Event Rumored For March, New SDK Tipped, regarding the rumored upcoming Apple press event to unveil their reported new media streaming player and/or service:

http://www.slashgear.com/apple-tv-event-rumored-for-march-new-sdk-tipped-13269237/

Have a great weekend everyone!

Linda R.

References

Bellock, Pam. (2013, February 14). Device Offers Partial Vision for the Blind. New York Times. Online.

Brownlee, John. (2012, December 7). Watch Tim Cook’s Full Interview On Last Night’s NBC Rock Center Here [Video]. Cult of Mac. Online.

Clark, Don. (2013, February 12). Erik Huggers On Why Intel TV Makes Sense. Wall Street Journal. Online.

Craig, Lloyd. (2013, February 13). Apple TV event rumored for March, new SDK tipped. SlashGear. Online.

Isaacson, Walter. Steve Jobs. Simon & Shuster. 2011.

 

 

Windows 8 – Not As Scary As You Might Think! Part II: The Start Screen

Linda Reimer

Windows 8 Start ScreenYou’ll remember that yesterday I waxed on about how the Windows 8 desktop experience really isn’t too different from the Windows experience you’ll get if you use a Windows 7 or Windows XP PC? And that is true! Working via the desktop side Windows 8 PC really is very similar to the old Windows experience you’d get while opening, closing and saving files on Windows XP, Vista or 7 computer.

However, and insert drum roll here for dramatic effect….

The other side of Windows 8, the Start Screen side is very, very different from the experience you’d get from using any computer running any of the previous versions of Windows. And you can see the difference just by looking at the photo included with this posting!

The photo of course shows the Start Screen of a Windows 8 computer and although it looks very different it really is a cool side of Windows to use and if you’ve used a smartphone or tablet in the past then you’ll find yourself very quickly at home when using the Start Screen side of a Windows 8 PC.  And the reason you’ll be very comfortable with that side of Windows 8 is because it really is set up like a tablet or smartphone with apps! And if you purchase, or use, a Windows 8 computer that has a touch screen*1 you can touch the apps to open them or move them from one part of the Start Screen to another just the way you would on a tablet or smartphone. And likewise if you want to get new apps on your Start Screen than just as is the case with a smartphone or tablet you go to your app store – and in the case of Windows 8 the Windows 8 app store is simply called Store ( you can see the app for it in the photo it features a big shopping bag on the bright green app) and if you touch that app to open it (or click it if you are using a Windows 8 computer without a touch screen) then you’ll enter the Windows app store and you’ll find apps like Netflix, Skype, Amazon Kindle, Angry Birds and the Oprah Winfrey Network that you can easily install and use on your Windows 8 computer.

So there are three basic things to remember about using Windows 8:

  1. There is a Desktop side of Windows 8 that is very similar to the Desktop side of previous versions of Windows (Except for the fact that there is no Start Menu and you open the Windows Explorer folder to access your files);
  1. There is Start Screen side of Windows 8 and it is very similar in the way you use it to the experience you get if you use a smartphone or tablet that has apps
  1. Windows 8 computers (not tablets*2) come in two hardware versions: A. a touch screen version which is desirable as Windows 8 really is made to be used with a touch screen computer; and a standard non-touch screen version which allows you to do the same things as you can do with a Windows 8 touch screen computer but in a different way (and it does usually take you more clicks to get from point A to point B if you’re using a non-touch screen Windows 8 computer that you’d have to use if you were using a Windows 8 touch screen computer but you’ll get where you want to go in the end!)

Have a great evening!

Linda R.

*1) You can buy a Windows 8 computer without a touch screen and those non-touch screen models are generally cheaper than their touch-screen brethren; however, Windows 8 really is ideally experiences at its best if you have a touch-screen computer running Windows 8. So that is Linda’s two cents worth on that subject! If you’re thinking of buying a Windows 8 computer I do indeed suggest that you buy one that has a touch screen!

*2) And I should point out I am only talking about the Windows 8  laptop and desktop models – Windows also has two tablets out the Surface RT and the Surface Pro. The Surface RT is the cheaper model (the entry level version costs $499) and runs a light version of Windows 8. The RT also does allow you to install new Windows software but you cannot install any old Windows software on the tablet. In contrast, the Surface Pro costs more money at $899 (for the entry level model); however, it runs a full version of Windows 8 and will allow you to install old Windows software if you wish. So just FYI on the Windows tablet front!

 

Windows 8 – Not As Scary As You Might Think!

Linda Reimer

Windows 8 Desktop View

I’ve had a Windows 8 touchscreen laptop (an HP Envy) since last fall. And as you can imagine after using it for several months I do have an opinion about the new Windows 8 Operating System!

And… insert drum roll here for dramatic effect…I like it!

Windows 8 really isn’t scary at all! In fact there are a number of cool new things you can do with a Windows 8 PC (like use a touch screen). However, there is also a comfortable and familiar side to Windows 8 for anyone who has used a Windows 7 or XP computer. And that side is the desktop side of Windows 8.

You see there are two sides to Windows 8 a Start Screen side and a desktop side. And the desktop side is very familiar looking indeed–in fact it looks like a Windows 7 desktop with one major exception – there isn’t a Start Menu instead to access files.

Instead of using the old Start Menu you tap (if you have a touch screen PC) or click on the Windows Explorer folder that appears at the bottom left hand corner of the screen in the exact spot you’d find the Windows Flag icon that you click to bring up the Start Menu in Windows XP or Windows 7. And in fact, if you’re using a Windows 7 or Windows XP computer right now you can see exactly what that path looks like – that is clicking on the Windows Explorer folder to access your documents, photos, videos or music; because those versions of Windows feature that same Windows Explorer folder! The folder is situated right next to the Windows Flag icon (the one you click on the bring up the Start Menu) and located in the bottom left hand corner of your screen.

And as you can see from the photo included with this blog post – which does indeed show off a Windows 8 desktop – you can still place other icons on your desktop if you want to do so – you can create all the desktop short cuts you’d like and you can access the drives on your computer by also opening the Windows Explorer folder as the drives are on the left side of the Window that displays right under the Computer icon just as the will be if you open the Windows Explorer folder on a PC running Windows 7 or Windows XP.

So the desk topside of Windows 8 really isn’t scary at all! Instead it is very similar to the desktop you see and utilize if you’re using a Windows XP or Windows 7 PC.

Now the Start Screen side of Windows 8 that is indeed different! Think of that side of Windows 8 as being similar to a tablet – like an iPad, Galaxy Tab or Kindle Fire with apps! And I’ll talk more about that side of Windows 8 tomorrow.

Have a great evening everyone!

Linda R.

Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln! An E-Writing Tablet & A High Tech Toilet

Linda Reimer

Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln! Today is the 204th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky and was elected the 16th President of the United States in 1861. He is most famous for being President during the Civil War, signing the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 which formally put and end to slavery in the United States and, unfortunately, being assassinated by the actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

And if you haven’t ever checked it out the official website of the President of the United States has a neat section on all the presidents and first ladies of the United States that offers a brief bio of each president and first lady.

Here’s a link to the section on the presidents:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents

And here’s a link to the section on first ladies:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies

An E-Writing Tablet: If you’re of a certain vintage you’ll remember growing up and having a writing tablet kept near the family phone so you could write down information and grocery lists as the need arose and maybe even stick notes to the refrigerator with those alphabet magnets everyone used to use. Tablets of paper eventually gave way for the half cork board half white board boards that went up in kitchens all over the country and allowed your mom to note “Pick up milk & bread,” “Call the dry cleaner,” “pick up the orchestra tickets” or “Pete, mow the grass after school! And today even the old white board-cork board has become obsolete because now you can buy an LCD note board which will allow you to easily write down to do lists for the whole family to see and just as easily allow you to delete old notes and add new ones! This new type of electronic writing tool is the Boogie Board 8.5 Inch JOT LCD which allows you to write on the surface of the screen with a pen-like stylus and essentially write digital notes and reminders. The eWriter costs $39.99 and can be purchased via Amazon.com.

Here’s a link to a short 7gadgets.com article that offers additional information about the eWriter:

http://www.7gadgets.com/2013/02/12/jot-lcd-ewriter/71178

And here’s a link to the version product page for the Cyan version of the eWriter now for sale at $29.99 on the Amazon website:

http://www.amazon.com/Boogie-Board-Inch-Writing-Tablet/dp/B005DEID5C/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1360699974&sr=8-7&keywords=ewriter

A High Tech Toilet: And you’re probably thinking “A high tech toilet…really?” But yes indeed, in the midst of the current high tech revolution that is transforming our lives (not that it hasn’t already!) there is indeed a high tech toilet that you can purchase!  Those crafty plumbing savvy folks at Kohler have come up with a new type of toilet that has a touch screen display. This new toilet is called the Kohler Numi and the touch screen display of the toilet offers you options to, among other things, have the lid retract or extend, have music play, turn on lighting, heat the toilet seat and even start a self cleaning cycle!  All of that sounds cool even when we’re talking about a toilet but since high tech toilets are rather a new thing – the price is correspondingly higher than that of your usual Kohler toilet. The list price for the Numi model is currently $6, 390! However, somewhere in the near future I am sure this type of usual but now high-tech household item will be found in most houses – touch screen display and all!

Here’s a link to a CoolestGadgets.com article on the new Numi with the appropriately simple title of A High Tech Toilet:

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20130211/high-tech-toilet/

And here’s a second link to the control (as in about the touch screen display features) page for the Numi on the Kohler website:

http://www.kohler.com/numi/#control.html

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Presidents. The White House. Online.  Accessed February 12, 2103.

Alison. (2013, February 11) A High Tech Toilet. CoolestGadgets.com. Online.

Control. Numi. Kohler. Online. Accessed February 12, 2013.

First Ladies. The White House. Online. Accessed February 12, 2013.

Ralcua. (2013, February 12). JOT LCD eWriter. 7 Gadgets. Online. 

Digital Magazines Sales Starting To Take Off

Linda Reimer

Digital magazine sales are still a small slice of the magazine pie – less than 3% of total magazine subscriptions are currently digital subscriptions. However, digital magazine sales are increasing and some titles have seen a huge increase in the number of digital subscriptions they’ve sold in the last year – and that is where the stats get interesting and impressive! And when you look at the sales rate of individual titles and see the double and even triple digit increase in digital sales!

Magazines that have seen double-digit increases in their digital sales over the last year include:

US Weekly with a 40.8% increase

Esquire with a 41.7% increase

Cosmo with a 37.2% increase

The New Yorker with a 66.7% increase

Vanity Fair with a 47.6% increase

OK! With a 86.7% increase

& Glamour with a 56.8% increase

And even more impressive are the few titles that have seen triple digital growth in their digital sales in the last year and they include:

Readers Digest with a 248.8% increase

Star with a 297% increase

& Taste of Home with a 243.9% increase

And all of that shows the great reading shift that is going on as the bulk of reading material most people consume transitions from print to digital – so I think that is both interesting and cool both from a where-we-are-at-this-point-in-history standpoint and from an I-like-technology-standpoint!

Here’s a link to a PaidContent article, titled Digital Magazine Sales Are Still Tiny Overall But Titles Like Cosmo See Big Growth, that offers more information on the subject:

http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/07/digital-magazine-sales-are-still-tiny-overall-but-titles-like-cosmo-see-big-growth/

Have a great weekend!

Linda R.

References

Owen, Laura. (2013, February 7). Digital magazine sales still tiny overall, but titles like Reader’s Digest see huge growth. PaidContent. Online. 

Aereo’s Streaming TV Service & Why It Is Definitely Not A Favorite With Cable Companies

Linda Reimer

Aereo is a company that streams basic TV content to subscribers* from its servers to any mobile device a subscriber owns. Aereo does this by actually having a tiny antenna and DVR assigned to each customer and this allows customers to watch video content on any Internet connecting device they have at any time. The company gets those over the air signals that you have also traditionally been able to use to tune in via a TV antenna attached to your TV– ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox & PBS – and then sends the HD signals they receive to the miniature antenna & DVR combo set assigned to each customer and then the customer is allowed to watch any TV content from those networks on any of his or her Internet connecting devices. So the customer then has the ability to watch any shows played on those networks at any time for a small subscription fee that actually starts at a dollar a day for a day pass and then goes up in price to a maximum of $80 for an annual subscription to the service.

And needless to say the fact that consumers can pay $80 a year to receive HD reception for all the content on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox & PBS when cable companies would like them to pay that amount or more each month for one of their cable bundles of channels – is not going over well with those cable companies. In fact last year Aereo won a court case that broadcasters in Manhattan had brought against the company – the first legal hurdle but certainly not the last as the cable industry tries its best to hang on to its outdated, but profitable, bundled channel subscriptions business model.

Aereo’s CEO Chet Kanojia who has worked in the cable industry for years talks a great talk about the service as the expression goes! He has discussed in an interview why the Aereo service is A. Legal and B. Why it is the future of TV in that it allows customers to watch TV when and where they want and a reasonable price without forcing those customers to pay through the proverbial nose for a bundle of TV Channels most of which they aren’t interested in watching.

Here’s a link to a Gigaom article, titled Aereo’s big bet to break the TV industry: CEO Chet Kanojia explains, which features an interview with Mr. Kanojia and some more in-depth back ground info on the Aereo service:

http://gigaom.com/2013/02/07/aereos-big-bet-to-break-the-tv-industry-ceo-chet-kanojia-explains/

And a second article on the subject from CNN titled Aereo: Streaming TV startup at center of media storm:

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/07/technology/innovation/aereo/

And a third link is to the Aereo website just in case you’d like to read more information from the horse’s mouth itself – as the expression goes!

https://aereo.com/how-it-works

Have a great day!

Linda R.

*Right now the Aereo service is only available in New York City, where it debut last year. It is coming to 22 more cities in the U.S. shortly.

References

How it Works. (Accessed 2013, February 7). Aereo. Online. 

Pepitone, Julianne. (2013, February 7). Aereo: Streaming TV startup at center of media storm. CNN. Online.

Roberts, Jeff John. (2013, February 7). Aereo’s big bet to break the TV industry: CEO Chet Kanojia explains. Gigaom. Online

Why You Should Consider Office 365 Instead Of Office 2013 & New Dyson Wash & Dry Faucets

Linda Reimer

Why You Should Consider Office 365 Instead Of Office 2013: Microsoft launched its new Office Suite last week. And as I mentioned last week there are two versions: a traditional desktop version you can install on PCs via disc or download and a new web based version that resides in the cloud. And to translate that computerese what that fancy terminology means is that there is one version of Microsoft Office, called Microsoft Office 2013, which is the traditional style software that is paid for via a one time only payment and then is downloaded to a PC either via a installation disc or a download from an online vendor like Amazon. You can then use that traditional version of Microsoft Office only on one computer and you don’t get new software features until you upgrade to the next version of Office.  The Office 2013 Home & Student edition retails for $140 and includes the following software: Word, Excel, PowerPoint & OneNote.

In contrast, the second version of the new Microsoft Office Suite for the home, called Office 365 Home Premium, is a web (cloud) based version which is a subscription service. You pay a yearly subscription fee and you can access this cloud version of Office on up to 5 PCs.  The Office 365 Home Premium edition costs $99 per year (or $9.99 per month) and includes the following software: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access & Publisher. In addition, if you subscribe to Office 365 (The Home Premium edition) your software will be updated with any new bells or whistles (AKA software features) Microsoft implements during the year to make the software work better and/or to offer you more options as to what you can do with the software. So if you choose the subscription version of Office you get more software which actually costs less than the traditional version, continual updates so your software is never out-of-date and always has all the latest features and you can put the software on five computers instead of just one.

Also of note is that the Office 365 Home Premium software is comparable to the more expensive traditional disc or download version of Office called Microsoft Office Professional which also has all the software included with Office 365 – but at a much higher price – it costs $399 for the Professional version of Office that you can pick up at Staples or Best Buy. And for $399 you could pay for a 4 year cloud subscription to Office 365 Home Premium and have that software on all the computers you own* and always have the latest version of the Microsoft Office Suite at your finger tips. So if you’re thinking of upgrading your version of Office you might want to consider the new cloud version called Office 365!

Here’s a link to a PC World article on the subject titled Why Office 365 is a Better Deal Than Office 2013:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2026710/why-office-365-is-a-better-deal-than-office-2013.html

New Dyson Wash & Dry Faucets: I came across a cool article today on the tech section of the BBC website. The article discuses how the British Dyson company has just come out with a new faucet called the Air Blade Tap that will allow you to run hot and cold water and to access a built in dryer built right into the tap. So you’ll be able to wash and dry your hands via these new Air Blade Taps which are currently being sold in the U.K. for the rather steep price of 1,000 British pounds which works out to about $1, 566 American Dollars. The Taps will go on sale in the United States sometime later this year. And although the price has to come down quite a bit before I’ll be installing one of these units in my house – I love the idea of it! Imagine never having to use hand towels again – just being able to wash your hands and blow them dry with cool air by standing in front of your sink!

Here’s the link to the BBC article on those cool new Taps otherwise known as faucets:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21323365

Have a great day!

Linda R.

*Assuming you own 5 computers or less …

References

Bradley, Tony. (2013, January 31). Why Office 365 is a better deal than Office 2013. PC World. Online.

(2013, February 4) Dyson launches all-in-one hand-drying Airblade water tap. BBC News: Technology: Online. 

Tablets Selling Furiously & Why This Is A Very Exciting Thing!

Linda Reimer

Tablet shipments rose 75% in the last quarter of 2012 to 52.5 from 29.9 million in 2011. Tablets are now selling at half the rate of PCS. And tablet sales are expected to further soar in the next three years and actually overtake PC sales. And those stats shows that tablets and Smartphones are well on their way to replacing desktops and laptops as the primary way people connect to the Internet. And I find the fact that tablets are selling so furiously while PC sales are crawling along a very interesting one; because it shows a fundamental shift in the way people consume information and media and communicate with each other. For just as the rapid adoption of Smartphones that has occurred in last five and half years (since the iPhone first went on sale in 2007) illustrates a major shift in how people connect to the Internet so too the quickening rate of tablet adoption by consumers is creating a second and larger wave of what we might call the evolution of global 24/7/365 connectivity; that is the ability of people from all walks of life and from all parts of the globe to access the Internet and communicate with others from just about anywhere they are in the world at any time of the day or night.

And the idea that anyone from anywhere in the world will be able to easily access the global information and communications network of the Internet in the near future is a revolutionary idea and a very exciting one! The increasing global connectivity network of the Internet means that more people than ever before will have the opportunity to gain knowledge and learn and communicate with others – even those people that live in isolated regions. And taking that last idea further, the fact that more people than ever before can obtain knowledge and communicate with others via the Internet translates into the fact that more people than ever before can be creative and have more of an opportunity than ever before to fully realize their personal potential. Thus we might wind up with the greatest novelist of the 21st century being a person who grew up poverty in a village in the northwest corner of India and who managed to get her early writings noticed by people and publishers by posting them online. We might find that a phenomenal educator who will transform the American educational system is the daughter of migrant workers and got started on her education by accessing the Internet at public libraries throughout the south western United States. We might see the greatest chef of the 21st century coming from Nigeria and offering his popular cooking show only over the Internet* to those of us who like to cook (and adding some literal new spices to our lives in the process) and we might find that one of the greatest composers of this century is the son of a  widowed hotel cook who comes from a small town in Peru and yet was able to hear the works of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and other great classical composers by listening to the London based radio station Classic FM via the TuneIn Radio app on his iPad; and then subsequently composing and recording works on his iPad and getting those early compositions on the Internet for people, including record company executives, to hear.

And I could go on and on but I’ll get off my soap box now! I think I made my point as to why I find the combo of the Internet and mobile technology so exciting – it isn’t just the technology itself that is cool it is what we can do with it via access to the Internet. And how the tool of the Internet will continue to have an even more democratizing impact on people across the globe as time marches on and more and more people have the opportunity to, as the old army slogan, goes be all they can be because they can gain knowledge and communicate with others via Internet access offered on mobile devices. Now that is exciting!

And here are links to two of the many news stories I read online last week regarding the increasing ferocity of tablet sales:

The first article is from the Gigaom site and is colorfully titled Who Tablet Shipments Now More than Half That of the PC – here’s the link:

http://gigaom.com/2013/01/31/whoa-tablet-shipments-now-more-than-half-that-of-the-pc/

And the second article is from the Wall Street Journal Digits blog and is titled Amid PC Woes Tablet Shipments Jump 75% – here’s the link:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/01/31/amid-pc-woes-tablet-shipments-jump-75/

And having waxed on about the benefits of Internet access from the top of my soap box I’ll get off it now and wish everyone a good Sunday afternoon!

Linda R.

*I believe the streaming of video content from the Internet to portable devices and televisions will eventually become the norm and replace the current media business model of cable companies offering bundled content to consumers at high prices – but then that is the subject of a blog posting all by itself!

References

Cai, Debbie. Amid PC Woes, Tablet Shipments Jump 75%. Wall Street Journal: Digits blog. Online.

Tofel, Kevin. (2013, January 31). Whoa: Tablet shipments now more than half that of the PC. Gigaom. Online.

Staying Safe While Online

Linda Reimer

Librarian and blogger David Lee King had his e-identity hacked into over the weekend. It seems he received a strange text message that included a link and while operating on cruise control he clicked the link without really thinking about it. And in short order the hacker who hacked into his account was posting on Twitter via King’s Twitter account. Fortunately, since King was online as this series of events was unfolding he was quickly contacted by friends and associates who saw the out of character Twitter postings from Lee’s account and figured quite correctly that his account had been hacked. King was able to log into his account and change his password which seemed to stop the hacker in his tracks. However King’s experience illustrates several key points regarding online safety namely don’t open any message that is from someone you don’t know and don’t click on any weird links!

King relays his experience in his most recent blog post titled simply I Was Hacked!

Here’s the link:

http://www.davidleeking.com/

And while we’re on the subject of online safety I did some research and came across a great section on the WashingtonState site that offers helpful tips for staying safe online.

There are even online safety categories which include:

Communicating Online

Socializing Online

Sharing Images Online

Gaming Online

Spending & Saving Online

Identity Theft

Computing on the Go

Bullying Online

Fraud

Defensive Computing

Defending Your Computer

Here’s the link to the category page on the WS website:

http://www.atg.wa.gov/InternetSafety/Adults.aspx

And if you only have time to read one of the online safety sections I’d recommend browsing through the Communicating Online section which discusses the benefits and possible pitfalls of sharing personal information (i.e. name, address, phone number, resume etc.) online.

Here’s the link:

http://www.atg.wa.gov/InternetSafety/CommunicatingOnline.aspx

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

King, David Lee. (2013, January 29). I Was Hacked! davidleeking.com. Online.

WashingtonState Office of the Attorney General. Web Wise Washington: Internet Safety: Adults. Online. January 30, 2013. 

New E-Books, Audio Books, Music & Videos Available In The STLS Digital Catalog Later Today

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, just as an FYI for all the consumers of digital content out there! There will be a multitude of new items appearing in the STLS Digital Catalog this evening. The new items include audio books in the swashbuckling Horatio Hornblower series, albums by Pink Floyd and videos on a variety of subjects including non-fiction titles on genealogy and gardening, children’s videos including Thomas The Tank Engine, All About Cowboys, All About Dinosaurs & Mr. Sherman & Peabody, Season 1. Other new video titles include: Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, Budokon For Beginners, Night Train – Pociag, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Derailed and American in World War II.

You can access the entire Digital Catalog by going to the library’s home page (SSCLIBRARY.ORG) or clicking on the following link:

http://stls.lib.overdrive.com/5654A588-8683-4527-A797-407FB5E8710C/10/536/en/default.htm

And if you’d rather check out e-books, music, videos or audio books categories directly please click on anyone of the following links:

All E-Books:

http://stls.lib.overdrive.com/5654A588-8683-4527-A797-407FB5E8710C/10/536/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=7457576s&SortBy=CollDate

All Music:

http://stls.lib.overdrive.com/5654A588-8683-4527-A797-407FB5E8710C/10/536/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=7457568s&SortBy=CollDate

All Videos:

http://stls.lib.overdrive.com/5654A588-8683-4527-A797-407FB5E8710C/10/536/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=7457555s&SortBy=CollDate

New Audio Book Editions:

http://stls.lib.overdrive.com/5654A588-8683-4527-A797-407FB5E8710C/10/536/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=31706431&SortBy=CollDate

Note: To check on format compatibility with your device click on the following link which will take you to the OverDriveDeviceResourceCenter page:

http://www.overdrive.com/resources/drc/

Also of note, as of January 2013 you can download all OverDrive Content to a PC and OverDrive E-Books to most e-readers and tablets. A/V materials can be downloaded to PCs and a handful of portable devices from Creative Zen and Colby. Reportedly OverDrive (that is the name of the STLS Digital Catalog platform vendor) will be ushering a new streaming system for all e-books, audio books, music and videos in the catalog which will mean that you’ll be able to stream content to most smart phones, tablets and PCs in the near future. We’ll update our website, Facebook page and the SSCL Tech Talk blog site with that information as soon as that update occurs.

And if you have any questions about the items in the Digital Catalog and how you can access them please ask the staff; we are here to help!

Have a great afternoon!

Linda R.