Tag: NY

U.N. Communications Treaty, Kid’s Tablets, More On E-Books & New Apple Apps for A&E, The History Channel and The Lifetime Channel

Linda Reimer

U.N. Communications Treaty: The United Nations Telecommunications Committee has been meeting in Dubai this week and working on a new international communications treaty – the old one is really outdated having been agreed upon in the pre-Internet year of 1988. The largest bone of content is between countries like the United States, U.K. and Canada who are apposed to censoring Internet content and countries like China and Iran whose governments would prefer to have more control over the Internet. There are numerous articles online regarding this treaty and the subject of debate – whether or not to have a free, open and uncensored Internet across the globe – pasted below are links to two of them the first, from the New York Times, is titled U.S. Rejects Telecommunications Treaty and the second is from The Associated Press and is titled U.S. leads Western snub of U.N. telecoms treat. Here are the links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/technology/14iht-treaty14.html

http://goo.gl/JL6QI

Kid’s Tablets: The New York Times offers a short and nice article on the subject of which tablet you should buy for a kid on your holiday gift list. The categories discussed include Android Tablets, game console options, mainstream tablets and toy tablet options. Just FYI in case anyone is shopping for a tablet for children during this busy time of year! The article is titled A Trove of Tablets For Young Hands. Here’s the link:

http://goo.gl/p1gcW

MacObserver on E-Books (Part 4): And this particular link is to the fourth part of the MacObserver’s in-depth article on all the ins and outs of e-reading devices. And this article discusses, appropriately titled Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 4: B&N Nook HD, offers practical information on the new Nook HD reading tablet. Here’s the link:

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/everything-about-ebooks-ereaders-pt-4-bn-nook

New Apple Apps for A&E, The History Channel and The Lifetime Channel: iPad, iPod and iPhone users will find some great new video apps in Apple’s App Store today. The new apps are companion apps for the television networks A&E, The History Channel and Lifetime. And viewers will be able to stream some full-length programs from each network and watch them on their mobile devices, or their TVs via the Apple TV media streaming player. Also of note, if you are an Xfinity TV you can access extra video content. Here’s a link to a 9 to 5 Mac article on the subject titled A&E, HISTORY, and Lifetime launch iPad apps with full episodes, additional content for Xfinity TV users:

http://goo.gl/AB7Uk

Have a great weekend!

Linda R.

References

Buckleitner, Warren. (2012, December 13). A Trove of Tablets for Young Hands. The New York Times. Online.

Kahn, Jordan. (2012, December 14). A&E, HISTORY, and Lifetime launch iPad apps with full episodes, additional content for Xfinity TV users. 9 to 5 Mac. Online

Martellaro, John. (2012, December 12). Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 4: B&N Nook HD. MacObserver. Online.

Murphy, Brian.  U.S. Leads Western Snub Of U.N. TeleComs Treaty. (2012, December 14). Associated Press. Online.

Pfanner, Eric. (2012, December 13). U.S. Rejects Telecommunications Treaty. The New York Times. Online.

Amazon Instant Video App Now Available For iPhone & iPod Touch, Google Maps App Appears in Apple’s App Store & In Appreciation of Ravi Shankar

Linda Reimer

Amazon Instant Video App For iPhone & iPod Touch: Apple’s App Store now offers the Amazon Instant Video App for iPhone and iPod Touch. The iPad app has been available since the summer and now you can stream any movies or TV shows you purchase, or have previously purchased, from Amazon to your iPhone or iPod Touch. And if you’re an Amazon Prime member you can also stream and watch TV shows and movies from the Prime Library. Endgadget offers a brief article on this subject today titled Amazon Instant Video streaming app now available for iPhone and iPod Touch. And just a related note, the author of the article notes that if you own an Apple TV box you cannot currently use AirPlay to stream movies or TV shows from your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone to your TV; and that is true. However, you can purchase a Roku media streaming player (they start at $49.99) and the Roku has a native app for the Amazon Instant Video Store – The Apple TV doesn’t although both have Netflix apps. So just FYI if anyone is out there is shopping for media streaming players! And here’s the link to the article:  

http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/13/amazon-instant-video-now-available-ipod-touch-iphone/

Google Maps App Appears in Apple’s App Store: The TechCrunch article title says it all! It is titled “Shocker: Google Maps Surges To Top Free App In The App Store In Just One Night.” And considering the inaccuracy of the Apple maps app that replaced the Google Maps app as an out-of-the-box app on new iPads, iPods and iPhones one can understand why people are so pleased to have that very accurate Google Maps app back! The app is currently available in an iPhone/iPod Touch version only and not yet in an iPad version. So iPad owners can either use the iPhone app until the iPad app is ready or simply create a short cut app for the Google Maps webpage and place it on their iPad Start Screens.

Here’s the link to the TechCrunch article:  

http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/13/shocker-google-maps-surges-to-top-free-app-in-the-app-store-in-just-one-night/

In Appreciation of Ravi Shankar: The great musician Ravi Shankar, who brought sitar music to the attention of western music fans with a little help initially from The Beatles, died yesterday at age 92. And NPR offers a nice overview of his life and work and access to several of his songs in an article titled 5 Essential Ravi Shankar Recordings, From ‘West Meets East’ to ‘West Eats Meat’ from the NPR Music site. Here’s the link:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/12/12/167056814/5-essential-ravi-shankar-recordings-from-west-meets-east-to-west-eats-meat

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Crook, Jordan. (2012, December 13). Shocker Google Maps Surges To Top Free App In The App Store In Just One Night. TechCrunch. Online.

Murph, Darren. (2012, December 13). Amazon Instant Video streaming app now available for iPhone and iPod Touch. Endgadget. Online.

Tsioulcas, Anastasia. (2012, December 12). 5 Essential Ravi Shankar Recordings, From ‘West Meets East’ to West Eats Meat’. NPR Music. Online.

 

Microsoft Surface Tablet For Sale @ Best Buy & Staples, E-Book Sharing, Redbox Verizon Streaming Video Service & Apple TV Again!

Linda Reimer

Microsoft Surface Tablet For Sale @ Best Buy & Staples: The Microsoft Surface tablet will be available for purchase at Staples and Best Buy this week according to a ZDNet report. It is a good idea for Microsoft to sell the tablet through major retailers, other than the Microsoft Stores, because of course, there are many more Best Buy & Staples stores across the United States than Microsoft stores; and many people looking to purchase tech items do like to have the chance to check those tech times out in stores before they purchase them!

Here’s the link to the ZDNet article:

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-confirms-surfaces-coming-to-non-microsoft-retail-outlets-7000008643/

E-Book Sharing: Ownshelf is a new and free web service that launched in beta last Friday. This new service offers users cloud storage and the ability to easily share e-books with family and friends. The Mashable site offers an article on the subject that discusses the ease of using the service and the ways you can social network and share e-books via the service through Facebook. Rick Marazzani, the creator of the service says he is filling a need in people’s high tech reading lives. Specifically he says of e-books: “We don’t see what people read anymore because it’s not piled up on their coffee table, or on their bookshelf or their night stand,”” and “”Our goal is to replace that with something virtual, where you can get recommendations and say ‘Hey, try it, read it.'””

And of course no doubt the big publishing companies will object to this latest attempt at essentially an ownership of an e-book item – that is offering e-book fans the unrestricted ability to easily share e-books with friends and family members. The big publishing and e-book vendors have shown through their business model that they believe in licensing e-books to consumers instead of selling them those same e-books. And the difference seems to be just in the format as if you buy a print book you own it! And not surprisingly, being a librarian I happen to believe that you should actually be able to own the e-books you purchase, read them on any and all tech devices you own and lend them to whomever you wish just like you would with a paper book. And having gotten up on the consumer e-book rights (or lack thereof) soapbox – I’ll now get off it! Here’s the link to the Mashable article:

http://mashable.com/2012/12/12/ownshelf/

Redbox Verizon Streaming Video Service: Netflix will shortly have a new competitor! The new Redbox streaming service (co-hosted by Verizon) will debut in beta form this month with a wide launch of the service planned for early next year. So who knows 2013 may be the year that the video streaming flood gates burst open.

Here’s a link to a an All Things D article, titled The Redbox Verizon movie service is almost ready to take on Netflix  which offers more information on the subject:

http://allthingsd.com/20121211/the-redbox-verizon-movie-service-is-almost-ready-to-take-on-netflix/

Apple TV Again! The Wall Street Journal All Things D blog has reported that words has come from electronics manufacturers in China that Apple is indeed testing a television set. Speculation is that this new set, if it actually comes to market, may transform the way people watch television. Of course, until Apple actually announces that it is going to sell a television set we all have to take the rumors with a pinch of salt just because Apple is testing a TV design does not mean it will actually be a product that gets made and sold. But still…Tim Cook did mention that the television was an area of interest to Apple now in the recent interview he gave to NBC’s Brian Williams. So it is something tech to ponder!

Here’s a link to the Wall Street Journal All Things D article on the subject titled Apple Tests Designs for TV:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323981504578174532274021230.html

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Apple Tests Designs for TV. (2012, December 12). Wall Street Journal All Things D. Online.

Fiegerman, Seth. (2012, December 12). Ownshelf helps readers share their digital libraries with friends. Mashable. Online.

Foley, Mary Jo. (2012, December 11). Microsoft confirms Surfaces coming to non-Microsoft retail outlets. ZDNet. Online.

Kafka, Peter. (2012, December 11). The Redbox Verizon movie service is almost ready to take on Netflix. AllThingsDigital. Online.

 

Join Us For Our Reinventing The Slideshow Program, Smartphones Instead Of Wallets & New HD TV Cams

Linda Reimer

Join Us For Our Reinventing the Slideshow Program: On Wednesday we’re hosting our Reinventing The Slideshow program. Our tech wizard Jenn Gaylor will show attendees how to can create a slideshow on a PC with their favorite photos and music. Just in time for the holiday season! Registration is required. To register for the program stop by the library or call 936-3713 ext. 502.

Smart Phones Instead of Wallets: I came across a neat article on the New York Times Disruptions blog today. The article is titled How My Smartphone Emptied My Pockets. And despite the title the author, Nick Bilton, isn’t discussing how you can spend money by using your smartphone (although you certainly can!); instead he is discussing how you can use a cell phone to do things that previously would have required you to carry a thick wallet or billfold and possible another gadget or two.

The “things” you would previously have carried  include printed pictures, membership cards, portable music players, cameras, business cards, sound recorders, address books, membership cards and even in some instances cash. Today you can keep an address book, photos, business cards and membership cards on your smartphone. And you can also use your smartphone to pay for items in some stores (like coffee at Starbucks), house your IDs digitally (sans your driver’s license) and even to purchase movie tickets.

I thought the article was really interesting because it shows how the advancing technology is changing how we live. The author comments on how his father had to carry a wallet with stuff in it and that his wallet got larger and larger as the years went by and he needed to carry more and more stuff. Now the author carries one debit card, his driver’s license and his smartphone and that is all.

Here’s the link:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/disruptions-how-my-smartphone-emptied-my-pockets/?ref=technology

New HD TV Cams: Just in time for the holiday season The Red Ferret tech site is reviewing two new HD webcams that you can attach to your TV and then Skype away with family and friends and see those family members and friends on your TV. The TV cams are the Logitech TV Cam HD and the Tely Labs TelyHD Skype Camera. Just because I was curious I looked up the price of the TV cams and found Amazon & Best Buy both carry the TV Cams. And as of 12/10 the Logitech TV Cam HD is priced at $209.99 from Amazon and $199.99 from Best Buy and the Tely Labs TelyHD is priced at $229.98 from both Amazon and Best Buy.

And here’s the link to the Red Ferret review page:

http://www.redferret.net/?p=34732

Have a great Monday!

Linda R.

 

References

Bilton, Nick. (2012, December 9). Disruptions: How My Smartphone Emptied My Pockets. The New York Times. Online.

Head to Head: Logitech TV Cam HD vs Tely Labs TelyHD Skype Camera [Review]. (2012, December 9) Red Ferret Journal. Online. 

New Amazon FreeTime Unlimited Service For Kids & And More

Linda Reimer

New Amazon Unlimited Service For Kids: Amazon has just introduced a new service for kids called Kindle FreeTime. This new service can be accessed through newer Kindle Fires and offers users unlimited access to the Kindle FreeTime Unlimited library which includes access to thousands of e-books, games, movies, TV shows and educational apps for kids ages 3 to 8. FreeTime Unlimited is a subscription service that has two tiers of costs; one tier for Amazon Prime members and another for all other Amazon customers. Amazon Prime members pay $2.99 per month per child for the service or $6.99 per month for a family of children (up to 6 children); the cost for all other Amazon customers is $4.99 per month for one child or $9.99 for a family of children (up to 6 children).

And just in case you were wondering, you can indeed set up Kindle Fires so that kids can’t buy anything while they are using the Kindles, so they cannot access the web browser and you can also adjust the setting so that kids using Kindle FreeTime can only access certain formats for a certain period of time. So for example, if you want to you can allow your kids to read at all times but limit their watching of videos to a hour an day and their usage of apps to an hour a day.

The PaidContent site offers an article on this new service today titled Amazon’s All You Can Eat Kids Kindle Content Should Scare Competitors – here’s the link:

http://paidcontent.org/2012/12/05/amazons-all-you-can-eat-kids-kindle-content-should-scare-competitors/

And here’s the link to the official Amazon Kindle FreeTime Unlimited page:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?&docId=1000863021

And More: The “And More” in the blog title for today referrers to the fact that I came across several tech articles that I thought I’d share but that I didn’t want to write a book length blog posting to discuss (who me write a long blog posting!). So here are the links as well as a brief description of the articles:

There are five “More” tech articles links listed below.

Tech articles one and two are the second and third articles in the Mac Observer series, that was first mentioned in this blog on November 30, that discusses the differing types of e-reading devices, the different types of e-book formats and highlights the big differences between dedicated e-ink e-readers, reading tablets (like the Kindle Fire and B&N Nook HD) and fully fledged tablets (like the iPad and Google Nexus).

Article 3 is from Forbes, is titled When Self-Published Ebooks Become Best-Sellers and discusses the growing trend of authors self-publishing their works online; article 4 is Wall Street Journal tech guru Walt Mossberg’s review of iTunes 11; and article 5 is from CNET and offers a quick review of how you can pre-order e-books for your new Android tablet or smart phone – from the Google Play Store.

1. Mac Observer Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 2: eBook Types:

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/everything-about-ebooks-ereaders-pt-2-ebook-types

2. Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 3: Apple’s iPad:

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/everything-about-ebooks-ereaders-pt-3-apples-ipad

3. When Self-Published Ebooks Become Best-Sellers:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2012/12/03/when-self-published-ebooks-become-best-sellers/

4. iTunes Gets an Upgrade Without Missing a Beat:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324355904578159220876451226.html

5. Preorder E-Books From Google Play Store:

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57555623-285/preorder-e-books-from-google-play/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Amazon Kindle FreeTime Unlimited. (2012, December 5). Amazon.com.

Cozma, Nicole. (2012, November 28). Preorder E-Books From Google Play. CNET.

Greenfield, J. (2012, December 3). When Self-Published Ebooks Become Best-Sellers. Forbes.

Martellaro, John. (2012, November 29). Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 2: eBook Types. The Mac Observer.

Martellaro, John. (2012, December 4). Everything About eBooks & eReaders, Pt 3: Apple’s iPad. The Mac Observer.

Mossberg, Walt. (2012, December 4). iTunes Gets an Upgrade Without Missing a Beat. The Wall Street Journal.

 

 

Video Streaming: Netflix, Vs. Hulu Plus & Amazon Instant Video Available for Wii U

Linda Reimer

Video Streaming: Netflix Vs. Hulu Plus: The Geek website offers an article today that is a basic introduction to the differences between the Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming video services.

Both services cost $7.99 per month for unlimited streaming and both services are available via laptops, Macs, PCs, smart phones, most smart TVs, some gaming consoles and traditional (aka non-smart) TVs via inexpensive media streaming players (Roku, Apple TV etc). Netflix offers a more extensive catalog of movies and TV shows but Hulu Plus offers more currently-on-the-air shows.

So just FYI if you’re thinking of buying a new tablet, smart TV or media streaming player this season!

And I will also put in a good word in for this cord cutter’s favorite streaming video service – Amazon Instant Video (and Pandora via Roku) which actually offers most television shows for streaming the day after they air – and I find Amazon Instant Video offers a more extensive catalog of newer movies and TV shows than Netflix or Hulu Plus so it is another service to consider. And you can try out any of these video streaming services on your computer if like. You can rent or buy movies and TV shows from Amazon without subscribing to a service.

Netflix and offers a 30 day trial version of their service and Hulu Plus offers a free one week trial.

Also of note, in addition to their Instant Video service, Amazon offers a “Prime” streaming service that you can try for free for 30 days. It costs $79 per year and allows movie and TV fans unlimited streaming access to any of the videos in the prime library.

And here’s the link to the Geek article which discusses the differences between the Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming subscriptions:

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/netflix-vs-hulu-plus-video-streaming-2012123/

Amazon Instant Video Available For New Wii U: And here’s a second link that discusses the fact that Amazon Instant Video is available for the new Wii U so if you are one of the thousands of people nationwide that have purchased the new Wii U – or if you receive one during the holiday season — you can check out Amazon’s Instant Video store – when you’ve completed the current level of whatever game you’re playing that is!

Here’s a link to the aptly titled Slashgear article, Amazon Instant Video For Wii U Released, on the subject:

http://www.slashgear.com/amazon-instant-video-for-wii-u-released-22258024/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

Internet Privacy Bill Going Before Congress In The New Year

Linda Reimer

As a complement to the November 26th library tech blog posting titled Tweaked Senate Bill Would Allow Government To Read E0Mails Without Warrant– here is essentially an update!

In essence, a new bill, which will go before congress in the next year, focuses on Internet privacy and would require law enforcement officers to obtain a warrant from a judge before they could access someone’s personal emails. So this bill is just the opposite of the dropped bill and would do much more to protect the right of individuals to keep the contents of their personal e-mail correspondence private.

The New York Times offers an article on this new bill titled Panel Approves a Bill to Safeguard E-Mail (Written by Savage, C. 11-29-12)

Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/technology/senate-committee-approves-stricter-privacy-for-e-mail.html?ref=technology&_r=0

Have a great evening!

Linda R.

iTunes 11 & The Freedom Of The Internet & A New U.N. Regulatory Communications Treaty

Linda Reimer

iTunes 11 Debuts: Apple’s iTunes has been upgraded to version 11. iTunes is of course, the Apple music/media store where you can purchase music, movies, audio books and/or television shows from your computer or mobile Apple devices. This new version of iTunes seems to offers a major redesign. Art-work is featured front and center in this new version and it all reminds me more of the look of the apps on a tablet that the way iTunes looked on a PC or Mac in version 10. In addition to the re-design iTunes 11 is supposed to have a number of new features – mostly related to iCloud integration.

Here’s a link to a Tech Crunch article, simply titled iTunes 11, that offers more in-depth information on the new version of iTunes:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/29/itunes-11/

The Freedom Of The Internet & A New U.N. Regulatory Communications Treaty: The Internet since its inception has been an open forum for the free expression of ideas. And as it has evolved the ability it offers us to communicate with almost anyone almost anywhere in the world at anytime has transformed the world. I’m sure you all know all of that – however, what you may not know in relation, is that the International Telecommunications Union, which is a part of the United Nations, is hosting a conference in Dubai in December to revise the International Telecommunications Regulation Treaty. Now the ITR Treaty was put in place in the mid nineteen eighties before the evolution of the Internet; and of course, a number of lobby groups are interested in gaining the power to regulate the Internet in their countries so this is something we proponents of free speech and freedom of thought should be aware of!

Here are links to two articles that offer more information on this subject.

The first article is written by Ross LaJeunesse, Google’s Global Head of Free Expression and International Relations, and is titled Who Should Control The Internet? The People Who Use It and is from the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ross-lajeunesse/who-should-control-the-in_b_2217940.html

And the second article is from the site Tech Crunch is written Ingrid Lunden and is titled If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It: EU Adds Its Voice To The Chorus Opposing More Internet Regulation Ahead of Key ITU Dubai Meeting:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/30/if-it-aint-broke-dont-fix-it-eu-adds-its-voice-to-the-chorus-opposing-more-internet-regulation-ahead-of-key-itu-dubai-meeting/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

Ten Million People Uploaded Their Photos to Instagram on Thanksgiving Day & HarperCollins To Publish Digital Only Teen E-Books

Linda Reimer

Ten Million People Uploaded Their Photos to Instagram on Thanksgiving Day: Another sign of how technology usage, in this case social media usage, is transforming our society can be found in the fact that ten million people uploaded their photos to Instagram on Thanksgiving Day.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, Instagram is a photo sharing app available for both Apple and Android devices that allows one to easily take a photo via his or her cell phone or tablet, put a customized frame around the photo, put a caption to the photo and then quickly put it out on the Internet for family and friends to see.

Ten million of course isn’t a small number and that ten million people used on photo sharing app to upload photos on the same day is notable as a sign of the changing times. However, if we consider ten million a huge number consider the related fact that on an average day three hundred million photos are uploaded to Facebook! Three hundred million – wow – that is an even more colossal number! That is approximately how many people we have in the United States! And of course, I came across an interesting article that relayed these facts – it is from PC World and is titled Instagram Users Set Thanksgiving Photo Upload Record. Here’s the link:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2016580/instagram-users-set-thanksgiving-photo-upload-record.html

HarperCollins To Publish Digital Only Teen E-Books: Publisher HarperCollins will be debuting a teen only series of digital only books – e-books – the first Tuesday of every month starting on December 4. Each month Harper Collins will issue these new works under their Harper Teen Impulse Titles banner and the works will be shorter ones – shorter than novel length that is – the e-books will be novellas or short stories and will range in price from $0.99 to $2.99.

The tech site PaidContent has an article on this subject if you’d like to peruse it! It is titled Harper Collins launches digital only teen imprint and can be found via the following link:

http://paidcontent.org/2012/11/26/harpercollins-launches-digital-only-teen-imprint/

Have a great day!

Linda R.

The Benefits Of Quiet Time

Linda Reimer

I’m going to take the library tech blog posting in a completely sideways direction today!

And to translate that – the subject I’m going to discuss – the benefits of fitting a quiet time into our daily lives– has nothing whatsoever to do with technology – except perhaps for the fact that in our current high-tech world finding a quiet space to enjoy some quiet time is increasingly difficult.

And as you might imagine I stumbled across two articles online this week that both note the importance of working quiet time into our daily lives. And I found the articles had both an inspiring and reminding impact on me. Inspiring because the articles prompted me to do a non-tech blog posting and reminding because…once upon a time I knew that finding a quiet space to be allowed me to read, think, relax and even create in a much more in-depth and meaningful way that I can do in a noisy environment. However, along the way I’ve sort of forgotten that fact!

And I think I forgot the fact that quiet time does benefit one in many ways by fostering creativity, allowing one to think, read and work without external distractions etc. because the technology that I love allows us access to so much information and media — all available at our fingertips and all accessible 24/7/365; that I rarely encounter quiet in my daily life. The only except, and the only regular daily dose of quiet I usually encounter in my daily routine,  is found in the first few minutes after I wake up in the morning – and before my cats start to audibly alert me that it is time for breakfast!

Now of course the idea that having a quiet time is beneficial isn’t a new idea, and I’m not going to suggest we all go Thoreau-ish and move into a cabin in the woods to obtain some quiet time. However, I do think we tend to forget the benefits of having a quiet time worked into our daily lives and that we should find the time to enjoy some quiet time on a regular basis as it is good for us!

And tonight when I go home I’m not going to turn on Pandora the minuet I get in the door – instead I think I’ll sit down and read and let the quiet unfold around me for a while – after I feed the cats of course!

And here are the links to the two inspiring and reminding articles that prompted me to really think about how infrequently I encounter quiet time in my daily life:

The first article is an opinion piece that was published in the New York Times last Sunday (11-17-12); it is titled The Quiet Ones, itwas written by Tim Kreider and discusses the need and benefits of finding a quiet time via the author riding in the Quiet Car on the train during commutes.

Here’s the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/opinion/sunday/the-quiet-ones.html?pagewanted=all

The second article is another opinion piece written by Michael T. Dolan for Philly.com and it is titled simply Quiet Time. And instead of using a Quiet Car on a train to highlight the benefits of a quiet time on one’s daily life – the author uses the holiday season which he finds to be a reflective season and one during which quiet reflection is especially meaningful as it is in tune with the rhythm of natural world which is transitioning to its quietest time of the year – winter.

Here’s the link:

http://articles.philly.com/2012-11-22/news/35303258_1_tv-noise-winter-gas-pumps

And here’s a link to a third article, also found on the NYT website, which I thought was also relevant to the subject of quiet contemplation – although this piece doesn’t focus on finding quiet time itself – instead it focuses on the related, reflective subject of finding time to enjoy life, finding time to smell the roses as the expression goes – and this opinion piece has quite the eye catching title – it is titled On Not Being Dead!

Here’s the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/opinion/on-being-not-dead.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

And if you’re looking for some inexpensive fun this evening don’t forget the library is hosting a free film! The comedy The Trip will be shown as this evenings’ Friday Night Free Film.

The doors open at 6:45 and the film starts at 7 PM sharp. Join us!

Have a great holiday weekend everyone and don’t forget although the library is open our regular hours today (Friday, 11-23 – 10 AM – 6 PM) and tomorrow (Saturday, 11-24 – 10 AM – 4 PM) and then we will be closed all next week so ceiling tiles in the library can all be replaced.

The library will re-open on Monday, December 3 at 10 AM.

Linda R.