Library Technology in Texas

Phishing Quiz

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: June 23, 2009

Want to see how good you are in spotting phishing schemes?  SonicWall created a quiz to test your knowledge — the SonicWall Phishing and Spam IQ Quiz.  Good news?  Test-takers are better able to spot a phishing scam now (86%) versus 2004 (69%).

I got 8 of 10 correct; how’d you do?

[from CNET News]

Twitter Search In Plain English from Common Craft

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: June 17, 2009

Common Craft has posted another great video on how to use some of the more popular web 2.0 services — this one on Twitter Search.

The Perfect Cell Phone by Dvorak

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: June 16, 2009

Ever since I first heard about the cell phone being “the” device we’ll all use, I’ve always been sceptical.  I’m not comfortable with the form factor for doing things other than making phone calls and, although I use it for Internet and texting, it isn’t easy. John Dvorak has ideas of what it would take to make a cell phone “the” device in an article in PC Mag.

I’d add one more thing — e-ink for the screen.  As much as a cell phone could do, if you can’t see it, it’s useless.

The Mom Song

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: March 23, 2009

OK– so there’s nothing technical about this one, but I had to post it.  It’s for all the Moms out there —  and even for those of you who had Moms.  See if it reminds you of anyone.

[from My Uncle]

New Look for W3C Site?

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: March 20, 2009

 

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has long been the place to go for standards dealing with the web.  The problem has been . . . well . . . that the site has always looked . . . old.

Current W3C Home Page

 

They now have a beta for their new site:

Beta for W3C Home Page

 

So much easier to use and cleaner!

 

[from W3C News]

How Fast is Google Chrome?

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: March 20, 2009

Check out some of these experiments!  Using both Google Chrome and Javascript, programmers are showing us how fast and flexible this browser really is.  As you’re playing with some of these experiments, consider how quickly it responds to your mouse/input.  It’s very much like having an application installed on your computer — except that it’s not!  These are web-based applications!

My favorite?  Glad you asked — it’s the video jigsaw puzzle.  Get all the windows/pieces in the right place and it’ll coalesce into a single window.

[from Web4Lib]

Steve Wozniak “Dancing With The Stars”

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: March 17, 2009

If you haven’t yet seen it, Steve Wozniak — co-founder of Apple Computer — was seen having a great time on Dancing with the Stars.

It’s great seeing someone so well-known step out of their comfort zone and have fun doing it!

Suicide

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: March 12, 2009

The Internet and the services that have been developed for it are usually helpful; sometimes a little funny or off-beat, but for the most part, they can help us in our work or personal lives.  On the other hand, we sometimes see these services used in indiscriminate and harmful ways.  That’s where this story fits in.

Although not the first suicide on the Internet, it is the first I’ve seen.  In November 2008, a 19-year-old man posted to Justin.tv that he was going to kill himself.  Apparently, this wasn’t the first time he’d done this, so some thought he wasn’t serious.  Others thought it was a joke.  Unfortunately, this time, he was serious.

Justin.tv is a place to broadcast and watch live video online while chatting with friends.  While streaming, this man took pills as others encouraged him through chat (again, probably assuming this was a prank.)  Some watchers became alarmed when he didn’t move and tracked him down to Broward County, Florida and called the police.  By the time they arrived, he was dead.

The video, of course, has been pulled, but there is still much information posted on various sites from people who saw it.  If you want to read it, you can find it.  Just let me say that it is very depressing.

[from CNET]

Deleting Accounts

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: March 11, 2009

Thanks to PCMag.com, we have one place to check if you want to delete your accounts on some of the major services.  I don’t know about you, but I have many accounts on different services — primarily to see if they fit me or if I fit them.  There are many that I just leave behind.  It would be nice to made a clean break and delete the account, but it isn’t always easy to know how.  PCMag.com gives us instructions for:

  • Social networks:  Classmates.com, Facebook, Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace, MyLife.com
  • Online retailers:  Amazon.com, Audible.com, Blockbuster Online, eBay, iTunes, Netflix, PayPal
  • Blog services:  Blogger, Twitter
  • Sharing services:  Flickr, Photobucket, YouTube
  • Online services:  AOL/AIM, MobileMe, Google, Windows Live, Yahoo 

Basic Computer Skills for Library Staff

Posted by: Christine Peterson on: March 10, 2009

The October 2008 issue of Computers in Libraries has a great article by Rachel Singer Gordon and Jessamyn West on the basic computer skills needed by every library staff member.  Although you may add others, this is a great place to start:

  • Rebooting
  • Troubleshoot rebooting problems
  • Copy/paste
  • Save/move/copy files
  • Ask for help
  • Basic printer troubleshooting
  • Basic printer options
  • Printing frames
  • Basic word processing
  • Checking electrical connections
  • How to tell if your Internet is down, or everyone’s; one page is down or all the Internet
  • Creating a good password
  • Identify which applications are open and how to manipulate these windows

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