Although December has just begun, the holiday shopping season is in full swing. One of my favorite sites for technology gift ideas is www.cnet.com. Check their Holiday Gift Ideas and choose from cameras, cell phones, laptops, mp3 players, tvs, and much more. In addition to reviews, they offer product specifications and price comparisons. They are sure to have something for that hard-to-shop-for person!
My calendar is rapidly filling up and I'm not sure I'll have time to go to Manhattan to see the holiday store windows (one of my favorite activities!). If you are in the same boat, you can enjoy the windows from the comfort of your own home. Here's a sampling of what you can see online:
Today is the day that the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show opens in Las Vegas. If you can't make it there, you should visit Cnet's site to see the latest electronics and gadgets that may (or may not) become available to us. It's also a great place to see the Best and Worst Technology of 2007.
We can all help to make the world a better place. If each person makes at least one small change in the way they live today, they can have a tremendous cumulative positive effect on the world our children and grandchildren live in. Do you know that if every household in the U.S. replaced five of their most frequently used light bulbs with Energy Star labeled bulbs, we would prevent more than one trillion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions? For links to many organizations (including the Wilton Energy Commission) and websites that have both practical and scholarly information, visit our Environment pages at www.wiltonlibrary.org/research/directory/environment.htm. We can all make a difference!
On Thursday, January 17, 2008, Sree Sreeivansan, the technology contributor to the Today in New York show did a piece on homework helpers on the web. One site, Tutor.com, was listed as having a charge. Did you know that you have 24/7 access to infoAnytime (powered by Tutor.com) FOR FREE? Click here for 24/7 access to a live librarian. This librarian will use the resources of Wilton Library to answer your reference questions (you don't have to have homework to use this service). Remember that you have two gateways to great information: (1) Call Wilton Library's Reference Desk at 762-3950, Ext. 211; email: reference@wiltonlibrary.org or (2) when we are closed, click on the infoAnytime link at the bottom of our homepage, www.wiltonlibrary.org for 24/7 access to a live librarian. If you have any questions, email me at mamfranco@wiltonlibrary.org or call me at 203-762-3950, Ext. 210.
Do you also get lots of "junk" mail delivered to you each day by your mailperson? In 2008, I have resolved to "clean up" as much unnecessary mail as I can. I have canceled subscriptions to the magazines I don't read (besides, I can go to the Wilton Library to read all the magazines I want for free!). Most importantly, I have signed up for catalogchoice.org, a free service that allows you to "opt out" from receiving catalogs you don't want to receive. If the catalog you would like to remove yourself from is not shown, you can suggest it to catalogchoice.org. Canceling unwanted catalogs is also good for the environment--less trash and less stuff to be recycled.
My husband and I are studying Italian (again)! We last visited Italy in 2000 after taking a course at NYU and understanding the language (even on a limited basis) made the trip so much more fun. We are now taking private lessons and our teacher has introduced us to some online tools that make our studying experience much easier than it was in the past.
My favorite tool is the online dictionary at www.wordreference.com. In addition to Italian, they have Spanish, French, and Portuguese dictionaries. My favorite feature is looking up a particular verb form and being given the exact form of the verb (e.g., "parla" is the present tense third person singular form of the verb "parlare.").
We also subscribed to 24 hour Italian television through our cable service. We then found free Italian television that we can watch on our computer. There are many channels that include sports, news, local television from various cities, Vatican TV, music, and more. If you can't immerse yourself in the language by traveling to Italy, having Italian television around the clock is the next best thing! This television site also has access to stations in other languages from all over the world.
The Italian television station (RAI) also offers an interactive children's section that we enjoy exploring.
Don't forget that you can also find DVDs in Italian (as well as in other languages) here at the Wilton Library. La vita e bella!
It's almost time to make a decision on buying an HDTV. But, buying a new television is not as easy as it was in the past. Not only are there technical decisions to be made, there are decorating decisions to be made (do we hang it on the wall or put it on a new piece of furniture). It can also be a very expensive decision so it should be made with care. Cnet.com has a terrific section on "Everything you need to know about HDTV", including a section on how to save your old TV from a snowy death for about $20 or less.
If you'd like to know how HDTV works, visit Wikipedia for the technical details.
The Federal Communications Commission has a guide for consumers including a countdown to Digital TV Transition Day which is February 17, 2009.
I have been lucky enough to find love not once but twice on the Internet! My husband and I adopted both of our Yorkshire Terriers from a wonderful organization--Save a Yorkie Rescue. We are now the proud parents of Sophie (rescued last year from a puppy mill) and Gazoo (rescued last month from a puppy mill).
There are many wonderful organizations from which you can adopt terrific pets who need a second chance. Local organizations that come to mind are Strays and Others in New Canaan, and Paws in Norwalk. Adopting older pets can be very rewarding--Sophie is four and Gazoo is seven but sometimes puppy mill rescues can have issues you will need to deal with. Our favorite resource for guidance is The Dog Whisperer and you can find his books at Wilton Library. I would love to hear from you about other local organizations you can recommend!
Are there times when you want to leave a voicemail message on someone's mobil phone but do not want to disturb them (or perhaps you are trying to avoid a potentially awkward conversation)?
Slydial is a new service that allows you to dial the Slydial phone number (267-759-3425) from any landline or mobile phone, enter a person's mobil phone number, and be directly connected to their voicemail.
I find it useful when I want to leave a message for my husband when I know he's in a meeting, when I want to leave non-emergency messages for co-workers, and when it's early in the morning and I do not want to disturb someone.
This service is free (you pay for the phone call). You do not have to sign up although signing up allows you to access advanced features. For more information, visit www.slydial.com.
8/8/08: The day is almost here for the 2008 Summer Olympics from Beijing, China. Television coverage will be carried by NBC on Channel 4 network television, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, Telemundo, NBC Olympic Basketball Channel, and NBC Olympic Soccer Channel. There will also be coverage online at www.nbcolympics.com. Click on TV & Online listings. You can even sign up for email and/or mobil phone alerts to make sure you don't miss your favorite events! Check out the Official 2008 Olympic site, the competition schedule, Wikipedia, China's Official English website. Let the games begin!
Have you seen Google Knol? ABC News calls it the "Silicon Valley behemoth's answer to Wikipedia." They are both user-generated encyclopedias but Google Knol identifies authors and those authors could earn a profit from their articles (with the profit growing as the article receives more hits). I did a quick comparison of both sites using the search term "Madonna." There were three results in Google Knol (all about the singer Madonna). I clicked on one author's name and was presented with "Biographical knol not published" (I found this with quite a few other searches I did).
Wikipedia came back with many different results, including:
While neither site is perfect (and I would not necessarily rely on either of them for authoritative information), I find Wikipedia to be a great starting point for research. It allows me to learn the language of the subject I am researching and it can often open up new paths to follow. Google Knol is new but it is a site I will continue to watch.
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