Another Library has That Book… November 26, 2009

Nowadays,  lots of libraries link up to loan each other books.  For the library user, that means if your local library doesn’t have that book, you can request it anyway.  In a few days, that book will be shipped to your local library from the library that has that book in their collection.  Thus, the [...]

Granny box coupons ending July 31, 2009

Today is the last day to sign up for the $40 coupon for granny boxes.  I applied for my resurrected coupon and should receive it soon. I bought a channelmaster cm7000 recently. I knew about the on-screen print being too small, but I hoped that the reception would be equal to the Zeniths.  In the [...]

Airplane Pilot Stories as a Library display February 14, 2009

Captain Sully landing in the Hudson is one more story added to the lore of flying.    New York Magazine 2009 February 9 had a good article about pilots.  Libraries looking for a subject to display should consider flying and airline pilots.    The novel “Airport” by Arthur Hailey was made into a hit movie, and the [...]

Kids ARE allowed in Libraries after Feb 10th, BUT … February 2, 2009

That collective sigh of relief you heard is from Libraries across the U.S. See: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6633893.html?rssid=192 While most books may be presumed safe for now, note that Libraries are still on the hook for kid books that contain plastic softeners or lead.  Thus, all kid books that may contain softeners or lead should be pulled immediately.  [...]

Big Brother Bugs Books! Libraries and RFID January 11, 2009

Public libraries  have thin budgets, so are easily tempted by cost saving promises.  As a child, I concluded that automation could improve mankind, and I became a gadget guy.   Here comes RFID for libraries.  I think the amount of improvement gained over barcodes is minimal, and not worth the cost.  One promise is that automatic checkin  can [...]

DTV Converter Coupon supply to Slow? December 25, 2008

The question is, how much longer will the $40 granny box coupons be available?  Because there are so many variables, the best I can do is guess.  The Feds will issue 34 million coupons.  Of those, they have now mailed 40 million coupons.  Yes, the coupons are coming back from the dead.  Over half of [...]

A biggie Remote for Zenith DTV Converters December 9, 2008

 The  Zenith Converter remote  is too small for Granny.  The buttons have small lettering that has poor contrast.  The Zenith Remote operates well enough, and can turn On/Off most televisions.  But for my Mom, something better was needed.  I briefly considered the Harmony programmable remotes.  Learning Remotes also could work.  In general, TV’s come with poor [...]

Election Displays at Libraries October 6, 2008

  Some libraries now have displays up about elections.  Here are a few items to consider:  Books: A badly flawed election : debating Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court, and American democracy / edited by Ronald Dworkin.  Publication Info. New York : New Press : Distributed by Norton, 2002. Winning elections : political campaign management, strategy & [...]

“DTV Coupon Misinformation from ME!!” September 22, 2008

Another error source. ME!! Coupons are actually still available to everyone, probably until next year.  My goof was based on this under FAQs; Coupon Program; Getting a Coupon; at the DTV2009.gov site: “7.  Are all consumers eligible for the coupon program?   Yes, but supplies are limited. There are 22.25 million coupons available to all U.S. [...]

DTV Misinformation Continues September 1, 2008

In June 2005, with good weather, I decided to build an antenna for a digital television receiver.  I had heard that DTV offered crystal clear, ghost-free reception.  The TV transmitters here were in different directions, so I built a wide angle antenna (stacked cardioid) since I couldn’t buy one.  The “art object” without planned camoflage looked [...]