"For most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news." Gloria Borger

Dear reader,
Sorry there have not been any updates recently. I have been working on a few possible new classes and that requires much more time. Also the amount of tech and new sites coming out this time of year is immense. I will be resuming normal blog updates very soon. A few housekeeping things to tell you. The blue computer class schedule is not going to be printed for the foreseeable future. However you can always find the newest schedule here. Also you can sign up for emails when the newest schedule is up here. The latest schedule of classes only goes to December but I am working on January and February’s schedule now. One last thing I plan to put up a poll to find out what direction to take with the blog. If anyone has any suggestions criticisms or any questions please email.

Thank you for your patience.

Shane

“I've been on a calendar, but never on time.” Marilyn Monroe

Has the computer age cut you off from the human race? Does it seem like everything you use from your computer to your calendar has a lifeless digital feel? Well then it is time to bring humanity back to basic things. Let us start with a calendar shall we? The Human Calendar is a bit of a frivolous page that is also kind of awesome. Essentially a ton of pictures were taken of people holding placement cards so they could emulate a standard calendar. It is simple and rather fun to look at. Again this won’t speed you through your day but at least it will make it more interesting. Give it a try.

Review of Stephen Levy's book The Perfect Thing

Gloria Church is the head of the Whiz Kids program here at Providence Public Library. The Whiz Kids is a series of programs for kids of all ages using computers to do all sorts of fun activities. I had the pleasure of being a part of it one summer and it was a lot of fun. Check the schedule here for dates. The reason I mention this is because Gloria had suggested a book for the blog that she really enjoyed. Below is her review.

Now I'm not one to get emotional about products except food but hearing people talk about their iPod has really made me curious. A close friend at work will blurt out "I love my iPod. No, I mean I really looove my iPod" Ok, ok I believe you so I had to learn more. Stephen Levy's book The Perfect Thing covers everything about the iPod, its creation, development, coolness and shuffle features. Written by the senior editor of technology for Newsweek, the book's cover looks like an iPod and its chapters are shuffled in different order in different copies. The author takes several chapters to examine the coolness factor of the iPod. "While coolness might have been in the back of Apple's head all along, the company's real drive was for greatness." The incredible and relentless attention to every minutia of the iPod's design is what fascinated me. Other chapters include Download, Podcasts, Identity and Personal. The chapter on "shuffle" was another favorite of mine and really got my brain cells buzzing. Shuffle, of course, is the feature that takes your song playlist and mixes it up in a random fashion. Stephen Levy wonders as do many others, "is the shuffle function not really random at all?" He investigates reports from many that "the iPod, despite being the inanimate object that it was, would decide which artist it was in the mood for and then flood the listening session with that performer's works." This became comical but really fun to read about as he approached Apple programmmers and Steve Jobs himself. Check this book out;we have it at the library and its a fast read.