Librarian in Black Blog – Sarah Houghton

Overdrive finally launched its app for iPhones.  Overdrive already has apps for Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile.  Check out your mobile eBooks!   Enjoy!

Cindi Trainor is known best as an awesome librarian, but also as the talented portrait photographer at library conferences.  Learn from her genius!

She’s written a 3-part series of posts on library photography on the ALA TechSource blog.  Read all three parts to learn how to take better photos at your library:

• Taking Pictures and Telling Stories at Our Libraries, Part I
• Take Pictures, Tell Stories Pt 2: Photography Basics
• Take Pictures, Tell Stories Part 3: A la Mode

You guys know Answers.com, right?  It’s a huge Q&A site, rather like Yahoo Answers but better because there’s a lot less useless “chaff” questions than there are on Yahoo.   Now Answers.com is now taking questions (& answering them) through Twitter.  Just send a message to @answersdotcom.  Sound familiar?  Kind of like what some libraries are doing as a supplemental contact/reference medium for customers?  See the Tech Crunch story for more info.

I love this PowerPoint presentation on technology gender politics: “What it Takes to Be a Digital Woman” by Taly Weiss.  I found it through a Slideshare recommendation.  That site is way to smart for its own good – it makes me want to look at slides all day long, which kind of says a lot since I hate PowerPoints as a learning tool…

Great presentation from Tim O’Reilly: Open Source and Open Data in the Age of the Cloud.

A new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project: Teens and Mobile Phones.

The survey, done in late 2009, concluded that text messaging among teens is becoming increasingly popular, with the number of teens who  ext daily going up from 38% to 54% in the last 18 months.  And there are more messages too.  Over half of teens send >50 texts a day (which works out to 1500 a month), and one third of teens send >100 texts a day (3000 a month).  14-17 year old girls lead the charge, with 13-14 year old boys trailing (I’ll resist the urge to crack a joke about boys and their social development).

The Future of Libraries in Finland from Aaron Schmidt

Think your computer is spyware free?  That your magical Norton antivirus (*short*) sheds unicorn tears and shoots out rainbows of safe goodness?  Wrong!  According to Symantec, only 51% of malware in 2009 was even detected, much less quarantined successfully or fixed.  Malware is all the bad stuff that happens to your computer: spyware, viruses, trojan horses, adware, on and on.

This is only one company’s report, but it sounds credible to me…in which case may I pause a moment, turn away, and scream into my fist (!!!).  I’m back.  But seriously.   If you have a home computer, smart phone, or wifi networks, which you likely do, please follow this advice.  It’s worth making yourself secure.  The first time you get infected or bot-ed (look it up), you’ll be wishing you had listened to me.  I promise.

Computer Security Software

• Put an antivirus system on (Microsoft Security Essentials is free for Windows users, and good / otherwise use MalwareBytes or Avast Home Edition–both free)
• Install a Firewall, like PC Tools Firewall Plus (free)
• Install AdAware (free)
• Install Anti-Spyware stuff like SpyBot Search & Destroy, SpywareGuard, SpywareBlaster (all free, use all three; they do different things)
• Make sure you’re doing regular back-up too — it’s easy, just sign up with an online auto-back-up company like Carbonite ($) or buy an external hard drive and make yourself do weekly back-ups religiously.

Security on Your Wireless Network

If you have wifi set up at home, take a few extra moments to make it safe.

• Change the Admin Password.  Wireless access points come with a default password, which is usually non-secure & easy to guess, like “password” or “wireless.”  Make sure you change that default password, then write it down because you’ll need it later to access the router.
• Enable WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption, instead of the default WEP (Wired Equivalency Privacy).
• Turn off SSID broadcasting.  Most wifi routers broadcast the network name (which is called the SSID).  This would make your wifi network visible to anyone within range (e.g. neighbors too cheap to buy their own wifi and smart enough to hack yours).  Turn off SSID broadcasting.
• Disable remote administration unless you are absolutely going to need it (e.g. administering the router remotely through the internet, e.g. while not right next to the machine).

Smart Phone Security Software

If you have a smart phone, you sure as monkeys better have some anti-virus and back-up on there too.  Here are some recommendations:

• For Android, try Lookout Mobile Security (100% free, does anti-virus, back-up, and offers a missing/stolen device service) or AntiVirus Free (free of course) for just plain anti-virus
• For the iPhone, try Virus Barrier (free trial, then $$) and/or Smart Surfing from TrendMicro (which isn’t antivirus but rather a secure browser, 100% free)
  
• For Windows Mobile first try prayer, then when that doesn’t work go with Symantec Mobile AntiVirus for Windows Mobile (free trial, then $$) or TrendMicro Mobile Security (free trial, then $$)

Excellent advice for trainers, teachers, and instructors (which is pretty much every library employee): “10 Reflective Steps to Improve Training” by Lauren Pressley on ALA Learning.

• May 4, 2010 – “Best Free Web & Technology Services for Libraries” webinar for the California Library Association
• May 11, 2010 – “Quick and Easy Library Mobile Services” for the Bay Area Special Library Association
• May 12, 2010 – “Coordinating a Social Media Presence for the Library” webinar for the Innovation for Libraries in the 21st Century Online Conference
• June 8, 2010 – “The Future of Libraries and Technology: The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes” for ALS/TAP Information Services Futures for Libraries conference
• June-July, 2010 – “Advanced Web Searching” (four-week online class for Infopeople)
• July 22, 2010 – “The Future of Libraries and Technology: The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes” – Keynote for the SEFLIN Annual Conference
• August 4, 2010 – “Battling Information Overload: Information Professional Skills to Help You Through” – SLA Webinar
• August 25, 2010 – “Battling Information Overload: Key Techniques for Different Technologies” – SLA Webinar