Selena Piro - Tech Tips

Try out hoopla for Great Free Digital Content on Demand

hoopla is a free service the library offers that has all sorts of digital content available for streaming and downloading.

There are many types of digital content on hoopla: ebooks, digital audiobooks, music, movies, TV shows, magazines and graphic novels.

hoopla is available on a variety of devices including iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, a computer, and on your TV through Roku devices, Amazon Fire sticks, and Apple TV devices.

Content on hoopla is always available. There are no wait lists. If you see a title you like, you can borrow it right away. You can borrow five titles per month. The borrow count resets at the start of each month.

hoopla is only available to East Greenbush/Schodack residents, but many libraries in the Upper Hudson Library System offer access as well. If you’re unsure, check with your home library.

Using Hoopla

Navigate to hoopla’s website or download the app from your device’s app store. If you haven’t used hoopla before, click or tap the get started button to register. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll see hoopla’s home screen. Note: the screenshots in this post are from an iOS device, but it should be fairly similar on whichever device you’re using.

The top row has featured content suggestions from hoopla. Next, you’ll see the different content categories. You can tap on any of these categories to browse the different types of content. Under the categories, you’ll see current and recently borrowed items. If you keep scrolling, there are recommendations based on borrowing history, items you’ve added to favorites and various featured content from hoopla.

Books

To browse through the content that hoopla offers, use the navigation toolbar on the home screen.

Ebooks, audiobooks, and comics are in their own categories.

Tapping on a title in any section gives you more details about that title. You can add titles to your favorites list by tapping the heart icon. Scrolling down, you’ll see related authors and published reviews. The title screen shows the lending period and if the item is downloadable.

Books, audiobooks, and comics have a 21 day borrowing period. To borrow, tap the borrow button.

screenshot of a title screen, showing the borrow button, loan period, and favorites icon.

Videos

screenshot showing movies section of hoopla. Titles shown include Talk to Me, The Whale, and Everything Everywhere All at Once.

hoopla offers both movies and television series. The section for each is accessible by tapping their respective buttons on the home screen. The top row of each section has featured titles. If you scroll down a bit, you can access a list of genres and collections. Movies and television titles both have a lending period of three days.

BingePasses

To navigate to BingePasses, tap the BingePasses button on the home screen.

BingePasses are entire collections of streaming content. When you borrow a BingePass, it only counts as one borrow.

Some examples of BingePasses include hoopla magazines, which include issues of magazines such as Us Weekly, Reader’s Digest, TIME, and more. Hallmark Movies Now is another BingePass that gives you unlimited access to the entire Hallmark Movies Now on-demand library for seven days. These include movies from the Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Family, and Hallmark Mystery.

BingePasses have a seven day loan period.

Music

To navigate to music, tap the music button on the navigation bar on the home screen. Popular titles are shown first. Scroll down a bit and you’ll be able to browse through all the available genres and collections available on hoopla.

Each title’s page contains the tracks on that album and whether it is downloadable.

Music titles have a seven day lending period.

Accessing Borrowed Content

Your borrowed content can be accessed by tapping the My hoopla button on the bottom navigation bar.

Books can only be read or listened to on the hoopla app (there are no Kindle compatible books on hoopla). Ebooks and comics are automatically downloaded to your device when you borrow them. Content that hasn’t been downloaded is streamed with an internet connection. You can download content to your device by going to the item in My hoopla and tapping download to your device. If a title has been downloaded, you’ll see that as well. You can delete the download if you would like. Keep in mind, if you haven’t downloaded content (aside from ebooks and comics), it will not be accessible without an internet connection.

screen shot of a borrowed item showing that the title has been downloaded.

At the end of an item’s loan period, it will be automatically returned.

My hoopla is also where you access your favorites list.

Kids Mode

hoopla offers a mode to show only kid-friendly content. To turn it on, tap the Kids icon in the top left corner. When you turn on Kids mode, you have the option to set a pin in order to exit back to all content.

Search and Settings

Looking for a particular title, author, or series? Use the search button on the bottom navigation bar.

To change settings, tap on the settings icon on the bottom navigation bar. Here, there is the ability to turn Kids mode on, as well as other settings.

Personal settings allows you to change the email address associated with your account, change your password, hide your history, or only download titles while connected to WiFi. You also have the option to cancel your account.

In Library settings, you can change what library you use to access hoopla. You can also change your library card number.

Notification settings allows you to turn on email notifications or push notifications. Notifications include personalized recommendations and new content alerts.

Tapping on Link a streaming device allows you to link your account to another device such a Roku or Amazon Fire stick.

Conclusion

hoopla offers many types of content, available for free with your library card. If you have trouble logging in or have any questions about hoopla, please contact the library.

Have you used hoopla? Let us know in the comments.

A New Way to Print from Any Device with Princh

Starting March 11, the library will offer a new service called Princh for wireless printing. In the past, we had used a service called PrinterOn.

Princh is accessible on any device including your computer, smartphone, or tablet.

Selecting an Item to Print

To begin, visit our printing portal.

Click/tap “click here to select and upload a file” to choose the item you are printing. Accepted file types include Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc), Apple’s iWork (Pages, Numbers, etc), images/screenshots and more. Check out the full list of accepted file types here.

After selecting the item you are printing, there are more options.

Screenshot showing the file name of what is being printed. The settings button is next to the file name.

Changing Print Settings

To change the displayed language, tap English in the top right corner for over 10 language options. If you would like to change the number of copies, the color settings, the paper size, or more print settings, click/tap on the blue and white gear icon next to the file name of what you are printing.

Screenshot showing the settings screen, allowing settings such as black and white or color, number of copies, page range and duplex options to be changed.

There are a variety of options available to change including paper size, color or black white white, page range and more. You can also preview the document or remove it if you change your mind about printing it. Also displayed is the total number of pages and cost of the print job. After you have made your changes, click/tap on the green accept button.

Next, click/tap on Accept Terms and Conditions check box and click/tap on the continue button.

Enter your email address to continue. You will get a conformation email once the job has been processed. Use the same email address at the print release station at the library to pay for and release your print job.

After the job has been processed successfully, a status of ready is displayed in the print queue next to the file name.

Screenshot showing item has successfully submitted to be printed.

Once you’ve received the ready conformation, head on over to the print release station at the library, located next to the Reference Desk.

Our printing prices remain the same:

Black & White, single-sided: 15¢ per page
Black & White, double-sided: 30¢ per sheet
Color, single-sided: 50¢ per page

Have you tried out Princh yet? Let us know in the comments.

Learn a New Language with Mango!

The library now offers access to a new language learning program called Mango. Mango can be accessed on a computer or through an app on a mobile device. Note: this service is available only to residents of East Greenbush or Schodack. Not a resident of EG or Schodack? Anyone can use Mango at the library!

There are two different ways to start using Mango. The first is by visiting the library’s landing page on a computer or in a mobile browser:
https://connect.mangolanguages.com/eastgreenbushlibrary/start

Visit the Google Play store or Apple App Store to download the app on your mobile device.

Start Using Mango

When using Mango for the first time, there is a prompt to either login or sign up for an account. Click sign up to proceed.

If accessing Mango from outside of the library, you will also have to enter your library card number. Once you have created your account, choose a language to learn.

Screenshot showing language list, starting with popular languages.

The most popular languages are first. To see a complete list of languages, scroll down. There are many languages to choose from, including both Latin American and Castilian Spanish, Italian, Korean, Russian, Urdu, Greek, Japanese, American Sign Language, and many more.

Navigating the App

Once you have made your language choice, you have the option to access the main learning section, which contains a placement test to gauge your familiarity the language. The learn tab contains the main units, which have five sections: introductions, connections, community, lifestyle, and ambitions.

Screen shot showing a Mango lesson with Italian. There are main units shown: introductions, connections, community, lifestyle, ambitions

To begin, tap on one of the lesson headings. The first time you access this section within the app, there is a tutorial about Mango and the different features it offers. Also in the learn section are specialty units specific to the chosen language.

Lessons and Chapters

Once you’ve gone through the tutorial, you’ll see the lessons within that chapter. Tap each number to get to that section of the lesson. To pick up where you left off, tap the blue triangle icon in the bottom right corner. When you open a chapter, the lessons are downloaded automatically and can be accessed with or without an internet connection. The number displayed next to the downloaded lessons label shows the amount of data the downloaded lessons take up on your device with the option to delete the data. Deleting the data does not remove your progress.

Lessons that have not been downloaded yet will have a black down arrow next to the lesson number. There are also sections with only listening lessons and only reading lessons.

Screenshot showing Chapter 1, divided into lessons.

In the Vocabulary tab, there are Mango curated vocabulary cards or create your own cards for particular words or phrases.

The Review tab contains a personalized review to catch up on your lessons.

To change which language you’re learning, tap on languages in the top left corner. The progress made with previously chosen languages is automatically saved. To access previously chosen languages swipe left or right.

To access more features, tap on the three lines in the top right corner. Here, there are options to edit your profile, change the language you are learning, an option to set up study reminders, and more.

Desktop Version and Mango Movies

The desktop version of Mango is only slightly different from the app. There are still Learn and Vocabulary tabs. The review tab is within the Learn and Vocabulary tabs. On the Explore tab, there is also a feature that is exclusive to the website called Mango Movies.

Mango Movies are videos that contain culture-packed content to help you learn a language. Once you click on play on a title, you can choose if you would like movie mode, which contains interactive content and no interruptions, or engage mode, which allows you to learn more about the dialogue with short lessons and interactive content throughout the movie.

On the subtitles screen, choose whether you want to see no subtitles, English subtitles, the subtitles of the language you’re learning, or both.

In the immersive mode, each scene starts with an introduction to the scene. Next you can view the scene, after that there is a follow up section, and then the option to view the scene again.

Screen shot of Mango movies showing an Italian movie with subtitles in English and Italian.

Another feature exclusive to the website is the translate section. You can access the translator by clicking on tools in the top navigation bar.

Screen shot showing translator on Mango's website.

To change the learning language on the desktop website, click on the name of the language in the top left corner.

Family Profiles

In both the app and the desktop site, Mango offers a feature called Family Profiles. You can add up to five family profiles. This may come in handy if you have children or other members of your household that want to learn different languages (or even the same language at a different pace). In the app, Family Profiles is accessed by tapping on the three lines button in the top right corner and then tapping on Family Profiles. On the desktop site,

Little Pim

In both the Mango app and on the desktop website, there is a section of Mango for younger language learners. Little Pim is especially designed for children aged one to five years old. To access Little Pim on the app, scroll to the left on the bottom black navigation bar. On the desktop website, click on Explore, then click on Little Pim.

Little Pim features videos in the language you have previously chosen when you started using Mango.

Adios, Ciao, Au Revoir

Mango is a language learning program. Mango can be accessed either through a computer or a mobile device. With Mango, you can learn a variety of languages through interactive lessons, movies, flash cards, and more.

Mango is for all levels of learners, from beginner to advanced.

Have you tried Mango yet? Let us know in the comments!

Quick & Easy Tech Tip: Edit or Unsend iOS iMessages

Starting with iOS 16, you can unsend or edit a sent message when texting someone who also has an Apple device. An easy way to tell if you are messaging a person with iMessage is the color of the messages. If the person also has an iPhone or iPad, the messages are blue. If the person you are messaging is not using an iPhone or iPad, the messages are green.

In order to unsend a message, it needs to be within two minutes from when the message was originally sent. To edit a message, it needs to be within 15 minutes of when the message was originally sent.

Unsending a Message

Screenshot of context menu that is shown when a message is long pressed.

To unsend a message, long press on the message you want to unsend. Next, tap on either undo send.

If you unsend a message, the message will disappear from the other person’s message view. Please note: the person you are messaging must have iOS 16 or higher installed on their device. Additionally, they will see a notification that you unsent a message.

Screenshot showing the view when a message is unsent.

If you edit a message, there will be a note next to your message saying it was edited. A video example of a message being unsent:

If the person is looking at their phone, they will see a message notification and be able to see the message, but will no longer be able to see or read it once the message is unsent (as long as they have iOS 16 or higher).

Editing a Message

Screenshot showing the view when a message is edited.

If the person who received the message taps on the edited text, they will be able to see a history of the edit or edits.

Screenshot showing how previous edits are displayed when a message is unsent.

The previously edited message or messages will display slightly faded. If there are multiple edits, they will all be shown.

Have you unsent or edited a message? Let us know in the comments!

Be More Productive with Easy Windows Keyboard Shortcuts

If you’re using a laptop, you may want a quicker way to get things done. Luckily, both Windows and Macs have a huge list of keyboard shortcuts. In this post, we’ll go over Windows keyboard shortcuts. Stay tuned for a Mac edition!

Windows

On a Windows computer, most shortcuts involve a combination of keys which often include the Windows key, CTRL, and ALT.

With keyboard shortcuts, press multiple keys on the keyboard at the same time to preform actions.

Control Keys

CTRL + C = Copy. First, highlight a word, block of text, or click on an object. Next, hit CTRL+ C. Copy adds the object to the clipboard so it can be inserted (pasted) later.

CTRL + V = Paste. Paste inserts the copied text or object to the current place in the document or into a new file explorer location. Go to the area where you want to insert the copied or cut text or object. Next, hit CTRL+V to paste the copied text or object.

CTRL + X = Cut. Highlight a word or block of text in an editable document such as a Word document, Google Sheets or Excel Spreadsheet. Using Control + X will delete the selected text and add it to the clipboard. When you are ready to paste it, use CTRL+V or other methods for pasting.

CTRL + F = Find. To find a particular word or phrase in a document or on a webpage, hit CTRL+F to open up a search box. If the word or phrase is found, the document will advanced to the first instance of the word or phrase. Depending on what program you’re using, the word or phrase may be highlighted as well.

Copy, cut, and paste can all be used in File Explorer as well. To duplicate or move files around, click on the file and use any of the keyboard shortcuts.

CTRL + Z = Undo. Made a mistake? CTRL + Z undoes whatever action was last performed.

CTRL + Y = Redo. Hit CTRL+Z by mistake? CTRL+Y redoes what was undone.

Windows and Alt Keys

ALT + TAB = Switch between the current open window to the most recently accessed window. Quickly hitting ALT+TAB will automatically go to the most recent window accessed. To access a different window, hit ALT+TAB, hold down ALT and then tap TAB to choose a particular window.

ALT + Windows Key = See all the current open programs on one screen. This is also a way to easily create separate desktops. For more info on separate desktops, check out this helpful article from Microsoft.

screenshot of what happens when you hit ALT+Windows. Picture shows the desktop background and mini views of the two open windows.

Windows key + L = Lock your PC. This will show the screen seen when you first log on to the computer. If you use a password to get on to your computer, you will need to re-enter your password to access your computer after hitting Windows + L.

Windows key + D = Show or hide the desktop. If you have any Windows open, this will minimize them all and show your desktop. If you are viewing the desktop, hitting CTRL+D will switch to the most recently used window.

Function Keys

If your keyboard has a row of Function Keys (F1, F2, etc), there are also some helpful shortcuts using those keys.

F2 = Rename a file or folder in Windows Explorer. Select the file you want to rename, and then hit F2. You can quickly rename the file.

F3 = When using web browser (such as Chrome, Firefox, or Edge) or Windows File Explorer, quickly pull up a search box to search the web page or for a file or folder.

ALT + F4 = Close the current window.

Those are just a sample of the many, many keyboard shortcuts available. To see a complete list, check out this helpful article from Microsoft.

Author: Selena Piro