OverDrive App Updates

For those of you using the OverDrive App to download e-books and audiobooks from the library, get ready for some useful updates.  According to an OverDrive blog post, the following updates are already available for Android, Blackberry, and Windows phone users, and will become available to iOS (iPod, iPad, iPhone) users soon. [edit: early audiobook return for Apple devices became available on 2/17/12.]

Updates in OverDrive Media Console 2.4:

  • Ability to return audiobooks early. (E-books have always had the capacity to be returned early.)
  • Use the dictionary feature to look up words while reading.
  • Use Wikipedia search while reading.

If you already have the OverDrive Media Console app installed on your device, it should update automatically next time it is opened.  If it does not, try downloading the new version from the Android Market or directly from the OverDrive site.

Happy reading!

Highlighter Tool

HighlighterHave you ever been reading an article online and wished you could highlight a passage?  Even better – share the highlighted portion with friends?  Awesome Highlighter lets you do just that in several different colors!  After you highlight text/pictures on a web page, you can add a note or just click done. (There is a 2000 character limit.)  Next, you are given options on how to distribute this information, including creating a short link automatically, emailing, copying to clipboard, or sharing via social media sites.  The parts you’ve highlighted are the only ones that show up on the share.  How cool is that??

More on the SOPA/PIPA Strike

Strike Headline

Fight for the Future, one of the driving forces behind yesterday’s internet strike against the SOPA and PIPA bills, reported in an email that the protest succeeded in getting the attention of lawmakers.  Before the protest, only 5 senators spoke out against the bills.  Now, the count is 35!  For more details about how the strike went, see the SOPA Strike website.

The fight is not yet over.  It will take 41 solid “No” votes to permanently stall PIPA (and SOPA) in the senate.  Please continue to contact your legislators (easy email form!) to let them know you value your freedom online.

SOPA / PIPA Threatens the Internet As We Know It.

You may or may not have heard of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) or PIPA (Protect – IP Act), but if either of these becomes law, the Internet will cease to be a free exchange of creativity and ideas.  [Insert personal opinion disclaimer here.  ;-)] While I will agree that piracy is an issue and it robs creators of deserved remuneration, the vague language used in these bills could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.

I found this quote in an informational vide0 (below) particularly disturbing:

“…the government and corporations could block any site, foreign or domestic, just for one [copyright] infringing link.  Sites like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook would have to censor their users or get shut down since they become liable for everything users post.”

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

If you feel so moved, please let your representatives know what you think of these bills.

The Name Engine

I don’t know about you, but I have a really hard time remembering names.  If I have to read a complicated-looking name without having heard it?  Forget it!  Thankfully, I found a site called The Name Engine [link].  They have pre-recorded the correct pronounciations of the names of locations, brands, athletes, entertainers, politicians, newsmakers, and more!  If you saw the word “Kyrgyzstan“, how would you pronounce it?  Click the word to see if you were right.

Happy Computing!