Technology Tuesday: Texture and touch screens

When we talk about mobile devices, the idea of what the screen feels like usually doesn't come up.  Tactus Technology aims to change that with their new Tactile Layer interface, which transforms your touch screen into a 3D screen with physical buttons you can actually push.  Once you turn off your phone, the buttons smooth out and fade away into a normal touch screen.

How does it work?  To learn more about this brand new tech, check out this article on TG Daily by Trent Nouveau:

"Mobile Tactile Tech Gets Physical"

Check out Kindles at the library!

Amazon Kindle 3 3G by Jules Holleboom, on Flickr

Calling all e-book readers!  Whether you already get most of your books online or are just curious about how Kindles work, you can explore the e-book world by checking out Kindles at both the Griffin and Flint River campus libraries.

Kindles can be checked out like regular library books - with your Southern Crescent ID - for two weeks at a time.  We're working on building up our e-book collection, so if you have any suggestions for titles we should add, feel free to leave them in the comments!

Right now, by checking out a Kindle you can read:

• The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins
• The Help, Kathryn Stockett
• Love is Letting Go of Fear, Gerald Jampolsky
• Eragon, Christopher Paolini
• One for the Money, Janet Evanovich
• Deliver Me From Evil, Mary Monroe
• 11/22/63, Stephen King
• No Matter What!: 9 Steps to Living the Life You Love, Lisa Nichols
• Race to the Rumble #1 (WWE), Tracey West
• The Science of God, Gerald Schroeder
• The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, Brian Greene
• The Lucky One, Nicholas Sparks
• Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead
• The Morganville Vampires series, Rachel Caine
• Dinners Made Easy, Stonyfield Farm
• My Best Dessert: Easy Recipes, Risapkus
• Silent Kills, C.E. Lawrence

Maurice Sendak, Children's Author, Dies at 83

If you've ever joined the wild rumpus where the wild things are, or took some cautionary advice from Pierre, your life has been touched in some small way by author Maurice Sendak.  The visionary children's writer and artist died today at the age of 83, following a stroke.  He leaves behind him a rich, strange, and beautiful collection of work.  

My favorite was always Chicken Soup with Rice - a poem my sister and I used to chant as kids whenever we got sick and had to live off of soup and rice.  What's your favorite Sendak book?  What memories do you connect with the stories he wrote?

Student Spotlight: Sherry Caldwell

Blue Eyes, Skies and Why's
by Sherry Caldwell, SCTC student

People have blue eyes
Whether born with them or added on
We need them to see
Because, one day they will be gone

Blue skies are up so high
We tend to see them
Only to dream that one day
We will go to meet Him

The question is why so high or blue
We as people will need
the answer of merely
Blue eyes, skies and why's creed.

June Book Club: Reader's Choice!

Place your vote for the book we'll be reading for June Book Club reading!  We’ve gone with a spooky theme for the month of June – click the survey link to choose from:

* Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
* The Shining – Stephen King

* Dracula – Bram Stoker
* The Stand – Stephen King

* Game of Thrones – George RR Martin

* Or write in your own choice!

Fill out the survey through this link - or leave your choice in the comments section!

Book Club will meet again on June 28^th – hope we’ll see you there!

National Poetry Month: The Prison Poet

Robert Counts wears many hats: he is a poet, a chef, an ex-convict.  His passion for poetry developed during his 27-year prison sentence - he read everything he could get his hands on, from the works of Malcolm X to the poetry of Robert Frost.  In time, he started writing poetry of his own.

Rejection

by Robert Counts

I am the stone that the builders must reject
yet I house not anger nor regret
toward anyone lacking imagination,
I was born to move mountains,
to command the breath of worldwinds and hurricanes
to never look back nor down, except in introspection,
to make certain that only splendor surrounds me
and yet when I see pebbles floating on the scum of time,
I am forced to reflect, how can it be
that I am the stone that the builders must reject,
yet I stand tall without such defects,
for perhaps one day, the builders will need just such a structure
to measure up to...

Now, with his 27 year sentence behind him, Robert has earned himself certification as a Culinarian and works as a chef.  But he hasn't abandoned his writing - a book of his poetry titled First Light and Other Poems will hit the shelves this Fall.

To learn more about Mr. Counts, check out this feature article by Doris Friedensohn from the Huffington Post: link

Technology Tuesday: Finding Medical Information Online

Finding Medical information online can be tricky.  You want reliable, trustworthy information - but often enough, the more trustworthy websites like WebMD can get too technical and hard to understand.

We've gathered a group of health-related websites you can rely on, without having to worry about knowing all the scientific lingo.  The next time you're worried about that scratchy throat, or want to learn more about a loved one's condition, these sites are a great starting point for looking up medical information.

The Mayo Clinic
Website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/
What's it like?:  Recognized by Consumer Reports for excellence, the Mayo Clinic website is easy to navigate and links to information on diseases and conditions, symptoms, drugs and procedures.  This page was designed with the public in mind and is easy to browse and read through.

Medify
Website: https://www.medify.com/
What's it like?: Medify breaks down different medical conditions into easy-to-navigate pages, linking to the most recent research in treatments.  You can narrow down search results by picking articles that relate specifically to your age group, gender and interest.

MedlinePlus
Website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
What's it like?:  Developed by the National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus is a great starting point for research.  When you search for conditions, medical terms or treatments, MedlinePlus pulls results from trustworthy sites across the web.  For general information, this is a great place to start.


Where do you turn for medical information on the web?  Share with us in the comments section!