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August 29, 2006
Meet Our New Instructors
The Darien Library is happy to introduce two new instructors for our Adult Technology Education Classes. Virginia Ferrante-Iqbal, an award-winning biomedical illustrator and graphic designer, will teach both Digital Photography and Advanced Photoshop Elements this fall at the Library. Virginia, who owns Ferrante Medical Media, lives in Darien, where she and her family are active in the community. Virginia brings a depth of knowledge and an enthusiam for visual art and creativity to her classes. Also joining us this fall is George Zariff, art and design manager for the Connecticut Post. George, who teaches Photoshop in the Extended Studies Program at Norwalk Community College, will be teaching our Photoshop Elements Basics classes this fall. Please join us in welcoming these new instructors to our Library. Registration for our exciting line-up of fall classes began Friday, August 25, and continues through Tuesday, September 5. To register, go to http://www.darienlibrary.org/techedregistration.php. If you experience any problems when registering, please contact me by phone at 655-1234 x136 or by email at sgammato@darienlibrary.org. See you in September!
Posted by JudyS at 08:23 PM
August 27, 2006
A Rainy Sunday in Darien--Where Is Everyone?
At the Library, of course!
The umbrella stands says it all. It was indeed a very rainy day in Darien today, and both the Main Reading Room
and the Tech Center
were filled, in some cases, with more than one person to a chair!
Posted by JudyS at 04:18 PM
August 21, 2006
New Dell Computers Arrive!
As you can see from the above photo, it was business as usual late lask week in the Darien Technology Foundation Center at the Darien Library. Hard to believe that less than 24 hours earlier, all 12 student computers in the center had been replaced with brand-new Dell Optiplex GX 520 machines. The Library's Head of Technology, Alan Kirk Gray, Network Engineer Jose Otero, and yours truly rolled up our sleeves and got to work Wednesday evening unpacking, setting up, and configuring the new machines. With hardly a blip on the radar, the majority of machines were up and running Thursday morning. Patron responses to the new computers have ranged from "These are great!" to "Wow!" Both Library staff and members of the public agree that the new computers are faster and more efficient, with large, easy to read monitors. If you haven't done so already, drop by for a test drive!
Posted by JudyS at 12:08 PM
August 15, 2006
Dell Issues Battery Recall
It was all over the news this morning: Computer manufacturer Dell Inc. announced a recall of batteries sold in many of its notebook computers. Following a fire that began when a man's Dell laptop computer overheated in the front seat of his pickup truck, Dell voluntarily recalled certain notebook batteries with cells manufactured by Sony. Although the risk of fire is low, Dell is offering free replacements for the batteries.
The affected Dell notebook models are:
- Latitude™
- Inspiron™
- XPS™
- Dell Precision Mobile Workstation™
The defective batteries were included in notebook computers purchased between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006. (They may also have been supplied in response to service calls placed during this time.) Each of the Library's circulating Dell laptops will be checked, and we encourage our patrons to do the same. To find out if your notebook's battery is included in the recall, visit Dell's Battery Recall Information Page.
Posted by JudyS at 06:54 PM
August 07, 2006
Extra USB Drives to the Rescue!
When you log in to one of the Library's public computers using your library barcode, you are assigned a temporary drive on the Library's network. This drive, known as the Patron "H" Drive, is a handy place to store your documents, photos, and files on a temporary basis. In order to serve you well, we need to keep our network operating at top capacity, and storing large amounts of patron data (including, for example, memory-eating image files) can bog things down. So we need to clean out the Patron H Drive on a regular basis. In response to your requests for a regular schedule for this monthly cleanup, we've chosen the last Thursday of each month as the day to clean house, so to speak. If this monthly cleanup has you shaking in your boots, don't worry. We recently purchased five additional high-capacity USB or "flash" drives, making for a total of 10 drives in circulation that may be borrowed free of charge. (These are in addition to the floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs we already have available for sale.) The SanDisk Cruzer drives can each hold up to 512 MB of data, and they come in a sturdy titanium shell that protects your files during transit from the Library to your home or workplace. We invite you to check out one of these drives so you can discover how convenient and easy they are to use. Simply click here to reserve a flash drive today.
Posted by JudyS at 06:08 PM