Sharkskin Inspired Material Repels Bacteria

The texture of a shark’s skin acts a a natural physical barrier which prevents bacteria from sticking to it.  Scientists have recreated this texture on plastic sheets to prevent drug-resistant bacteria like MRSA from building up on surfaces.

The secret is in the microscopic “diamond-shaped bumps” which prevent parasites from building up.  Lab tests have proven it works and these materials may soon appear in hospitals, bathroom door knobs and all manner of otherwise filthy surfaces in the home, office and hospital.   Full Story

Toastmaster Tips on Giving Speeches, Eulogies and More

Everyone knows there’s almost nothing more frightening than having to stand up and speak in front of a group, but the toastmasters are experts on the subject.  On their website, Toastmasters International, they have many useful tips and techniques.  Take a look at their free resources.

Have you read your cereal box this morning?

From The Librarian is IN blog by jshaffner

“So you thought reading cereal boxes at the breakfast table was a waste of time?  Well, not anymore.  ALA has partnered with Safeway who’ll put content about how libraries can help you on the back of the boxes for some of their brands of cereal.  Now we just need to convince lots of other manufacturers to do the same and our message will become truly ubiquitous.”

Youtube’s Greatest Hits – What Do They Say About Us?

Google Music – Playable Songs Appear in Search Results

“Now, when you enter a music-related query — like the name of a song, artist or album — your search results will include links to an audio preview…”

Search for a song, for instance:  Dirty Work Steely Dan and hit the play button in the top result to play the full song (or 30 second previews, depending on the service).  Search for an album like Thriller and play from a selection of songs off that album.  Try it out in the google search bar or read about it here

Educational and Cool! Size of a Coffee Bean vs. a Carbon Atom

The Genetic Learning Center at the University of Utah has scores of clever and useful interactive web animations.  This one is about Cell Size and Scale.  Move the slider at the bottom of the display, to zoom in and out to reveal the relative sizes of things.    Show Me

Free turn-by-turn directions for Android devices

Google’s mobile phone operating system, Android, has barely hit the streets and it may already have a killer app.  While an iphone can become a GPS devices with expensive software and monthly fees, Google is offers a free application that’s more powerful than even stand alone GPS units.

“In addition to existing Google Maps features like traffic information and satellite views, Google Navigation also mixes in plain English searching, searching by voice, and Street View integration that actually allows you to see what your turns will look like…you can even ask the device for directions to “the museum with the King Tut exhibit.”   Full Story with Video

Microsoft Windows startup/shutdown sounds over the years

Check it out, it might bring back some fond memories of Windows past. 

How connected are we, really?

Physical distance used to dictate how remote a place was, but no longer. Now that there are airlines reaching around the globe, bullet trains, Autobahn-like superhighways and go-fast boats, the remoteness of the location is measured by how good the transportation is between here and there. In the map above, the darker a location is, the harder it is to get there.

 Click here for the rest of the blog entry.

Update on Netlibrary and Mango Access through Homepage

Although permanent fixes are not yet available, there are some workarounds to the broken authentification for netlibrary audiobooks and mango languages.  Firstly, even though the direct link to Mango on the Research Tools page does not work, any patron can get full access to Mango through the Suffolk e-Resources page of databases.

Regarding Netlibrary Audiobooks, there is no problem for users who already have accounts and access www.netlibrary.com directly.  For new users who are unable to get authetication and thus cannot register to get an account, we can manually make an account for them.  Either Alan or Jamie can do this, though the person must prove they are a sachem cardholder.  Once we make an account, the patron is able to update/change their password to make it secure.