A Healthy Summer is a Fun Summer

Hi All,

With the summer season pretty much upon us, I wanted to do a blog entry on summer fun and summer health. Remember, a healthy summer is a fun summer - for both children and adults!

Click on this link to go to the Nassau County Environmental Health Department site. Here you'll find info on bathing beaches and swimming pools, beach closings/openings, lifeguard info, camp information, and drinking water quality information.

Click here for a full list of Health Department Programs and Telephone Numbers from the Nassau County Health Department.

Here is the Lead Poisoning link from the County Health Department.

Click on this link for the County Health Department link to Healthy Women Have Healthy Babies
Click here for a link to the New York Center for Sudden Infant Death.

And who can forget about our young adults and adolescents? Click here to learn about how to keep them happy and healthy (link is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Note the links toward the bottom of the page on topics as varied as asthma, nutrition, physical activity, obesity, tobacco use and more!

Click on this link for information on how to keep adults healthy. This link is also from the CDC, but in this case it is called Life Stages & Specific Populations. For example, there are links to pregnancy, children, infants and toddlers, adolescents and teens, family, parents, men, young adults and women...whew. Now that is a website.

The site is so comprehensive and thorough, it would take me many, many days to write about this site - it is definitely a good one for finding out about family health!

Finally, it behooves us all to keep our senior citizens healthy - click on this link (again from the CDC) to learn more about healthy aging. Topics here include: health info for older adults, data and stats, healthy brain initiative, resources-publications-press room, states, mental health and again and much more.

Hope this health information helps!
Stu

C is for...

Hi All,

Another in a continuing set of blog entries discussing various websites alphabetically. Today we are up to the letter 'C'. Without further ado...

C is for...

Craigslist - buy virtually anything online. Find jobs, housing, and other items for sale (antiques, books, furniture, clothes, electronics, auto parts and much, much more...)
-
CNN - breaking international, national and local news on topics as varied as politics, entertainment, technology, health, living, travel, opinion, money and more.

Citibank - major natioanl bank for mortgages, consumer banking, investments, loand and more

Chase - major national bank for mortgages, consumer banking, investments, loans and more

Continental Airlines - make reservations, find travel information, reserve a hotel or a car on site

Cartoon Network - games, video, fan talk and tv schedules for cartoons!

Calculator - all sorts of calculators online - for agriculture, finance, fractions, graphing, time, currency, mortgage and much more!

College Board - find colleges, learn about financial aid and use expert college planning tools. Great site for college-bound students.

Costco - large retail outlet; similar to SAM's Clubs - huge inventory and good for bulk items

Enjoy!
stu

Our Fish Tank

Hi All,

Welcome to Friday morning! Another summer weekend is coming up!!!

So, did you know that the library has a fish tank? A what you sat? Yes, a fish tank. As a matter of fact, we have a salt water fish tank.

Where is the fish tank you ask? If you want in to the library from the new side entrance just walk straight down the aisle and bam. You'll see the tank in all of its salt water glory.

Click here for a link from Aquatic Critter.com for a primer on saltwater aquariums. Click on this link from ehow.com for another viewpoint on how to maintain a saltwater aquarium.

Click on this link for a really clever site called 'RateMyFishTank.com' - it does exactly what it says. Users can rate other folks' fishtanks. Pretty funny, eh?

If you liked this entry and are just now thinking about setting up your own salt water fish tank, click on this link from About.com.

Saltwater fish tanks are known to require more maintenance than just a regular freshwater fish tank. Click here for the differences between the two and the similarities between the two.

Finally, click here for a link to Google Images - the phrase I typed in to generate these pictures was 'saltwater aquariums'.

Enjoy the fish!
stu

Newseum Washington D.C.'s Most Interactive Museum

Hi All,

Just a quickie post today - really. You'll love this. If you like news, you'll love this site!!!

Who: Newseum - click link to visit site.
What: Great way to view the front pages of newspapers from 89 countries
When: On the web - 24x7x365. Link is Newseum.org and updated daily.
Where: On the web - link above.
Why: Because information is power. You can view archived pages also - click here for that option.
How: It is free - on the internet and a great way to get free news!

Click here for a link to Today's Top Ten Front Pages from Newseum.

Enjoy.
Stu

Things You Didn't Know

Hi All,

Just did a super quick, down and dirty search for the phrase 'things you didn't know'.

And wouldn't you know it...I found a mess load of interesting, useful, and very accessible links to share with you.

For example, if you click on this link from Discover Magazine you'll find a list of 'Things You Didn't Know (TYDK) on topics as varied as dogs, water, viruses, nanotechnology, light, mosquitos, penciles, and much more. Neat stuff.

Click on this link from Time Magazine entitled, 'Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Money'. This article is definitely worth its weight in gold! :)

From a website called Robinsweb, comes this entry entitled, 'Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know'. Interesting little tidbits that's for sure - think of them as 'knowledge nuggets'.

From Cracked.com comes this article entitled, '6 Important Things You Didn't Know We're Running Out Of'. Did you know that we are running out of chocolate? Uh oh...better run to the store and pick up a bar of Hershey's dark chocolate! Yum. Click on this link to see what else we are running out of!!!

And finally, click on this link - from Merriam-Webster - for 'Words For Things You Didn't Know Have Names'. It comes from Merriam-Webster a noted dictionary publisher so the information is reliable and current and unbiased - good stuff!

Okay, I promise, this will be the last link and comment in todays' blog entry. Click on this link to find books that the Farmingdale Public Library owns on the topic of 'curiosities and wonders'. The link comes from the library card catalog and I sorted it chronologically so the most current books appear at the top of the list. Older titles appear toward the bottom of the list!

Enjoy the links and the books - and think of the things you'll learn from todays' entry!

Good stuff!
Stu

Hiring a Contractor

Hi All,

Just wanted to send out a quickie entry this Friday morning. What's the topic you ask? Contractors. And how to hire them before they come in to your house and possibly cause mayhem and problems and angst...

Click on this link from 'The Old House' to get a general idea for what to look for when you hire a contractor. You might remember the television show 'This Old House' - this is an entry from the same source - enjoy!

From the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries comes this pdf document entitled, 'Hiring a Contractor or Remodeler: What You Should Know'

Finally, Consumer Reports - yes, the magazine that we have at the reference desk - has this entry for homeowners to figure out how to hire a contractor. Click here for the link.

Other local resources that you might want to consult include the New York local Better Business Bureau - click here for the link - and the Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs - click here for the link to that organization.

I hope you don't need these resources when undertaking a home remodeling-construction-repair project...but if you do... these resources might help!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Stu

Everything Milk Entry

Hi All,

I was looking at the list of blog entries that I've written over the past few months and one in particular struck my fancy. The entry called, 'Everything Chocolate' must have struck a cord with readers also. (Click here for the entry btw.) It was a heavily read post...and then I got thinking about the idea for another blog entry.

My thought process went something like this, 'Hmmmm, many people like chocolate, okay, almost everybody likes chocolate...what is another product that many people like to either eat or drink or consume? Beer -well, yes, but I just didn't want to write a blog entry about beer for the library. What about meat? A possibility. What about cookies? Yes - that works but it is too much like chocolate. So I continued thinking....hmmm. Cookies -what goes well with cookies? Bingo - milk. And so a blog entry topic was borne.

Well, I had no idea that there was such controversy reagrding milk. I am completely floored. Click here for a brief summary of the debate. And while this is interesting I really just wanted to discuss the various health aspects of traditional milk that is bought in stores and supermarkets - not raw milk.

Click here for the link from Wikipedia about Milk. Yum. The entry is comprehensive and discusses, among other things, the history of milk, modern production methods, nutritional aspects of milk, the controversial aspects of milk and varieties/brands of milk. Click subject and you'll go to that part of the wikipedia entry about milk. Yum, yum - where are the cookies?

From the Dairy Council of California comes this link that discusses the various types of milk. Interesting and educational! Click here for a link to the National Milk Producers Association - the milk trade group for the United States. You'll find information about milk pricing, a section on milk related issues, and current milk related news. Interesting stuff!

Admit it - you love those 'Got Milk' advertisments and commercials. Click here for the link to the site - and boy, it is one cute (and well designed site - very visual and very appealing). On the site you'll be able to find info about the many health aspects of milk. Along the way you'll get to play lots of games to help learn...

Also, click on this link to find out about simulated milk. This will probably be familiar to most mothers since I'm talking about formula for children.

Click here for a link to the Similac website.
Click here for the Enfamil website.

Click on this link to find out about lactose intolerance - a not-so-funny condition which can result in stomach aches or worse after drinking milk

Click on this link from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) which discusses the uses of cows, milk and other aspects of using cows for food and the veal industry.

Click on this link to learn how to milk a cow - link is from Ehow.com and is pretty interesting.

And finally, to end this blog entry, click here for some pictures of cows - they are pretty animals and they certainly provide a fantastic product!

One last link - click on this to see a very funny cartoon dealing with cows!

Enjoy the links and remember to enjoy your milk! Now, who thinks that my next blog entry should have something to do with cookies? Send your email and comments to fdaleref@nassaulibrary.org if you want to see a cookie blog entry similar in format to this entry!

Regards,

Stu

Annoying Phrases

Hi All,

I'm back and so is the blog. Full steam ahead as they say. I was wondering what I was going to write about tonight...and then it hit me. Annoying phrases. And I'll give you the inside scoop on some reference books that might shed some new light on the various phrases.

Click here for a link to a site that talks about 10 Annoying Phrases That Serve No Purpose. Pretty funny and a light hearted way to begin the blog tonight. Note that the site is from the UK...Not only are the sites' examples of annoying phrases interesting (It's all good, To Be Honest, No Offense, Whatever, and Don't Get Me Wrong among others....) and very amusing, the comments are pretty darn funny also. Good stuff and a good start for tonight.

From the Oxford University comes this list 10 Most Annoying Phrases. Note that the list is from 2008 - but it is still very relevant. With phrases like 'At the end of the day', 'Absolutely', 'It's a nightmare', 'Shouldn't of' and '24x7' you can see why I added the site to this list. Click here for the link to the article - which btw came from Wired.com.

From a site called lemondrop comes this list of 'The Most Irritating Phrases in the English Language'. Click here for the link - and again it is from 2008 - but the phrases are still (again) apropros. Lemondrop does something different on the site thought - they actually bunched phrases together and briefly talk about the phrase.

For instance, they discuss 'Office Jargon' phrases like: team-building, value-added, grassroots, reach out, multitasking, no-brainer, low-hanging fruit, monetize and ping as being annoying. Indeed - they are right on track with this list.

And finally, from the Windy city of Chicago, comes this list of 'The Most Annoying Phrases of All time'. Click here for the link - and here are a few of the winners: 'Not so much', 'Don't go there' and 'Sweet'.

Now, in order to make this entry at least a bit educational, click on this link to the library card catalog for the book entitled, 'Literally, the best language book ever: annoying ords and abused phrases you should never use again' by Paul Yeager. And yes, the Farmingdale Public Library does own the book -and as of this writing (Wednesday night 6/15/11 at 6:45pm) - the book is on the shelf in the library.

Enjoy the links!
Stu

B is for....

Hi All,

The second in a continuing series of websites...'B is for...'

Enjoy.

BBC - British Broadcasting Company - listen to radio broadcasts of news and more...from the UK

Best Buy - everything computer electronics and digital 'stuff'

Bank of America - one of the USA's largest banks...for mortgages, checking and savings accounts, investments, and much, much more.

Bed, Bath and Beyond - retailer that sends out the 20% off coupons almost every other week - lots of good stuff for the home and bathroom and bedroom

Bloomingdales - high fashion retailer - stylish and upscale clothing and more

Barnes and Noble - books, Nooks, magazines and more from this 'book/e-book' retailer

Babies R Us - got kids? then you probably want to visit for toys, bicycles, kids entertainment, childrens clothing and other baby necessities and more from this well known retailer

Buy Buy Baby - same as or similar to Babies R Us - which came first? - great for buying anything related to newborns (clothing, diapers, cribs, strollers, formula etc)

Bing - Microsoft's answer to Google. Let's hope it succeeds - why have only one company rule the internet search market? Different choices are a good thing! Also, Bing is an excellent, if late entry, to the search game.

Bible - Biblegateway.com - a word searchable Bible. Pretty cool, eh?

Bo - Meet the Obama's dog 'Bo'. Cute!

That's it for now, folks. If you would like me to blog about a particular topic, just send an email to fdaleref@nassaulibrary.org - or just click here.

Regards,
Stu

Week of 6/6/11-6/10/11

Hi All,


I'm on vacation starting next Monday, but I will return on 6/13/11 and, time permitting (after all, a lot of paperwork accumulates after a one week vacation...), I'll try to post another blog entry that Monday.

Enjoy the week - and, I can't believe it myself, but we are up to 180 blog entries. Wow! Which means that within a month or two, we'll hit a grand total of 200 posts! Amazing, eh?

So while I am away, you might want to revisit some of my old blog entries. Just a thought.

Regards,
Stu

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Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things

Hi All,

Welcome to a beautiful sunny, later spring day. Let's hope it lasts, and last, and lasts....we definitely could use this kind of weather.

I was in the stacks the other day helping a patron with a reference question and I came upon a really interesting book. And while we have only one copy, I'm going to give you the card catalog link to the book so that you can inter-library loan the book if you wanted to. In addition, I'm going to find and discuss a few sites that have the same topic as the book I'm recommending.

Did you like that introduction? Did it make you want to read further and did it stir your interest? I hope so! Drumroll please!

The title of the book is 'Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things'. The subtitle of the books gives the reader a taste of the variety of topics covered -which includes: vinegar, salt, toothpaste, coffee grounds, string, pantyhose, mayonnaise, balloons, clothespins, aspirin, and more than 200 other common household items. Very cool!

Click here for the link to the library card catalog for the book. (You will also see all the other libraries that own the book. Click here for a link to the other libraries in Nassau County.)

If you look at the entry in the card catalog, you'll notice that one of the subject headings that the book includes is 'Home Economics'. Click here for a further link to book on that subject that are in the Farmingdale Public Library.

With all that out of the way, why is the book 'Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things' so interesting to my readers?

First, the book is darn well organized. At the very beginning of the book is a list of Top XX Most Useful Items For XXX (fill in the XXX with house or cook, or health and beauty or cleaning or garden etc....)

Next the book has a Complete A-Z Guide using various products like balloons, bleach, clipboards, duct tape, keys, milk, pots and pans, shampoo and much, much more. Essentially this is a product list that refers you to specific pages in the book where you will find various uses for the specific product. Very cool.

Also, the back of the book has a more traditional alphabetical index - which is very, very helpful!

So, now that you are all going to come running in to the library to check the book out, I want to list a few websites that do something similar to the book. Click here for a link to DIYHappy and an article entitled '101 Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things'

From a website called How2HomeStage.com comes this link which has pictures of common household products and a list under each product that discusses the use of the product. Pretty cool stuff!

Finally, click here for a link to a sequel to the book - which is called 'More Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things'. The link is from ecookbooks.com....

Enjoy and I hope you use your ordinary home and kitchen products even more effectively now!

Regards,
Stu

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The Clean Entry

Hi All,

I was walking outside during the Memorial Day weekend and I realized that there are a LOT of insects, bugs, flies, aphids, and other creepy crawly things in the backyard. Basically, I'm talking about household pests like ants, beetles, millipedes, silverfish, spiders and other creepy crawly little buggers.

And while I didn't think about this possibly being the subject of a future blog entry - well, now it is. Specifically, I'd like to discuss some links that discuss keeping a house free from bugs and insects. That is something that, I think, many of my readers will be able to agree upon.

So, how do we keep these household pests out of the household? Click on this link which will help you get rid of pests in the home. From a website called Find the Top comes this entry on how to keep the little critters out of the house - click here for the article.

Click here for a really good method of getting rid of termites - which can be a pest for all homeowners! And click here for another link to termite control.

Do you have a bug but can't identify it? Click on either of these two links to get to a website that has lots of photos and names of bugs and other critters (site name is DavesGarden). Here is the second link for bug photos - from What's That Bug?.

If you have a bug infestation problem, you might need to contact the professionals. Here is a link to some of the top pest control companies in the U.S. Note that I am not endorsing these companies - as a result your mileage, satisfaction and the job they do might vary. Or not - just be a smart consumer....

As I was writing this entry I realized that Cornell University has a cooperative extension department. So...I went to the Cornell Cooperative Extension website. And low and behold the CCE site linked to the Suffolk County version the Cornell site. Interesting question - why doesn't Nassau County have the equivalent site? I don't have an answer for that question - but I do have the link to the Suffolk County site. FYI, the link has a good section on the Pest Control - cvlick on this link to see the information.

Finally, and this might be the mother of all 'Pest Control websites' comes a site from the state of Maine. Click here for this very comprehensive site. Notice that there are sections for 'Beneficial Organisms', 'Gardens', 'Integrated Pest Management', 'Invasive Pests', 'Just For Fun', 'Lawns', and 'Pesticides'. Whew. Now that is a site worth bookmarking!

Hope these pest control links help solve any possible problems you might have in your house or in your backyard!

Regards,
Stu

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