Tech Tips For Techies - and Non-Techies!

 Hi All,

You might have heard Kim Komando's radio spots on CBS radio.  She talks about computer, technology and other similar issues on the radio.

But did you know that she has a website?  Billing herself as 'America's Digital Goddess' she  discusses the digital lifestyle in our digital age.   Click here for a bit more about Kim Komando. 

For today's article - at least on her website - click on this link.  In addition to the radio spots on CBS radio she hosts the Kim Komando Show on over 450 stations each week.  Click here to find a station.

On her website are all sorts of tools for techies and non-techies to become proficient in (if you are non-techie type) or more proficient in (if you are already a techie type) computers and tech.  Topics include Buying Guides,  Apps, Cool Sites, Columns, Downloads, Forums. 

But wait, there's more.  You can watch a passel-load of her videos here, watch 'Live From the Studio', Tech News in the Morning, Flash Tips, Komando Reports and much, much more on the website.

Enjoy the site, the videos and the interesting way she imparts her wealth of knowledge to listeners, viewers and readers to her show!

Regards,
Stu

Watch Your Language!

Hi all,

Would you like to learn something new every day? I have a simple, painless and free way to do just that!  Word-of-the-day.  On the internet. Via email.  Let me explain.

Word-of-the-day (WOTD hereafter) is something that lots of websites send out -well every day.  Signing up in many cases is free and very, very easy to do.

Oxford English Dictionary lets users sign up for WOTD by clicking on this link.

Dictionary.com lets users sign up for WOTD by clicking on this link. 

Merriam-Webster lets users sign up for WOTD by clicking on this link. 

Oxford English Dictionaries  has another site for WOTD - click here for that one.

As if the above links aren't enough - or if they aren't to your liking - click on this link from MakeUseOf.com. The title of this link is 10 Websites to Learn a Word a Day and Enrich Your Vocabulary and you can find the article by clicking on this link.   

Enjoy the links and your newly found vocabulary!

Regards,
Stu

IRS Tax Information

Hi All,

April 15th is far, far from now - but at some point in your life you might need to get a copy of a tax return that you filled out for a prior year. 

The IRS is here to help - isn't that great?  But seriously, the way to get a transcript of your tax return is quick and easy.

Click on this link from the IRS to get a transcript.  Note that you can get a transcript online AND you can get a transcript mailed to you directly.

Click this link for an FAQ from the IRS regarding transcripts of your tax return. In addition, taxpayers can view there tax account within the last 18 months by clicking on this link!

Some other helpful tax links from the IRS include:
View your balance and payment history
Notify the IRS of an address change
Order transcript of your tax return(s)

Finally, click on this link in order to subscribe to the IRS Tax tips newsletter. Who knows - it might save you money!

Hope these links help!

Regards,
Stu

The Political Spectrum

Hi All,

Politics is everywhere these days. It's in the news, on the internet and television.  The radio has news about politics and it changes on a daily basis!  How can you keep up with all those changes every day?   And occasionally you'll hear a pundit or an announcer or a 'talking-head' discuss the left-wing or the right-wing or a centreist....

Just what exactly do these terms mean you might ask?  Great question - and I've got a bunch of answers for you!

What we are really talking about here is the political spectrum which classifies different political positions...Wikipedia has an extensive article discussing what the various terms mean.

Click here for some information on the Left-Wing,  Click here for some information on the Right-Wing.  Click here for some information on the Center-Wing. 

Another website - called I Agree to See - has even more information on the meanings of the phrase 'political spectrum'.  

For some perspective as to what various members of the political spectrum believe in on certain issues, click on this link from People-Press.org.  The article is titled 'Beyond Red vs Blue: The Political Typology'

Finally, if you're not sure where you fall in this 'political spectrum', you can take this quiz from People-Press.org to find out where you political persuasion lies.

Enjoy the links and the lively political debates!

Regards,
Stu

MommyPoppins - Get More Out of Life With Kids

Hi All,

Today's blog entry talks about MommyPoppins.  It bills itself as 'Getting More Out of Life With Kids'.


Users can use the site as a way to find things to do with kids based on Age, Area, Things to Do and Family Fun.  The Activity Guide link on the site has links for a wide variety of things to do - including, but not limited to - Birthday Parties, Classes/Enrichment, Crafts/Recipes, Free Activities, Museums, Parent Talk, Shows, STEM, Summer Activities, Theme/Water Parks and more.

Just who is MommyPoppins though? Indeed, click on this link to find a bit more about them...spoiler alert though - there isn't that much info on the page...

There are also links to Camps & Classes, Parties links to Trips. At the top of the page is a link to search the site.  There are also links to Connect with MommyPoppins, a Directory, and a Calendar.


Before you starting clicking on any link that you think is important you'll need to click on your region at the top left side of the homepage.  Once you do that you are free to roam!

I found the Calendar link especially useful. Pick a day and the vents that are available appear on the screen.  Links are available to that particular event!  Links by Age are interesting to visit as well. 

On 7/24/17 when I wrote this blog entry there were article on 'Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlors Long Island Kids Will Love, Summer Day Tirp for Long Island Families  and and article on Long Island Aquarium Exhibits.

Users can signup for the MommyPoppins newsleter by clicking on this link.

Finally, just as another example of the utility of the site, the link for Family Fun had the following information on 7/24/17: Guide to Indoor Play Spaces for Kids, Museum/Art Guide to Kids.

Articles are dated and an author is listed - and the authors name is linked.   One of the better parts of the site are the tabs at the top of each article.  Basically these tabs are like subject headings for the topics that the article deals with.  One such article that I clicked on was titled 12 Places Where LI Kids Can Learn and Have Fun in the Hamptons and North Fork.

Other useful links on the site include This Week in Long Island, July Go List and Neighborhood Guides (can choose between Nassau Suffolk and the East End.

Listed tabs at the top of the page for the article included Classes/Enrichment, Family Travel, Farm/U Pick Up, Museums, Shows, Visitors Guide and more.  Talk about comprehensive lists and topics!

Enjoy the site and the links!

Regards,
Stu

Need Something to Read?

Hi All,

Its summertime and the reading is good!  What? you say?  Read in the summer? Absolutely - its a great time to dig in to a book that will enthrall you, excite you and just darn keep you entertained!

How can you beat that introduction?

Forthwith - a bunch of links to 'best' of type lists of books.  The only difference is that these will be books in various categories.

General Fiction - Modern Library 100 Best Novels 

Library Thing - Best Contemporary Literary Fiction - over the last 30 years  

Science Fiction - NPR - Your Picks - Top 100 Science-Fiction/Fantasy Books

Fantasy - Paste Magazine - 30 Best Fantasy Book Series of All Time

Fantasy - Fantasy Book Review- UK - Top 100 Fantasy Books

Mystery - BestMysteryBooks.com - Top 25 Best Mystery Books

Horror - Worlds Without End - Nightmare Magazine's Top 100 Horror Books

Romance - Bustle - 13 Romance Novels That Should Be On Every Woman's Bucket List

Western - Western Writers of America - Best Western Novels of the 20th Century

So now that you have an impressive list of books to choose from, where do you find these books? At the library of course.  Click on this link to go to the library card catalog to see if the book that you are interested in is on the shelf!

So...with that list I would think most people's interests would be piqued. If I missed a genre/style of writing that you would like to see, email me by clicking on this link!

Enjoy the books and writing!

Regards,
Stu

More Than Just Parks

Hi All,

I came across a wonderful website yesterday. Its called 'More Than Just Parks' and is dedicated to 'a visually stunning trip through America's National Parks'.

The goal of the project is to 'share the wonders of the national parks with as many people as we can'. Quite an admirable goal that's for sure.

Using short films, 'engaging online interactions and imagery the authors plan on creating films covering each park.' 

Click on this link for the National Parks that the authors have already covered.

Click on this link to go to the formal National Park Service website hosted by the US Government. 

And since the whole idea of this project is for folks to visit the various national parks, click this link to learn more about making reservations and/or visiting the various national parks.

Enjoy the links and the sites and the visits to these national treasures!

Regards,
Stu

Storm Survival Guide

Hi All,

The Family Handyman is a fairly well-known handyman/helper/do-it-yourself magazine.  They also have a very useful website from which this blog entry came from.  The article in Family Handyman of interest is called 'Storm Survival Guide' and discusses how to protect your family when a major storm is imminent or upon you! 

Read on for more information - basically the article talks about glow in the dark flashlights, flooded basements, gushing floodwater (stay out of it!), turning off the gas in case of a flood and other tricks to staying safe during major storms.

In keeping with the above article from the Family Handyman AND since we are - as of this writing - technically in the middle of hurricane season - we'll discuss the Nassau County Hurricane Preparedness Guide that is published by  Nassau County. 

Click on this link for a printable version of the online guide.

The guide discusses the various categories of hurricane - and the type of destruction associated with each category.   A list of items to create an emergency Go-Kit is included in the printable guide as well. Click on this link for a list of hurricane shelters.

This link has a list of evacuation zones and routes.

Finally, this link enables users to receive County News and Emergency Information!

Hopefully you won't need this information, but if you do...its very accessible!

Regards,
Stu



 

Famous Cartoons

Hi All,

Comic strips.  Remember when you used to read them as a kid in the local newspaper?  Well, now they've grown up and are online and easy to find.

The home page has a tab at the top for various comic strips genres, popular comic strips, recommended comic strips, new comic strips, Spanish comic strips and a list of all the comic strips on the site alphabetically - with links of course.

GoComics.com is a site that has various categories of comic strips. The site has such favorites as Calvin and Hobbes, B.C., Garfield, Pearls Before Swine, Peanuts, Wizard of Id, For Better or For Worse, Doonesbury, Andy Capp and more!

Click on this link to learn a bit more about GoComics.com.  
Take not that readers would do well to sign up for a free account.

Finally, a good old fashioned plug for the Farmingdale Public Library.  Click on this link to go to the library card catalog and find a search related to 'comic strips' that are located in the Farmingdale Public Library.  We've got a great collection of books, books with comic strips in them. and background/history about comic strips.


Now you can enjoy the comic strips and the laughs that are coming your way!

Regards,
Stu

What to Do In Farmingdale

Hi All,

Farmingdale is a great town to live and play in.  There's so much to do for adults and kids! 

Farmingdale Patch (local newspaper) has a whole section each week dedicated to events and goings-on around Farmingdale.  Link can be found here. 

Other lists of things to do in and around Farmingdale include TripAdvisor's article 'Things To Do in Farmingdale', Yelp's article 'Best Fun Things to Do in Farmingdale' and believe it or not, a link from the Courtyard Republic Long Island Marriott link titled, 'Things to Do in Farmingdale'.

Groupon has a list as well, as does a site called Life on Long Island.  Click the links above to visit the sites. 

Finally, NYMetroParents has a link titled '7 Things For Families to Do in Farmingdale'.

So there ya have it....stuff to do in these hot, July days of summer!

Stay cool and get out and enjoy the best that Long Island has to offer!

Regards,
Stu

Free Online Calculators - Calkoo

Hi All,

Who doesn't need a calculator?  They are free, fast to use and accurate. And now with the internet you use a free calculator instantaneously. 

A website called Calkoo (I haven't foggiest as to why that's it's name!) has various calculators in many of the major languages (think English, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Chinese). 

At the top of the page is a list of the top 5 most use calculators.  There are also calculators on topics as varies as Taxes, Date and Time, Financial Analysis, Stock Analysis, Loan and Leasing, Measurement, basic mathematics, Health and Fitness topics. 

One you click on a particular calculator a new page appears.  You need to enter the required information and the calculator does the rest - the statistic is calculated. 

Done and done!

Enjoy the site and the calculators.
Regards,
Stu

Being Left Handed

Hi All,

Left-handedness. Its not all that common - but about 10% of the population is left handed.  Click on this link from Wikipedia which talks about 'Handedness' - that is being both left-handed and right-handed people.

So about 10% of the population is left-handed.  That's pretty rare!  Click the links below to learn about the various issues related to left-handedness.

Teaching Resources To Help Left-Handed Children

Left Handed Children.org - On this website you will find all the information and advice you'll need to help left-handed children from nursery right through their school days to overcome the annoyances and frustrations of living in a right-handed world.

6 Tips For Raising a Left Handed Child

Language Rocks -  articles on the phenomenon of being left-handed

Left Handed Resources - somewhat dated look of the webpage but the sources are invaluable

Rosemary West's Left Handed Page 

Left Handed Resources - Anything Left Handed

Famous Left Handers 

Advantages of Being Left-Handed

20 Little Known Facts About Being Left-Handed

Enjoy the lefty links and resources!

Regards,
Stu

Farmers Markets, Summer Stands For the Summer

Hi All,

It's summer and that means fresh fruit and vegetables for all.  Imagine those crisp cucumbers, lovely tomatoes and mouth watering watermelons.  Don't forget those awesome strawberries, berrylicious blueberries and other fresh fruits and vegetables.

And while your local Stop 'n Shop or King Kullen or Waldbaum's or Best Market might have fruit and vegetables, Farmers Markets and Summer Stands have superb fresh fruit and vegetables as well.

But where do you find these farmers markets and summer stands you ask?  Great question - and read on for more information.

Farmingdale Patch wrote this article back in June of this year - titled 'Long Island Farmers Markets, Farm Stands to Check Out This Summer' - which is a great starting point for all things 'farmer market related'. The article has a list of Farmers Markets in both Nassau and Suffolk county. Included in the list is the location of the farmers market.  Also included are dates and times when the market is open to the public. Note that there are at least twice as many markets in Suffolk County as there are in Nassau County.  Which kind of makes sense because Suffolk is closer to farms on Long Island!

Click on this link to go to Google Maps so you can plan and get directions for all the trips to the Farmers Markets and Summer stands that you'll be making this summer!

Enjoy the link and the healthy fruits and vegetables that you'll find at the various farmers markets!

Regards,
Stu

Make a Change - Be the Change

Hi All,

Would you like to make a difference in the world and have your voice heard?  Yep - I thought so. Who doesn't want their voice heard?  Indeed - no one.

So...Change.org bills itself as 'the world's platform for change.  Millions of people come to Change.org to start and sign petitions that call for social change. Folks who sign up on Change.org start campaigns, mobilize supporters and work with decision makers (politicians, organizations, non-profits, etc) to help drive solutions.   Click on this link to learn more about Change.org.


Basically visitors to the site can start a petition, become a member of the site,  browse a list of petitions that he/she support on various topics and more.  Click on this link for the Change.org blog, this link will show you the impact of Change.org and this link goes to the Change.org webpage for Guides - aka how to use Change.org.

Enjoy the site and let's get busy!

Regards,
Stu

ConsumerWorld.org

 Hi All,

Today's blog entry is about the consumer.  As in a website called ConsumerWorld.org.

ConsumerWorld.org is a website that enables the consumer - which means you! - to compare prices at dozens of online stores instantly, find shopping bargains, link quickly to product reviews from Consumer Search, Consumer Review, Epinions, find best prices and sales prices at online stores and stores in your neighborhood.

Users can check store reputation via BizRate and the Better Business Bureau as well. The site has links to Consumer Agencies, Companies, Travel, Scam Alerts, Recalls and a place to sign up for the ConsumerWorld Newsletter as well. This link is for customers that want to send a complaint to a company online - the list is very, very comprehensive and useful! There are links to newly added consumer sites as well.

Links to Low Rate Credit Cards, Air Deals, Product Reviews,  Used Car Histories, Consumer Booklets and Consumer Rights.

Enjoy the site and go forth and shop and research and browse and look and review and save, save, save money!!!

Regards,
Stu

 

Summer BBQ'ing

Hi All,

Its that time of year again! Summer is here and - as a I mentioned in the prior post - the livin' is good. What better way to cook in the summer than to BBQ?  Its fast, easy and you get to spend time outside in a backyard or a park or tailgate. 

Without further ado here are four sites that have awesome links to grilling and summer bbq recipes:
Foodnetwork.com/Grilling
CountryLiving 
Delish.com 
NYTimes Cooking 

Click on any of the following links for some specifics on how to make the bbq extra special! 
BBQ Guru - Beginners Guide to BBQ 

The Guardian - BBQ Do's and Don'ts 

Weber - Grill Skills - Mastering the Basics 

Kathy Maister's Startcooking.com 

Finally, click here for a link to an article from CNN titled ''11 Facts to Raise Your Grilling IQ".

Enjoy the links and all those summer bbq's!

Regards,
Stu 

Things To Do In the Summer With Kids On Long Island

Hi All,

Its summertime and the livin' is good - as they say.  But wait...you've got kids and you need to keep them occupied - you don't want them on a tablet or a phone or a tv or a computer screen all day!  What's a person to do?

Great question and we've got some answers at least.

This first link is from Click on this link from Mommypoppins for an article titled Summer Fun Guide For Long Island Kids. There are some great ideas lurking in there!

The next link is  also from Mommypoppins - this link is titled 50 Free Things To Do With Long Island Kids This Summer.  Awesome resources and ideas. 

A website called TripSavvy got into 'let's keep kids busy during the summer racket' with a link on their site called 'Top 10 Children's Attractions on Long Island'. 

Mommypoppins seems to be a getting a lot of play on the blog today.  Here's another valuable article titled '25 Things We Can't Wait to Do With LI Kids This Summer' - note that the article is very, very recent - as in from June 2017.

Finally the Long Island Press wrote an article titled '43 Things To Do With Your Kids on Long Island' some time ago.  The article is well worth taking the time to peruse if you want to keep the little ones busy this summer!

So there you have it - a bunch of websites that'll help you keep the kids busy this summer.  Remember there are about 65 or so days left until school starts! :)

Enjoy the resources and if you think that I've missed any good ones send me an email at fdaleref@nassaulibrary.org and I'll include them in an upcoming blog post!

Regards,
Stu