With Facebook as probably the biggest social networking site today, it is hard not to become a part of this community. However, many people do not want to share everything with everyone; and Facebook’s privacy settings can be hard to figure out. eWeek.com recently posted a simple guide to navigate privacy settings on Facebook, Facebook Privacy: A How-To Guide For Taking Back Control. This guide is a nice step-by-step tutorial with screenshots that show how to set up your Facebook account with the level of privacy restrictions to best suit your individual needs. This is something to share family, friends, and your library patrons!
iPad and iPod as Assistive Technologies
A recent Pacesetter article discussed the value of the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone as assistive technologies for children with disabilities. The touch screens, built-in accessibility features and variety of apps make them great educational and communication tools. Some of the assistive technology that comes standard on the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone include screen magnification and VoiceOver. Pacer has created a resource for families looking into using an iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone as an assistive technology device called “There’s an App for That: iPod/iPad 101”. This document gives in-depth information to help determine which device will be most helpful and links directly to sites listing special needs apps, as well as accessories that can be purchased to make the devices more compatible with the user.
Making the Internet More User Friendly
While roaming around the web, I came across a really interesting blog called Lifehacker, which has a lot of great tips and informational articles relating to everyday life situations. One particular entry, Top 10 Fixes For the Web’s Most Annoying Problems by Adam Dachis, caught my eye. Dachis provides some simple solutions to annoying web browsing issues such as too many ads, ugly & confusing websites, sites that want you to register for an account to preview their services, managing multiple social media, fake online reviews, and more. This blog is worth checking out if you find yourself annoyed by some of these problems and may be useful to you in serving your patrons, as well. — Jill R.