Technically Speaking

I think there is a 1 in 2 chance that my next computer will be a mac. But that is a subject for a different blog. The point is that I was reading a Popular Science article called “Mac of All Trades”, that discussed how Mac’s new mini computer could be adapted for a variety of purposes.

At the end of the article (located here) there are instructions on how to upgrade the computer. The steps cracked me up! I think they are a classic example of good technical writing that understands the audience: lay computer users who are afraid of breaking their computers. Here are the steps:

1. Set the Mini upside- down on a soft surface. Insert thin putty knives between the metal and the plastic on each side. Pry the knives outward harder than you think you should. After some scary cracking noises, the tabs holding on the case will release and the bottom will pop up.
2. To replace the RAM, pull the tabs on each side away from the RAM stick until it pops up. Carefully place the new one in the slot, and push down hard until the tabs lock in place.

We moved to Salt Lake County in September of last year, but we’ve never had the need to get a library card. Until now.

Let me preface by telling you about our Utah County library experience. Utah county does not have a county library system, and they aren’t very nice about sharing. We lived in Spanish Fork, which is on the south end of the county. Our little Spanish Fork city library was nice, but it was very small, and didn’t have a fantastic collection. Provo City, on the other hand, has a beautiful library with a much larger collection. However, since we weren’t Provo City residents, we had to be willing to pay $100 a year in order to use the Provo library–just that one library.

It really didn’t matter, because when we were living in Spanish Fork, Christina and I were still students, and had full access to the BYU libraries — with millions upon millions of items in their combined collections. So we ignored Provo’s stinginess, and just used the BYU library.

I grew up in Salt Lake County, so I was familiar with their system, but I’ve not used their libraries since I was in high school (10 years ago). Since we needed a copy of Animal Farm for the book club this month, we decided that it is time to get library cards at the county library.

I have to say, I think that the Salt Lake County Library System does it right. Everybody in the county can use any of the 19 branches. If you want any book in the system, they will send it to the library of your choice and hold it for pickup. They have a great website that lets you find and request books from any library in the system. It’s fantastic. They even have an e-book check out, where you can check out e-books from the library for three weeks. When your time expires, the content expires on your device and the item is “checked-in.”

In addition, I can manage my account online, renew books online, and I can even use my library card at the Salt Lake City Library or the Murray City Library (which are not part of the county library system, but are free to county library card holders.)

And if that’s not enough, the county library participates in Inter-Library Loan—so Christina can get all of her thesis books from colleges and universities across the country—all for free!! I think the Salt Lake County Library System is the coolest thing since sliced bread. (Sliced bread, however, is still SLIGHTLY cooler.)

I was browsing a website looking for cool plug-ins for the bookclub, and I came across a spell checker. The features of the spell checker include:

Support for over 75 languages!!! Now in the Options menu of the spell checker you can set your default language or dialect. For English, there is even choice of UK, US, and CA! Check the complete list of supported languages.

When I read the quote, in my head I said “For English, there is even the choice of United Kingdom, United States, and California.”

Does California have their own language so they need a separate spell checker? I didn’t think so. It must mean Canada. Duh!

The first book to be read in the new online book club has been announced in the book club forums. Go check it out and join today!!

Anybody who registers before we start the second book on June 6 will get the honorary title of “Charter Member” which will appear on all of your posts.

We have created the initial draft of the Online Bookclub Policies document. It is located here. If you are interested in joining our bookclub, please read this document and give feedback. We’re hoping to get the bookclub going withing a week or so.