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Next level of gaming
I figure we could all use a post on the lighter side of things for the moment.
For those who don’t know, Nintendo is working on the next version of DS which will have 3D capabilities without the need of glasses.
Videos have been slowly leaked onto the web over the past week but this one completely blew me away.
As an advocate for video games, I am often asked if there are actual benefits to playing them. I think will start pointing them to this video as a perfect example of how games can help enhance perspective and spatial reasoning.
And incidentally, yes, I have technolust at this very moment… oh, and a birthday coming up :::cough::::
Tyler
-Update-
As posted in the comments section by WC, it looks like this is simply a 3D game created for the regular DS (but not available in the US). Props to WC for picking this up and pointing is out.
I’m gonna keep the post up though as it still does show us a taste of what 3D gaming could hold and definitely emphasizes the educational aspects of gaming. That, and it still whets my technolust palate.
Missing Mayors and Freeholders in our Libraries
This is less of a post and more of a request for comments.
I’m just curious how many of us have seen their mayors in the library recently? How many librarians have seen any state/city official in their library over the past year or so?
Is he/she a regular user?
For that matter, do you think he/she is aware of libraries increase of patrons, circulation and services?
Personally, I’ve generally thought that most city officials do not use their libraries ( I would love to be wrong about this).
A few years back, when I worked in Trenton and we were experiencing the first wave of a budget crunch, employees joked that they had not seen their Mayor at the library in years. While we felt he talked about libraries in a positive light we were not sure if he actually knew what problems and condition his city’s libraries were in.
That said, I am happy to say that I now work in a library where we do see our Mayor. In fact, we see several of the administration and township employees on a regular basis. They are enthusiastic, supportive users and it clearly shows.
I would love to hear how other people view their elected officials and they feel their library is supported. Remember, you can always comment anonymously😉
Posted by Tyler Rousseau
Ten TED Things to Think About
Posted by Tyler Rousseau
Sorry, I love a good alliteration.
I came across this article on my traditional morning tech-news search and thought it was a pretty decent article. Originally posted at CNN, Richard Galant presents 10 ideas from TED2010 that he feels are worth special note.
Overall, I think he is right on the money with most of these choices, which have a somewhat humanistic tone to them.
-Money can’t buy happiness but it can relieve stress.
-You are what you eat.
-Many children die needless because we choose not to fund programs and distribute the monies poorly.
-People will spend what it takes to believe in a placebo.
-A ukulele is good for any occasion… especially when stopping a war.
I think what I liked about the choices are that they can easily promote discussion and even a little outcry. Anyway, take a look and let me know what you think.
Growin’ a Mo to raise awareness
At what point do we stop investing in a format?
By Tyler Rousseau
My wife and I just bought an HDTV as a spoil-ourselves gift for our five year anniversary. Of course, being a type-A compulsive who needs to take things about one step further than necessary, I started looking for ways to extend our viewing pleasures.
While a Blu-ray player would seem to be the next logical step for most, I was a little wary.
I decided to head to the local electronics store and ask their opinions on the matter.
The employee recommended I buy the PS3, which comes with a Blu-ray. When I asked for any other suggestions, he was ‘hesitant.” While he clarified that there was nothing wrong with Blue-ray players (quality of video and sound was definitely superior to other options) he wasn’t positive that this format was the way to go when upgrading your media.
It was an interesting lecture (I hesitate to call it a conversation). Since his answer took well over 10 minutes, I am just going to try to highlight his argument in bullet points.
- If Blu-ray were to take off it probably would have done so by now. It took audio CDs less than ten years to overtake audio cassettes. One of Samsung’s Executives made a statement that he thinks Blu-ray will be gone in another five years. Not a very optimistic outlook.
- Netflix has taken off in a seriously big way and that is not really a good thing for DVDs or Blu-rays. It means people may be watching Blue-rays but they are actually buying less. In fact current economic conditions have led more people to renting nowadays.
- On the topic of increasing rentals, Redbox isn’t helping the situation.
- Blu-ray is already in a new format war…
- Downloadable movies are looking more and more like the next big format. Whether through your cable provider or the Internet, the instant gratification of streaming movies, in HD no less, is a tough thing to compete against for the casual viewer.
- While not quite ready, many TV manufacturers are looking to include wi-fi connections to their products.
- There was one other point; something about not having to buy things, possessions being fleeting and sticking it to the man or whatever, but I’ll just skip over that one.
While this did nothing in terms of getting a sale from me it was definitely food for thought.
The lecture got me thinking about the difficulties of introducing new medias into a library collection. It then got me thinking about old collections; more specifically, when to stop funding the collection.
Obviously, changes in formats are nothing new. Even in the relatively short time I have been in the profession, I’ve seen libraries stop buying audio-cassettes, CD-Roms and videotapes. More so, I’ve seen them stop purchasing the paper copies of publications in order to invest in the cheaper online versions.
And while I definitely applaud libraries who have decided to invest in Blu-rays I do wonder about how long this media has. While 5 years seems a little short to me, I would not be surprised to see it obsolete within 10.
By all means, let me hear it; at what point do we back out from a format?
By Tyler Rousseau
What do we do when wi-fi booms?
We’ve been able to use free computers and Internet as a selling point for library services over the past few years. It has led to an increase in patron visits for most libraries and continues to be a major service provided for many patrons. Overall, the only major problem patrons have with Internet usage in libraries is the ability to customize the computer to their liking (i.e. download/update software, files, etc.).
Wi-fi is a nice addition as it allows patrons more access to more content and the ability to download software without having to worry about the library policies and security settings. Considering the latest drop in laptop prices and the rise of the netbook, wi-fi is becoming a major sell for many of our patrons.
But what happens when wi-fi becomes commonplace?
The affordability of laptops and other wi-fi enabled devices becomes more negligible each day. Just this past weekend the Trenton-area circulars advertised laptops for under $200. Wi-fi cellphones may still cost a bit right now but two years down the road, when it’s time to re-sign your cellphone contract and get the free upgrade, don’t be surprised is wi-fi is standard or available on the lower end models. Even personal gaming systems have wi-fi capabilities; no upgrades required.
The point is, the ability to access wi-fi is already here, the thing holding it back is where to find free wi-fi… and that is quickly growing.
This past week, my family and I took a vacation to Deep Gap, North Carolina. Don’t feel bad if the name doesn’t ring a bell, its major selling point is that it is in the middle of nowhere and hard to find. That said, the recreation center had free wi-fi for all visitors and residents. The Burger King we stopped into to let the girls burn some energy on the playground also had free wi-fi for all its customers. As a matter of fact, we probably had more difficulty getting a good cellphone signal than we did finding a wi-fi signal (this was certainly the case in the Blue Ridge Mountains).
Many companies, social organizations and eateries are finding out what most libraries know; free wi-fi brings in more people and that means more sales. Going to Google and typing in “Free wi-fi New Jersey” pulls up several sites dedicated to finding free signals. Some of the sites even catagorize the signals by establishment (restaurant, hotel, spas).
I’m happy to say that libraries still seem to be the leader of free wi-fi areas for most of these sites.
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