The Geekly Reader

I spent my Sunday morning reading the print version of The News Herald and then I went online to read the Detroit Free Press .  The feature story this morning is in regards to expanding the Gift of Reading Program started back in May within the City of Detroit.  What a great way to start off my Sunday (glad I did not start by reading the sports section on the Spartans.)  This sounds like a wonderful program.  The Free Press is trying to expand on their reading tutor program by collecting 25,000 books (for every preK - 3rd grader in the Detroit Public School System).   I really think it is sad to think about how some children have no books at home, none, zero!!  Of course books are a normal gift and reward in my household.  We have a basket in our great room filled with books.  Not to mention this shelf overflowing upstairs with more choices.  (Side note, when I slid into the room to snap this picture with my iPhone, my daughter was sitting in a chair reading the Cat in the Hat to

A couple of stories caught my eye this morning as I was browsing around online.  First, could it be, the death of the Walkman?   To be completely honest, I was shocked they were even still making these things.  Are there really still people out their listening to cassette tapes?  What a terrible way to listen to music, having to search and search for a particular song.  The only thing they were really good for was recording songs off the radio.  I really wonder how much longer the compact disc will even be around.  I buy nearly all of my music online, song-by-song.  It is rare that I buy an entire CD.  How do you enjoy and buy your music in this era?  Do you miss any of the music mediums of the past?  I know a lot of people still love vinyl. Another story that caught my eye had to do with new technology replacing librarians .  Reading the article, I really do not see this new technology (ummm lockers and/or drop boxes, not very high tech if you ask me) replacing librarians.  Libraria

I finished The Lion the other day while attending my REMC meeting at Wayne County RESA (a great once of month meeting of School Librarians from throughout Wayne County).  It took a little while to finish this book because I ended up leaving it in my cousins car during a road trip to Pittsburgh and back.  This is the second book by Nelson DeMille that I have read.  I read The Lion's Game earlier this year (based on the recommendation of a reader of this blog).  I must say that I loved both books! One reason I enjoy the series has to be the main character/protagonist, ex NYC detective John Corey.  His commentary is so amusing throughout both novels.  I love the fact that even in times of extreme danger/stress he is still able to be a "smart ass," for lack of better terms.  He enjoys a good drink and a good woman.  The novel starts of quickly with plenty of action (it is extremely violent, graphic as a matter of fact, so if you do not care for that in your book selectio

So I started off my day scanning around on CNN.com and came across this story and video.   Author Nicholas Negroponte believes that physical books will be a thing of the past.  I watched the entire video online and read the article.  Negroponte founded "One Laptop, One Child" in 2005 with the goal of providing cheap, Internet ready notebook computers to every school aged child in the world.  He does make some good points,  especially regarding how cheaper and easier it is to provide eBooks to readers, especially in developing countries. As I sat in the Flat Rock Library this evening reading, I took a second to look around and think, could this all be replaced by Kindles and iPads in just a few years?  The physical book, gone forever.  No more Barnes and Noble or Borders?  No more physical newspapers or magazines.  With the cost of digital readers dropping by the month, the price point is bound to reach a number that makes physical books a waste of money.  Still, I do not kn

I picked up my new iPhone 4 on Sunday.  Like I said in an early post, it is amazing.  Now, I tend not to talk much on the phone, so when I wrote my first post I had yet to make a call.  On Monday, my wife called and could not hear anything I said.  I could hear her, but she heard nothing.  Not good for a phone that was only one day old.  I messed around with the phone a little bit Monday evening at home.  I soon discovered the microphone portion of the phone did not work (people could only hear me during calls when I used the headphones or speakerphone). I quickly made a call to Apple.  Their phone support is wonderful.  The agent had me attempt a few fixes, include a clean reset of the phone.  Nothing worked, so I called Apple back with my case number early Tuesday morning.  I was provided with the option of shipping the phone in for replacement or purchasing Apple care (2 year coverage) for $60.  If I purchased the coverage a new phone would be sent to my house ASAP.  I did purchas

Well, I finally updated my iPhone 3g to the new iPhone 4 today.  I had no problem syncing all of my information from my Macbook pro to the iPhone4 (everything that was on my old phone was on my new phone in a matter of minutes).  The guy at the store attempted to switch my contacts over, but it did not work.  Not a problem, like I said it took just a few minutes at home to transfer everything over.  I have not spent much time playing with the new phone, but I will say there is clearly a difference with speed.  My iPhone 3g was lagging with the new software update.  Everything is so much faster on the iPhone 4.  Also, the new screen is clearly an improvement.  As I use it (and play with it) this week I will be sure to update.  I am happy to have The Lion back in my possession.  So now I am reading both my September and October reads of the month.  This should not be a problem.  I am nearly finished with The Lion and about halfway finished with my October read.   I am really enjoying

As I mentioned earlier, I left my September read, The Lion , in my cousin's car.  I hear it is close to making its way back to me, so I hope to finish it shortly.  This left me searching for an October book before I was even able to finish my September read.  Once I was all settled back into the library at Carlson High School (and finished all of my Homecoming responsibilities) I was able to pick out a selection from the shelves of my library.  This week I started reading Josh Lieb's I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I want to be Your Class President .  Wow, that was a mouthful. So far, I must say this is an interesting title, with one of the most unique narrators/main characters I have ever come across.  I am really interested to see how everything plays out with the main character.  I can not believe that everything that I have read about him can be true.  I keep telling myself, this is all in his imagination, there is no way any of this can be true.  I do love how Lieb