App-tastic Tuesday: OnLive Desktop

Some of us just like our PCs. And, no matter how convenient, slick, and intuitive your iPad is, there are times that you wish you had an actual computer tucked up your tablet sleeve.

With OnLive Desktop, a free productivity app, you can use your iPad to do many of the basic tasks that you could perform on a Windows computer. You sign into the app and have access your virtual desktop, complete with PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer with Flash, and 2GB free cloud storage.

Visit their website or find them in the App Store.

And remember to download the Reeves Library app!

App-tastic Tuesday: YouVersion (a day late)

I'm running a day behind this week; I'll blame Labor Day for having me all discombobulated!

Today's featured app is a free Bible app that should come in handy for students taking religion classes or anyone just looking for a robust personal devotions tool.

YouVersion allows you to choose from many different translations and paraphrases of the Bible while you have an active internet connection; certain versions can also be downloaded to your iPad/iPhone/Android for offline access (mostly older translations that are in the public domain). Most translations also have an audio version that you can listen to while connected to the web.

You can navigate to specific passages, look up topics or keywords, pick a daily reading plan, or save your own notes and bookmarks. Some churches are also beginning to post sermon outlines to YouVersion's "Live Events," allowing you to access, add your own notes, and then save or email to yourself. 

YouVersion offers lots of non-English versions, as well. 

Visit the YouVersion website or find them in the App Store.

And, as always, don't forget to download the Reeves Library app!

Forensic linguistics: Is there "anonymous" writing?

Here's something that should be of interest to writing, reading, and data-analytics folks: Forensic Linguistics.

"According to forensic linguists, the experts who investigate a text’s originator, if they have an individual’s known writings, they can detect with up to 95% accuracy that person’s authorship of any other document."

I had professors in college years ago who swore they could tell when someone had her boyfriend write her paper for her, etc., because the writing style was just so different from how the person usually wrote. This age-old gut instinct analysis is now getting some help from the IT world.

App-tastic Tuesday: 270 to Win

In case you hadn't noticed, it's an election year. Political junkies and the apathetic alike will find something to enjoy about 270 to Win.

This fun little 99-cent app lets you view and manipulate election maps, both historical and projected. You can see which states voted red or blue, how long they've been voting that way, and how many electoral votes each one brings to the table.

There are state profiles showing history, voting tendencies, and how the state's electoral vote count has fluctuated over the years.

Of particular interest this year is the ability to start with a projection map and change states' decisions to see how each change would affect the presidential election's outcome. You can pick from a library of different projection maps and tweak to your heart's content.

Visit their website or find them in the App Store.

And, of course, don't forget to download the Reeves Library app!

App-tastic Tuesday: Explain Everything

This app is one that actually costs something. I usually avoid those, but I was so impressed by Explain Everything that I coughed up the $2.99

Explain Everything allows you to create, narrate, and mark up screencasts and slideshows. To see a video that I created with this app, click here and watch the library intro video.

I love this app because the audio and markups are tied to the "slide" that you're viewing. If I mess up when I'm talking or circling a link (anyone who's sat through a class with me teaching knows that this happens pretty often!), I can easily toss out that slide and re-record just that part without having to worry about scrubbers and such.

It's not as robust as ScreenFlow or some other options, but I feel like it's a sweet spot at the intersection of a good end product and being easy to use.

Visit the Explain Everything website or find it in the App Store.
And don't forget to download the Reeves Library app!

Library Hours, August 19 - 26

Sunday, August 19             CLOSED

Monday, August 20 -
Thursday, August 23          8:00 AM - 8:50 PM

Friday, August 24               8:00 AM - 4:50 PM

Saturday, August 25           8:00 AM - 4:50 PM

Sunday, August 26             1:00 PM - 10:50 PM

Fall Hours

Regular library hours, August 20-December 31, 2012

Monday - Thursday            8:00 AM - 10:50 PM
Friday                                 8:00 AM - 4:50 PM
Saturday                             9:00 AM - 4:50 PM
Sunday                               1:00 PM - 10:50 PM


EXCEPTION DATES

August 20 - 23                    8:00 AM - 8:50 PM


Labor Day Weekend
September 2 & 3                CLOSED

Extended Weekend
October 7                           CLOSED
October 8 & 9                    8:00 AM - 4:50 PM

Thanksgiving Break
November 20 & 21            8:00 AM - 4:50 PM
November 22 - 25             CLOSED

Finals
December 2                       1:00 PM - 10:50 PM
December 3 & 4                8:00 AM - 12:50 AM
December 5 & 6                8:00 AM - 10:50 PM
December 10                     8:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Christmas Break
December 11 - 14              8:00 AM - 4:50 PM
December 15 & 16            CLOSED
December 17 - 21              8:00 AM - 4:50 PM
December 22 - Jan. 1         CLOSED