Public Outcry Saves Saskatchewan Library Funds

Library advocacy | Public libraries | Access |Funding | Activism

Drop Everything and Read rally, Fox Valley, Sask.
Photo credit: Susan Rose

 

 

By Bob Warburton on May 15, 2017

In an abrupt about-face, the provincial government of Saskatchewan, Canada, on April 24 restored every penny of the $4.8 million it had cut just a month earlier from public library funding as part of its 2017–18 budget. It was a reversal that elected officials admit was prompted by mounting public opposition to the cuts, spurred in part by a Facebook group that sprang up almost overnight to energize many grassroots protests.

The announcement by Saskatchewan Education Minister Don Morgan wrapped up a tumultuous five weeks in which a determined and unified library community prevailed over what were considered long odds.

They saw thousands of petition signatures, a claim by Morgan that usage had declined significantly and some parts of Saskatchewan might have too many libraries—rebutted point by point by the nonprofit Saskatchewan Library Association (SLA)—sinking poll numbers for the political party in power, a protest aimed directly at elected officials, and a sudden halt to Saskatchewan’s popular interlibrary loan system. Read more...

8 Reasons You Should Be Using Google Voice (If You’re American)

Google Voice has been out for years, but many people in the US still haven’t given it a try. Google Voice offers many features you can’t get elsewhere, and almost all of them are free.
There are ways to sign up for Google Voice outside of the US, but even if you manage to do so you’ll be left with a US number. That’s a bit awkward if you live outside the US.

Place and Receive Calls From Gmail

Google allows anyone to place free calls to the US and Canada from Gmail. However, these calls will appear to come from a random shared number that your recipients won’t recognize. If you switch to Google Voice, calls you place from Gmail will appear to come from your own personal Google Voice number.
Best of all, you can even receive incoming calls in Gmail and answer them from your computer. Google Voice integration is now part of Google Hangouts, so it’s also integrated into Google+ and the Hangouts Chrome extension. Read more...

Related articles

• Ram Olson Announces Class Action Over Alleged Defect In "Google Voice" Application
• Google finally adds voice calling to Hangouts
• Google Hangouts gets HD video streaming, leaves H.264 behind
• Calls via Google Voice only?
• Google Voice was supposed to be the future - so why is it stuck in the past?
• Google Returns Voice Calling to Gmail, Hangouts

BlackBerry 10: Hands-On With the BlackBerry Z10

By Michelle Maisto  |  Posted 2013-02-05 

 

The BlackBerry 10 platform and BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 smartphones were introduced at a live streaming-around-the-world event Jan. 30. Two years in the making, the new mobile platform will usher the company through its next 10 years, executives have repeated, but first it will need to save it from what has least delicately been called a "death spiral." The company needs to delight current users and attract away—or back—those more interested in the Apple iPhone or Android-running devices, such as Samsung's Galaxy line. Can BlackBerry do it? It would seem to have a good shot, as it isn't fighting back with hardware, where Apple and Samsung excel, but with its meticulously crafted software. In a smartphone market focused on ever-thinner widths, boundary-pushing screen sizes and display specs that read like eye charts, the Z10's hardware seems rather secondary—respectable housing for the tremendous software tucked inside. BlackBerry 10 is unlike anything we've seen before. It's like a modern, smartly designed city that—even as one loses one's way, exploring—feels exciting and original and like a place where one can make things happen. The Z10 went on sale in the U.K. Jan. 3, and will arrive in Canada Feb. 5 and in the United States around mid-March. The QWERTY-equipped Q10 will follow a few weeks later. Below is a quick introduction to the Z10.

BlackBerry Z10

The Z10 features a 4.2-inch touch display and a button-free front facade. It's thin enough—as thin as the iPhone 5—and attractive enough. The front glass is slick, but the texture on the back makes it comfortable to hold and feel secure in the hand. It looks neither cutting-edge nor out-of-date. It's a perfectly nice, neutral envelope for what's inside. Read

Related articles

• Blippar turns your iPhone or Android smartphone into a BlackBerry Z10... sort of (pocket-lint.com)
• BlackBerry Z-10 Launch (canadianmomeh.com)
• How to set up a BlackBerry Z10 smartphone (blogs.blackberry.com)
• BlackBerry Z10 users will be able to sideload Android apps (androidcommunity.com)
• BlackBerry Z10: Top 5 things you should know (blogs.blackberry.com)
• Phones 4u announces first availability of new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone in white (prweb.com)
• BlackBerry 10 Pricing and Availability (blogs.blackberry.com)
• BlackBerry Z10 vs Nokia Lumia 920 (Video) (pocketnow.com)
• 5 Reasons to Switch from iPhone 5 to the BlackBerry Z10 (blackberrycool.com)
• How to use the Calendar app on the BlackBerry Z10 (blackberryos.com)

The library is not just a book warehouse anymore - The Globe and Mail

The library is not just a book warehouse anymore - The Globe and Mail

Related articles

• The library is not just a book warehouse anymore (theglobeandmail.com)
• Digital readers are changing the traditional library system (theglobeandmail.com)