Ok.. so this week was my birthday (and for those counting out there, I just turned 15 thanks… and if you believe that..) and my lovely wife bought me an 8gb Ipod Touch. I love this thing!! Now i know many in the community already have one and/or an iPhone so I am not trendsetting by any means. ]

However, I do consider this my true welcome to mobile web technology and for that am eternally thankful. So with my new gift, I have been taking a bit of time out of the last day or two scouring reviews and the Apple App store looking to put some power behind my new toy.

I think I finally have the right combination of apps on there now (and that’s just for now..) and thought I would share what’s currently making my Ipod the machine I need it to be

(Note: Keep in mind that since its an Ipod, I am working off the auspices of wifi and therefore limited the apps I chose to use seeing as I am not on 3g and am camera-less)

All these apps are available from the App store on your device or via Itunes on your desktop/laptop/netbook.

No use providing direct links so just search your for them in the App store and you’ll fine em.

1. Stanza (Free) – This app works as my ebook reader. The interface is nice and clean and pages turn with the swipe of a finger. The app allows you to not only download books from the free sources out there (ex. Gutenburg) but also the pay ones. It’s really cost effective if you willing to read the out of copyright stuff, but flexible to allow for both. You can also change the font size and turn into a large-print reader.

Also, once you download a book, its on the ipod/iphone and you can read it offline (great for me!).

Two quickies to add: Kindle app (Free) is good for those looking to buy digital book from Amazon.com (can download books directly to device with app and Internet connection) and Eucalyptus ($9.99) which has a gorgeous interface, but the price tag is a little too steep for it to be on my list (esp. with Stanza being jsut as good)

2. Facebook (Free) – Self explanatory if your a Facebook user (even if it is connection dependant). The Twitter (Free) app would be the other one in this category, but haven’t really fallen hard for Twitter…yet

3. Urbanspoon (Free) – Ok.. so this goes one kind of breaks my personal rule of having to be able to be used offline in some way. Urbanspoon is a restaurant discovery tool which allows you to search for restaurants in major city locations based on price, cuisine and neighborhood.  However, you must be connected to Internet (3g, wifi, etc) to use it.

That being said, its has a really fun interface with a slot-wheel that you can slide with your finger to search. You can lock criteria into place on on slot and slide the wheel for others (ex. lock in place a price range and than spin the wheel for types of cuisine in that range).  Coolest thing.. glad you asked… if you shake your respective device, it draws a random restaurant for you based on the area your in.. its free, fun, and relatively up to date

4. Tip Calc (Free) – A really simple to clean and simple to use tool to calculate tips. There are many like this one for free and pay, but this one is my prefered.. straight and to the point

5. Epocrates (Free) – There are quite a few health related apps out there which can provide a plethorda of information and tools. Problem : Most if not all require an internet connection to access the info. For me, I needed something that could work offline but that could update when and if I am in a wifi-location.  Enter Epocrates.

However, the part of this app that is useful to those that are connection challenged is the drug/pill encyclopedia. This is because the other information that is available thru this app is not only subscription based, but requires that peskyu connection. The drug encyclopedia does nto and it works offline with the ability to be updated when connected to the Internet.

6.  FilesAnywhere (Free) – This one took some searching to find, but oooh so glad I did. Basically my mission was to find an app where I could get my docuemnts, spreadsheets, pdf docs, etc onto the my ipod to be able to access and read/view offline. There are several apps that do this,  but most are either

a) A little too software and settings dependant on the desktop/laptop side of things to be worth the trouble

b) Internet dependant

I did almost give up the search but in the 11th hour of this epic battle for the perfect document managament app, I found this little golden egg. Filesanywhere is a free app that allow you to move documents, images, etc to a FREE online storage account. From there you open the app on your device and sync to this account (you do need the internet for this). Then you can download any files from you online account directly to a folder on your device within the app.

It sounds like alot but its not as crazy as it seems. For free, you get 200mb of online storage, and more if you decide to get a pay account. The app can read all types of files so its a great way to get pdf’s, doc files, excel spreadsheets onto your device to look at and it really easy to manage… trust me

7. Gazette ($2.99) – Besides some games (a post for another time) – this is the only app I shelled out for (I have a good reason really!). I needed an RSS reader. For those who don’t know or use RSS, this one will make no difference to you. For those who do, you understand why I needed to find just the right one.

With that being said, I chose Gazette because it syncs beautifully with Google Reader (my preferred RSS reader) by just logging in with my Google account. That’s it. Plus, and you knew the common theme would return, feeds that you sync with using an Internet connection, can be read offline. So I can sync at work or another wifi location and take them with me and read at my leisure.

This may not be the best reader option for those non Google users, but it was for me (some readers that are been reviewed well and allow you to add your own feeds as well as sync include Byline ($1.99), Manifesto ($1.99) and NewsStand $4.99)

As a newbie to the Apple mobile revolution, I would LOVE!!! to hear what is apps are currently rocking your device of choice… just drop a comment!

Courtesy of  Morningstar Investment Research Center this free booklet will give you some new ideas to limit your personal financial risk.  In these hard times, we all need to learn to position ourselves for a financially healthy future and increase our financial literacy.

I love getting suggestions from our patrons about different interesting web resources that I have not come across (especially when they are good ones). Ted.com falls in that category.

This website contains video of talks, speeches and presentations by some of many of the great thinkers, motivators, leaders, and innovators of today. You can select select talks by style, genre and topic, as well as speaker.

Only the “good” stuff makes it up here and I promise, its good stuff! Check it out!

Would you like to learn more about those loaded spinach trucks you see going down Main Street, Cranbury?  Check out this video on YouTube.

As with any public Board the Library Board of Trustees meetings are open to the public.  The regular meeting dates are posted on the library’s website, in the library and townhall as well is provided to local papers.  Meeting agendas are posted in the library.  Unless otherwise noted all meetings are held in the Tom Gambion Room in the library.

When a special meeting is called, a notice including the agenda, is provided to the papers, town clerk and posted in the library 48 hours prior to the meeting as required by Sunshine Laws.  This procedure was followed when the Friday, May 29 meeting was called.  Click here to read the agenda.

This Memorial Day the Cranbury Public Library staff and Board members will be marching in the parade. As we remember fallen heroes, it is important to reflect on the freedoms they died for. One of these freedoms is the Freedom to Read.

• The freedom to read is essential to our democracy.
• Free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture.
• The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution.

For the full Freedom to Read statement by the American Library Association and the Association of American Publishers go to www.cranburypubliclibrary.org/freedomtoreadstatement.pdf

Hope to see you at the parade!

The library is in the process of testing some add on content to our catalog which we think will really help you, and us, search for and discover books in the library. It would be great if you could help us test too!! All you have to do is what you have always been doing… search the catalog. Go and search our library catalog, find a book, click on “details” and scroll down to see the new content areas that have been added including ’similar titles’ , ‘related editions’, and the tag browser (a very modern way to discover materials in the library.. )

After trying it out, please leave us a comment below and tell us what you think.. we’d love your feedback.

Also please feel free to watch the following tutorial to see how to access the new content and how it works

Come join us on the Cranbury Brook Preserve Trail as we welcome back our feathered friends to the area. Come Sunday, May 17 to the library at 2:00. Dress appropriately for the weather and bring your binoculars! This program is designed for adults, and will be cancelled in the event of heavy rain. Call the library to confirm.

As you may have noticed wandering around the adult section of the library recently, we have added book and sign display holders to book shelves. We are planning on using this area for a variety of display types (including a visiting art exhibit soon). One of the recurring displays we would like to do is picks from our staff and patrons. And that’s where you come in.

We would like to open up the suggestion display to you, our patrons. The way it would work is, you submit a list of 8 books you would recommend to your neighbors, friends (or even your enemies) and we’ll pull them from the shelves and display them on our new book displays. We will also print the list to be displayed with the books along with your name.

We want to know what you’ve read, and especially what you have read that is good. You can email the list of your 8 recommendations to baldwin@cranburypubliclibrary.org, or just give us a call here at the library and read the list to us over the phone. Whatever you’re  comfortable with. If you send it by email, just do not forget to include your name.

We will let you know when your list and books are ready and on display. You book recommendation display will remain for thirty days

The Friends of the Cranbury Public Library have graciously made available to all Cranbury residents a family pass for the Guggenheim Museum. Like our other museum passes in this program, they can be requested, reserved and picked up at the library in advance of your trip. The pass allows two adults and an unlimited number of children under 18 years of age access to the museum. The pass also includes a 10% discount on merchandise.

Give us a call or stop by today to take advantage of this resource…free at your library!