Buy Refurbished Kindle: cheap discount - $149 shipped

Wow, you can buy refurbished Kindle for only $149! This is for a first generation, refurbished Kindle at Amazon. I was shocked to see how cheap Kindles are now! I seriously can't believe how they have given such a huge discount on Amazon Kindles and that they are now selling Kindles so cheap. Sure, it's first generation, but it's still a Kindle! This could make a great Christmas present for someone, or for that special librarian in your life (hint, hint!). You can see the refurbished Kindle at Amazon. I don't know how often the refurbished Kindles come in stock, but there are some available now, so buy one ASAP before they're all gone! If you can't see the photo above, click refurbished Kindle to see the Kindles.

Best Children's Halloween Books

Halloween will soon be here, so I wanted to post a list of some of the best children's Halloween books for those of you who are looking for good Halloween books for your kids! Everyone will have their own favorite children's Halloween books, and books that they consider the best children's Halloween books, but here is a list to get you started:

Rather than post a lengthy review of each book, I am going to link to them, and you can read more reviews directly on Amazon for more information......

Big Pumpkin


Halloween Night


Penny Whistle Halloween Book


The Pumpkin Goblin Makes Friends


The Cheerios Halloween Play Book (this one is fun if you have a box of Cheerios as you read along with the book)

Online career event for persons with disabilities

Did you know there is going to be an online career event for persons with disabilities? It is hosted by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, so these are federal government jobs. It will be held on Monday, September 28, at 11 am Eastern. There will be a free live chat session with the actual hiring managers from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission! Get more info on the online career event for persons with disabilities. There is even a brief screening questionnaire available on the website to help you determine if you qualify for the available jobs!

Living with diabetes: emotions, family, restrictions

Living with diabetes: emotions, family, restrictions - I recently received an email from the Accessible World News Wire, announcing another interesting free event about diabetes! Please share this information with anyone you know you could benefit from this free "living with diabetes" program:

"The topic under discussion will be: Wrestling with the emotions of living with Diabetes i.e. family involvement, life restrictions, rebellion and so forth.

Although we prefer that you use your computer to come into our audio community room, we are providing you with a telephone number to conference you directly into our phone center. The phone number is 218-844-3388; pin: 090807 followed by the pound sign. While our host is making her presentation, please mute your phone with star 6. This is a toggle and you may ask a question by again using star 6.

Presenter: Natalie J. Nankin, Licensed Nutritionist
Email: Njnank@aol.com
Date: Wednesday September 23, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m. PDT, 7:00 p.m. MDT, 8:00 p.m. CDT, 9:00 p.m. EDT,
and elsewhere in the world Thursday 1:00 GMT.
Approximately 15 minutes prior to the event start time; go to the Accessible World Room: Living with Diabetes at:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs54fe10ea333d

Or, alternatively,
Select the Accessible World Living with Diabetes Room at: http://www.accessibleworld.org/

Enter your first and last names on the sign-in screen.
If you are a first-time user of the Talking Communities online conferencing software, there is a small, safe software program that you need to download and then run. A link to the software is available on every entry screen to the Accessible World rooms.

All online interactive programs require no password, are free of charge, and open to anyone worldwide having an Internet connection, a computer, speakers, and a sound card. Those with microphones can interact audibly with the presenters and others in the virtual audience. To speak to us, hold down the control key and let up to listen. If no microphone is available, you may text chat with the attendees."

Cool home loans and financial website: GetSmart

Lots of library patrons are looking to save money these days and several of you have probably already received patrons asking about how to refinance home loans. Of course as librarians we do not give financial advice, but we CAN refer people to helpful financial related websites. I recently learned about a cool home loans website that may help some of your library patrons. It is called GetSmart. You can see the GetSmart website at http://www.getsmart.com/.

GetSmart offers information on home loans, as well as other financial information that is written in an easy to understand format (which your patrons will appreciate)! The website is very easy to navigate, which is one of the things I really like about this site. GetSmart offers a quick "two minute" form that people can fill out that will instantly connect them with five lenders competing for their business. There are over 200 lenders that are connected with the GetSmart website, so this should increase the chance of getting good refinance rates! There are also helpful mortgage calculators and refinance calculators on the site. Some of the other useful features include the loan resources, FAQ, and testimonials. (These are the colored tab sections on the main page.) For those of you with student loans (that's probably about all of us, ha ha!), there is even a student loan section. So check out GetSmart and then share the info with your patrons!

***Obviously, I would recommend that anyone providing financial information do so on a secure and non-public computer at home, rather than at a public computer in a library.

Participate in Clinical Trials

Did you know there are lots of clinical trials available that you can participate in? An easy way to find and participate in a clinical trial is to search the government's clinical trial database. You can find the Clinical Trials website at http://clinicaltrials.gov/. I just checked out the site, and there are clinical trials going on for all sorts of health related conditions, all across the country. If you are interested in signing up for a clinical trial, check with your doctor and then check out the clinical trials site.

Traveling for blind and visually impaired persons

I recently received another Tek Talk newsletter announcing another great upcoming program! This one will be about traveling (travel), for blind and visually impaired persons! Here is the info on the traveling program for blind and visually impaired persons, taken straight from the Tek Talk Newsletter:

"Come pick up information and tips on traveling! We will be holding a panel discussion on traveling for blind and visually impaired persons. Three experienced travelers will share their experiences and offer tips and suggestions to make traveling easier. Discussions are underway to add a fourth panelist who operates a travel agency specializing in travel for the blind. This is also a chance to share some of your own travel experiences as there will be some open time for questions and discussion.

Panelists:

Diana St. James, Owner, Dimension in Travel, Novato, California

Ruth Ann Acosta

Sherry Wells

Larry Gasman

Sherry Wells organized this panel.Thanks Sherry!

See you there!

Nan Hawthorne, Group Facilitator

Email: hawthorne@nanhawthorne.com

Date: Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Time: 6:00 p.m. PDT, 7:00 p.m. MDT, 8:00 p.m. CDT, 9:00 p.m. EDT

and elsewhere in the world Wednesday 1:00 GMT.

Approximately 15 minutes prior to the event start time; go to the Accessible World Classroom at:

http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs0f1c528bd81"

Touch Graphics: free program

I recently received an email from the TekTalk newsletter, and it looks like there is a cool program coming up on Monday, September 14, that you won't want to miss!

Taken directly from the email:

"For this Tek Talk, Steve Landau will be discussing recent work by Touch Graphics, Inc. to develop a variety of innovative products, such as:

• a talking digital "pen" that announces place names as you touch its tip to the surface of specially printed tactile graphic sheets;
• talking, touchable models that describe themselves as they are touched by visitors to museums or users of public information kiosks;
• wiiCane, a new interactive training system for teaching correct use of the two-point touch method for cane use to young children,
• and a continuing stream of content for our flagship product, the Talking Tactile Tablet (also known as TTT or T3).

We will be focusing especially on the ways that all of these projects leverage the power of audio-tactile interactive computing, (where a computer is made to speak descriptive feedback in response to user touches or gestures. Audio-tactile interactivity is the key to making these devices and systems engaging, intuitive and universally accessible. He will also be talking about the important role of collaboration between this private company, University research groups (including City University of New York, Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, and University of Buffalo), and government funding agencies (including the United States Department of Education, National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and the National Science Foundation to make this work possible.

Date: Monday, September 14th, 2009.

Time: 5:00 p.m. PDT, 6:00 p.m. MDT, 7:00 p.m. CDT, and 8:00 p.m. EDT

and elsewhere in the world Tuesday 0:00 GMT

Approximately 15 minutes prior to the event start time; go to The Pat Price Tek Talk Training Room at:

http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsc9613dc89eb2

Or, alternatively.

Select The Pat Price Tek Talk Training Room at: www.accessibleworld.org

Enter your first and last names on the sign-in screen.

If you are a first-time user of the Talking Communities online conferencing software, there is a small, safe software program that you need to download and then run. A link to the software is available on every entry screen to the Accessible World rooms

All online interactive programs require no password, are free of charge, and open to anyone worldwide having an Internet connection, a computer, speakers, and a sound card. Those with microphones can interact audibly with the presenters and others in the virtual audience. To speak to us, hold down the control key and let up to listen. If a microphone is not available, you may text chat with the attendees.

All Tek Talk Training events are recorded and archived. If you are unable to participate live at the above times then you may download the presentation or podcast from the Accessible World Recent Additions at www.accessibleworld.org Previous Tek Talk programs are available by selecting Tek Talk Archives on the same webpage.

Accessible World uses News Wires, like this one, to inform people of the topic and times for the many Discussion Groups on Accessible World. The lists are announce only to keep the traffic to a minimum. You can join the Accessible World Announce List, the Tek Talk Announce List or the Sports Talk Announce List by completing the form at: www.accessibleworld.org/mailinglists

Accessible World also provides a Tek Talk Discussion List. This list is intended to give you an opportunity to ask computer related questions, suggest topics to be used in the weekly Monday training programs, or just to interact with others interested in using assistive devices to access computers. You may sign up for this list by selecting the Tek Talk Discussion link on the same page and completing the form."

Free books for Kindle / Amazon Kindle free e-books

Did you know you can get FREE books for the Kindle / Amazon Kindle free books? That's right, you can get free Kindle books (free Kindle e-books)!

I was surprised at how many free books are available for the Kindle! Get your free Kindle books now! These free books will work on the "regular" Amazon Kindle (6 inch) AND the new large screen Kindle DX (9.7 inch)!

And we all know, nothing beats FREE books! I don't know how long these books will be available for free on the Kindle and Kindle DX, so get them today before they're gone!