TechBits

Firefox Monitor

Firefox Monitor is a free and easy way to find out if your email address has been exposed to an online data breach since 2007.  You can search for your email address from the web site at any time, or configure Firefox Monitor to send you alerts when your email is discovered to be part of a data breach.  You will need a Firefox account to set up alerts.

According to the FAQs, Firefox uses Have I Been Pwned as the source database provider for their service.  Their database is not totally comprehensive as it takes some time for some breaches to be discovered and they are not always given all the details of some breaches.  If you don't want your email address to be searchable on Have I Been Pwned, they do provide an opt-out link.

Clear cookies for a specific site in Chrome

My preferred method for eliminating cookies

I use Chrome for most of my browsing needs. Occasionally I have an issue with one particular site that requires a login --- when I enter my username and password and hit "login", it responds like nothing happened. I know from experience that clearing my cookies resolves the issue for this particular site, but I hate clearing ALL my cookies and having to log in fresh to all the sites I visit frequently.

This happened again today and got me to wondering how I could clear a single cookie or all the cookies for a particular site. Is it possible to do without too much pain and hoop jumping? It is!!

I found this helpful Chrome support page, "Clear, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome": https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647 and I performed these steps:

Delete cookies from a site

1. On your computer, open Chrome.
2. At the top right, click More   Settings.
3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
4. Under "Privacy and security," click Site settings.
5. Click Cookies  See all cookies and site data.
6. At the top right, search for the website's name.
7. To the right of the site, click Remove .

The Chrome support page also has detailed instructions for clearing all cookies and deleting cookies for a period of time, and includes instructions for PC, Android, and iPhone & iPad.

Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

Microsoft Photos for Editing

I wanted to make a quick edit to a photo recently and found that Microsoft Photos has upped their game. Maybe it’s been like this for a while and I just didn’t notice, but I'm pretty happy with the options they offer now.

If you open a photo in Microsoft Photos, it’s the default photo viewer on my Windows 10 PC, and click the “Edit & Create” tab you are given several options including cropping, straightening (for some reason my photos are always a little crooked), flipping and rotating. You can add filters and make some basic adjustments to the color, light, clarity (sharpening), and it has some other features like Red Eye Removal and Spot Fixing.

You can also go a little farther and add 3D effects or animated text to your images.

The photo in this post was cropped and slightly straightened using Microsoft Photos editing tools. I applied the “Sunscreen” filter to it too because it was cloudy when I wrote this and I thought what the heck, why not.

I still plan on using my go-to photo editor for as long as I can, but the new features (new to me anyway) in Microsoft Photos will definitely get more use from me for fast fixes that I want to do rather than going through my normal routine.

Repeating Events in Google Calendar

If you have events that happen regularly, you can schedule them as a repeating event on your Google Calendar instead of making separate events for each. For example, the Collection Maintenance Subcommittee meets every other month on the second Wednesday, so this is the set up for that:

There are various options for repeating an event including making a custom one like above. Here are the others:

I have repeating events set up for a lot of tasks so that I don't forget to do them. This is especially good for things that only happen a handful of times a year, since I tend to forget those more easily.

I also have reminders to pay my student loans every month. (｡╯︵╰｡)

Have fun putting together repeating events! ＼(＾▽＾)／

How to search within multiple PDF files at once

We all know that we can search within a PDF file for any text that we want to find. But did you know that you can search within multiple PDF files at once? Well, I'm here to tell you that you can and here's how you do it.

1. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

2. Click on the Edit menu at the top and select the "Advanced Search" option

3. Click the radio button in front of "All PDF Documents in"

4. Click on the dropdown menu to open it

5. Click on the "Browse for Location..." option

6. Navigate to the folder where your PDF files live

7. Fill in the text box with what you want to search for

8. Click the Search button

9. If you get a Security Warning message click the "Allow" button

10. You will then get a search window that tells you how many PDF files contain your search term and how many instances of it were found

It had a dark blue cover...

Have you had a question from a patron that started something like this? It had a dark blue cover with a padlock and I think it was a thriller set in Kansas - any ideas for the title or author? I loved getting questions like this when I was on the reference desk - and I still get them from my family and friends. It's my way of solving mysteries (my favorite genre). Where would you start?

Through Badgerlink, libraries have access to NoveList which is a great place to start. If that doesn't work, where do you go next? I recently read this article from Atlas Obscura about a group of Reader Services librarians from New York Public Library who answer all sorts of these questions. Patrons have been leaving their questions on a blog post from 2017 and librarians answer many of them throughout the year. Since then, the librarians gather once a year for Title Quest (which sounds like so much fun!) and you can follow along on Twitter. Next year, I'm definitely following along - and maybe even helping to solve a few mysteries.

In addition, the Atlas Obscura article will lead you to quite a few more resources including a reddit thread called "What's That Book" and a Goodreads group called "What's the Name of That Book???" I love all of these threads and articles. What a great way to highlight Reader Services in our libraries.

Any ideas on the title of the book I started out with? Share your answer - or any other resources you use - in the comments. I'll update the post later this week with the answer.

P.S. I highly recommend following Atlas Obscura or getting their calendars or books. I have their page a day calendar and love it! I've added a few places to visit on our next trip to Sweden.