TechBits

Intermittent WIfi?!

Love it or hate it, the internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. Not only do we need to be connected to the internet, we need to be mobile at the same time. Be it work, games, or just listening to music, WiFi is almost a necessity, and nothing is more bothersome than being in the middle of something and losing that connection.

There are a multitude of reasons why your connection can get interrupted, and a large number of them can be solved by restarting your router. Other factors may include interference from other devices or even the strength of your WiFi signal. The easiest way that I have found to detect these factors, is the use of a simple smartphone application called the Wifi analyzer. Through the use of a easy to read graph, you can walk around and see the exact strength of your wireless signal, as well as if there are any other signals that may be interfering with yours. By using this, or similar apps, it becomes easy to determine if it is poor coverage is causing you headache.

Read-Along Ebooks via Overdrive

As a picture book and audiobook enthusiast, I was thrilled to learn that Overdrive combines these with their read-along books. These are ebooks that are professionally narrated while highlighting the words being read. Here is one way to explore children's read-along ebooks for FREE!

Use the Advanced search to select:

• Format = Overdrive Read-along
• Availability = Available now
• Audience = Juvenile

I like to sort the results page by popularity (global)

Select a book to borrow and login with your library credentials. From your loans, select Read now in browser, and then START NARRATION. (Be sure you are in full-screen mode.)

There is an option to slow down the narration which maybe helpful for children learning to read. For additional details, see:

What is a read-along ebook and how does it work?  https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/1152.htm?tocpath=Home%7CGet%20help%20with%20ebooks%20from%20your%20library%7COverDrive%20Read%7C_____6

What devices and browsers work with Overdrive Read?  https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/2061.html

Enjoy!

Changing where your downloads are saved

Image by Darwin Laganzon from Pixabay

Many browsers are configured by default to download items to a "Downloads" folder, but what if you want your downloads to end up somewhere else?

Instead of having an extra step of moving the items from the Downloads folder to wherever you want them to go, it is possible to configure your browser to either 1) download them to a different location by default, or 2) ask you where to put each download.  Because I download items that need to go to many different locations, I've opted for the the 2nd option.

Here's how to adjust this setting in your browsers:

Firefox

1. In the Firefox "Options"
2. Search for "download" in the search box at the top
3. This should bring up a "Downloads" section where you can 1) specify exactly where you want to save files, or 2) have Firefox "Always ask you where to save files"

Chrome

1. In the Chrome "Settings"
2. Search for "download" in the search box at the top
3. This should bring up a "Downloads" section where you can 1) change the location where downloaded files are saved, or 2) have Firefox "Ask where to save each file before downloading"

Edge

1. In the Chrome "Settings"
2. Scroll down to the "Downloads" section
3. You can 1) choose where to save downloads, or 2) have Edge "Ask me what to do with each download"

Default Programs on Windows 10 and 8.1 Staff PCs

This TechBits topic is a repeat of a previous Techbits.  We have had a few similar questions about default programs recently, so I thought it would be worthwhile to explain how default programs work on staff computers.  We preconfigure default programs on staff computers so that when a user logs in for the first time, the user will not have to decide how web pages and common file types should open.  You can change your default programs, but you will need to delete a file for your changes to be permanent.  Navigate to C:\Installers\Setup and delete the defaults.xml file.  Now, your PC can reboot without your defaults resetting back to the defaults we configured.

Mobile workstation now available for loan

SCLS has a new item to loan out to our libraries. We’ve acquired an Ergotron Workfit-C mobile workstation. The Ergotron Workfit-C is a height-adjustable desk on wheels that allows you to sit or stand while using it.

If you would like to try it out for a couple of weeks to see if this is something that would make your life a little easier or if your library is going through a remodeling project and you could use a portable workstation, fill out the request form and we will send it out to you.

If you’re interested in purchasing your own, feel free to reach out to me by leaving a comment or emailing me, and I can put you in touch with the vendor I worked with to acquire this workstation.

Easy screen shots in Firefox

The Wisconsin State Law Library had a great tech tip a few weeks back about taking easy screenshots in Firefox. I hadn't realized that Firefox had a built-in way to take screenshots of browser content, so this was great news! (and good timing, given our recent ILS migration)