Tag Archives: eReader

The Mayans and the End of the World: By Tony Perona

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**Today’s blog is by a special guest… local mystery author Tony Perona!! Visit his website at www.tonyperona.com.**

Whenever someone finds out my latest book, the thriller THE FINAL MAYAN PROPHECY, is about December 21, 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar on that date, they ask if it really means the end of the world.

I don’t want to talk too much about the book and give away the end because I hope you’ll read it 🙂 –so let me answer it in a completely different way. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular ways people are predicting the earth will be destroyed in 2012, some in conjunction with this Mayan end date:

  1. Asteroid hits earth: According to recent reports from NASA, the odds of a really big asteroid hitting the earth in the next 28 years are 1:625. That’s .0016 or .16%, or way less than a 1% chance, and that’s within 28 years.
  2. Nuclear war: The Doomsday Clock sits right now at 5 minutes to midnight. The closer the clock is to midnight, the closer the world is estimated to be to global nuclear disaster. (All of this is according to Wikipedia, not always reliable but as best as I can tell, is accurate in this case.) The latest adjustment, made on January 10, advanced the clock one minute to its present position. To me, that means nuclear war is a little more possible (1.67% more; one minute more out of 60) than it was last year, when we successfully escaped global disaster, so, rounding up, I’d go with maybe 2% as the odds for global nuclear destruction. Keep in mind, I’m no statistician.
  3. Solar flare sends us back to the Stone Age: According to a report in last month’s Christian Science Monitor, which gets this information from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, “When aimed at Earth, strong solar flares and CMEs [Coronal Mass Ejections] …  can pose a danger to astronauts and satellites in space, as well as power grids, navigation and communications systems on Earth.” Reporter Amina Khan, writing in the Los Angeles Times, quoted space weather scientist Mike Hapgood at the Rutherford  Appleton Observatory near Oxford, England about the odds of this happening,. “A recent paper (published in February in the journal Space Weather) tried to estimate the chance … and came up with a value of a 12 percent chance of it happening in the next 10 years.” It’s probably not technically correct for me to average this over ten years, but if I did, it’d be a 1.2% chance each year.

So, after looking at these scenarios, I think the odds are small that December 21, 2012 will be the end of time.

Did the Mayans think that way? My personal philosophy is always one of great hope, that even out of the worst situations, good emerges. To find out if and how I carry this through the plot of THE FINAL MAYAN PROPHECY, you’ll need to read it. I thank you if you do.

**If you read this blog and would like to read one of Tony’s books, he will give you for free the e-book version of his first novel, SECOND ADVENT, which was published by Five Star in 2002. Write him through the Plainfield Public Library at communitycentral@plainfieldlibrary.net to obtain it with “Tony Perona” in the subject line or body.

THE FINAL MAYAN PROPHECY, written by Tony and television producer Paul Skorich, is available in all e-book formats through his publisher at www.smashwords.com ($3.99 US, and at other popular e-book sites like www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com. You can also obtain a paperback version ($9.99 plus taxes and shipping) through amazon.**

Meet Jessica

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Working upstairs in Administration at the library means I don’t always have the opportunity to meet everyone, so I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Jessica, and I am the Financial Manager. Once a month I have the privilege of helping out downstairs, which I really do enjoy. I have been working here for just over a year, but because I have been a library fan and patron for almost 15 years, it feels like I’ve been here all along.

The primary reasons for my visits early on were for the wonderful children’s programming. My children were signed up for just about every age-appropriate program possible. I’d get the most current program calendar to see what they could do next! After the program was over, exploring books and puzzles and toys was just another reason they couldn’t wait to get here. And, I’ll be honest, it was a great break for me too! The activities that are currently offered here continue to be outstanding. And though my kids have outgrown the programs that they attended as little ones, (we do still love Silly Safaris! Sign up for the June 2 Silly Safaris “Creatures of the NIGHT” after May 1!) there are great activities in the children’s and teen area for them as they get older.

My mom is another big library fan, and would be the first to tell you that she would not have ever considered the idea that she would enjoy reading books electronically. But because of the great services offered here, she found the joy of virtual book borrowing. She still loves to thumb through the pages of a good book, but now knows she has the best of both worlds. So, from kiddos to grandmas, our library is a treasure for everyone, no matter what age, and continues to be a place where we love to be.      

~Jessica

Get eBooks on Your eReader!

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eBooks and eReaders… they’re all-the-rage right now, as it seems anything with a lowercase e in front of it is. So you’ve jumped on the bandwagon and have bought yourself a Kindle/Nook/iPad/otherhightechereadingdevice and now you need to load up your eReader with eReading material. Now what?

Library-lovers know that you don’t always have to buy the book to read it… that’s what your local library is for! And lucky for you, Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library tries to remain at the head of the technology game. We have an entire collection of downloadable, checkoutable eBooks just for you!

You can access downloadable library eBooks by going to our website www.plainfieldlibrary.net, then clicking the “download audiobooks and eBooks” image-link on the right side of the page. Checking out and downloading eBooks is a bit of a process, but follow the illustrated instructions below, and in no time you’ll be an eBook pro!

Have a Nook? Do it this way… (Kindles will be covered in a later post)

  1. Head to www.plainfieldlibrary.net, then click the download eBooks and audiobooks link on the right side of the page to get to the eIndiana Digital Consortium’s OverDrive collection. *Cheater’s tip: add cidc.lib.overdrive.com to your bookmarks to get directly to the collection!*
  2. Next you’ll need to download the software you will need to transfer your downloaded, checked-out eBooks to your device. Scroll down to the Digital Software section on the left side of the page, and click Adobe Digital Editions. *Don’t worry, you’ll only have to download this software once per computer!*
  3. On the page that opens, click Download Adobe Digital Editions, as pictured at below. A new window or tab will open; scroll down just a little, and click the brown Install button, then follow all the prompts to download the software to your computer.
  4. Once downloaded, Adobe Digital Editions will open. Click to agree to the terms, and then click to continue with the setup assistant.
  5. Next you’ll need to authorize your computer. If you already have an Adobe account, you can type in the email address (called ‘Adobe ID’) and password associated with your Adobe account. If you don’t already have an Adobe account, click the link that says get an Adobe ID online. Your internet browser will open behind the Adobe Digital Editions program, so you’ll have to minimize Adobe Digital Editions. Fill out the information required, then click continue, and you’re finished. (For more information and help with Adobe Digital Editions, click here).
  6. Click the brown and white Adobe Digital Editions icon on your taskbar to re-open Adobe Digital Editions. Enter the email address (Adobe ID) and password you just selected, then click Activate. After your computer is activated, click the brown Finish button.
  7. Now that Adobe Digital Editions is installed and activated on your computer, you are ready to browse for an eBook to check out and download. Minimize Adobe Digital Editions, and click the internet tab or window that has the eIndiana Digital Consortium open, and click the logo at the top left corner to start browsing.
  8. To browse for eBooks, click the eBooks link below the Browse Formats heading.
  9. Now you’re in the eBook collection area (pictured below). You can search within this area (red arrow) or click the checkbox to only view eBooks that are currently available (green arrow), but you must hit the submit button (highlighted yellow) for the search or checkbox to take effect.
  10. Once you find something you like, click Add to Cart next to the Adobe EPUB eBook or Adobe PDF eBook format. Remember, if you’re not using a Kindle, you don’t want the Kindle format.
  11. You’ll be taken to the My Cart page, where you’ll see the book you’ve just checked out. You can Continue Browsing for more books (you can check out up to three things at a time), or you can Proceed to Checkout.
  12. Next you’ll need to sign in by choosing your library from the drop-down box, then typing in your card number and pin number/password.
  13. You’ll be taken to a page that lists your titles in your cart. Click proceed to checkout.
  14. On the next screen, you can choose whether you want to check each title out for 7 or 14 days from the individual drop-down boxes. Some information about your account will also be visible here. Click Confirm Checkout.
  15. Next you’ll see a page listing the items you have checked out. You’re ready to download the title to your computer so that you can transfer it to your device and read. Click the gray Download button.
  16. After clicking the download button, Adobe Digital Editions will open and display your newly downloaded book. You’re ready to transfer the title to your device.
  17. Plug your eReader (Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, etc. Kindle will be covered in another post!) into your computer. If this is the first time you’ve plugged the eReader device into your computer, you’ll see a box open up asking you to authorize your device. Click the brown Authorize Device button, then click the Finished button.
  18. Next, you’ll want to drag and drop your book title to your eReader. Just click and hold the book cover, then drag to your eReader listed on the left and release the button. You’ll see it quickly transfer. When it’s finished, you’re read to remove your device from your computer and start reading!

Now, what books will you check out for your eReader?

For more help, visit the eIndiana Digital Consortium help page, or come in to the library.