Return a Kindle Book Through Amazon

Returning a Kindle title through Amazon is pretty easy.  The main things to know are where to find the items in the patron's Amazon account, and to know that even when returned, the item will still be listed in the Amazon account until it is also deleted.

Here are some screen shots to help you out:

A) Find Kindle items in the Kindle Library/Manage Your Kindle portion of the patron's account.

 

B) Identify the title that needs to be returned and access the "Actions" dropdown.

C) Select "Return this book."  An additional dialogue box will come up to confirm the return.  Simply select "Yes."  The screen will refresh, but the title will still show up in the account list (which might be a nice thing for those people who like to keep a reading history).  However, the item is returned and will no longer be accessible.

D) If you want to completely remove the title from the list, use the "Actions" dropdown again and select "Delete from library."  An additional dialogue box will come up to confirm the deletion.  Simply select "Yes."  The screen will again refresh, and the title should be gone from the account list.



Pixlr - awesome photo editing application

www.pixlr.com

Pixlr is a robust application that can be used via web, or downloaded app to your computer or phone/tablet. It is constantly updating with many options for tweaking photos and adding various effects. In this example, we will be looking at some bare bones easy to use basics of Pixlr to do basic photo editing. I find it much easier than any other free applications with more options for creativity as well.

In this video** example, follow the steps to easily:

1. Crop photo (or increase size)
2. Adjust levels/color
3. Add text with color

For more creativity, try pixlr-o-matic from the home page for various tinting, borders, and wild effects.

*Thank you to Jeremy for submitting this post! Please see him if you have any questions about Pixlr.
**I apologize for the quality of this video. For some reason when I uploaded it, it doesn't appear very clear. The original is on the G-drive and looks great!  Just go to All Staff Access, LT Documents, and scroll down to Pixlr Tutorial.

What the heck is phone bumping?

Find out by clicking here.

Pretty cool!

For a more detailed explanation, click here.*

*The Bump app is not one of the technology competencies, just a fun FYI!

Many thanks to Natalie for suggesting this post and providing a video for it!

Apple - An introduction to the iPad Mini

Many thanks to Natalie for finding this video! It's a great short introduction to the iPad Mini.

Check it out

Pop Up Blockers - The Low Down

Wanting to know more about those little screens that "pop up" while you're working on the Internet?  Some of these screens, known as pop-ups, are annoying advertisements that may lead you to unsavory sites or that might try and install bad things on your computer.  Other pop-ups, however, are helpful additions to the website you're using.  Pop-ups can appear on top of the screen you have open, or they can open behind the screen you have open (this type may also be referred to as "pop-unders").

Most web browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Mozilla, have built-in pop-up blockers that are part of the browsing security settings.  The pop-up blockers are intended to help keep your web browsing experience safer and smoother by stopping pop-up screens from opening.  However, the blockers can sometimes stop pop-up screens that we need to use a website properly.  In these cases, you will want to be able to either override the pop-up blocker or adjust the pop-up security settings for the website you're using.  Browser pop-up blockers may also be supplemented with anti-virus software.

Both the Internet Explorer and Mozilla websites have great FAQs pages about pop-ups and how to adjust settings on and override the built-in browser pop-up blockers.  The Mozilla page also has a good section called "Is it a true pop-up window" that discusses why some weird ads and other things that look like pop-ups cannot be blocked by the pop-up blockers.  If you're really wanting to know more about the history and inner-workings of pop-ups, Wikipedia, has an entry about pop-up ads that may tell you more than you want to know!

 

Image from Wikipedia

Print Queue - Viewing, Pausing, Cancelling, and Resuming Print Jobs

Occassionally you may need pause, resume, or cancel print jobs that have been sent to the printer. In order to do these actions you will need to view the print queue. The print queue displays information about documents that are waiting to print, such as the printing status, document owner, and number of pages to print. You can use the print queue to view, pause, resume, restart, and cancel print jobs.

To view the print queue:

1. Open Printers by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Hardware and Sound, and then clicking Printers.
2. To open the print queue, double-click the printer that you're using.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/View-the-print-queue

 

To pause, cancel, or resume a print job:

1. Open Printers by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Hardware and Sound, and then clicking Printers.
2. Double-click the printer that you are using.
3. In the print queue, right-click the item that you want to stop printing, and then click pause, cancel, or restart.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Pause-or-resume-printing

http://freewindowsvistatutorials.com/meetWindowsVista/printingAndPrinters/i/img84.jpg

Photos Exposed: Dowloading & Resizing

How to save files from a digital camera to a hard drive?
Here's how

Photo the wrong size?
How to resize photos using Windows 7 Paint

Creative Commons image courtesy of Floris M. Oosterveld on Flickr