Bossier Parish Libraries has added Mango Languages to its growing list of patron resources. Mango is free of charge to all (Library name) members and is the easiest and most effective way to learn to speak a foreign language. Mango is available in two versions:

Mango Basic:
Perfect for a foreign language beginner, Mango Basic teaches everyday greetings, gratitudes, goodbyes and helpful phrases in a short period of time. The courses, which require only two to five hours of time to complete, are currently available in 22 foreign languages and 14 English as a Second Language (ESL) courses.

You can view all the supported Mango Basic languages and ESL courses here: http://mangolanguages.com/mangobasic/languages/

Mango Complete:
Mango Complete offers a 100-lesson course that digs much deeper and is designed to provide a more complete understanding of the entire language and culture. It is available in nine foreign language and three ESL courses. Foreign language courses include Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. ESL courses include Polish, Spanish and Portuguese.

To learn more about Mango and get a short preview of what the program has to offer, you can visit the company's website at www.mangolanguages.com. Even better, you can visit the library and get started on the courses themselves!

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The iPad is Apple’s newest release of high tech portable devices. If you are familiar with Apple products, you might mistake the picture above left to be an iPhone, but you can’t make phone calls with it. If we were going by looks, we could say it looks a lot like an iPod Touch (right). Although there are some similarities, the iPad offers much more. Just like the iPod Touch, the iPad will also allow you to connect to WiFi and browse the web, watch YouTube videos, and download your favorite songs and TV shows from iTunes. The major difference between the two is battery life (up to 10 hours), the ability to download electronic books (iBooks), the dimensions are about 5 inches more in height and width and the ability to buy a smaller flash drive capacity (16GB).

In addition, the iPad was custom designed by Apple with an A4 1GHZ processor. The first release of the iPad due out April 3rd will be WiFi-enabled and will not require any type of contract with AT&T to fully use this device (i.e., wireless data plan). However, by later this month (late April 2010) you will be able to buy a 3G version of the iPad (appleinsider.com).

Unfortunately, the iPad falls short in that it does not have a camera or any video capabilities. According to InfoWorld.com, there are a few questions that Apple refuses to answer, such as its ability to transfer documents, can you use other media services other than iTunes like Netflix, can it be upgraded, can multiple apps be used at the same time, and will Flash work.

Here is a complete list of the preinstalled apps on the iPad. Join me tomorrow for Tech Tuesday as I travel to the Apple Store located within the Best buy store in Shreveport. There I will interview a Geek Squad agent about the success of the iPad since its release along with the other unanswered questions. Feel free this week to ask your own iPad questions using the Ask-A-Tech form in the right hand column. Until next time happy teching!

· Safari - web browsing
· Mail – email
· Photos – viewing photos
· YouTube – watching videos online
· iPod – listen to music
· iTunes – download songs, movies, TV shows, and more
· App Store – download apps such as games or health tips
· Maps – similar to Google Map
· Notes – jot down quick notes and information
· Calendar – manage your schedule
· Contacts – manage personal or business contacts

NOTE: The following message was emailed to a patron inquiring about NetLibrary. The following was emailed to them and I felt it would be appropriate for me to share it here as well.
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March 3, 2010

The library no longer subscribes to NetLibrary. We are in the process of switching from NetLibrary eaudiobooks to a similar service called OverDrive. Unfortunately, Overdrive will not be available until early June, 2010. A delay in setting up Overdrive has occurred because of their large back log of their new contracts. By moving to Overdrive the library will be able to offer not only eaudiobooks but also ebooks for downloading. OverDrive is supposed to be easier to download and work on more types of devices. If you would like to see a sample of their services check out the Shreve Memorial Library’s page at http://www.shreve-lib.org/ and click on the OverDrive icon.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you and other patrons. I believe you will like OverDrive and their larger selection of eaudiotbook titles and other material. In the meantime, if you have any titles we can get for you by purchasing them for the library or through InterLibrary Loan please let us know. Please feel free to contact me if you have any more questions. Thank you, Tedy

Tedy Pesnell
Technical Services, Chief
Bossier Parish Library
2206 Beckett St.
Bossier City, LA 71111
(318) 746-1903 (M-F, 7:30 a – 4:30 p)
(318) 746-7768 (fax)

1. 2NITE - Tonight
2. AEAP - As Early As Possible
3. ALAP - As Late As Possible
4. AWGTHTGTTA - Are We Going To Have To Go Through This Again
5. B4YKI - Before You Know It
6. BOHICA - Bend Over Here It Comes
7. BRB - Be Right Back
8. BRT - Be Right There
9. CWYL - Chat With You Later
10. C-P - Sleepy
11. CYT or SYT - See You Tomorrow
12. E123 - Easy as 1 2 3
13. EM? - Excuse Me?
14. EOD - End Of Day
15. F2F - Face to Face
16. FOAF - Friend Of A Friend
17. HAK - Hugs And Kisses
18. ILU or ILY - I Love You
19. IMNSHO - In My Not So Humble Opinion
20. L/C - Just Checking
21. KOTL - Kiss On The Lips
22. L8R - Later
23. LD - Long Distance
24. LMK - Let Me Know
25. LOL - Laugh Out Loud
26. NAZ - Name, Address, Zip
27. N-A-Y-L - In A While
28. NM - Never Mind or Nothing Much
29. OLL - Online Love
30. OSIF - Of Sh** I Forgot
31. OTP - On The Phone
32. QT - Cutie
33. RN - Right Now
34. ROTFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing
35. RU - Are You ... ?
36. RUMORF - Are You Male or Female
37. SITD - Still In The Dark
38. SMIM - Send Me an Instant Message
39. SMEM - Send Me and Email
40. SO - Significant Other
41. SOHF - Sense Of Humor Failure
42. SWDYT - So What Do You Think?
43. TOM - Tomorrow
44. TS - Tough Sh**
45. TTFN - Ta-ta For Now
46. U-R? - You Are ... ?
47. WFM - Works For Me
48. WTH - What The Heck
49. WUF - Where Are You From?
50. WYRN - What's Your Real Name?

For more information, please visit http://www.netlingo.com