Is your computer driving you crazy? Are you mystified by all the menus in Microsoft Word? Do you want to set up an email account but don’t know where to begin? Do you wish you could start connecting with family and friends using Facebook?

Computers can be frustrating for many of us. Fortunately, help is available at your library. Let our knowledgeable, patient Seven Trees Library volunteers help you solve your computer problems. Here at the Seven Trees Library we have two volunteer Tech Mentors and one volunteer eBooks Coach. A Tech Mentor is available to assist you every Wednesday evening from 5:00-6:00PM and Saturdays from 11:00AM-1:00PM. Our eBooks Coach is available every Saturday from 12:00-2:00PM. No appointment is necessary. Come to the Seven Trees Library and get the one-on-one help you need!

In 2010, a documentary called "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" won 9 film awards. I was fortunate enough to see this amazing film twice on large screens in the movie theaters, including once in 3D. The cave that is revealed is Chauvet Cave in France. Closed by a landslide for at least 25,000 years, it was discovered in 1994. Inside the cave are beautiful rock formations, bones, footprints... and the oldest paintings in the world.

Director Werner Hertzog and three others were allowed access to the cave for 4 hours at a time for 6 days. They were not allowed to touch anything other than the narrow, suspended walkway reaching through a portion of the cave. Specially constructed filming equiptment was used to make the movie.

Chauvet cave will never be open to the public, but you can see this remarkable cave on film. San Jose Public Library card holders can check out the "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" on DVD for free, and can even place a request for it.

Your public libraries hold books and films on many wonders. Explore them at your local library!

Technology continues to evolve rapidly. Are you keeping up?

Computers, software, laptops, devices, internet cloud, and more...
We are here to help you learn!

Santa Teresa Branch offers a wide array of computer assistance.

• One -on-one Computer Help
  30 Minute sessions with very knowledgeable mentors.
  Wednesdays, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
  Advance registration required.
• Laptop Class      
  Bring in your laptop & learn to get the most out of your laptop!
  Wednesdays, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
  Advance registration required.
• Beginning Computer Class
  Various weekly topics in using a computer, software & the internet.
  Thursdays, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
  Registration encouraged.

Can’t make it to any of these classes? Check out this great online resource that offers basic tutorials over a wide array of topics: Goodwill Learning Foundation

A lot has changed since Margaret Wise Brown published the children’s classic bedtime book Goodnight Moon in 1947. It was a quieter, gentler world back then. There were only kittens, mittens, combs and brushes for little bunny to say goodnight to.  The only tech stuff in bunny’s room was an electric lamp and a rotary dial telephone.    Not so in Goodnight iPad : A Parody for the Next Generation.  Writer and illustrator David Milgrim under the pseudonym Ann Droyd has written a fun little high tech parody of Goodnight Moon for adults.    Goodnight iPad  is a humorous study of those of us  who are plugged in, day and night, to our high tech electronic gizmos.  Instead of kittens, mittens and a bowl of mush, bunnies say good night to  iPads, BlackBerries, YouTube, Facebook, LCD Wi- Fi HDTV, MP3, email, Nooks and digital books.   Even the fireplace is a faux plug in electric model.   Little bunnies are busy with headphones, iphones, cell phones and the great green room is buzzing with the constant tap, tap, tapping, and click, click, clicking of keyboards as bunnies text, tweet and play Angry Birds and Doom.   Finally, Mother bunny has had enough and announces , "Goodnight remotes and Netflix streams, Androids, apps and glowing screens," and ends with  "Goodnight MacBook Air, goodnight gadgets everywhere."  Gathering all the gizmos in her arms, she sends them flying out the window to restore peace to the house. Parody and fun aside,  Goodnight iPad  is a clever commentary on society’s growing attachment to high tech devices and their pervasive presence in everyday life.  

Several weeks ago I went to the Bay Area Maker Faire, an annual event for inventors and do-it-yourself enthusiasts. A combination county fair with side shows of steam punk vehicle rides, the Maker Faire has been described as a playground for geeks. In the building featuring O’Reilly Publications (a sponsor), I found Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks and Good Food. This is a cookbook for those wanting to know how food works: there are sections on the chemical reactions that occur when heating and cooling food, the role of air in baking, food additives (make your own liquid smoke), and kitchen hardware as well as ways to organize your equipment and ingredients. Interspersed are recipes and interviews with innovative cooks, scientists and foodies. Writer Jeff Potter has his own blog and you can sign up for email, Facebook and Twitter updates.

By the way, another Maker Faire sponsor TechShop will open up a site this month in downtown San Jose a few blocks from King Library.

If you are on the upper end of the age spectrum, you might feel overwhelmed by all of the new technological advances appearing every year. First there were computers, then cell phones, then iPods, and now Twitter. Will it ever end? No way! As long as there are new ideas, there will be new technology. But don't worry! San José Public Library has good, old-fashioned books to help you find your way. (Of course we have eBooks and DVDs as well) Check here for materials on learning about new technology for the mature individual. It's never too late to learn!