events @ the Library

Saturday, November 14, 2009
11:00 am
McManus Room

New York Times personal-technology columnist David Pogue admits to having been a real skeptic at first about the social networking service Twitter. But he quickly became a Twitterphile after seeing a colleague get obscure, needed information almost instantly by questioning his followers on Twitter. Pretty soon Pogue was a complete convert, and, not surprisingly given the lengthy roster of books he has already penned, a new title, The World According to Twitter, was in the works. Pogue will talk about Twitter itself and his new book, which, in fact, isn’t really about Twitter at all. Rather it’s a fascinating collection of some 2,500 clever and often hilarious tweets in reply to questions he posed to his “followers,” ranging from the earnest (When do you know the honeymoon’s over?) to the curious (Tell us the story of your tatoo) to the creative (Make up a phony Chinese proverb).

In addition to Pogue’s weekly print column in The New York Times, he contributes an NYT online column and video and a popular daily blog, “Pogue’s Posts.” He is also an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News and a best-selling author, with more than 3 million books in print. He wrote or co-wrote seven books in the Dummies series, and, in 1999, launched his own series of computer books called the Missing Manual series, which now totals more than 100 titles. He lives in Westport.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Saturday, November 7
11:00 am
McManus Room

Information technology executive Mark Mathias, will teach the basics of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking site, including how to set up a profile, how to use LinkedIn as a tool for finding a job, and the etiquette of asking for and giving recommendations. He has 30+ years experience with both large and small companies. He is the technology columnist for Westport News and uses a variety of social media technologies for personal and business use. Mathias has been awarded "Industry MVP" and also named to Computerworld's inaugural list of "Premier 100 IT Leaders."

Saturday, October 24
10:30 AM
McManus Room

Windows 7 is Microsoft's newest operating system and will be available in October 2009. Find out what is new and exciting (and what is not) in Windows 7 from Westonite Richard H. Frisch , who has been using Windows 7 for a year. Many computer experts, including some Mac fans, think that Windows 7 is the best operating system Microsoft has ever produced. You will also get a sneak peak at Microsoft Office 2010.

Frisch is the founder of RHFtech, which provides technology support for small businesses and residences, is a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, and is also a technology journalist writing a biweekly column, "The RHFtech Help Desk", for The Hour, Stamford Times and Wilton Villager papers.

Thursday, May 14
7:30 pm
McManus Room

Publishing and technology industry analyst John Blossom, President of Shore Communications and author of Content Nation: Surviving and Thriving as Social Media Changes Our Work, Our Lives, and Our Future, will lead a discussion on how citizen publishers, using tools such as weblogs, Facebook, Twitter and wikis influence and transform the way content is provided and received. How does social media change the way businesses market products and services, influence how people interact with the government and dictate personal communication?

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Wednesday, November 12
7:30 pm
McManus Room

DonorsChoose.org's CFO, Westporter Andy Kaplan and Northeast Director Thalia Theodore will give an overview of the organization and discuss this high-tech/high-touch charity in action through the lens of the site's web marketing, corporate cause-marketing, and backend technologies. Today’s public schools often lack resources for students to thrive. DonorsChoose.org makes it easy for any individual to make a big difference in education, one classroom at a time. At this online marketplace, “citizen philanthropists” can fund a project that moves them, whether it’s books or beakers, and hear back from the classroom with photos and personalized notes.

Donors Choose website.
Sponsored by The Thomson Reuters Corporation.

Thursday, September 18
7:30 pm
McManus Room

Libraries are continually working to incorporate changing technology into their systems and into services offered to library users. Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Visiting Professor of Engineering Systems at MIT and Chairman Emeritus of IBM Academy of Technology, will lead a panel discussion on how the library can better serve the community through technology. Panel members will include Library Director Maxine Bleiweis , Library Trustee Andy Moss, former senior director of Microsoft’s technical policy and now founding head of Bluewater Associates, who has more than 26 years of experience innovating, creating, and managing new technology businesses, and Bill Derry, coordinator of Information and Technology Literacy for the Westport schools. Also joining the panel will be several people from the community.

Irving Wladawsky-Berger's web page.

Sponsored by The Thomson Reuters Corporation.

Thursday, December 6
7:30 pm
McManus Room

Michael E. Wilens, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer of The Thomson Corporation, leads a panel that will look at how technology has changed in the last 100 years.

Sponsored by The Thomson Corporation.