Larimer teens discover the music of the future: No Generation Podcast

Just down the street from both CLP – East Liberty and CLP – Homewood is the Kingsley Association, a community center extraordinaire. They have a pool, basketball court, yoga classes, community meetings, and a Youth Advisory Council.

An EEYAC meeting

 

I recently went to an unveiling of the Council’s new project: a podcast called No Generation Radio.

Artwork by Blaine Siegel

Teenagers from EEYAC had come together with local artist Blaine Siegel to create the podcast. They interviewed community members of Larimer to find stories from their past and present dealing with music, and then musicians from Larimer and other Pittsburgh neighborhoods imagined what the music of the future in Larimer would be like, based on those stories.

This includes David Bernabo, who said on his blog that his future music piece was created “us[ing] census data and analysis to forecast how Larimer will change in the future. I imagine that gentrification would occur to some extent and the neighborhood will become more racially integrated. From a musical standpoint, I am presenting music that would exist for an educational use. The idea was that music could be encoded in the future to “push” knowledge to the listener.”

All 7 podcasts can be heard on the No Generation tumblr. Check them out!

 

If you’re interested in creating a podcast, you can do it at the library!  The Labs have the equipment and mentors to help you realize your vision and put it out into the world. Come to one of the Labs locations!

Check out these books to get you started:

  

And, don’t forget, the library has many Teen Advisory Councils in its locations – if you want to bring your fun ideas to the library for old and new friends to enjoy, make it happen!

 

-Tessa, CLP – East Liberty

 

Free Music And So Much More!

Did you know you can download FREE music from the Library?

It’s true! Freegal, which stands for free and legal, is a music download service that is available with your CLP Library Card. You can download up to 3 free songs every week! There is a huge catalog of music plus plenty of new releases.

Available via web and mobile app.

And if you like Apps… We even have our own CLP App where you can search the catalog, view your account, check for hours/locations, and so much more! Available for iOS and Android!

You can get it right here! And check out a list of Apps We Love!

Have you seen the CLP-Teen Instagram or Facebook?

If you haven’t, then check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumbr, and YouTube!

Even your neighborhood libraries are on Facebook! Check out Woods Run, West End, Hazelwood, and Beechview to start!

Michael B. (Hazelwood)

Make the Most of Your Music-Making with The Labs @ CLP with These Cool Tutorial Sites

The great poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” This is definitely the case at The Labs @ CLP, where jumping headfirst into new digital terrain, experimenting as you go, is the way that many of our wonderful artistic creations got their inception.

However, it’s possible you’re like me, someone who is more comfortable knowing the foundations of what I’m getting into first–who likes knowing what a dial is and what it’s purpose is before twisting it around. Someone who wants to know how soft the floor is before you DROP THE BASS.

In that case, you’re lucky, because there are a lot of really cool free resources for people looking to learn about music-making software and principles they can use no matter what free or paid synth they’re using to wrangle out dope tracks.

DubSpot

A US-based electronic deejaying and production school that offers tons of free content that can get you making any kind of music, from dubstep to house.

Point Blank Online

A really great series of free online tutorials and walkthroughs with people who make electronic dance music from this UK-based production school.

LoopTV

Tips and tricks curated by the juggernauts responsible for some of the most widely-used commercial loop and sample packs in the industry.

Sonic Academy (registration req’d)

A paid web portal for people interested in learning about production and digital deejay techniques.  Free content for anyone who registers.

So yeah, check out some videos, get your brain churning, and come on down to The Labs @ CLP and let your musical imagination BEAST OUT.

~Joseph
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main

When a government can shut off the internet…

At the very end of November, as part of its ongoing bloody and brutal civil war, Syria’s government shut down the internet for the entire country.  According to the Christian Science Monitor, this was an “unprecedented” event.  The move led to more riots against the regime, not less, and the government blamed unidentified “terrorists”.

By Ronald Eikelenboom (Flickr: (no) internet) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Shutting down a nation’s internet service is unprecedented because goes against the history of how the internet was developed.  Although the internet predecessors ARPANET and DARPA were government projects, the theory of the internet, grown in the 60s (a fuller, more specific history can be read here) was based on the idea that it would be a network of “multiple independent networks of rather arbitrary design” with one of its groud rules being that “there would be no global control at the operations level.” (Quotes from The Internet Society, “Brief History of the Internet”)  This was practical – if another country attacked the U.S., it could not take out its networked communications all at once.

And yet, now Syria just did the same thing to itself!

Ideas of how networked technology can be manipulated– and the power it gives people and governments– have been popping up in excellent books for a long time.  Here are some good ones that are recently published.

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

a story of an elite hacker living in an unnamed Middle Eastern state in the throes of political upheaval. He gets involved with the wrong girl, who sends him a very old book to keep safe, and he learns the hard way about worlds beyond this one, jinn, and if he really wants to figure out what he believes in.

Zahra’s Paradise by Amir & Khalil

“Zahra’s Paradise is the fictional story of the search for Mehdi, a young protestor who has disappeared in the Islamic Republic’s gulags. Mehdi has vanished in an extrajudicial twilight zone where habeas corpus is suspended. What stops his memory from being obliterated is not the law. It is the grit and guts of a mother who refuses to surrender her son to fate and the tenacity of a brother—a blogger—who fuses culture and technology to explore and explode absence: the void in which Mehdi has vanished.” – from the book’s website

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner

Las Vegas is gone—destroyed in a terrorist attack. Black Hawk helicopters patrol the skies over New York City. And immersive online gaming is the most dangerous street drug around. In this dystopic near-future, technology has leapt forward once again, and neuro-headsets have replaced computer keyboards. Just slip on a headset, and it’s the Internet at the speed of thought. For teen hacker Sam Wilson, a headset is a must. But as he becomes familiar with the new technology, he has a terrifying realization. If anything on his computer is vulnerable to a hack, what happens when his mind is linked to the system? – from Google Books synopsis

- Tessa, CLP – East Liberty

Follow CLP Main- Teen on Tumblr!

From Tumblr of course!

A few months ago, I had never been on Tumblr.  Now I find myself wasting a good portion of every day on the site and it is seriously affecting my brain.  For example, I’ve started incorporating Tumblr-style communication techniques in all of my personal and professional emails.  Suddenly words without hashtags in front of them seem #meaningless.  I have yet to receive any complaints regarding the memes and animated gifs I now use in lieu of written correspondence.  Perhaps my friends, family, and coworkers don’t mind because they spend as much time on the site as I do.

I know that I’m not alone.  Not to freak you out or anything, but I can see what you guys are looking at on the public computers in the library and from what I can see, trolling Tumblr is on the rise.  (Homestuck fans, I’m looking at YOU!)  Maybe you are as obsessed with Parks and Recreation as I am.  Maybe you use  it to keep up with your favorite authors.  Or maybe Tumblr helps you find your “happy place“.  It doesn’t really matter, there is something for EVERYBODY.  You will find your people on Tumblr.

Well, now prepare to lose yourself to a whole, new level of time-suck.  Introducing the CLP Main- Teen Tumblr page!  We’ll be updating it constantly with photos and program information.  Follow and reblog us to your heart’s content!  Just don’t blame us when you don’t get that paper written.

- Abby H.

CLP Main- Teen

Assassin’s Creed!!! 3!!!

I have a confession to make. I am a video game addict. I actually had to disconnect my Playstation because I was staying up til 3 or 4 in the morning playing Madden. It’s been over 5 years since I touched a video game system, but I think my streak will end in one week when Assassin’s Creed 3 is released.  I feel like this game was created just for me as it combines some of my favorite interests: early American history and first-person shooters.

I bet you didn’t even know that you can use your library card to get video games! The library has hundreds of video games available. Some of my favorites are Medal of Honor Airborne, Madden NFL ’12, and NHL ’12.

The historical setting of Assassin’s Creed 3 has always been one of my favorite topics to read about, too, so that makes it especially exciting for me. The revolutionary war period was turbulent, violent, and a lot of it happened right around Pittsburgh. There are a lot of great books about this era; some of my favorites are: Wilderness Empire by Allan Eckert, Patriots: the Men Who Started the American Revolution by AJ Langguth, and  1776 by David McCullough.

We are also lucky to have the Fort Pitt Museum right here in Pittsburgh!  This is a great spot where you can learn about the French and Indian War and other aspects of colonial history.

- Jim, CLP-Sheraden

Get text alerts for CLP- Main Teen events!

You guys are always asking me for more information about events happening here at CLP Main- Teen.  You’ve seen the flyers, posters, whiteboard messages, monthly printed calendars, Facebook invites, and event listings on the CLP website – all to advertise  our exciting and FREE programs.  You seem excited… but on the day of the program you inexplicably don’t show up.  Why?  Nine times out of ten, you tell me that you simply forgot.   Never fear, forgetful teens, you will never have to miss one of our awesome programs again!  How?  By signing up for our new text messaging services using Celly!  Here at CLP Main- Teen, we’re using Celly to create different “cells” to represent all of our diverse program and events offerings.  Right now we have nine, but we’ll probably be adding more soon.  Sign up via text message and you’ll instantly be added to the distribution list and receive alerts for any of the special cells listed below.

• Text @clpteensevents to 23599 and we’ll let you know about the latest parties, contests, and cool opportunities for teens.
• Text @clpteensartclub to 23599 for information about art related programming, our weekly Art Club and featured project.
• Text @clpteenswriting to 23599 to get updates about creative writing workshops including our monthly poetry workshops.
• Text @clpteensanimeclub to 23599 for all anime and Anime Club related updates.
• Text @clpteensmovies to 23599 for updates about our Bad Movie Fridays program and other special film events.
• Text @clpteensTAC to 23599 for information and reminders about CLP Main’s monthly Teen Advisory Council.
• Text @clpteensgaming to 23599 to be the first to learn about any new games and our weekly All Out Gaming program.
• Text @clpteensbookdiscuss to 23599 to find out about any teen book discussions and author visits happening at the library.
• Text @clpteensadvocacy to 23599 to learn how you can advocate for a better-funded and better library.

If privacy is a concern- which it really should be – you should know that your name and number will be kept private – even from us.  Don’t have a cell phone?  No problem!  Sign up to receive email notifications by creating a Celly account using a Twitter or Facebook account, or email address.  And if you ever decide that you don’t want to receive our text alerts anymore, just text stop to 23559.  If you want to temporarily turn off messages to your phone, text off to 23559.  Please keep in mind that standard text messaging rates apply.  Contact us here at CLP Main- Teen or visit the Celly FAQ page for more information about how the services works.

QuickFLIX: Are You The Next Great Film Director?

Are you an aspiring filmmaker? Perhaps you don’t think of yourself that way, but you like to shoot goofy videos with your camera phone. Well, whether your an iPhone auteur or a budding Bergman, you only have have four more days to submit a movie to the QuickFLIX filmmaking contest–CLP-Teen Services one and only movie competition.

As we wrap up the second year of free QuickFLIX filmmaking workshops (all led by talented Pittsburgh Filmmakers artist, Sarah), I’d like to urge all of our readers to step up and submit a video. Don’t be shy–all you have to do is send us a movie (3 minutes or less) to teens@carnegielibrary.org. (You can also upload to YouTube and send us a link, or use a free file sharing site like sendspace if the file is too large.)

What could you win? I’m glad you asked:

Grand Prize: $100 iTunes gift card
2nd Prize: $50 iTunes gift card
3rd Prize: $25 iTunes gift card

You have until Friday at midnight to submit your movie. Need inspiration or want to see what you’re up against? Check out this year’s submissions on the CLP-Teens YouTube channel:

For more details on the contest (rules, how to submit, etc.), click HERE.

Happy movie-making!

- Corey, Digital Learning Librarian

Teen Review: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s New Mobile App

Hi! I’m Adam, and despite being a senior at Central Catholic I try to find time to do anything and everything. I will read any kind of book I can get my hands on and even though my reading list is currently a million books long I will finish it someday. Maybe. If it weren’t for the fact that I add something new to it literally every day…

A review of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s new mobile app

We all know that feeling—you’re in the darkest depths of the library, not a computer in sight, and you forgot to write down the number for the book you want. You try to find it on the library website but your phone’s browser makes the website look more like a Jackson Pollack painting than a website and your internet is slow enough to be painting one.

Thankfully there is now one quick, easy solution to all of your problems: the Library App, now available from your iPhone or Android’s app store. You will not be sorry for the download: the app contains everything you could want for a visit to the library into a simple, linear display with no unnecessary bells or whistles. This ease of accessibility makes it an infinitely useless tool to use when you’re scrambling to hold on to books you already have, find a new book, and use your phone (as I was the other day when I discovered thanks to the app that someone had checked an extremely obscure book out that as of only two hours earlier been available—but that’s another post for another day).

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s new mobile app – by Boopsie

The app has seven feature categories (Catalog, My Account, eCLP, Hours and Locations, Ask a librarian, Events, and BookLook) and two social networking links (Facebook and Twitter). Each of the seven features is both extremely useful and well designed, continuing the theme of simplicity through all aspects of the app.

One thing I was concerned about was whether or not the My Account feature would remain signed into your account even after you haven’t used it in a while; however, so far, it seems like it does indeed remain signed in.

The eCLP feature lets you download eBooks and eAudioBooks directly to your phone, removing the potential hassle of transferring from your computer to your phone if you are an on-the-go reader.

Hours and Locations not only tells you where libraries are or when they open, but when you open the feature it sorts the list of libraries by closeness to your current location by using your phone’s GPS (strangely enough, and one of the few problems I have with the app, is that the Events category does not also sort the libraries by relative closeness).

Finally, a very welcome feature is the BookLook scanner: suppose you are in a bookstore and have a very expensive book. You don’t want to pay so much and want to see if the library has it. Instead of fumbling around with the library mobile website, just open the BookLook feature and the app will use your phone’s camera to scan the ISBN number of the book and then look it up on the catalog. This feature in particular is very welcome and extremely useful.

So, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s fulfills all your library needs in one small and simple app (only 2.01 MB if you are concerned about phone space). It is certainly worthy of the five star rating it currently maintains on both the Android app store and iTunes.

What are YOU Doing This Summer?

Sun is shining. Weather is sweet. Make you wanna move your dancing feet.” Bob Marley

Only a few days left of school.  The clock is ticking down the minutes until you can rush out those doors; jump on the bus, and say, “Its SUMMER!”  No more school, no more homework, no more nagging voices telling you to stop fooling around and pay attention!

I don’t know about you, but this summer looks like it is jammed packed with so many cool things to do.  Don’t have any money? No special vacations out of the beautiful city of Pittsburgh?  If I were you I wouldn’t worry too much about either one.  Your local Carnegie libraries have been planning round the clock to set up an awesome summer vacation just for you.  Check out this list of things to do for the month of June!

June Events

• Summer Reading Extravaganza |  June 10th, 2012 | 12:00 – 5:00pm
  Did someone say iPad?  Sign up for Teen Summer Reading and find out how you could win an iPad!
• Hip-Hop on L.O.C.K. Music | Starting June 16th, 2012 | 1:00 – 4:00pm
  Sign up fast!  Space is limited!
• QuickFlix Media Arts | Starting June 25th, 2012 | 1:00 – 4:00pm
  Want a chance to make a winning video?  Grand prize $100 iTunes gift card!
• Riddikulus Wizard Rock Concert | June 20th, 2012 | 5:00 – 7:30pm
  Featuring The Whomping Willows, Lauren Fairweather, Tonks and the Aurors, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Snidget, and I Speak Tree

Also check out the Teen events at your local library this month as they will include:  Gaming, Anime clubs, Teen Advisory, Musical workshops, Art clubs, Creative writing, and so much more!  Check out what is happening at your library so you don’t miss out!

Yeah, this is just for the month of June… Come back to check out the month of July and August too!

Tell me, what do you’ve got planned for your awesome summer break????