Mavericks_ghost

We use Exchange2007 and set-mailbox -recipientlimits 1 for all student mailboxes by default, the teacher has to specifically ask for a higher limit, highest we have is 5 for some sixth formers. That way they have to individually e-mail each person and cannot use a mailing list, seems to work wonderfully as we had one industrious student sending out a mail offering flash based games through the mail 50p for 2 games. We've also imposed a 50Mb quota on their mailboxes to limit the storage of stuff like swf files. Once that 50Mb is reached they cannot send or receive until they clear it out. We've also limited the visibility of address books and search scopes. Seems do the trick!

Hi Guys We have about 300+ Optiplex 745 from Dell and the students have discovered the screen rotation on the intel graphics cards I've blocked them from being able to use the igfxtray program, which seems to disable the hotkeys from working, through group policy as well as an admin template that disables the use of the hotkeys at the machine level, it seems to have worked (though only 2 days in is probably a bit early to tell). What we've had in the past though is where the screen has been rotated it can't be corrected. We (ICT support technicians) use the hotkeys, or graphics properties on the context menu, and the computer promptly rights the screen then resets. After rebooting back into XP it still has the turned screen. We've tried taking the graphics driver out and putting it back in as well as the graphics software to no effect, which leaves us with the one option of reimaging the computer from our WDS server. Which does put it right but it's a bit drastic for a supposed simple problem. What I was wondering is if anyone else has encountered this and whether there's a solution to it (other than an hour long re-image process)? Any help infact would be appreciated. Mavericks Ghost

We have at the moment 1 RW(Real World) server using MS Virtual server 2005 R2. It's hosting 4 active servers but all second line stuff, file server; print server; windows updates...as Virtual server doesn't have the clout of VMWare. I'd like to get more out of the whole concept but there's a reluctance to allow any of the frontline stuff to go virtual or to even try it. I think with Hyper-V things might swing more my way because VS2005 hasn't frankly got the legs to cope with much. I love the concept of the differencing hard drive that VS 2005 can use as I can setup an raft of servers in minutes by having one central vhd file, nice and protected, with the "servers" using differenced drives, it's well cool! setup a complete server ready for whatever task in 2 minutes or less... One thing that interests me is the SoftGrid virtual applications, but without a testbed to try it on it's going to be little more than interest... On a separate setup, I've now got a 2008 server, that is using the free vmware server, VS2005 is not compatible with 2008, to host an xp pro client as a windows based apache server and I can definitely feel the difference between VS2005 and VMWare, though memory restrictions mean that this XP client is the only machine I can have active. VMWare gives the capacity of using linux or anything else and I would like to seriously look at linux as an option...

Watch out for https://2hide.net, we had a student being bullied for the URL because websense would allow it through... As an ICT tech I feel at the sharp end... We use websense filtering and for the most part it's OK, keywords of proxy/proxies are blocked with netsupport school on every computer that the students can access. Thus we can control, if teachers would actually bother of course! We get our "students" to sign an AUP (internet access letter), which has to be countersigned by the parents. It's deliberately phrased as a legal contract between the school and the family. Do the students take any notice of it...do they hell! Their homepage has the AUP plastered on it not one will read it, I guarantee you, they bring up the homepage (our intranet site) and skip straight to google. Our new intake are waiting for their internet access to be released. We've also supplied e-mail accounts to all students this year as it has apparently become part of their ICT curriculum...has meant a new mail server with exchange 2007 and we are still ironing out the creases. This of course means that their e-mail is accessed through https as they use the OWA site rather than outlook, as is the access to the school's VLE through https. Any student who abuses that e-mail privilege loses the ability to use it, and we have had them on the first day abusing it! The main problem is, in my opinion, it comes down to enforcement, the staff do not want to "rock the boat" or "...endanger the student's enterprise". The fact that that enterprise consists of hacking, proxy avoidance, games playing, malicious use of the e-mail system and essentially doing as little as they believe they can get away with doesn't mean a damn thing! If you listen to some of the arguments that take place because a student who wants to send e-mail has had the OWA site blocked by netsupport by the teacher, the language could turn the air blue! One student today point blank refused to do ANY work at all because his internet access was being controlled by the teacher through netsupport. Believe me...I thank the powers that be every day that I'm not nor ever want to be a teacher!!! The students course realise that nothing will be done if they break the ICT rules and thus know that the AUP is worthless! Even when we do try to enforce it we end up with a earful from all directions. It was different 2 years ago as we could remove internet/network access from anyone caught breaking the AUP, now we are told we can't! One 6th former last year lost all network access due to showing other students how to use a particular proxy site, this year it feels like we'd be clapping him on the back for his initiative!

I'm a big C&C fan particularly generals: zero hour played and completed all 3 storylines for C&C Generals and with zero hour got to a chinese mission based on world opinion and a GLA level where you have to steal a base or 3 (final level on that one). Love the generals challenge: especially the dragon lady who is the last to face. and my personal favourite piece of hardware is the supersonic aurora bomber, untouchable to the target, usually gets creamed on the way back. Which is why I build squadrons, 12 of those bearing down usually devastate an enemy base quite effectively.