jcollings

We work very closely with these guys ::: www.systemhost.co.uk ::: They host our sharepoint vle and exchange. As part of that project they wrote a really neat tool (called SIMsync for want of a better name). This takes data from SIMS and creates AD groups based on classes. It runs every day and update memberships in AD, creates new users and adds them to groups and locks accounts of leavers (staff and students). Perhaps worth giving them a call and seeing if it's any use for you.

I've just recieved a pile of leaflets from these people. Childnet International - Music, Film, TV and the Internet They look like they could be a good starting point.

We have the Sharepoint Learning kit installed but a lot of what we do is native sharepoint.

Which VLE? Sharepoint 2010 Inhouse or Hosted? Hosted What percentage of Teachers are using the VLE, 10%, 50%, 90%?? All staff use it for setting homework and accessing staf information (bulletins, groups out of school etc) How easy is it to administer? Farily straightforward when you understand the basics Does it integrate with the MIS properly? We have webparts that pull data from SIMS. We'll have some soon that write back too. Other than that AD is populated by SIMS and that does some of the sharepoint configuration Is it expensive ?, I know how long is a piece of string but.... It's not the cheapest solution but it's not the dearest either What do you use if for, - notices, lessons, homework, quizes, coursework, revision, reporting to parents? All of the above plus it acts as our public website and we use it for surveys and things

Wii, 1 controller & nunchuck plus all cables, Wii fit board, Wii sports, Wii fit game, Mario Kart + steering wheel All in excellent condition with very little use. Open to offers but thinking £140 + postage

120Gb hard drive, 2 controllers, HMDI cable, headset, all other standard xbox cables, Xbox 360 Elite, Fifa 10 and Tiger Woods 11 Under 1 year old. Very little use - just don't get the time. Open to offers but thinking around £140 + postage

I used to subscribe to Processor Monthly but to be honest it's had it's chips these days!

Interesting - I can't say I've had any reports fail on me here (and I write pretty complex ones most days). I must look up other threads and see what fails.

SIMS might not be supported offically on MS Office 2010 but I've been using both for ages and it seems to work fine.

And it's incidents like this that make me so pleased we left LP+

Sounds like a good event. I spent some happy years at Hopwood Hall as network manager - quite a while back now though.

Does someone one to email [email protected] (presumably the reporter) and let him know - I'm sure they'd like the follow up story. I'd have been livid if someone had blocked my garage like that!

Let's have an Edugeek whip-round for him. We could easily raise £2000 for him!

Well worth contacting Lancaster University too. InfoLab21 - ICT Focus - Microsoft Training They do some excellent courses and have some very experienced trainers.

Usually go down Wednesday and Thursday.

Do you really believe us fighting a losing battle in Afghanistan has stopped any terrorist attacks elsewhere? I don't believe it is making a single bit of difference to terrorism - all it seems to do is cost a fortune both in money and lives. If we pulled out tomorrow I don't buy into the idea terrorist attacks would grow.

Why not try having a whinge to sky about prices, threaten to leave etc and see if they'll cut you a good deal on an HD sky box.

If anyone gets bored with it quickly on the Xbox 360 and wants to sell me a copy cheap please PM me Cheers

Totally agree - it's an excellent product. I use my loads both in and out of work. Nice little RDP client on it so I can do network stuff etc. I did get the 3G version which I also find really useful (my phone is a bit older so I can't do the wireless hotspot thing!) I was suprised at how little I miss flash sites. Most of the ones I use a lot are fine.

Can you not roll out SIMS to teaching staff and use the achievments section of that? We use that here and let students know what points they have got via our VLE (with info pulled directly from SIMS).

We allow the use of usb drives with some of the restrictions listed above (no autorun, no exe from usb drive) but our biggest way forward is to get students to upload work to our Sharepoint VLE - this cuts the issue out to large extent. We are working with staff and students to encourage them to use My Site - it's early days but people are starting to use it.

I was suprised at how little I miss flash on mine. I use it pretty much all the time, both in work and at home (I hardly use my laptop at all now) and it did worry me when I bought it but a few months in I hardly notice the lack of flash. As for jailbreaking or not - I haven't on mine - it worries me that I might wreck it in some way although people don't seem to have too many problems. Once you jailbreak it can you put it back to unjailbroken easily?

Is this not a false economy in some ways though? We buy new kit and run it for 4 or 5 years possibly cascading it to other, less intensive use departements as we fund newer machines. If I buy refurb kit that is already 2 years old I'd end up replacing it in another 2 years rather than the 4 or 5 with new kit. I'm not criticising or having a go by the way - just thinking out loud really.

Yep - a couple of the techies here bought themselves iPads and now use them lots for work. They have RDP apps, email linked to exchange, helpdesk etc. They carry them round to most jobs and use the extensively. I find it very useful as when I email them for info or job requests they now get them instantly and often can do mulitple jobs whilst out and about. I know other devices do this but the iPad works for them.

It is an excellent idea but like many choices I guess it comes down to cost. Their bottles are $7.99 and refills $3.99 which is pretty steep compared to the current products and many people are limited by income.