kevinmcaleer

Wow! CyTV is pretty awesome! Thanks for the link. -Kev

I've bought PocketMac, the only problem I have is that my pocket pc runs Windows Mobile 5.0 and the version of pocketmac that supports this version is still in beta. Its pretty cool though. Works just like/better than Activesync. -Kev

Front row is best used with a HD TV. I've got my new Intel MacMini hooked up under the HDTV (next to the xbox 360!) with a extorsionately expensive HDMI to DVI cable. IT looks awesome on a big tv, the remote makes just like a media center on the pc. I've also got EyeTV installed so I can record my favourite shows and then watch them using front row. Frontrow and iTunes makes your macmini into a big ipod! I leave the macmini on all the time, connected to the net and with http://www.foldershare.com installed I can access all my files whenever I want from whereever. Truely awesome. MacMini's are the best, they are just so small and quiet and well behaved. My friend has a custom built media center, and its a beast! its huge, noisey (due to the large number of hard disks in it) and not very stable. In the configuration I've got the MacMini under the TV and a wireless keyboard and mouse so there are not messy wires. -Kev

The very nature of high stake tests requires a known, reliable platform. Remember some paper based tests require the candidates to use only black pen... It would not be practical, or possibly even fair to run a high stakes test on a variable number of platforms that may or may not be supported. Red Hat linux was chosen because you as a network manager can buy support from Red Hat. Purchasing software from a supplier also mitigates risk from a legal point of view, fit for purpose etc.

We went down the printer quota route. The end result was that it really annoyed people as it was very difficult to implement a good policy that was both fair and reduce the amount of printing. The question I always ask is 'why'? If pupils are printing more its probably because they prefer this method than reading on screen. If staff are printing more, it may be because this is faster/easier/better quality than photocopying etc. When pupils print out ridiculous amounts of stuff, its usually easy to track this down using normal methods. Who police's this is another matter. I think its probably a good idea to have quota software installed, but not to restrict, simply to measure and monitor. That way you can plan for capacity and availablility better. You can also monitor strange patterns of behaviour that may otherwise be hidden. -Kev

Just out of interest, if your following the guidelines for e-safety, nobody should be able to identify a child by their email address, this includes their age, gender or name. Therefore a 'safe' username would be something like: 07KM2 as it doesn't give anything away. -Kev

Hi Mitch, I've got to admit I'm a little confused about what your product/service does/how it does it. I think there is nothing wrong with a company selling a service to schools that uses a logfile analyser to track usage, then for a report to be sent to that school informing them of the abuses. If this is what the product does, then you should clearly state that it is a logfile analyser. Mitigating risk is very important to schools, if they can pay an outside agency/company to look after internet misusage, it will be a useful service. As an ex-Network Manager I understand that collecting the data is the easy part, policing the network is the hard part. I would have gladly paid a company to deal with any misuse issues. For the product to be marketable and successful it has to be clear, to customers, what it is and what it does. Mitigating risk, that is transfering the risk to another entity is a marketable property, as is the service element. I am concerned, though that it may be too heavy handed. Many a time I was asked to investigate misuse of our system, and it wasn't always the child whose user account was used to commit the act that was responcible. The child was often unaware that someone had used their account. In this case if a letter was sent to the childs parents, who phone the school, who meet with the head and your company, and later get to the bottom of the mystery, it will be both the school (headteacher) and your company left with egg on faces. It would only take one incident of this kind of thing for loss of confidence in the service and possibly cancellation of contacts. Network Management is a grey art, its not black and white. Misuse can not always be detected and handled so easily, as there are many variables in play. I'm also concerned that you state your product prevents access to sites on the internet, yet the product only detects misuse after the fact. This is confusing if not a little misleading. If you give a network manager a 10,000 page report with over 1000 urls to block, I don't think they would be to pleased. If your software/product automatically added these urls to my internet filter, it would be of more use, but that would require a lot of effort on your part as there are hundreds or internet content filtering applications out there. As for retrieving data sector by sector, I think your clutching at straws. Although it is technical possible to retrieve some data (assuming its not been over written), it takes a long time (even automatically) and does not provide very reliable results. In short its not commercially viable to do this in a school environment. Your product also appears to be able to do everything; it must have some limitations, it must only work on certain platforms and under certain circumstances. This again isn't a fault of the product, but is a natural part of any product, its specifications. If you clearly state how the product works, people can understand how it will work for them. If the product scans for cookies or analyses logfiles, the network manager knows that he/she must keep these to enable the product to work. You obviously have a useful product and an interesting service to offer schools. I think you need to consider how your going to inform your potential customers what it does, as if your try to conseal its workings you will only face scepticism. It should do exactly what it says on the tin. As you've seen from the previous posts, network managers like to know how something works and what it does before they'll let it anywhere near their network. It might be worth you paying a marketing company to help you with product development & launching. They'll help you describe the product and (or) service, so that customers can quickly understand why its of benefit to them and how it achieves this. Athough you have developed this service, you might not be the best person to sell it. May companies use ex-teachers to sell educational products, as they best understand how to communicate with schools. Hope this feedback is of use. -Kevin McAleer Managing Director Advice Factory Ltd

Lol, you'll be trying to install Windows or Linux on it next, and yes, you can... I was listening to a podcast in the car yesterday as i drove down to Derby from Bolton, about this guy that has installed Linux on his iPod so that he can play tetris. £300 for a tetris console, hmm, there is a huge voice shouting in my head 'WHY?'. Like my mother used to say, 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should'. -Kev

But Apple do such cool Wireless keyboards and don't forget the 'Mighty Mouse'. Did you hear about Jonathan Ive? The British Designer who gave us the iPod and iMac designs... He was on this years honours list and has been given a CBE by the queen. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4569912.stm -Kev

I got a nice black video iPod (60Gb). I'm shocked at how easily this things can get tiny scratches on them. Still very impressive though. I also got a DVB capture thingy from PC world (only £39), so I can watch freeview channels on my PC. Although this doesn't come with Mac software I purchased EyeTV (for Mac) from http://www.elgato.com which works perfectly with the USB thing. TV shows can then be saved as quicktime files for use on the iPod! So cool. -Kev

Yes, John your right! Sorry. -Kev

The site I set up for my old school is still there: http://www.thornleigh.net Thornleigh.net is a sharepoint (free version) and if you click 'up' to its parent site http://www.thornleigh.bolton.sch.uk, thats using sharepoint portal. Its very good. I just set up the site 'space' for departments, and left them to it. They got the hang of how to put content on there pretty quickly. -Kev

I've just found an Office 2003 MVL license for £5.34 under the Becta Software Licensing Framework. http://procurementtools.becta.org.uk/product_detail.php?product=45641&search=microsoft+office+2003&detail=only&skin=0&page=3 -Kev

Moodles ok, but I think I still prefer Sharepoint. -Kev

If you buy them though Bectas software licensing framework, i think they are only £31 each. http://procurementtools.becta.org.uk/ -Kev