maniac

Actually I say it's free, just read the small print - it's free for 30 days. Ah well, I think it's still a good example of the sort of software you can run in a browser now, certainly one of the smoothest browser based apps I've used.

Don't know if that deserves thanks really, my evening is now going to be wasted . . . . . lol

Been looking for some easy to use design software to do a floorplan of my house to design a possible new extension for sometime in the future. Googling leads me to this. Gliffy.com - Draw and share flowcharts and diagrams online It just works, simple. You have to sign up in order to save what you've done, but even that's free. Just thought I'd share it. Mike.

I seem to vaguely remember this being a bug in publisher 2000. Have you run office update on the microsoft website to see if there's any updates available for the program that aren't installed? It's been a while since I've used that version! Mike.

I'll add ours to the mix - designed and maintained by one of our English teachers, I have nothing to do with it thankfully! Spires Academy, specialist school with Performing Arts Status, Canterbury, Kent

@john If the print quality is bad, try cleaning the print head using a cotton bud with some cleaning fluid on (I use the Screen cleaner we've got) they print using thermal contact printing (even the ones with the black tape in still rely on thermal contact) but if there's a slight layer of crap on the print head it stops it working properly. You probably won' even see it, it only has to be a tiny layer to effect the print quality. Same goes for thermal fax printers and thermal receipt printers as they all work on the same principal.

I'm not familiar with those switches, but if they are managed switches with an interface you can log into, there should be a way to look at the traffic levels on the switch. If it's very high at or near capacity, then you may have a loop. To be honest, it probably isn't the case, but I would check as a matter of course anyway. If you don't have managed switches then just look at the traffic indicator lights on the switch, if they are constantly on even if the network isn't being used much, then you've got excessive traffic.

Check the really obvious stuff first, as you should have absolutely no problems with that size network on whatever switches you're running it on - we have a flat network with 600+ devices connected and get very few problems with it. You say you've 'ruled out' the switches, but if I'm honest I'm 99% sure this problem will be to do with the switch, or the servers connection to it. I would check/do the following. Patch cables between switch and servers Check firmware on the switchs is up-to-date Check you haven't got excessive traffic on the network, something constantly sending out packets or a loopback - this can cause weird things to happen. Maybe force the server to use GB instead of auto negotiating That would be a good start.

I always recommend peugeot 106's as good first cars - although a little old now, you can easily get a good one for £800 and they are really cheap to insure, quite nice to drive and really nippy. Also parts are pretty affordable and they're not too difficult to work on yourself.

Reminds me of the pipe I used to have running from the extractor fan to the back of the servers in one of my schools where the server room lacked Air Conditioning. Surprisingly it actually worked quite effectively.

Not set one up, but I have done a fair bit of reading. This guide seems about the best I've found using open filer as it's prefered package - it's what I intend to follow when I try a simelar project in a few months time - just doing some proofs of concept on some old hardware to start with. Setting up a High Availability NAS/SAN using Openfiler | Easy to Read Articles

Did they not offer you free tickets as a result of living so close - poor PR if they didn't.

Definitely possible - I've done it up to a certain level, but some of it is luck. I started as a 'network manager' at a middle school, but I was the only ICT support person so the title didn't really mean anything, I was just a technician really with senior management making all the decisions. Moved onto a technicians role at a large secondary school, then from there to a network managers position at a small academy. I'm now a 'technical projects manager' for 3 academy schools, which basically means I manage changes to the technical aspects of the network systems in the schools, and research into new technologies etc. That career path thus far has enabled me to live a fairly comfortable life and at the end of 2010 I brought a house, but prior to that I house shared and lodged for a while. It's taken me 8 years to work to where I am now spending an average of 2 years in each position, and along the way I've put in a hell of a lot of work for each of the schools I've worked in.

If you kept your existing file server you can grant access to your existing data via an SSL VPN using an appliance like this Barracuda SSL VPN - Secure Remote Access From Any Web Browser which allows (amongst other things) file access via webDAV so users can access their data remotely using their network username and password to authenticate with. The barracuda product is based on the old opensource SSL explorer from 3SP which I used to use at a school years ago to do exactly the same thing - it worked brilliantly. I know it uses the word 'VPN' in the name, but it's different to a traditional IPsec VPN in that the whole thing is based on the SSL protocol so it will work in any browser and doesn't need dedicated software or complex authentication. Mike.

With modern RCD's on circuits, the risk of this actually happening is very very small. I know for fact that pretty much any school will have computers connected to different phases wired back to a single cabinet, how could you ever be sure that there isn't. The issue of potential earth differences over cables only applies if the buildings earth is independant of the main building. Our science block for instance is a completely stand alone building that has a 3phase supply from the main building, but a completely seperate earthing system, therefore there is potentially a difference between the two buildings earth. Most mobile classrooms are fed via overhead cables on a single phase including an earth from the main building, which means you can quite happily run copper to them - the only risk being the tiny tiny issue of the cable picking up static from nearby lightning - this can be negated by putting a supressor at each end of the cable. I've had mobile classrooms at several schools I've worked in with copper cable feeding them, and never had a single issue. Mike.

I had issues with Xibo updating after updating it, and found for some reason that putting in the servers IP number instead of its DNS name into the settings seemed to solve it. No idea why I even did this, but I had one which worked, and 2 which didn't, compared the settings on both and this was the only difference. Change it on the other 2 which didn't work and they suddenly started working reliably again. Very strange. Something else I've done when the clients lock up is to empty the cache folder on the local machine and re-start it, that also seems to solve certain problems. Mike.

I can offer you some Dell GX60 base units with keyboards and mice but no monitors I'm afraid. They're 2.4GHz celerons with 512MB RAM and they'll run XP fine. I also have an old mitsubitshi projector you can have, it's a bit dim but it works and a TP link access point which will give you WIFI access if you need it in an area (it's actually mine not the schools, but is no use to me) I can also make you up as many patch leads as you need in whatever length is needed, got plenty of cable and crimps and I'm happy to drive them all up from Kent at the weekend if you want them, give me an excuse to go see my friends in Nottingham at the same time. Oh almost forgot I've got several HP ink jet printers just sitting around the store room not doing much, although they all need new ink cartridges, but again if you want them let me know. PM me if you're interested. Mike.

Of course it doesn't work, but then neither does the age limit on facebook.

But you can police those items because they are sold in shops or licensed, so you have control over who uses them or can do them. Even if there was an 18+ limit on facebook, there is no mechanism in place to stop children lying about their age and signing up - the only way to do this would be to require some proof of age before you can sign up which just isn't practical. By having the age limit, you are effectively almost encouraging children to lie which is not a good thing. Facebook is harmless when used in the proper manner, the same can not be said for cigareattes and alcohol.

The fact remains that a very large percentage of children do sign up to facebook already and lie about their age to do so. Wouldn't it be better for facebook to be in control of the situation and know the proper ages of the people signing up to their service, than the current situation of thousends of children lying about their age ,signing up and probably not even telling their parents they've done so for fear of getting in trouble. At the moment it seems children are almost encouraged (mainly by peer pressure) to sign up behind their parents back, because of the age limit, so parents don't have the opportunity to teach their children how to use it properly and that's where the problems start. Lowering the age limit means they may be less likely to be secretive about it because there won't be any reason to be, and that gives parents the chance to educate their children on how to use it properly. Children are very resourceful and they will quite often find a way to do what they want regardless. If that want is signing up to facebook, then wouldn't you rather it was able to be done ligitimately and openly rather than the child feeling like they need to lie and go behind their parents back? The fact is regrdless of what facebook do, children will still signup so there comes a point when it's got to be better to embrace this and put proper systems in place to handle it rather than let the current situation continue. Just my opinion. Mike.

The more you tell kids they can't do something, the more they will want to do it - that's pretty much a proven fact. Getting a Facebook account is almost becoming a rite of passage for kids these days and to them lieing about their age to get it doesn't seem such a big deal so regardless of any 'age limit' facebook might put on it, it's not going to stop kids signing up.

Nice ideas, but it just wouldn't work - kids would just signup for accounts and lie about their age like they do now, and there is absolutely no way of verifying it.

May be worth knocking on the doors of your immediate neighbours and see if anyone else if affected. If you all got together and approached the developer as one, you might be more likely to persuade them to fork out for the necessary upgrades. I wouldn't expect to have to pay to rectify the problem myself, as it's clearly caused by the new development.

What you want is a 'captive portal' that works in a simelar way to wireless hotspots like BT openzone, and forwards people to an authentication page if they are un-authenticated. There's lots of software around to do this, but I've personally not really played with any so I can't make any recomendations. Google 'Captive Portal' and start your research from there. Mike.

Don't have a dyson, I have a 25yr old vax that all you need to do is empty the bag on - works for me.