dayzd

I think everyone has this when they're stressed/angry/overworked etc... I know I do, I just seem to need others to reiterate it back to me every now and then before I'll calm down and do something about it!

That's the Technician Condition, isn't it (a la the 'human condition'). Especially in schools. We're a little bit like that at our place, but we're getting better at saying no when we're busy. As has been commented on already, this is definitely the kind of stuff you should be saying no to. Departments have DAs for this kind of thing, and if they don't know how to do it, show them or point them to a decent tutorial on the web. When you're overloaded as you are, you can't be expected to be a dogsbody to people who should be able to do these things themselves - and would if they didn't think they could get away with palming it off onto you.

Pretty sure all RM mobile laptops are rebadged somethings... Other laptops are based on Compal components.

RM's support knowledgebase. We had a call open with RM about our build problem just after we got our first batch a couple of years ago and were told it would need applying. Think it was only appliccable to the first-gen models we had - newer ones haven't needed it. On our CC3 system you do have to put the HDs into IDE 'Compatibility' mode in the BIOS, rather than enhanced SATA for them to build, though... :/

Ooh, and just think what this'll do to all those people who think that they can 'do' Photoshop because they can use layer styles... They'll think they're van Gogh (even more than they currently do)!

That's properly awesome, but my problem is I won't want to use it. For some reason I seem to get more satisfaction from doing things 'the hard way'. And when I say 'satisfaction', I mean 'relief' that I've finally completed something after the inevitable hours of fiddling and frustration. WYSIWYG web editors are a good example, as is software like iMovie. I like to make my code/transitions by hand, thanks very much! (Even if using a preset or other automatic method gives better results.) Something tells me I would use something as easy as that, though!

That's awesome!

I've had a Mini10v since the summer last year and it's ace. With predominantly web-based use, I typically get 2-3 hours usage from the battery. Trackpad can be a little difficult, because it's not particularly tall, but the keyboard is comfortable and the screen is nice and bright. In my domestic use, it's capable of many-tabbed internet browsing, streaming and local video playback and all the stuff you'd expect. It's a good and sturdy machine and if you go SSD, the rigors of mobile use won't break it. (Also, it's a very capable OSx86 machine, if you're that way inclined...)

There's a proper version of Remote Desktop for OS X, too, so you can add Macs to that list and support everyone! http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/remote-desktop/default.mspx

That looks cool. I've passed it up to the Boss already. Thanks!

The web interface is telling me Clients / Licensed Clients: 256 / 300 . I can see your point, but at the same time, it picks up security violations like hacking and use of web-proxies - something that is best, and easiest, handled by us. (Plus, that's just how things work here. It has a plug = ICT look after it.) Either way, someone has to monitor it - if it's you or your student support officer, it takes somebody's time.

If you have a SharePoint server, you may want to look into this: SalamanderSoft Limited - My Documents & My Shared Documents Web Parts : Access to your home folder and shares through SharePoint We're looking at it ourselves, to replace the decripit and disfunctional RMEasylink.

We're a pretty large secondary. 1300-ish pupils, a little under 700 workstations. However, our Securus box is only lisenced for 300 clients, so not all machines report back efficiently - as far as I can tell it gets a little 'first come, first served', and if a machine hasn't sent it's logs for a while, it ends up dumping a few days worth in one go. It still needs regular checking (I tend to keep a tab open for it in FF), it just means sometimes you get 20 violations/hr and sometimes 200...

If the call it relates to is long closed, I wouldn't be surprised if they never ask for it back. We've had a similar issue in the past where server spares were delivered for a repair but never used. No-one at RM ever mentioned it and we eventually sent them back two years later when we needed the storage space.

Relying on Securus for your in-house monitoring (beyond your LEAs basic filtering) begs the question: just how much time have you got? We have a Securus box and the amount of false positives it provides is staggering. I look through hundreds of screenshots on it daily, and besides pupils using coarse language in emails to each other, there's very rarely anything that needs any follow-up. It's library of words and phrases is so huge, and the client is so thorough (it captures Photoshop Elements 'Touch up' button as 'touch u' SOOO many times a day... Kids typing 'wog won' in emails to each other is flagged as racist, and I'd bet most of our kids couldn't tell you why), it demands a serious amount of time to review it all. Now I know you can turn down its tenaciousness, but in the years we've had it, we've seen need for it to flag everything. (We had an incident where certain things were being flagged, and upon further investigation we found many more that were of lower weighting that we would have otherwise missed.) The other thing to remember about blocking social networking sites and youtube etc, beyond inappropriate content, is that it help keeps pupils on task - how much real work do you think would get done if kids could sneakily play Farmville at the back of the class?

We have loads of these laptops in our secondary school. They are generally very good and put up with the vast majority of what our students can throw at them. The lid catch, as noted, is a weak point. The bit that actually 'clips' the top to the bottom is pretty small and through use can kind of chip away (like the ends of old piano keys, if you've seen this). It just means that the lid stays open half an inch when flat on a table. A little more care will be required putting them into a trolley if they get like this, but it's no biggie. The other problem we have with them is that despite how substantial the rest of it is, the keyboards on most of ours (particularly the newer ones) are very poor. Cheap, noisy, loose... And pretty easy to break key-tops off, if your pupils are so inclined, but then that can be said of most laptop keyboards. Some have needed BIOS updates to build properly on our CC3 network (typical RM product - delivered before supported), but I doubt it's a problem for CC4 as the build system is different. My personal highlight is the BIOS option to set the wireless to always be on, regardless of how many times little fat fingers prod at the button on the top!

Do this, your staff will love it. We have a similar (bespoke [not quite as good]) system, and it gets used loads - especially by depts that rely on video clips. Do you know when the server will be taken off you /redeployed? Tell staff it's a test environment for the short term and so they don't invest too much time in it. If they really like it, it's something you can take to your management team and ask for some proper investment in.

I agree with previous posts about genuine music/video media being expensive, but you have to remember the artists involved in this, as well. Charging £1 for 5 tracks is obviously a bargain for the consumer, but for the artist or band who created those tracks, it's not. Last time I knew any representative numbers (given that was a three or four years ago now), artists/bands didn't often receive more than about 10% of revenue generated from sales. Even if you loved it, as in, music was all you've ever wanted to create and devote your life to because nothing else gives you the same pleasure and feeling of sharing and achievement, would you do it for just 2p per song?

I've just taken a look at some logs, and there've been some errors from rsync when trying to change the ownership group on the copied items. I guess that's why delete doesn't work! EDIT: Got my rsync command before I've set permissions on the receiving folders. D'oh!

Hello everyone. Just after a bit of help regarding the use of rsync in an OS X Bash script. Currently, we have a peculiar setup where our Mac systems are integrated into our Windows AD network. We use the same logins for the Macs as on Windows and the same home folders are mounted by both. At present, users iMovie Events videos are copied to the local machine on login, then synced back as they log out for performance reasons (there's probably a better way, but this is what we have following a hasty setup). For this task, I use the following (this is the login version, but only the paths change): # Copy documents from server to local folder # a=archive (keep all metadata) # z=compress # r=recursive # u=update (Don't overwrite newer files) # q=quiet # --delete=Delete files that don't exist on the sending side # rsync -azruq --delete "$MOUNTNAME/$USERNAME/Movies/" "$LOCALFOLDER/$USERNAME/Movies/" After users are logged in, the local Movies folder is linked to the ~/Movies folder so iMovie will use it's contents. At present, it seems to re-copy everything on login/out (ignoring the 'u' switch [.com]) leading to some frustratingly long login times. I've also learnt in the last couple of days that it also is ignoring the '--delete' declaration: When a pupil complained of her lengthy logins, I suggested she delete some old video, which she did, only to find it return when she next logged in! Can anybody see any glaring errors /conflicts that I've managed to miss? I've tried a couple of variations with additional switches but to no avail... Thanks in advance! Andy P.S. We're looking into making our Mac network standalone for next year. Can anybody vouch for iMovie's performance on a purely Mac network with home folders on server?

If you're happy adding the jQuery library to your page (Assuming you're not already using it), there are a few plugins available that should help get a Twitter feed into your page easily: 3 jQuery Twitter Plugins – Add Tweets To Your Website

If you're to replace each Mac with an equivalent PC, then software aside I'd say you've a pretty sound financial argument in the first place. I would imagine you'll have to relent on the machines used by the creative/arts depts, though.

Glad you've ironed out your bugs. And learned something along the way! You've got your original design replicated well and the source is much tider than the first implementation. Good work! Best of luck with the rest of your pages. You know where to come if you run into any roadblocks.

Secretly I really love having Macs in school. They're a fun new challenge, which is something this place hasn't offered me in ages and they're my little project - the other two guys here have very little involvement with them. They're my babies and over all I'm very happy with them. I just get a little annoyed with how they/I get treated. For example, user issues that stem from lack of knowledge/experience, or lack of understanding of the task at hand get passed directly to me as technical issues that must be dealt with instantly (even though the staff that teach the course the Macs are used for have been to training sessions and I, the poor sod who has to support them, hasn't.). I'll shut up now as I've gone somewhat off-topic. Maybe I'll just work out my rants on a new thread of my own... As for the general discussion here, having macs in school is pretty ace and as has been said, can provide transferrable skills and introduces those creative types to the kind of environment they'd likely be working in if they persued a creative career. (Hell, I use mine at home for photography, websites and video production ) @redhelpdesk As the OP was about arguments for getting rid of them (that I kinda side-tracked - my apologies), I reckon you've got the bigger arguements covered. I hope you can reach an agreement with your management team that keeps everyone happy!

Having re-read my earlier post, please disregard my hasty comments... @kingswood You're right, costs of software and training apply in either direction and yes, of course making sure the best possible resources are available for a pupils' education is always the primary objective. It is always my intention to provide the best possible solutions for the problems and challenges our establishment faces. I really should add a bit of disclosure to my earlier post that we're having issues with our Macs. Nothing technical (they work and they work well), but the political and management sides of having these systems in school is not, IMHO, being managed very well and is causing me a great deal of stress. Hence why I'd happily go for a Windows alternative! (I've genuinely enjoyed learning about how to network Macs [i've been a domestic user for several years before getting them in school] and troubleshooting them and all the nerdy pleasures we get from deploying new tech. I've just reached a point where to me they represent 'trouble' instead of 'shiney new amazingness'.)