LosOjos

It actually says in the description "maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200" - so no 4K. Also, you need to check whether your GPU outputs audio over DP, not all do.

Yeah I agree, personally I wouldn't buy that box because I have control over my own network, but you have to bear in mind not everyone knows how to manage even a basic network, so to those people this gives them some control. Of course it doesn't get you around the mobile data problem (keep hoping networks will provide a simple on/off switch for parents but don't see it happening unless they can charge for it) and unless it configures itself as a gateway, as you say the kids can just choose a wireless connection straight to the router instead and bypass it. You can achieve a much more powerful solution with a Rapsberry Pi, the trouble is as every router is different, you'd need someone to write step by step instructions for every type of router going to make this an option for most parents - though you could probably get away with just writing instructions for the most common routers handed out by ISPs to a large degree as if the household is using anything else then presumably they'd understand enough about networking to figure it out.

There's some info in the flyer, but I can't tell you any more yet, I'm waiting for my welcome pack http://www.ssatuk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/NDMA.pdf It's easily done and I'm sure we all have but ask yourself this; before you were a data manager, what did you know about data management? I'm willing to bet not a lot, but if you're willing to learn you quickly find ways to apply and adapt your skillset to any job; this is what you must get across at interview Lol yeah blogging is something I keep having to remind myself to do; I have two separate blogs and don't update either nearly enough (one is for a local newspaper, I keep expecting them to cut me off!). I'd be wary about developing my own blogging system for live use right off the bat though; there are some excellent pre-made systems which have a team of people patching up security holes, but it's a good project to learn PHP/MySQL IMO (or whatever other stack interests you; C#/SQL is popular in business and you can set this up on a home server with free versions of SQL Server and Visual Studio)

As a parent, it's not that simple. My daughter's homework often needs to be done on a PC and some of it is actually done online, so total removal of the PC/internet won't work. There's also the issue when doing written homework she'll have YouTube videos on, which she continually gets distracted by and doesn't get her homework done. In my house, we work on a "three strike" system; if she gets her work done, then the internet stays and she can watch all the YouTube she wants. If she gets caught slacking twice, Internet is either disabled entirely (via aforementioned MAC filter) or limited to only her homework sites if she needs access (Window Live family filters). Final straw is total lack of access to a PC or any of the consoles for a set time period; it rarely gets to this point. And as for "just pulling the plug" - hell no! I'm not losing Netflix/online play just because my daughter's slacking!

There's also the NDMA if you can convince your school to pay for it. You may well already know everything it covers, but I have found that getting qualifications on the job has seriously helped me in interviews; it shows that you take what you do seriously, even if it's mostly irrelevant to the new job. Also, if you do get interviews, don't undersell yourself. In your OP, you talk a lot about what you can't do; focus on what you can do and what you're willing to learn. (I have interviewed for a couple of roles and work ethic/attitude is always a big scorer; I'd employ someone keen and hard working over someone with every qualification in the world but no willing any day!) If you want to gain some SQL experience, either try doing some more advanced analysis in Access (you can import CSVs easily from SIMS in to an Access table then run SQL queries on them - I find this really useful when tying together multiple SIMS reports and you can achieve reports that simply cannot be done in SIMS alone simply by tying multiple reports together on a common point such as the student ID), or get yourself some web space (or a local server) and build a basic blog system. Sure it's reinventing the wheel and I wouldn't bother for a 'proper' website, but the best way to learn is by doing IMO.

I have a MAC blocking rule on my router which gets turned on if my daughter is slacking on her chores - she's yet to discover MAC spoofing!

It's not the desktop version of Windows 10, it's going to be a cut down version, like the Intel Edison version.

Can't imagine it's going to be powerful enough for modern games, and 1GB is still not much memory... the old one made an excellent MAME box though Ubuntu Core will also be available for Pi2: https://insights.ubuntu.com/2015/02/02/snappy-ubuntu-core-on-raspberry-pi-2/

I'm assuming it's going to be a stripped down version of Win10, not a full desktop OS, and it's not some hack somebody has put together, Microsoft are developing it. Stop being so cynical

Here's a nice little coding game we had the kids playing on Saturday (at a monthly code club I help out at): Elevator Saga - the elevator programming game

Also, Microsoft have confirmed that Windows 10 will run on the new Pi (and it'll be free via the developer for IoT program): Windows 10 Coming to Raspberry Pi 2

Should make for a nice, basic, low power home server

You can back up assessment templates vis "Routines > Data Out > Assessment" (or something like that, not in front of SIMS at the moment). This will also allow you to back up aspects, grade sets etc. all as XML to be re-imported later if needed or even shared with other schools.

CommandReporter is included with every SIMS installation, no extra cost, therefore "the customer pays" in this instance is for the SIMS installation, which they need anyway i.e. no extra cost... Just not sure what you're getting at @matt40k?

You sure? Can't see how any charge can be applied to using CommandReporter... sure, it's not live but a scheduled task can be setup to run a script to update your system as regularly as you see fit. Been doing this with my own in-house systems for years.

Sounds like you only need read access to the DB. Don't try to access the DB directly. Aside from invalidating any support contracts for your clients if something goes wrong, you're also in danger of falling foul of the SIMS licensing agreement. No problem though, there's a safe and free way to access SIMS data that comes pre-installed with every SIMS instance - CommandReporter. This is essentially a command line tool for running any SIMS report (i.e. a report built using the SIMS.net reporting engine) and capturing it's output as either CSV or XML. It also supports programmatically setting filters/parameters in XML format, though results with that have been decidedly hit and miss. Here are a few threads to get you started with that: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/66215-sims-net-reporting.html http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/83623-executing-commandreporter-scripts.html http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/119999-command-reporter-filtering-reports.html http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/86701-clr-params-string.html

Good idea! I do this too - in Brothers, I made it my own personal side quest to screenshot every bench scene

That would only work if they were pre-made templates and as those ones can't be deleted, they aren't!

Those are some truly freaky shots! Can't see all the screenshots right now (Steam is blocked here for obvious reasons) but that one you attached is stunning, will have to look in to that game. Dear Esther is a stunning looking game too, I haven't played it so can't comment on whether it's a good game but I saw the missus playing it once or twice and was stunned by the visuals.

I've not picked up my camera in almost a year now. I put it largely down to being tired of my surroundings and not having much opportunity to get out to new places, so I figured one way to get over the lack of new locations to shoot would be to create my own. I've always loved Photoshop and I'm pretty handy with it (IMO anyway!) so I'm going to challenge myself this year to produce some surreal photography. Anybody taken/seen any really cool surreal shots? Share them here and let's get a little thread of the weird and wonderful going I'll start (not my shot): Surreal by Abrahamciño, on Flickr

Just put that line anywhere in your code before the point at which you try to reference the "lookups" sheet. I'd be wary of looking up from an external source if you can help it - other people may not be able to run the report, you may not be able if you log in to another machine or if your NM or an OS update moves the user area for any reason... it can be done and is handy as it's easier to update, but generally I try to avoid doing that if it's a document I may want to share at some point.

This one caught me out at first too - when you run the report from SIMS, the macros will actually run on a new workbook created by the report template. The "lookups" sheet you have created won't be in that new workbook - so copy it over. ThisWorkbook.Sheets("lookups").Copy Before:=ActiveWorkbook.Sheets(1)

As long as it's a secure site (requires username and password, cannot be signed up to without verification (i.e. I couldn't register claiming to be one of your staff and gain access), uses https) and the server is in a country on the EU Safe Harbor list, it should be fine. You have a responsibility however to make sure every possible precaution has been taken as regards to the safety of the data (so revoking staff logins when they leave, monitoring the platform for security updates) and that data is only available for as long as it is needed (so delete data for students who have left or data that is time relevant once that time period has passed)

Yes I meant FFT data, it's not a free service and it's been completely useless this year.

Autumn census (Oct 2014): updated benchmark estimates for all current pupils including new Year 7 in Aspire (KS2 and KS4) and FFTLive (KS1, KS2, KS4 and KS5) That's very interesting, they had said they wouldn't update FFTLive again. Was a stupid idea from day one, IMO, to drop the old system immediately; it should always have been the plan to update both for this year at least to aide the changeover for schools. I do wonder whether we'll be receiving some sort of reimbursement considering we're halfway through the academic year already with no data to speak of.