36Degrees

Not in a school environment but I know it was considered for a while at one of the companies I worked for. I'm not 100% sure but I think there is a way of doing it as the company were going to have a system where only "authorised" mobiles could be used. These would have been used within the offices and factories so I assume there is a way to block the standard frequencies used for mobiles but allow wireless to work and have the internal phones on a different frequency.

I wasn’t advocating ditching the account, just transferring the debt to something with a lower, fixed interest rate. I'm basing it on having an Alliance & Leicester credit card that was run by MBNA and ultimately got rebadged as such when Santander took over A&L. Of all the credit cards I've had over various years IME their staff have always been the most understanding and helpful.

I once completely fried a very expensive HP iPac belonging to a very senior manager with a firmware update when I was contracting ... We'd been having problems with it and as it was under warranty I contacted HP who duly emailed me a link with a firmware update they swore would fix it. So, update downloaded, update applied, restart iPac. Cue very strange indications on screen then it stopped working. Despite all my best efforts I couldn't get it to work so contacted HP again. When I explained about applying the firmware update the bemused HP guy asked why the hell I had applied that particular one as it was for a completely different iPac series, hence why it had fried it. Luckily I had the email to prove that I had carried out HP's instructions so they had to replace it FOC. It was also fortunate that the senior manager understood all of my actions, realised it wasn't my fault in any way and as he'd only been given it a few days before there wasn't anything vital on there and he was able to live without it for a few more days.

Why not get a credit card with 0% for balance transfers? Overdrafts are usually very high cost borrowing methods and can be withdrawn by the bank any time they see fit. Barclays were offering 0% for 22 months so even with a 2.9% fee it's still a lot cheaper. I think they allow transfers to bank accounts as well. Another good company but with shorter terms is MBNA who run Virgin's cards amongst others. If you're bothered about using it and running up more debt, do the transfer then cut the card up.

There's one department that often reward me for doing my job or resolving really trivial issues. The other day the HoD gave me some wine gums just because she saw they were on offer at the supermarket and knows I like them!

I often get "Miss told me to come here and ask for or " and the "Oh, while you're here " when you walk in a classroom. Then the pupils think it's great they know your first name, especially when other teaching staff including SLT always refer to you as . Another random thing is that some of the Year 11s call their teacher just by his surname with a y on the end (if you know what I mean). I know he was always telling them not to so I wonder if he's given up or decided that the more he tells them not to do it the more they will do it.

Unless there is exam material on there! I know some of the exam boards told our Exams Officer several years ago that hardware failure or loss due to fire, etc. would not be accepted as a valid excuse for not submitting anything in an electronic format that was required for examinations.

When we first got SCO they sent us the documentation to install it as a hard copy. If you ring support they are very good and will deal with your problem straight away including sending you the documentation. I see the point about not having it easily accessible on their website though. I suspect that the issue you're having is because you need to create a usergroup that has the correct rights to access SCO. This may also be why they set it to install to C:\SCO.

Never had any problems with Tucasi, even when we moved it from the old server to the new one.

I'm in the same position as @zag so I'll reply as well! As I've needed to replace a server (or servers if consolidating) I've put 2008 or 2008R2 as appropriate. Unfortunately I haven't yet needed to replace the DCs or had the budget to replace them as a nicety - hopefully I will have the budget this summer.

I'm having lots of problems with my bank accounts lately for some reason. Even those with banks I've never used...

Staff were given the option: either a workstation or a laptop, not both. If they chose the latter they had to ensure that they brought it in every day and set it up 9we have a few spares to cover illness, etc.) Th emajority selected to have a worksatin which makes it much easier for everyone IMO.

I've recently become addicted to playing Into The Eagle's Nest online!

Don't take your Klingon Battleth (sp?) with you either, it just causes more problems.

In 2004 part of the school's 5 year ICT plan was to go paperless. The amount of printing was decreasing slowly and the introduction of the VLE in 2007 was supposed to help with the ultimate aim. Fast forward to 2012, with a different Head Teacher, and I think we print more now than we did in 2007!

Mug monster: 30 new cups bought for staffroom, one week later they're nowhere to be found. Key monster: Last person to use hall AV equipment swears blind they returned the keys to the main office. They miraculously reappear later that day at a time when the office is unattended or are found next to the AV equipment by the dance teacher when she goes to set up for her lesson. On / off monster: The power socket on the wall was definitely on when they checked (after i'd asked) but now I have walked the length of the school the socket is off. Switching it on makes the equipment work. Amplifier monster: The amplifier was definitely set to AUX when they checked (after i'd asked) but now I have walked the length of the school it is set to DVD. Switching it to AUX makes the sound from the computer come through the speakers. At the last company I worked for one of the ladies used to send an email around all the other female members of staff wanting to know who the "Phantom sh**er" was. Apparently this monster used to leave logs that a Canadian lumberjack would be envious of and then not bother to flush the toilet!

We always use PRM Green Technologies. They normally require a certain amount to send a van but will pick up less if they have a van in the area and space on it. http://www.prmgreentech.com/

I can't order online but I do like to be able to log in and get prices. I don't really have time to email or ring a multitude of people to get prices but I can easily log in to various websites to compare. The only exception is toner cartridges. Due to the way prices seem to fluctuate I will wait until I need a reasonable number then email a quote request to several account managers.

Surely you have some lawyers helping with Academy conversion? I don't know but I'd expect them to say that School X is closing on the 31st May and will no longer exist so the contract terminates on that day. On the 1st June Academy X then opens and a contract with their preferred ISP begins.

I agree with the "don't like, don't read" and the fact that there often is some elitist / snobby views based on what paper you choose to read. However, I can assure you that the paper, TV station, etc. is irrelevant as there are good journalists and bad journalists across them all and I suspect good editors and bad editors across them all.

A very well written piece.

There's probably a lot who don't think he should be refereeing at all, particularly in Heineken Cup games! (Warburton red carded at WC, same tackle in HC game doesn't even get a penalty - Rolland referee in both instances)

I've seen Manu come up through the Academy (he was scary then!), A league and first team but have only really noticed Barritt in England colours and not being a fan of Saffacens I suppose I am looking through striped lenses! I just know that the Tigers wings do get to see the ball even when Manu is playing.

Twelvetrees was a converted centre really who had patches of brilliance but also sometimes struggled at 10 on the big stage although he admitted he didn't want to play 10. Supposedly that's part of the reason he's off to Gloucs (will only play centre) and there are also claims he won't have to fight for his place which I find difficult to believe. I think Barritt did some good work in defence but seemed too eager at times to take the ball into contact rather than try and move it wide.

The ball rarely got to Manu either (and not that often to even Barritt!) but he his very good at direct running to either offload in the tackle or ensure that the ball is available. George is also an amazing talent who is starting to adjust very well to life in the first team after coming through the Tigers Academy and A league (plus being England U18s captain!). His rise in form is one of the main reasons we expect to lose Jeremy Staunton at the end of the season and he was 19 on the 16th March.