sqdge

The only time the caretaker uses a computer from my budget is when he flicks the main power switch at 4:30pm so they all shut-down abruptly. He used to do the same thing to the server, which caused no end of merriment for me. As you can tell, I have something of a soft spot for our caretaker. Sort of. Well, not really.

My school has no proper ventilation or air conditioning. Today it was quite a pleasant temperature.

Today I was grumbling about how I had to move a lot of boxes and things, and wouldn't it be nice if the school had a sack-barrow or something. I'm sure my back is not thanking me every time I do it (and I'm the H&S officer would frown somewhat as well). So, it turns out that the school does have a sack barrow. It lives in the caretaker's room - which is strange because he categorically denied having one. I mentioned this to him, he shrugged his shoulders and said that I couldn't use it because it wasn't for the ICT dept. (the same reason that I, having be trained to go up a ladder, can not use any of his ladders). So, I will be sending him the bill for my osteopathy sessions. I know I said that it shouldn't be staff-related, so another thing I would change, is to have a freely available sack-barrow or flatbed trolley.

The permissions thing is similar at my school. It took me ages to persuade the admin staff that, as I am the Network Manager, I should have access to their server in case something goes wrong. By sheer chance, the day after I got the access, something went wrong and I was able to fix it (and I didn't look smug at all). We have had further problems with backups, so now we have two backup machines - which seems to do the job quite nicely.

So, last week we learnt what hidden talents we all had (and I feel we are all better off for it). This week I was wondering what one thing about your school, that isn't ICT or Staff/Student related, you would change if you could? For example, I would like to change the colour of the walls so that they were something other than stale-porridge-magnolia.

I can only afford it due to a previous life.

I find people are typing their names less and less these days. I think I'm quite safe.

I find that quite disturbing. I am also annoyed I didn't think of it myself. The pedigree version is surely Cat5e.

I have my surname down as a violation on the computer system. So last week I got 30+ "violations" pop-up as a teacher told their pupils to type "Happy Birthday Mr. Gallagher". It was sweet, but completely ruined any violation-based statistics I may have been collating.

Seat Ibiza Sport 1.4i Petrol 5dr (the 'sport' bit is very important - although the only difference is that the seats are slightly more uncomfortable and the gear stick is slightly smaller). It gets me to Scotland and back, which is all I really want.

Yeah, it was fine for a bit. But then it ran under a cupboard and since then none of the laptops have been able to get any signal. We're thinking of getting an 802.11g Cat to sort out the problem.

That might explain why the school's pet hamster exploded after we put in the wi-fi connection.

Actually, I'm telling the parents that it isn't wi-fi but the teachers that have caused their illness.

I'd like to ban printers and projectors as well. Bright lights and ink particles can't be good for anyone's health.

I think you just have to ring them up and say "I have something quite controversial to say" and they would be interested in the story. Mention a quasi-celebrity and you've got yourself a front-page story.

Cornwall is indeed more radioactive than other parts of the UK (due to the granite rock) - however it also has a higher leukaemia rate, so if Wi-Fi is as dangerous as Cornwall, then we have a problem on our hands... My Dad also suggested we tried to direct the wi-fi signal towards specific pupils. So maybe that 'problem' could be turned into a blessing.

As my Dad pointed out, wi-fi radiation is no more dangerous than Cornwall, which is radioactive.

I don't know about techie questions (although I do know that the school brought in someone techie to give them suitable questions for my interview) - these days you are almost gauranteed a question on child protection (such as from porn, viruses, unemployed bearded men sitting in dark rooms pretending to be "Sharon" aged 9 etc.)

I still have access to the academic journal search engines - Here it is!

Is anyone actually going to do anything in their school as a result of these "reports"?

Daily Mail - Wifi internet 'poses a health risk for children' Well, I think we all know what newspaper that parent reads.

When my mother taught me she tended to ignore me or be unnecessarily cruel. It was impossible for her to treat me as a 'normal' pupil but she definitely didn't let me have any favourtism. If there was a problem at school I had to wait until we got home before I could tell her. I don't think this has had any deep psychological effects on me (although, she is now a colleague). I also know that our headteacher has had to have words with a few parent/staff members because of unfair favourtism being given to thier children. I am ocassionally nice to the children of teachers after school (let them access myspace, bebo etc.) because I know what it's like to wait for a parent-teacher to come out of a meeting.

Now there's a skill to put in your CV.

How about the 'EduGeek - Have you tried switching it off and then on again?' group?

I am lucky enough to have both. I use the laptop if I want to do serious work. I use the tablet if I want to impress the kids....I also use it as a means of taking notes.