jmak

The behaviour of the "Zoom bomber" is despicable, but in fairness, I don't think this is the fault of the platform. If you publish joining details for the meeting to the web and don't secure it, there will be people who take advantage. This is why anything used for school must be properly secured, irrespective of the platform being used.

I can't see a good reason for a education institution to use it over Teams or Google. However, having had a quick look at the Zoom options, I reckon even with free accounts it should be possible to run it in a way that would meet minimum safeguarding requirements. As a starter, I would say that you need to mandate: 1) All meetings must be scheduled between all parties (you can have guests on recurring links, which means no records of who joined or when; not acceptable for school use. Means that all students would need their own account.) 2) All meetings must be recorded (available for free accounts, but only for recording locally, which would require manual intervention by teacher running the meeting. I'd then insist that the teacher upload that to the school Google Drive or SharePoint.) 3) A record of every meeting must be provided to your line manager for audit purposes. Tell teachers this is for their own protection and alert management that if they don't keep records like this, the school is open to accusations of safeguarding issues. Of course, all of this can be automated in either the MS or the Google system. After that, you might find you get backing from teachers and management to use the proper tools for the job. The downside is that it's more work for the technical team - but that's what we're there for.

To practise fire fighting?

Just to be aware of: you need to subscribe to Azure AD Premium P1 is you want write back to on prem AD. From the link above:

On the other hand, my OH is working significantly extended hours (no agreement on additional pay), additional out of hours cover rota implemented and has had all annual leave cancelled for at least three months, but with the additional wording "and expected to continue for the duration of the emergency". That means no annual leave from three days taken in February until.... unknown. Even having a break booked helps with stress. Once annual leave is permitted again, the issue will be a restriction on the number of people allowed to be away at the same time, so the chances of getting it any time soon will still be slim. There are upsides - job security isn't an issue - which is a problem for plenty of people. But there are worse problems to have them being told to have paid time off.

I had that experience 15 years ago. Company moved from central London to two outer London sites and cut desk space by a third. Uproar because everyone was used to having their own desk. In the end, the offices were at least half empty as everyone realised if they weren't going to the same location as their boss/team, they could just work from home and save a couple of hours per day commuting. You could never get a meeting room though. Video calling is much better now, so that might be less of a problem. I think you lose two main things going to 100% remote working: 1) support for new/junior staff 2) social interaction - which does have some business benefit in terms of generating ideas. Depends on your job role though.

It's the human/non-technical bit that's a potential issue. The guidance is to dress and perform as though you were going to a live audition - wearing headphones while playing doesn't really fit with that. Also, the student has never done studio work, so wearing headphones while playing won't be particularly natural.

Nothing on the microphone and no software from the manufacturer. Audacity lets you adjust the level. Currently getting moderate success by having the microphone at the same end of the room as the speakers and sax at the far end. I suspect there's more I could do in the settings in Audacity, but I don't have time to learn before the submission deadline.

I joined a Zoom meeting a couple of days ago. No idea what information the host had to give, but I just used the URL which contained the meeting ID (in plain text). I did have to run an exe, but didn't give any data. I used a Windows machine, so no issue with the app sharing with Facebook.

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll try moving things around and also have a go playing the backing track through headphones. The mic does capture what I'm after when it's the only sound, but is overwhelmed with the additional source.

I think this might be somewhere that solution is procedure rather than technological. What happens if they leave the laptop on the docking station unlocked and then it's stolen? I also think that if you have a complicated algorithm (I know it's not really complicated, but .....users) quite a few won't understand that it's supposed to behave differently in different circumstances and will either use it in a way the defeats the purpose of what you're trying to achieve or complain or both. I'd set a short time out on screen lock and also sell the benefit of dual screen when they're using the docking station. Remind them that they'd be breaking the AUP of they leave their laptop without locking it.

Should have mentioned it's for an audition, so it has to be videoed as well and needs to be a "live" recording. Live auditions have been cancelled for obvious reasons and no accompanists are available.

I'm trying to help someone record themselves playing saxophone. I'm using a Marantz MPM 1000u mic and Audacity. I've played around moving the performer and the mic and the levels and got something I was reasonably happy with, but when I add in a backing track (playing through speakers behind the performer) the sound is "compressed", as though there's a noise gate and all the detail from the saxophone disappears. When you play it back, the backing track sounds fine, then when the saxophone comes in, the backing track sounds like it's turned down and when there's a break in the saxophone part, the backing track volume is brought back up. It also loses the detail of the saxophone playing - the tone sounds the same as though it's filtered. Any ideas on whether there's a setting I can change in Audacity or a better way to set up the room, or different software (it's a one off, so I can take a free trial in most things)?

Content removed as it said the same as my other post.

For one user in 1000, I'd create a new AD account and move their data

And I had mine done this morning.... Edit: but mine was due on the 28th, so wouldn't have been exempt. Makes it slightly less annoying.

Turn the tide Flatten the curve Whatever it takes .... Might not have settled on one yet, but definitely still looking for a catchy the word phrase.

If you haven't got a stick blender, you can grate most things with a hand grater. Most things then pretty much dissolve and can't be picked out. If noses are still turned up, add spices. Not how I like my food, but a few more people might have to like what they're given! The other trick I've used is to serve dinner an hour and a half later than normal when I know the menu will be challenging. OH's granny had a saying: hunger makes a tasty kitchen! Peas are an exception; the only way I've disguised those is to mash and then sieve, but you don't end up with much pea left... I just add those afterwards for the people who will eat them.

I read the page and interpreted it as:

If you're interested in data analysis, this (which seems to be updated daily) has lots of detail: http://nrg.cs.ucl.ac.uk/mjh/covid19/ If you prefer to look away when you see something gory, this one's not for you. Not much in the way of interpretation, it just lets the numbers talk. Me? I can't stop myself looking, even though I know it won't make me feel better...

FWIW I agree. Might be worth sending out a copy of the original AUP and reminding the them of what they already signed and then something similar to the above as an explainer of how the policy applies when working from home. Lots of people sign agreements without reading them - never mind taking any notice of what's in them...

The speed difference between connecting at the master socket and via the extensions will depend on the quality of your internal wiring. Mine is dire, so I got a significant speed improvement. The reason for the socket behind the faceplate in the master socket is that it disconnects the extensions; it's officially called the test socket and separates the bit the ISP is responsible for from the bit that's your problem. I've just removed my faceplate and plugged my microfilter (and therefore modem/router) in there. It means it's also the only place I can plug a phone in. Given the choice, I wouldn't want it in my bedroom either, but it's worth a try in case it makes it better.

I think the answer you need is on this page (doesn't matter if you have a different ISP): https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/getting-set-up/home-networks/a-wired-home-network/what-type-of-master-socket-have-i-got- You'll know if the socket you're looking at is the master socket, because when you take the faceplate off, it'll have a phone socket behind it. You'll get faster broadband speeds if you install a master socket with built in splitter/microfilter, but if you do that, you won't be able to plug your modem into any other sockets. If you want to plug your modem into a different socket, you'll need a microfilter on every socket in the house. You can get a combined faceplate like this: https://www.bcedirect.co.uk/products/vdsl-adsl-splitter-socket-kit-high-speed-broadband-compatible-lj5119n?variant=12836727586839&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping Anything that mentions NTE is not suitable for an extension. You'll do better with the splitter in the NTE and then a network cable internally - or even a WiFi connection...

And the SharePoint Site can't be made public any more. It can work as intranet though.