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EduGeek EdSec 2026 is Go! 27th Oct in Derby! Join us for a day of EdTech security focused talks, networking, and an evening social

Dos_Box

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  1. Dos_Box
    Avanti West Coast to be nationalised - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c60qxk7d2539o Good, the service went right down and the prices right up since they took over. I used Virgin Trains on the west coast ML for many years and only had one delay (train in front stuck at Wigan station, so not their fault), yet with Avanti it was gamble if you made it to your destination on any journey. One trip to London last year had us (the entire train) dumped on Milton Keynes station to get on the next one as it was so far behind its schedule they couldn't have a slot for it.
  2. Dos_Box
    Not a fan then?
  3. Dos_Box
    Well, I ordered it, Ideally when working on Apple laptops, 15 cm's doesn't give you a lot of room to work with, but should be fine as 4x means I won't have to adjust the focus length too much and end up working too far from the device.
  4. Dos_Box
    I think my dentist uses one of those!
  5. Dos_Box
    Is it plenty bright enough?
  6. Dos_Box
    I spend a lot of time tinkering with old laptops etc. and find that with some of the more 'well built' devices I'm struggling to get the light I need to work on them sufficiently, especially with the nights drawing in now. I've tried head torches, but they never seen to quite light up the parts I need in the way I'd like, so have been contemplating getting a nice LED desktop work light with magnifier built in, similar to this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/MACASA-Dual-Lens-Magnifying-Combination-Magnifier/dp/B0FCY7SPK6?crid=13Q0E0Y7UDW78&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.q2l5qjbE-Bo6gELqP-QLGtzY_mNlFh20yCey6Ff2Yl9GDwn43SbTbcbh08amJRnDaiLI4FPlkRpxDRdnERpy0jeEjsfTK4jxonCyvHh-FPLnV5grO0vcVKct575ORJXkLPAQJlW1NgoalOGs21Bzfs3HQstQimkrfy-G2WlnvPeQmMYuVKrEmZOp36ef26cOXhFGqRGToLdFf4rkbg39zztF0qyK9_WiDTbXMIxumyTUCdfOiAWaMuvvvdN0-qv97_D3OG7Qf1bR6OVDYDSa9RusEbzmY31TZOB6O-YLQEg.MS5n7n4TNroCqJEjGTFyR0Ilbl98EHJLySaA4ekAgKs&dib_tag=se&keywords=desktop%2Bwork%2Blight&qid=1790171307&sprefix=desktop%2Bwork%2Blight%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-39&th=1 If anyone has one they can recommend, then please let me know, it would also have to have a nice bright light with dimming options though, and I'm not sure the USB powered ones will cut it.
  7. Dos_Box
    Very sad news indeed, John was a larger than life character who played a key role in taking LGfL forward (far beyond what other RBC's were doing at the time) during the NGfL days, then building it up to the multifaceted organisation it is today. A very sad loss to the EdTech industry, and his loss will be felt by many.
  8. Dos_Box
    I have a much newer laptop for my work daily driver (Dell Vostro, because it has all the connectivity), and we use the XPS at confs to put on the lectern and run PowerPoints off. It's about the only usage it gets these days, hence the once a year fettling. The current BIOS is from 2020 and can be found here - https://www.dell.com/support/product-details/en-gb/product/xps-13-9350-laptop/drivers However, there is another site here (still the UK) - https://www.dell.com/support/product-details/en-gb/product/xps-13-9350-intel-laptop/drivers which has the new BIOS listed. Looking at the driver dates on there, it could well be that Dell have reused the same model number for the new version of this. Which is a bit silly, and a little weird!
  9. Dos_Box
    I get this too, plus random image adding restrictions. One thing @ZeroHour has noticed is that from 1pm (GMT) onwards, a lot of AI platforms begin to grind to a halt due to the US coming into work and there not being enough compute to go around. Once the west coast sits down with a coffee at their desks it gets even worse.
  10. Dos_Box
    Some context first. I'm just getting the presenters laptop ready for the conf. It's a 2015 Dell XPS 13 9350, but there are often updated drivers around still for the Intel parts, and it only comes out to play for conferences these days as it only has 8GB RAM and an 2c\4t i7 in there. It did need a bit of TLC, and I cleaned out the fan and re-pasted the cpu, which actually made it very happy indeed! After this I did a quick search to see if a new BIOS had been released (slim chance as the last one was circa 2021) and lo and behold, there was one listed for this year. Given Microsoft's secure boot certificates requirements, I didn't think this was too out of the ordinary and it could just be an 'emergency' release to let it comply. So I asked AI to provide me with a link to it as I couldn't find it on the site, and it did indeed give me one for the new 9350 BIOS: Happy happy joy joy I thought, only to be rewarded with this when I tried to install it: It was at this point I went to bed.
  11. Dos_Box
    I wonder if this is some kind of digital imaging glitch. All of them vanished after passing behind someone. Very weird though.
  12. Dos_Box
    I know most of you are aware of sites like the Dell Outlet, but this may be one you didn't, Sennheiser has one too, and there are some great deals to be had if you or your schools need something that is a bit more wallet friendly - https://uk.sennheiser-hearing.com/collections/outlet
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  13. Dos_Box
    I know that for sometime now, you could throw quite a bit of work at CoPilot, ChatGPT, Claude etc. both on free and lower-end subscription tiers and it would pretty much get on with it. Today however, I have experienced several of these now limiting their use in several ways. Today, both ChatGPT and Claude both halted whist doing some image work telling me I'd ran out of credits\free usage time, even though these were quite simple tasks, and I haven't used them in several days, and I know that ZeroHour uses these quite heavily and it seems very random in how much you can or cannot get out of it at any given time. I think the AI industry needs some kind of standard by which tokens can be measured to allow users to better manage their usage (and billing!). Back to Photoshop I go!
  14. Dos_Box
    If you watched the fantastic final episode of season 3 and didn't stick around for the end of the credits, then you would have missed this sneak peek of season 4 (I did!). I can't wait for this and I do think Silo is one of those almost perfect sci-fi shows.
  15. Dos_Box
    An interesting piece from the TES here - https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/schools-desperate-clearer-ai-guidance and probably is the start of addressing the various issues AI use places on schools.
  16. Dos_Box
    No problem Tom, I did pass on the dates, but we'll get you next time. Enjoy Kenya
  17. Dos_Box
    More information about "EduGeek EdSec 2026 is Go! 27th Oct in Derby"
    We are very please to announce our real-world conference for 2026 once more! Following the decision to pivot EDIT 2026 to an online event in May due to global events, we are finally back on the road in October! Join us on Tuesday the 27th of October at the Museum of Making in Derby for the free EduGeek EdSec Conference, for a day of EdTech security focused talks, networking, and an evening social. Once again, we have a raft of top EdTech industry speakers for this conference with the following already booked and confirmed, with more to come (we’ll keep you posted as and when they confirm): Sophos Smoothwall Nellcote Heimdal LGfL EXA Networks Others TBA On top of that, we have the expo as well, and are very much looking forwards to welcoming the following companies who will be taking part in the expo: Salamandersoft Smoothwall ICT Direct Net-Ctrl LGfL Wave9 Schools Broadband Heimdal Entry Sign (Osbourne Technologies) Nellcote Smart Technologies Clever Concero MSI Others TBA Location and Timings: EduGeek EdSec 2026 will be held on Tuesday the 27th of October 2026 at the Museum of Making in Derby. Address: Museum of Making, Silk Mill Lane, Derby, DE1 3AF Doors will be open at 09:00 for drinks and snacks and the conference will kick off with the keynote talk at 10:00 The conf is scheduled to finish at 16:00. Registration and Tickets: You can register for the event for free on our Eventbrite page here - EduGeek EdSec 2026 After Conf Social: For all of you staying overnight, we are please to announce that LGfL will be hosting you all in the evening for a meal and lots of socialising and geek based chat Travel: The Museum of Making is easily accessible by car or public transport. It's a mere 15 min walk from Derby Railway Station and goes through a park by the River Derwent (it really is quite lovely), and there are plenty of car parks a few mins walk to the venue nearby (sadly no on-site parking is available). Hotels: There is a Premier Inn (Derby City Centre) a mere 3 mins walk away with others very close by. Premier Inn link: https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/derbyshire/derby/derby-city-centre-cathedral-quarter.html If you work in schools, with technology and need to find out about the latest EdTech security trends, you'll find this day invaluable. See you there!
  18. Dos_Box
    I watched The Caine Mutiny on the C4 app last night. The first time I'd seen it in over 30 years. It really is a film of it's time, but when I finished it, realised that it is what A Few Good Men is based on. Well worth a watch, it's on the C4 streaming app for about 26 days still. It has been colourised, but a highly recommended classic.
  19. Dos_Box
    You could save £400 and buy a regular electric toothbrush and brush properly. And use mouthwash.
  20. Dos_Box
    Does, or has anyone shared data via, for example, a 365 OneDrive or Google folder shared with the recipient, and would that fit the relevant data protection rules? I suppose that there is a factor where sharing person to person with 'raw' data such as an open spreadsheet is less secure than transferring data system to system i.e. from one database to another with it being immediately available on receipt. As others have said, having the facility to securely transfer sensitive data from schools to authorised govt departments in a standardised way would be A Very Good Thing.
  21. Dos_Box
    Not taking sides here, but there are several factors to consider in this. Does anyone remember the very good BBC Bitesize web services and facilities from the 2000's? Many of them were nixed after the edtech industry complained that public money was being used to compete with them, the very same could happen here. Mix that up with having to start from scratch to be as good as already established products and services without the trial, errors, and learning that existing EdTech companies have had to go through for many years to offer these to schools. All it takes is one data-breach and no one will trust it again, then its lots of money down the drain, and no govt wants that kind of publicity. If someone wanted to try that as an open source project, then that could be a whole different thing.
  22. Dos_Box
    TBH, I shan't be watching the show. When you have a canon of very good movies it's just like reinventing a much bigger wheel to cover the same distance. I may just watch a HP film tonight, it's been a while. *Weirdly I don't much like the last two, because I know it's coming to an end then. But not with the LOtR movies where the last is very much my fave. And as @BKGarry said, please behave. As the saying goes, "Hate the artist, not the art", so please refrain from any personal dislikes and stick to criticising the art.
  23. Dos_Box

    AMD vs Intel

    Dos_Box replied to DWilson1997's topic in Hardware

    I use a Ryzen 5 laptop as a work device, and I've been very happy with it over the past 4 (almost 5) years now, and I don't see the need to replace it anytime soon tbh.
  24. Dos_Box
    It might be an idea to start a thread for 'AI prompts to prevent disaster', where we can add the safeguards we have to write into prompts to prevent it going full Skynet on the task in hand.
  25. Dos_Box
    @Roberto Totally agree, my big worry, and possibly not unfounded, is that if AI becomes ubiquitous, it may not have the human ability to factor in the 'unknown', especially if it teaches itself. And if something large scale happens, such as a botched AI upgrade of critical infrastructure, it may not be able to fix it because it didn't factor in something a human would. Or as someone put it to me a while back, "The problem with AI is that it has no sense of risk or consequences". The very things that regulate human decision making. I do like my TuxGenie install, however it just burns through 'free' tier credits at a strangely rapid rate, and it does ask me to authorise each step of its processes when trying to fix an issue, but trusting an AI to automate network management etc. would take many, many years of trial and error before it should be trusted. It will be nice to have it do the more menial and time consuming tasks such as password resets, account creation (pulling data from a MIS system for example) and network monitoring, flagging up problems before they become apparent, but I would like there to be a human at the decision making end of all this.
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