truebluesteve

This has always struck me as a bit odd, and in the UK it would probably breach the DPA! Having said that it is quite interesting to listen to some of these transmissions!

There are 3 threads to Op Yewtree 1. Actions by Saville 2. Allegations against Saville and others 3. Allegations against others unconnected with Saville. So potentially he could have been nicked for either of the last 2. Arresting him would give them time to interview him and make sure he doesn't disappear by putting him on bail. It seems that if you were famous in the 1970s then you are fair game. I wonder if any of this will come back to bite the Met on the backside!

Thank you - I will take a look.

Hi All I am in the process of replacing my existing Trapeze wireless network with a new Ruckus one. I currently have the following WLANS - haz-x - 802.1x authentication against our RADIUS server for domain users and devices such as laptops haz-m - MAC address authentication mainly for school owned mobile devices that need to access certain network resources. At the moment this is mainly iPads connecting to the Groupcall Emerge service that lives on the SIMS server haz-guest - self explanatory really but devices on here get an IP address from a Cisco Pix firewall which itself sits on a seperate VLAN. Transparent proxy doesnt really work with this so clients have to be manually configured with the proxy I'd like to replicate the functionality of the above and to that end I have got the 802.1x working. However I know MAC address authentication isnt that secure so I'm looking at the best way of allowing those devices that need access to Emerge etc but without compronmising security. I'd also like to set up a BYoD for students that uses their AD credentials to authenticate (for example) but keeps them away from the rest of the network. We have a Smoothwall UTM1000 and Extreme Black Diamond as a core switch I'm sure there are several ways of skinning this particular cat and I wondered what preferred solution for you guys would be. Cheers Steve

We've had similar issues and have resorted to the above. Looking on Mac forums and it seems the issues are very well known. For some reason the Macs will randomly refuse to authenticate users against AD even though if you looked in the directory services it shows the connection to the DC being fine. If we remove the AD server from the services, leave it a while and then add it back, it all works again. A right PITA Given the cost of a new iMac against a PC I won't be replacing them unless there is an overwhelming academic need - not, "they use them in the graphics and art industries". What they mean is they use Photoshop and Premier on Macs, but of course the software works equally as well on PCs! Ps for the record I have an iMac at home!

We have 3 OneLAN boxes and they are pretty good, although they are expensive - well they were the last time I looked at replacing ours which are getting on a bit. They have been extremely reliable and apart from the odd PSU failure (they are external and cost £20 to replace) haven't let us done in the last 7 or 8 years. You can find them here - http://www.onelan.com

Exactly the same here....AirServer is great and we have installed it on all our classroom PCs. Apple TV is a great consumer product but there are a couple of things to consider - It only has HDMI output so your projectors will need to have it or you will need an HDMI to VGA converter. It only has an optical sound output so you will need to either be able to connect your speakers to this if you don't have an HDMI projector with speakers.

Yes I think I would too... I had considered the interactive projectors but the whole SMART Notebook licensing issue put me off. But as I said before I really don't know how many staff actually use it, or whether the Smartboard is just a very expensive projector screen. I would like to have standard kit across the site but I think that's probably unrealistic given the number of rooms we have, the cost and the fact that manufacturers are constantly updating their product range. I think it's going to be a compromise, however my team will be happy to be rid of the Sahara projectors that need their security keys putting in every time the power goes off, or a pupils switches it off!

At Matt says, it rather depends on what you want to achieve by this. We have the WebAnywhere solution which pulls lots of data from SIMS and allows staff to take registers and do mark sheets etc. It also provides a Parent and Student portal. My own personal opinion is that its overpriced, and it took forever for them to get it working properly - plus we seem to keep finding bugs with it. If you want any more info then feel free to PM me.

In regards to the backups of de duped drives, is anyone using them with cloud based backup systems which do their own de duping and how it affects backup sizes?

We use the CP-A222 and its a very good projector. It has lots of interfaces and options and the image quality is excellent

I'm currently evaluating 2 cloud backup providers - for 1Tb of data one company has quoted us £1400 and the other £2600 so it pays to shop around. Both have unlimited server/client licenses. Have to say that doing restores seems to be an awful lot easier and quicker than Backup Exec

Some interesting comments - thank you. I'd love to replace the projectors and Smartboards with large touch screen TVs but the cost is prohibitive where there are already working IWBs even though the projectors need replacing. The issue of the interactive software is also interesting too as I really don't know how many teachers actively use it.

Hi all We have an ageing fleet of Sahara and other projectors that will need replacing over the next couple of years or so and I'm wondering about the best route to go down. We have fitted a number of ultra-short throw Hitachi projectors which give an excellent image and are reasonably priced. However some of the rooms can't take these because of the height between the top of the Smartboard and the ceiling. With that in mind was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about large touch screen TV as a viable alternative to a ceiling mounted LED projector. The rooms I have in mind aren't that large but obviously my main concern is that it can be viewed easily by students at the back of the class. Cost would also be a consideration of course! Thanks Steve

Have you considered using Meraki MDM to manage your Macs?

It's being staggered - it was on a recent bulletin from them. Think I will wait for the summer before I roll it out.

Plagues are a real concern for me - those locusts can cause havoc

Well you have control as long as you have an Internet connection or there aren't any issues at the "cloud" end.

St Paul's Catholic College in Sunbury has a Director of IT - I'm pretty sure he's on here somewhere.

We have a Governor who works for IBM as a "consultant" who believes the only way forward is the cloud. Thing is he has no idea how schools work in terms of IT provision and is too opinionated and arrogant to ask (this was also the view of the last Head!) so it has been a battle at times to convince others that it isn't a panacea. I like to keep an open mind on all things IT but with a healthy dose of scepticism too, especially when the next great idea comes out! I think we will move a lot of our backups to the cloud by the end of the summer, but that's really because it is easier to manage. Other than that I like to keep stuff in house so we have control over it.

Same here really - starting at 50/100 plus SLA information etc. Thanks

You may well be right. However I think one one of the drivers was that we already used Moodle as hosted by our LEA. They didn't want to have to start from scratch with all the courses etc, even though most of the departments in the school hardly used the VLE. My gripe is that we paid an awful lot of money for Moodle with a SIMS bolt on (which has had more than its fair share of issues) and a portal for staff, students and parents. As I don't really use the system I suppose I shouldn't really complain, it's just I think I could have spent the money better!

You could be right, but as its hosted on our site but maintained by Webanywhere and I'm not sure what version we are running (2.something) or what patches they have applied. It has been skinned by them but I'm still not that impressed.

I'm sure Moodle does have a big following but it just looks clunky and dated, and the feedback from staff is that they don't find it that easy to use and it isn't that intuitive. For a free system it's great and explains a lot of its popularity, but I suppose my gripe is that we paid an awful lot of money for a bit of tarting up and a server when we could have had something like Frog.

Oh yes and the laser cutter machine which isn't even on the network!