flyinghaggis

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm thinking something like a Honda CBF 125cc would be what I'm after. I had a look round my local Bike shop during my lunchbreak today. Also, I was shocked at how expensive the helmets and protective clothing are It really starts to add up when you start shopping for a helmet, jacket, trousers, boots and gloves. What kind of price should I be looking to spend on clothing/protective gear if I'm starting out riding on something like a CBF 125?

Slightly cheeky thread hijack/resurrection but I'm going to be doing my CBT in the next week or so and I'm intending getting a 125cc motorbike to ride to work on. I don't really know much about motorbikes so any suggestions or advice on where to buy stuff from would be handy! Are there any forums/websites worth checking out which would be good sources of information? I'd like to get a bike with manual gears so don't want anything like a scooter or moped. Any thoughts or recommendations would be good. I think if I do the CBT I'll maybe try and hire a bike for a week or two to see how I get on commuting using it!

Our Adobe reseller confirmed the pricing :- ~£20 per year for the per device licensing (without online functionality) ~£290! per year for a per-user licence They also do an ETLA licence but that requires you to have more than 500 FTE's so very few schools are going to qualify for that. So basically that leaves us stuck with having to go for the per-device licences rolled out to a limited number of computers and foregoing any of the online/ipad functionality for the foreseeable future unless Adobe change their licensing terms.

I'm feeling like we won't be moving away from Windows 7 for at least a couple more years. I think my primary concern at the moment is, other than Windows 7 reaching End of support in 2020 and needing to be replaced, Windows 10 doesn't (at first glance based on using it at home) appear to bring anything to the table or offer any functionality we don't already have. We've been spending most of our time moving to Google Apps and rolling out iPads recently so I haven't really been keeping up to date with what Windows 10 is offering so it's maybe that some of the key features have passed me by. The way our school is going I'm feeling like we'll soon be at a point where most pupils will use their tablets day to day and when on a computer they'll simply require a web browser to get their work done so the OS is increasingly irrelevant for most people other than a few with specialist requirements like Computing/Art/Technology. Has anyone prepared a business case with a list of reasons/benefits of upgrading to Windows 10? I'm still in two minds about whether we should be considering a site wide Windows 10 deployment or opting for a more 'thin client' cloud/server approach with something like ChromeBox's/etc.

Seems odd the way Adobe are changing the licensing terms. Feels like they're basically saying that schools can only licence per device and as a result don't get any online functionality. Maybe they're expecting/hoping that students themselves will start signing up directly as there's surely no practical way a school can start paying the licences for every individual user without incurring ridiculous costs. Maybe Adobe think this way they can gouge customers by getting schools to buy the per-device licences and the pupils/staff to sign up themselves for the per-user subscriptions. All this will do is force schools to start teaching alternative products? It's already got us starting to look elsewhere as it's not a licensing model which is going to work for us.

We currently have a limited number of licences for the VIP device based licence. We were contemplating upgrading it to the site licence version order to deploy it to additional computers and use some of the online cloud/sync functionality in conjunction with pupil iPads. However, reading this thread, everyone seems to be saying that Adobe are no longer offering an institution licence to schools? Is that the case or has there been any update?

Facebook Will Start Tracking Which Stores You Walk Into I removed the Facebook app from my phone, and switched to the web version, several months ago due to noticing that it was ruining my phone's battery life (around ~25% less per day just for having the facebook app installed). This made me suspicious that it was doing something like GPS tracking behind the scenes so I' not surprised to read they're planning on doing more location based advertising. I use Google Now all the time which is basically doing similar things and find it pretty useful for getting local weather updates, travel times to get home , targeted news updated, etc. Somehow it feels more sinister when a social network is doing it in order to deliver targeted ads though.......

He sounds like a man with a solid grasp of the facts ! Not somebody that would fall for a pack of lies........

I caved in and bought it after watching a couple of the single player videos which made me all misty eyed and nostalgic for some doom action. I have no willpower The game install size at 43Gb is pretty fierce on PC for anyone downloading it on Steam so bear that in mind!

The single player game seems to be getting good feedback from most places and looks good in a couple of videos I've seen. Frustrating they've gone down the 'season pass' route for the multiplayer but I dont see me spending much time playing that after my experience with the beta. I'll probably wishlist it on steam and pick it up when it's a bit cheaper later in the year as I have too many other games I need to catch up on at the moment!

Apart from the Wii U (which never really appealed to me) I've owned every console Nintendo has ever released since the NES. After the poor performance of the Wii U it's going to take something pretty spectacular to win back customers. There are so many rumours bouncing around the web just now. Will it have a touchscreen controller which doubles as a standalone handheld console? Will there be any kind of VR support? I'm hoping they manage to build some kind of backward comparability into the NX or at least bring out 'updated' copies of the Wii U games as I'd quite like to play several of them. I'm guessing the console hardware and CPU architecture is likely to change from PowerPC to x86/ARM so this might make backward compatibility unlikely unfortunately. Some are suggesting ARM for the controller/handheld console and x86 for the main base unit which could mean 3DS comparability hopefully. Given poor sales of hardware/software many retail outlets are no longer selling Nintendo hardware or software so it would presumably make sense for them to focus on their digital store. I've always felt like MS/Sony were intentionally holding back on digital sales to avoid alienating retailers but Nintendo probably has less to lose from that point of view. I'm keen to see how the NX turns out and might be tempted back to the fold if it's any good......

Downloading the free open beta for this at the moment on Steam. Anyone else on it just now? Update: Feels more like Quake than Doom to me. I know it's a remake/update/re-imagining of doom but it really feels like they could have done a lot more with the franchise. It's literally like playing a game from 1995! The physics of the game, jumping especially, seem 'off' as well IMO. This feels way behind the pack when compared to more modern shooters like Counterstrike:GO, Destiny, Battlefield and Halo. Maybe the single player will be more entertaining but I'm not impressed with the multiplayer after a quick 30 minute blast.

LOL, awesome stuff

Could be useful for saving clips of websites for topics you're researching. To me this feels like it should be integrated with Google Keep rather than being given it's own standalone site/app though.

Rumours abound that MS are planning on releasing new Surface phones next year after saying Windows phone isn't their focus this year? Microsoft may release three different Surface Phones, likely in 2017 Not really sure where they're going with this as their Nokia exclusivity deal expires at the end of this year. Presumably after that Nokia will start bringing out Android handsets so they have a hope of competing with the other big players out there as the MS deal hasn't exactly worked out well for them? I don't see many other OEMs supporting the platform after Nokia start backing away from it. Do you guys think the comments are double-speak for MS acknowledging that Windows Phone/Mobile (in it's current form at least) is a defunct platform or do they genuinely believe there's still a future in it ?

I really enjoyed his TV shows when I was a kid back in the 80s. Also, does anyone remember watching Wizbit on kids TV! Crazy stuff

I don't know anyone personally who's bought it yet. Everyone I've spoken to has baulked when they found out about the installation fee, the increased monthly cost and the fact you have to effectively lease the hardware. My interest in it has kind of waned the more I've heard about it TBH. To me if you have a fast fibre internet connection and/or can get a reasonable 4G connection when out and about I don't see the need to record broadcast TV when it can be streamed directly. If I can stream all this content from a vast variety of internet services (Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube) why would I want an expensive solution in my home that only works with Sky's own closed proprietary platform? I'd prefer if Sky spent more effort focussing on providing web-based content and building an open platform around that rather than solutions which require its own closed-platform proprietary hardware. Why can't I just go and sign up to sky like I currently do with Netflix or their ilk? Requiring customer to purchase a satellite dish and bespoke hardware seems completely unnecessary in 2016. Sky should go a step further than simply allowing non Sky broadband customers to join and actively be trying to get people without any bespoke Sky hardware to sign up. I think increased competition from internet based TV companies is going to force them down this path in the near future anyway whether they want it to happen or not. My 2pth. Get it sorted Rupert

AFAIK all Google's GAFE UK data is held on European servers so there shouldn't be any issues? I believe MS Office 365 also hold there data in Europe so at least the main two education players won't be affected by the safe harbour ruling.

I've got 4 chromecasts in my house as well (3 video and 1 audio). They're fantastic pieces of kit! It's great being able to remote control your TV's with your phone. I'd also recommend the VideoSteam Chrome/Android app which allows your chromecast to connect and stream video from your PC. AirVideo works well for the same purpose if you have an IOS tablet/phone.

Incidentally Argos are selling them for £15 at the moment. Buy Google Chromecast Audio at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Audio accessories.

Our staff have been asking us to look into Classroom management apps for the iPads so I'm keen to find out exactly what the Apple Classroom App will offer. We've looked into alternatives like Impero but they all seem to have the same limitation whereby the pupil has to 'log into' some kind management portal app. As you say this isn't very effective since as soon as they close that app and more to something else the teacher immediately loses visibility of their iPad (or at least that's how it worked the last time we looked into it?). Has anyone seen any information on what Apple's Classroom management app will offer and how it will work? I've spent some time googl'ing it but cant seem to find any specific information?

There is no spoon...

I had a look at the Surface Pro but didn't really like the tablet-first nature of it as I couldn't see myself using it in anything other than 'laptop format' with the add-on keyboard. Because of that I was actually quite interested in seeing what the Surface book was like. However, there's so much negative feedback about both the Surface tablets and Book on-line that's it makes me reluctant to buy one. Is there anyone on here with a Surface Book who's happy with the device and would recommend it?

I believe the ERA licence only covers traditionally 'broadcasts' like TV/Radio and not any streaming services AFAIK. Plus the downloads from iPlayer are only usable for 30 days so it's not really a practical way or storing content for future lessons in a school.

I can see this becoming a problem in school if more channels move to streaming services as it effectively renders our ClickView subscription useless and the ERA licence along with it! We've just had a request for a programme on BBC3 and with it now being online only we won't have a way to record and watch BBC3 programmes for lessons. They have the option to buy the content but this has the usual caveats that it's for "personal use only" so we'd need to break the service T&Cs to use it in school.