jallsop

Paper copies in an envelope which requires destroying to open, in a fire proof safe.

Welcome to the world of Win 8. We switched to SDDs and fast boot to make the damn thing run in anything approximating decent speeds. it does get faster after about 10 or 12 days, until the various updates get applied, and then it drops back again. also had some issues with it using a huge amount of data over internet on first use. a friend of min bought a new pc for parents, and it chewed through their paltry 5gb per month limit in a little over four hours. this was the system supposedly doing nothing.

interesting, we have the same issue with a random number of our 790 and 7010 optiplexes. We've been back and forth to Dell over it and even gone as far as having one of their technicians out here, and each step they've come up with has failed to resolve the issue. This includes bios flashing, new driver installs and even a mainboard swap, all to no avail. let me know how you get on.

I insist on using dual head as far as possible. We have dell machines with their display port monitors, so we use the VGA for the projectors

From BETT this year, there were very little development buzz for android. Version usage was one of the most common issues raised. Android users just don't update, so this means a headache for developers. iOS and Apple are more expensive, but they've been in the educational market for a few years now, and this will only grow. It was hoped that windows surface might have been a real competition, but they've had to slash educational pricing for the rt version, and the Pro is a joke in terms of cost, so I can't see developers spending the time on this platform.

We use a basic ultra small form factor HP, and although we use Martin Lightjockey, as long as it has 4Gb ram, should handle anything fine. We've not tried a touchscreen yet, as these are expensive out here, but a simple set up like that should be fine.

I must agree with this so much. I've visited places with some shocking set ups. Especially with little children, it has to be super safe. The boundary mic might be better than the shotguns from the top, as hilcrrwise says, and although I've no working knowledge of the one he mentions, it would probably be an easier install too. The only caution I might have is stage noise if its a temporary stage kit. Mind you, mounting on some dampening foam might help with that.

For the room as I understood it, meant that cabling could be a problem, hence my suggestion of radio. I have never been 100% happy with shotgun mics, but then I have only ever used those previously set up by others, rather than ones I have set up. It does depend on the spread of use of the stage I suppose too. Most work I do is music based, with just a little spoken once or twice a year. We tried shotgun in our theatre, but felt it was not as good as individual mics, radio or otherwise. We also had a real problem with the fans from our Martin Macs, which we have on the stage sometimes.

Network shared folders with set permissions is one simple way to go. I have used this both as a teacher and a tech, and although its a pain, depending on the size of staff, its manageable. Moodle, whilst free, isn't cool, and a right pain in the derrière to admin.

speaking from experience with a train set (don't laugh), I know that 18 mm MDF will not be strong enough on its own. if you want to use this, you should construct the basic frame out of at least 24mm planed timber (comes in 2.1 and 2.4 metre lengths from most DIY sheds. This should look like a table, with no top. You need to master a join at the corners, which can hold the weight of all the sections, plus load. If the width of the desk is more than 75 cm, then it will need a third leg, at least at the rear, and possibly some strengthening at the front edges. I would use a more pleasant timber, maybe ply, which will flex too, but not as much, has a nicer finish, especially when varnished.

I know cost might be an issue but nothing beats radio mics actually being held by, or clipped to the performer. Children possibly won't create the level of volume required to be picked up by shotgun mics. If you can't afford them, even a couple of Shure PG58s and a receiver should be better than shotgun mics. Go for SM58s if you can, Much better clarity. and you don't need to have them constantly manned when the performer moves. Shotgun mics often fail if left in one place, as the performer moves about, and the level reaching each mic isn't sufficient for broadcast without feedback, as you have to turn them all up to 11 to get anything out.

I'm a little surprised at the number of you shouting out for Dell. We have around 40 here as teacher pcs, and whist they look nice, and boot fast thanks to ssds, we've had an awful lot of problems with keyboards not being recognised after POST, so no ability for the ctrl-alt-del. Also some major issues with some SmartBoards, particularly 885i camera versions that flicker something chronic. No amount of refresh rate changes have made a difference.

Hi I've just had 2 of these projectors fail in a single day, due to a lamp housing error, and on inspection, all is well. They were both ceiling mounted, and out of reach of meddling fingers. I have tried swapping out bulbs, and cleaning the filters just in case, but to no avail. They are quite old (manufactured 2005), so I don't want to send them off to be repaired, as it will be cheaper to buy new projectors. Has anyone else had this happen? Is there anything else I should do before ordering new projectors.

We've used iPads and then a Citrix Xenapp solution using 3G connections. Bought those tough cases. worked a treat.

Have you tried setting the stream file location to a common read write area on the network, and then point VLC to pick up the stream from that same file on the 'client' machines?

Have you found a solution to this, as i have something very similar, which i need to get into a linear format for a mail merge.

I have used it to convert of 300 DVDs, which i now store in the loft of my UK address, whilst the films reside on my Buffalo NAS, and a WD MyBook as back up. Every new film i buy gets treated in the same way. I use the default settings for DVDs (No Blu ray on a Mac yet??) and this reduces the file size quite well too. Takes about 40 minutes for a 90 minute film. I encode to mp4, so my PS3 will pick up and play, as will File Explorer on the iPad, and android stuff too.

I would be interested to see how many people use this on Windows. I'm a mac user for this, and find it's mostly flawless. I have a friend who is a win user, and finds it painful, and unreliable. Any thoughts.

Have you made sure it is looking in the correct directory. If memory serves me I think Nova looks to a network SIMS directory, and if this isn't available then loads new. I know I used to point it to a local directory, which was then in turn, synced with the SIMS network directory. Maybe it was to prevent this.?

Hi, We've got a couple of Smart 885ix2 boards, with the 20W speaker system, delivered via the pen tray USB connection. The units are hooked up to Dell 790 PCs running Win 7 x64. All worked very well. Unfortunately, the PC died,(Brand New) and i've subbed a laptop in place, until the pc is replaced. Now the speakers produce no sound, no matter what laptop we attach to the board. I've checked the wiring including a direct feed from an iPod into the 3.5 jack to the speakers, and the mapping of the sound port to USB and all is fine. I checked firmware and its the latest version. I'm stumped! Any ideas?

Flash uses a heck of a lot of system resources, and is full of bugs, and is being updated almost weekly. These are some of the reasons why it's not supported on iOS. Most websites will migrate over time to HTML5, which will remove the need for flash in many cases. If you are looking for a particular website, then there may be 'an app for that' instead.

Right. Simple swap out first, maybe with a laptop. This will identify if its a PC or IWB problem. I have only heard of this happening when the lamination of the board is giving up, or that power cables are run behind the board. Obviously the camera boards aren't so susceptible.

Is this all users on all computers and all computers or just one user, or one pc or one Smartboard. If you can narrow it down, then we can help more.

Your staff have it lucky then. More and more schools seem to make their staff teach up to the 90% of the full timetable they are legally allowed to do. Some academies even break this, as they do not have to stick to the rules. £21,000, then yes this the starting salary, but since you then fall into the paying back university fees bracket, and the Pension at the higher rate, then the £300 (Really very cheap laptop, with no office etc) is money you simply don't have. Especially when you're starting out in a new town or whatever. As for passing PGCE without one, remember, PGCE students don't teach as much as full time staff, so have more time in school to prep etc so they tend to hog the staffroom pcs. Some Unis even offer loan machines to help with the PGCE. As for schools being open to 6pm, You're lucky. I was forever being booted out at 4.30. The old "SMT have gone, so you shouldn't be here." It was forever a nightmare doing SIMS upgrades etc. I think its really important to invest in the staff, so that they feel empowered to deliver. The ability to bulk buy 100 laptops etc and licence through school has got to be more reasonable than just telling staff to buy one. At least if you provide, then you control, and you can be sure that everything in that machine is 100% above board.

Clearly a lot of feelings on this one. I used to be a teacher, before giving it up to fix the things they break. As for 1265 hours mentioned, most teachers have timetabled classes and meetings etc that runs to 1230 hours or more. Leaving less than 1 hour a week spare. To plan an prepare lessons of good quality takes around 20-30 minutes per lesson, plus resource creation if not already available, usually around 50% of the lessons I taught. Netbooks, iPads etc are no good for this, as everything takes so long. Remote access is good, having used this for a couple of years in a previous school, it worked. But, and its a BIG BUT. It relies on the teacher having a good, solid internet connection with no bandwidth or volume restriction. I did a quick test one time using Citrix Xenapp on iPad, to create and send to print, a two paged worksheet. Total transmission was around 300Mbits, and peak speed was just over 10Mb/s. If you have some of the more budget ISP contracts, you'd kill your 5GB limit per month easily. There was a plan to support all in education with internet, but lacked funding and fell out of thought. It leaves the only real answer. Provide a portable device, or funds to help teachers buy one. I know that in my first years of teaching, i couldn't afford a computer at all. I had to rely on an ageing Pentium 75, with a massive 8Mb of RAM for the first 4 years. If you don't give them either remote access to use on their devices, with an aid for the ISP, or an actual fully fledged machine, then its like asking the cooks in the canteen to bring their own ingredients. As for the question of responsibility, you simply make it part of the AUP, and teacher contract that any damage deemed non accidental, or due to neglect of proper practice, must be paid for in full, by the teacher. Make them sign it, and then it's mostly out of your hands. Where i work, staff do not get provided with a laptop, but each classroom has a very quick pc, with office and all software they might need, plus 90% of the rooms have IWB, and all have projectors. There are also 3 machines in the staffroom for those who are out of their rooms. Seems to work well, but staff here only teach 30/45 lessons per week. Most UK teachers would teach the equivalent of 41/45 lessons.