Gibbo

I think the advance of the internet has changed the way we learn and think. In the past facts were drummed into you. Now you can quickly bring up that information in seconds through a wide manner of interfaces and then instantly forget it, information has become a throwaway commodity. I saw the same thing in the 80s with the advent of calculators - why bother memorising formula when your calculator can do it for you?

There's a danger in using too much technology and having too many methods available. I think the best solution is the online helpdesk, desk telephone and personal call. Anyone who does the latter two are forced to stand and wait while you put it into the helpdesk system!

If you've got a site-wide wireless network 3CX for Android is pretty good: Free VoIP Phone Software for Windows, Android, iPhone

I did the GTP route rather than PGCE.

How about MoviePlus SE? Not sure of the legal aspect though. Free Video Editing Software – MoviePlus Starter Edition from Serif

How about using a software recovery program (Ontrack) to see if it can get anything from the original drive - the one he's put Win 7 on? That would be cheaper than trying to fix the mechanically failed one.

Last Saturday! I go over most weekends for the superb choices of ales on offer.

I've noticed the same. There was an offer on Amazon for a half price 120Gb SSD drive last week. The offer sold out within minutes and a few days later Ebay was swamped with them at inflated prices. I hope those that bought to sell on Ebay have had their fingers burnt!

We also use Softcat. And Viglen.

I don't think there's any need for that, he's just doing his job. You'd soon be ranting if a member of staff referred to you in that way.

I'd agree with that, it doesn't seem very professional and could get you into trouble if you were found out to be deliberately loading the quotes in your favour.

And if you saw the BBC News at 10 last night you'd be forgiven for thinking it was just a bit of smoke. Their lead story was - seriously - Man City winning the Premiership. Right down towards the end of the bulletin - after the football - they briefly mentioned Maldonado won and showed the smoke in the garage. No mention of Schumacher's bump, the pit incident for Button, nothing about Hamilton's place drop. I'm quite disgusted at the level of reporting.

I'd say it's more about the age of the documentation than the documents themselves. The school I took over a while back had brilliant comprehensive documentation all about the Parental Gateway. Sadly it was the old Capita SIMS Learning Gateway they trialled in 2009 and abandoned. The current gateway had nothing. Ask your replacement what key areas he would expect documentation on.

That doesn't give them excuse to work to a level below what OFSTED and the government expects. If they can do it for the days that Ofsted are in then they can do it all year round. If some things checked are not relevant - like documented lesson plans - why don't the unions take issue with this with Ofsted rather than threats of strikes? And I'd love to see Ofsted see how they talk to support staff during inspection times - a member of staff had a go at one of my team for a non functioning projector that had allegedly been broken for a week - but not reported (it was turned off at the wall). When I asked the staff member if they had any back-up lesson plan for eventualities like this, they looked blankly at me. There is no excuse for shouting or unprofessionalism. Are they same with the students when under pressure? Personally I'd welcome an OFSTED for ICT Support. We work to the same level day in, day out. We don't rush round doing stuff that should already be in place for when an inspection is due. Every day's notice gives an extra day to tart or cover something up. I've seen many examples of this over the years, from rapid redecoration to six months worth of unmarked work rapidly group marked.

On the "about" page there's references to Jonathan Snow. What role does he play if Sandymoor is recruiting?

Russell Grant Keith Chegwin William Hague Mike McCartney

Absolutely. I do lots of diagnostics for people who are happy to get and install the parts themselves. I recommend Euro Car Parts but only because I use them myself, but there's no expensive diagnostic cost nor pressure from the garage for them to supply and fit the parts.

When I'm in the same room, it's great. No issues at all. It's only when I move to another that the performance is terrible. Now I live in a Victorian house with solid brick walls. But when the cheapo little white Netgear they bundled with the old package is outperforming it, then something is not right.

It really is amazing how a bit of preventative maintenance improves performance or prevents issues creeping in. Sadly I think working on your car at the weekend is a lost art. I know someone who had a very minor window leak, the result of a bad fit from a windscreen company coupled with a failure to clean the water channels - block with dirt and debris from parking under trees. But he never did anything about it and the leak meant over time water running onto his BSI unit, which eventually failed. So now he's ranting "Crappy Peugeots and their lousy electrics".

I got my VM upgraded last week and am not impressed with the wireless range of the "Super" hub. I was looking into using the old Netgear WGR614 that they provided - I've flashed the firmware back to Netgear from their Virgin concoction courtesy of this site and was looking into the Wireless Repeating Function and siting the old router somewhere in the middle of the house.

Electrical contact cleaner will be fine. Do not use carb cleaner or WD40!

Shouldn't that be down to the resource that every school already has - teachers?

Not true. Moorhouse’s White Witch and Hawkshead Brewery's Lakeland Lager are crisp and refreshing and a nice change when working your way through the real ales.

Have you tried this: http://www.edugeek.net/subscription.php Email notification is in Profile - General Settings - Messaging & Notification- Default Thread Subscription Mode

My loader was modified to get rid of that Lenslok rubbish! Elite