BJG

Are you saying they can't delete files in a network folder when they're offline...? I thought that was kind of the point of offline files and folders...that you're working only with files on the local machine. But I've never used them, so perhaps I misunderstand. (We disable that option.) If they need to access network files, why are they working offline...?

I think you need: psexec @c:\computers.txt ...without the quotes. (Sounds illogical, but give it a try.)

This article just published reckons that Wikileaks is now "nearly immune to takedown".

The Classics Dept have this idea of asking students to design a city in order to contrast Sparta and Athens, representing Sport and Culture, thinking about how this might affect layout, architecture, social stuff etc etc. You probably get the general idea, as much as I do, anyway. He was thinking about games like Sim City, though he'd never used them (and neither have I). Does anything spring to mind...?

Just got spammed by Yenka with their "pay what you want" Christmas offer: Christmas offer - you name the price Sign of the times...

Great, thanks...!

I'm thinking of signing up to one of these services by Amazon, Tesco, etc. Any recommendations, or are they all pretty much the same...?

(That's helpful, thanks...)

Someone just pointed out that the Music PCs opened .cpr files in Cubase SE3 on double-clicking, though they've been updated to Cubase 5. I tried changing the file association through Tools...Folder Options...Filetypes, and now Cubase 5 starts at least, though it then fails to open the file. (Works fine through File...Open.) Is there some other aspect to file association that I've missed?

Never heard of this idea. That's great!

Just noticed a new series of Elvenquest on iPlayer. I ended up quite enjoying the first series. (I'll probably listen to this now and regret posting as it'll be dismally unfunny...) BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Elvenquest, Series 2, Episode 1

I've recently been having another go at supplementing our LTO tape backups with disk backups. I previously tried backing up to a networked drive, but gave up because it was too slow. This time I picked up a 3TB Lacie "Hi-speed USB 2" drive which plugged straight in, and told Backup Exec to archive some large folders. But although the data transfer rate started at about 800MB/min, it gradually tailed off to around 250MB over the next 24hrs, and I've just cancelled it. This compares to about 1300MB/min average for tape. What am I doing wrong? Did I get the wrong kind of drive? Or are disk backups just far slower...?

...this is an Excel doc which won't even open to read unfortunately...

Trying to unlock another password-protected Office doc today (Excel 2003). I've never found the perfect answer to this. Is there some decent commercial software that will do the trick, without messing around with dictionary attacks and stuff...? I don't mind paying for something that works.

Sounds pretty horrible. I once had a bowl of muesli with cream instead of milk on a camping trip. Also cold baked beans out of the can, and I don't know which was worse. Carnation milk...gives me shudders. Although my sister used to make pretty good fudge with it though.

Since the canteen stopped opening for breakfast, I can't get anything proper to eat round here. I can't carry on starting my day with a cinnamon whirl or a pack of mini cheddars, so I'm daydreaming about setting up a toaster and a mini-fridge in an unused IT office. Does anyone have a toaster in their office?

...I guess we're getting into the realms of cloud computing here; not something I know a lot about. Just found this, but there's no payment system yet... vSwarm: Free Render Farm - Cloud Computing for Rendering

Although there are doubtless some design agencies who would like to get their hands on a couple of hundred PCs, I think it would get too complicated. As far as I can understand, if you wanted to do rendering for commercial apps like Maya, you'd need to buy the specific software and licences for that, and rendering rates are fairly cheap unless you have huge numbers of cores. (Here's a typical example - $.036/GHz-Hour at this French place.) Hmm, not bad...!

Having been playing around with some 3D/VFX apps recently, I was starting to wonder about configuring the school's IT suites as a render farm. There was a post about this a couple of years ago, but I'm surprised there hasn't been any other discussion. Programs like Blender and DrQueue seem to offer great potential. Here's a couple of articles to get you thinking. And when you've figured it out, you can write me an idiot guide. http://mos.futurenet.com/resources/3dworld/TDW94.s_farm.pdf Build Your Own Render Farm - How To by ExtremeTech (Watched How to Train Your Dragon last night. 50 million render hours using a 25,000 core render farm. That's some serious pixel crunching.) http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2010/100326xa.html

Really? This sounds like a brilliant opportunity to acquire perfect pitch.

Gig Sat...(at "The Rectory", so probably won't be as colourful as the last one, with hordes of pagans burning a Wicker Man.)

Just had a second PC blown up by a kid changing the transformer setting to US. Looks like I'll have to get the superglue out...

Just now. Q) Yesterday I saved a file from the computer onto my memory stick, but the memory stick's at home. Can I still get it off the computer? A) Not if you only saved it on the memory stick. Q) But sometimes when the computer crashes, you can get the file back. A) Did it crash? Q) No. http://cmtvarok.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/doh.jpg

Wish they'd done that here. Not intending to watch it myself, but people have been driving me crazy trying to fix their glitchy staggering coverage on iPlayer and TV Catchup...

Ha, brilliant. But you'll have to learn to juggle now.