mthomas08

I've already screamed about this like this, just like the mistaken text messages sent to all parents "Your child is missing" which is NOT an IT Fault but by some idiot who sent it to every Parent. It's easy to blame IT becomes people believe it and let's face it, the general user has not got a clue.

Seen several articles like these. Bit of a surprise how much has been right though, still the fun ones are not quite there yet - Flying Cars, Hoverboard and a shark that comes to bite you.

Yep spot on. I loved the 1st film, hated the 2nd and enjoyed the 3rd. I won't bother mentioning the 4th..... As long as people spend money (although transformers is all about the merchandise too) I don't really want to watch a film based on Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or anyone who created these technology giants. Good thing is though, I can actually decide if I want to see it or not

Being afraid of saying "I don't know" is similar to fear of making mistakes and possibly covering up? I'm not afraid at telling anyone I don't know, just as much as I am not afraid of admitting my mistakes. You are not an adult if you can't admit to making mistakes or admitting that you don't know everything. I like to be honest to those above, they see that and know they will get honesty out of me. I will openly tell them the pro's of things I don't like and not just the con's. At the end of the day, "A man who hasn't made any mistakes, hasn't made much of anything". It's impossible to know everything especially in our jobs where technology is changing and new technology is being released all the time.

Apart of me wishes this was in a classroom and had collapsed on to a Student desk (obviously with no kids) but it would highlight the issue of sorting all that crap out. Can't stress how many times I've fixed health and safety hazards here that were caused by previous IT Staff or by teachers deciding to move their desk without doing it through us. It takes one serious incident for the School to think it's time to sort the mess out.

I was thinking this. I upgraded 3-4 year old Lenovo laptop Intel Pentium to W8 and then to W10, its not got an SSD and it boots up to the logon screen within around 20 seconds. It's a lot quicker than a fresh build of W7 which it had before. Problem is though it's not relatively fast and feels a little sluggish when actually using it. Still, something to me is odd that W10 is booting slow.

I always assumed people liked the price tags, after all people still buy a MacBook Pro when they just want Internet/Word... They also fork out for the latest expensive smart phones (iPhone good example) even though they don't use it for anything more but Internet/Emails and notes. Still nice to see M$ do something that can compete with the MacBook.

Think you find it's a mix of the amount of IT and the requirements of the School. We have around 600 PCs now with projectors in every class room and most rooms have IWBs. When I started not much worked well but now things are running some what smooth. Problem is we still run device scheme, we prep all the events for IT (switching on all the equipment), then comes the annoyance of 5 different accounts per student plus Parents have access to two separate accounts.... If we removed turning on equipment (hall/meeting areas) and password resetting galore plus the Schemes. To be honest I could probably manage with 1-2 of us easily. Thing is though I can't see us scrapping most of the above ever and not through my decision either. We also heavily rely on IT.... At the end of the day if you have the time to develop things so problems are permanently fixed, budget to replace aged equipment and don't do any silly extra's it is possible for 1-2 people to work in a secondary school size.

So are the people they have murdered, raped, destroyed peoples lives and torn apart but nevermind right? Sorry I do not agree what so ever, when you see stories that those locked up are enjoying prison life like a holiday smiling away - who cares about their victims right? They are still human beings but the right to vote isn't a right to be human, that's a society choice. That line kind of reminds me of benefits, “It’s my human right” a term used far too often. They are human beings so in turn, don’t lock them up and allow them to stay on the streets. After all, they are losing their freedom and if that’s not the biggest human right they have then what is? Sorry but you can’t use the term they are still human beings to give them a right to vote but they are being locked up like animals in a Zoo. "what is the purpose of incarceration in a prison? Punishment? Rehabilitation? Protection of society?" All 3 plus justice for the victims. The main purpose in history was to remove their freedom, their right to choose their life, that in turn could be their right to vote. After all the right to vote is a choice. One thing I've learnt in life (this is aimed at society) until people are victims the views won't change. I'm a believe that our current justice system is appalling and not working. What's the % of re-offenders? Is it really deterring crimes? When these criminals made the choice to commit a crime, they made the choice to face prison and in turn lose their freedom and any rights that went along with it.

I'm not surprised, the blue windows logo would look far too much like the cloud one. It's all petty really in my view and pathetic but again I'm not surprised - they are all as bad as each other before some one jumps on the fan apple defence.

Same. My technicians wear shirt/trousers - semi smart looking. To be honest with them getting their hands dirty (and at times me) we should be wearing more what the caretakers wear. A set kit which doesn't matter if it gets covered in dust, paint or mud.

We buy the big super duper ultimate bags that you can fill up so much that it will break your arm before it splits. Got them from Aldi and they are brilliant. Have not used the plastic ones for a while but I think it's about time.

Day to day stuff they should be okay, there will be a ton of extras and obviously the plans/budgets wouldn't get done.

We are about 99% cashless, includes catering, uniform and trips. The School tends to tell Parents that cash is not accepted.

I also like Point 2.. Still point 1 - about........ F............. TIME.

Other half's youngest sister went to a School, one of those that got voted one of the best Schools in Kent. They don't go mad over technology and certainly don't do any kind of a "Scheme". People have forgotten what technology is about, to make life easier. I personally believe with what I've seen - it's about BALANCE. If you buy technology and need to ask "What can we use it for" that's where you should not be using it. Some technology you have no choice but to use, e.g. teaching the kids how to code, use office + software packages. I agree that Students do tend to pay more attention when technology is being used but is that because Teachers have become a bit less lazy and a lot less strict? We are currently going through a phase of zero tolerance on Uniform and we have already noticed an impact on behaviour. I do think Schools need to think about "Going back to basics" and not buying technology just because the Teacher wants it but perhaps what's best for the kids. They are our customers at the end of the day. So do I think they do or don't improve grades? I think it's a tool to be used when it needs to be not just for the sake of it. Which is why I am always pushing to replace old equipment that needs to be replaced not something that the Teacher simply wants e.g. IWBs which I still hold a huge question mark over..

@OP This is one of the reasons why "IT" doesn't always work. Instead of doing the job you applied for, got the job for, you are instead doing "Admin" work. Unfortunately this is the attitude in some Schools that if ADMIN have not got the time shove it on the desk of IT Support. Why? because no one else knows how to do it. Pulling data out of SIMs technically is the Data Manager's job. An IT technician asking for a report is no different to asking a report for Students with grades, classes, diet or medication. Unless the whole School has been given training to pull off reports, in that case anyone with training can do it. I won't go in to detail but I will say this, there was a time when I was being asked to do a lot of "NON" IT Support jobs. It came to the point I considered looking else where because it's not the job I chose my career path to go. It certainly is not the job I applied for and that section "deemed relevant by the boss" in the job description is within "reason" not "You are dogs body". There is a big difference to being asked to do something nicely when you are not busy but doing endless amount of admin work when you are working flat out? No. Not unless the School employs another technician to do the job. Why does it happen? Because Teachers in general do not have a clue how much work you have on and how long it takes to do it. They come back after having 6 weeks off, smiling, happy and feeling refreshed. And before anyone says otherwise I have had many Staff talk to me about what they did for those 6 weeks and it wasn't work. Our start of term was insane plus a man down. Luckily enough our Head wasn't pleased about the "Non IT" request and this is always the difference between Schools. If you have a boss that isn't like that, sorry I don't want to work for them. If you have a Head who want's you doing your job, that's the person to work for. If the Head decided to add another 20 class rooms to the School with a PC, Projector and even an IWB in every one I will gladly support it. If the Head decides to add 30 Student PCs as well to those class rooms, I will gladly support it. I will do all the planning, budgeting, arrange cable installation, work with the caretakers, suppliers and even the Teacher to make sure it was arranged properly. Why? that's my job, the career I chose. After all us doing non IT Support jobs isn't just about "going the extra mile" you are doing a job you didn't apply for, not what you chose your career path and if you are not careful that could become your job. At the end of the day, I always say - if things are that bad you should consider walking away. Some may say that doesn't fix the problem, to me your happiness is a priority and being treated essentially like a door mat is not something you or anyone should tolerate. I don't expect the garbage man to clean my bins after he has emptied them, perhaps he can empty the bins inside my house while he is at it?... I don't mind going the extra mile for my job, I've cleaned desks before I put a PC on them, I've vacuumed floors, moved tables all to be able to do my own job. Sometimes you have to check with the Head and see what their stance is. If their view is the same as yours, a simple No I am really sorry but I have so much work on my priority is IT Support.

"Wi-Fi is the way forward". Sorry but I actually "LOL'd". After doing some PS4 updates and a family PC updates on Wi-Fi (because I didn't have a spare cable) I can honestly say it's not the way forward. Took far too long to "Download" updates when compared to a cable. Cat 6 all the way.

We don't even allow Read Only to Students. We've managed to go by how things are, Staff can easily email through anything they need.

Don't forget the high price tag attached yet people will still spend 48 hours in a queue hoping to get the latest thing asap.... the same people who also moan about not having money. Still, it is actual time I consider a new phone. Perhaps I will wait another year or so and see about an actual new one. My one is the 4S/5 I think... it's starting to really slow up and not worth doing much on except what a phone does minus the Apps.

I was reading about it, look okay - nothing new. Watched the video and app integration and ..... I want it. It wasn't just the remote features it was the sensors as well, the fact that it's more than just a remote control toy.

I was thinking this, plus I don't always have signal yet there are times when I do see BT Wifi. There seems to be a big impression that 4g works on everything and is everywhere - it's not. I don't plan on upgrading my phone for at least another year - and that is not 4g. My allowance is enough to use the basics for and you can burn through that if you rarely use Wi-Fi.

To be honest I find most netbooks on this spec/size are usually poor quality regardless of brand. Having seen/used/dealt with all sorts of Netbooks like these they just don't seen worth the money. We've had similar netbooks and they don't last, even when looked after and certainly only good for Internet Access and that is questionable. Not a big fan as you can guess, might as well get a cheap tablet. At least that wont go slow and will be relatively usable a year or two later. (Only my opinion though)

Projector caused it, after the School was advised to remove the 15 Year old piece of kit and the under staffed IT Dept simply didn't have the time to properly maintain it either. IT will get the blame. Too cynical?

Perhaps they can add that in to their TOS, "In the event of 4 lightning strikes you may lose your data".