SamanthaD

Not an idea - but something I've just been sent regarding use of digital systems in education... https://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/its-official-higher-education-students-want-staff-to-be-better-with-digital-not-to-use-more-of-it-11-sep-2017 Point to bring out of it in this context - "students requested a better use of digital systems, not more, fearing it could be used to replace face-to-face time with staff". Tell them it's not possible (bandwidth issues will crash network) and get everyone into one hall for the same experience no matter where they are!

Only issue I can see is the audio side of things - if your PC suddenly decides to try and send audio down the HDMI instead of the 3.5mm jack. Otherwise what you're using is probably the best solution for now!

Define not a massive budget? We use a mix of visualisers, but our preferred is Elmo. The P10HD would be more than enough I'm sure, but is around £800 a pop!

If you want something that can be portable (whole school use rather than permanent install in one location) I like the Denon Envoi all in one system. Bluetooth compatible (so visiting speakers can connect their bluetooth enabled device to it as well), 3.5mm input as well as phono, and 1 handheld mic as standard, as well as the option to run a second wireless mic - either handheld or tie clip - or a wired mic. Oh, and it runs on batteries too, so no power cables to trip over. If you want install, please read up on UK radio mic licences or feel free to PM me. PMSE frequencies are an ever changing minefield and if you're not on top of it it will bite you where you don't want to be bitten!

GoToMeeting?

I'd be worried about the bend radius on that cable coming out of output #2... Betapack 2's are perfectly fine, better than the Strand Tempus dimmers I was running at my old place....

Funny - I responded to that one as well!

Chris makes some good points - I'll throw some more into the mix. First - safety. Has the rig been checked electrically and for load bearing? If not and you plan to keep it, spend the money here first. Second - does your rig have a patch board (lots of numbered plugs that go into your dimmers)? If so I would keep your setup as it offers lots of flexibility. Having a few 13a -> 15a adapters and back again is fine for putting hard power into the rig at the points you need it. If not consider how to get "normal mains" up to your lights. Third - are your existing lights still useable? If not, what makes them unusable? Can they be repaired rather than replaced? Good theatre lanterns stand the test of time - my old rig still used Patt 137's, and IMO LED still doesn't replicate the red shift any tungsten lamp gives on a dimming curve (at the cheaper end of the market!) Fourth - control. You want the students to be able to control it easily - best bet is a simple fader desk. I used to use Jesters for this and it all went smoothly. However if you want to use LED and movers then something a little more complex is needed. I also had a Chamsys dongle that I taught the more technically interested students to use and they loved it, but it's not for everyone. That's the basics - upgrading then depends on what you want to do with the space, and how big your space is! LED, movers etc can all be added fairly easily when you've considered everything else.

Need a lot more info first - quantity, location, networked or stand-alone, budget, how you envisage content will be managed?

Regarding HDMI - if your cable run is less than 5m you're fine with normal cables. Between 5m and 15m use active cables. Over 15m you're going to have to look at conversion equipment, such as HDBaseT. My thoughts - use a decent quality distribution amplifier with decent cabling - I'm guessing the runs will be less than 15m? We use Extron kit so would recommend the DA2 HD 4K but appreciate this might be out of your budget - the StarTech HDMI 4 port splitter might well serve you ok?

At my old secondary we had 2 digital cameras - 1 only went out occasionally as we also had 20 iPod touches. Simple, effective and tell them to email themselves the photos when their done. I guess in a Primary situation 1 per class and let the teacher transfer it would work just as well. ** Data protection - we always insisted on iPods being returned after every use for a complete reinstall of the OS, wiping all data. PITA but it did the job! **

This was an unexpected loss. It's just come back up, went down Thursday morning. Apparently multiple RAID issues and backups not copying correctly - sounds like a right headache tbf. Diagnosis was quick, but rectification was slow. Hopefully problems have been addressed and fixed as opposed to "get it working". PITA side is deadlines have been missed and this will cost us money. Thanks for the thoughts, now enjoy the rest of your week! :-)

Isn't there a risk that if you have different manufacturers on your network that they may use the same serial numbers - creating 2 machines with the same name? I thought Mac address was the only truly unique "serial"?

Hi all, Before I start let me make it clear I'm no longer in an IT post, so I am effectively an end user at the moment! How long would you consider it to be acceptable to have loss of access to your SAN? Personal documents etc are all accessible but shared areas where the majority of project work etc are kept are not. Thoughts please?

I spent too much of my life trying to solve this - the only workaround I could achieve was creating a link, adding a custom icon to it and adding that file to the Dock so instead of opening the homepage it opened the link address. (I used the school logo as the icon but you could, in theory, use the Chrome icon then remove the actual Chrome shortcut from the Dock.) Doesn't work for multiple browsers though, and obviously pressing home defeats it, but for 98% of users it worked fine.

I quite like the arches sideways, makes it less obvious as to what they are initially.

An unusual way of doing a panorama - but like the effect it gave! Done on my S7 Edge - sorry for rubbish size and compression....

Forgive me for saying it - but surely the software need should have driven the purchase of the screen, not the other way around?

I'm on Plusnet - little bit of faff with OpenReach getting it setup but tbh not Plusnets fault. Can't comment on customer service as I've never had to use them - I get steady 50MBs+ download speeds at all times of day. Happy customer!

Not bad - use them a lot for kit only purchases though my latest order from them is due in September! (Not their fault tbf - no stock anywhere at the moment as far as I know!)

First buses unlimited travel on P&R and Bristol Inner Zone's annual charge is £650. Working on approx 221 working days a year (take away weekends, holidays, BH's etc) that's £2.95 a day. Parking in Trenchard Street car park (nearest to my work) is £10 a day (or £2074 a year - £9.38 based on the 221 days) . Then add fuel. Do you know somewhere better to park than I do?

Forget magic triangle and bind the clients to AD directly - lots of topics on here with walkthroughs on how to bind, map home drives etc. Although it's not the best, then use your server to manage policies etc with Profile Manager. Should get you to a working solution, perhaps someone might be able to help out with a logon / logoff script to get you started?

Another thing to consider - how is the cabling getting from the teaching PC to the board? Floor boxes are a godsend and saves a big umbilical cord going to a wallplate from the desk. No need to loom everything together and stops wheeliechairs rolling over cables.

Slightly OT - are these for individual issue or for generic use? I would be very concerned about IN ear headphones going from student to student, ON ear is a different situation. Individual issue would be fine.

And once the teachers know it's there and the guilty can be caught, they're more likely to report it quicker....