kingswood

Nearly. But when you look at their prices, they aren't much different from lower end offerings from Dell. They do give a good warranty, but I wondered how they would deliver their side of the bargain given their relatively small size. If Dell offer me three years onsite next business day (which they do) for less than £50 a system, I can pretty much count on it that they will be around for the next three years to honour that agreement. If ANother company, much smaller than Dell or HP, tell me the same thing even though I might save another £90 per system, I think I would look at them with very slant eyes and take my money somewhere else. A four year warranty is a *very good* deal at that price and with that spec, no doubt about it. Just have a good think about it is all I am suggesting...

We currently use Symantec 10d, but this month will be moving to Acronis True Image Server with Universal Restore. This means we can restore a server image to any hardware (doesn't have to be the same setup as the original) whilst getting a dead server back online, and if we want we can also restore to a VM and run the server normally. Managed to get a good discount from Acronis. Of course it also backs up normally, so it isn't just imaging software.

That is probably how we would do it- Vista on the admin network machines and not on curriculum for at least another year. We have the luxury (right now) of sharing the same infrastructure for admin and curriculum but having separate domains- so doing this gives us ample time to test Vista in the real world. There are already laptops for staff coming through with Vista on them...so the inevitable strikes in any case.

Hi there. I take it you are talking about IT courses? It depends on where you are at now- if you are looking for a job in IT the best course to start with is the A+. Your local college will most likely run one of these and because it is an industry recognised qualification it will stand you in very good stead. You could, of course, just buy a study guide for the A+ on Amazon for around £40- make sure it is the 2006 exam track and by Myers. If you want a degree, and you need to take it part time/distance then the OU are hard to beat. My wife is studying a computer science degree with the OU and the materials and support are second to none. I would actually value a BSc more than industry certifications- but either will get you in the door at a lot of places. Good luck!

The Irish National Tartan is nice. The other one makes my eyes go all funny :oops:

I know that Mine too

I doubt it though. What gives you the impression Dell (being a largely US-based corporation) won't want to upset the American public by cutting jobs there; and that they won't cut too many in India because they shaft the poor folk there with underpaid conditions; and that a majority if not all the losses will be in Europe?

Coming from a very proud Scottish Clan, and having a family that is entirely Scottish, means that wearing a kilt (not a skirt mind you) is nothing to squirm at. A Sarong is a cultural thing, as is a kilt. In fact if you look at Britain's history well into Saxon and Celt times, it's easy to surmise that most if not all men wore kilts! I belong to our Clan society, and turning up in anything but full tartan is sniffed at! But to do so to work...well....could be upsetting for a lot of folks Paul

The demo was indeed from a couple of years ago. Jeff Han (the man behind the whole thing) actually started a company that leads in this area- http://www.perceptivepixel.com/ You need to see the video there, and watch (with unbiased eyes) the one from Youtube. Irrespective- Microsoft have taken a technology that lots of folks have been working on and given it their usual commercial spin. Nothing necesarily wrong with that, it's just that I wouldn't expect anything exciting from this for several years- if not more. It has interface re-design application (of course it does) but no more than an iPhone or Tablet PC OS does right now. And they are a lot more precise (tablet PCs that is). If you are a graphics designer or work with imaging a lot (apart from home dabbling) then this kind of interfacing needs to get a hell of a lot more precise and useful than flipping cards around a screen and moving things with two hands. It seems to me that the main applications here are found in the MS videos (which are pretty cool by themselves with a nicely designed web site to show it all off). Restaurants, small kiosks, photo booths, and perhaps casinos (who all can afford the extortionate price). Of course, running Windows :? And as I mentioned, the new push by MS into credit card transaction changes. Anyway, we will have to agree to disagree on the source of this one and enjoy the journey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKh1Rv0PlOQ Microsoft. Innovative? I guess not on this occasion. Again. I remember seeing these kinds of demos two years ago by HP and others. It's actually gimmiky. I mean- what is the real application here? I rather think it has more to do with Microsoft's push into the new credit card territory than it does innovation in computing. Time will tell.

Although...when you talk of a "personal computer" to just about every person you meet, Windows and "PC" are synonymous. As the fabled market share argument tells us.

I think the biggest problem Tony is that Edugeek has also tried to proclaim itself a kind of lobbying group for all things ICT in education. Many members attempt to be political in their declarations and workings behind the scenes, and although this stuff is great and needed, companies see this as power. If that same group- or members of that same group- begin to slate software or hardware from companies that take an interest in seeing Edugeek as a politically influenced/influential group of school admins, then whatever is said negatively could definitely be construed as deathly to the sales of their products. I agree that we need to tone down some of the more negative comments, but I don't like censorship in any form. If Edugeek is to maintain its lobbyist position (and I can see it is trying to do so from various threads and activities) then you can expect a whole lot more of this until and unless you completely eradicate the idea of free forum posting and moderate all submissions before publishing them. I have seen so many technical communities fall into this trap that I saw it coming a long time ago. I think you are all correct in that there needs to be self moderation when posting here- taking all things into consideration; but I also happen to believe that big companies should not be able to stifle free and open opinion and often should have the balls to realise when an administrator is simply confused and stressed at a product that isn't working for them. Anything more is probably a symptom of seeing Edugeek for what (I believe) it has become: a club for a handful that see themselves as politically influential in educational ICT (or who want to be) and yet who will not admit that this places the wider forum in the spotlight more than ever. Sorry. No offence intended to anyone. Paul

A+? Yes. Ask Dell, HP, or anyone like them if they value A+ or N+ and the answer will be a resounding yes. They are a great first step and will stand you in good stead for the rest of your career- or help to solidify your knowledge base as you carry on doing what you have always done. Good luck! Paul

I would say the Print Driver.

What- "MikeSoft" who, when they call the school asking to talk to someone in IT Support, fail to pronounce their name properly (consistently) and instead *let* receptionists and others believe that it is "Microsoft" who are calling you? Yes. I had the sales guy for our area out one day last term and he took up nearly three hours of my time showing off a turkey basting tin...I mean, an all in one computer system. It was very crude. And cheap looking. Paul

I think BECTA are correct on this one. All new installations need to look to the future, and in that case Cat 6 is the best option. It has a frequency up to 250MHz, higher performance than 5e, and much better consistency due to its having physical separators between the four pairs of cable (reducint NEXT and ELFEXT). There are Cat 6 patch cables available, and for horizontal cabling and vertical cabling between imtermediate switch rooms I don't think it's as cut and dry as "5e is better". It simply is not true. Most cabling systems last 10 or more years and that being the case (and 5/5e being a lot lot older than the ratification of 6- around 2002 I believe) category 6 is an obvious choice. Apparently 80-90% of new installations will be Cat 6. So the evidence suggests that networks want to move data faster and the older 5e- though adequate for many now- may not offer future proofing like Cat 6 presently does. I will extend this by saying that whilst talking to specialists in the last month about this very issue (we are having a new build and so this is an issue), we settled on Category 6 without question. It's that obvious a choice. Paul

If only I were paid too much. I don't believe in being paid too much. Pay me as much as you want

Locuulzuk and Ric: Thanks for the input. I guess that's what I was thinking but just wanted to see whether I was being paranoid. I will take up the remit with my manager (who happens to be the Personnel Manager). Tony: Yes- I knew the CTC had an AV Technician. Of course I do understand that having one of these people around for departments like EPA is a good thing™, and if you have someone who is experienced in sound and lighting it's a Very Good Thing™. My big problem with this post is that they are shooting for someone who isn't ICT experienced (apart from home computer use) and they want him to maintain and manage a very complex Apple XServe/RAID setup that is integrated with the main curriculum network and is now setup for email etc. Thanks for your input though Tony. And thanks again to all of you.

There is a possibility that a student ending their school dayz at our place is to become an AV/ICT Technician. No problem there. Where I do have issues is in their work scope- maintenance of server and client systems (mostly Macs) and only to "liase" with the "ICT Technicians". Anyone have any advice on how I should play this one? I can see an independent AV/ICT Technician fracturing the management of the network and having to be given crucial passwords etc for servers and workstations, whilst being outside of my remit as Systems Manager. Meh. Politics.

Yes. Speak to your LEA and get in on whatever they are offering. These things can be a complete nightmare to maintain and manage if you don't have the time to dedicate to them. Paul

OK. This is going to be a bit existential, but I can't help that. We ran the second day of 2007 Summative tests today. I have been opposed to the test since day one. I don't like RM, and I'm not keen on the KS3 test. I formerly thought that it drained too much administrative time and really shouted loudest when I saw the effect it had on network infrastructure and resources. Then today. We covered two tests today with four different sets of students. The first set of two did great. Hardly any hands up in the air asking for help. "Fantastic" I thought. "This is going well". The second set, however, changed the scene entirely. Almost all hands in the air. "What's up here" I began to say. Bloody RM I thought as I attempted to go round with one of my technicians and sort out the issues that the students were obviously having running the test. Not at all. The test was technically perfect. Few glitches and a couple of slower systems causing minor wait times- but nothing heavy. The real issue occurred to me after talking to some 15 students one after the other and addressing their problems. They didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know formulas. Cell reference? What's that? Conditional format- a what? Field? Columns? Inserting a chart using existing spreadhseet data? Yes. You get the picture. A resounding attack on the level of teaching these particular students had gotten in the last two years of their school life. I was gutted for them. One went home. One just about burst into tears. And so I helped them. Naughty- but there you go. You see our head of KS3 ICT has been asking for these tests to continue and I thought she was just being funny. But now I see why. It challenges not the students (though there is obviously an element of that) but the teaching staff. Those responsible for teaching to KS3 ICT and tasked with giving students the knowledge they need to move on and apply later in their school life. And where I am sitting, for these two sets at least, this hasn't happened. And there, I think, is the massive strength of this test. Teacher assessment. We conitnually plant students in front of tests and assess their progress through homework and assignments and project work. But what about making sure the standards are being met in ICT at this level by teaching staff. And that, I believe, is where the government need to be taking this now. Perhaps you disagree. That's OK. I know all the technical arguments and the time you have wasted (perhaps) on making this work for your school. But PLEASE think about the students. Today I had my mind spun around. And now we press on and make ICT at KS3 work for students more than we ever have. Because it's about *them* and not *us*. Isn't it? Paul

Mika. That blasted music goes round my head all day. Rubbish but yet brilliant. Catchy and yet weird. Bit like Vista then ;-)

Ran it today and several students had issues getting to question 2. To kick off the day we found out that our school key didn't work! A call to RM resolved this except the bod at RM didn't know about us and found it hard to hear what our postcode was successfully. Once we got past that little hurdle he admitted that RM had gotten lots of calls about school keys "expiring". It was resolved within an hour with a reset. Apart from that (as if that wasn't enough), we had no real problems with it and consider it a *small* blessing that it went so well. So it's all part and parcel of that magnificent thing we call the KS3 Test. Welcome ;-)

That dirty big field (with attached mole hills a-plenty) will be getting a dirty big school plonked right on it some time soon. You are right though, it is a real bugger in the winter....