Well it's December, and our office is still a mess. We're expecting new carpet during the university's Christmas break. We're having to move everything out and not really sure how it's all going to work. I'm hoping we can reorganize our furniture a bit when we put 'humpty' back together again.
I got to spend the day yesterday testing the first final release of the new Microsoft operating system, Vista. I put it on three computers - a T60, a X41, and a T40. It worked beautifully on all three - even the T40 (1.5 ghz processor, 512 MB). I found a few things that would not install - Novell, Maple, Lenovo Multimedia Center for Think Offerings, Lenovo Software Installer, Microsoft Education Pack. But it was nice to see that Lenovo does have Vista as an operating system choice when you're downloading drivers!
The tablet features work fine. All three computers seemed very peppy. It was a bit of a challenge finding some things - but I eventually found everything I needed. I downloaded some extra 'gadgets' that were pretty interesting from the MS site - some nice 'techy' things like a wireless meter, IPCONFIG meter, resources meter... I like the easy way you can burn CDs and DVDs from the bar in the "Computer" option. I'm not sure Aero is that important - I had it on the T60, not on the X41 and T40 - and the X41 seemed to look the best to my old eyes (even with its smaller screen).
Now the big question is ---- do we use this on next year's Clemson student laptops? I'm not overly optimistic right now - but hopeful. It will depend on whether we can get everything to work by February. Even if they are not delivered with it, I expect to have an image available that they can switch to. And I'm sure those who buy 'off the shelf' laptops will get it. So we need to be prepared to support it.
It feels very secure - asks you twice on a lot of things. I read somewhere that it should make a big difference with spyware - perhaps put some tech support people 'out of business'. We could certainly stand less spyware at Clemson! (Then we could concentrate on failed hard drives and other hardware failures.)
Speaking of hardware failures, we're still recovering from Thanksgiving break - and hoping to get those done before the students leave for Christmas break (and we have to move out)!!!
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Sunday, October 1, 2006
Yucky Floors!
At 8:30 PM on a Friday night two weeks ago, one of our graduate students called me at home and said that his wife had just gone in the ladies room in our office and liquid was coming up from the drain in the floor. I called the university police and asked them to contact FM&O. I left my phone number so they could call me back, but they did not. Around midnight that night they tried to call my boss (because they could not get in our 'cage'). A few hours later they called another person in DCIT who went down there and let them in. Apparently the liquid made it all of the way to the post office!
It turns out it was a sewage leak caused by some drain stoppage in the dining hall above our office. We have had numerous issues with myterious liquids coming from there in the past. One Saturday I sat there catching it in trashcans for hours waiting for help to arrive (because it was dangerously close to student laptops).
They did their best to clean up that Friday night, but by Monday morning there was the smell of mold and mildew and who knows what else in the building. Two of our employees had to move out of their offices because their carpet was still very wet. They put in fans to dry it out. Each day they kept coming back, removing more carpet, trying to make it better - but each day they kept finding more bad stuff under there. There were all kinds of discussions of moving us out. Finally on Friday, they closed us down at 2 PM to remove all carpet and disinfect - with hopes of being open on Monday with no carpet and clean cement floors. It was a 'football Friday' which is usually a pretty slow day.
We kept seeing brown mud looking stuff oozing up under the cement floor (where they removed carpet). I'm no expert - but it looks to me like something not caused by the newest sewage leak - but a long standing problem with something under the cement. The previous occupants had lots of problems too. I think that's why we were given this space - no one wanted to be in there with the problems. The bookstore was the major occupant and they had a lot of problems with flooding in there. It's a shame that as important an operation as laptop support / helpdesk is not given a better space. There are plenty of places that sit around empty a good portion of the time - but we have a steady stream of people all of the time (in addition to a total of 100 people working including students). It's also a shame that so much money was spent on a location that seems to be doomed.
But - to be honest - we have been very greatful to have the large space ever since we have been in there. The previous 'laptop home' was terribly crowded. Our new offices have been conveniently located and provide excellent furniture and technology. The only complaints other than this we would have had would be the bad accoustics (it's hard to concentrate with all of the noise - much of it coming from long distances) and the inconvenient placement of the cage.
We'll see what happens... it's never dull!
Friday, July 7, 2006
Orientation... almost over!
Only one more 2006 orientation session to go!
Unfortunately, we were not able to work out a deal to try the Computrace solution with students in 2006. We are planning to try it with loaners this year and revisit in 2007.
We've seen a lot of students in earlybird workshops this year - so we're hoping for a smoother August!
We have two possible 'issues' with the new laptops. Apparently a few were shipped with extra RAM that caused lockups. The solution is to return the RAM for a different brand. We've had some who have reported batteries that would not charge properly.
Unfortunately, we were not able to work out a deal to try the Computrace solution with students in 2006. We are planning to try it with loaners this year and revisit in 2007.
We've seen a lot of students in earlybird workshops this year - so we're hoping for a smoother August!
We have two possible 'issues' with the new laptops. Apparently a few were shipped with extra RAM that caused lockups. The solution is to return the RAM for a different brand. We've had some who have reported batteries that would not charge properly.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
High School Days
Three of my high school friends came over to my house for dinner last night. One of them 'found' me on the internet, and I knew how to find the other two. That prompted me to write about our high school days.
I went to Summerville High School from August of 1963 until June of 1967. In those days, Summerville SC was a beautiful little town near Charleston. Most of the local business was on a little town square. The two largest stores on the square were a 'dime store' and a 'department store'. The dime store was "Ben Franklin's Five and Dime". It's closest modern day equivalent would be a Dollar General without the food. There was no Walmart back then. The department store was Barshay's. Barshay's had clothing and fabric/patterns/sewing supplies. Many of my clothes originated from Barshay's pattern books. There were a few other stores along the square - Poppleton's dime store, Alexander's clothing store, Wolper's jewelry store, Guerrin's pharmacy, and Kramer's pharmacy. Across the street there was Eva's restaurant, Helen's beauty parlor, and the shut down former movie theater. Some time during those four years another clothing store opened - Seymour's - around the corner from the square.
There were two grocery stores in town - Piggily Wiggily - across from the square, and Colonial - a good ways down the highway.
There were no movie theaters in Summerville - you drove to North Charleston (for drive in movies) or Charleston (for sit down movies). There were no malls in Charleston then.
If we needed something we could not find in Summerville, we drove down the 'garden road' to King Street in Charleston. There was no I-26 back then. In my junior high days, my grandmother tried to make us wear Sunday clothes including hats and gloves for shopping trips to King Street!
During our high school days, there was only one bridge to Mount Pleasant - the old two lane (two directions, including big trucks) bridge. A common Saturday night date was a trip to the "Seaside", a popular teen night club at Isle of Palms that featured wonderful bands (actually famous ones), dancing, shows, and lots of beer (including underage drinking). The return trips over that shaky little two lane bridge with a drunk teenager driving were pretty scary - especially for me since I was the odd one who refused to drink until I was 18 (legal age back then).
We had a very special time in the 1960s in our small town. My friends and I were not the most popular 'in crowd' - I was more likely to be around the 'intellectual' group - but we had plenty of dates and social life. Our high school had an 'arch rival' high school in the next town - Monck's Corner. Our junior year I committed the unspeakable crime of dating a really nice boy from there. He started bringing his friends over and meeting with my friends and Sunday afternoon drives started many 'relationships'. We called them the 'Berkeley Boys' and we had a wonderful time with them.
At the beginning of my senior year, I apparently broke up with my 'Berkeley Boyfriend' (based on a letter from him that I recently found) to start dating my current husband - Denny. Denny grabbed my heart and never let go - but it took us more than 30 years and several failed marriages to end up together. We are so different, but the magic is still there for us! We've been married for 7 years now.
Anyway, one evening was not nearly enough to catch up on 40 years – so we plan to meet again later this summer for some concerts in Greenville.
I went to Summerville High School from August of 1963 until June of 1967. In those days, Summerville SC was a beautiful little town near Charleston. Most of the local business was on a little town square. The two largest stores on the square were a 'dime store' and a 'department store'. The dime store was "Ben Franklin's Five and Dime". It's closest modern day equivalent would be a Dollar General without the food. There was no Walmart back then. The department store was Barshay's. Barshay's had clothing and fabric/patterns/sewing supplies. Many of my clothes originated from Barshay's pattern books. There were a few other stores along the square - Poppleton's dime store, Alexander's clothing store, Wolper's jewelry store, Guerrin's pharmacy, and Kramer's pharmacy. Across the street there was Eva's restaurant, Helen's beauty parlor, and the shut down former movie theater. Some time during those four years another clothing store opened - Seymour's - around the corner from the square.
There were two grocery stores in town - Piggily Wiggily - across from the square, and Colonial - a good ways down the highway.
There were no movie theaters in Summerville - you drove to North Charleston (for drive in movies) or Charleston (for sit down movies). There were no malls in Charleston then.
If we needed something we could not find in Summerville, we drove down the 'garden road' to King Street in Charleston. There was no I-26 back then. In my junior high days, my grandmother tried to make us wear Sunday clothes including hats and gloves for shopping trips to King Street!
During our high school days, there was only one bridge to Mount Pleasant - the old two lane (two directions, including big trucks) bridge. A common Saturday night date was a trip to the "Seaside", a popular teen night club at Isle of Palms that featured wonderful bands (actually famous ones), dancing, shows, and lots of beer (including underage drinking). The return trips over that shaky little two lane bridge with a drunk teenager driving were pretty scary - especially for me since I was the odd one who refused to drink until I was 18 (legal age back then).
We had a very special time in the 1960s in our small town. My friends and I were not the most popular 'in crowd' - I was more likely to be around the 'intellectual' group - but we had plenty of dates and social life. Our high school had an 'arch rival' high school in the next town - Monck's Corner. Our junior year I committed the unspeakable crime of dating a really nice boy from there. He started bringing his friends over and meeting with my friends and Sunday afternoon drives started many 'relationships'. We called them the 'Berkeley Boys' and we had a wonderful time with them.
At the beginning of my senior year, I apparently broke up with my 'Berkeley Boyfriend' (based on a letter from him that I recently found) to start dating my current husband - Denny. Denny grabbed my heart and never let go - but it took us more than 30 years and several failed marriages to end up together. We are so different, but the magic is still there for us! We've been married for 7 years now.
Anyway, one evening was not nearly enough to catch up on 40 years – so we plan to meet again later this summer for some concerts in Greenville.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Clemson Orientation
Whew! Orientation has started! We're running around trying to help all of the parents and students with selecting and setting up new laptops.
One thing I am trying hard to get going is Computrace. This is a product that students have already installed in their bios (with the recommended Thinkpads and many other models) or that they can install in their software. Once it is active, if their laptop is stolen and used anywhere on the internet, there is a 80% chance it can be recovered! If it is not recovered, the company (Absolute.com) will give them $1000 or the value of their computer (the lower of the two).
The current 'hitch' is they want us to take in the fees from the students, then send them one big check. We're trying to figure out how to do that. It will be around $67 for three years (no one wants to steal a four year old laptop, right?).
One thing I am trying hard to get going is Computrace. This is a product that students have already installed in their bios (with the recommended Thinkpads and many other models) or that they can install in their software. Once it is active, if their laptop is stolen and used anywhere on the internet, there is a 80% chance it can be recovered! If it is not recovered, the company (Absolute.com) will give them $1000 or the value of their computer (the lower of the two).
The current 'hitch' is they want us to take in the fees from the students, then send them one big check. We're trying to figure out how to do that. It will be around $67 for three years (no one wants to steal a four year old laptop, right?).
Monday, June 12, 2006
Thinktank and trip home
On Tuesday, June 6 we headed for Orange New Jersey for the 2006 Thinktank at Seton Hall. The trip went pretty well - but it was a bit of a shock to see how rough the area was after all of the quaint places we had seen.
After the experience with the hotel in Portland, I went in and asked to see the room at the Grand Wilshire Hotel (the only hotel I saw in Orange). What a shock when it was beautiful! It was easily the nicest hotel room I have ever stayed in. My ideal bedroom at home would be decorated just like it was. When I went back out to the front desk to sign in, two men had come in. They were Swiss and having problems with their reservation - so I waited behind them for quite a while. I noticed one had an Educause backpack - so I asked if they were there for the Thinktank. They said they were and we exchanged cards. One was taller - Immo - and he said he remembered me from a previous Thinktank - and he looked familiar to me too. He said he had a similar job to mine. The smaller man was Wolfgang - and his English was more difficult to understand - but he had a warm friendly look and said he was an administrator at their school. They had no car, so they ended up driving back and forth with us for the rest of the Thinktank. Denny and I both enjoyed getting to know them.
The actual Thinktank was wonderful. It's getting to be almost like a reunion as you see so many of the same people each year. I enjoyed all of the sessions and had a nice tour of the helpdesk area. The weather was still miserable until the last day - cold and wet. The Seton Hall campus is not attractive like Clemson - but it's a bit better than the rest of Orange.
The first night there was a band, drinks, and dinner. The band and drinks were nice - but the dinner was just 'okay'. It was one of my favorites - lamb chops - but a bit overcooked. They had posted a price of $75 for a guest so I was expecting something really fabulous. Denny was supposed to come - but it was cold and wet and too far for him to walk to get from the parking garage. After the dinner, we did meet the Swiss guys in the bar at the hotel for a drink.
The second night we all boarded buses for New York. We went on a harbor cruise. It was so beautiful! We saw the Statue of Liberty from up close. They had dinner and drinks on the boat too. It was really fun.
I did my presentation on Friday and then we left for home.
On the way, we stopped at Hershey, Pennsylvania and did a little ride-tour. That was fun! That night we stayed near Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. The next morning we drove through Harper's Ferry - very interesting - and Antiedam. Denny loved all of the Civil War stuff... We made it home late on Sunday night.
After the experience with the hotel in Portland, I went in and asked to see the room at the Grand Wilshire Hotel (the only hotel I saw in Orange). What a shock when it was beautiful! It was easily the nicest hotel room I have ever stayed in. My ideal bedroom at home would be decorated just like it was. When I went back out to the front desk to sign in, two men had come in. They were Swiss and having problems with their reservation - so I waited behind them for quite a while. I noticed one had an Educause backpack - so I asked if they were there for the Thinktank. They said they were and we exchanged cards. One was taller - Immo - and he said he remembered me from a previous Thinktank - and he looked familiar to me too. He said he had a similar job to mine. The smaller man was Wolfgang - and his English was more difficult to understand - but he had a warm friendly look and said he was an administrator at their school. They had no car, so they ended up driving back and forth with us for the rest of the Thinktank. Denny and I both enjoyed getting to know them.
The actual Thinktank was wonderful. It's getting to be almost like a reunion as you see so many of the same people each year. I enjoyed all of the sessions and had a nice tour of the helpdesk area. The weather was still miserable until the last day - cold and wet. The Seton Hall campus is not attractive like Clemson - but it's a bit better than the rest of Orange.
The first night there was a band, drinks, and dinner. The band and drinks were nice - but the dinner was just 'okay'. It was one of my favorites - lamb chops - but a bit overcooked. They had posted a price of $75 for a guest so I was expecting something really fabulous. Denny was supposed to come - but it was cold and wet and too far for him to walk to get from the parking garage. After the dinner, we did meet the Swiss guys in the bar at the hotel for a drink.
The second night we all boarded buses for New York. We went on a harbor cruise. It was so beautiful! We saw the Statue of Liberty from up close. They had dinner and drinks on the boat too. It was really fun.
I did my presentation on Friday and then we left for home.
On the way, we stopped at Hershey, Pennsylvania and did a little ride-tour. That was fun! That night we stayed near Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. The next morning we drove through Harper's Ferry - very interesting - and Antiedam. Denny loved all of the Civil War stuff... We made it home late on Sunday night.
New England Trip
Denny and I left for New England on Thursday, June 1.We drove 12 hours and stayed at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington DC on the first night. The traffic in DC was horrible! The accomodations at Bolling were fine - a living room, bathroom, and bedroom.
On Friday we drove to Boston up I-95. Traffic outside of New York was even worse than DC - it took 13 hours to get to Hanscom AFB! The room there was really nice - like a nice hotel. We crashed that night. While there, we accidentally ended up in some interesting places - like Concord, Massachusetts. We drove by the home of Louisa May Alcott and several others.
On Saturday we drove to Newport, Rhode Island. I went to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It was so beautiful! There were grass courts - and a red clay court. The museum was wonderful. It was raining and cold so I did not get to see any grass court tennis - but it was a really special place.
On Sunday we drove to Portland, Maine. It was a bit of a bust. We stayed in a lousy Motel 6. We were not too impressed with the city. We had planned to go on a lighthouse cruise - but it was cold and raining, so we did not go. But on the way back we saw a beautiful light house in York, Maine and stopped in Kennebunkport - really quaint.
On Monday night we stayed in Boston again. That night Denny wanted to go to the club next door for a drink - but it was closed - so someone suggested a nearby restaurant in Lexington. We could not find the restaurant, but ran in to a VFW. Denny had been looking for American Legions to trade license tags - so we decided to go in. It was very small and rugged - but we met some nice people. On Tuesday morning for Orange, NJ for the Thinktank. More on that in the next post...
Welcome
Welcome t0 my new blog! I'm likely to discuss laptops and tennis here - and maybe some Clemson politics...
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