Sorry, but we cannot be responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen valuables left in the computer labs or classrooms.
Please check-in with security for returned Lost and Found items.
Monday, December 20, 2010
I recently used a computer on the fourth floor and left my usb but when i went back it was no longer there
word is not responding please help not saved
Word not responding is scary... It may be to your benefit to copy-and-paste your text into another document, notepad, or an email before attempting to save.
Saving as you go will make sure that you aren't working on like a 20-page document and the save-fails after you finish.
Remember to save OFTEN.
Also, if you work on something like Google Docs or Microsoft Live Documents, your work is saved to the web and even in the event of a power-outage or computer failure, your document will still exist online somewhere.
*Hope that helps!
The printer in the Reading Room on the 3rd floor of University Hall is printing barely legible printouts...the ink needs replacing or something...I wasted a dollar of print credits on it! Can this be fixed?!?
Yes, and Yes!!!
We fixed this since you posted this question... BUT, if this happens again, send an email to ut@lesley.edu
We will send someone up right away.
Also, if your print was streaky, just take a picture or bring it to our office, and someone will refund you ASAP.
our refund policy is found here:
http://lesley.edu/ut/academic/printing.html#charging
Hi, I printed a document for 40 cents in Wolfard 203 , but a whole paragraph was cut off when it came out. Is there a possibility I can be refunded? If so, who can I ask?
Yes. you should send an email to ut@lesley.edu it would help if you took a photo with your camera phone and attached that. We've seen all manner of crazy print jobs failing and destroying documents and in these cases, we will be glad to refund you... to see other terms of our refund policy, go to this link:
http://lesley.edu/ut/academic/printing.html#charging
Thanks!
where is the printer Doble-4010dn-1?
The Doble-4010dn-1 printer is on the 3rd Floor of the Doble Building in the Mollye Lichter 24-hour Lab.. (go in through the front-door, go up the stairs to the 3rd floor, then hang a right).
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tech Support Care Package For Parents
Tech Support Care Package For Parents: "
Google has put together this handy Tech Support Care Package that you can send to your parents.
"
Google has put together this handy Tech Support Care Package that you can send to your parents.
Every December, millions of tech-savvy young people descend on their homes only to arrive to a long list of tech support issues that their parents need help with. A few of us at Google thought there had to be a better way that would save us all a few hours each December…
The result of our brainstorm was TeachParentsTech.org, a site that allows you to select any number of simple tech support videos to send to mom, dad or uncle Vinnie. The site is not perfect and hardly covers all the tech support questions you may be asked, but hopefully it’s a start!
"
Friday, December 3, 2010
UNIV 4-022 Blackbox Outage
NOTICE!!!!!! The Blackbox in University Hall room 4-022 is temporarily out of order. The projector will turn on, however only a blank blue screen will display.
If you are a faculty and you need projection, you will have to come to the help-desk office to pick-up a portable LCD projector. *** WE HAVE PLACED ONE ASIDE ON A TABLE WITH WHEELS
We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience, and we will let you know when it's back up and running.
Thanks for understanding!
PLEASE DO NOT TAMPER WITH THE BLACKBOX OR THE PROJECTOR!
To reserve any other replacement equipment, go to the equipment reservation form to make appropriate accommodations. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.Friday, November 12, 2010
About the Laptop Cart
I recently wrote a letter to concerned faculty about the laptop cart... you all are welcome to read it too.
BELOW:
====================
Hello, all--
This is Richard Phung, the Labs & Classrooms Coordinator with University Technology.
I have just been forwarded a rather discerning message about the perceived state of the Laptop Cart.
I am terribly sorry for the troubles that you have experienced in your class due to apparent hardware and/or software failures associated with this particular classroom technology.
You have been attached to this email because our records indicate that you often employ the use of the laptop cart for your courses.
I am the primary person responsible for assuring that the Laptop Cart workstations are equipped with the software necessary for your courses and that the desktop configurations allow the machines to function at their fullest potential. Looking forward, I would like to propose that together, we re-examine your individual curricular objectives to determine whether the Laptop Cart is suitable for your needs. I would also propose that you as faculty reserve time with me well in advance to your course start dates to examine the hardware and software configurations for what you consider "acceptable" operation and prepare contingencies accordingly.
We have computer classrooms with exceptional desktop hardware and software that should be considered first and foremost for classes where computers comprise 30% or more of your classroom activities. Entire courses built around the use of the laptop cart should be strongly discouraged as this reserve item has been on a first-come, first-serve basis for its life time. This may leave your class at a disadvantage when it is unavailable to you.
The message below is an attempt to address some key issues that you or others may be having with the workstations and some of the methods we are taking to remedy these problems.
------------------------------
--- They are old. ---
These machines are Compaq nc6400 workstations. The NC6400 was originally launched in 2006, and contains the following hardware:
Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology
• Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5600
• 1.83 GHz , 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Details can be found here:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/sm/WF06b/12139188-12139280-12139280-12139280-12434660-12401288-77983407.html
As they are reaching their 5-year operational lives, we have run into some complications when considering their replacement. One issue is that these machines were originally obtained by a grant. Their upgrades and maintenance are provided by our department. Replacing these units (~estimated $20k for hardware alone) will have a significant fiscal impact outside of our normal upgrade expenses.
I will work with my supervisor, Charles Cooper, to devise an appropriate solution and proposed timeline for replacement.
More technical details about these machines' computing power is presented below:
------------------------------------
--- They have really slow network access:
I have forwarded a message to networking about latency issues, but we have been unable to replicate any connectivity issues. It may be beneficial to record where and when connection problems arise so that we can better troubleshoot these slow network access problems.
The machines have a built-in wireless G and gigabit ethernet card(s):
Wireless Technologies
Intel® Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g MOW1 mini-pci card, Bluetooth
Network interface
Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit (10/100/1000 NIC) PCI Express Ethernet Controller
Their hardware suggests that they would have no problems accessing the network(s) at Lesley. When my assistants test network connectivity within the classrooms, they will often utilize one of these machines.
Using standard benchmarking tools (e.g. speedtest.net), I am able to achieve download/upload speeds of 2.9Mb/s and 4.83Mb/s, respectively, from the wireless network. *See attachment (speedtest.jpg)
These speeds are consistent with broad-band internet connectivity.
Further investigating, we have conducted rigorous ping-tests to local network resources (e.g. workstation-to-print server(s), workstation-to-workstation via wireless/wired, workstation-to-AIB & Brattle), and have found speeds within campus to be consistent with 100/1000Mb ethernet.
*See attachment (networkandmemorytest.jpg)
------------------------------------
--- They do not have enough Random Access Memory (RAM).
Although these machines originally came with 1GB of RAM, we recently (August 2010) upgraded their memory with a full 4GB of memory (the maximum that they can hold).
Using the latest benchmark tools (PCMark05), we had determined that the Read/Write speeds for a 16MB data packet on this memory is about 4069MB/s and 2800Mb/s, respectively.
The same benchmark tool ran on the latest MacBookPro with 2GB of RAM from our circulation which yielded 5809MB/s (read); 5282MB/s (write)
This test is an example of how "more" does not equate to "better/faster."
------------------------------------
--- Loading a simple Word document takes up to 5 minutes---
We have had reports of Word Documents taking a long time to load or crashing the machines altogether. Our current installation is Microsoft Office 2007 with the Compatibility Pack (version 12.0.6425).
*See attached (officeversion.jpg)
Testing our current version Our test process involved opening documents created with Office 2003 (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Office 2008 (for mac), and Office 2010. We have also tried opening a battery of XML-standard doctypes from OpenOffice, office templates (*.dotx, *.dotm, *.potx, etc), and documents with advanced mail-merge fields. Everything seemed to work fine for us, despite the complexity of the document. You would think that testing this issue would uncover problems with files of various formats created with different versions of the Microsoft Office Suite, but this is not consistent with our findings. This is not to say that there are no problems at all-- load-times vary dramatically, as to be expected with any computer.
We have discovered a few key updates to the software (which will be rolled-out for the Spring 2011), that may have prevented certain features to work correctly, but the only way to be sure our software configuration works for your files is to simply test your files on the machines. It may be to your benefit to update your course materials (re-saving or re-selecting their compatibility modes) to assure backwards compatibility with a multitude of machines. It is much easier to modify and redistribute a few documents than it would be to change an entire system configuration.
It is also possible that processing file-format changes is too intensive on the internal hardware. There is very little that I can modify (RAM included), that can resolve processing capabilities. This is simply a limitation of the machines.
------------------------------------
As far as the machines themselves go, they are not bad computing units.
Accessing the internet seems to be fairly normal, and launching non-intensive applications seems to be as expected.
Compared to other machines (namely Dual-Boot Intel iMacs and Dual-Boot MacBook Pros) on pure hardware performance, they are only marginally inferior.
Attached are the system profiles and rigorous benchmarks for both
*See attached (SystemProfiles.zip and Benchmarks.zip)
https://sites.google.com/site/lesleylabpublic/home/SystemProfiles.zip
https://sites.google.com/site/lesleylabpublic/home/Benchmarks.zip
Depending on your class activity, you may want to look for alternatives to the Laptop Cart.
As I had mentioned briefly before, utilizing our installed classroom technologies has many distinct advantages over the Laptop Cart. The Dual-Boot Intel iMac desktops are vastly superior to any mobile computing units we can provide at this time, and when these teaching spaces are reserved, it guarantees your students access to computing amenities.
The Spring 2011 Laptop Cart Image will be built from scratch and will model the MacBook Pro software configuration which includes Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (v 12.0.6425), and a variety of other productivity tools.
I will begin collecting data and configuring a machine for this area starting the week of November 22 and finishing the image creation process on December 13. If you would like to be a part of this process, I would strongly encourage that you make an appointment with me. In this time, we will be testing our software configuration with your file types.
Thank you for making it to the end of this dense technical documentation.
I appreciate your time, and I look forward to your feedback.
--Richard Phung
Classrooms & Labs Coordinator
University Technology - Lesley University
617.349.8819 | x8770
rphung@lesley.edu
via Outlook Web Access
=====================
So there you have it.
BELOW:
====================
Hello, all--
This is Richard Phung, the Labs & Classrooms Coordinator with University Technology.
I have just been forwarded a rather discerning message about the perceived state of the Laptop Cart.
I am terribly sorry for the troubles that you have experienced in your class due to apparent hardware and/or software failures associated with this particular classroom technology.
You have been attached to this email because our records indicate that you often employ the use of the laptop cart for your courses.
I am the primary person responsible for assuring that the Laptop Cart workstations are equipped with the software necessary for your courses and that the desktop configurations allow the machines to function at their fullest potential. Looking forward, I would like to propose that together, we re-examine your individual curricular objectives to determine whether the Laptop Cart is suitable for your needs. I would also propose that you as faculty reserve time with me well in advance to your course start dates to examine the hardware and software configurations for what you consider "acceptable" operation and prepare contingencies accordingly.
We have computer classrooms with exceptional desktop hardware and software that should be considered first and foremost for classes where computers comprise 30% or more of your classroom activities. Entire courses built around the use of the laptop cart should be strongly discouraged as this reserve item has been on a first-come, first-serve basis for its life time. This may leave your class at a disadvantage when it is unavailable to you.
The message below is an attempt to address some key issues that you or others may be having with the workstations and some of the methods we are taking to remedy these problems.
------------------------------
--- They are old. ---
These machines are Compaq nc6400 workstations. The NC6400 was originally launched in 2006, and contains the following hardware:
Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology
• Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5600
• 1.83 GHz , 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Details can be found here:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/sm/WF06b/12139188-12139280-12139280-12139280-12434660-12401288-77983407.html
As they are reaching their 5-year operational lives, we have run into some complications when considering their replacement. One issue is that these machines were originally obtained by a grant. Their upgrades and maintenance are provided by our department. Replacing these units (~estimated $20k for hardware alone) will have a significant fiscal impact outside of our normal upgrade expenses.
I will work with my supervisor, Charles Cooper, to devise an appropriate solution and proposed timeline for replacement.
More technical details about these machines' computing power is presented below:
------------------------------------
--- They have really slow network access:
I have forwarded a message to networking about latency issues, but we have been unable to replicate any connectivity issues. It may be beneficial to record where and when connection problems arise so that we can better troubleshoot these slow network access problems.
The machines have a built-in wireless G and gigabit ethernet card(s):
Wireless Technologies
Intel® Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g MOW1 mini-pci card, Bluetooth
Network interface
Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit (10/100/1000 NIC) PCI Express Ethernet Controller
Their hardware suggests that they would have no problems accessing the network(s) at Lesley. When my assistants test network connectivity within the classrooms, they will often utilize one of these machines.
Using standard benchmarking tools (e.g. speedtest.net), I am able to achieve download/upload speeds of 2.9Mb/s and 4.83Mb/s, respectively, from the wireless network. *See attachment (speedtest.jpg)
Further investigating, we have conducted rigorous ping-tests to local network resources (e.g. workstation-to-print server(s), workstation-to-workstation via wireless/wired, workstation-to-AIB & Brattle), and have found speeds within campus to be consistent with 100/1000Mb ethernet.
*See attachment (networkandmemorytest.jpg)
------------------------------------
--- They do not have enough Random Access Memory (RAM).
Although these machines originally came with 1GB of RAM, we recently (August 2010) upgraded their memory with a full 4GB of memory (the maximum that they can hold).
Using the latest benchmark tools (PCMark05), we had determined that the Read/Write speeds for a 16MB data packet on this memory is about 4069MB/s and 2800Mb/s, respectively.
The same benchmark tool ran on the latest MacBookPro with 2GB of RAM from our circulation which yielded 5809MB/s (read); 5282MB/s (write)
This test is an example of how "more" does not equate to "better/faster."
------------------------------------
--- Loading a simple Word document takes up to 5 minutes---
We have had reports of Word Documents taking a long time to load or crashing the machines altogether. Our current installation is Microsoft Office 2007 with the Compatibility Pack (version 12.0.6425).
*See attached (officeversion.jpg)
Testing our current version Our test process involved opening documents created with Office 2003 (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), Office 2008 (for mac), and Office 2010. We have also tried opening a battery of XML-standard doctypes from OpenOffice, office templates (*.dotx, *.dotm, *.potx, etc), and documents with advanced mail-merge fields. Everything seemed to work fine for us, despite the complexity of the document. You would think that testing this issue would uncover problems with files of various formats created with different versions of the Microsoft Office Suite, but this is not consistent with our findings. This is not to say that there are no problems at all-- load-times vary dramatically, as to be expected with any computer.
We have discovered a few key updates to the software (which will be rolled-out for the Spring 2011), that may have prevented certain features to work correctly, but the only way to be sure our software configuration works for your files is to simply test your files on the machines. It may be to your benefit to update your course materials (re-saving or re-selecting their compatibility modes) to assure backwards compatibility with a multitude of machines. It is much easier to modify and redistribute a few documents than it would be to change an entire system configuration.
It is also possible that processing file-format changes is too intensive on the internal hardware. There is very little that I can modify (RAM included), that can resolve processing capabilities. This is simply a limitation of the machines.
------------------------------------
As far as the machines themselves go, they are not bad computing units.
Accessing the internet seems to be fairly normal, and launching non-intensive applications seems to be as expected.
Compared to other machines (namely Dual-Boot Intel iMacs and Dual-Boot MacBook Pros) on pure hardware performance, they are only marginally inferior.
Attached are the system profiles and rigorous benchmarks for both
*See attached (SystemProfiles.zip and Benchmarks.zip)
https://sites.google.com/site/lesleylabpublic/home/SystemProfiles.zip
https://sites.google.com/site/lesleylabpublic/home/Benchmarks.zip
Depending on your class activity, you may want to look for alternatives to the Laptop Cart.
As I had mentioned briefly before, utilizing our installed classroom technologies has many distinct advantages over the Laptop Cart. The Dual-Boot Intel iMac desktops are vastly superior to any mobile computing units we can provide at this time, and when these teaching spaces are reserved, it guarantees your students access to computing amenities.
The Spring 2011 Laptop Cart Image will be built from scratch and will model the MacBook Pro software configuration which includes Office 2007 Service Pack 2 (v 12.0.6425), and a variety of other productivity tools.
I will begin collecting data and configuring a machine for this area starting the week of November 22 and finishing the image creation process on December 13. If you would like to be a part of this process, I would strongly encourage that you make an appointment with me. In this time, we will be testing our software configuration with your file types.
Thank you for making it to the end of this dense technical documentation.
I appreciate your time, and I look forward to your feedback.
--Richard Phung
Classrooms & Labs Coordinator
University Technology - Lesley University
617.349.8819 | x8770
rphung@lesley.edu
via Outlook Web Access
=====================
So there you have it.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Print Statistics @ Lesley University...
I'll try not to blow your mind, folks...
We have been using the PaperCut Pay-for-Print system at Lesley since the Fall 2009.
The Pay-for-Print @ Lesley is not a scheme to steal your money... In fact, we are simply trying to track your usage so that we can better provide materials for you and alleviate some of the operational costs associated with those materials.
Looking at printing on the Cambridge Campuses alone for the last year, we get some interesting statistics...
Fall 2010 ---- August 23, 2010 to date (November 10, 2010)
Total pages: 77,151
Spring 2010 ---- January 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010
Total pages: 140,930
Fall 2009 ---- August 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009
Total pages: 73,751
Pretty neat, huh?
Monday, November 1, 2010
SMART Software Update
We are currently updating all of our laptop images with the latest SMART software to be used with the SMART boards in the science & math labs at University Hall...
Woot.
Awesome Vintage Tech Ads
Awesome Vintage Tech Ads: "
You can laugh now, but some years ago you were getting a very nice deal by buying a $3398 10MB hard drive.
A sexy modem? Come on!
Two are always better than one. At least according to this 1978 ad from Technico Inc. TMS9900.
Remember Elvira, Mistress of the Dark? Besides appearing on TV in features like Elvira’s Movie Macabre Halloween Special, Elvira also invited Computerworld readers to “cut through paper-based CASE [computer-aided software engineering] methods with LBMS” software.
This ad won’t make any sense if you’re not a follower of the TV series Lost. However, if you are, you’ll find it amusing…
It’s small and light at ‘only’ 11+ lbs.
“With WordStar, you have a true screen image of what your printout will look like before you print it! With WordStar, you’ll erase, insert, delete and move entire blocks of copy.” Gee, it’s like magic!
Would you say this ad was a little sexist?
Every Kid Should Have an Apple after School.
In the future, everyone will use floppy disks.
"
If you love this post… We just posted 116 More Vintage Ads!
Related Posts:
- Crazy Nerdy Cool Hoodies!
- Oh, Look! The AppleTV is Shipping
- When Free Isn’t Exactly Free: How a Free Phone Actually Costs $1,980
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- These Ain’t Your Mothers Chop Sticks
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Boosting Start-up & Shut-down Speeds
we are currently working on building a new computer image for the various computing areas across campus..
one of the key features that we are investigating is the Start-Up and Shut-Down times, particularly when using WindowsXP.
Our preliminary research finds:
Start-Up time(s) for the various computer sets (using Windows XP):
- 1st Gen iMac - (Doble 413, 415, 309, Reading Room, Kiosks, 24-hour Lab) --
- 2nd Gen iMac - (Wolfard 203, 204) -- ~03:00:00 - 03:30:00+
- 3rd Gen iMac - (University Hall training Room, Reading Room) -- ~01:30:00 - 01:50:00
- MacBookPro (for CheckOut) -- ~01:30:00 - 02:00:00
Shut-Down time(s) for the various computer sets (using Windows XP):
- 1st Gen iMac - (Doble 413, 415, 309, Reading Room, Kiosks, 24-hour Lab) --
- 2nd Gen iMac - (Wolfard 203, 204) -- ~00:45:00 - 00:50:00
- 3rd Gen iMac - (University Hall training Room, Reading Room) -- ~00:45:00 - 00:55:00
- MacBookPro (for CheckOut) -- ~00:50:00 - 01:05:00
I hope to tweak with the configuration of these machines to squeeze-out a significant change.
We'll let you know how it goes!
See below:
After our enhanced configuration:
COMING SOON!
Start-Up time(s) for the various computer sets (using Windows XP):
- 1st Gen iMac - (Doble 413, 415, 309, Reading Room, Kiosks, 24-hour Lab) --
- 2nd Gen iMac - (Wolfard 203, 204) --
- 3rd Gen iMac - (University Hall training Room, Reading Room) --
- MacBookPro (for CheckOut) --
Shut-Down time(s) for the various computer sets (using Windows XP):
- 1st Gen iMac - (Doble 413, 415, 309, Reading Room, Kiosks, 24-hour Lab) --
- 2nd Gen iMac - (Wolfard 203, 204) -- ~00:45:00 - 00:50:00
- 3rd Gen iMac - (University Hall training Room, Reading Room) --
- MacBookPro (for CheckOut) --
Monday, October 25, 2010
Winter Maintenance - 2010-2011
We have just posted our Winter Maintenance in the maintenance calendar (see here).
It will basically involve re-imaging every computer that is overseen by the Labs & Classrooms group.
Please stay tuned to the Twitter feed or our blog-roll for photos, commentary, and notes on the updates.
Software Lists will be provided soon.
JUST SO YA KNOW!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Network 'acting up'??
We have tried to apply some fixes with our Symantec Antivirus causing machines to lose their network connection.
This affects computers on the entire campus. If you are using Symantec EndPoint Protection, make sure that your machine isn't losing its connection due to False-Positive Denial of Service attacks caused by Network Threat Protection being too hardcore. When a DoS attack is detected, the NTP shuts off access to that IP address for 10 minutes thus causing the page to time-out when loading websites
The issue may appear to be the "network being slow..." but in reality, it's just a bunch of crap running in the background making it to where you're not getting all of your packets.
We are applying this fix to the Loaner Laptops for checkout, the Sherrill Laptop Cart,... and any other office machines just sitting around on wireless and obviously any future installations. Fun times.
Please be mindful of this fix.
This applies to any computers running Symantec EndPoint Protection v11-12.x and with Network Threat Protection installed (by default it is).
Please be mindful of this fix.
This applies to any computers running Symantec EndPoint Protection v11-12.x and with Network Threat Protection installed (by default it is).
Mid-Terms...
Howdy, folks..
I didn't want you to think that I never update this blog.
I do, it's just very interesting when things get busy.
To let you know what's been going on:
At any rate...
what else?
That's about it for maintenance stuff..
I didn't want you to think that I never update this blog.
I do, it's just very interesting when things get busy.
To let you know what's been going on:
- There have been lots of outages lately. I don't know if you have noticed. The Science Lab (UNIV-2-142) is burning a hole in my resources. The UPX-2 (Crestron A/V controller), an essential component to the operation of that space, has gone out... The UPX-2 is essentially a computer capable of switching and mediating the signal to and from the various components such as the DVD/VHS player, the Document Camera, and the Laptop inputs all over the room. Well, obvi, with it not working, those components don't function properly. To make matters worse, Crestron doesn't make a comparable product anymore, so we're going to try and find another solution to replicate the same functionality. Talk about time and money!
- Other areas have been soaking up our limited resources... A/V support and setup tickets have flooded our inbox. Teachers requiring assistance setting up their classroom technology, etc. I have been offering trainings, but no one has showed up... :( it's unfortunate, but it would help to have some peoples at least be mindful of how to operate the equipment. It's just a matter of increasing peoples' confidence when using those kinds of tools, and a side effect of all of it would be less reports of "broken" things when 90% of the time it's just unplugged or turned off.
I know, right?
At any rate...
what else?
That's about it for maintenance stuff..
Monday, September 27, 2010
adding print points without using lynx money
this cannot be done.
you must use your lesleycard (http://lesleycard.com)
we do not take cash or check, and the print system is an in-house system (internal to Lesley), so you need to bring-in debit/credit from the outside.
So basically, you have to:
1) Open a Cash Lynx Account
2) Convert debit/credit into Cash Lynx using the online payment thingy.
3) Convert Cash Lynx into Print Credits using the print credit login (at the workstation)
4) Print to your heart's content.
If you need help with this process, let us know.. just come by our office on the Lower Level of University Hall (LL-010).
We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.
Monday, September 20, 2010
blantant disrespect
what's wrong with this picture? if you see this kind of stuff, please don't hesitate to report it asap!!!
it's rather upsetting because in putting this computer on the ground, it is opening the possibilities of the computer getting damaged. In fact, this computer's plugs, cables, and screen are pretty beat-up as is.... primarily due to this kind of stuff.
So please, faculty, students, staff... everyone.. just stop it.
I mean, really... why put a computer on the ground? just to get it out of the way?
that is an expensive piece of equipment that is used by the community as a whole... when you physically displace it, you are leaving everyone else at a disadvantage.
horrible.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Starting off on the right foot.
Well, the school year is underway.
We here in the Labs & Classrooms office have been SLAMMED with orientation and training requests... not to mention the all-to-convenient catastrophic system failure claiming at least one of our classrooms... YEESSH!
It has been rather stressful, and we are trying our best to seek out all of our faculty to provide the support they need. So if you're a faculty member, thank you for your patience!
Some changes you can expect:
1) We just installed two (2) new kiosks on the 3rd floor opposite the Student Accounts/Registrar/Financial aid window(s)
2) A slimmed-down equipment reservation form.
3) New visual quick start guides & posters.
A few things that we are asking the community to assist with in keeping everything up and running...
We here in the Labs & Classrooms office have been SLAMMED with orientation and training requests... not to mention the all-to-convenient catastrophic system failure claiming at least one of our classrooms... YEESSH!
It has been rather stressful, and we are trying our best to seek out all of our faculty to provide the support they need. So if you're a faculty member, thank you for your patience!
Some changes you can expect:
1) We just installed two (2) new kiosks on the 3rd floor opposite the Student Accounts/Registrar/Financial aid window(s)
2) A slimmed-down equipment reservation form.
3) New visual quick start guides & posters.
A few things that we are asking the community to assist with in keeping everything up and running...
- Please respect the technology in the classrooms.. we understand that things don't always work as expected, so the very least that you can do while things are working is to make sure that they are put back in their right place. The A/V systems are amazingly simple, but things being out of place due to previous users modifying the set-up creates a world of problems for everyone.
- If there is something suspicious about the way technology works in an area... leave a comment for us... send an email to ut@lesley.edu to report an outage or problem.. but if it's a minor quirk, post it to our facebook page, twitter page, or leave a comment here.. Which leads me to...
- Follow us! If you want the latest news and updates about technologies in different areas, leave us messages... we will get back to you ASAP.
Anyway... that's my morning rant.
Friday, September 10, 2010
UNIV-2-142 is OUT OF ORDER
NOTICE!!!!!!
The projection system in UNIV-2-142 (the Science lab on the Left) is OUT OF ORDER..
the media switcher (that controls the touch-screen interface) is completely fritz'd...
If you are a faculty and you need projection, you will have to come to the help-desk office to pick-up a portable LCD projector.
We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience, and we will let you know when it's back up and running.
Thanks for understanding!
The projection system in UNIV-2-142 (the Science lab on the Left) is OUT OF ORDER..
the media switcher (that controls the touch-screen interface) is completely fritz'd...
If you are a faculty and you need projection, you will have to come to the help-desk office to pick-up a portable LCD projector.
We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience, and we will let you know when it's back up and running.
Thanks for understanding!
smart board?
SMART brand technologies are interactive touch-sensitive projection screens that allow you to capture notes and screen writings.
There are usually several requirements for a SMART board...
1) the SMART board device -- which is found in 2 different classrooms in University Hall (UNIV-3-087 & UNIV-2-141)
2) a computer with the SMART software -- usually connected to the SMART board via USB cable
3) a projector -- that's connected to the computer & projected onto the SMART board.
students, staff, and faculty are all welcome to sign-up for an orientation on how to use the SMART board by emailing ut@lesley.edu.... if you wait around, the Training Schedule will be updated with times & dates of when open-forum/discussion sessions around the SMART boards will take place... these sessions will involve a brief demonstration on how the SMART board functions...
you can read more about SMART boards by going here:
http://smarttech.com/
-- Cheers.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
how much does it cost to print one page from the computer lab?
it's $0.10/page... $0.15 for a 2-sided print. You can find out more by going here:
http://lesley.edu/ut/academic/printing.html
is there a color printer some were in the porter exchange building that is available to students?
Yes... there is color printing at the Kresge Media center on the 3rd Floor of University Hall... Suite UNIV-3-070
ui web
UI Web refers to the web interface for the Lesley Online Information System (LOIS)... if you are an administrator, you may go to: http://lesley.edu/ut/uiweb
more information can be found here:
http://www.lesley.edu/ut/admin/fac_staff_colleague.html#access
can I ask about the residents scholarship?
You can.. .but i wouldn't know anything about that...
try this:
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=006241084158555459110%3Atkdmmam8cpc&ie=UTF-8&q=scholarships&sa=Search+our+site&siteurl=web.lesley.edu%2Fdefault.asp
how do i connect to the lesley wirless?
you first need to enable your wifi-adapter... this can be done either by clicking "Turn on Airport" on your mac, or flipping a switch on your PC... *please refer to your specific instruction manual.
Once your adapter is turned on, let it scan.. If you are in a lesley wi-fi area, you will see Lesley_Wireless and Lesley_Secure.... Lesley_Wireless will let you connect w/out a password.... lesley_secure requires a password which you can find @ http://lesley.edu/wireless
Once you connect, open a web-browser and go to http://www.google.com (or something very simple)...
it will ask you to login using your Lesley Username and Password.
Cheers!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Revving up for the Fall...
GOSH, it's been a busy past couple of weeks.
To give you an update of some of the things to expect:
To give you an update of some of the things to expect:
- New classroom documentation
We have placed new "black-box" how-to posters within the rooms (attached to the cabinet doors). These signs should provide a quick-glance guide on what to expect from the blackbox components and how to report problems.
- A Laptop-Connection troubleshoot guide
These flyers provide a quick reference for troubleshooting malfunctioning projection. *e.g. did you check this?
- A new wifi-poster
We are working on creating lesley branded wifi posters that will inform users of public wifi hotspots around campus.
- A new Faculty Survival Guide (2010-2011)
This 7-page document gives a quick guide on the campus resources available to teachers. These guides will be handed out during Faculty Development Day (Sept 8), and is available for download here: Faculty Survival Guide
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Sherrill MacBooks... and some issues.
We have discovered an interesting quirk about a certain line of 13" MacBook Pro models.
Known issue:
After installing Apple MultiTouch support in Windows XPSP3, we discovered that these machines started behaving erratically... their boot times jumped from a one-minute load-time to anywhere from 5-10 minutes.
We investigated the issue and explored a number of options, but for the time being, we have disabled Multi-Touch Support in Windows XP.... :(
I know, I know...
this means no two-touch scrolling, no right-clicking, no gestures, and no pinch-and-zoom under Windows XP. Luckily, the library has provided a number of two-button scroll mice for Windows users.
Needless to say, MacOSX still has multi-touch support.
We are working diligently to find a solution and are in contact with other providers that use these particular hardware types.
Expect an upgrade/fix for the Spring 2011
After installing Apple MultiTouch support in Windows XPSP3, we discovered that these machines started behaving erratically... their boot times jumped from a one-minute load-time to anywhere from 5-10 minutes.
We investigated the issue and explored a number of options, but for the time being, we have disabled Multi-Touch Support in Windows XP.... :(
I know, I know...
this means no two-touch scrolling, no right-clicking, no gestures, and no pinch-and-zoom under Windows XP. Luckily, the library has provided a number of two-button scroll mice for Windows users.
Needless to say, MacOSX still has multi-touch support.
We are working diligently to find a solution and are in contact with other providers that use these particular hardware types.
Expect an upgrade/fix for the Spring 2011
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Working on Sherrill Library Macs for checkout.
Updating the sherrill library MacBookPros.
It's kind of a secret that they have a small laptop cart, because it's only used for training purposes.
So far, we have run these updates:
Office 2007/2008 Updates
Flash Player 10
Adobe Reader Update
WinXPSP3 Security Updates
Norton AntiVirus Definitions
OH, and yes, we added a spiffy new Fall 2010 wall paper to match the rest of campus :)
More info to come!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Updated Equipment Reservation Form
Howdy, folks--
I have recently updated the Equipment Reservation form to include the Dual-Boot MacBook Pros that we have for checkout to faculty and staff.
I have also added roll-over, tooltip photos for the equipment we are offering.
You can see the form here:
http://lesley.edu/ut/labs/equipmentreservation.html
Cheers!
I have recently updated the Equipment Reservation form to include the Dual-Boot MacBook Pros that we have for checkout to faculty and staff.
I have also added roll-over, tooltip photos for the equipment we are offering.
You can see the form here:
http://lesley.edu/ut/labs/equipmentreservation.html
Cheers!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Adding Search Domains in Windows XP
To my staff-----
So.... how to explain THIS...
Lesley has several locally hosted servers that control a number of internal functions such as the rooms database and the pay-for-print login server.
If you have tried to click on either of those links and have returned a Lesley "You can't go there" type page, it's probably because you don't have the "Search Domains" programmed into your Network Settings.
Have no fear! You can do this very easily.
***Note: These instructions are for Windows XP... and are crude.
So to explain what a "Search Domain" really is... it's basically telling your computer to examine internal resources before trying to do an external search. so in the case of the print server.... the login for the print server is typically: http://10.157.32.91:9191...
so that means that the server that logs you in to check your credits is located at the IP address: 10.157.32.91 on Port # 9191.... the computer IP10.157.32.91 happens to have a "hostname" of printsrv-main... *which is what it is named on the the network.... all computers on our classrooms network are part of a big directory, so ideally, if you tell your computer to search the "directory" address for hostnames, it will let you use the hostname of the computer instead of the IP address...
so.... http://10.157.32.91:9191 or http://printsrv-main:9191
the latter is the easier to remember, definitely.
so...
how do you tell your computer that "printsrv-main" should redirect to "10.157.32.91"?????
follow these instructions:
Open your network connections...double-click OR right-click on your ethernet (or wireless)..
Select "properties"
Select TCP/IP, then select "configure"
Select "Advanced"
Under Advanced, click on the DNS tab
Then add these to the prefixes:
So.... how to explain THIS...
Lesley has several locally hosted servers that control a number of internal functions such as the rooms database and the pay-for-print login server.
If you have tried to click on either of those links and have returned a Lesley "You can't go there" type page, it's probably because you don't have the "Search Domains" programmed into your Network Settings.
Have no fear! You can do this very easily.
***Note: These instructions are for Windows XP... and are crude.
So to explain what a "Search Domain" really is... it's basically telling your computer to examine internal resources before trying to do an external search. so in the case of the print server.... the login for the print server is typically: http://10.157.32.91:9191...
so that means that the server that logs you in to check your credits is located at the IP address: 10.157.32.91 on Port # 9191.... the computer IP10.157.32.91 happens to have a "hostname" of printsrv-main... *which is what it is named on the the network.... all computers on our classrooms network are part of a big directory, so ideally, if you tell your computer to search the "directory" address for hostnames, it will let you use the hostname of the computer instead of the IP address...
so.... http://10.157.32.91:9191 or http://printsrv-main:9191
the latter is the easier to remember, definitely.
so...
how do you tell your computer that "printsrv-main" should redirect to "10.157.32.91"?????
follow these instructions:
Select "properties"
Select TCP/IP, then select "configure"
Select "Advanced"
Under Advanced, click on the DNS tab
Then add these to the prefixes:
lesley.lu.lesley.edu
lu.lesley.edu
lesley.edu
and why do you need or want to know this?
in the event you sit at a computer and try to access local servers, it does a google search instead....
where can I find a computer that has photoshop?
As of the Spring 2010, Adobe CS3 is installed on all of the computers in the Doble Building, on the Doble Campus (29-31 Everett St, Cambridge, MA).... this includes the 3 classrooms (309, 413, 415) and the Doble Information Commons.
Coming in the Spring 2011, we will extend our installation of CS3 (and perhaps later versions) on ALL of the Cambridge campuses' computer labs & classrooms BUT there will most likely be a LIMITED # of concurrent seats that can run the software at any given time.
You may also find the MOST recent version of Adobe Creative Suite (CS4 + CS5) on ALL of the computers at the Art Institute of Boston, located at 700 Beacon St and at 601 Newbury St, Boston, MA.
Hope this helps!
Coming in the Spring 2011, we will extend our installation of CS3 (and perhaps later versions) on ALL of the Cambridge campuses' computer labs & classrooms BUT there will most likely be a LIMITED # of concurrent seats that can run the software at any given time.
You may also find the MOST recent version of Adobe Creative Suite (CS4 + CS5) on ALL of the computers at the Art Institute of Boston, located at 700 Beacon St and at 601 Newbury St, Boston, MA.
Hope this helps!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Revamped Pay-for-Print Site
Looks like our Labs Coordinator has updated the UT website to reflect the current policies around Pay-for-Print at Lesley...
You can check it out here:
http://lesley.edu/ut/academic/printing.html
What do you think?
It seems pretty straightforward, but then again... We ARE on the INSIDE.
You can check it out here:
http://lesley.edu/ut/academic/printing.html
What do you think?
It seems pretty straightforward, but then again... We ARE on the INSIDE.
Monday, August 2, 2010
where can i edit a PDF?
well, that's interesting.
The Portable Document Format (PDF) is typically synonymous with "unedittable format" as many programs (ie distillers) save-as or export as PDF so that when it is shared with others, it cannot be tampered.
Saying that, there are SOME PDFs with embedded forms (e.g. your tax forms) that you may edit SOME regions, but the document itself is in-tact.
Some programs will let you modify the PDF as if it were an image. For example, Adobe Photoshop CSx will allow you to import the entire PDF as an image and then you may "write" or "edit" the image.... this, however, does NOT work on the TEXT of the document.
Even with Adobe Acrobat Professional (the typical PDF editting suite), you will not be able to edit the text regions of a published PDF.
So... don't count on it.
The Portable Document Format (PDF) is typically synonymous with "unedittable format" as many programs (ie distillers) save-as or export as PDF so that when it is shared with others, it cannot be tampered.
Saying that, there are SOME PDFs with embedded forms (e.g. your tax forms) that you may edit SOME regions, but the document itself is in-tact.
Some programs will let you modify the PDF as if it were an image. For example, Adobe Photoshop CSx will allow you to import the entire PDF as an image and then you may "write" or "edit" the image.... this, however, does NOT work on the TEXT of the document.
Even with Adobe Acrobat Professional (the typical PDF editting suite), you will not be able to edit the text regions of a published PDF.
So... don't count on it.
Is there a map of computer spaces accessible by students on campuses, and what computers and applications are available?
Yes, actually.
Please visit the site here:
http://www.lesley.edu/ut/academic/locations_main.html
The applications list is the hardest to keep up with as updates run at different times for different areas. We are currently working on a blog/micro-blog via twitter so that you guys can keep-up with the software versions in the labs.
So if you want to know more about the software installed in the various areas, feel free to send a question via this form OR an email through UT@lesley.edu
our labs coordinator is also available for a chat, if you can catch him! x8819
Take care--
Lesley Labs.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Labs Coordinator AKA, the documaster
Sorry, I haven't been posting lately.
I've been working diligently on my next "big" project...
So, check this out.
We get all kinds of reports that our classroom technology documentation is out-dated. I'm in the right mind to agree.
I mean, check these docs out:
Pros:
Cons:
SO...
This year, I am taking the initiative to draft new classroom documentation that is/has:
For all of you designers out there... it's a combination Frutiger Std Light and Myriad Pro.
We had to make it a little more approachable and less wordy.
You can download the PDF file here: BlackBox Identification Guide
More to come!
I've been working diligently on my next "big" project...
So, check this out.
We get all kinds of reports that our classroom technology documentation is out-dated. I'm in the right mind to agree.
I mean, check these docs out:
Pros:
- Each booklet has a corresponding room#.
- Each booklet is detailed enough to demonstrate how to use the black boxes.
- Diagrams are pretty low-quality, and don't explain much.
Cons:
- No one reads them.
- They are often misplaced or thrown away.
- No Windows/Mac Configuration, only blackbox operation.
- Full-sentence/full-paragraph Text-heavy (seriously, who does this anymore?)
- Paper degrades, gets torn, turns yellow.
SO...
This year, I am taking the initiative to draft new classroom documentation that is/has:
- More universal (can be applied across the board)
- Explains more conceptually how projection works (outlining basic input- output- logic)
- Digital copies (via helpcenter or UT website) -downloadable & printable
- Better looking (using infographics, some nice typefaces, and decent photos)...
So far, I have drafted a template for my cohort to use in assisting me...
I have also finished the "Black Box" poster which should be laminated and posted in the inside door of the black boxes to provide a quick, visual how-to and identification card.
Voila---:
For all of you designers out there... it's a combination Frutiger Std Light and Myriad Pro.
We had to make it a little more approachable and less wordy.
You can download the PDF file here: BlackBox Identification Guide
More to come!
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