Travel like a Techie
This section is for those of you who like to use the technology that you regularly use to reduce your travel headaches. Whether you are using your smartphone to plan/organize your next trip or using the most recent browser extensions to find the best deals on the internet, this section will definitely be worth bookmarking.
How much bandwidth is enough?
Okay. Schools back in session and we have 260 boarding students who just arrived with laptops, cell phones, iPods and iPads. It seems that every electronic device is now wi-fi enabled and causing congestion on the student’s network (segregated for this reason).
Over the past month, we have been having major internet outages in the dorms to the point where the modems were crashing. The student network can only be accessed wirelessly. Each dormitory is connected back to our “server room” via fiber to a switch that is connected to a firewall that has four WAN ports that provide WAN balancing in a round-robin fashion. Each of these WANs has an 18MB cable internet connection. The round-robin balancing act basically takes User1 and sends him out WAN1, User2 is sent out WAN2, User 3 through WAN3, User4 gets sent out WAN4. This process continues as User 5 is sent out WAN1 and so on and so on.
We have implemented various appliances to control protocols, block ports and filter web pages; however, we are still coming to a standstill after school lets out and the students go back to their dorms. We can check the logs and see that all of the appliances are working, ports are being blocked and protocols (especially bit torrent and peer-to-peer) are being blocked. We have replaced nearly every piece of equipment but the problem persists.
Comcast (our ISP for this network) is aware of the problem and have been to our campus numerous times to test the equipment and lines. All checks out fine… until school lets out.
Comcast finally has acknowledged that there is an issue. They are promising to run a totally separate node to our campus (and only for our campus) but time will tell. At this point, we can only assume that it is not the connection to the internet that is the problem but the amount of bandwidth that our students are consuming. Comcast has confirmed that we are peaking shortly after school lets out.
At this point we have very little option than to wait it out to see if Comcast follows through. Because we are about 30 miles away from our nearest POP, dedicated lines are very pricey if we were to look at 20MB+ lines.
Today’s internet is not the same internet as five years ago in terms of intensive websites and rich media. Is there a magic formula to compute number of users to what the minimum bandwidth should be purchased?
What to do before making that dreaded IT Helpdesk call
Being in the education field for over 15 years, I also have have been doubly doomed by providing technical assistance to non-technical people.
Teachers are not trained to be experts (usually) when it comes to using applications or troubleshooting. Many teachers USE technology to make some part of their lives easier but usually it is pushed onto them instead of them yearning to learn it. While many of the newer teachers are more inept in using technology (most are trained to some degree in their college education), many have been learning in a trial and error scenario.
In any case, most teachers are eventually going to have to make that dreaded call to the helpdesk to which usually starts like this (after the sarcasm and accusations of ‘user error’):
Have you restarted the computer?
Why do we always ask this? Most of the time we cannot diagnose your issue from your simplistic scream for help. We do this because we know that if you had not interfered, the computer would most likely be working. We know what the computer is supposed to do and if does do what it is supposed to do after a restart, we resort back to the user error sarcasm.
On a serious note, we have you restart because sometimes software turns certain services on or off and could simply be reset by restarting your computer.
Are you sure the computer is plugged in?
Now this seems like common sense, but because many of us have a plethora of cables and cords hidden behind or under our desk, it is very possible that we pulled one of these cables or cords out of its respective connection.
Also, along this same line, it is very common for a computer to freeze when it is in its hibernate or sleep state. When this happens, it appears that the computer will not start up. If you’ve checked all of your cables and cords and it looks like you have power to the computer, hold down the power button for about 5 seconds. This should cut off the power supply to the computer and shut the computer down completely. Press the power button once more and hopefully all is up and running again.
Are you connected to the internet (or network) wirelessly or via ethernet?
Convenient, yes. Consistent, no. Wireless is not perfect. There are many things that can affect your wireless signal. If you are trying to sponge Internet access from your neighbor or from the Starbucks across the street, you may find that heavy rains will affect the signal as well as large vehicles who cut off your line of sight. Not much to tell you here except to pony up for your own access.
If on the other hand you are using ethernet to connect to the Internet, it could be that you have been the victim of a “hijacking” malware or you may have network settings that will not work on your network. Most corporate (and even home) networks utilize DHCP where all the correct settings are given to a computer when it connects to a network. Changing your network settings could render them inoperable on your current network. Check your network connections to verify that you are automatically obtaining an IP address.
While this is only a short list of questions/solutions, this may be just enough to save your from the ridicule and sarcasm that may await you when you pick up that phone. Dial with care.
Photo Slideshows for Dummies? Goodbye PowerPoint.
A few months ago, I ran across a site that is simply amazing.
I am often asked how to create a slideshow of still photos from my colleagues. Their immediate question usually starts like this… I have created a PowerPoint slideshow with a bunch of pictures and I’ve added a soundtrack. How can I ‘save’ this as a video? If you are into creating videos yourself, you can probably feel my pain.
I am usually pretty cordial in my explanation as I try to seek their overall goal (okay, after some general sarcastic comments); but after I find their intent, I always start with…. put down the mouse and get away from PowerPoint.
[side note: I do admit that PowerPoint was the “mack daddy” way before that term “mack daddy” even existed; but to be honest, I hope I never have to sit through another PowerPoint presentation. I’m not sure it is PowerPoint’s fault, but the software is taking a bad hit for some very poor presentations and presenters. PowerPoint is not a video editing or video creation software. It is a presentation tool that if used properly can aid in a lecture. Because of the simplicity of the program and the abundant options, most users are inclined to try to incorporate every transition or animation possible–even if it means adding more of the typewritten speech to the slide. Get this, I have even seen some people use PowerPoint as a word processor to create formal reports because it was just so darn easy to drag clipart to another location….Enough of that rant.]
Well, in order to create a video, you have to save it as a video format (PowerPoint does not natively have this ability). Just about any video can be converted to a format for your desired outcome. In most cases, you are either showing the video on your computer or if you a little more savvy, you want to create a DVD for playback on your television.
Instead of turning those still photos into a traditional PowerPoint slide show, try uploading them to Animoto. You can even add a sound track (watch out for copyright issues if you intend on showing the video in public). Creating a video from your stills is a simple as:
- Upload pictures from your computer.
- Add a soundtrack or select a sample from their library.
- Sit back and let Animoto do all the work.
The best thing about this is that you can create an account for FREE. The free account is limited to a 30 second video. Once the video is created, you will receive an email indicating that your video is available (full length videos can take a while to produce). Log back into your account and you can view your video, share it with friends, post it to your own website, or even download it to your computer.
Below is a video created to promote a basketball tournament at our school. The entire process took less than 20 minutes but looks like I spent days on it.
Once downloaded to your computer (as a .mov file), you can view it in the free QuickTime viewer.
Give it a try! You will see why I say “Goodbye PowerPoint”.
Which computer would you recommend?
“Which computer would you recommend?”
I hear this question over and over from colleagues and even strangers who find out my line of work. The long and short of the answer really comes down to “You get what you pay for”.
As we browse the advertisements and commercials, we see great deals from Dell, Gateway, HP, Sony, etc and we all tend to look at the “sale” priced computers–reason being, we all want to get a good price and feel that we got something for nothing. We compare all the numbers in the ad with another “sale” priced computer to see which one seems to be the best deal (then sometimes we even ask a friend what those numbers mean).
You will find computers at any price range imaginable just as you find cars in every price range imaginable. How does that $699 Dell notebook differ from a $2000 Sony or should I say how does a $12,000 Ford Escort differ from a $45,000 BMW? I mean, both are computers and comparatively, both are cars, correct?
You can probably see where I am going with this. Once you decide on a brand, you find that the price ranges within the same company will vary just as much. You can find an HP laptop for $700 and you can also find one for over $3000. This same analogy could be used as earlier by comparing the Dodge Neon to a Dodge Viper. Both are made by the same companies so what’s the difference?
A while back, I found myself defending the price of an IBM Thinkpad when compared to one of these “sale-priced” units. I had to ask “Big Bill” why he purchased the truck that he was using. After he gave his answer, I immediately asked why he chose an 8-cylinder engine and not a smaller engine. Again, see where I am going with this? Not all trucks are the same and some cannot do the duties of how Big Bill wanted to use his truck.
This is the same reason why we have different laptops with different prices. Some of us need more power, better graphics cards, more memory, or faster hard drives because we are needing these “luxuries” to get what we want out of our computer. Similarly, you would not try to have a 4-cylinder Ford Ranger pull a 30 foot fishing vessel from the inlet.
One thing that does often get overlooked when comparison shopping is customer/technical service and warranties. These two components even though not tangible, are equally important when deciding on your computer. Back in the mid-90’s when Dell became a household name, it was because of their customer support. Dell computers were not any cheaper or less expensive than the competition but they did have great customer service at that time. Fast forward to present day, you see that Dell’s name has taken a turn as the one thing that set them apart from the rest has diminished to the point that they have had to take measures recently to ban the abundant amount of profanity being posted to their bulletin boards–postings from disgruntled customers over the lack of support. You may want to reconsider that $600 Dell because most likely there will be limited (if any) support.
In closing, it comes down to the old adage that “you get what you pay for”. Computer for the most part all include the same things just as cars do. It is the little things that set them apart such as service and warranties. So when I am asked “What computer do you recommend?,” My first response is usually what do you plan to do with the computer and how much can you afford to spend on the computer.
Most computer companies do not actually make the computer components. Most companies like Sony, IBM, HP, Compaq, Lenovo, Acer, etc simply put the components together in case and put their name on the outside. The components are basically the same; only the names on the outside change. I have no brand preference.
So what kind of computer do I use? Over the years, I have never paid for a “name brand” computer. Because of my background, I only call for support if it is warranty related. I use the “extra money” that I would have spent on this “hidden” cost to put more into the system. I feel confident that I can provide the same level of support as the person who is picking up the toll free number offered by the big names. Although this is my preference, this is most likely not your case (or you wouldn’t be reading an article based on what kind of computer should I buy). Because you have questions, I would lean on the company that provides the best warranty and service.
IP Conflict?
IP conflict?
I came in to work today to find that my DNS server has an “IP conflict” message appearing down in the system tray. Because I have my network configured to dish out IP addresses via a DHCP server, I knew what the problem was–someone had changed their network adapter settings to a static IP address and had set it to the same IP address as my DNS server.
Because my users do not have administrative rights to their desktop, I knew it could not be one of my users–it had to be a student who has administrative rights to their laptop.
We have had this problem in the past as students are always looking for ways to circumvent our network to bypass our proxy/firewall/filtering devices. This time, when manually setting their IP address to the same as our internal DNS server, anybody on the network who was looking for something on the Internet was requesting this student’s laptop to “resolve” the domain name (i.e. www.yahoo.com resolves to IP address 216.109.112.135) and this laptop did not know what do so it gives a “Page Cannot Be Displayed” error message. This laptop virtually halted our network because it was trying to reroute the internet requests through his computer and not through the properly configured DNS server!
After shutting down all of the wireless access points, I did subdue the issue and cut the culprit out of the path to the Internet. At this point, I am compelled to keep the wireless access points shut off until the students learn to “play by the rules.”
We, as a school, are committed to appropriate education. We have to provide appropriate guidance and protection for our students. Our school has installed the devices (proxy servers, filtering software, firewalls, etc) to help keep the “bad” stuff from our otherwise safe network. There will always be someone who will try to thwart the efforts that we strive to uphold (either from within or from the outside).
It is my duty to keep our investments safe–both our students and our network.