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New Teacher MAC Computer in Coed037 with Final Cut Pro 3

  1. A new Mac Mini on the teacher podium was installed today in Coed037.mac-mini-rear
    1. Because of case size difference, the new Mac Mini had to be installed on the right side wall of the podium, unlike the old one which was smaller and fit on the keyboard tray.
    2. It is still switched through the podium as before: CIMG0059
    3. For logging in, use the generic, not your personal account.
    4. Standard current ITS MAC image.
  2. Final Cut Pro 3
    1. was installed into the image, and run.
    2. Media components (Audio content, Motion content) allegedly have also been included in this install.
  3. We also added MPEG Streamclip 1.9.2. Note, however, that the non-beta version does not have the YouTube.com download capability mentioned here earlier (you will get this error  more focused): CIMG0051
      1. Because of podium monitor incompatibility, we could not increase the screen resolution to the minimum 1280*800 required Final Cut Studio 3. CIMG0036We nevertheless were able to start Final Cut pro. You can permanently bypass this warning dialog if you see it, and report problems. CIMG0037-screen-resolution
  4. We also permanently bypassed this firewire error: CIMG0041
  5. And here is the result: CIMG0042

Film-and-media-collection.xlsx online database under construction

2011/10/13 1 comment

Sneak preview (larger view here) of the searchable online database with internet background information lookup (Note: work in progress, hard-“head” area!):

Friends of the UNCC-LRC can open this link in Excel-web-app (in your web browser, internet explorer or Firefox): https://skydrive.live.com/edit.aspx?cid=0025C841818181C2&resid=25C841818181C2%21164

More than one LRC assistant can edit the sheet at the same time, just not the same cell. so: if there is more than 1 lab assistant on duty, the one whose first name is closer to the end of the alphabet starts from the bottom row of the spreadsheet and works her way up

Click on the link “try UPC lookup”,

On the page that opens, if there is a picture of the movie with “buy from amazon”, right click on the link to amazon.com, select “copy shortcut”, and paste the shortcut into the column “buy from amazon”

Find the original movie title on the page, copy it into spreadsheet  column “UPC title original”,

If there is title English translation, copy it into “UPC title English translation”

Click on link “try worldcat”,  do the same as above with the spreadsheet columns “ISBN title original” and “translation”,

How to validate an ISBN checksum with an MS-Excel formula

excel-inventory.xls-isbn-check-formula

 

(Sorry, no Excel option in the sourcecode formatter on WordPress)

How we provide more computer support for walk-up clients at the LRC reception desk

  1. We have set up 3 PCs at the reception desk. They all contain an exactly identical software configuration (based on Symantec Ghost imaging and Faronics Deepfreeze).
  2. Except that two (we could not get hold of another monitor) have a secondary screen connected that can extend the Windows Desktop, or mirror it (use CTRL-ALT-F11 and CTRL-ALT-F10 to switch between the modes of the )
  3. coed433-CIMG0001 Stitch
  4. coed433-CIMG0016 (2) Stitch
  5. To aid in this communication over the counter, press CTRL-2 to freeze and on the screen (uses MS-ZoomIt) which helps when pointing out screen elements.
  6. So that LRC staff and clients can both use the university’s most important web applications,  the computers have been configured to automatically launch a number of web browsers on startup, and within each browser, open a number of home pages with(LRC website, Moodle, NINERNET, faculty&staff Mail, WordPress, Excel Web App with he LRC databases for hardware, software, media and learning materials inventories). (When done, instead of closing the browser, use the “sign out” link of each web application).
  7. As a reminder, the most basic instructions (with keyboard shortcuts) have been posted on both primary and secondary monitor.  
  8. Can we also implement a screen sharing solution allowing for MS-remote assistance, to enable reception desk LRC staff to escalate client questions they cannot resolve, like our IT department?

Meta: WordPress Categories–what are they good for?

wordpress-categories

Not for AND-searches, as a matter of fact.

How to remove the Calendar by editing the Joomla Menus

  1. JEvent was planning to add the capability of loading  ICS for 1.6, but we are running 1.5 and we seem to fade it out instead of upgrading it. It is better anyway for clients use their personal communication environment to personalize the events they need to know about, instead of going to a one-size-fits-all website. So we are removing this menu item. Here is how:
  2. In the Joomla Administrator Control Panel, click on the Menu Manager:joomla-menu-manager
  3. Locate the menu item that you want to remove in the hierarchy.
  4. Open the Menu item – from here you can joomla-menu-editor
    1. either “unpublish” the menu
    2. or, lest you confuse your users, change the type to a page and post an explanation and directions where users can get the information they want in a better way.
    3. replace the Calendar by an Article, then choose first the article format, then the article (article has to exist, you have to author it before editing the menu):joomla-menu-editor-article
    4. Result: joomla-menu-editor-article-result

LRC Outlook/Exchange 2010 Resource Calendaring: How LRC staff can group calendars in Outlook 2010

2011/09/28 1 comment
  1. You can save the currently loaded calendars as a preset or “group” from the ribbon in the calendar view of outlook 2010, like so: menu-calendar-group
  2. The group and its members will be added to your calendar tree, and you can load all members with one click, like so:tree-calendar-group
  3. Then you can create multiple presets which correspond to your typical workflows: E.g. when you do not have to check the availability of equivalent sets of equipment, you may want to have an easy overview of staffing in the LRC:   tree-calendar-group-rrooms staffing
  4. Note that – while we have to load individually the calendars of other mailboxes we own –, calendar groups we create in Outlook are automagically mirrored in OWA
    1. But the calendar names get lost in the process? And: the batch select checkbox is missing. And: only up to 5 calendars can be viewed in OWA simultaneously. And: OWA does not support overlay mode for calendars.): owa-tree-calendar-group
    2. It would be great if calendar groups, with the help of ActiveSync, even worked their way through to mobile devices, but apparently they do not: webos-exchange-calendars

LRC Outlook/Exchange 2010 Resource Calendaring: How to display a Room/Staff/Tutor calendar aggregate at the reception desk using live@edu

2011/09/28 1 comment
  1. The LRC needs an overview aggregate calendar of its many rooms and services for clients in the entrance area. This should be always on display on the higher one of the reception area dual screen computers when screens are in extended mode
  2. From the calendar mailbox in OWA , these calendars can and have been published to the internet.
    1. LRC assistants can load and bookmark multiple (published or shared) calendars in their OWA, but there are limitations
      1. We do not want to clutter LRC Assistants OWA with LRC calendars more than we have to.
      2. OWA displays calendars (currently = 2011) only side-by-side, there is no overlay (=aggregate) mode like in Outlook 2010, and only up to 5 simultaneously, again unlike Outlook 2010 (30) (Students do not have Outlook (although it is being considered installing it on student staffed computers).
    2. A standard web browser allows for display of only one (HTML) calendar at a time in a web browser.
    3. ICS compatible applications like live@edu
    1. can display many (=aggregate) ICS-based calendars in overlay mode.
    2. In addition, it is easy to change the display color (like in Outlook 2010) and display color (unlike in Outlook 2010, for me at least).
    3. In live@edu, this looks promising:
    4. uncc-lrc-calendar-aggregation-with-names
    5. To display more meaningful/less misleading subjects than “Busy” for pseudo-rooms (“offices” like LRC assistants or  language tutors), add a subject (office name “LRC Assistant”or max class-level tutored).
    6. To have LRC assistants easily and consistently load this aggregate calendar view,
      1. we need to give tutors the password to uncc-lrc credentials  – being “friends”  not enough (which makes their own access to SkyDrive which we finally achieved yesterday useless –  unless they log in as themselves and as uncc-lrc in 2 different browsers)
      2. However, I have not found a way to aggregate calendar ics files and display them without password (ideally in Joomla)
      3. Workaround: use a AutoIT auotmation script that runs when LRC Assistant logs in form the All users Startup Folder.