Wow! I can certainly tell summer has arrived! I have been running all over the place for the last week and a half, not even taking time to make notes here. I have a few moments, so I thought I would catch everyone up.
March 28 - Memorial Day, Office Closed
March 29 - Drove to Bradley to help with moving user home folders. That was not good. For some reason, changes to the active directory are not getting rolled out to the users. I am still trying to figure that one out. I had to change everyone's home folder redirection back to the old server and set their home folders back in the profiles. What's weird is that the profiles connected their home folder and mapped it. But, Windows would never update the group policy to the location for My Documents. I thought I had conflicting policies somewhere, but everything I did checked out. And, *NEW* users would get the redirect. I understand I may have to delete local profiles, and I am not looking forward to that at all.
March 30 - Apple Products Demo - Looked at iTunesU, iBooks, iBooks Author, MDM, Lion, and other Apple offerings. In the afternoon, participants looked at Casper for MDM and talked about tablet rollouts, summer projects, etc.
March 31 - Began updating iMacs in lab to Snow Leopard 6.8 in preparation for Lion/Mtn Lion rollout. Hit major bandwidth snags. Performed other duties as well - helping out with tech in other workshops, etc.
June 1 - Office closed, but I came in to check on iMac update progress. Not good. So, I got a few started instead of doing whole lab.
June 4 - Came back into office early, started updates again. Also changed firewall to allow al traffic to Apple without scanning. That helped immensely and immediately. By day's end, most Macs were well on way to updating. Left it run over night. During the day, I helped get workshops going, found a problem with an AeroHive device and got it back up and going again. Other tech duties kept me running all day long.
June 5 - Tuesday all Macs were updated. One had the "infinite login loop." So, after I helped get workshops started, I concentrated on getting that Mac up and going. None of the tips I found online worked. I left the day trying to reinstall OS X. I copied Windows XP from one Parallels to external drive, which I then transferred to a "spare" machine.
June 6 - Came in to find the reinstall did not fix the issue. Evidently, it just tried to "fix" what was broken and missed. So, I put the "spare" in its place and moved the non-working machine to another location to work on it. In the meantime, I got workshops going then used an external hard drive to make a Time Machine backup. When that was done, I used that backup to restore the errant iMac. That worked perfectly (after some minor reconfiguration to prevent duplicate names, etc, on the network). For the record, the Mac that went bad after the update was the only Mac in the lab that actually required a login. All the other Macs were set to auto login. Also - I have *NOT* restarted the other Macs because we have APSCN training all week in that lab. if ain't broke, I ain't fixing it until I need to!
June 7 - I will help get workshops going and then we have the retirement program for Lindy and Nell. I will take care of other issues as needed during the day, as usual.
June 8 - Our offices are closed on Fridays in the summer.
Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional development. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Days go by
Tuesday - Traveled to Arch Ford Co-op for the monthly Specialists/Tech meetings and mini training sessions. Bob Cochenour and I did a session on things you can do in Google Mail. I had WAY too many things on the agenda, so we hit about half of those. We may do another session down the road some time.
Wednesday - The techs had a work day to figure out our grant proposals and the state tech plan. The meeting was held back at Arch Ford, but I attended over videoconference and Jana from Camden joined me here rather than drive all the way to Plumerville (2.5 hours+ drive each way).
Thursday - I've been working on my ISA server and looking at which servers can finally be put to rest. So far, I shut down two. I will move some resources from one of the servers and then either shut it down or consolidate resources from other servers onto it. I have spent any time not working on my servers helping Bradley with theirs. They have some weird email issue going on and I have been troubleshooting it remotely. I was supposed to go there today, but with my server acting a little off, I needed to kill two birds from one pond - or something like that.
There appears to be some kind of email spamming/blacklist issue, but they do not actually appear on any public blacklists. It's a mystery.
<hr>
For those interested, here are the rough notes of the Google Mail session:
Google Mail Tips and Tricks
Priority Messaging - Mail Settings > Inbox > Inbox Type (Classic, Important, Priority, etc)
Importance Markers - Mail Settings > Inbox > Show/Hide markers
Chat (Hide the Chat box) - Mail Settings > Chat > Chat: On or Chat: Off
Conversation View - Mail Settings > General > Conversation View: On or Conversation View: Off
Labels - Organize your email, can apply multiple labels to same message
Filters - Apply labels and perform other actions based on content, sender, etc (creating rules)
Use Labels, Filters and Archiving to organize your mail:
Create a label (Ex: Director)
Create a filter (Ex: Label all mail from boss as "Director" - from the previous step)
Skip Inbox (Do not show this message in the Inbox, but apply the label to show in labels list)
Archiving is *NOT* deleting! Archiving just 'hides' the message from your Inbox. Archived messages will still show up in searches and in labels.
Google Labs
Bob demonstrated/discussed several handy Google Labs items for mail:
The following items were *NOT* covered in the session due to time, but were on the agenda:
Advanced mail searching:
Use quotation marks- "meeting agenda" will return mail with those exact words in that exact order
Subject
- subject:Google Calendar *or* subject:"Google Calendar"
-- The first will retrieve subjects with "Google" or "Calendar"
-- the second will retrieve subjects that contain "Google Calendar" together
From (To: works the same way)
- From:<name> or From:<email@address.com> (Can also use quotes!)
-- From:David Henderson (All messages from any "David" or "Henderson"
-- From:"David Henderson" (All messages from David Henderson)
Find UNREAD messages- is:unread
-- Returns all email that has not been read yet!
Labels (Can use quotes!)
- label:<label name> <keyword(s)>
-- label:0_Lindy "pay raise"
-- label:"Disaster Recovery" approval
Filename
- filename:<filename.extension> *OR* filename:<extension>
-- filename:test.doc (all emails with test.doc attached)
-- filename:pdf (all emails with PDF attachments)
Attachments
- has:attachment (can be used with other search terms)
-- from:cooptc has:attachment
Use "AND," "OR," "-"- label:cooptc -has:attachment (all mail from COOPTC without attachments)
- from:"David Henderson" and filename:pdf (all pdfs from David Henderson)
Use "anywhere" to search ALL mail (including spam, trash, inbox, etc)- in:anywhere
-- in:anywhere from:phoebe (Searches all mail, labels, etc for mail from phoebe)
Specify special folders (inbox, trash, etc)- in:inbox
-- in:inbox subject:meeting (finds messages ONLY in the Inbox with "meeting" in subject)
Combine search areas and terms- label:e-rate OR from:becky.smith@somewhere.gov (All E-rate labeled messages plus all mail from becky)
- subject:e-rate from:becky.smith@somewhere.gov OR belinda.jones@somewhere.gov (Subject is E-rate AND the mail is either from Becky or Belinda)
Wednesday - The techs had a work day to figure out our grant proposals and the state tech plan. The meeting was held back at Arch Ford, but I attended over videoconference and Jana from Camden joined me here rather than drive all the way to Plumerville (2.5 hours+ drive each way).
Thursday - I've been working on my ISA server and looking at which servers can finally be put to rest. So far, I shut down two. I will move some resources from one of the servers and then either shut it down or consolidate resources from other servers onto it. I have spent any time not working on my servers helping Bradley with theirs. They have some weird email issue going on and I have been troubleshooting it remotely. I was supposed to go there today, but with my server acting a little off, I needed to kill two birds from one pond - or something like that.
There appears to be some kind of email spamming/blacklist issue, but they do not actually appear on any public blacklists. It's a mystery.
<hr>
For those interested, here are the rough notes of the Google Mail session:
Google Mail Tips and Tricks
Priority Messaging - Mail Settings > Inbox > Inbox Type (Classic, Important, Priority, etc)
Importance Markers - Mail Settings > Inbox > Show/Hide markers
Chat (Hide the Chat box) - Mail Settings > Chat > Chat: On or Chat: Off
Conversation View - Mail Settings > General > Conversation View: On or Conversation View: Off
Labels - Organize your email, can apply multiple labels to same message
Filters - Apply labels and perform other actions based on content, sender, etc (creating rules)
Use Labels, Filters and Archiving to organize your mail:
Create a label (Ex: Director)
Create a filter (Ex: Label all mail from boss as "Director" - from the previous step)
Skip Inbox (Do not show this message in the Inbox, but apply the label to show in labels list)
Archiving is *NOT* deleting! Archiving just 'hides' the message from your Inbox. Archived messages will still show up in searches and in labels.
Google Labs
Bob demonstrated/discussed several handy Google Labs items for mail:
- Auto-Advance (automatically move to next message)
- Background Send
- Default "Reply to All"
- Multiple Inboxes
- Preview Pane
- Right-side Chat
- Other Labs were covered as well, but time limitations kept me from keeping notes!
The following items were *NOT* covered in the session due to time, but were on the agenda:
Advanced mail searching:
Use quotation marks- "meeting agenda" will return mail with those exact words in that exact order
Subject
- subject:Google Calendar *or* subject:"Google Calendar"
-- The first will retrieve subjects with "Google" or "Calendar"
-- the second will retrieve subjects that contain "Google Calendar" together
From (To: works the same way)
- From:<name> or From:<email@address.com> (Can also use quotes!)
-- From:David Henderson (All messages from any "David" or "Henderson"
-- From:"David Henderson" (All messages from David Henderson)
Find UNREAD messages- is:unread
-- Returns all email that has not been read yet!
Labels (Can use quotes!)
- label:<label name> <keyword(s)>
-- label:0_Lindy "pay raise"
-- label:"Disaster Recovery" approval
Filename
- filename:<filename.extension> *OR* filename:<extension>
-- filename:test.doc (all emails with test.doc attached)
-- filename:pdf (all emails with PDF attachments)
Attachments
- has:attachment (can be used with other search terms)
-- from:cooptc has:attachment
Use "AND," "OR," "-"- label:cooptc -has:attachment (all mail from COOPTC without attachments)
- from:"David Henderson" and filename:pdf (all pdfs from David Henderson)
Use "anywhere" to search ALL mail (including spam, trash, inbox, etc)- in:anywhere
-- in:anywhere from:phoebe (Searches all mail, labels, etc for mail from phoebe)
Specify special folders (inbox, trash, etc)- in:inbox
-- in:inbox subject:meeting (finds messages ONLY in the Inbox with "meeting" in subject)
Combine search areas and terms- label:e-rate OR from:becky.smith@somewhere.gov (All E-rate labeled messages plus all mail from becky)
- subject:e-rate from:becky.smith@somewhere.gov OR belinda.jones@somewhere.gov (Subject is E-rate AND the mail is either from Becky or Belinda)
Friday, December 9, 2011
Updates for the week of December 9, 2011
Monday - Went to Blevins to install a new print server since DIS no longer provides those. The software that HP uses is VERY finicky and we eventually got into the JetDirect through Chrome or Firefox or something non-IE. In the meantime, the Epson 4000EX/FX/whatever has a problem in that the main power connector loses contact as the wide-carriage return jostles the printer all over the place. We think we got it stabilized, but I believe there is a serious manufacturing defect there.
Tuesday - Went to Arch Ford for mini sessions and state tech meeting. I will post those notes from my iPad this weekend.
Wednesday - Spent the day troubleshooting various issues and getting the ball rolling for Apple volume purchasing. What a nightmare THAT is, especially when you are the one person running it all - Apple doesn't like you to be the only one. Evidently, bureaucratic red tape is their comfort zone.
Thursday - Ran between CWT and CCSS for a while there. Helped folks get set up and going in each session then checked with CWT every once i a while since I was attending the common core institute. For the record, the CIV was awful as far as video quality. As for program content, the presenters are so well-versed in CCSS they forget the rest of us are still trying to figure out how to tread in the waters. It moved way too fast and was a bit scattered for some of the participants at our site. Phoebe put together a summary sheet that she mailed to the participants and we are building a 'clearinghouse' page to house the various and sundry sites.
Friday - I drove to Bradley to help with some technical issues. This included:
Tuesday - Went to Arch Ford for mini sessions and state tech meeting. I will post those notes from my iPad this weekend.
Wednesday - Spent the day troubleshooting various issues and getting the ball rolling for Apple volume purchasing. What a nightmare THAT is, especially when you are the one person running it all - Apple doesn't like you to be the only one. Evidently, bureaucratic red tape is their comfort zone.
Thursday - Ran between CWT and CCSS for a while there. Helped folks get set up and going in each session then checked with CWT every once i a while since I was attending the common core institute. For the record, the CIV was awful as far as video quality. As for program content, the presenters are so well-versed in CCSS they forget the rest of us are still trying to figure out how to tread in the waters. It moved way too fast and was a bit scattered for some of the participants at our site. Phoebe put together a summary sheet that she mailed to the participants and we are building a 'clearinghouse' page to house the various and sundry sites.
Friday - I drove to Bradley to help with some technical issues. This included:
- Helping the tech re-establish printer connectivity with several machines. After I had done the first two, I showed her how to do it - teach her to fish, as it were.
- Helping the tech get her firewall rebooted according to an email from the tech support folks she deals with. It is Linux based, so some of the commands were a bit foreign to the tech. We got it going, though.
- Working with the tech and a vendor to purchase SQL Server Standard for a new program the district wants to implement. To say the least, that was the hardest part of the day, only because the vendor could not wrap his brain around what we wanted. Also, it appears the vendor never processed the PO for SQL Server. Yoy.
- Examining the distance learning lab. They have a touch panel that has gone out. I re-routed several cables and connections to get them up and going, but we will need a few more parts to completely disengage the touch panel and the control unit attached to it. As it is, though, the faciliatator can use almost every function.
- Attempting to install Smart Notebook on a computer but it needed XP SP3, so the tech was going to take care of that
- We also talked about 470's, P1, P2, and other E-Rate related items.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
08/09/11
Had a great time with the Lafayette County Schools Elementary teachers today! Similar to yesterday's workshop: Triptico, Digital Sandbox, iPod/iPad Apps, JeopardyLabs, MangaHigh (Lite versions for Elem). It's hard to get people OUT of their seats! This was one tech workshop that wasn't "sit-n-get" man!! :-)
Returned to Co-op to train some staff on troubleshooting the multi-conference room arrangement.
Returned to Co-op to train some staff on troubleshooting the multi-conference room arrangement.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
08/02/2011
Tuesday - Taught a workshop covering Arkansas iTunesU, ArkansasIDEAS, and the Arkansas Digital Sandbox.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
July 18, 2011
I spent the day teaching iPad Apps for Education to a group of 25 participants. I will edit this post later and put in some of the apps we covered.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
7/12/2011
I have to go back and post Monday's work info.
Tuesday, I taought a six-hour workshop on Arkansas Ideas portal. It went VERY well (after we fixed a few logins) and the participants loved the online courses available to them. Many said they would take classes outside of required credit hours just for the knowledge and info alone! Awesome!
Tuesday, I taought a six-hour workshop on Arkansas Ideas portal. It went VERY well (after we fixed a few logins) and the participants loved the online courses available to them. Many said they would take classes outside of required credit hours just for the knowledge and info alone! Awesome!
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