Showed her how to access Zoo as a fileserver using MacOS or Windows, from home or office
Landscape Change Project: meeting
Met with team to review progress.
New Intel mac
Unpack, configure, install, test, migrate
Web Team meeting
Tatianna and I met informally for about an hour on Wednesday. These note are reproduced from memory, and may contain errors or ommisions..
Mostly, we enumerated a project list:
- Projects (partial list)
- update campus map
- web interface for UVM Web Template Publishing System
- Additional nesting of sub menus: programming and implementation strategy; visual look and feel
- e-commerce tools
- possible implementation and evaluation of of third-party Content Management/Change Authority/Workflow tools for top level pages
- additional capabilities/integration with Oracle Calendar and R-25 tools
- Maintenance and development of the current online catalogue developed in PHP/MySQL.
- Maintenance and development of University Search engine (Google appliance) layouts utilizing XSLT.
- Changes to UVM directory dependent on PeopleSoft/LDAP relationship
- undefined Crisis intervention
I informed Tatianna that, as per conversation between Wesley and Steve, ACS would prefer to work on projects on something of a contract basis: give Wesley a neatly defined project, Wesley completes, move to next. This may or may not prove workable; we both agreed that this will probably be an ever evolving relationship.
Time estimates and priorities have not yet been established. Wesley and Tatianna will give these some thought and brainstorm again in April (Wesley is out of town March 18-26; Tatianna is out of Town March 18-April 4).
Landscape Change Project: thinking
I’m currently giving serious consideration to a hashed asset store for the images, rather than /:/perkins/landscape/Addision or /:/perkins/landscape/photos/Addison/LS10560_000.jpg, something like
/asset_store/10/56/LS10560_000.jpg
/asset_store/10/56/LS10560_001.jpg
we can then dump all the other LS10560 related bitstreams in the same bucket.
Also might want to drop an XML file for each asset in there, too, for METS use, database rebuilding in the event of catastrophe, whatever. Got this idea from dSpace.
Landscape Change Project: meeting
Progress reports, planning roadmap.
Videoconferencing is still silly
Terry Reilly asked about desktop video conferencing for distance learning, which gave me a chance to review the current (and past) crop of "solutions."
The Chat Applications
Pro: AIM, MSN, etc. operate the "directory server" which facilitates connections by mapping familiar names, or screen names, to IP addresses.
Con: you need a screen name for that sevice, sometimes advertisement ridden, proprietary protocols, firewall issues
- ichat: still the best performance and most robust, but only between Mac and Mac. Full screen video
- MSN Messenger: Good performance and seemingly robust, but should be tested more. Fulll screen video. No Macintosh interoperability
- AIM Triton: couldn’t get video to work with iChat. Need another PC to try AIM to AIM video chat
- AIM 5.9: Works OK, but no full screen video.
- Yahoo Messenger: uses Webcams and VoIP, not necessarily in synch. Chris Moran warns it installs nasty stuff in wierd places
The open source applications
Pro: free, open source, Mac or PC, adhere to H.323 standards, so play well with polycom and codian and the like, and even old NetMeeting
Con: limited features, need other person’s IP address or an enterprise gatekeeper, questionable development.upgrade paths
- ohphonex: the Mac version. Will do full screen, may be replace by xmeeting
- OpenPhone: the PC version. Difficult to download/install, no full screen
Ongoing testing is planned, especially with these latter two as I try to cobble together a test gatekeeper.
Shoul also be noted that an iSight camera will indeed work with Windows (video, not sound, but that’s OK)
Media Techcats
Met with Holly, Judi, Paul, Harley, Malachi, and the media techcats to discuss policies, procedures, and the like. my notes:
1) introductions:
a) who are you (TechCats). I need everyone’s NetID for 2b below
malichi
wesley
sarah
Judi Bradley
jeremy
Graham
sean brown
paul philbin
harley blake
b) who am I (Wesley)
c) new schedule (need pdf or similar for website)
1-a) how to get paid
2) policies and procedures
a) log client interactions at https://www.uvm.edu/~techcats/tracks
b) log broken/misbehaving software/hardware at http://footprints.uvm.edu/
(in general most PC issues will be handled by J Bradley, most Mac issues by W Wright,
non-computer hardware R Wiberg)
c) use of CMD equipment for personal gain (i.e., you working on projects for non-UVM clients
in exchange for $) is not allowed
d) For most clients, iMovie/iDVD are the preferred video applications. Please don’t push
people toward Final Cut or DVD Studio Pro unless there are strong compelling reasons
we broke into a "what new stuff do we need" discussion
o 2 new Mac systems ($5000 each)
o scanners for macs
o new PC to replace the windows 98 machine
o fast networking
o a SAN ? (cit or us?)
o FCP studio ($500 per copy); Adobe CS2 ($250 per copy); iLife 6 ($70) for ‘old’ machine
3) Macintosh Configuration
a) After successful login, and as the Finder windows appear, the Macs are running background login scripts:
i) files whose modification date is more than two weeks old are deleted
ii) remaining Contents of Desktop, Documents, and Movies folders are set aside
iii) /Users/customer folder is replaced with fresh copy from "secret" fodler
iV) contents of Desktop, Documents, and Movies folders are returned to ?Users/customer
v) Applescript initiates connection to smb://zoofiles/homes (users home folder on zoo)
vi) if necessary, create Music and Pictures folders in user’s zoo directory. Music and Pictures Folders in
/Users/customer folder are aliases to these. This facilitates use of iPhoto and iTunes in iMovie
b) i have the admin password. you don’t. We need a backup.
c) if there is an application that must be installed that isn’t, enter details in footprints. I’ll
check it out and try to make it available
4) training — do you want it? What, when?
5) wires and cables: we’ll ask roger for some switch boxes
6) an anonymous comment-suggestions box
LRG MCU
Visited with Foster Nye to learn about their Codian MCU 4205 and associated video conferencing services. Don’t forget Foster’s phone number!
Cristina’s World Literature Class
One and one half hour Web Page (with Mozilla Composer) construction class