I highly recomend that you check out Sophos AntiVirus.
(www.sophos.com)
their software runs on tons of platforms and is truly awesome. plus their licensing agreement allows all your employees to use it on their home machines free of charge. Their administration client is great, their support is awesome, and the product does what it is supposed too.
Apart from Windows, mac, os/2, and openVMS, and even integrated Lotus Notes/Domino Scanning, Their Unix version works on the following platforms:
Solaris/SPARC
Solaris/Intel
Linux/Intel
Linux/Alpha
SCO OpenServer/Intel
SCO UnixWare/Intel
Digital Unix/Alpha (Compaq Tru64 Unix/Alpha)
AIX/PowerPC
FreeBSD/Intel
HP-UX/HP-PA
We work closely with a lot of government agancies and private corporations, and we are always calling them and letting them know that they have infected documents or mail servers or whatever... they never seem to know until we tell them, and we have never had a problem.
I am not an agent of or affiliated with Sophos in any way, I am just a satisfied sys-admin.
Document Management is _the_ way to go. but cheaper solutions that hummingbird and documentum are available.
Lotus Domino server with Dom.doc and Workflow can easily handle your requirements, a bit of Java or VB-like (lousscript) coding and you have some nice forms for cheking in/out documents. you can easily publish this system to the web also.
the wrokflow component isn't neccasary, but gives you way-cool benefits. and its easy to build workflows...
of course, if you live out here on the West Coast, you probably think that Lotus makes mail server software. you would be wrong, but that's the prevailing perception out here.
check it out, its easy to develop with, and very extensible.
The biggest issue with VSS is that it uses _client_ time when checking in/out documents...
other than accidental overwrites due to this "feature" when we first started using it, VSS is a usable system.
As long as everoyne synchronises with the same time-server, you are ok.
wor winnNT4/98 etc, i suggest you look into AboutTime (http://www.arachnoid.com/abouttime/) works for Win2000 too, and if you aren't running an active directory network, you will likely need to use it on your Win2000 clients
Try the Logitech Trackman Marble FX... it is Definately the way to go for this. Note that this has been my experience, and I in no way suggest that it is for everyone!
I have had tendonitis since I was 12 becaues of computing, and this is the only pointing device I can comfortably use. I have tride the Cirque glidepoint, and an unending number of "ergonomic" and other mice.
Pointing and clicking/dragging etc, simultaneously (with your hand it lesat!) is deceptively easy, I tend to put the thing in leftie mode even though I use my right hand, simply because it feels bore comfortable and doesnt hurt as much. I also lay my hand at roughly 30degrees off the main axis (the longest length of the trackball), rather than perfectly inline with its length... This also seems more comfortable to me
Again, the key is always, like any good doctor will advocate: take breaks! Human interfaces for computers are decidedly torturous and unnatural and not, despite excess marketing hype, ergonomic. Taking regular, or even irregular, breaks and sretching is the one true path to pain free computing.
Also, the Trackman Marble FX has at lesat 3 buttons (4 if you can get it to recognize it in Linux, I havent tried).
Im in a similar situation, I use Athabasca University from Alberta (Canada eh!) They let you start courses anytime in the year, and they you can rip through them at your own speed. their website is very extensive, and they respond to email in less than a day. course prices range a bit, but mine have averaged around $400CDn but that includes all materials, like text books and studyguides... at the current exchange rate, that isnt to shabby. =)
They have been reviewed as being one of the more credible distance education universities (i dont have the name of the last set of reviews that i read, sorry)
Many Universities and colleges offer their own distance education courses. Still more computer Science faculties are offering courses that are directed via the web.
Most Universities/colleges have a pre-approved transfer credit lists... ask the records services people or a course advisor. That might give you a good place to start from, especially if you want to attend a specific institute full-time at some point. (All the courses I take have been pre-approved for transfer credit with my od university, it really simplifies things)
I have been diagnosed with tendonitis in both wrists as well as mild CTS in my right.
The difference, AFAICT is in the type an location of the pain. Tendonitis seems to me to be more of a general 'the bottom half of my forarm is in searing pain' while CTS is much more localised to the actual wrist joint area on the underside.(where the tendon and sheath is most susceptible to stress) but the pain there is supposed to be 'minor' and is usually masked by tendonitis, its the tingly 'Sprite bubbles inside my fingers' thats the sign of serious nerve damage (ive never experionced this. But this is only my experience, and I'm no Doc. The cool zappy test to check for nerve damage is pretty cool, its like sticking your finger in a light socket, but they do it for longer than any sane human would.
I have avoided surgery because even with new techniques the success rate is, well, not good. But I am able to control the pain with proper positioning of my hands/arms/body and physio and massage. (Painkillers did me no good =)
Proper posture is key. the top of your arm should be in line with the top of your hand. This is the most 'neutral' position for your wrist as AFAIK. This goes for both mousing and typing.
Another problem is shoulder/neck/back position and especially feet placement! I find that if I hunch over or tense up my shoulders, or lounge without my feet placed on the floor in front of me, I end up comprimising my arm/wrist/hand position or tensing muscles that cause my tedonitis to flare up.
I switched to the Dvorak layout on a 'natural' style keyboard and it has helped, it keeps my hands relaxed and my fingers do the work... The keyboard is in tray that is angled down away from me slightly, and I do NOT use a wrist (crusher) rest, my hands float above where a wrist rest would be. I also use a Logitech TrackMan Marble FX with the buttons swapped (use my ring finger for normal click and thumb for secondary click).. man does THAT help. I've tried touchpads, but nothing beats the Marble FX.
Lots of breaks and massage has helped tons, and my Physiotherapist gave me lots of stretches.
Worse still, I had to have a tendon transfer operation on my left thumb after hurting it playing football. Let me tell you, surgery on anything in the hand/wrist area is not something I would look forward too. I had a specialist do this and if you dont baby your hands for twice as long as they tell you, then you will be worse off than when you started. I had a spill on my 6th week of recovery (supposedly in the 'safe zone') and it has never been the same. Physio is helping a lot though. Breaking down the scar tissue and replacing the lost muscle (actually, over-replacing it to supplement the weak hack job that the docs did and nature didnt...) ugh.br> take lots of breaks, do stretches, learn some Massage techniques to keep your muscles relaxed, sit properly and relax...
This "rock and scroll" thing seems silly. However, I do recall running across a hardware hack for Palm pilots that integrated an 'acceleration' sensor; it could detect the direction that the Palm was tilted - leading to similar applications (and a cool port of Onyx!). (I cant find the link, sorry!)
As for the limited size for writing and the eternal lust for the trekkie supercomputer-in-a-waffle PADD, checkout the CrossPad - Cross Pen Computing Group: Pad, it has limited handwriting recognition, and isnt really an organizer, but man, is it cool!
Slashdot Mirror
their software runs on tons of platforms and is truly awesome. plus their licensing agreement allows all your employees to use it on their home machines free of charge. Their administration client is great, their support is awesome, and the product does what it is supposed too.
Apart from Windows, mac, os/2, and openVMS, and even integrated Lotus Notes/Domino Scanning, Their Unix version works on the following platforms:
We work closely with a lot of government agancies and private corporations, and we are always calling them and letting them know that they have infected documents or mail servers or whatever... they never seem to know until we tell them, and we have never had a problem.
I am not an agent of or affiliated with Sophos in any way, I am just a satisfied sys-admin.
An old sig
a bit drops in
Lotus Domino server with Dom.doc and Workflow can easily handle your requirements, a bit of Java or VB-like (lousscript) coding and you have some nice forms for cheking in/out documents. you can easily publish this system to the web also.
the wrokflow component isn't neccasary, but gives you way-cool benefits. and its easy to build workflows...
of course, if you live out here on the West Coast, you probably think that Lotus makes mail server software. you would be wrong, but that's the prevailing perception out here.
check it out, its easy to develop with, and very extensible.
An old sig
a bit drops in
other than accidental overwrites due to this "feature" when we first started using it, VSS is a usable system.
As long as everoyne synchronises with the same time-server, you are ok.
wor winnNT4/98 etc, i suggest you look into AboutTime (http://www.arachnoid.com/abouttime/) works for Win2000 too, and if you aren't running an active directory network, you will likely need to use it on your Win2000 clients
An old sig
a bit drops in
An old sig
a bit drops in
Note that this has been my experience, and I in no way suggest that it is for everyone!
I have had tendonitis since I was 12 becaues of computing, and this is the only pointing device I can comfortably use.
I have tride the Cirque glidepoint, and an unending number of "ergonomic" and other mice.
Pointing and clicking/dragging etc, simultaneously (with your hand it lesat!) is deceptively easy, I tend to put the thing in leftie mode even though I use my right hand, simply because it feels bore comfortable and doesnt hurt as much. I also lay my hand at roughly 30degrees off the main axis (the longest length of the trackball), rather than perfectly inline with its length... This also seems more comfortable to me
Again, the key is always, like any good doctor will advocate: take breaks!
Human interfaces for computers are decidedly torturous and unnatural and not, despite excess marketing hype, ergonomic. Taking regular, or even irregular, breaks and sretching is the one true path to pain free computing.
Also, the Trackman Marble FX has at lesat 3 buttons (4 if you can get it to recognize it in Linux, I havent tried).
Good luck!!
An old sig
a bit drops in
Im in a similar situation, I use Athabasca University from Alberta (Canada eh!) They let you start courses anytime in the year, and they you can rip through them at your own speed.
their website is very extensive, and they respond to email in less than a day. course prices range a bit, but mine have averaged around $400CDn but that includes all materials, like text books and studyguides... at the current exchange rate, that isnt to shabby. =)
They have been reviewed as being one of the more credible distance education universities (i dont have the name of the last set of reviews that i read, sorry)
Many Universities and colleges offer their own distance education courses. Still more computer Science faculties are offering courses that are directed via the web.
Most Universities/colleges have a pre-approved transfer credit lists... ask the records services people or a course advisor. That might give you a good place to start from, especially if you want to attend a specific institute full-time at some point. (All the courses I take have been pre-approved for transfer credit with my od university, it really simplifies things)
I have been diagnosed with tendonitis in both wrists as well as mild CTS in my right.
/neck/back position and especially feet placement! I find that if I hunch over or tense up my shoulders, or lounge without my feet placed on the floor in front of me, I end up comprimising my arm/wrist/hand position or tensing muscles that cause my tedonitis to flare up.
The difference, AFAICT is in the type an location of the pain. Tendonitis seems to me to be more of a general 'the bottom half of my forarm is in searing pain' while CTS is much more localised to the actual wrist joint area on the underside.(where the tendon and sheath is most susceptible to stress) but the pain there is supposed to be 'minor' and is usually masked by tendonitis, its the tingly 'Sprite bubbles inside my fingers' thats the sign of serious nerve damage (ive never experionced this. But this is only my experience, and I'm no Doc. The cool zappy test to check for nerve damage is pretty cool, its like sticking your finger in a light socket, but they do it for longer than any sane human would.
I have avoided surgery because even with new techniques the success rate is, well, not good. But I am able to control the pain with proper positioning of my hands/arms/body and physio and massage. (Painkillers did me no good =)
Proper posture is key. the top of your arm should be in line with the top of your hand. This is the most 'neutral' position for your wrist as AFAIK. This goes for both mousing and typing.
Another problem is shoulder
I switched to the Dvorak layout on a 'natural' style keyboard and it has helped, it keeps my hands relaxed and my fingers do the work... The keyboard is in tray that is angled down away from me slightly, and I do NOT use a wrist (crusher) rest, my hands float above where a wrist rest would be. I also use a Logitech TrackMan Marble FX with the buttons swapped (use my ring finger for normal click and thumb for secondary click).. man does THAT help. I've tried touchpads, but nothing beats the Marble FX.
Lots of breaks and massage has helped tons, and my Physiotherapist gave me lots of stretches.
Worse still, I had to have a tendon transfer operation on my left thumb after hurting it playing football. Let me tell you, surgery on anything in the hand/wrist area is not something I would look forward too. I had a specialist do this and if you dont baby your hands for twice as long as they tell you, then you will be worse off than when you started. I had a spill on my 6th week of recovery (supposedly in the 'safe zone') and it has never been the same. Physio is helping a lot though. Breaking down the scar tissue and replacing the lost muscle (actually, over-replacing it to supplement the weak hack job that the docs did and nature didnt...) ugh.br>
take lots of breaks, do stretches, learn some Massage techniques to keep your muscles relaxed, sit properly and relax...
I too have been banished to the dark side (win).
I use goScreen, its a pager rather than a virtual screen thingy (is there a cool name for a virtual screen/desktop program?)
anway, goScreen has tons of great features in its latest incarnation (2.6) and it gives you a 30 day trial.
check out Andrew guryanovs' site
This "rock and scroll" thing seems silly.
However, I do recall running across a hardware hack for Palm pilots that integrated an 'acceleration' sensor; it could detect the direction that the Palm was tilted - leading to similar applications (and a cool port of Onyx!). (I cant find the link, sorry!)
As for the limited size for writing and the eternal lust for the trekkie supercomputer-in-a-waffle PADD, checkout the CrossPad - Cross Pen Computing Group: Pad , it has limited handwriting recognition, and isnt really an organizer, but man, is it cool!