Supporting standardized EQ in a business takes enough co-ordination and time and effort... throwing in your random techno-gadgetry and virus/spyware laden personal laptop/desktop and I quit...
this KIT from Adafruit.com is an amazing package for learning the Arduino and basic circuits and how to control them with a microcontroller...with the basics learned from this kit there is a LOT you can use at the end of the day.
I'm not an EE, and started my foray into electronics 2 years ago... TAOE is WAY too deep for 90% of beginners simply because of the overwhelming mathematics in the text...the first 4 chapters however will get you started however before you get too intrenched into all of the mathematical-fu...at the same time I got the Mimms book...which was way too basic and left a lot to be desired in the explanation of WHY a circuit is built in a specific manner...
Really really really wish I could find some middle-ground...there are tons of excerpts on hundreds of websites for specific electronic applications, but even 'beginner kits' such as those from Adafruit and the like do not give detailed WHY's...but only how to solder the thing and perhaps make it do something nifty...
...so what's this "the 300-mile range of gasoline powered cars" garbage?...
My 1977 Fiat is upwards of a 400-mile range with a tiny 12 gallon tank...(heh just pre-empting the Fiat haters...)and that's without pushing it or towing it:)
Deciding I needed a PWM for a project, I wanted to build my own to learn about electronics...so I went to radio shack and bought their $79.99 Electronics Learning Lab.(this kit alone is HOURS of amusement and learning)...but what I learned quickly is that following the Mimms book was very wasteful...the explanations of what is happening is scant...the diagrams are great, but blinking leds and making buzzer noises just ISN'T practical to a freshman in High School(I've taught them Freshman computing and mentored them in many aspects of I.T.)...
Below are some sites I've come across searching for 'simple enough for a basic solderer' and with readily available components(strip parts out of busted old computer power supplies/vcrs/radios/etc)..
almost total conversion my @$$... happen to go there once a year... the MAJORITY of cars still use good 'ole CRUDE refined Unleaded... and they pay nearly 3x what we pay in the states for a tank of the texas tea
nothing particularly clever about entering 'how do I get past my school's content filter' into google search and clicking on one of the myriad of proxy sites that appear, and typing the censor'd address you wish to view into the input box and clicking 'go'
the real question is how much $$$ do you have budgeted for the support of these laptops... if you leave them wide open...expect a very very wide variety of "issues" with them...
lock them down and use the money spent to help off-set the costs of the infrastructure...
I support 2 schools, 1 with wi-fi and laptops and 1 without... the one without takes 1/3 the time in terms of support with student-use computers.
i.e. create a script to fetch updates and notify you via mail(or some other means) when they are downloaded and ready for installation.
create a script that analyzes log files(yes these things have all been done by many others and you can download them in tool-kits...but that's not the point)
create a script that updates other scripts dynamically based on what they find out...
I did the same after battling SPAM on my own for 3 years...
the Barracuda(I got the cheapest they had) b-slap'd the snot out of 99.9% of the incoming spam, as well as virus's in emails.
The higher-end models allow USERS to fine-tune their own incoming e-mails which in some organizations would definitely be an attractive feature...I was dealing with Teachers...thus I maintain control.
[i]says Marquis. "It's a symptom of the IT organization being unable to meet or even understand the needs of its customers," he says. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be happening." [/i]
Actually in short...the reason is because IT are often understaffed, are required to follow ridiculous internal legislation, and many times are under-funded, and required to maintain a certain level of security...the latter of which is often BREACHED by these so-called power-users...which are nothing more than people wanting control over everything they do...
Here's a news flash...employees are there to WORK FOR their employer...not themselves.
oh you mean like using your PC...buying no software, running nothing but an OS(although remote boot'n over the web would be kewl and slow)
and using things like GoogleApps..and the plethora of all the other 'Web 2.0' software out there?;) wait...that already happens...
there is very little that you can NOT do via 'the web' without owning any software yourself... and I'm not talking about using OSS on your personal computer at all.
This article is like saying web developers who wrote HTML for Mosaic shouldn't rewrite their code to fit ACTUAL standards, but rather modify their code to work best with Mosaic. IE is such bloat-ware to begin with, why don't they just have the browser analyze the code, and see which engine it will render with better, IE...,5,6,7,8,...
"The inbox you have today is based on what people send you, not what you want to see," says Brad Garlinghouse, who runs communication and community products for Yahoo. "We can say, here are the messages from the people you care about most." The INBOX I have today is the same I had 6 yrs ago...and I see what I want to see, organized HOW I want to see it... get a real email client and you get control over WHAT YOU WANT...instead of having some stupid inaccurate algorithm GUESS at it for you.
Slashdot Mirror
Supporting standardized EQ in a business takes enough co-ordination and time and effort...
throwing in your random techno-gadgetry and virus/spyware laden personal laptop/desktop and I quit...
this KIT from Adafruit.com is an amazing package for learning the Arduino and basic circuits and how to control them with a microcontroller...with the basics learned from this kit there is a LOT you can use at the end of the day.
I'm not an EE, and started my foray into electronics 2 years ago... TAOE is WAY too deep for 90% of beginners simply because of the overwhelming mathematics in the text...the first 4 chapters however will get you started however before you get too intrenched into all of the mathematical-fu...at the same time I got the Mimms book...which was way too basic and left a lot to be desired in the explanation of WHY a circuit is built in a specific manner...
Really really really wish I could find some middle-ground...there are tons of excerpts on hundreds of websites for specific electronic applications, but even 'beginner kits' such as those from Adafruit and the like do not give detailed WHY's...but only how to solder the thing and perhaps make it do something nifty...
this should include ALL HARDWARE/SOFTWARE IP as well!!
...so what's this "the 300-mile range of gasoline powered cars" garbage?...
My 1977 Fiat is upwards of a 400-mile range with a tiny 12 gallon tank...(heh just pre-empting the Fiat haters...)and that's without pushing it or towing it :)
spiceworks?
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/11/20/the-diy-3-penny-radio/
the 3 penny radio ;)
Deciding I needed a PWM for a project, I wanted to build my own to learn about electronics...so I went to radio shack and bought their $79.99 Electronics Learning Lab.(this kit alone is HOURS of amusement and learning)...but what I learned quickly is that following the Mimms book was very wasteful...the explanations of what is happening is scant...the diagrams are great, but blinking leds and making buzzer noises just ISN'T practical to a freshman in High School(I've taught them Freshman computing and mentored them in many aspects of I.T.)...
Below are some sites I've come across searching for 'simple enough for a basic solderer' and with readily available components(strip parts out of busted old computer power supplies/vcrs/radios/etc)..
http://www.electronics-lab.com/projects/audio/023/index.html
something fun and useful...a 'hearing aid' =) ... the entire site is useful
http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/
some things more complex...
http://sci-toys.com/index.html
fun and educational .. some real easy stuff...and some more challenging stuff...
Hope this post ranks high enough for you to find it.
I've used Spiceworks for multiple smaller sites and it works well...
Cacti was a pain to configure for every client(tried it first)...IMO
I did...
there were no backdoors...
about 5 front doors, 2 sliding glass doors, 1 pocket door and 3 sets of french doors(ptooey!)...but no back doors were evident.
toilet paper sensors..warning which stalls are nearly out.
notification of who didn't wash their hands after using the restroom
notification of when the coffee pot is nearly empty.
dupe'd slashdot articles
latest site brought to a screeching halt due to the /. effect
tracking the U.S. deficit in real-time
almost total conversion my @$$...
happen to go there once a year...
the MAJORITY of cars still use good 'ole CRUDE refined Unleaded...
and they pay nearly 3x what we pay in the states for a tank of the texas tea
oh right is correct... ;)
you didn't have the internet...
and the worst you likely did have was Leisure Suit Larry UnCensored
or were you the rich kid with a 2400 baud modem?!?
and a subscription to the local BBS?!?
I doubt the students will have the know how to hack linux.
you don't think they know how to do a google search for 'how do I hack linux' ???
you apparently neither have kids, or work with them...their resourcefulness would astound you!
nothing particularly clever about entering 'how do I get past my school's content filter' into google search and clicking on one of the myriad of proxy sites that appear, and typing the censor'd address you wish to view into the input box and clicking 'go'
the real question is how much $$$ do you have budgeted for the support of these laptops...
if you leave them wide open...expect a very very wide variety of "issues" with them...
lock them down and use the money spent to help off-set the costs of the infrastructure...
I support 2 schools, 1 with wi-fi and laptops and 1 without... the one without takes 1/3 the time in terms of support with student-use computers.
i.e. for bash scripting:
give yourself some common tasks:
create scripts for them...
i.e. create a script to fetch updates and notify you via mail(or some other means) when they are downloaded and ready for installation.
create a script that analyzes log files(yes these things have all been done by many others and you can download them in tool-kits...but that's not the point)
create a script that updates other scripts dynamically based on what they find out...
http://www.hydrorunner.com/products.html
this might be why it won't happen in the near future...
I did the same after battling SPAM on my own for 3 years...
the Barracuda(I got the cheapest they had) b-slap'd the snot out of 99.9% of the incoming spam, as well as virus's in emails.
The higher-end models allow USERS to fine-tune their own incoming e-mails which in some organizations would definitely be an attractive feature...I was dealing with Teachers...thus I maintain control.
[i]says Marquis. "It's a symptom of the IT organization being unable to meet or even understand the needs of its customers," he says. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be happening." [/i]
Actually in short...the reason is because IT are often understaffed, are required to follow ridiculous internal legislation, and many times are under-funded, and required to maintain a certain level of security...the latter of which is often BREACHED by these so-called power-users...which are nothing more than people wanting control over everything they do...
Here's a news flash...employees are there to WORK FOR their employer...not themselves.
for a multi-billionaire to call for....
not so easy for the rest of us.
oh you mean like using your PC...buying no software, running nothing but an OS(although remote boot'n over the web would be kewl and slow)
;)
and using things like GoogleApps..and the plethora of all the other 'Web 2.0' software out there?
wait...that already happens...
there is very little that you can NOT do via 'the web' without owning any software yourself...
and I'm not talking about using OSS on your personal computer at all.
Lynx and Links both! I Love 'em!
:(
and yeah FF can bloat if you don't configure...
IE you CAN'T configure...
This article is like saying web developers who wrote HTML for Mosaic shouldn't rewrite their code to fit ACTUAL standards, but rather modify their code to work best with Mosaic. ...,5,6,7,8,...
IE is such bloat-ware to begin with, why don't they just have the browser analyze the code, and see which engine it will render with better, IE
get a real email client and you get control over WHAT YOU WANT...instead of having some stupid inaccurate algorithm GUESS at it for you.