Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Files! Files! Files!
I've done a bad job this quarter of sharing with you Powerpoint slides that go along with our lessons. If you're unfamiliar with this practice, I usually print out these slides and let you do whatever you wish with them (study them, burn them, birdcage filler), but this quarter for some reason, I've just let them fall by the wayside.
Because of this, I'm in the process of uploading all of the files from my three classes where this is appropriate. Since there are so many files, I've sorted them into folders. Scroll down a bit, and they're located on the right.
Enjoy!
If you're in one of my Exchange classes, you'll notice that Chapters 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are missing. These files are larger than 10MB, and are too big to be uploaded to my box.net account. Sorry!
Because of this, I'm in the process of uploading all of the files from my three classes where this is appropriate. Since there are so many files, I've sorted them into folders. Scroll down a bit, and they're located on the right.
Enjoy!
If you're in one of my Exchange classes, you'll notice that Chapters 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are missing. These files are larger than 10MB, and are too big to be uploaded to my box.net account. Sorry!
MS Exchange - 11/27/2007
Tonight we covered Chapters 7 and 8, which dealt with IMAP, POP3 and SMTP servers and requiring their secure use via SSL. Next week, we'll take the final, and
that
is
it.
Homework:
that
is
it.
Homework:
- Study!
A+ Hardware/Software - 11/27/2007
Today we covered the last chapter in the book -- Chapter 13, which covers security and preventive maintenance. We learned about users and groups, about file encryption, viruses and spyware and that you're supposed to open your computer to blow out all the dust once a month. OK, maybe that's a little much, but still, blow it out every now and then, good grief people. Just make sure that you're away from other computers when you do it, since pounds of dust can leave one computer and land comfortably in another.
After all that hee-haw, we sat down to take Checkpoint Exam #2. There was only an 18 point curve (compared to 20-30 points in the past), which means you guys did an exceptional job. This is evidenced by the fact that I don't have to see anyone next week for a final!! Woo! Sleep in on Tuesday! (A first for A+ classes!)
Homework:
After all that hee-haw, we sat down to take Checkpoint Exam #2. There was only an 18 point curve (compared to 20-30 points in the past), which means you guys did an exceptional job. This is evidenced by the fact that I don't have to see anyone next week for a final!! Woo! Sleep in on Tuesday! (A first for A+ classes!)
Homework:
- Continue studying for your A+ certification. Just because you're finished with my class doesn't mean you're finished, ya know.
- Have a happy holiday! I'll see all of you on January 14.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Server+ - 11/26/2007
Tonight was Checkpoint#2, covering Chapters 6 - 9. Grades were given, and I'll see a few of you next week for the final. Make sure you study hard!
Homework:
Homework:
- Study!!!
MS Exchange - 11/26/2007
Chapter Seven, covering Virtual Servers, was covered. Virtual Servers work hand in hand with clustered server nodes, allowing us to switch an important service (such as POP3 or IMAP4) from a node that might be down to another, better suited one easily and simply.
Provided replication works.
Homework:
Provided replication works.
Homework:
- Study for the final, if you have to take it!
Strategies for Success - 11/26/2007
We celebrated the last day of class today by presenting our collages of where we see our lives in 5 years. Great job!
Now, that we've gotten the basic tenants of our own positive self-think down pat, let's not minimize them in our lives. We (Draughons) have you take this course so that you might apply its strategies to school and be a more successful (get the name?) student. Don't simply apply this to your educational career, but apply it to your entire life. I think you'll be surprised just how beneficial such thinking can be towards your goals and your successes.
Since no one is electing to go the computer-dork route, this is probably where we will part ways. Don't be a stranger! Pop in and say hi sometime!
Now, that we've gotten the basic tenants of our own positive self-think down pat, let's not minimize them in our lives. We (Draughons) have you take this course so that you might apply its strategies to school and be a more successful (get the name?) student. Don't simply apply this to your educational career, but apply it to your entire life. I think you'll be surprised just how beneficial such thinking can be towards your goals and your successes.
Since no one is electing to go the computer-dork route, this is probably where we will part ways. Don't be a stranger! Pop in and say hi sometime!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A+ Hardware/Software - 11/20/2007
Chapter 12 was the topic of the day, and we covered several Windows 2000 and XP features today. Included in the list was CHKDSK, Disk Defragmenter, Computer Management, Device Manager, Driver Rollback, Last Known Good Configuration, Recovery Console, Emergency Repair Disk, Remote Desktop, Remote Assistance, and upgrading from Windows 98 to Windows XP. The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (FAST Wizard) was also covered.
Homework:
Homework:
- No homework per se, but we're having a checkpoint exam next week. Make sure you study!!!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Server+ - 11/19/2007
Tonight we did double duty by covering two (count 'em, two!) chapters: chapter 8 and 9. There is no specific homework, but since we're winding down the class, make sure you STUDY HARD for the upcoming Checkpoint exam over chapters 6 - 9.
Homework
Homework
- Study for the Checkpoint Exam!
MS Exchange - 11/19/2007
Today we covered Chapter Six - Public Folders. Public folders are Exchange's implementation of "newsgroups", which run on the NNTP protocol. Exchange calls these groups "folders" and you can "post" various types of items in them for others to use. Think of them like virtual bulletin boards.
Homework:
Homework:
- Chapter 6: 1-9, odd.
Strategies for Success - 11/19/2007
Today we turned in our portfolios, and guys, they were all great! I offered some suggestions on how to improve them. Keep these portfolios with you as you finish up DJC and be sure to take them with you on job interviews, etc.
Afterwards, we worked on our collages for next week. Remember, the collages will show the class where you will be in five years.
Homework:
Afterwards, we worked on our collages for next week. Remember, the collages will show the class where you will be in five years.
Homework:
- Finish your collages
- Next week is the last week of class! Woo!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
An Experiment in Productivity
As far as IT-topics go, I guess this is technically off-topic, but as busy professionals we can all afford to be more efficient in our time. As a student of Covey, I'm keenly aware of how non-important tasks can hide behind a sense of "urgency" and detract us away from what we really need to be doing. Because of that, I've been wary of web-based solutions to our time management problems. After all, simply by being on the computer researching these solutions, aren't we really just wasting more time?
That being said, there are some solutions that I've found to be worth their while and I've found that they do shrink the amount of daily time I'm spending on the computer. Which means I have time to do other more important stuff! :)
Turn Your Flash Drive Into a Portable Computer
Well, sort of. I use no less than four different computers each week, so a big time waster for me was figuring out where exactly my most used web sites were. A lot of times, I would find myself just Googling the site, trying to find it -- if that even worked. And more often than not, I would just find myself mindlessly surfing on somewhere else.
I could solve this, of course, by carrying around my laptop with me, but since a) I ride my bike a lot and b) I'm clumsy as all get-out, that's not a real viable option. Plus, my wife likes to use the laptop during the day.
I use my jump drive instead. A little program I discovered a few months back, PortableApps, allows you to install full programs onto your jump drive. With most drives available today having a capacity over 1GB, it's easy to install extremely useful apps onto your drive and run them on whatever computer you happen to be on. Any favorites you have travel along with your browser that's installed on the drive! The only downside is that half of the computers I use are still running USB 1.1, so speed can be an issue. But, I'm supposed to be working at work, right? ;)
The main program I use on this jump drive is Firefox. If you don't know already, Firefox is an open source web browser that directly competes with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. I've been more of a fan of Maxthon Web Browser, which uses IE as an engine, but doesn't have all the problems, yadda yadda of IE7. I'm wont to change, and I've been on Maxthon for well over a year, so it's time for Ben to swap up. That, and the fact that Firefox has cooler extensions than Maxthon. More on some of these really cool extensions in a minute.
Make Your Favorites Come To You
I have about 20 or so sites I like to visit every day, which is more often than most of them are updated. Visiting 20 web sites only to find that 5 actually have anything new on them is a huge time waster. The solution to this problem is, of course, to know before visiting a site if there are any updates. Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, helps us achieve this. All you need is an RSS reader and the know-how to configure it to look at an RSS-enabled web site (Ben's Blog is one such site) and tell you if any new content has arrived.
Although it's not the best solution out there, I'm a big fan of Google Reader. The reason being is that it's web-based, and therefore accessible anywhere I can get an Internet connection -- with or without my jump drive. It's easy enough to set up, although Maxthon's built-in RSS reader was much easier to use.
Don't Skip Important Information for Mindless Information
Whenever a external link exists in a web document, the author risks his readers leaving the site and never coming back. Plus, we leave the original document we were reading and look at something else, where we risk clicking yet another link and beginning the whole process again -- spiraling out of control for possibly hours.
But, if we just ignore those external links, we miss out on stuff too.
A Firefox extension from IdeaStorm called Read It Later makes working with outside links so much more efficient. With this tiny extension installed, you simply right click a link and choose "Read This Link Later". The extension drops the link into a "Stuff to Read Later" bin and then -- yep, you guessed it -- you can read it later. I've been able to digest so much more information in less time thanks to this plugin alone.
Sometimes Old Technology is Better Technology
As tempting as it can be, sometimes using tried and true tools is just better. For example, I played around with Google Notebook as a possible replacement for my Franklin-Covey planner, but man, paper is just FASTER. There are not boot times to wait for, and I can get to any particular date I need within a second or two -- faster than the time it takes to open a Web browser. So, unless you find yourself attached to a computer literally all day, I still recommend using paper-bound solutions that work for you. (I really recommend the Franklin-Covey system, by the way.)
Don't be Afraid of Change
If you already have a system in place or if you don't think you need one, be open to new ideas. Some ideas work great and shave a few minutes off of my daily grind, some add to it. Be open to new stuff and be prepared to ditch your old system if something new works better.
Now, back to work!
That being said, there are some solutions that I've found to be worth their while and I've found that they do shrink the amount of daily time I'm spending on the computer. Which means I have time to do other more important stuff! :)
Turn Your Flash Drive Into a Portable Computer
Well, sort of. I use no less than four different computers each week, so a big time waster for me was figuring out where exactly my most used web sites were. A lot of times, I would find myself just Googling the site, trying to find it -- if that even worked. And more often than not, I would just find myself mindlessly surfing on somewhere else.
I could solve this, of course, by carrying around my laptop with me, but since a) I ride my bike a lot and b) I'm clumsy as all get-out, that's not a real viable option. Plus, my wife likes to use the laptop during the day.
I use my jump drive instead. A little program I discovered a few months back, PortableApps, allows you to install full programs onto your jump drive. With most drives available today having a capacity over 1GB, it's easy to install extremely useful apps onto your drive and run them on whatever computer you happen to be on. Any favorites you have travel along with your browser that's installed on the drive! The only downside is that half of the computers I use are still running USB 1.1, so speed can be an issue. But, I'm supposed to be working at work, right? ;)
The main program I use on this jump drive is Firefox. If you don't know already, Firefox is an open source web browser that directly competes with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. I've been more of a fan of Maxthon Web Browser, which uses IE as an engine, but doesn't have all the problems, yadda yadda of IE7. I'm wont to change, and I've been on Maxthon for well over a year, so it's time for Ben to swap up. That, and the fact that Firefox has cooler extensions than Maxthon. More on some of these really cool extensions in a minute.
Make Your Favorites Come To You
I have about 20 or so sites I like to visit every day, which is more often than most of them are updated. Visiting 20 web sites only to find that 5 actually have anything new on them is a huge time waster. The solution to this problem is, of course, to know before visiting a site if there are any updates. Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, helps us achieve this. All you need is an RSS reader and the know-how to configure it to look at an RSS-enabled web site (Ben's Blog is one such site) and tell you if any new content has arrived.
Although it's not the best solution out there, I'm a big fan of Google Reader. The reason being is that it's web-based, and therefore accessible anywhere I can get an Internet connection -- with or without my jump drive. It's easy enough to set up, although Maxthon's built-in RSS reader was much easier to use.
Don't Skip Important Information for Mindless Information
Whenever a external link exists in a web document, the author risks his readers leaving the site and never coming back. Plus, we leave the original document we were reading and look at something else, where we risk clicking yet another link and beginning the whole process again -- spiraling out of control for possibly hours.
But, if we just ignore those external links, we miss out on stuff too.
A Firefox extension from IdeaStorm called Read It Later makes working with outside links so much more efficient. With this tiny extension installed, you simply right click a link and choose "Read This Link Later". The extension drops the link into a "Stuff to Read Later" bin and then -- yep, you guessed it -- you can read it later. I've been able to digest so much more information in less time thanks to this plugin alone.
Sometimes Old Technology is Better Technology
As tempting as it can be, sometimes using tried and true tools is just better. For example, I played around with Google Notebook as a possible replacement for my Franklin-Covey planner, but man, paper is just FASTER. There are not boot times to wait for, and I can get to any particular date I need within a second or two -- faster than the time it takes to open a Web browser. So, unless you find yourself attached to a computer literally all day, I still recommend using paper-bound solutions that work for you. (I really recommend the Franklin-Covey system, by the way.)
Don't be Afraid of Change
If you already have a system in place or if you don't think you need one, be open to new ideas. Some ideas work great and shave a few minutes off of my daily grind, some add to it. Be open to new stuff and be prepared to ditch your old system if something new works better.
Now, back to work!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A+ Hardware/Software - 11/13/2007
What a day!
Today we took a step back and covered Chapter 10, which was Windows essentials. We first went over the history of Windows to help us understand the benefit of current f eatures that we have and to understand where are and where we've come from. We then went over typical OS configuration scenarios that CompTIA will expect you to know for the A+ software exam, including network configuration (IP addresses, subnet masks, etc.), Administration Tools (like the Services console), Accessibility Tools (filter keys) and Power Options (when to power down HDDs and monitors).
We also played with Windows ME (bust) and Ubuntu 7.10 (notsomuch) and did an install of Windows 2000 (NT 5.0). Next week, we'll cover Chapter 12 and work on a Windows XP installation.
Homework:
Today we took a step back and covered Chapter 10, which was Windows essentials. We first went over the history of Windows to help us understand the benefit of current f eatures that we have and to understand where are and where we've come from. We then went over typical OS configuration scenarios that CompTIA will expect you to know for the A+ software exam, including network configuration (IP addresses, subnet masks, etc.), Administration Tools (like the Services console), Accessibility Tools (filter keys) and Power Options (when to power down HDDs and monitors).
We also played with Windows ME (bust) and Ubuntu 7.10 (notsomuch) and did an install of Windows 2000 (NT 5.0). Next week, we'll cover Chapter 12 and work on a Windows XP installation.
Homework:
- Chapter 10 - Exam Questions 1-10
Monday, November 12, 2007
Server+ - 11/12/2007
Tonight, Clay was in heaven: we explored Linux. And while we unfortunately didn't get a whole lot of success in the installation of the OS, hopefully you got a good idea of what an alternate OS looks like and will be willing to install and play with some "distros" yourself.
We also discussed chapter 7, which covered the services and applications that are commonly used in server technology. This was largely a review from Network+ and the entry level MS classes, so hopefully no one was too lost. We'll have a mini-test next week over Chapters 6 and 7.
Homework:
We also discussed chapter 7, which covered the services and applications that are commonly used in server technology. This was largely a review from Network+ and the entry level MS classes, so hopefully no one was too lost. We'll have a mini-test next week over Chapters 6 and 7.
Homework:
- Study for your test
- Play with a "distro"
MS Exchange - 11/12/2007
Today was Checkpoint Exam #1, which covered chapters 1-5. We'll dig in next week on Chapter Six -- make sure you come prepared!! (Read!!)
Homework:
Homework:
- Read Chapter Six
Strategies for Success - 11/12/2007
Today we finished the last of the Lou videos, which took all the concepts we've been talking about all along and wrapping them up into one powerful punch: the idea of the wizards. You know, the whole Wizard of Oz thing where the "wizard" said, "Hey, smart people have degrees! You need a degree!" and wa-lah -- the scarecrow "becomes" smart. But not really, he was really smart all along, but couldn't see it, and only could see it once someone believed in him. Sometimes we are just like the scarecrow -- having all kinds of abilities to do things, but just need someone (sometimes ourselves) to tell us that yes, yes we can.
Remember that we can have both positive and negative wizards in our lives. Negative wizards are dangerous since they are EVERYWHERE and their simple statements a lot of time prohibit us from doing what we have the potential to do. Become a positive wizard!
And just because we're done with the Lou videos doesn't mean we're done with the class. Nope, we have a couple more weeks left. Here's what we have set:
11/19 (next week): JOURNALS ARE DUE!!!!! After I grade your journals, we will then work on our collages. The collages will be "What My Life Looks Like in 5 Years", and we'll have the entire rest of the class to work on these.
11/26 (two weeks): COLLAGES ARE DUE!!!!! This will be the last day of class. We will present the collages and well, that'll be all!
Homework:
Remember that we can have both positive and negative wizards in our lives. Negative wizards are dangerous since they are EVERYWHERE and their simple statements a lot of time prohibit us from doing what we have the potential to do. Become a positive wizard!
And just because we're done with the Lou videos doesn't mean we're done with the class. Nope, we have a couple more weeks left. Here's what we have set:
11/19 (next week): JOURNALS ARE DUE!!!!! After I grade your journals, we will then work on our collages. The collages will be "What My Life Looks Like in 5 Years", and we'll have the entire rest of the class to work on these.
11/26 (two weeks): COLLAGES ARE DUE!!!!! This will be the last day of class. We will present the collages and well, that'll be all!
Homework:
- Finish up your journals
- Be thinking about collage possibilities
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Remote Desktop with a Twist
Those of you who have gone through the XP Pro class will hopefully remember our experience with Remote Desktop. If you don't remember, Remote Desktop is a Windows-integrated way of connecting and controlling a computer that is not in front of you. It brings the desktop of that computer to yours and it's an incredibly convenient way of administering computers easily without having to install and configure a bunch of software -- you simply throw a check into a checkbox upon client install and then later, you can remote into it.
Provided you have at least Windows 2000 SP3 or above, that is.
If you don't then, well, you have to install some other form of remote control -- which is easy enough to find. One of my favorites is VNC, which Draughons uses. The problem with these 3rd party programs is that they have to be installed -- it's so nice to have the capabilities built-in to the OS.
At Holy Trinity, we have computers running OSs as old as Windows 95 and as new as Vista, with all sorts of OSs in between. Since the school is a private one, many of the computers have been donated and there are little funds to upgrade the older computers. Which, when you consider their occaisional classroom use, is fine. I just can't remote in them to fix any problems. Waaahhh.
So, what I have to ask myself is: is it worth it for me to research and install a 3rd party remote control application and then walk around and install the software on every machine -- a very tedious process that makes you wish you could install the software remotely (which is the whole point of the install anyway! HA!)
Until today, the answer has been no. But today, I happened upon a piece of software that just might make it worth it.
The software is called iTALC (not to be confused with iCALC), and it allows me to remote into any computer running its client software. Yes, that does involve an "in-person" install. But! Here's what makes this package cooler... [taken from iTALC's website]
I plan on testing this (and ultimately using it) in my Vista lab to see if it's worth traveling around to each and every computer for installation. Hopefully, it will be.
Provided you have at least Windows 2000 SP3 or above, that is.
If you don't then, well, you have to install some other form of remote control -- which is easy enough to find. One of my favorites is VNC, which Draughons uses. The problem with these 3rd party programs is that they have to be installed -- it's so nice to have the capabilities built-in to the OS.
At Holy Trinity, we have computers running OSs as old as Windows 95 and as new as Vista, with all sorts of OSs in between. Since the school is a private one, many of the computers have been donated and there are little funds to upgrade the older computers. Which, when you consider their occaisional classroom use, is fine. I just can't remote in them to fix any problems. Waaahhh.
So, what I have to ask myself is: is it worth it for me to research and install a 3rd party remote control application and then walk around and install the software on every machine -- a very tedious process that makes you wish you could install the software remotely (which is the whole point of the install anyway! HA!)
Until today, the answer has been no. But today, I happened upon a piece of software that just might make it worth it.
The software is called iTALC (not to be confused with iCALC), and it allows me to remote into any computer running its client software. Yes, that does involve an "in-person" install. But! Here's what makes this package cooler... [taken from iTALC's website]
- see what's going on in computer-labs by using overview mode and make
snapshots - remote-control computers to support and help other people
show a demo (either in fullscreen or in a window) - the teacher's screen is shown on all student's computers in realtime
- lock workstations for moving undivided attention to teacher
- send text-messages to students
- powering on/off and rebooting computers per remote remote logon and logoff and remote execution of arbitrary commands/scripts
I plan on testing this (and ultimately using it) in my Vista lab to see if it's worth traveling around to each and every computer for installation. Hopefully, it will be.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
MS Exchange - 11/6/2007
Tonight we did Chapter 5 which is basically just a review of basic Exchange tasks that you may find yourself doing from time to time. These may seem mundane, but make sure you know them. For instance, I had to create a new Mailbox Store and move mailboxes to it on my certification exam when I took it, so make sure you know how to do that!
Also, remember we are having a test next week over Chapters 1 - 5.
Homework:
Also, remember we are having a test next week over Chapters 1 - 5.
Homework:
- Chapter 5: pg 166 - Scenario 5-1, questions 1-3
A+ Hardware/Software - 11/6/2007
The first part of class today was devoted to system troubleshooting and some exercises that help us determine what is or could be wrong with computers that we check out. We practiced listening to our computers to hear the intricacies of what actually happens as they boot so that we would be better aware of bad stuff that when it happens.
After lunch, we installed Windows 98 and played with it a bit. Win98 marked a huge improvement over Windows 95 (and was better than the next 9x OS, Windows ME), but still, by today's standards, kind of sucks.
Homework:
After lunch, we installed Windows 98 and played with it a bit. Win98 marked a huge improvement over Windows 95 (and was better than the next 9x OS, Windows ME), but still, by today's standards, kind of sucks.
Homework:
- Chapter 11: Exam Questions 1-10.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Server+ - 11/6/2007
Tonight, along with laughing as hard as I have in a long time, we talked about various Network Operating Systems, and the different components of them. Basically, this was a review of concepts we've covered over the past months.
Next week we'll talk about Linux and I'll have a Linux distribution for you to play with. Should be fun!
Homework:
Next week we'll talk about Linux and I'll have a Linux distribution for you to play with. Should be fun!
Homework:
- Chapter 6 Questions 1-19
MS Exchange - 11/5/2007
Chapter 5 was today and covered some basic Exchange tasks like assigning a mailbox to a current user, moving a mailbox store, etc.
Homework:
- pg 166: Scenario 5-1
Strategies for Success - 11/5/2007
Today we did units 14-17. Next week, we will finish up the Lou Tice stuff and will write our own affirmations then.
Here's an updated calendar of events:
11/5: Units 14-17
11/12: Units 18-21
11/19: Journals/Portfolios Due. Work on Collages
11/26: Present Collages -- Class is done!!!
Homework:
Here's an updated calendar of events:
11/5: Units 14-17
11/12: Units 18-21
11/19: Journals/Portfolios Due. Work on Collages
11/26: Present Collages -- Class is done!!!
Homework:
- No homework!
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