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[LUG] Tungsten|UoP computing



(This email's a bit long as I end up blowing on about UoP computing :p)

That Palm Tungstan looks good. I've just sold my Zaurus due to the
battery life. No money at the moment. Wonder if you can dual boot linux
on it?

On UoP computing:

- Are you allowed to plug your own computer into your provided RM machine
and NAT it?

I seriously doubt lynx will manage to work with the portal because it uses
popups.

I somewhat think UoP has got to be un unfortunate choice for anyone doing
computing. They just prefer to invest in M$ rather than people. The
attitude is Business orientated, usually opporsite to educational ethos.
They give the impression that closed source is the only way in business. I
can understand this point of view from a business point of view but
without sharing information you learn nothing.

If you thought the portal madness was bad there's much worse. For example,
the whole network is setup via MAC addresses. This means that those MAC
address are held in the routers and are constantly getting updated putting
a massive drain on the network. I expect they set it up wrong when Plym
Uni was a polytec in the 60's and never bothered to change it as machines
were added.

The portal is a black art. I haven't a clue how it works, I just have to
trust in computing services to get it right. After a lot of complaints
about spam I've found they're clearing up on that at least. Incidently, if
you got OutlookXP(full) at home (runs with Crossover Office) you can dial
in to your exchange account and set things like "I'm on holiday" messages.
That really confused the OpenAccess people :D Also, you can access staff
pages. Makes an for interesting read, audit results and the like:

http://staff.plymouth.ac.uk/ (use your student pass)

which leads to a page on using linux in research, interesting...

http://staff.plymouth.ac.uk/gnulinux/

and this:

"Computer security

You may have seen recent media reports on a critical flaw in Windows that
leaves computers vulnerable to hackers. Details are available from
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-007. Microsoft has advised that Windows
versions NT, 2000, XP and Server 2003 were affected by this critical flaw.
Over the next few days all University leased Windows XP workstations will
be automatically updated to correct the problem. Windows NT users taking
the University Wide Software Service will receive advice via email on how
to easily install the patch. All other Windows OS users and laptop and
home PC users should refer to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-007? Should
you have any concerns over this or other desktop issues then please email:
support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx "

and stuff on staff development.

Computing Dept annoys me but it's better than it was with the old NT4
workstations. They were sometimes totally unusable, especially at the end
of term just before the annual "let's go round with a few cdroms and
re-ghost everything".

Before:
- unpassworded boot menu on old machines; can boot knoppix or grab and
crack SAM files
- 30mb file space
Now:
- passworded boot+bios
- XP suprisingly open so far, can install some drivers, change preferences
etc, nice :)
- usable boxes
- 15mb for email, 15mb for filespace.

That's right, 15mb for filespace. No space for Mozilla :D I have a
practical in GIS (geoDatabase) that uses an 8mb file. The Geo/geog dept
here isn't bad but if you do any graphics (i.e. 20mb CorelDraw files)
then you have to plead with a lecturer and then further hope it'll be
granted. There is the option of usb storage sticks and every box has a
dvd/cdrom-writer!

There's even ~8 p4 hyperthreading dvd-cdwriter, 80gb HD, lcd screen boxes
in the library used for... web browsing on a single website; the libarary
catalogue (http://voyager.plymouth.ac.uk/), which doesn't have a single
book on Python programming by the way. These p4 boxes replaced a serial
green-screen terminal server system called libertas and worked fine (but
didn't look good). How's about that!




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Lynx friendly