Should Schools Have a Facebook Page?
As the developer responsible for my employer's website (a technical school for high school students and adults) I was also made responsible for creating and cultivating membership to the school's Facebook page. Our school is different from a high school in that we aren't guaranteed enrollment from year-to-year, and so we're constantly looking to improve our marketing. Facebook was the perfect candidate, but what was initially viewed as a great marketing and communications tool is quickly devolving into an administrative mess.
Should I disable commenting, image, and video posting? Should our school even have a Facebook page at all? Facebook is by nature very open and everyone from our Quality Management Team to our instructors to our Administrative director find something wrong with just about every comment posted, whether it be an inappropriate tone or improper grammar. Policing the page takes no small amount of time an effort. Disabling the interactive features of the page defeats the purpose of having it.
What do you think? Should a school have a Facebook page and, if so, how should it be regulated?
Going 64-Bit: A Cautionary Tale
Recently a customer of mine who makes a living testing patient's hearing and troubleshooting issues with their hearing aides bought a new laptop to take out on call. The laptop he bought was an HP Pavilion TV5, a powerful system with a very reasonable price. Last night I stopped at his office to configure his diagnostic software and devices on the new laptop, and ran into a major issue that was anything but surprising.
The Pavilion TV5 comes with Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition preinstalled. Niche industries such as my client's are often years behind in operating system and platform support, and 64-bit architecture is no exception. None of my client's hardware or software were supported by his new system. So what's a geek to do?
HP will not provide or support a 32-bit operating system for this laptop. Microsoft will not allow us to exchange the operating system for the 32-bit equivalent. Best Buy will exchange the laptop but the only replacements they offer running Vista 32-bit are, for lack of a better word, crap.
Did manufacturers jump the gun with the switch to 64-bit?
Update: Apparently this post caused some controversy both here on my blog as well as on my submission over on DZone. In an effort to keep the discussion going, I replied to some reader comments in a separate entry, called Going 64-Bit, Revisited.
Video: Finding Your Network Settings in Windows Vista
A YouTube member who watched my video about Finding Your Network Settings on Windows XP requested that someone make a similar video for Windows Vista. This video is quick and dirty, but it walks users through each step of finding their network connection settings both through the Windows user interface as well as through the command prompt.
My Top Ten Favorite Free Windows Programs
I'm broke and software is expensive. What more motivation does a person need to seek out free alternatives? Back before I began my professional career in Information Technology I used to pirate all of the software that I thought I needed; but these days I insist that my clients use legal copies of software, and so it's only fair that I do the same. And the longer I play by this rule, the more I realize I never really needed all of the expensive software I once thought was indispensable.
There is plenty of free software out there that provides a quality alternative to the expensive products many of us can't live without. I've put together a list of my top ten favorite free desktop applications that I use every day. All of them are available on Windows XP and Windows Vista. Though I have provided a direct link to each of these programs, I need to give credit to osalt.com, a website which lists popular paid software and their free, open source alternatives.
My Top Ten Favorite Free Windows Programs
1. InfraRecorder
(Alternative to Nero Burning ROM) InfraRecorder doesn't come with all the bells and whistles of Nero, but it makes simple burning tasks simple. It can create data and auto CD's, data and video DVD's, and supports the creation and burning of ISO disc images. If you're a user like me who bought Nero and never burnt anything more complicated than the projects that Nero Express offers, InfraRecorder will more than fit your needs.
2. Crimson Editor
Not so much an alternative to a paid program as it is a free and handy utility for anyone who has to work with text files. It's quick, and supports source highlighting for a variety of programming languages. I recommend it for anyone who finds themselves opening Notepad or Wordpad on a regular basis, but especially for students who are just learning how to program.
3. Password Safe
If you're like me, you have a lot of passwords to a lot of different websites; and if you're like me, you're also too paranoid to leave them saved in your web browser. I use a program called Password Safe, which saves the website address, username, and password of all my accounts, all in a securely encrypted database that I can carry with me on a thumb drive.
4. Mozilla Firefox
No list of free software would be complete without the Firefox Web Browser. Firefox is faster than Internet Explorer, and historically has been more secure. If you're tired of your computer filling with spyware and toolbars, start browsing with Firefox instead of Internet Explorer.
5. FileZilla
(Alternative to CuteFTP, WS_FTP) FileZilla is the best thing since sliced bread for anyone forced to deal with FTP uploads and downloads. I use this application constantly at work, where we are required by law to upload reports to the state government, and Window's default FTP interface is too clunky to reliably get the job done.
6. PDFCreator
(Alternative to Adobe Acrobat) If you need to create PDF's but don't need all the features of Adobe Acrobat, PDFCreator is a godsend. This program creates a virtual printer on your computer that allows you to create a PDF document from any program in Windows. When I bill my clients I often email them an invoice in PDF format, and this program is what I use to create them.
7. OpenOffice
(Alternative to Microsoft Office) Open Office is the best alternative to Microsoft Office you'll find. Though I use Microsoft Office at my regular job (it's an unavoidable part of our workflow), I use OpenOffice to create and manage my personal and business documents. Personally MS Office is an application I'd be happy to pay for but if you want to save your cash, choose OpenOffice.
8. LogMeIn
(Alternative to Remote Desktop, VNC) Not a free application per se, but a free service you can use to access your computers from any computer on the Internet. I use this to remotely resolve problems for my clients. It has some limitations, so you may eventually consider their paid service.
9. Microsoft Office Accounting 2008
(Alternative to Microsoft Office Accounting Professional, Quickbooks) Microsoft gets a lot of flack for being the "evil empire" of the software world, but they've come a long way and have given a lot back to their customers in terms of free software. They have made an Express version of Account 2008 available for free. It has taken me from a loose system of excel spreadsheets to a more organized billing system at zero expense to myself. I highly recommend it to anyone in business for themselves who doesn't already have an investment made in Quickbooks technology.
10. Quicken Online
(Alternative to Quicken, Microsoft Money) Yet another free online service that frees me up from installing more software on my PC. Quicken Online allows me to view and summarize all my bank accounts and automatically downloads a list of my transactions. It shows me an easy-to-understand overview of where my money is going, helps me develop a budget, and tells where I need to cut back to meet that budget.
Show me yours, and I'll show you mine!
Now that I've listed a few of my favorites, leave suggestions on other free programs and services in the comments section!
Responsibly Disposing of Computer Equipment
It's a sad fact of life that, as an unrepentant geek, it's not always possible for me to balance my love of technology with my desire to keep the natural world as healthy as possible. Most of our electronic devices have become cheaper to replace than to repair; and many devices that can be repaired on a budget, such as desktop computers, will still have a limited useful lifespan.
Most electronics contain components that are at best non biodegradable and at worst toxic for our environment. What's a geek to do? Some states in the U.S. have laws against dropping garbage electronics (called e-waste) in landfills; as for those that aren't yet enforcing e-waste recycling at the state level I'll say this: just because you can dump your electronics doesn't mean you should. But I'm not here to lecture anyone on environmental responsibility. For those of you that want to do right by your planet, I wrote this article to suggest ways to recycle, reduce, or reuse your computer equipment and other electronics.
Video: Find Your Network Settings in Windows XP
This video is a visual guide through my previous tutorial about locating your network settings in Windows XP. It also happens to be my first attempt at creating a video on my PC. The video discusses some of the reasons you might need to find your network settings, then guides you through each click in the process of finding your network configuration.
Find Your Network Settings in Windows XP
Eventually while using your computer a situation will arise when you may need to know a little information about your network connection. You may need this information for a tech support call, to configure a networked video game system, or to add a new PC to your home network. This article will explain how to determine view your network configuration on a PC running Windows XP.
[Update: I've created a video to visually guide you through this tutorial. It will show you the actual click-by-click process of locating your Windows XP network configuration.]
Back Up Important Floppy Disks
Much to the displeasure of everyone the IT industry, some software companies still insist on utilizing floppy disks. Rarely are floppies used to distribute software, but they are used for anything from boot disks and recovery disks to distribution of software licenses. Ironically some of your business' most critical files could be stored on floppy disks, the most undependable of all media. To some this tip might be a no-brainer, but regardless, it may one day save your hide.
Copy that Floppy!
Today I ran into a situation where I needed to reinstall a software package which can only be installed when a floppy disk containing a license file is present. I inserted the floppy and, not surprisingly, it was no longer readable (how a prolonged stay in a file cabinet kills a floppy I'm not quite sure). Luckily the repair estimating software I was installing isn't critical to our day-to-day operations at the school, but you can imagine if I worked in industry the absence of this software would bring day to day business to a grinding halt, and I might even be fired for negligence. It could be days or even weeks before the company could mail me a new license disk or email a new license file.
Luckily I wasn't negligent at all. When the floppy came in the mail years ago I had copied up the license files to a network drive. I formatted a new floppy, copied the files, and was able to reinstall the program in minutes rather than waiting for a replacement license from the company.
In some instances, such as boot disks or license disks with data written to specific disk sectors (older software sometimes did this) simply copying the files from a floppy disk isn't enough. You'll need a one-to-one duplicate of the disk. Don't just copy the floppy; the duplicate stands an equal chance of failing as the original. Use a tool to create disk images, such as rawrite to back up the floppy to an image file on a more reliable media, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM.
Configuring Windows Automatic Updates
In a previous post I talked about the importance of keeping your software current by installing patches and updates. Microsoft, in an effort to make this process as painless as possible, has made updating an integrated part of their operating systems. This article will explain how to turn on automatic updating in Windows XP and Vista and discuss best practices about it's configuration.
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