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Lift Off

I’m a little bleary eyed, but the class schedules are all but done now, and pdfs of the student schedules are being passed around and checked/double-checked.  It’s been an interesting few months, and I still have help sheets to create tomorrow about doing attendance, but we look to be in good shape in many ways at this point of the migration.  School starts on Tuesday for the HS, and Wednesday for MS/LS.

One nice thing– in terms of looking at and checking data, Veracross is a fairly transparent system.  Instead of looking through little windows at the data, or in set formats, it’s fairly easy to get large and small views.  It’s also been very good that we can crank out PDFs of all student schedules in a grade for quick checking and sharing (without wasting paper).

Little things, like day by day, period by period schedules for the classes at first seemed clumsy (why day by day?) until we found out that we sometimes needed the flexibility to schedule only one day instead of four in the 8 day rotation.

So, more work tomorrow, but maybe I can stop doing seven day weeks, after next weekend…

Time for Collaboration

Our Veracross migration is moving along.  We actually have 14 user groups who should be using the system by the end of September:

1.     Admissions (now)

2.     Human Relations (now)

3.     LS Admin (student records, class enrollments and schedules, specialist report cards, attendance, field trips) (next week)

4.     MS Admin (student records, class enrollment and schedules, grade books, attendance, report cards, transcripts, field trips) (next week)

5.     HS Admin (student records, class enrollment and schedules, grade books, attendance, report cards, transcripts, field trips) (next week)

6.     Athletics (next week)

7.     After-School Program (September)

8.     Facility Bookings and Master Calendars (now)

9.     Heath and Medical Office (end of next week)

10.      HS College Counseling and Transcripts (week after next)

11.     Transport (next week)

12.     Web Portal for Faculty (attendance, report cards, interim reports, communications) (week after next)

13.     Web Portal for Students (varying degrees of information, based on division, no access for LS students) (mid-September)

14.     Web Portal for Parents (varying degrees of information, based on division) (mid-September)

Only two of these have significant issues, but most have ongoing needs for data clean-up, and we’re just at the start of the hands-on experience and training for a lot of users. Not even mentioned above is our Finalsite to Veracross integration, which is underway.  After September, there will be other modules and areas coming on line for the second half of the school year and the summer.

It’s going to be an interesting 2-3 months, and overall we’ll be doing “new things for the first time” for an entire year.  Maybe a year from now I can sail to France and not think about this for two weeks.

What we need now is collaboration– once our main users pitch in to help build courses and classes, and clean up data, and get the class lists done, we’ll be in better shape.  Overall, every change is a step forward to a better system, and a lot of people are contributing to that.

Sometimes, It’s Hard to Have a Vacation

My daughter and I are sitting on the cool pavement outside the locked doors of the Woodburn Public Library in Woodburn, Oregon.  I’ve been making a daily pilgrimage here each day for the public wireless connection to do email and check on the status of multiple projects.

I’d admit one thing– this is probably the worst summer I’ve ever had for taking any type of break.  We’ve cancelled two weeks of sailing (one in the UK, one in the US), and I cut my two week break in the US from almost two weeks to just five days.

It’s simply that there are too many projects going on at work.  Veracross is doing well by following through on our needs and some data alignment issues, but it’s hard to relax until we know the mission critical ones are in the bag.  At this moment, some of the big pieces are in place, and some others are nearly there, but I won’t be really resting until all the operations critical pieces are in place.

So, I sit on a dirty sidewalk checking on many things, and my daughter reads her book.  Yesterday, my son joined and read a book from the library.  My father would bring me here two or three times a month when I was my children’s age, so I feel pretty natural doing this.

However, I also look forward to getting back to London this week and doing all possible to tie up loose ends.

On the plus side, we got out my seven inch Dobsonian telescope last night and had some fun.  I just downloaded some astronomy software to both my Thinkpad and iPhone, and we’ll be back out again tonight.  Given the full moon, I really need to get up at 3:30 a.m. to get some dark skies.

So Far, So Good

The summer continues to un-roll.  So far:

• New 100 mbit Internet Connection
• Zimbra Upgrade from 5 to 6
• Images just completed for all Macs, and about 400 rolled out so far
• Images being completed for Windows 7 machines
• New print server in use
• Certificate/Radius-based Wireless Network Access In Use
• Over a dozen room modifications (Epson Brightlink projectors, wall work, data runs) in progress

And, of course, our migration to Veracross.  This is going well– we sent them a lot of data to import, and we expected some data alignment issues as we review the full, mostly-depublicated load this week.  Reactions from the early trainings with users are very positive, and the Veracross engineers are responding quickly to the issues we find or the fields we still need “to get the plane in the air.”

In almost all ways, this migration is more complex than our FirstClass to Zimbra migration last summer.  Zimbra is email, calendars, contacts shared folders, and chat.  Veracross is admissions, academics, transcripts, attendance, field trip forms, HR, facilities management, master calendars, athletics, transportation and more.  Luckily, however, we don’t have to do a one-day cutover for all users, as we did with FirstClass to Zimbra.  We have several more weeks this summer to gradually bring early users online, and then more in early August, and then more in late August, and then parent/student portals in September/October.

So, time for more work!

Transitioning to a New Student Information System

Student Information Systems (SIS) are likely the most important database on campus. Even if they don’t do accounting, or fund-raising, they still handle the information and the work flow processes that are at the heart of the school– who are the families and the students, and what are their courses and schedules, and then reports, transcripts, attendance, and more.

We’ve been working on a transition to a new SIS for two years. Year one was researching all possible database solutions, including continuing to work with our current system. We reviewed 13 different options, and had full sales pitches from eight, and had a nice spreadsheet showing pros and cons of each. I can’t offer up that sheet online , since the numbers and costs and estimates were part of private conversations with the vendors, but at the end of the process we had a pretty good idea of where we needed to go.

We’ve had an in-house built FileMaker Pro 6 SIS for ten years. It was a great solution in many ways, because our in-house database developer could add wings off the system, and new reports, and new fields and functionality at will. The downside was that the system became so large that it became too difficult to upgrade on a consistent cycle. Secondly, FileMaker Pro 6 forced us to use interlinked database files (we reached about 200) that could only be opened in clusters, meaning that you could only open parts of the database at once, and we also had multiple user lists, meaning that people like myself were in the system multiple times (once as a parent, once as a staff member, etc.). In exports to Follett Destiny, for example, I have two accounts created.

In 2004, FileMaker Pro 7 was released, which enabled a unified database structure (not 200 interlinked files), but the problem was that all of the previous development work would have to be broken and rebuilt again to do the upgrade (about a year’s worth of work, with a new employee to cover regular database needs). However, there was a concern that even on FileMaker 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, we could have the same growth and renewal problems. Also, we would be building a full system based on only one school, and pretty much only one developer.

So, for six years, the school stayed on FileMaker 6, and each year we were concerned if Filemaker 6 would continued to run on the newer versions of OS X. In fact, we’re having problems on Snow Leopard at the moment with it…

To summarize, the school was used to a customized, easily changeable system. Those of you who have any of the big SIS systems from the main vendors probably know that “easily customized and changeable” isn’t an easy road.

Our choice was Veracross, because of its customization ability. The system can be customized school by school because of the way the do their the interface layers. Now, not all customizations are simply and fast, and new modules (such as the Transportation module we are having them build) are not free, but at least we have options going forward. Most importantly, it is a unified database with solid web interfaces for faculty, staff, parents and students that can be developed. Over time, we will fold in more modules that we need for counseling and other services into the unified system.

So, this year we started doing scripted exports of nearly all data out of FileMaker Pro 6, and documenting the data as best possible. These scripts are repeatable, so that when we do the real, final export at the end of this month, the same format with be retained but it will produce the latest data. Veracross has been working for several months on scripting theloading of the data into our Veracross system, and making changes as necessary to accommodate our data fields and structures we need. We are primarily moving to the logic used within the Veracross system (single user database, de-duplication routines), but they still need to know our special data management and analysis routines.

The main module we are having them build for us is Transport (which is integrated with our SIS for morning transport, attendance, after school daily sheets for students, athletic events management, one-off ride charges, taxis).

What will happen at the end of this month is that we will roll our database (sixth graders become seventh graders, etc.), export the final sets of data from the entire system, move our local system into read-only mode, and then Veracross will take our data for two weeks of scripted imports into Veracross (based on the scripts written over the past few months) and then de-duplicate and clean up our data (to achieve unification from the current disparate sources).

A great example of de-duplication is the problem of emergency contacts. In most system, emergency contacts in the SIS are “hanging records” about individuals who may have no other contact with the school. The bad part is that many or most emergency contacts are actually other parents, but the demographics entered for emergency contacts are never tied to the demographics in the parent records. Thus, phone numbers may change in one place, but not change in another. The Veracross system should de-duplicate the data (ether automatically or with human intervention), so that parents who appear as emergency contacts become “blue and underlined” and have their demographic data linked in both areas of the database, meaning a change to one automatically changes the other.

The other thing the Veracross system offers is ability for parents to directly update their demographic data online. The changes are directly processed into the system with no delay, but there is nightly polishing systems to clean up the data entry to school standards (ave. may be changed to Avenue). There are also change reports for the school to see all the online changes made, and roll-back the data if something is amiss. In fact, much or most of the entire system has an audit log, so that previous values can be seen and rolled back if needed. Our current system doesn’t have that, and accidental changes means going to back ups to see what the data used to be.

However, the flexible reporting in FileMaker posed a problem for the transition. Users are used to centralized, heavily customized reports (like class photo lists, labels for school events, and customized and stylized reports for over 100 occasions). Veracross can do this for major reports (like transcripts, report cards, etc.) and generic reports of data, but not for dozens and dozens of uniquely customized and formatted reports, which often need minor adjustments all the time.

To side-step this issue, will will continue to use FileMaker 11 as a type of Crystal Reports for users. Using the API of Veracross, we will have a “mothership” FileMaker 11 database continually updating core data-sets to our server room for use for local databases. (Veracross is a hosted system running out of RackSpace data centers). Thus, FileMaker 11 will be on users desktops, with a single menu for a range of in-house built and customized reports. (Core reports will stay in Veracross.)

Using the local data store,we will also post-process data for other exports, such as to Moodle, Destiny, Catering and Security systems. Secondly, the local data store should give us enough information to be an emergency fall-back in case our cross-Atlantic connectivity to Veracross was interrupted for any significant length of time. Most of us could run on paper for a few days if needed, and the local data store could facilitate that.

Okay, that’s enough for now. Wish us luck– this is going to be a major change. As noted in our planning, we will lose some functionality and ways of doing things because of this transition, but the real value will be in the ways a unified system should help use enable better use and management of the data. Also, the system is designed to enable users to become more sophisticated in their use of information outside of the database, such as in the creation of Word merges that can be integrated back in the user interface. A web interface will be used by nearly all faculty, students and parents, but most staff users will use both the web interfaces and a light, local client.

Vroom…

Sorry for the dearth of posts, but we’ve been busy.  We’re in the final approach to land the ‘09-’10 school year.

Best quote I heard this week from a colleague: “Our work is cyclical.  We do it again and again.  In working with kids, we have a tendency to want to rush ahead, but we have to remember that for each them, it’s always the first time.”

As noted, we’re plowing ahead on Veracross cut over this July, cut over to a new 100 mbit fiber this summer, launching a rather large SharePoint 2010 server (with web apps), starting up a centralized document management system with SharePoint, improving security on wireless, setting up a tablet pc pilot program, wasting time with iPads, and dreaming of Summer 2011, when we might be able to take some time off.

Cycling home after work, it’s time for a cognitive break, but instead we spend hours looking for a new flat because our landlord is bouncing us out of home of three years because he needs to move back in.  Thus, we need a new place by the end of July, and it isn’t easy to find a good three-bed flat in North London at the moment.  Also, after three years of third floor walk-up living with a cramped kitchen, we dream of ground floor flats with private gardens and superior ease of getting a bicycle out to ride.

So we dream on, study flat listings the instant they appear, and hope not to end up on the streets.  If need be, we’ll sail SR up the Thames and live aboard for a while at St. Katherine Docks.

Summer plans?  We don’t need no summer plans…  Basically, we have many expensive plane tickets bought to fly the USA place, but now all is up in the air since we have to move.  Ugh.  Could be a long summer.

Son turned back in his seventh grade laptop yesterday, and he feels fine about it.  I actually consider that a small victory.  I had a good talk with an Australian 1:1 expert yesterday (1000 student laptops, starting back in 1995), and it surprised me how so much of our tech planning is now about working on “balanced” technology use.  Yes, that was the theme of the ECIS Tech Conference we held two years ago, but it’s still the main question.  I’ve seen burn out, I’ve seen sometimes too much use, but what’s really needed is a good, healthy balance of digital info-loading, sharing, creation and enjoying the company of others, being challenged by nature, and sometimes just sitting in the sun.

Without the balance, the tools make no sense, since the ideas still come from us.  John Cleese stated this well.

Okay, time to get outside, or start packing boxes, one of the two…

Epson Brightlink 450Wi Projector and Interactive Pen

We had a two hour demo of the Epson Brightlink 450Wi yesterday:

http://www.epsonbrightlink.webengager.com/Education/

Relatively impressive.  Ultra-short throw.  WXGA (Macbook native resolution.  2500 Lumens.  Interactive pen that can make a variety of surfaces work like an interactive white board.

We’ve had tech issues with Smartboards for some time now, but we like the Smartboard software.  It can be used with alternative interactive boards if you buy the licenses and jump some hoops.

Last year we stepped away from Smartboard hardware by trying three Eno boards (all technology in the pen with a special camera in the tip, and the board was like a regular whiteboard but with a fine black dot patter picked up by the pen, just like an Livescribe pen.  These boards have worked out relatively well, but they are expensive (board costs a bit, but will last ten years).  Also, the pen likes to work when perpendicular to the board, and kids often hold it at an angle.  Response time is better than our Smartboards, but still not perfect.

Secondly, the Hitiachi ultra short throw projector with have the Eno boards only throws XGA, and it has a not so great habit of warping the edges of the image, especially noticeable when showing videos.  The Epson projector appeared sharp and straight right to the edge of its WXGA image.

By comparison, the Epson Brightlink is less expensive (no special board needed) and the triangulated IR in the pen appears much faster than our Smartboards and faster than the Eno boards and pens.

Anyone else considering the Epson Brightlinks?

MS Office in the Cloud, But Served Locally?

At a previous school, we used Microsoft Sharepoint for class pages for several years, but we could never get past the cross-platform loss of functionality.  If you were in IE, it was full featured.  If you were in Firefox or on a Mac, it was part featured.  Same with Office access to the online file repositories in Office vs. Mac Office.  And don’t get me started on Outlook vs. Entourage.

Anyway, time passes, and maybe Google Docs is putting pressure on MS.  The new Sharepoint 2010 that just came out promises to be more cross platform, and allow online doc access by both Windows and Mac Office.  We’ve already tested with the add-in for Mac Office, and it wasn’t bad for shared file access.

In fact, we wouldn’t mind changing all of our network home folders into Sharepoints for students, so they could have full access to their files over the web, cloud style.

Anyway, we’re building a test server for Sharepoint 2010 next week, and now the Microsoft Web Apps are beginning to come out.  I have a test account, and online Word and Onenote aren’t operational yet, but PowerPoint and Excel are via my free 25 gig Skydrive account.  I fired up a new Macbook, hit the site with Safari, and I was using PP and Excel relatively well in their stripped down, online version.  Files were saved either online in the cloud, or locally.

Here’s one interesting idea– if we are reading the Sharepoint 2010 and MS Web Apps site correctly, it may be possible to load MS Web Apps as a service that runs off your own Sharepoint 2010 server.  If that is correct, you could have an in-house server doing both Web Apps and Sharepoint, and running at the speed of your internal network for local use, independent of the MS servers.  Also, it could give you some independence from upgrades or changes, if you were managing your own cross platform web apps.  Also, it could be served off the same server as the personal home directors and shared file directories.

Interesting– we might be wrong about the implementation of local web apps, but we like the idea of having in-house control (and speed) of these types of services.  We also like the idea of not having Office on all machines (but having no Internet could mean no Office, so…).

Library Design Research

Based on visiting seven independent school libraries in the New York City area last week, here are some of my takeaway ideas and notes about library design, use and technology integration:

• Research is becoming more collaborative, and less individual.  However, spaces for individual work are still important.
• Research is becoming noisier, legitimately.  However, the need for quiet or silent spaces for work continues to exist.
• Reference texts are  being significantly reduced to essentials (dictionaries, atlases) as most reference materials are now online.
• Non-fiction books are becoming more closely aligned to curriculum.  Very large collections of literary criticism may shrink.  Moderate sized collections of history or global issues books may increase.
• Online access to primary source material is increasing.
• VHS tapes are being jettisoned.  DVDs will be jettisoned in the near future, and replaced with streaming alternatives.
• Some schools are reducing their online databases to the ones most used– there isn’t always a good reason to have 40 to 60 online databases.
• eBooks have protection issues.  Overdrive Media has a good system, but a majority percentage of their books won’t work on Macs– PCs only are supported.  Also, unless you pay a lot, it is a one book checked out by one person system.  However, Overdrive Media may be a decent source for online video streaming.  However, some of these system are flash based, and won’t work on iPads.
• Other vendors have options for online reference texts that can be used by many students simultaneously.
• Schools are also looking into streaming media servers for protected access to fair use media materials (such as programs recorded off of Freeview in the UK, or school-created materials).
• School libraries are different than public libraries, in that they need to provide production and discussion and one or more teaching spaces, and not just quiet tables and chairs for individual use.
• School libraries are not book depositories– collections need to be weeded and renewed with greater frequency.
• Once collaborative work or research is allowed in a library, it begins to play a social role in the school as well as an academic role.
• Traditional libraries with long rows of open tables between long stacks of books were designed with more individual, non-collaborative work in mind.  Having two to three groups of 3-6 students doing collaborative work at three adjacent tables will likely be too noisy in a library environment.
• One way to allow collaborative work is to create sound-limiting rooms for up to four students to work inside as a small conference room.  A modern library might have four of these.  These rooms normally have lots of windows so librarians can still see what is going on even if the door is closed (as it should be, to hold the noise in).
• These four person conference rooms can have an online check-out system, where the students need to state the project being worked out, and the appointments can be approved.  This would limit purely social uses of the rooms.
• Some of these rooms can have sharing screens on the walls– 42 inch LCD panels, for example, so that if one of the students wants to share a laptop screen while taking notes or discussing digital resources, the large screen can be used to share with others.
• These four person conference rooms can be expensive to design.  Even though they are small spaces, they may need there own sprinklers for fire control and special air conditioning and handling units to keep them from becoming stuffy and uncomfortable.
• Architects may argue that these four person conference spaces can be created with partial walls or flexible walls that are mid or three quarters height (meaning they don’t need the special fire or air handling systems), but librarians may argue that designs like this that work for adults in office spaces may not work for noisier students.
• A library may also have one or two mid-sized conference rooms for collaborative work, with table and chairs for six to eight people (and possibly a sharing screen).  Again, the preference is that this would be glassed in, sound controlling, and checked-out.
• A library may also have two to four small meeting rooms, with space for two people to meet comfortably.
• All of these conference rooms have the effect of enabling collaborative work and discussions, but containing the sound of this work and protecting the members of these meetings from the surrounding noise of the library.
• An additional effect of having these conference rooms is a reduction of meeting tables in the open spaces of the library.  In one library visited, the long open tables in a traditional reading room were replaced by long rows of study carrels (one person desks with side boards and back boards, often with individual lights and outlets for technology).  The idea is that work in the open spaces of the library should be individual (and sound limited), and not collaborative.
• Soft seating in libraries (around windows and other spaces) is often one bum per seat, and not love seats or couches.  The coolest single soft seats we saw had integrated, rotating small table surfaces for a laptop or books.  In most spaces, there were two to four individual soft seats, but no coffee tables.  Two soft seats may be in the same area of two study carrels.  Again, the idea is to encourage individual reading or work, or quiet discussion between two people, but not larger collaborative spaces.
• A modern library may also have a dedicated teaching classroom.  In the past, this may have been a computer lab with 20 fixed desktops, but going forward this classroom may be a more flexible spaces with move-able tables, 20 laptops dedicated to the room with their own storage and charging center, and a good projection and audio system, as well as room to roll in three or more book carts of specific books for the project in the classroom.  This is a space where students can learn how to use the online resources, but also to do research on both paper and digital resources at the same time.
• The teaching classroom might be owned entirely by the librarians, or checked out to faculty who want the paper and digital materials together in one space (other than their own classrooms).
• Modern libraries may have specific quiet or silent areas, possibly closed off by a glass wall, or not, where students who like quiet, individual spaces can work.  These spaces typically can have taller stacks, and mostly study carrels instead of group tables.  Or single soft seating.
• Modern libraries can have 10 or more “open access” desktop computers, often in a back to back row configuration, with adequate space between the monitors for books and paper materials.  These open access computers are often adjacent to the main desk of the library, so the librarians can keep an eye on their use and the noise levels.
• Modern libraries can have a single, large entrance, so that access control is easier for librarian staff.  Barrier systems and magnetic spines can reduce theft or accidental loss of books, but not all independent libraries use them.
• iPads are too new to have a clear role in a school library, but some ideas are to have iPads with specific materials installed that could be checked out.  However, there will need to be some way to lock down an iPad for shared use to do this.
• One library is working on “leap frogging” iPads by going directly to Entourage eDGe Tablets.  Main reasons: combined e-Ink and led screens, retains pagination of ebooks, allows stylus-based note taking and margin notes, better support of digital textbooks, etc.
• Most libraries do not like the idea of food and drink being allowed into library spaces, because of the amount of trash and clutter left behind, the staining of carpeting and furniture because of spills, etc.  An interesting alternative is to build a school cafe (Starbucks style) right outside the entrance to the library.  This can be a place with hardwood floors, a place to get limited food a drink, and harder, cafe style furniture for the entire school community to use (students, faculty, and parents).  The goal of this space is to be where kids can take a social break and eat and drink, but the noise and clutter is kept out of the library in a more focused space.  Some parts of the library collection, such as magazines, may also be in this space.

In sum, libraries have the potential to be a comprehensive information access and productive work centers for a school.  In terms of research and academic work, the spaces can be designed to accommodate both individual and collaborative work.  Allowing group work (3-4 students in several spaces, 7-8 in one space, etc.) will increase the social component of a library as a learning center, but this can be done without converting the entire library space into a social area.  The idea of the adjacent cafe also helps with separating purely social spaces from academic spaces.

There’s more, but that’s enough for now.  This is my last day in New York, and I’d like to see Soho before my flight tonight.

Walking in Gotham

A long time ago, an undergraduate at the University of Oregon was hanging out in the library newspaper section, thinking about where he wanted to go to grad school.  Eugene, Oregon had been a great town to be a college student in (in a one bedroom apartments for around $125 a month), but it was time for a change.  Maybe for grad school, a city might be a nice change, maybe on the other coast.  Heck, maybe a big city.

So I sat there with the Village Voice, looking at studio apartment ads in the city.  If I recall right, they started around $600 a month (many odd years ago).  Might as well aim high– I’d go to Columbia University, and live in Manhattan.

It didn’t work out, but I did end up in Philadelphia for two years, in a west side apartment, and learned about post modernism and living in a big city.

This week I’ve spent more time in New York than ever before, mostly walking.  As I pass through the different neighborhoods, and see the sights, I’m regaining a better view of what it would be like to live here.  Just a few minutes ago, I walked through Central Park and watched a game of softball for awhile in the twilight, and passed over a bridge where musicians were on a path below, one singing and playing an accordion, and the other playing a horn.  I believe they were performing a light opera, just for fun, in the park.

I’m staying in the theatre district, which has massive crowds of high school groups passing by every 10 minutes to another Broadway show (Mama Mia, Jersey Boys, Phantom, Adams Family, etc.).  Beyond them, however, I can see the people who make a home here, in a vertical city, in brownstone buildings.  I can see a type of contentment, a sense of culture, a striving American type of lifestyle.

Yeah, this could be a place to live and be happy.  It’s probably too late for me, but my kids may live and work here some day.  Columbia will still probably be admitting students in a few years.

Quick iPad Impressions

I’ve been a bit limited in the ways I can use the iPad this week, because when I buy Internet access from the hotel I can only put it on one device.  Thus, I need to have the Internet on my laptop, and I don’t get the full experience of the iPad.

However, I did have Internet on it for one day, and it was pretty easy to use for surfing the web, downloading books, and even using Skype to make calls.  I only did a little email with it, since I’m still getting used to the glass keyboard.

Since that day, I’ve used it mostly for sharing and discussing photo collections.  Also, in the evening, it’s been great for watching rented movies and tv shows.  Basically, I rent the movie or buy the tv show through iTunes on my laptop, and then I sync them to the iPad.

The first night I did this, I checked out the movie 2012.  (It seemed appropriate at the time.)  I watched the first third on my laptop screen, and the image quailty was pretty unacceptable.  It wasn’t that there was a lot of pixelation, but the blacks were all wrong and it didn’t look right.  I played with the video settings some on the laptop, but it didn’t help.

After that, I learned I could switch a rented film to the iPad, and the image quality and sound were much better.  In fact, it was a fun experience to see the full letterbox movie on the iPad screen.  I’ve seen other movies and tv shows since then.  Nice.

Lastly, the Apple leather case for the iPad finally showed up in the Fifth Avenue store yesterday, and I picked one up.  I’m glad I wait for it– it is very sleek and thin, and I like how it has a cover that folds over the screen to protect  it, but can fold to the back of the unit when not in use (or work as a stand or angle device for typing).  It’s great.

I haven’t had much time to read on the iPad yet, but I like how I can download sections or first chapters of books to read before deciding to buy the full books.  I downloaded the first chapter of some New York guide books, and they were helpful.  In the end, though, I bought a paper version of a guidebook, because I didn’t like the idea of flashing a new iPad all over the streets of the city as I walked around.  Also, I’m not sure of the images or maps in the books were really optimized or useable on iPads/ereaders yet.

So far, so good.

Stranded in New York

I had a good flight to New York last week on Wednesday, and then I and some colleagues visited seven independent school libraries to learn about both their design and programs, and the future of school libraries in general.

One thing that came up several times is that research is becoming more collaborative, and less individual.  When I was in high school, I can’t recall a single collaborative research project.  Today, they are common.  Thus, group work spaces are becoming increasingly desirable, as well as quiet or silent individual work areas.

So, the visits went great, and then the ash cloud came into play.  One by one, our flights were cancelled, and for a couple of days none of our airlines could be reached for informaiton about re-booking.  We finally started getting results at 2:30 a.m. last night, but we’re still scheduled to be in New York until next weekend.  We had all planned to be gone by now.

So, guess who gets some direct experience at being an international telecommuter this week?  It should be fine– my newish Lenovo X200s Thinkpad is working great, and my colleagues are making plans to continue work during the week as well.  Having Skype to make phone calls (to phones as well as other users of Skype) is a great help, even if the Internet access in the hotel is costing us an extra $15 a day.

When we’re not working, there’s also this town to explore.  Today I was able to see the ongoing construction work at Ground Zero, and then I walked to the Staten Island Ferry and took a cruise past the green lady for free.

I might also mention that I bought a 32 gig iPad at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, and we used it for studying and reviewing photos from the school visits– pretty fun.  I’ll post an early review of my experiences with the iPad later this week.

Meanwhile, let’s see that cloud blow elsewhere– all in all, I’d rather be back in London.

Simple Density

Okay, for the first time ever, our school has a unified, centrally-controlled enterprise wireless system.

We pushed the roll out of this because the middle school is trying out online ERB testing, and that means 120 to 240 students need to be online simultaneously to do sample tests, to do the real exams, etc.

Needless to say, this amount of load is a lot to ask of any wireless system.  We are not pushing 450 simultaneous users at peak times.  If these were all wired computers, that would be a significant corporate building.  When I visit bank buildings downtown, I see nice sets of cubicles with wired desktops stretched out over open floors.  I don’t see hundreds of wireless laptop users huddled around in tight groups.

In fact, I’m having a hard time thinking of a non-school organization that would have 450 wireless users, and 200 more wired users, all up and running at the same time in a single building.  Our needs are becoming denser– but also unique.

Moored

We got away this week to sail the Solent and to Poole Harbor. We are now on a mooring in Newtown River for one more night. Tomorrow we make an early sail to Gosport and a train back to London.

Working in the Dark

It’s been an interesting week with electrical ugrade work being done in the building.  When you need to plan to have the core circuits down to your server room for a day or two, it takes a bit of thought of how to safely keep some of your services up (firewall, Internet, Domain Controllers, Email) and accept the fact that other services will need to be down.

Part of the challenge is air conditioning.  A fair chunk of the electricity used in our server room is the chiller units, so with them down only a fraction of the racks can be up.

Something that worked to our advantage, however, was the UPS units.  After shutting down nearly all of the servers, we were safely able to switch the core and basic services to an alternative power supply simply by plugging the UPS units (failing over to their batteries) and then plugging in to the alternative power.  They have done very well with this.

Anyway, today we should be able to get back to normal, and if there aren’t snags, I might even be able to start something of the remainder of this spring break.