GROUP JOURNAL:


Thursday, 12-7-06

Installation was a success. See "lessons learned."


Wednesday, 12-6-06

See check lists.

We don't have enough power cords (15; we're supposed to have 19). We also don't know where the monitors are. We e-mailed Martin. Mr. Spock is still freezing during start-up; too late now to fix him. (We did what we could so no need to get upset over it.) We can make a note of it on the computer. Cleaned mice and keyboards. (They were disgusting.)

Tomorrow:

  1. Print out check lists.
  2. Make two more labels
  3. Two cars?
  4. Get sleep.

Monday, 12-4-06

Check List for the week:

Item Completed?
Collect Supplies:
power cords, posters, cables, printer driver
Y
(Short on power cords; e-mailed Martin)
Test mice, keyboards, power cords, cables Y
Test hub. Y
Ping test N/A
(Internet/network cards work on all computers)
Make/put up labels Y, Y
Move website info to Wiki
(after set-up)
 
Prepare Presentation  

Bring Thursday:

Item Have it?
Computers  
Monitors  
Box of keyboards and mice  
Hub  
Cables  
Print driver cd  
Extra cds
(in case we need software)
 
Posters
(and tape or stick pins to attach them)
 
Digital camera  
Cell phones (and Martin's number)  
Check List for Thursday:

Item Completed?
Unload van.  
Move old computers out of room.  
Re-arrange room.  
Set-up computers.  
Attach computers to hub.  
Upload print driver on Q.  
New Software  
Sound drivers?  
Take lots of pictures for presentation.  
Don't go crazy.
(And pray for electricity, lack of explosions, and happy computers.)
 


Wednesday, 11-30-06

Accomplished:

Got Mr. Spock and Q. working. (Bobbi, what exactly did you do on Q and Spock to get them working? I'd like to know exactly what you did today so I can have an accurate record of it.)

We made nine cables so those should be finished (green/white, green, orange/white, blue, blue/white, orange, brown/white, brown). Also, someone in the class recommended http://www.wartoft.nu/software/ for free software. We'll check it out and see if we can find some more software for our comptuers.

We updated the diagram. Here's the new and final version.

Next Week:

  1. Make sure the hub works.
  2. Make sure keyboards, mice work.
  3. Collect power supplies; work?
  4. Sound?
  5. More software?
  6. Anything else?
  7. Transfer information to the wiki for Martin.

Wednesday, 11-29-06

Accomplished:

The new diagram. (We had a problem because we'd orginally planned for two switches and got one hub instead. We have to calculate new cable lengths.)


Tuesday, 11-21-06

Accomplished:

See updated table for accomplishments. Got internet working on remaining computers (except Q and Spock). Switched out the power supply on Geordi; he's now working again. Mr. Spock is having problems again. Since the burn in didn't show any problems with the CPU, mother board, hard drive or memory, Martin suggested we wipe the hard drive and start over. We formatted and fdisked Mr. Spock but are having problems getting Windows 98 on the computer. We'll have to fix this next week.

Next Week:
Finish.


Monday, 11-20-06

Accomplished:

Khan is working; Spock is, too. Kahn has everything but USB and sound. Tried installing USB on Kahn; didn't work. We think we might still have a bad A drive. Internet works on Khan, Data, Picard, and McCoy. Not working on Q; there may be a problem with the network card.

There are several steps to getting past the blasted MSN Internet set-up. Since IE is the default browser, we need to get past it. It took Martin awhile to figure it out.

We do have a problem: Geordi wouldn't power on; no idea why.

Still no dice on sound card.

Tuesday (11-21-06):
Finish software and running USB on all computers. Check internet on all computers. Get Geordi working again. Anything else that needs doing.


Thursday, 11-16-06

Accomplished:

M. Software on all computers but Khan. A-O software on Data, Worf, Mr. Spock, Q, and Sarek. USB on these computers, too.

Khan, returned old hard drive and nuked. Q. needs a new network card. Worf has problem battery. Just need to hit esc. to start. Mr. Spock is having troubles starting; run Lucifer.

Once we started downloading the software, we realized that only Multplication master could be put on the computers. Computers wouldn't let us download things, trial runs suddenly showed up that weren't there when we downloaded the software, or the license agreement showed we couldn't do it.

Monday (11-20-06) and Tuesday (11-21-06):

  1. Finish A-O Software.
  2. Finish USB software
  3. Run Lucifer on Mr. Spock. Figure out what's wrong.
  4. New network card on Q.
  5. Make sure all computers have anti-virus software.
  6. Sound drivers

Wednesday, 11-15-06

Question: Bobbi, would you have time tonight to get all possible sound drivers on a disc tonight? (I'll also try to remember to bring my computer and some blank discs tomorrow.)

Accomplished:

Finished running updates on all computers but Khan. Put Fall 06 software (M. Software) on five computers. We couldn't tell if the anti-virus software was actually downloading correctly so we still need to check that on all computers. (We put everything but anti-virus software on the five computers we did today.)

Thursday (11-16-06):

  1. Upload the USB support disc on all computers. (It doesn't come with Win. 98. If we want it on the computers, which we do, we're going to have to download it from the floppy or cd-rom that's floating around the lab.)
  2. We're going to try switching out the cables in Khan and running Boot and Nuke with a bootable Windows 98 cd tomorrow. (Ruth's suggestion.) Maybe the computer just can't run Linux. Otherwise, ask Martin for help.
  3. Ask Martin about Q's weird error messages. Ruth said they had that error message in E. St. Louis. She thinks we may have to download some software/drivers/something along those lines.
  4. Get M. Software on the remaining four computers. (Update table accordingly.)
  5. Get the anti-virus software on all computers.
  6. Start putting A-O software on computers.
  7. Sound drivers?!

Tuesday, 11-14-06

Accomplished:

Burned four software discs for the computers. Here is the list with description.

Software:

  1. Gimp: GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
  2. Multiplication Master: Free multiplication tables practice software. Fast, simple and easy to use for budding multiplication masters of all ages! Keeps your score so you can see how well you're doing. Single table mode lets you focus on one multiplication table at a time - the fastest way to improve Random feature tests you against all the multiplication tables Includes reference tables to help you learn multiplication tables fast.
  3. Nursery Rhymes Studio: This is an excellent and well known software for Kids to learn the English Nursery Rhymes. It has an excellent Audio-Visual based method of teaching the favourite Nursery School Rhymes.
  4. English Word Builder: A great Software to learn English Word Building and Vocabulary. English Word Builder 2.0 is a game for teaching the English words and vocabulary through word-building from a collection of letters.
  5. GCompris: GCompris is a full featured educational application that propose different activities to children from 3 to 10.
  6. Study Minder: The StudyMinder Homework System helps students improve their grades by solving the most common problems students face: Forgotten assignments, Homework notes scattered everywhere, No overview of when assignments are due, Difficulty estimating study time so everything gets done, Waiting to start big projects until the night before they are due, Lack of good study skills.
  7. Paint.Net: Paint.NET is image and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the MS Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple tool for photo and image editing.
  8. Typespeed: Typing program

Educational Games
  1. Scrabble: The classic way to spell word game fun is now the ultimate way to spell fast fun for the entire family. Play against one of eight challenging computer opponents or take on your friends and family in four different game modes.
  2. Text Twist: How many words do you know? Make as many words as you can with the letters you're given. Use all your letters to make a word and you'll move on to the next round. If you get stuck, just click on Twist for a hint. Don't worry, we've already thought of all the words. You just have to tell us what they are!
  3. Acropolis: Travel across mythical lands and unearth stunning relics in this lexical adventure from the creators of Word Slinger. Link letters to find words hidden in the grid and glorious treasures will dazzle your eyes. Find long words and unleash electrifying power-ups to aid your quest. A word challenge of epic proportions.


Friday, 11-10-06 through Sunday, 11-12-06

Accomplished:

Created five posters to hang in the computer lab: Science and Math, English, Literature, History, and E-mail. They list websites that will help students with their Science, Math and English skills, find classic works of literature in a variety of languages in the public domain, and help them set up e-mail accounts.

Created a final software list and downloaded the software.


Thursday, 11-9-06

Accomplished:

  • Got Sarek working.
  • Sarek formatted, win 98 installed, video, updates.
  • Video and Windows updates on all computers but Khan.

    Wednesday (11-15-06):

    Thursday (11-16-06):


    Wednesday, 11-8-06

    Accomplished:

    Nothing. Despite changing out the hard drives, Khan and Sarek are still having the exact same problems. We were unable to nuke or format them. (This suggests the problem is not with the hard drive.)

    Thursday (11-9-06):
    If we can figure out what's wrong with Khan and Sarek, great. If not, leave them alone until we can ask Martin for help.
    Updates and drivers. Finish as many as possible.


    Tuesday, 11-7-06

    Preliminary list of software:

    1. Open Office, (http://www.openoffice.org/)
    2. GIMP, (http://www.studyminder.com/download.html)
    3. Ashampoo CD Recording Suite (http://www.brothersoft.com/mp3_audio/cd_burners/ashampoo_cd_recording_suite_26890.html)
    4. Multiplication Master, (http://www.canadiancontent.net/tech/download/Multiplication_Master.html)
    5. Typer Shark Deluxe, (http://www.realarcade.com/)
    6. Nursery Rhymes Studio, (http://www.canadiancontent.net/tech/download/Nursery_Rhymes_Studio.html)
    7. English Word Builder, (http://www.canadiancontent.net/tech/download/English_Word_Builder.html)
    8. Typing Master Pro, (http://www.gold-software.com/download10276.html)


    Thursday, 11-2-06

    Accomplished:

    Cleaned and added cd-rom to 6
    Fdisked and put windows 98 on seven computers. Computers 1 and 2 (Khan and Sarek) are having problems. We replaced the hard drives.

    Wednesday (11-8-06):
    Get Khan and Sarek nuked.
    Start updates.

    Thursday (11-9-06):
    Fdisk and Win98 Khan and Sarek.
    Updates and drivers. Finish as many as possible.


    Wednesday, 11-1-06

    Accomplished:

    Cleaned three computers: 4, 5, and 7
    Boot and nuked two computers: 6 and 3

    We tried to boot and nuke the last computer (1); its official name is now "Demon Computer." It wouldn't boot and nuke. We tried different discs (floppy and cd), replaced cd-rom and floppy drives, and changed the boot order. We tried to see if the drivers were there but couldn't get past the former owner's password. We switched the jumper and deleted the old passwords twice; it didn't work on either occasion. The plan: ask Martin for advice tomorrow in lab.

    Thursday (11-2-06):
    Clean computer 6 and put in cd-rom drive.
    Fix Demon Computer (1).
    fdisk and upload Windows 98 on as many computers as possible. (Goal: 6)


    Thursday, 10-26-06

    Accomplished:

    Boot and nuked six computers: 9, 8, 7, 5, 4 and 2.
    Cleaned four computers: 9, 8, 2, and 1.

    Goals for the rest of this week:

    Willy, call or e-mail to confirm dates, get answers to remaining questions for Site Survey, and confirm that the website was sent to the right address.

    Goals for next week:

    Wednesday (11-1-06):
    Clean remaining computers (7, 6, 5, 4, and 3).
    Boot and nuke remaining computers (6, 3, and 1).

    Thursday (11-2-06):
    Start fdisk



    c. Jenny Freed, Willy Kries, Bobbi Perryman