[tech] [unisfa-committee] Deep Thought

[Alice McCullagh]

Cheers guys!

In regards to UniSFA's downloading: I doubt it will be more than 1GB a week
during semester. During term, we usually screen about 3 hours of TV
shows/movies on average. Even if we were streaming all of this through
UCC's network (I expect people will still bring in DVDs and other stuff),
it would only be about 500MB on Netflix/Youtube/iView or around 900MB from
standard definition iTunes stuff. As well as being entirely legal, this is
also in keeping with OUR clubs stated purpose of bringing science fiction
to the hungry masses, so I hope that that squeezes under the "responsible"
banner! I'm sure lots of people use their UCC accounts for general media
stuff anyway (Youtube etc.) so hopefully this isn't that different.

I am happy taking care of Deep Thought for the mean time, until next year
at least. I knew this Computer Science degree would come in handy some
time! I will give it hot cocoa in the winter, and read it bed-time stories
at night. I don't think the changes I'm making are particularly
complicated, though I'm happy to hear any specific Windows-related security
advice (as long as it isn't 'install linux'). I was just going to install
AVG or something similar and have the Administrator account reserved for
librarian/Committee use. I think that should ensure it doesn't become virus
infested, and upkeep should be pretty simple for any computer literate
person from next year's committee.

TTFN,
Alice.

On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 4:07 PM, Luke Williams <shmookey at shmookey.net>wrote:

> Hi Nic,
>
> On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 11:42 PM, Nic <nttb49 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > UniSFA recently decided that we should look into changing Deep Thought to
> > Windows so it’s user friendly for our club and we can get an iTunes and
> > Netflix account for it so we can host screenings slightly more
> legitimately.
>
> UCC's internet connection is sponsored by the University on some vague
> understanding that the club will use it responsibly. I'm not sure that
> includes extending access to another club for the express purpose of
> downloading large media files, regardless of the source's legitimacy.
>
> > We hope shifting to Windows will make it more
> > user friendly for the club and allow us to use several programs we cannot
> > currently: iTunes, Netflix, potentially Dropbox. We also hope to buy a
> > graphics card to allow us to connect it via HDMI to the TV and run
> > screenings straight off the computer (utilising iTunes and Netflix). Are
> we
> > wrong in this reasoning?
>
> Sounds reasonable to me. Dropbox works well on Debian but it's
> definitely not what I would call user-friendly!
>
> > Bob stated we’d have to run it off the unsecure connection if it was a
> > windows machine – Will we still be able to perform all the functions we
> > expect from Deep Thought with this connection?
>
> Should be fine. It'll be as if the new machine is on the UCC wireless
> network, except faster and more reliable because it's wired.
>
> > Bob also said we wouldn’t be able to ask UCC for help if a Windows Deep
> > Thought had any issues – Would someone be able to explain the reasoning
> for
> > that?
>
> I imagine it depends whether UniSFA intends to appoint its own
> administrators for the machine, or to keep it under UCC
> administration. The responsibility to support a system has to come
> with the right to control its configuration. We're system
> administrators, not a tech support helpdesk.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Luke Williams
> UCC Wheel Member
> shmookey at ucc.asn.au
> _______________________________________________
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> UniSFA-Committee at ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au
> http://lists.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/unisfa-committee
>
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