Barbour, Hunter GIS Journal Day 1, 9/9/11
Today I started my first day on site, and what a day it was. I had high hopes for the day and waited in anticipation all day. However, I did not expect to have as much fun as I did. When I arrived Richie started out by showing me around LFFC. We visited computer labs, offices, the main center of their operations, etc. In just the simple tour I learned so much. In one of the rooms the have what he called the "war of the worlds cam", due to how it looks. But the camera is used for video calls from other offices, but the cool feature is you can click on other cams to view them. Richie clicked on one in Texas and we could view what that cam was seeing, just the campus though. Another cool feature of the door was not necessarily computer stuff, but technology related. It was the system they use for presentations and shows. The whole system (lights, cameras, music, anything else) is hooked up to a wireless tablet. You can change the views of the cameras, levels of lighting, pretty much anything you can think of. The rest of the tour was just as cool. After the door, we were already past 2:30, we took a look at his iMac and two screen display, it was impressive. He also gave me some tips on things I can do to or for my mac to make it more efficient. Before we left we talked about the tasks we would be doing next on site day. He plans to have me set up a computer lab with LAN lines and install the printer to them all as well. I'm really looking forward to my next site day.
Day 2 9/13/11: Today was my second day of site and I couldn't wait to get back to LFCC and work some more. When I got here we started out talking about how Richie wants to map out the wireless networks through out LFCC's campus. We are going to use a device from
Hunter Barbour, GIS Journal Day 1, 9/9/11
Fluke Networks called the AirCheck Wi-Fi Tester. The tester is a handheld device that allows you to rapidly perform a wireless discovery to fully assess your current wireless security settings and network availability. It allowed us to see wireless network utilization by channel and quickly determine if it is 802.11 traffic or non-802.11 interference. With this we will be able to plot the location of each router in the school wether it is visible or not, sometimes they are hidden in the ceilings. We also talked about making a map of each access point so we can make sure that the wireless coverage reaches each area of the school and to define each router as a certain name rather than number to make the communication of them easier. For example, I would be able to tell someone I just went and fixed the router labeled Library Front, rather than saying the number such as 12.22.40.861. After we discussed the mapping we started our next task of setting up a 27" iMac and installing all the programs needed for the head chief of police. Richie allowed me to do it all as he watched to make sure I was doing everything correct. I set up the computer and connected everything. I then installed Mac OS X Lion which is an updated operating system for Macs. Then I installed Microsoft Office 11 so he would be able to use .doc file instead of .pages. Finally I installed VMWare Fusion with Windows 7. VMWare Fusion is a program that allows you to run a virtual machine. It allows the user to run a separate OS system on there computer or allows them to run a virtual machine of an existing computer in a separate window. It also allows the user to suspend the OS system and resume it later. In laymen's terms the program allows the user to run Windows 7 on a Mac in a pop up window and they are able to suspend it and go back to there Mac software anytime. You can also run a window of another desktop right from your new computer. For example the head chief of police was able to run his old win-
Hunter Barbour, GIS Journal Day 1, 9/9/11
dows computer with all his files and everything off of his new mac without even touching the PC. But the whole day was a blast, I ended up staying till 5:30, and I can't wait till I come back Thursday.
Day 3 9/15/11:
Today was my third day at site and my mentor was out but he had left a me couple of tasks. I got to finish installing everything to the head chief of polices iMac and make sure he was able to use and navigate everything. Afterwards he eft me several disks to install and burn for my mac. It was some software and other programs we had used. So that took about most of my time to do, but while I waited for the discs to finish I started to think about my final project. I defiantly want to see if it's possible to do the idea of the kiosk. I'll have to talk to Mr. Nelson and see if he believes it would be a good idea and also discuss the possibility of a grant. Once I thought about the basics, I started to map out what the website that is accessed might contain. So far I have: Teachers schedules/room #/ where they are this period, Homepage(scrolling news weather, events, info), edline access, School news and events. I also practiced making a website using widgets such as the scrolling icons and updating fields. Luckily I knew how to do most of it already from web tech, and advance web tech. So I am defiantly considering the kiosk as my final project if every thing is approved and goes over well. Once I was done downloading all of the software I burned them to discs and called it a day.
Hunter Barbour, GIS Journal Day 1, 9/9/11
Day 4 9/19/11:
Today on site I was assigned the task of mapping out LFCC's wireless routers. I knew this task would be an immense amount of work because you need multiple routers to cover the entire building with wireless coverage. The reason we wanted to map out the networks and rename them is so we can find a specific router or access point if there is a problem with one of them. Before we started all of the router were just named by default with the mac address. This makes it very hard to differentiate which router is which at where it is located. So by renaming them we cut out the factor of figuring out which router needed fixed, potentially saving the repairer 20-30 minutes. So to start out the task of mapping out the networks we first printed a spread sheet of all of the mac addresses with a blank space beside each. Next we used a device that I mentioned in my previous journals, the Fluke- AirCheck Wi-Fi Tester. This allowed us to be able to pin point the locations of the routers and with there mac address names. Once I found a router I would list where it is at in the building, by room 101, library, office, etc. Once I have all of the routers logged we plan on renaming them in the system so it won't be as confusing as a mac address. Finally we plan on taking each of the router locations and plotting them on a LFCC map, then adding it to a digital map on the computer. This will allow the repairer to easily find and describe the router with its new name and location.
Day 5 9/21/11:
Hunter Barbour, GIS Journal Day 1, 9/9/11
Today on site was jam packed with task that needed to be completed. Due to all of the placement testings that were, and still are, taking place several issues arose. Several computers need to be looked at and checked to make sure they were working properly for the upcoming testers. So we wen't through about 20 or so computers checking to make sure that you could log on and open the testing software. Luckily we didn't seem to have any problems with any of the computers. Our nest step was to check that each wireless router was functioning properly. This didn't take very long at all and everything was functioning properly. My final task of the day was my favorite only because it benefited me on a personal level. My final task of the day was to add or improve the software on my own MacBook. I was able to add VM Ware Fusion, Windows 7, and Microsoft 2010, and OS X Lion to my MacBook so it had the latest updates. The updates I applied will be very helpful in any situation that I need to use my MacBook to fix another computer, VM Ware in particular. VM Ware will allow me to run a virtual machine of another computer right off of my Mac without even touching the root computer. This allows for simple changes from windows to mac in simple browser windows. So now I have a feeling of preparedness for the job and am ready to take on more tasks.