CHD Jeopardy All Staff Training September 2022

CHD Jeopardy
ALL STAFF  TRAINING
September 2022

YAY!
ALL STAFF  TRAINING
WAS BACK ON THE WEEKEND! 

CHD Jeopardy Greg's Playlist II
    CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II

Only the second time since Covid started in March of 2020 (for UVIC remote) that we were able to host an in-person training session, complete with CHD Supers, Coops and Consultants and … CHD JEOPARDY! CART2D2 was even there! Brand new questions, answers, puns, jokes and PRIZES TOO in …

Jeopardy XI Greg's Playlist
     Jeopardy XI Greg’s Playlist I

Greg’s Playlist II! And don’t forget about Greg’s Playlist I either! 

Come for the training, stay for the Jeopardy … & the food!

Many more Toblerone Challenges  too! SEVEN Toblerone challenges throughout training, beginning with the very first slide that had FOUR Toblerone bars up for grabs!

The four answers are: Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill (Sage),  Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved (Chris), Tina Turner and Bryan  Adams – It’s Only  Love (Chris again!) and Ed Sheeran – Thinking  Out Loud (Sage again!)

Multiple winners ARE ALLOWED!

Rem for Worf from ST:TNG with Worf proclaiming that prune juice is a Warrior’s drink!

 

Zoe for solving the anagram of ‘The Computer Help Desk Rocks”! 

 

Alexandra for correctly identifying a favourite old TV series of mine “Get Smart” with Agent 86 – Maxwell Smart! Was it the shoe phone that gave it away? LOL!

And there definitely  were even “Early Bird Winners” of Sarah, Alexandra and Tom – yes, multiple MULTIPLE winners!  I can’t fool them!

For the next Jeopardy in .. January 2023, I am tinkering with ideas ranging from a Scavenger Hunt (digital!), Wheel of Doom (from CHD), more Puzzles to solve and even A category of “Dad Jokes” too! Be afraid … be VERY afraid!

What DID backfire on me was my Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW)  question! It was the first ever POLL within Jeopardy so EVERYBODY had a chance to win some chocolate bars! But I was upended by … NOBODY believing ST:SNW was the …  BEST STAR TREK SERIES EVER! LOL! I was all set to throw chocolate bars at anyone  who agreed with me … and not a single arm went up! HAHA! The chocolate bars will be in the Staff Kitchen soon, along with lots of chocolate based goodies for everyone who did attend and participate! THANK YOU ALL! 

A couple of LIVE snapshots of CHD Jeopardy LIVE from the weekend and also CART2D2 are below  .. scroll  down to see them!

AND, as a BONUS feature, I turned the PowerPoint of CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II into a video and have posted it at YouTube! So you can  slowly go through, WATCHING Jeopardy! You can scroll down below or click HERE to go directly to it! YAY JEOPARDY!

I have kept the thumbnails (down below) from a previous post about “A Brief History of Time, Space & … JEOPARDY At The Computer Help Desk” but you can always go back a few posts and read more!

I …. encourage that!
& reading ALL previous
CALL Me Bog posts TOO!


 

 

CHD Workshop
                   CHD Workshop

 

CALL Jeopardy I
                     CALL Jeopardy I

 

CALL ++ Jeopardy
                  CALL ++ Jeopardy

 

Jeopardy III Knee-d-Full Things
       Jeopardy III Knee-d-Full Things

 

Jeopardy IV Endgame
               Jeopardy IV Endgame

 

Jeopardy V Pop Culture
             Jeopardy V Pop Culture
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeopardy VI Reboot Version
            Jeopardy VI Reboot Version
Jeopardy VI Dual re-Boot
             Jeopardy VI Dual re-Boot
Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot
         Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Bo
Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot
          Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot
Jeopardy IX Memes "R" Us
                                                   Jeopardy IX Memes “R” Us
CHD Jeopardy Generation CHD
                                                       CHD Jeopardy Generation CHD

 

 

 

 

          

Jeopardy XI Greg's Playlist
                                                    Jeopardy XI Greg’s Playlist

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHD Jeopardy Greg's Playlist II
                                           CHD Jeopardy XII Greg’s Playlist II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to EVERYONE at CHD for participating and your support too! I can’t make Jeopardy without all of you! Thank you!

TTFN!

WELCOME BACK TO UVIC September 2022!

! WELCOME BACK !
! to UVIC !
! September 2022 !
! … and The CALL Facility too !

A full week has  passed since classes started at UVIC! That would cover every day that has classes! It has been extremely busy on campus, especially outdoors with so many orientations, booths, tents and activities like Thunderfest for all students, especially new students! WELCOME TO UVIC!

The  Computer Help Desk had tents up at Thunderfest as well as the day before classes started last week. CHD had a brand new PRIZE WHEEL to give away prizes! YAY CHD!

A couple of photos of the tents for all the activities and staffed by ALL kinds of CHD staff from new Coops to Consultants to Supers to Full Time Staff to our Associate Director too! GREAT TEAM EFFORT FROM EVERYONE! Those tents DO require team effort to setup and take down! YAY CHD!

All sorts of exciting stuff will be happening throughout September
& all upcoming semesters!

Did you know you can reserve Student Study Spaces, including the desks at the back of The CALL Facility? There are Project Rooms in BEC, Group Study Tables in Clearihue (CALL), Virtual Reality (VR) Studio in BEC and a Digital Media Studio in HSD! ALL from THIS WEBSITE! Photos below!

A few more Dual Monitors

CALL now has DUAL MONITORS ON ALL COMPUTER WORKSTATIONS! And that is on all the Macs and WIN computers! I was able  to re-purpose a bunch of monitors heading towards recycling and they now have a new lease on life in CALL! And it did not cost a penny! I used all available cables,  monitors, dongles and power bars! BONUS FOR BEING A GREEN CALL FACILITY! Here are many UVIC Green Recycling Sites to check out too! These and the best of my Pages are always at the right hand side of each of my Bog Blog Posts

I am always tinkering with my CALL Facility orientation, starting as a PowerPoint and with the goal to be under 5 minutes TOTAL as a presentation! I have tweaked my BETA version  and now have what I think  I will use as my file! And as a YouTube video as well!

CHD Jeopardy Greg's Playlist II
                     CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II

AND I have the next CHD All Staff Training Jeopardy readyGreg’s Playlist II and all new questions, answers, prizes and lyrics and CHD questions to try and answer! I even have NEW TYPES OF QUESTIONS TOO! But you will have to wait and .. also be staff at CHD to get the invite to the training! Come for the training … but stay for the food … and CHD JEOPARDY!

And huge HUGE NEWS THATI can’t really tell you about …  but WILL! There are new computers coming! Wait, they are ALREADY HERE! But wait, they are not yet ready to deploy! YES NEW  COMPUTERS! CHD staff unpacked them and we have to store them for now, as classes have started, so maybe  by Reading Break I will  let everyone know where they will be deployed! YAY NEW COMPUTERS! Stay glued to my Bog Blog for that and any other breaking Computer Help Desk news!

And how about a new feature every so often – a Throwback Link to topics … somewhat close to this one! LOL! And even some parting advice at the end of this blog, if you read that far!  I sure hope you do!

The best feature of the CALL layout (thanks to rolling desks!) is distancing to make sure everyone has enough room, should they want it. There are lots of open workstations for students and of course, all new computers from last August 2021 too.

CALL has  hosted many mid-terms, Finals and special workshops including a Chat Café with Korea! Really! So come on down and see what you  have been missing out on as a study space for yourself and fellow students!

Thanks to EVERYONE for all your help and support over the past 2+ Covid years. Without my colleagues support and friendship, I have no idea how I would have fared! THANK YOU ALL! And hey, to quote one of my favourite  TV shows of all time …. Hill Street Blues ….. and I have to mention St. Elsewhere too. AWESOME SHOWS! ENJOY!

CALL Towering Tech Arrivals

CALL Computer Refresh Deja Vu .. All Over Again

The Recycling of CALL … and HSD!

Early Computer Help Desks!

TTFN!

The CALL Facility … and other Mysteries of UVIC – Updated July 2022

DEJA CALL … all over again!

So, what exactly IS
The CALL Facility at UVic?
Well, here goes!
Including new ‘BETA‘ content
for September 2022 !

I have a NEW PDF (and PDF-video!) for a NEW version of The CALL Facility Orientation for September 2022!

  ⬇️ September 2022 ⬇️
NEW BETA VERSION
The CALL Facility Orientation
  ⬇️ Click Below to download ⬇️

And just below is my “Director’s Cut” YouTube version, converted from PowerPoint – and less than 2 minutes in length (1:59! LOL!) I will definitely have some updates and upgrades between now and then as I ‘Field Test’ this new approach to showing everyone The CALL Facility and preparing for September 2022.

Previous versions (Page) of my CALL intro had MANY slides of all the available resources for each  language/course/Department that used CALL for homework, assignments, WICKET, etc. That has totally changed due to Covid and I wanted a very quick, very informative slide show that ANYONE could quickly see (and show!) and not be resource or ‘click heavy’. I hope I have accomplished that!

I will continue to tweak it and after a few live CALL orientations, I will update these resources! Of course, I retain the right to .. include my brand of humour throughout! Oh, by the way, without a doubt, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is THE BEST STAR TREK SERIES OF ALL TIME! And … Spoiler Alert – this could actually pop up as a Jeopardy Questions in the new September CHD Training Day! You .. never … know!

The CALL Facility is STILL one of the Hidden Gems of Clearihue! Enjoy!

I will  have future Bog Blog posts about “Heading Back to UVic“,  “Oldest Computers in the World“, “On Vacation“, “Welcome Back to UVic” in September, and even some updated Pages and more totally random stuff that I seem to … maybe … specialize in! LOL!

CHD Jeopardy Greg's Playlist II
   CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II

And … another SPOILER ALERT a brand new CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II for September CHD Training too! YAY JEOPARDY!

Thanks to EVERYONE at CHD for participating and your support too! I can’t make CALL Orientations or CHD Jeopardy without all of you and your assistance, support and … rolling eyes!! Thank you!

TTFN!

 

Doctor Jeopardy and the UVic Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange Jeopardy
and the
UVic Multiverse of Madness

Jeopardy XI Greg's Playlist
                              Jeopardy XI Greg’s Playlist

The Computer Help Desk had our first ALL STAFF In-Person Training session recently and I was able to present CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist for  the FIRST TIME SINCE COVID STARTED! And I introduced brand new fun CHD Jeopardy questions, including Fill in the BlanksMultiple Choice and TOBLERONE PRIZES for  solving puzzles and scavenger hunts! Thanks to everyone who participated and WON!

CHD Jeopardy Greg's Playlist II
                       CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II

AND I am almost done my September CALL Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II! I like to have it all ready WELL in advance of the next training session! And there will  be more new Jeopardy questions, MORE Toblerone prizes and NEW ways to win NEW PRIZES TOO! And maybe even …. Spoiler Alert …. A GROUP JEOPARDY QUESTION TOO WHERE EVERYONE CAN WIN SOMETHING!!!

I try to do one or two new different participatory slides each time and the next Jeopardy will be BIGGER AND BETTER WITH  MORE CHANCES TO  WIN PRIZES! Listen closely …. do you want to know what …. and how to win Jeopardy prizes  …….

SSssshhhh ….. can you keep a secret? Well …. so can I! LOL!

And, Spoiler Alert … I am also working on a brand new CALL Orientation PowerPoint for September

ST: Strange New Worlds
                                                                           ST: Strange New Worlds

And you never know … there might even be a Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Jeopardy question too! ANYTHING can happen in the UVIC Multiverse of Madness! (And subtle joke … notice how I tied Marvel AND Star Trek, into  the title of this Bog Blog post ….. a chocolate bar to the first CHD Staff person who reads this far AND tells me the connection! (WAY easier than you think to solve!)

ST:Strange New Worlds HIT IT!
                                                                  ST: Strange New Worlds HIT IT!

I have kept the thumbnails (below) from my previous post about “A Brief History of Time, Space & … JEOPARDY At The Computer Help Desk” but you can always go back one post and read more!

I …. encourage that!
& reading ALL previous
CALL Me Bog posts TOO!

CHD Workshop
                   CHD Workshop

 

CALL Jeopardy I
                     CALL Jeopardy I

 

CALL ++ Jeopardy
                  CALL ++ Jeopardy

 

Jeopardy III Knee-d-Full Things
       Jeopardy III Knee-d-Full Things

 

Jeopardy IV Endgame
               Jeopardy IV Endgame

 

Jeopardy V Pop Culture
             Jeopardy V Pop Culture
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeopardy VI Reboot Version
            Jeopardy VI Reboot Version
Jeopardy VI Dual re-Boot
             Jeopardy VI Dual re-Boot
Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot
         Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Bo
Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot
          Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot
Jeopardy IX Memes "R" Us
                                                   Jeopardy IX Memes “R” Us
CHD Jeopardy Generation CHD
                                                       CHD Jeopardy Generation CHD

 

 

 

 

          

Jeopardy XI Greg's Playlist
                                                    Jeopardy XI Greg’s Playlist

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHD Jeopardy Greg's Playlist II
                                           CHD Jeopardy XII Greg’s Playlist II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to EVERYONE at CHD for participating and your support too! I can’t make Jeopardy without all of you! Thank you!

TTFN!

A Brief History of Time and Space and … Jeopardy at The Computer Help Desk

A Brief  History of Time, Space & …
JEOPARDY
At The Computer Help Desk

                  The CALL Facility

The Computer Help Desk had our first ALL STAFF In-Person Training session this past Saturday in The CALL Facility! Around 2.5 YEARS since our last one,  probably around February in 2020 before … well … you know what happened after that!

               The CALL Facility

CHD has still had training sessions throughout working  remotely, but used other collaborative software applications such as Blackboard, Zoom, Skype and now TEAMS to offer training for all our new Coops and returning Consultants! SPOILER ALERT – I prefer TEAMS to all of the alternatives! YAY TEAMS!

This post will be a brief recap of ALL the CHD ‘Jeopardy’ training sessions and how it has changed from the very first workshop I presented at .. and it was not even Jeopardy back then!

CHD Workshop
                   CHD Workshop

The very FIRST Saturday CHD Workshop presentation was a general introduction to The CALL Facility and WICKET! WICKET was essentially an attendance program, custom written for CALL to keep track of student ‘attendance’ in CALL. Many Departments, including Spanish, Italian, German, French, Linguistics and more, required a lab component to their classes for students, typically an hour a week, with at least one visit. WICKET would identify the student and class(es) they were taking and staff would assign a location for them. When they left, they would ‘sign out’ at the front counter and their time and visit would be logged!

CALL Jeopardy I
                     CALL Jeopardy I

Next was the first ever CALL version  of Jeopardy! And I take NO CREDIT for the template that was used! Sherri originated the template for a Systems social event, so ….  I just acquired the template! And it truly was a CALL Version. But over the years,  I have mostly titled them ‘CALL Jeopardy’, but they really are just ‘Jeopardy’ or ‘CHD Jeopardy’ now! It was bare bones, no Trivia, and just pick a number under a category. But it was a start for Jeopardy!

CALL ++ Jeopardy
                  CALL ++ Jeopardy

Then I started to get a bit more … imaginative … and introduced Jeopardy II CALL ++ Version! I started playing around with themes, backgrounds, puns, jokes and … TRIVIA under each category! Yeah, you are probably saying .. what took you so long! I even put in a ‘Daily Double’ but only for cosmetic reasons! Why not! And the side benefit was … I was learning about more features of PowerPoint! Many of my CALL orientations were using Keynote slides – which have awesome special effects! But PowerPoint has been a mainstay of Jeopardy from the beginning!

Jeopardy III Knee-d-Full Things
       Jeopardy III Knee-d-Full Things

And then even more adventurous with the next rendition of Jeopardy III – Knee-d-Full-Things! At the time I was having knee surgery, and I think Stranger Things was just taking off too! AND a Star Wars movie was out too so .. the theme basically wrote itself! I even started to use some graphics within the trivia part of the categories too. But that has fallen a bit to the side! Trivia was barely an option back then!

Jeopardy IV Endgame
               Jeopardy IV Endgame

Then came the truly first ‘themed’ version of Jeopardy ENDGAME! Most of us at CHD are huge fans of Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Pokémon … OR ALL OF THEM! So this version full  blown Trivia was in force as each question required knowing where each Marvel movie ‘quote’ came from, either the movie or the character! And of course, Endgame had just come out too! So … Spoiler Alert: there WERE SPOILERS in Jeopardy! 

Jeopardy V Pop Culture
             Jeopardy V Pop Culture

Next up would  be Jeopardy V Pop Culture! This was fun because I started to put a few more GIFs in each slide and … it was becoming quite challenging to come up with new and fun questions for all the new Coops, and Consultants to try and figure out! Each new Jeopardy I add a new layer of … something … to make it better and more interesting for everyone, especially myself! Pop Culture let me pick SO MANY NEW Trivia questions too! This was one of my favourite Jeopardy sessions!

Jeopardy VI Reboot Version
            Jeopardy VI Reboot Version

Then came a series of remote training sessions, based on the idea that we were all really trying to ‘reboot’ ourselves into a new world of remote computing and nobody, NOBODY, had any idea how much our work at the CHD would be affected by being home for so long. Jeopardy VI Reboot Version was the first attempt at using Blackboard, I think, and it was a bit disastrous! I ran out of time, the AV was a bit wonky too. I had been in Teams and perhaps Zoom just PRIOR and I was in the wrong Blackboard channel and the problems just continue to mount with a weird double-echo in my headset. So I basically abandoned this one mid-training! LOL! But this was a learning moment for  me too! What NOT to do .. before Jeopardy!

Jeopardy VI Dual re-Boot
             Jeopardy VI Dual re-Boot

And of course, the obvious title  for the next session would be Jeopardy VII Dual re-Boot! That was also a pun on all the CALL computers … which were Dual Boot MAC/WIN at the time! There is always a slightly skewed reason for all the titles, question, trivia and answers! Spoiler Alert: That won’t change anytime soon! 🙂 And, I also ran out of time with this version of Jeopardy! But the silver lining to having incomplete Jeopardy, is that CHD Review was introduced and given about 5 minutes at the conclusion of each CHD (Super) Review, there was time to finish of any Jeopardy questions! YAY! Jeopardy was no longer … in Jeopardy! 🙂

Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot
         Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot

And then came the first ‘Triple Header’ called Jeopardy TRIPLE re-BOOT! This was not the first use of actual video links in Jeopardy, but I included a link to a brief orientation of CALL for everyone, and also

Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot
          Jeopardy VIII Triple re-Boot

for when I would be away for my major knee surgery – I am either part Borg or part Terminator with my new left knee! THAT was 6 months away from work, so there was a gap in training session participation for me! And I seem to have a version of Triple re-Boot Jeopardy with a different start screen! Ah, I need a RAM upgrade soon as I am forgetting my own Jeopardy sessions! 🙂

Jeopardy IX Memes "R" Us
           Jeopardy IX Memes “R” Us

Then came a ‘ground breaking’ version of Jeopardy IX MEMEs ‘R’ Us! I discovered a site that EASILY made a custom meme with whatever you wanted to put on it! Every slide had a unique CHD Meme on it, usually poking fun at the question, CHD, staff and even myself! This was a fantastic new addition, for me, as it opened up all kinds of possibilities! And if I could not find a ‘blank’ existing meme/gif then I was able to create one with Handbrake as a brief video from a source video, slice out a few second, then turn that video, complete with my own text, into the EXACT meme I wanted, at ezgif.com!

CHD Jeopardy Poll
                   CHD Jeopardy Poll

And then a new approach to be inclusive of all our CHD staff! I wanted to ask THEM what kind of Trivia questions they would like to answer, prior to the actual CHD style question! CHD was mastering Teams and I created a Poll to ask what Trivia and … the winner was … DISNEY! 

Jeopardy X Generation CHD
         Jeopardy X Generation CHD

But the runners up were all Disney too – so that narrowed it down considerably … but also made it more challenging too, to find more recent as well as classic quotes from … DISNEY!  LOL! And the CHD crew were up to task and it was another favourite training session that was Jeopardy Generation CHD

Jeopardy XI Greg's Playlist
                     Jeopardy XI Greg’s Playlist

And the most recent one, last Saturday was Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist and is also my most favourite Jeopardy of All Time! This version had everything – GIFs, Trivia, Emoji Hints, Animation, Puns, Jokes, Links on almost every page … and the best part … LIVE AND IN PERSON FROM THE CALL FACILITY! Yeah, I had fun and I sure hope everyone else did too! And also for the first time, JEOPARDY RECORDED! I should go and look, but would probably just … not sure what! LOL!

And the next Jeopardy will be a continuation or … arguably … a sequel to Greg’s Playlist … Greg’s Playlist II! And I have already started to work on it … AND … I am asking Consultants when they are in CALL, what is THEIR #1 song on THEIR OWN PLAYLIST! So that way I can make it even more inclusive and involve more people from CHD! And I will  still  have some of my own songs too – Maybe including ‘Hotel CALL-ifornia‘ from The Eagles! LOL! You can check out … but you can never leave … CALL!

The entire roster of Jeopardy PowerPoint slides is here, or click on the BOG BLOG PAGES to the left and then on CALL Jeopardy Opus. And each of the individual slides above, if you click on each one, takes you DIRECTLY to that particular version of Jeopardy in pdf format! They don’t have all the animations, GIFs, etc. So if you want to see those, let me know and I can send you the PowerPoint file through Teams.

Thanks to EVERYONE at CHD for participating and your support too! I can’t make Jeopardy without all of you! Thank you!

TTFN!

My Favourite ‘Favourites’ at OAC!

! MY Favourite ‘Favourites’!
! AT OAC !

It occurs to me that …  I really like blogging here at OAC! I published a daily blog in the initial months of remote computing and all of a sudden, I had published almost 230 Posts! And a handful of Pages too. What is the difference between a BogPost‘ and a ‘BogPage‘, welPages and Postsl, I wrote a Post about that called Pages and Posts … What Gives?

And of course, that led me to think about which ones were my … favourites amongst them all! Yeah, not fair, but … I make the rules here! So I will now attempt to list, in no particular order, my “Top 10 Favourite Posts

I will  have one ‘filter’ though … the Post had to have the word “favourite” in  it somewhere – preferably the title! So that will sub sort it quite a bit! So,  HERE GOES!

TOP 10 FAVOURITE POSTS
AT MY BOG BLOG

  1. Think Different or . . . Apple Commercials Through the Years” would be a favourite at anytime, simply because of the sheer imagination of Apple Commercials. A long ago summer project was to learn how to create a DVD and what better source than … Apple commercials! And I think my favourite Apple commercial is for an iPad … “Your Verse Apple iPad Commercial – What Will Your Verse Be?” Watch it and try to disagree with me!
  2. I’m Sorry Dave or . . . My Favourite Computer AI Voices in Movies and TVeasily makes my Top 10. A gimme if ever  there was one as we reference many phrases and moments almost DAILY at CHD! In other  words, Make it So,  Bogman!
  3. 1, 2, 3, . . . . or My Favourite Language Lesson of All Time!” and to this day, it is STILL my favourite language lesson of ALL TIME! My first ever TEACHING job was in Calgary,  teaching  basic computing  skills. Including BASIC as a programming language! Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code! Literally … BASIC!
  4. Open Book Exams . . . . or . . . . My Favourite Textbooks“. How can anyone LIKE a textbook much less make it a Favourite? Well, I did! I have kept many of my favourite textbooks throughout the years! Why not! They helped me get through many a tough course and … that I enjoyed them was a side bonus!
  5. CART2D2 – There is no try! Do or Do Not Young Skywalker!THIS is a favourite because CART2D2 is a favourite! We are still playing around with this to find some great uses and the next big use will be at our first IN PERSON  CHD TRAINING SESSION on May 28th! YAY! There is no try … Do or Do Not!
  6. Comparing Apples and Oranges but not actually ….. Oranges!” Recycling is HUGE at UVic and I try to recycle as much as I possibly can. And when CHD had quite literally a MOUNTAIN OF TECH show up last summer, CALL was used as a staging area for so much tech! And with so much PACKING AND CARDBOARD TOO! So any chance I get to promote recycling, I take it! And we are in the beginning  stages of a new refresh so … warm up your Blue Bins, UVic!
  7. Throwback Thursday . . . or . . . Language Quotes! (and a bit of nostalgia!)” Who doesn’t enjoy a quick quote as a comeback or as a poster in their office! I probably only have a few stored in my long term PRAM that could be ZAPPED at any moment! So quotes about computers, life and especially Languages, is right up my alley in CALL!
  8. Bold Italics Comic Sans . . . or Word Processors Through the Years” One of my first ever Computer  Science assignments, on punched cards no less, was to write a program to replace 3 words (that my Instructor had set in a paragraph (read from a mainframe!) with 3 other words. THAT WAS VERY HARD! But now, Gmail docs, Office, Pages … all have keyboard SHORTCUTS for Find and Replace! And none of them use punched cards as source code! Only shows that I correctly guessed that my future career … was NOT to be a Programmer!
  9. I Excel at PowerPoint . . . or Computer Puns and Jokes” What would any Top 10 List be without including a post about my favourite jokes and puns! I never let an opportunity to ‘pun’ go unpunished! And I am usually RESTRAINING myself too!
  10. CALL CHD JEOPARDY OPUS“. How could I create a Top 10 and NOT include Jeopardy! Okay, a bit of a cheat here as this is actually a PAGE that can be accessed anytime from any of my Posts. AND is always updated to the most recent version of JEOPARDY! In fact, the first IN PERSON CHD Training will be on Saturday, May 28th and I will have a brand new Jeopardy – Greg’s Playlist! And it will have new elements such as Fill-in-the-Blanks, Multiple Choice and even some Scavenger Hunts for prizes!

So many Posts/Pages … so little time! I am not writing at the same pace, but reserve my Posts/Pages for my remote day, unless something comes up.

It might take awhile, here’s to my next 230+ Posts and Pages and Randomness at UVic! YAY!

TTFN!

New CHD Staff Training
Coming UP
… and a new Jeopardy too!

Video Playlists at OAC – COOL!

! VIDEO PLAYLISTS!
! AT OAC !

I discovered a feature of WordPress here at OAC that can create Video Playlists in a post! I have used Photo Gallery quite a bit, once I learned how to use them, and published some of my favourite photographs I have taken at this post, Photography Gallery.

This feature allows you to build a .. Video Playlist .. as the name indicates. Very much like a YouTube Playlist, but for OAC purposes, based on media you have at your own OAC Media Library.

The Online Academic Community has some great Tutorials on Organizing Content and the using The Dashboard too!

All you have to do is have some video media (MP4/M4V work best) uploaded to your Media Library. Then in your new or already existing Post/Page, click on the “Add Media” button. Under “Actions“, click “Create video playlist“.  All the videos that are in your Media library will now appear. Click on the ones you want to be in your playlist and a Blue Checkmark will appear on each one.

Then in the bottom right hand corner, click on “Create a new video playlist“. Then click “Insert video playlist” …
et voilàyour video playlist is inserted into your Post!

You can change the order if you want by editing the Video playlist quite easily, if you want to change the order from how you  uploaded them.

If the OAC Media Library does not want to upload your video, use Handbrake to convert to either MP4 or M4V. Free software for both Mac and WIN and works like a charm for converting SO MANY FORMATS! 

A few more helpful links for creating a Video Playlist at OAC. Not all the features mentioned  will work at OAC but there are many hints and images at these sites to help create your Video Playlists at OAC. ENJOY!

  1. Tutorial: How to create a WordPress video gallery
  2. Insert an Audio or Video Playlist
  3. How to Create a Video Gallery in WordPress (Step by Step)
  4. How To Make A Playlist On YouTube (2022)

TTFN!

New CHD Staff Training
Coming UP
… and a new Jeopardy too!

CALL Dual Monitors

! CALL DUAL MONITORS !
! NOW INSTALLED !

CALL Instructor Stations #37 & #38
                            CALL Instructor Stations #37 & #38

The CALL Facility now has dual monitors on each workstation! Well, not all of them. The Instructors stations (#37 & #38) are connected to the VDP and can project to the entire room. And room is needed for laptops and materials at each station. 

The idea to install them came from a Poster Session for Linguistics, described in an earlier post! It was so successful that the monitors at HSD (in storage) that were headed to be recycled, a box of HDMI-DVI dongles and some DVI cables were found …. DUAL  MONITORS! And at absolutely no cost at all! I joke that I found a penny under a station, so my budget not only came in UNDER budget .. but showed a profit!!!!

There are combinations of Portrait and/or Landscape and relatively easy to switch around. I will survey students throughout the summer to see what combination might be preferable. 

Most students are away for the summer and fewer classes are actually scheduled so it will still look like ‘new’ equipment for September!

Thanks to colleagues T, H and G for helping me set them up! Those cable trays are heavy, awkward and filled with .. cables! LOL! And a very green mini-project, saving tech from a landfill too!

Some previous posts on recycling are “The Recycling of CALL and HSD!“,  “CALL Computer Refresh Deja Vu ….. All Over Again” and “UVIC Recycling Links“.

TTFN!

BE READY!!!!

READY!

CALL me Bog Stats

! CALL ME BOG !
! OAC STATS !

I recently found out just where my ‘CALL me Bog‘ blog … ranks here at OAC at UVic in terms of number of Posts and number of Views! NOT that anything I write here is ‘earth shattering’ but … it might just be able to kick up some dust from under an old serial port keyboard some days! LOL!

So, the Top 5 OAC websites at UVic for number of Posts are:

#1 – Centre for Youth & Society’s Community Resource Hub1801 Posts
#2 – My UVic Life1358 Posts
#3 – UVic Teach Anywhere820 Posts
#4 – Scholarly Communication @ UVic588 Posts
#5 – The World From Here (Gustavson School)586 Posts
#17 – CALL Me Bog at …. 230 Posts!

 

 

 

Yeah,  okay,  comparing Apples and Oranges and … WINDOWS! But all the rest are all Faculties, Departments, Groups, Organizations, etc. so … maybe I am the #1 individual blog! But each of those sites are amazing and I have actively followed My UVic Life and UVic Teach Anywhere. I recommend them all!

CALL Me Bog Page Views
                                 CALL Me Bog Page Views

And one more stat is the number of Page Views and with that I rank a bit higher! CALL Me Bog is #7 in Page Views at 13,624!! Always room to improve, grow and get more Views and more Posts and Pages!

The  gap to move up is fairly significant so I doubt that I can move up too much with Page Views! But you never know when one of my Posts will go viral at UVic! To Infinity and Beyond! LOL!

And some more mini-updates in CALL – almost done putting in .. TWO MONITORS AT EACH WORKSTATION! Only 5 left to go! I will update the next post, next week with a photo! YAY DUAL MONITORS! Many thanks to my colleagues T, H and G for helping me out and setting them up!

PS: I have a new laptop and monitor and .. added another one too!

Trio Grande
                                                                            Trio Grande

Stay tuned for when all the monitors are installed! .. SOON!

TTFN!

GOOD LUCK
ON ALL YOUR  FINAL EXAMS!
This is the last week of Finals!
BE READY!!!!

READY!

CALL Poster Session PLUS!

! POSTER SESSION !
! The CALL Facility !
! NEW-ish !

More of a ‘Back to the Future‘ vibe as CALL hosted a Poster Session for Linguistics near the end of the semester! A poster session might sound boring but … never in CALL and this one was QUITE UNIQUE!

7 groups needed to present a digital ‘Poster‘ on a computer, with a monitor that could display in Portrait … literally! So SK (Instructor) came down a day ahead and we literally FLIPPED the new monitors (from last August refresh) in CALL  …  et voila … PORTRAIT MODE! I had to change the preferences to Portrait but that was a few seconds on each computer!

SK had a sample .png  file, copied it to the desktop and it worked perfectly with the basic viewer software on each platform (MAC/WIN)!

All the groups had  to do was login  with their Netlink credentials, copy the  file to the desktop and view it as Full Screen and it worked perfectly!

Larger Photos are here and here.

And I am going to recycle some older monitors (from HSD! Thanks H!), slowly, and try to outfit as many workstations in CALL with DUAL MONITORS! That will be very useful and welcomed by all users of CALL! I will have a mix of Landscape and Landscape/Portrait for students to try!

The CALL Facility will  be the first and only drop-in classroom/lab that has both Mac and WIN computers, webcams and dual monitors! And so much much more too!

CALL New Layout
             CALL New Layout

For a quick recap of many new additions and updates, go to this post.

 

 

 

Hidden Gems of Clearihue
      Hidden Gems of Clearihue

For a quick recap of why  The CALL Facility is a ‘Hidden Gems of Clearihue‘, go to this post.

 

 

Stay tuned for when that happens!

TTFN!

GOOD LUCK
ON ALL YOUR  FINAL EXAMS!
BE READY!!!!

READY!