A Walk Down Memory Lane .. or .. 1 Domegemegrottebyte Worth!

Let’s go for a walk down …
Memory Lane !
Of 1 Domegemegrottebyte Size !!!!

I hope you have been able to keep THIS BOG BLOG POST TOP SECRET!

If not, then go ahead and TELL EVERYONE! The secret CALL Upgrade with lots of new TECH TOYS is less than TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!

The CALL Facility will actually be closed the first two weeks of July (1-5 and 8-12) while the best technical crew on campus brings CALL to the height of upgrades! A long time coming and this will significantly change how CALL can and WILL be used for classes, demos, workshops, orientations, lectures, exams and even drop-in usage! And maybe even MORE uses as everyone discovers that CALL can now do ….. oops ……. almost let the cat out of the bag! You will have to wait or better yet, drop by and talk to me! CALL has had computer refreshes but this time .. is different. CALL did get new furniture and a newer version of The Pods, just before Covid, but this is going to be really cool!

Oh, and if you were wondering about what a Domegemegrottebyte is ….

Domegemegrottebyte (1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 Bytes) (or 10³³ Bytes)

And for comparison, click HERE for some eye opening comparisons! I had never heard of The Byte Scale before! WOW!

Okay, now for some fun stuff! There are vintage photos of The CALL Facility and even the notorious and infamous …. Lab ‘B’ that I have found. AND some Great Flood photos and even Classic CALL photos. Below are a bunch of mini-galleries, each with a mini-them! Some are so old, that colour had not been invented yet! All this in comparison to various upgrades and the UPGRADE TO COME IN JULY! I will do a blog about that, when complete and we have a Fully Functioning ~~DEATHSTAR~~ CALL Facility! Check them out below in a bunch of Galleries!

**The CALL Facility will be completed on schedule**

THE LEGENDARY LAB ‘B’
the night before it was … DISASSEMBLED!

Classic CALL Facility Photos – Pre-Flood!

The Great Flood of 2015!

Vintage & Old Photos of CALL 1989!

CALL During Flood Renovations

Behind the Scenes CLTE Renovations!

CALL FUN FAIR – Meet the Team

And some more cool links from previous Bog Blogs about upgrades and new tech and toys through the years! And don’t forget to recycle boxes, hardware and even food and paper! JUST DO IT!

NEW! The CALL Facility Furniture HAS ARRIVED! NEW!
CALL Computer Refresh Deja Vu ….. All Over Again
SSShhh or Clearihue’s Hidden Secrets .. or CLEARIHUE’S HIDDEN GEMS!!!!
The CALL Facility Original Ad for Employment September 1989
1989 to 2019 30th Anniversary of The CALL Facility!
Meet the Team Systems Open House
The CALL Facility Original Ad for Employment September 1989
CALL Towering Tech Arrivals
The Recycling of CALL and … HSD! (Upgrades need recycling!)
Recycling Never Gets Old at UVic!

See everyone in JULY!
Come on down to
THE CALL FACILITY!

And … just to end on yet another shameless OAC Bog Blog promotion, yet another Post ending with yet another previous blog on …. PUNS! Please be kind! And if you can’t be kind, then I will just have to make more puns! The choice … is yours!!! The Pun is strong in this one ……

Super Secret Surprise CALL Stuff … coming in July!

SUPER SECRET….
Surprise CALL STUFF …..
Coming in JULY !!!!

CAN you keep a secret? You better be able to! There just might be some VERY interesting stuff coming to your local CALL Facility, scheduled for the first two weeks of JULY! Just before that though, will be DHSI for the first two weeks of JUNE!

What is DHSI? Well, I will write another post closer to June, but another Super Secret CALL Scenario is ….. click here to see what DHSI is!

But for now, you will have to:

Monitor this OAC Blog!
Make a resolution to be ready for anything!
Station yourself at the ready!
Display your boxes of CALL hi-tech upgrades!
Project the future!
Measure up to … 55″ of PowerPoint slides in every direction!
And if not PP, then switch to a 55″ Keynote instead!
Don’t get drunk on screenshots!
Screen everyone who visits CALL!
Memorize how to spell HDMI!
Surf the Internet riding high on a CRESTRON .wav!
Get ready for one DELL of an upgrade!
No boots needed in case of a flood, only … re-boots!
Didn’t cost much either! We paid in cache!
CALL will be safe from monitor lizards, finally!
Monitor the upgrades ’cause it … hertz so good!

And maybe, just maybe, the photo below in a Super Secret location, safe from prying eyes … will have some clues!

And just have to end on a serious note ….. NOT!

See everyone in JULY!
Come on down to
THE CALL FACILITY!

And … just to end on a shameless OAC Bog Blog promotion, I did a whole post on puns and jokes during early Covid in 2020 …….

On Campus Photo Shoot Redux

ON CAMPUS
PHOTO SHOOT!

(mostly!)

It has been awhile since I posted a few on-campus photos. And since I am biking to work every day (well, not necessarily on rainy or snow days) I thought I would put a few more photos up. I will keep the old ones there too and add to the photos I take.

ENJOY!

Territory Acknowledgement
University of Victoria

UVic Computer Help Desk
YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

I will bet you didn’t know that The Computer Help Desk had a YouTube channel with TONS of useful, timely and current hints and tips for using computers, phones, pads and even more! Subscribe for even more! The latest is ‘How to Setup Duo Mobile on your phone‘.

ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 28!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

FINALLY August is here!

And I am going to go absolutely nowhere! Well, maybe Cobble Hill for coffee and ratatouille in the forest! Or walks on the beach! Or a longshot is Tofino or Alberta! But anywhere I do go, will be very random and very spur of the moment!

I did scale back my OAC posts this past year (September ’22 to August ’23) but still managed some fun posts and pages, as well as some updates and brand new random posts! And I plan on a few more when I get back in September! Who knows how busy September 2023 will be but .. it WILL be busy! I am already taking bookings for JANUARY OF 2024!!! YAY BOOKINGS!

You can always check out all my CHD Jeopardy training files here including my most recent Jeopardy Double Trouble in .pdf format. AND a YouTube video of Double Jeopardy it here! ENJOY!

AND ANNOUNCING THAT I HAVE FINISHED 99.99% of the NEWEST CHD JEOARDY –HALLOWEEN the 13th!!! In October and for all our new and returning COOPS

Good luck! And even MORE prizes (Chocolate! Gummy Bears and maybe SURPRISE PACKAGES TOO!) to win and new TYPES of questions too!

And I might also have a new shorter version of my CALL Orientation which will be only about 2 minutes long and less than a dozen slides! Okay, that was hard to do, to keep it THAT short, but I will still keep some Star Trek and Easter Egg elements in there … the usual for this Bog Blog! For a quick sneak peek, but only the working/BETA version, you can download it here in PDF format, or watch it at YouTube in video format! I even kept it shorter than the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds trailer ! But it will still probably change and be even better than it is right now! YAY!

Thanks for all the support and reading all my fun Bog Blog posts and pages at UVic! More to come in September! WOOT!

Everyone stay safe and healthy today, tomorrow and for the rest of the year!

Not to worry . . .

Back on August 28th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

Bogman

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!

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 ready! Greg’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 THAT … I 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!

ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 29!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

FINALLY August is here!

I did scale back my OAC posts this past year (September ’21 to July ’22) but still managed some fun posts and pages, as well as some updates and brand new random posts – you know the kind- COVID kind of interfered with daily updates as we had TWO years of students coming back to UVIC! The regular ‘1st Years’ and the ‘then’ the current ‘2nd Years’ … who never did set foot on campus during COVID! September 2021 was THE busiest I have ever seen on campus! Who knows how busy September 2022 will be but .. it WILL be busy!

Jeopardy XI Greg's Playlist — **Jeopardy XI Greg’s Playlist**

BONUS – we were able to do IN PERSON TRAINING FOR OUR NEW CHD STAFF FOR THE FIRST TIME in almost 3 years!! You can always check out all my CHD Jeopardy training files here including my most recent Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist!

AND ANNOUNCING THAT I HAVE FINISHED 99.99% of the NEWEST CHD JEOARDY – GREG’S PLAYLIST II in September and for all our new and returning COOPS! Good luck! And even MORE prizes (Chocolate!) to win and new TYPES of questions too!

And I will also have a new shorter version of my CALL Orientation which will be only about 2 minutes long and less than a dozen slides! Okay, that was hard to do, to keep it THAT short, but I will still keep some Star Trek and Easter Egg elements in there … the usual for this Bog Blog! For a quick sneak peek, but only the working/BETA version, you can download it here in PDF format, or watch it at YouTube in video format! I even kept it shorter than the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds trailer ! But it will still probably change and be even better than it is right now! YAY!

Thanks for all the support and reading all my fun Bog Blog posts and pages at UVic! More to come in September! WOOT!

Everyone stay safe and healthy today, tomorrow and for the rest of the year!

Not to worry . . .

Back on August 29th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

Bogman

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!

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!

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‘, well, 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!

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 voilà …your 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!

Time Travel

Mystic Vale Sunrise Bike Ride

Long Beach Sunset

Oak Bay Sunrise

UVic Fountain

Hummingbirds in Summer

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!

TTFN!

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

CALL Dual Monitors

! CALL DUAL MONITORS !
! NOW INSTALLED !

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“.

Let’s go for a walk down … Memory Lane ! Of 1 Domegemegrottebyte Size !!!!

THE LEGENDARY LAB ‘B’ the night before it was … DISASSEMBLED!

Classic CALL Facility Photos – Pre-Flood!

The Great Flood of 2015!

Vintage & Old Photos of CALL 1989!

CALL During Flood Renovations

Behind the Scenes CLTE Renovations!

CALL FUN FAIR – Meet the Team

See everyone in JULY! Come on down to THE CALL FACILITY!

Share this:

SUPER SECRET…. Surprise CALL STUFF ….. Coming in JULY !!!!

But for now, you will have to:

And just have to end on a serious note ….. NOT!

See everyone in JULY! Come on down to THE CALL FACILITY!

Share this:

ON CAMPUS PHOTO SHOOT!

Other OAC photosI have posted are below: Photography Gallery II On Campus Photo Shoot Photography Gallery Photography

Click on the title below the photo for a much larger image.

Mystic Vale Sunrise Bike Ride to CHD

Who doesn’t miss the fountain and the sound of water?

Just sit back and enjoy the sound of moving water!

UVic Cool Sites … Just for fun … when you need them!

ENJOY!

Territory Acknowledgement University of Victoria

UVic Computer Help Desk YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

Share this:

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

Everyone stay safe and healthy today, tomorrow and for the rest of the year!

Not to worry . . . Back on August 28th to prep for . . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

~~Bogman~~

Share this:

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

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

Early Computer Help Desks!

Share this:

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

Everyone stay safe and healthy today, tomorrow and for the rest of the year!

Not to worry . . . Back on August 29th to prep for . . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

~~Bogman~~

Share this:

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 ⬇️

Share this:

! MY Favourite ‘Favourites’! ! AT OAC !

TOP 10 FAVOURITE POSTS AT MY ‘BOG BLOG‘

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

Share this:

! VIDEO PLAYLISTS! ! AT OAC !

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

Share this:

! CALL DUAL MONITORS ! ! NOW INSTALLED !

BE READY!!!!

Share this:

Let’s go for a walk down …
Memory Lane !
Of 1 Domegemegrottebyte Size !!!!

THE LEGENDARY LAB ‘B’
the night before it was … DISASSEMBLED!

See everyone in JULY!
Come on down to
THE CALL FACILITY!

SUPER SECRET….
Surprise CALL STUFF …..
Coming in JULY !!!!

See everyone in JULY!
Come on down to
THE CALL FACILITY!

ON CAMPUS
PHOTO SHOOT!

Other OAC photosI have posted are below:
Photography Gallery II
On Campus Photo Shoot
Photography Gallery
Photography

Territory Acknowledgement
University of Victoria

UVic Computer Help Desk
YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

Not to worry . . .

Back on August 28th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

Bogman

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

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

Not to worry . . .

Back on August 29th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

Bogman

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

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

! MY Favourite ‘Favourites’!
! AT OAC !

TOP 10 FAVOURITE POSTS
AT MY ‘BOG BLOG‘

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

! VIDEO PLAYLISTS!
! AT OAC !

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

! CALL DUAL MONITORS !
! NOW INSTALLED !