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.

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

One of the best parts of working at UVic is biking up to work. I have been biking every day, for 24 years! Well, not 2020/2021 due to Covid, and not most of 2018 (knee replacement) but I was fully back in the saddle by 2019! And the best part of biking … SUNRISE! Many of the photos below are taken while biking to work and/or driving to work. I have even had a few published in the Oak Bay newspaper too! That is always fun!

Oak Bay Sunrise
        Oak Bay Sunrise
Oak Bay Sunrise II
                        Oak Bay Sunrise II
Click on the title below the photo for a much larger image.

And I really like using a Gallery too! And I will include some video for some soothing UVic fountain moments for everyone too! Okay,  some aren’t QUITE from campus, but they were taken on the WAY to campus!

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!

  1. Campus Virtual Tour (Until we can go back!)
  2. Finnerty Gardens (Ducks and Flowers!)
  3. Munchie Bar(Great coffee!)
  4. Cinecenta (Best popcorn in town!)
  5. Mystic Market (Food galore!)
  6. David Petch Fountain (WordPress site)
  7. Mystic Vale (OAC WordPress site!)
  8. Legend Pole 
  9. Cadboro Bay & Gyro Park (10 minute walk from Campus … TO THE OCEAN!)
  10. TOFINO & Pacific Rim National Park! (Technically … not UVic, but a favourite place of mine!)
  11. Restored Legend Pole in centre of campus rededicated and blessed
  12. Indigenous Art on Campus Tour
  13. The Raven Soaring Pole (Replica of a Gitxsan Memorial Pole by Kweenu)
  14. S’YEWE Legend Pole rededicated(I actually helped out back then, but not in photo!)

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‘.  

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!

 

So … What’s Next for … 2022?

So …………
What’s Next for …………..
2022!

This is basically a sequel post to my last one ‘What’s Next for September?‘ as I have not had time to post ANYTHING since returning to work on campus, full time, face to face, as everyone else did too!

BUT the exception is TODAY, my first scheduled RWA (Working Remotely) to .. work remotely once a week. Working with my amazing colleagues at CHD,  we each submitted our RWA to our Asscciate Director, making sure we cover each other on our respective RWA days. We have been doing that anyways for years, this merely formalizes it for specific days for each of us. AND if I am needed on campus that day for an orientation, demo or something … I just come to campus that day! Thanks to all  of M, T, H and G for working together on this! Teamwork and communication!

And so NOW, the ultimate question is … What IS Next for 2022

I have absolutely no idea! I can only reflect on this past semester – the challenges and successes I encountered  returning to The Computer Help Desk and The CALL Facility … in a nutshell! 

The biggest change was of course, full face to face with students, staff, faculty and … SO MANY PEOPLE ON CAMPUS! Mask wearing was mandated and basically, we were all back into the swing of things … instantly!

I fielded so many requests for CALL bookings, resources, hours of operation and … bewildered 1st AND 2nd Year students being on campus for the FIRST TIME! And new Instructors, new pedagogy based on technology (Brightspace, Zoom, Teams, OAC, Echo 360, … you name it!). AND many, many regulars of CALL returned if they had not graduated already! Thank you all for your patience and for returning to The CALL Facility!

I even changed the configuration of my desk so that there would be social distancing between CHD Consultants and myself in CALL! Okay, just switched sides, but that is an important change – and now I can see people when they come into CALL!

CALL had a marked increase in usage for American Sign Language, Korean (Chat Cafe!), French, Spanish and Italian! With the need for distancing and masking, I had to modify my approach AND content to everyone, even the Instructors! That was actually SO MUCH FUN and basically I was re-learning my duties and job .. ON THE  FLY!

I literally was hosting a 3 minute ‘demo’ of what CALL is, how to use the NEW computers and even a super fast demo of Audacity at one point, using both WIN and MAC on the VDP!

Anytime you are dealing with new equipment, new computers and new students and expectations from new  Instructors …. be afraid! But I was thrilled that ALL THE COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY WORKED FLAWLESSLY!

The WiFi worked flawlessly even for upwards of 40+ students and their own  laptops! The ‘Korean Chat Cafe’ with Zoom worked instantly, Brightspace was in high demand and students could CHOOSE WIN OR MAC! That was VERY welcome amongst students! And ASL mid-terms and Finals just … WORKED! CALL will be hosting the ASL Final exams which make use of webcams, Brightspace, Macs and Windows, recording and … CALL is the only facility that can offer that .. okay, CLE A103 has a room of iMacs, and they work flawlessly too! YAY TKAT!

One of my favourite tasks was creating a new Keynote for each new semester, with all the new ‘stuff’ in CALL. But it was not worth the time to do that, considering I was able to do quick demos, as the class came in, with a minimum of fuss. But, the last ‘5-ish Magic Words” lives on as a downloadable file and at YouTube too! 

Oh yes, NEW COMPUTERS and NEW FURNITURE! Just click on those links and you will see previous posts about all the new stuff, now all installed in CALL! MANY thanks to everyone at CHD who helped moving a literal ‘Mountain of Tech‘ that came in during the summer! And it would be remiss of me to again mention that CHD recycles as much as possible – plastics (hard and soft), cardboard and paper.

I also had a post talking about THIS latest refresh for CALL  too!

CALL Facility Large Screens
   CALL Facility Large Screens

The ‘NEW STUFF‘, EACH computer (Mac Minis  & DELL WIN) makes CALL quite unique! CALL is the ONLY computing facility on campus to offer: a blend of MAC and WIN computers, webcams on each computer, 24″ monitors, ethernet and solid WiFi, external optical media drives (Mac only), USB headphones with stereo microphones, private booths (with and without computers), table space, 55″ monitors at 2- ‘office/desk’ locations, 4 rolling whiteboards (2 big, 2 small) for use anywhere in CALL – AND DROP-

New CALL Furniture
                      New CALL Furniture

IN USE, unless CALL is scheduled!! Yeah, that makes CALL very, very unique! Oh and lots of new furniture too … hint, hint!

WICKET
                        WICKET

A huge, HUGE change was that WICKET was decomissioned. This was our own customizable database program that scanned every student who used CALL and recorded their attendance! My first EVER presentation for CHD was actually about the history of The CALL Facility and WICKET! It was one of the first training exercises for all our staff! But now, CALL is completely drop-in and Humanities have moved on from requiring any attendance requirements in CALL for students. 

I have even  been returning as much media and resources TO each Humanities Department, for their own decisions about what  to do with old CDs, DVDs, software, VHS tapes, etc. The CALL Facility, under the umbrella of Systems, has never ‘owned’ or ‘bought’ any language resources. That was always based on Departmental needs and their syllabus for each language course. So, returning it frees up much needed room.

And a ‘Not-So-Hidden-Agenda Item’ is to re-introduce myself, The Computer Help Desk and of course, The CALL Facility to all the new staff in each Department, usually beginning with their Office Manager! Yes, there IS a method to my madness!

I have kept a few very, VERY unique software packages, including McMaster French, the very FIRST software ever installed in CALL .. and needs MS:DOS to run! THANK YOU Patrick for keeping it going for so many years, I did not have the heart to return it for shredding! So, it lives on in 3.5″ floppy disk format in the CALL closet! The last group to use it was LMF 23 summers ago, pre-Covid.

And instead of returning to in-person training, CHD is scheduling separate 1-hour afternoon sessions on specific topics for all new and returning staff, including Coops. So that does not give me an opportunity to do a full Jeopardy. BUT, at the end of our CHD Reviews (2-3 times a week) I am hosting a ‘Blast From Your Past‘ Jeopardy! I have about 9 previous Jeopardy training sessions, 180+ ‘Questions’ and going through them all to give a sense of history and .. whimsy .. to CHD, CALL and training! A nice way to end each session too – 2 or 3 questions and have some fun at the end of some training.

What else … I decided to buy my own new PURPLE IMAC too, although it is more of a … Lavendar! My computers at home were too old to really be secure, so .. NEW  COMPUTER! 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM, extended keyboard and  …. PURPLE (Lavendar!)

And that is about it for now! A longer post, but catching up on the  most important changes and improvements in The CALL Facility.

Challenges remain – we are still in the Covid Pandemic and everyone should keep wearing your masks, social distancing, wash your hands and stay as safe and healthy as possible. I am including Covid information below as well. I hope to do more Bog Blogs in the future, especially on RWA Wednesdays! And who knows what new Tech is around the corner for us at CHD, The CALL Facility and UVic in general!

Who ya gonna CALL?
THE COMPUTER HELP DESK!Stay safe everyone! 

For now, the best resource to find current information is at UVic’s COVID information site, UVic response to COVID-19 (coronavirus). The official BC site is COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus), with multiple links throughout including the most important one on ‘Orders and notices‘.

The map I go to frequently is the ‘British Columbia COVID-19 Dashboard‘.

As always, information changes, so you can keep up to date with the BC Covid App.

And a chance to see all the Emergency Planning links from an earlier Post (and Page) below too.

  1. Emergency Planning (Take a few minutes for this site please)
  2. Emergency Procedures (And what to do … if ….)
  3. Earthquake and Tsunami (How many in the last 30 days … SEE THEM!!)
  4. An earthquake happened in Oak Bay, WHILE I WAS UPDATING THIS POST! 🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESS WINNER 🔥
  5. Snow or Extreme Weather (Yes, it snows in Victoria .. LOTS!)
  6. Specific Hazards (Nitty gritty specifics of what could happen)
  7. Campus Evacuation Procedures (Where to go ….)
  8. Emergency Planning – Events & Upcoming Training (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!)
  9. UVic Alerts (Register today, right now!)
  10. Safety Committees at UVic(Join a great committee! I did!)
  11. And .. UVic Covid Information too
  12. Province-wide restriction  🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESS WINNER 🔥
  13. BC Covid Dashboard (Added April 9, 2021)

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 30!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

What an exhausting and long year since last August – my last full vacation!

And exhausting … for ALL OF  US! I am so fortunate to have been able to  work with such amazing and incredible colleagues at The Computer Help Desk over the past … 500+ DAYS! Yes, it has been that long since we started working remotely, late in March of 2020!

Without ALL of their support, humour, leadership, imagination, guidance  and every single possible ‘intangible‘ that each and every single one of them, ALL BRING to our Teams meetings, emails, texts, GIFs, Emojis, Jeopardy, Quote Contests, it would have been impossible to accomplish a fraction of what WE ALL DID AS A TEAM!

THANK YOU ALL!

A few key UVic and BC websites for returning to campus in September for everyone!

  1. Return-to-Campus Guidelines now available
  2. Return to campus info for students
  3. Communicable Disease Plan now available
  4. UVic News
  5. Update on getting your COVID-19 vaccine
  6. Remote work arrangements announced for the fall
  7. Working remotely
  8. Post-secondary studies during COVID-19
  9. NEW COMPUTERS IN CALL! YAY!
  10. NEW FURNITURE IN CALL! YAY!

Not to worry . . .

August 30th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

 

Pandemic


I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

~~Bogman~~

 

CALL Towering Tech Arrivals

HUGE Towers of TECH …..
now in CALL !

MORE DELIVERIES OF TECHNOLOGY
FOR COMPUTING FACILITIES!!!

This was the amount of tech that came LAST time, and was stored temporarily at the Front of CALL! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at how much there is NOW!
AND MORE IS ON THE WAY!

 

And of course, there will  be MOUNTAINS OF CARDBOARD TO RECYCLE TOO!
Last time … check out those OAC Posts:

The ReCycling of CALL and … HSD!
Comparing Apples and Oranges . . . but Not Oranges
Comparing Apples and Oranges III . . . The ReCycling

And if anyone is interested in UVic’s Sustainability News, then click here or on the image below! And ALL the UVic Featured Topics are right below it!

                                                                   UVic Sustainability
                                                                     UVic Featured Topics

Whatever CAN be recycled 
WILL be recycled!

  1. Recycling – UVic
  2. Sort-It-Out-Stations – UVic
  3. Zero Waste Program – UVic
  4. Water – UVic
  5. Energy and Climate – UVic
  6. Dining and Food – UVic
  7. Computing – UVic
  8. UVic’s Built and Natural Environments – UVic
  9. Sustainability in Academics and Research – UVic
  10. UVic’s Waste Reduction Hub – UVic
  11. Campus Planning at UVic
  12. Campus Plan – UVic
  13. Sustainable Transportation – UVic
  14. Sustainability Champion Awards – UVic
  15. Featured Stories – UVic
  16. Campaigns – UVic
  17. Campus Sustainability Fund – UVic
  18. Resources – UVic
  19. Sustainability Videos – UVic
  20. Tips for Living a Sustainable Lifestyle – UVic
  21. Sustainability Reports – UVic
  22. Sustainability policy – UVic
  23. Campus Guides – UVic
  24. Vision and Values – UVic
  25. Green Buildings – UVic

Global Warming
                                                                               Global Warming

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

The ReCycling of CALL and … HSD!

The ReCycling of …..
CALL  &  HSD!

THE CALL FACILITY COMPUTERS …..
ARE NOW RECYCLED!

52 iMacs (circa 2012-2013), Dual-Boot (WIN and iOS) that served students, staff, Instructors and Faculty SO WELL … and don’t owe us anything, are now on the way to their Forever Recycle Home!

And The CALL  Facility is back to … mostly normal, as you can see the ‘Before‘ all the iMacs (& other miscellaneous recyclables!) were picked up and the … ‘After‘! And yes, those are NEW DESKS, TABLES AND FURNITURE! More presents are coming for September!

And the huge mountain of tech has now been moved to their Forever (for now!) homes across campus! Thanks to ALLISON for organizing everything so we all knew … what would go where! YAY ALLISON!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each workstation in CALL now has either a NEW DELL  or a NEW MAC MINI! They will all be ready for September – so much ‘Behind the Scenes‘ is going on, so that we are ready for September!

And HSD was added to the mix for recycling cardboard, plastic and paper too!

Thanks to Sage and Keanu for helping  out make mountains out of cardboard molehills! YAY SAGE AND KEANU!

We are not done yet and there are more presents to unwrap and recycle the wrapping over the summer, in preparation for September! Stay tuned!

I did a previous post about Recycling in CALL, and have also included the same Gallery of photos here, to show HOW MUCH CARDBOARD is used when purchasing technology! One computer is lots … DOZENS ADDS UP TO ?QUITE A BIT OF CARDBOARD!

More posts about The CALL Facilitly computer refresh and recycling are at ‘CALL Computer Refresh Deja Vu ….. All Over Again‘ with another Photo Gallery.

I have included the same list of UVic Recycling Links at the bottom from that same post.

Previous ‘Cardboard‘ Gallery

And if anyone is interested in UVic’s Sustainability News, then click here or on the image below! And ALL the UVic Featured Topics are right below it!

                                                                   UVic Sustainability
                                                                     UVic Featured Topics

Whatever CAN be recycled 
WILL be recycled!

  1. Recycling – UVic
  2. Sort-It-Out-Stations – UVic
  3. Zero Waste Program – UVic
  4. Water – UVic
  5. Energy and Climate – UVic
  6. Dining and Food – UVic
  7. Computing – UVic
  8. UVic’s Built and Natural Environments – UVic
  9. Sustainability in Academics and Research – UVic
  10. UVic’s Waste Reduction Hub – UVic
  11. Campus Planning at UVic
  12. Campus Plan – UVic
  13. Sustainable Transportation – UVic
  14. Sustainability Champion Awards – UVic
  15. Featured Stories – UVic
  16. Campaigns – UVic
  17. Campus Sustainability Fund – UVic
  18. Resources – UVic
  19. Sustainability Videos – UVic
  20. Tips for Living a Sustainable Lifestyle – UVic
  21. Sustainability Reports – UVic
  22. Sustainability policy – UVic
  23. Campus Guides – UVic
  24. Vision and Values – UVic
  25. Green Buildings – UVic

Global Warming
                                                                               Global Warming

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

So … What’s Next for … September?

So …………
What’s Next for …………..
September!

Later today, Monday June 14th, BC will announce the next phase of easing Covid requirements for the province!

And the ultimate question is … What’s Next for September? And there really is no firm answer yet. We have had Safe Work Plans in place for staff and students to use the Clearihue Computing Facilities classrooms on the 1st Floor, since September. As well as SWP for our offices too. That information is posted on the (locked) entry doors to the computing facilities, CLE A112.

For now, the best resource to find current information is at UVic’s COVID information site, UVic response to COVID-19 (coronavirus). The official BC site is COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus), with multiple links throughout including the most important one on ‘Orders and notices‘.

The map I go to frequently is the ‘British Columbia COVID-19 Dashboard‘.

                                                   British Columbia COVID-19 Dashboard

As always, information changes, so you can keep up to date with the BC Covid App.

BC COVID-19 App
                                                                                                        BC COVID-19 App

And a chance to see all the Emergency Planning links from an earlier Post (and Page) below too.

  1. Emergency Planning (Take a few minutes for this site please)
  2. Emergency Procedures (And what to do … if ….)
  3. Earthquake and Tsunami (How many in the last 30 days … SEE THEM!!)
  4. An earthquake happened in Oak Bay, WHILE I WAS UPDATING THIS POST! 🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESS WINNER 🔥
  5. Snow or Extreme Weather (Yes, it snows in Victoria .. LOTS!)
  6. Specific Hazards (Nitty gritty specifics of what could happen)
  7. Campus Evacuation Procedures (Where to go ….)
  8. Emergency Planning – Events & Upcoming Training (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!)
  9. UVic Alerts (Register today, right now!)
  10. Safety Committees at UVic(Join a great committee! I did!)
  11. And .. UVic Covid Information too
  12. Province-wide restriction  🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESS WINNER 🔥
  13. BC Covid Dashboard (Added April 9, 2021)

What have YOU missed since early 2020? And are you ready for … PowerPoint classes IN PERSON again? Spoiler – I prefer KeyNote! LOL!

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

CALL Computer Refresh Deja Vu ….. All Over Again

CALL Computer Refresh
DEJA VU …..
All over again!

CALL, & other computing classrooms, are getting new computers! Over the past few weeks, all the older iMacs have been removed, accumulated and are currently waiting to be recycled! Most of the new hardware had been put in place, but is not quite ready yet! The biggest change will be that there will no longer be dual-boot computers, running on Apple computers. Dual-Boot? What is that?  It just means that with the right kind of Hogwart’s Magic, you  can run both WINDOWS and iOS on an iMac! Just partition and install. Oh, if it could be THAT simple, but … let’s just say that those old iMacs served us very well!

It was always satisfying to hear from some students, that Windows running on one of our CALL iMacs was often FASTER than their OWN Windows laptop! But time catches up to all of us, and technology advancements are even faster!

CALL Facility Large Screens
            CALL Facility Large Screens

New dedicated Windows and Mac are strategically located at workstations for individual and/or group work starting in September! AND THEY ARE REALLY FAST COMPUTERS!!! And the new BIG SCREEN MONITORS ARE AMAZING! They were barely installed when … we were all sent home! I did a sneak peak a few posts ago, “SSShhhh . . . Clearihue’s Hidden Secrets . . . & GEMS” and at the bottom are the new monitors! SO MUCH MORE COMING!

And there is SO MUCH ROOM for individual studying, quiet workspaces, quiet group workspaces and comfy furniture too! A BRAND NEW CALL!

More details on the NEW computers will be in a future post, but looking back at how over the past ~9 years, the ‘old’ iMacs certainly don’t owe us anything. Every single iMac that was used since the last refresh in ~2012 was still working! That was a total of 52 computers! And I always like to say CALL had 104 COMPUTERS making it the largest computing classroom at UVic!

The CALL Facility CLE A025
                                                          The CALL Facility CLE A025 – Post Flood!

Some were moved to other locations AFTER ‘The Great CALL Flood of 2015‘ and continued to work for students as drop-in with newer operating systems! We did lose some keyboards and mice and kept a wary eye on the iMacs that were doused, but amazingly, the design, the curvature of the back of the iMac, helped displace the water and they survived!

And below is the last look at all the ‘old’ iMacs from CALL! Thanks for the memories … well … maybe the memory, all 8GB of onboard RAM! Colin and crew removed ALL THE HARD DRIVES IN ONE DAY! THANKS COLIN!

Oh, and the very last photo – I even included my own work iMac, so I have reconfigured my desktop, literally, for when I am on campus! The first time in MANY YEARS, at UVic that there has not been a Mac computer on my own desktop! Lots of Macs around though! And every blog has been created on my DELL laptop at home! So, WIN wins in the end … for now! 

But,  one last bit of trivia is that … we have kept a couple of the slightly newer Post-Flood CALL iMacs for testing purposes. They can run iOS up to Catalina, but since all the new Macs in CALL will be running Big Sur, they really are test iMacs in case we need to test out support for similar hardware. They too will eventually go at some point in time.

And if anyone is interested in UVic’s Sustainability News, then click here or on the image below! And ALL the UVic Featured Topics are right below it!

                                                                   UVic Sustainability
                                                                     UVic Featured Topics

Whatever CAN be recycled 
WILL be recycled!

  1. Recycling – UVic
  2. Sort-It-Out-Stations – UVic
  3. Zero Waste Program – UVic
  4. Water – UVic
  5. Energy and Climate – UVic
  6. Dining and Food – UVic
  7. Computing – UVic
  8. Green Computing – UVic
  9. UVic’s Built and Natural Environments – UVic
  10. Sustainability in Academics and Research – UVic
  11. UVic’s Waste Reduction Hub – UVic
  12. Campus Planning at UVic
  13. Campus Plan – UVic
  14. Sustainable Transportation – UVic
  15. Sustainability Champion Awards – UVic
  16. Featured Stories – UVic
  17. Campaigns – UVic
  18. Campus Sustainability Fund – UVic
  19. Resources – UVic
  20. Sustainability Videos – UVic
  21. Tips for Living a Sustainable Lifestyle – UVic
  22. Sustainability Reports – UVic
  23. Sustainability policy – UVic
  24. Campus Guides – UVic
  25. Vision and Values – UVic
  26. Green Buildings – UVic

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

Jeopardy – Revenge of the Memes – Poll for Next Jeopardy in October 2021

TO INFINITY …. AND BEYOND!
or 
YOU GET TO CHOOSE THE NEXT
JEOPARDY MOVIE QUOTES!

The NEXT JEOPARDY is already in the planning stages!! The Categories, such as “SkyNet”, “Altair 8800” and “Slide Rulers” will be my choices, but the Quotes will be suggestions from CHD Consultants!

I knew going in to the June Jeopardy this year … might … be a “Blast From MY Past”! And  although many are well known Science Fiction movies … not so well known amongst our Consultants! 🙂

So next time, I will let ALL the CHD Consultants give me feedback on the movies quotes THEY want to try and guess … from THEIR generation! This is, to quote Robbie the Robot … “DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER” time as I may not have seen any of the movies THEY have grown up with! LOL!

I created a Poll at MS:Office 365, using Forms,  for all the Consultants to fill in. I guessed at some movies and also left room for ‘Others..’ and a text box for comments too! Not only did it refresh my skills at Polls (it had been a year!) but it will bring everyone together again and might even add a bit of competitiveness to Jeopardy next time.

And imagine the Consultants … the “Jeopary Shaming” if someone gets one wrong! OH, the horrors! 

The actual Poll is below (screeen grabs) and each has a clickable link TO the Poll, but I have limited access to “Only people in my organization can respond“. Security reasons! A good test of settings too!

 
And it will eventually generate some stats and comments too, all part of Forms at MS:Office 365! Early results are in,  below, but a long way to go! And if you haven’t noticed, I am a big fan of MS:Office 365! So much more is coming in the weeks and months to come! Make sure you check out the Microsoft Office 365 at UVic OAC Blog Page for all the latest stuff!

ENJOY!
          
TTFN!

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic