To check the schedule for CALL, it is posted at the front entrance TO The CALL Facility. It is not online. A sample schedule for THIS week is to the right. I always post the following week too. There are ASL Final Exams scheduled in The CALL Facility once the term is over. Otherwise, regular hours for students throughout the entire Final Exam period.
No food or beverages have been a policy in our computing facilities in CLE, BEC and HSD for literally years, so that will not be going away. And until someone can show me how they can eat or drink WITH THEIR MASK ON, it is a great policy. I have seen too many computers, desks, keyboards, mice, monitors and carpets ruined from spills. Not to mention textbooks, mousepads, peripherals and .. guess who gets to clean the mess up!
It makes even MORE sense during Covid too. Let’s be safe and sound. I even go outside, OUTDOORS, to have even a jelly bean, granola bar or a sip of tea. Hey, it’s Victoria, not Northern Alberta – you are not going to suffer frostbite anytime soon!
And UVic is offering free Covid-19 Rapid Test kits. You can GET YOUR COVID TEST KIT! through thrive.uvic.ca, and I did, but you can just as easily just head over to the concessions booth area at the stadium, present your OneCard and get a free kit – SUPER FAST AND SUPER EASY! And I think this Friday, March 4th is the last day, so get going!!
No doubt, there will be more updates, changes and continuation of Covid-19 updates. I will post them as they change for using our computing facilities and how life will slowly return to a ‘new normal’ at UVic. Stay safe. Stay healthy. EVERYONE!
Masks will be required to be worn by students at all times in classrooms and study spaces except where exempt for a medical reason. Consuming food and beverages will not be permitted in classrooms, labs, study spaces or libraries.
Masks must be worn in common areas of buildings, including in on-campus housing and office buildings (e.g., lobbies, hallways, bathrooms).
So ………… Back to Campus January 2022 … but on-line for a couple of weeks!
UVic is back to remote learning but only until Monday January 24th, when it is expected that in person classes will resume. Make sure you keep up to date with every UVic notification about returning to campus safely.
This is basically a sequel post to my last one ‘What’s Next for September?‘ as I have not had time to post ANYTHINGsince 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!
Korean Chat Cafe
ASL American Sign Language
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.
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
IN USE, unless CALL is scheduled!! Yeah, that makes CALL very, very unique! Oh and lots of new furniture too … hint, hint!
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 Patrickfor 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!
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!
CALL Before iMacs Recycled
CALL Before iMacs Recycled
CALL After iMacs Recycled
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!
HSD and more cardboard!
HSD Cardboard Pancakes
HSD Cardboard Sandwich
HSD Hallway of Cardboard
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!
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.
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 FASTERthan their OWN Windows laptop! But time catches up to all of us, and technology advancements are even faster!
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 – 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!
CALL Recycle of iMacs
More iMacs
Even MORE iMacs
Yeah, more iMacs
All inventoried too
Back side
CALL Before iMacs Recycled
CALL Super Computer
Lots of recycle
Other stuff too
One last long look
MY ‘new’ Desk in CALL
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.
Almost every single day, there is news of a new security breach somewhere, and that includes Canada too. And just one aspect of computer security is using a VERY difficult to guess password or passphrase.
What is the difference? To make a long passphrase short … IS a password! Passphrases are longer and are often REQUIRED to be longer than the passwords that we have become familiar with.
And in addition, something called MFA, Multi-Factor Authentication. Basically TWO things you need to know or provide, in order to proceed securely to a UVic or other important site. Think of it as an extra lock on your way into your home, each lock needing a unique key. If you don’t have the first key, you are stopped. And if you don’t have the SECOND key, you are also stopped!
This is great news and will provide ADDITIONALand IMPROVEDsecurity for all of UVic and that means for ALL OF US! Check out, of all places, Wikipedia for a ‘Wikipedia’ explanation of (MFA) Multi-Factor Authentication.
So, the next client might not be swearing at you … they might be providing you with their PASSWORD! WHICH THEY SHOULDN’T DO!
Some fun and interesting links below about famous movie hacks and security!
Wearing of masks is still recommended at UVic.
The CALL Facility (CLE A025) is currently OPEN, weekdays only from 830am to 600pm! YAY!
Stay safe everyone! 
Whatever CAN be 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 
So, the next client might not be swearing at you … they might be providing you with their PASSWORD! 
