June 21, 2005
REDWOLF
This will be the first of many posts explaining what I do, and what I'm working on.
Today's topic is REDWOLF. Redwolf is an in-house home-grown app that maintains the security for the Residence Halls. During the school year every student machine (or device ... aka XBOX) that CAN have access to the WOU network is recorded in Redwolf.
While developing Redwolf, we borrowed some design and programmatic ideas from OSU's opensource project Maintain. I've worked some with Chris White from OSU who does a real similar job to what I do here at Western. I'm greatly benefited from his open-handed generosity and wisdom.
In a nutshell, Redwolf allows us to centrally manage and interact with our 10+ residential switches. Security is used (and has been for the past few years) to prevent access by unauthorized users. It also allows us to find out where a problem machine is. Redwolf also has some built in reports allowing us to take statistics and calculate usage.
Last year, I implemented a new package for Redwolf that allowed students to manage their devices. As residents can only have two registered devices (and only one online at any one time...ever) I found that many students desired to have the ability to change from their computer to their XBOX and back again - without needing our help.
This summer, one of my big projects is to update/reconfigure Redwolf so that it can be submitted (as per Travis' suggestion) to the OSU OSL (Oregon State University Open Source Lab). The most required upgrade is the re-writing of the residential self-management area allowing simpler, quicker access to this excellent tool.
Redwolf is a feather in our cap (our being Residential Computing). It provides us with the power and flexiblity that our very dynamic environment requires.
Posted by ellism at 7:20 PM | Comments (0)
Summer School, Conferences & the Landers Computer Lab
Summer School and at least one conference (summer conferences live in the residence halls - some have internet access) is here. We've gone from our pre-summer school/pre-conference total connection total of 8 to 18 now in the last hour. That's only gonna grow from here.
I found a couple of bugs in the auto-registration software (REDWOLF) that I'm working out. Most people seem to have a pretty easy time registering their own MAC (network card address). But now that the Landers Computer Lab is fully staffed (kinda) for the summer, things appear to be moving forward.
Summer school folks will be here for 6 weeks. Most conferences last between 1-5 weeks. Those that need Internet Access have to pay a fee (either individually or as a group) and follow the basic instructions that Summer School students do (aka agreeing to the Acceptable Use Policy, etc...) I think it's gonna be an OK system to use this summer.
I'm leaving for Atlanta soon, and I've heard that the weather there is atrocious. I might come back 10 pounds lighter, but the information is worth it.
It's been a little bumpy getting both summer school and conferences in and setup, but I think it's gonna be a pretty quiet summer. That means I can get lots done like our upcoming Housing Managment upgrade, REDWOLF recoding, camera projects and other programming for Housing and Dining.
Posted by ellism at 3:13 AM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2005
Atlanta
Well it's that time of year again. No - not burning ants with a magnifying glass. It's travel time. I'm headed to the 2005 Resnet Conference in Atlanta, GA. Between the conference and traveling it'll be about a whole week.
The conference is at Georgia Tech. I've never been the Georgia, so that should be fun. I've traveled to New York (NYC), Texas (Austin), and now Georgia. Add a recently planned trip to Hawaii next Fall, and I'm turning into a real world traveler.
Anyway so this conference covers all things ResNet (Residential Networking). They have people like me presenting sessions about things like viruses, file-sharing, out-sourcing residential networking, training, support, student workers, internal politics, security, standards, new services, and lots of other topics.
It's a great opportunity to really take Residential Computing (our ResNet) up a notch. Not only do we need to stay current, but it's really important that we have connections to get (and give) help from other similar institutions. The residential computing area changes so much from year to year, I feel it's invaluable to get this kind of training regularly. I'm very appreciative that I have the opportunity to go this year.
Posted by ellism at 1:02 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2005
Summer Transition
Welcome to Summer! Everyone's favorite time... unless you don't have Air Conditioning... anywhere.
The transition from Spring term to Summer is always a big change. Usually 400 million people walk past my window each day. Today I don't think there was one. Don't get me wrong, I love working down here and enjoy the youthful, exuberant environment - but Simon and Garfunkel had it right man... the Sound of Silence. Aah.
So yesterday we flipped the big magic switch and turned all residence hall connections off. That's a good feeling. Like a house with 1000 doors and windows, and now only like 2 are open. It's a good feeling. But nothing is ever as simple as is it seems. University Residences employs some students who live here in the halls, so there are SOME connections still live. And of course they are trying to move around so everything's up in the air.
But HEY! Think about the good side... as soon as I have them all squared away, NCCDHRA..H..A..C.. I don't know... whatever they are and the summer school folks will be here. Fortunately there aren't too many of them so it won't be like Fall Term.
Speaking of Fall Term, this summer should hold some interesting changes. We are losing what we thought would be our salvation - a cute little program that was supposed to save the world. It worked OK, but seemed a little cumbersome. Also we will be using a different AV (antivirus). This is the 3rd AV in the 3 years I've been here. Just so hard to find a perfect fit. Why do you think people buy new cars every 3 years?
Hm. Well I'm out of things to say about Summer Transition, however the whole comment about people and cars seems a poor way to end my first work-related blog.
If you haven't checked out my first post, you should. Ren and Stimpy rocks.
I miss my student programmer Chris. He was a real quality person and he did a great job. I really appreciated him. I hope he does well at OSU/HP getting his masters.
*sniff* ... gosh darn blog's gonna make me cry. Who says technology is emotionless?
Posted by ellism at 6:52 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2005
The Blog Song
What grips and whines, informs and writes
And keeps your butt in your chair?
What's yours and mine, and here on display?
It's Blog, Blog, Blog!
It's Blog, Blog, it's here, it's useful, it's blue.
It's Blog, Blog, it's better than bad, it's sgood!
Everyone wants a blog! You're gonna love it, Blog!
Come on and get your blog! Everyone needs a Blog!
This blog brought to you by:
"The Log Song", from Ren & Stimpy
"
What rolls down stairs alone or in pairs
Rolls over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack and fits on your back?
It's Log, Log, Log!
It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!
Everyone wants a log! You're gonna love it, Log!
Come on and get your log! Everyone needs a Log!
"
- Copyright Ren and Stimpy something.... (or BLAMO!)
Posted by ellism at 6:30 PM | Comments (1)