Your Password Has Expired (Good Luck on Your Final Exams)

Tomorrow begins the onslaught of Final Exams.  So, of course, I need to login to Blackboard in order to pull down the last of my study materials.  At 12:01am tomorrow, I can login and take my final exam should I so choose.

But wait!  No, I can’t.  It seems that it’s password expiration season.  So, just to add to the stress of preparing for Finals and have a little fun for themselves, the IT side of the house has decided that everyone should be locked out of the University Systems pending a password change.  The timing is incredibly insensitive and poorly judged.  Maybe I’ll feel differently once the password sync is finally complete.  It’s been quite a while (about an hour) since I changed the password and I’m still awaiting propagation of the sync so I can get back to study time.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for security and enforcing strong passwords.  I’m even pro-forced password changes.  All I’m whining about is the timing.  And, yes, I recognize it for what it is. I’m whining.  Additionally, the Blackboard system doesn’t tell you that your password has expired, it simply gives you the dreaded “invalid login” message.

Would it be so difficult to make a password last the entire semester rather than cutting you off the day weekend before finals?

Oh, one last little detail.  It seems that Moodle is not in sync with the UNT Portal and Blackboard from a password perspective as that login still works just fine.

I’ll shut up now.

Web Page Woes

What if a class included an assignment which no one really knew how to accomplish?

I suppose that’d be one way to describe the current web site project in class.  The assignment seemed simple: create a personal web page and send a link to the professor.  The requirements were clear as were the tasks needed in order to design the web page.  Examples and resources were provided so that people could get ideas for their own web pages.  It was all quite well organized right up until it came time to post the pages.

The site wherein we were to post our pages was rather cryptic.  You were supposed to login to a site with no real way to login to a site.  Oh yeah, be sure to download WinSCP to upload your files.  What no one told us is that you won’t be able to login the the site until AFTER you’ve logged in through WinSCP.

So, yes there was some confusion.  It took me a few minutes to figure it all out and I’ve been doing my best to help my class mates get through the cloud as well.  With that in mind, I created a document to walk one very quickly throught the process.  It was rapidly assembled and, in reality, not ready for any significant distribution.  But alas, I find that time is short today, so I’ll live with it as is.  I’m adding it here as well (mostly because it’s a handy and timely topic for this week’s blog post).

Download WinSCP from www.sourceforge.net.  You’ll want the “portable executable” from the downloads section.  Install it by double-clicking the .exe file.  I chose the Norton Commander style because I prefer the side-by-side window view. 

 

When the install is complete, leave the “launch WinSCP” box checked and it will pop up with this screen:

 

 

As shown, the hostname is classes.lt.unt.edu.  Leave the port number at its default setting of 22.  User name should be your UNT ID.  Enter your password.  Click Save so you won’t have to re-enter your info.  Click Login to be connected to the site.  When it connects, it will give you a seemingly alarming message like this:

 

 

Don’t panic, just click Yes and it will happily stroll along to the screen where you can actually get some work done.  It will look like this:

 

 

At this point, you’re ready to push your files across.  On the right window pane, double click the courses folder to change to it, then double click the 2008_Fall folder and finally, the LTEC3440020 folder.

 

Create a new folder for your website.  It really doesn’t matter what you call it.  Once you create it, double click it to change to it.

 

Drag your website files across from the left pane to the right pane.  You’ll get a dialog box asking what you want to do, just click Copy.

 

Once copied, you’re essentially done in WinSCP.  Open a browser and wander over to the http://classes.lt.unt.edu site and login.  Yes, you’ll actually get to login now.  You’ll see our class listed at the top under Fall 2008.  Click the link to go to our class’ folder.

 

Now you’ll notice that you see the folder you created in WinSCP.  Click it.  In the next page, you’ll find your web site files.  It will look something like this (but with more than just the one file I show here):

 

If you click on your index.htm file, your site should open right up.  Copy the link from the browser window that opened and submit it to Dr. Enriquez.  It will look something like this:

 

 

Test all of your links and tweak them as needed.  Once they all work, you’re done!  Have a great holiday.

Listen, Read or Both?

The question posed this week is in regard to Podcasts vs Text and which is the preferred manner of absorbing information for each person.  My answer is simply, “It depends.”  I would also say that, “Both” is an applicable answer as well.  How’s that for ambiguity?

There are a number of factors that will weigh into both forms of media.  This includes the subject matter covered, length of the presentation and, possibly most important, the interest level of the audience regarding the subject matter.  No amount of technology or flowery writing can truly compensate for lack of interest in a topic.

For relatively short items, I do quite well with audio. But, like an overly long voice mail message, I tend to lose interest and get sidetracked easily.  So, for me, the perfect Podcast is a short, concise podcast.  I’m a visual learner, so I need something at which to stare in order to maintain longer-term attention.  Otherwise, my  multithreaded multitasking tends to kick in and I move on to some other topic of interest.

With text-based items, I can maintain attention to the topic at hand for a larger amount of time.  So, for things which I need to truly absorb, I need it in written or, more accurately, graphical form.  Some hybrid comprising the two is acceptable as well.

In answer to a specifically posed question regarding how I might prepare for an exam, I’d have to rely solely on written media.  I’m a note taker and tend to write all over my printed materials.  I tend to remember the information much better than if I simply hear it.  Also, when the time comes to review my notes, I can scan over the parts I want to review and easily skip those items I don’t wish to review at the time.

So, yes, I’ll abide by my initial answers of “Both” and It “Depends”.  But, alas, I usually end up going back to the text based version. Although, I do tend to equally enjoy both text-based and audio books.  Both are good for long flights.  Audio books are great for commutes or longer drives to customer sites.  It seems that context and modality are equally important.

Copyright Infringement – A Personal View

Until 1999, I never really gave much thought to copyright-related issues.  After 1999, my views changed somewhat.  In July of that year I published my first book.  Oddly enough, it’s still listed on Amazon.  It went to press the same week I passed the Routing and Switching CCIE Exam after two years of preparation.  Suffice to say that it was a very emotionally charged week.

It wasn’t until the second iteration of that book, listed here, that my first brush with copyright issues came to visit.  I started finding exerpts of the book, up to and including full chapters were posted on a couple of study sites.  I didn’t particularly have an issue with the sharing of information.  What upset me was that one particular site was charging people to download/view my content.  To say the least, I was somewhat distraught.   I brought it to the attention of my publisher who quickly took legal steps to remedy the situation.  It wasn’t without pain and I lost a bit of money to it, to be sure.   But it did provide an interesting learning experience and changed the casual attitude I’d always had regarding music, software and printed materials.

Since then, I’ve published five more books on various technical topics, albeit with a different publisher, Cisco Press.  I’ve recently submitted a proposal to them to write an eighth title.  We’ll see how that goes.

Regardless of how it turns out, I still hold to my altered sensitivity to copyright infringement issues.  So, whether the topic of discussion turns to written materials, software, music or other types of media, I’ll be contentedly purchasing said content through the proper channels.

So, what’s it all about?  What’s the big deal?  What is copyright infringement?  Simply put, from the perspective of my own experience, it’s akin to theft.   In order to understand it, perhaps a definition is in order.  What better place to get an overview definition than from the US Copyright Office:

Copyright is a bundle of exclusive rights. Section 106 of the copyright law provides the owner of copyright in a work the exclusive right:

• To reproduce the work in copies;
• To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
• To distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
• To perform the work publicly;
• To display the copyrighted work publicly
• In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

Section 501 of the copyright law states that “anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner …is an infringer of the copyright or right of the author.”

Generally, under the law, one who engages in any of these activities without obtaining the copyright owner’s permission may be liable for infringement. Nevertheless, there are several limitations of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner. The copyright law provides exemptions from infringement liability by authorizing certain uses under particularized circumstances. These exemptions are enumerated generally in sections 107-122 of the copyright law.

Source: It seems fairly straight forward.  Where most people fail to see the relevance is when they obtain seemingly benign content through Usenet, peer-to-peer file sharing or other means.  This feels like sharing as we’ve been taught to do since infancy.  It seems that many people have a difficult time associating this type of sharing with infringement.  We may not take into account that people worked to create the content and make it available.  In the production of a book, the author is not the sole stakeholder.  There are development editors, copy editors, content editors, production layout staff, artists, printers and many more individuals associated with each and every title. 

U.S. Copyright Office Infringement FAQ (2007, February), Stopping Copyright Infringement Washington, D.C. Author.  Retrieved November 9, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-infringement.html

 

So, what’s the answer?  RIAA?  No, not even close.  In fact, I believe that the idiocy spawned by RIAA has set the entire anti-piracy movement back by at least an order of magnitude.  They’ve pissed so many people off that now, people will go out of their way to download and make use of MP3s.  For the good of the movement, they need to sit down and shut up.

Regardless of your personal experiences with copyrighted material, it just doesn’t feel wrong.  We inherently see ourselves as good people and have a very difficult time associating ourselves with terms like thief, infringer and/or pirate.  It’s all about awareness and redefinition of the concepts surrounding the idea of copyright infringement.  I’ll leave that particular journey to each individual who undertakes such a quest.  I’ve redefined my own sense of right and wrong accordingly.

What a week. . .

This past week hasn’t been all that much fun, to say the least.  I had a slight scare when my mom informed me that she was going in for a cardiac surgical procedure.  It went well and she’s fine.  They didn’t find anything.  I just wish she’d told me prior to 10pm the night before the procedure. 

I thought I was done with stress for the week after that, but no.  Sadly, Murphy came for a visit and crashed my PC.  My latest backup is about a week old, so it’s not crippling per se but the weeks’ school work was there.  So, I had to start over on the project after having completed 95% or more of it.  Other than the school work, the only thing I’m really missing is my email. 

I worked over the weekend to try to recover the machine, but it’s not meant to be (at least not yet).  It’s a motherboard issue.  This weekend, I’ll decide whether to continue troubleshooting or simply transplant the drives into another machine.  I built that machine over four years ago. It’s been through a lot.  Perhaps it’s ready for retirement.  I would have already transplanted the drives, but that machine is my only one that can handle SATA drives in a Raid array.  Oh well.  On the bright side, I can now convince my wife that it’s time for me to build a new one! 

Oh wait. . . I’ll have to build it with hardware that will support XP.  I refuse to go to Vista under any circumstance.  Barring that, it looks like a new iMAC is in my future.  Microsoft has pissed me off one too many times of late anyway.

I’ll post something relevant to class at some point this week.

Web 2.0 and Education

Part of our assignment this week for class included commenting on some video content posted on the our professor’s blog. She posted three different videos in order to solicit comments. The first two videos were put together by Michael Wesch from the University of Kansas. He’s a very well respected and outspoken proponent of Web 2.0 technologies.

Check out the video!

As requested, I did comment on the video. I enjoyed it. It is a pretty good representation of how the web is evolving. I don’t feel that my comments flowed well overall, but they are what they are. I didn’t take the time to really organize them properly, to be honest. Look for the South Park version of a bald guy with glasses.

My comments can be seen here.

The second video hit home as well. I’m a big fan of utilizing technology efficiently and at every opportunity. This video was created by Michael Wesch as well. It’s message is essentially about the lack of evolution in education delivery even though there is a great deal of technology already in the classroom.

Check out the video!

Again, I did comment on it. This time, I was a bit more organized and actually felt pretty good about what I had to say about the video and potential paths that could be taken in order to make immediate changes and changes in the future.

My comments can be seen here.

The third video is a bit longer. It’s 20 minutes in length. The speaker is Sir Ken Robinson. Obviously, he’s speaking at an education conference. He’s an excellent speaker and will have you chuckling throughout the presentation.

Check out the video!

He’s talking about creativity in education and proposing the possibility that perhaps creativity is stifled in schools today. This one really got me on my soap box. I’ll leave it to my comments to really express how I feel about that particular topic.

My somewhat heated comments can be seen here.

All three videos were quite intriguing and thought provoking. I think I overshot the 500-700 word requirements of the responses on at least two of my tirades. So, my apologies to Dr. Enriquez for having to endure additional babbling.

Video Production

Among the topics covered in my LTEC 3040 class is the use of video in a classroom environment. While it’s been discussed previously, the project for this week is to create a framework for a PowerPoint presentation which will instruct teachers on the creation of a video for their own use whether it be personal or in the classroom.

Video is the future. There’s no denying this. Collaborative technologies along with Web 2.0 capabilities are driving this into reality at an unprecedented pace. Video carries with it a number of very important considerations. These include resolution, frame rate (measured in frames per second or fps), bandwidth utilization and availability. There are also other considerations such as speech cadence for the audio portion of the video, lighting (both direct and ambient), background noise, sound track, eye line, efficient use of frame space, camera positioning and closed captioning, to name a few. The list can go on and on depending on the degree of depth and quality one desires in the finished product.

One of my favorite resources for video-related technologies is the Cisco Video Design Zone. It contains just about everything one might wish to know about various types of video applications from surveillance to streaming.

Happy filming! Oh, and keep it clean (or if not, send me a link).

ADDIE vs MRK

In creating the exercises on modeling with ADDIE vs MRK, I found that I liked aspects of both and disliked aspects of both. How’s that for ambiguity?

ADDIE – Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate is a great tool for a free thinker. That is, it provides a basic framework around which to wrap a presentation or lesson. The ins and outs or degrees of specificity in that framework are subject to significant interpretation on the part of the lesson’s developer. It’s a loose set of guidelines which encourages creativity and flexibility.

MRK – Morrison, Ross & Kemp is a great tool for those needed very specific guidance in planning their lesson or presentation. It asks very specific questions at each step that need to be answered in order to properly prepare the lesson for delivery. It not only serves to prepare the lesson, but also the presenter. It allows the developer to shape a vision for the course and lay it out in very specific terms for those presenting it.

Where ADDIE is general and flexible, MRK provides rigidity and a carefully laid out path for the presentation from beginning to end.

In all honesty, I believe that I’ll be using both models. When I develop my own presentations and/or lessons, I’ll use ADDIE since I have a good idea what I want to get across to my audience. When I provide that lesson or presentation to others, I’ll want them to deliver it according to my vision. With that in mind, I’ll provide them with the model put forth in MRK format so that I can dictate the step-by-step message and the manner in which it is delivered.

The use of both models in this manner may seem a bit odd, but when the message is one I truly believe in, I want it presented in accordance with my vision for the message. Best case, I’d present it all the time on my own. Sadly, I don’t scale well enough to do that and still reach a significant number of people. So, I’ll come across as arrogant without guilt knowing that my message is delivered in the manner in which I desired when I built it.

Excel Grade Book

Another project for the LTEC 3440 course is the creation of an Excel-based grade book. Building a web-based grade book was also an option, but I preferred the Excel approach. Here’s a partial screenshot of the gradebook:

It takes into account quizzes, exams and assignments. Each of those three categories is weighted as a percentage of the total grade. Those weights are entered into the box at the bottom. Also at the bottom, is a field where the total number of available points for each category can be entered. For my example, I used four quizzes, four exams and eight assignments. Based on grades input for each, the weighted formula calculates a final grade and automatically assigns a letter grade to the student. Below the student list is a listing of class statistics including high grade, low grade and average grade for the class overall.

I may tinker with it here and there between now and the time it’s due in order to see what other interesting functions I can add to it.

Of course it had to be green, right?

Transforming Business Through Unified Communications

Note: I see that the formatting isn’t great on this one. I’ll fix it eventually.

In a competitive technological landscape such as the one in which we live, it is imperative that technological concepts be comprehensible. This means that people want to see what you’re proposing. Any technology company that doesn’t utilize its own tools is deservedly suspect. The old adage about eating one’s own dog food comes to mind in such cases.

In delivering a discussion on Business Transformation, it should be considered a requirement to utilize the technologies which are to be incorporated into the company’s infrastructure. This includes a wide array of collaborative technologies for sharing of web, audio and video content during live, in-person discussions and the use of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, vlogs and Community of Interest Workspaces in order to make use of shared resources. These various tools are brought together into a single interface in order to allow all parties to keep an open communication line at all times and provide a single repository for shared documents, meeting recordings (audio and video) and other resources.

All correspondence on the space are indexed and kept in a central, searchable repository on the site. This includes video and audio discussions. Once audio or video meetings adjourn, codecs transcribe the contents of the meeting so that the spoken words can be added to the index and searched at-will. When a search is complete, instances of the searched phrase will be noted in timelines by date and time in which they occur in the video. A simple click of the associated link will initiate playback of the audio or video from the desired point.

This not only builds customer confidence in the technologies, but gets them familiar with their use and allows them to see the kinds of capabilities they should expect as the project progresses to completion.

Audience

The target audience for any discussion of Business Transformation is the key business decision-makers. Usually, that entails long discussions with CxO (i.e. CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CTO, etc.) level executives of a particular company. Each officer wants to know how this transformation will impact their particular aspect of the business and the bottom line. The audience will also include IT Directors, IT Managers and their Telecom equivalent peers.

Purpose

Aid companies in meeting their business needs while addressing and eliminating points of pain within their business processes. This allows them to better differentiate themselves from their competitors in the marketplace by creating a more flexible and adaptive business model. The results of this kind of transformation include cost reductions, expense reductions, higher productivity, more stable and reliable network-based services for end users and a common user experience regardless of the manner in which these resources are accessed (whether by PC, mobile device, telephone, PDA or other device). This is accomplished through the positioning of the network as the platform on which these services and applications run.

Goals

1. Demonstrate understanding and positioning of available technologies (now and future)
2. Illustrate the manner in which the deployment of these technologies positions the network as the platform for applications and services in order to create a single user experience regardless of location or access method
3. Identify key business needs and requirements to meet those needs

Cognitive Objectives

1. Describe the System Oriented Network Architecture and Intelligent Information Networks
2. Demonstrate the use of this architectural model to meet the business goals
3. Summarize the end results that can be expected with Business Transformation

Attitudinal Objectives

1. Validate the architecture’s ability to meet business objectives and satisfy requirements
2. Identify roles of key business players in the adoption of these technologies

Psychomotor Objectives

1. Employ technological tools to allow for efficient, highly coordinated meetings which have no requirement for travel in order to bring together individuals from geographically diverse locations, regardless lf distance
2. Validate business processes, both new and old, against newly deployed business models to ensure greatest efficacy

Lesson Plan Summary Notes:

Describe to customers how they and their businesses may benefit through the implementation of more than simply technology but of an end-to-end solution which enables increased business agility, market differentiation, increased employee productivity and lower total cost of ownership of vital technologies.

This lesson is aimed at Business Decision Makers (BDMs) in an organization as primary audience and Technical Decision Makers (TDMs) in those organizations as a secondary audience. Both will greatly benefit in understanding the overall vision of the solution.

The total lesson will run roughly one hour in length.

Needed equipment: Require whiteboard and dry erase markers. Optional needs include a projector and a projection screen. For larger audiences, sound equipment, microphones, etc. may be necessary. For best experience, demo equipment would be highly desirable.

Setup time should be minimal unless a demo of associated technologies is requested. In this case, the setup will depend on available equipment. Count on two hours to set up and test full demo ahead of the discussion should a demo be available. Otherwise, plans would simply include testing of the projector and verifying that all markers are indeed in working condition (no squeaky, stinky markers). Always bring your own set of markers just in case.

Table 1 provides basic details on each slide in the Business Transformation discussion. The table also includes suggested graphics to utilize in the discussion. Following the table are a number of additional background URLs and graphics to be utilized by the presenter in preparing for the discussion.

Table 1 – Slide Deck Detail

Slide	Topic	Sub-Topic
1	Introduction
	Introduction: Include basic premise of the lesson and my background both as a presenter and a professional as it relates to my qualifications to deliver this discussion
2	Why Transform Your Business?
	Fact: Every year, 320,000,000 hours are lost to flight delays
	Fact: Cisco’s acquisition of Scientific Atlanta required 6 months of coordination, travel and logistical wizardry to accomplish
	Fact: Using the tenets of Business Transformation, Cisco’s acquisition of WebEx took less than 45 days from start to finish
3	It All Comes Down to Cost and Productivity
	Business Transformation is about finding balance between business value and innovation.	Increased innovation, properly applied, will drive business value
	Cost Savings: Critical business driver from an IT perspective.	Soft Benefits: Employee efficiency and productivity are critical to the bottom line
	Business Transformation carries the largest single benefit with wide ranging impact on revenue, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and other business-related metrics	These factors create lower TCO and increased ROI
4	The Network IS the Platform
	Goal: Create a platform that will allow your company to deliver common services and applications to all users regardless of the manner in which they access them.	One Experience, One Network
	IIN: Intelligent Information Network – Includes infrastructure, resource virtualization and consolidation, traffic management and prioritization	IIN is the framework which enables SONA
	SONA: Systems Oriented Network Architecture – Bring applications and services into the network so that they can be accessed by anyone and everyone within a company regardless of location, modality or means of access.
5	Business Impact
	Business Transformation reaches beyond IT. It reaches into every department and job function. It allows real-time access and real-time reporting.
	It reaches into all aspects of the business including Business Decision Makers (BDMs) which include Directors, VPs and Executive Officers
	It reaches Technical Decision Makers (TDMs) which include IT Managers and Voice/Telecom Managers
	IT is no longer simply a cost center. It’s a center for driving business-focused goals and enabling success through increased productivity at all levels
6	Customer Impact
	Reduced complexity for interfacing customers in the manner in which they want to be reached. This includes email, IM, voice, web and video contact with agents as well as voice, web and video enabled catalogs and other resources on-demand.
	Allows the customer to control their own experience and facilitates higher overall customer satisfaction
7	Calculating TCO
	Work with the CFO to determine current baseline costs of doing business
	Use TCO Business Case to show business impact associated with a phased implementation
	Unified Communications sets the stage	Network must be UC-ready
8	Business Case Variables
	Discuss measureable, realistic estimates of productivity gains and potential costs savings associated with those gains. The potential is unlimited and pervasive across all departments and job functions.	· Employee efficiency gains through tools, presence and single number reach · Reclamation of lost productivity hours (no flight delays, little or no commute time, virtual office) · Reduced or eliminated travel costs including air travel and commuter travel · Increased business metric visibility · Reduced real estate costs and utility costs (virtual teleworkers, reduced data center footprint through virtualization, “Green” initiatives)
9	Summary
	The world is changing. Business is evolving based on technological capabilities and demands of customers.
	Globalization is forcing business to move at a faster, more competitive pace.
	Business Transformation puts your company at the top of the game to lead the direction those evolutionary changes will take us
	Your competitors and ours are all talking about Business Transformation. Don’t talk about it. Show them how it’s done.
10	Welcome to the Human Network
	We are more powerful together than we could ever be apart.

Instructor Reference Information and Resources:

These sources of information are provided solely for the use of preparing to deliver the core concepts surrounding Business Transformation. Anyone planning to deliver the above Lesson Plan should first be well versed in the underlying technologies and architectures discussed in the below referenced links and graphics. The information contained therein is of both technical and business natures. So, some detailed background in both arenas will be necessary in order to reach the target audience with a message that resonates with them and their needs (perceived or otherwise) individually. Each student must feel that the discussion is addressed specifically at them. Proper preparation for delivery of this material is as crucial as the content contained herein.

SONA Architectural Model

Cisco Unified Communications and SONA

SONA Overview

Cost Analysis Tool

Unified Communications for Telecom and Voice Experts (addresses their specific questions and needs)

Cisco IP Communications Cost Savings Calculator

Business Transformation Relevant Case Studies