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Michael Martin wrote: Had to buy an $800.00 iPad for my daughter to use at school
 "Had to" ? They just cannot force everybody to spend out $800 for a bloody iPad, can they ?
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Do not feed the troll ! - Common proverb
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Of course they can't.
You can move your children to a different school if you want...
Which is why they are doing it: they know most parents can't or won't change their child's school, particularly this late in the school year when the kid is settled.
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Unfortunately, it's the sad reality of today's spoiled kids. Uniforms and iPads. Maybe -required- laptops. They don't even use blackboards anymore, it's all done on electronic "Smartboards". 
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You bought it, you own it.
It's like them telling you that you can't write notes in the margins of books that you've bought.
Michael Martin wrote: I can't jailbreak my own iPad
Do. It's pretty much a toy until it's jailbroken, and all that can be learned is how to play with a toy. They might as well give lessons on how to watch TV. You should inform them (and their masters) of that in writing, in advance of any potential future "discussion".
Offer to give them the benefit of your experience in computer matters, but make it very clear that the device is your property, and that they have no say in what is installed on it or what it is used for.
If they start talking about security, just laugh in their faces, because they obviously don't have a clue what they're talking about.
Oh, and if they refuse, return the device, get your money back, and buy one from somewhere else. They cannot legally force you to buy the device through them, and they cannot refuse to return your money if you are dissatisfied with it.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Mark_Wallace wrote: Oh, and if they refuse, return the device, get your money back, and buy one from somewhere else. They cannot legally force you to buy the device through them, and they cannot refuse to return your money if you are dissatisfied with it.
I didn't buy the device through them. It's the controls/apps/software they are installing that is intruding and pissing me off.
I had to buy it in so far as it is a requirement for all students to have one for use at school next year.
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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Mark_Wallace wrote: Michael Martin wrote: I can't jailbreak my own iPad
Do. It's pretty much a toy until it's jailbroken, and all that can be learned is how to play with a toy.
Better yet, teach your daughter to jailbreak it herself and to share the trick with all her classmates. 
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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That gets my vote for posting of the week.
Mind you, it's only Tuesday,so you might get kicked off the top spot, yet.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I feel your pain, you may remember earlier this year I had a rant at my kids school about their plans for their digital strategy. It was all apple this and ipad that. Despite my pressing arguments for and against, I feel they will still end up trying to force iPads on us in the future. The elphanting shortened richards for brains are running loose in the madhouse.
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Oh my goodness - not the "let's supply everyone with an iPad and they will become amazingly talented" tripe.
Sorry to hear the school is so unenlightened.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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That's just ridiculous!
The morons should have ask for a laptop, and then restrict the internet traffic inside the school. This is an unnecessary exercise to look cool.
If this control freaks are doing this kind of behavior on everything, it's time to change the school.
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In the UK, if you have not given them explicit permission to do so, accessing and amending things on such a device would be considered unauthorised access and would be a criminal act. I'm sure the threat of legal action would go down well!
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I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
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Chris Quinn wrote: I'm sure the threat of legal action would go down well!
And the taste of compensation for emotional abuse would go down sweeter still. 
If there is one thing more dangerous than getting between a bear and her cubs it's getting between my wife and her chocolate.
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well, why don't I pay devil's advocate for a change?
The school has decided that they will get the students to use iPads - presumably they believe it will enhance their learning in some way. I personally doubt it - and for the cost of a class of 25 buying $800 devices (that's $20,000 by the way) they could surely have bought, oh, I don't know, a couple of whiteboards ad projectors and maybe some note books and pens! Oh, but then the parents wouldn't pay, would they?
However, decision made, they need to ensure that the devices are being used sensibly, during class time and generically during school time - they have a duty of care.
If they don't lock down the devices, they will have the little darlings sharing porn during RE lessons before the term's half over.
they will also have those with apps that don't work that the teacher is relying on in class.
Not allowing Chrome (17+ cuz you can browse porn with it?) is probably the IT dept.s idea of trying to prevent them bypassing the school's internet filters which will be aimed at IE probably.
As a parent you have agreed to buy the iPad so presumably you think it is either generally a good idea, or that your offspring will be disadvantaged without it in some way.
If she wouldn't have had one otherwise, then what's the issue with paying the money for what the school wants - i.e. a bog standard locked iPad? would make a difference if they asked for $800 and provided the device for the next 4 years instead?
Life's much to short to get in such a tiz about something so predictable!
MVVM # - I did it My Way
___________________________________________
Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011
.\\axxx
(That's an 'M')
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Most kids will soon find ways of avoiding the school's efforts - ways around the filters will spread round the school faster than the dirty magazines did when I was at school!
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I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
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I know it! most kids have a 3g phone anyway so can just brows sh*t on that - and it is generally faster than the school internet too! (although MM probably sends his kid to some posh private school with a direct link in to google HQ)
Speaking of dirty mags at school - my friends & I at school found around 100 VERY dirty mags hidden in a bin in the local park; kept us in fag money for weeks, and turned us, I think it is fair to say, into little perverts.
MVVM # - I did it My Way
___________________________________________
Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011
.\\axxx
(That's an 'M')
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I remember one kid in our school had what looked like a large plastic pen - it had a lens at on end and pulling on a slide moved a series of about 20 naughty transparencies past the lens - I believe his brother got it in Amsterdam or somewhere similar. He used to charge a fee to look at them - there was always a queue in the corner of the playground and he made a packet!
I also remember on one occasion the local priest, who was the school chaplain, coming in to talk to our class. He was a nice bloke, but very naive. He talked to us about the perils of reading dirty books and announced an amnesty - if anyone had anything dodgy, it could be handed to him and he would "dispose of it" with no recriminations. Anyone caught with such material after the amnesty would be for the high jump. Even I was surprised with the quantity (and quality) of jazz mags that ended up in the pile from a class of 30!
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I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
=========================================================
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_Maxxx_ wrote: If they don't lock down the devices, they will have the little darlings sharing porn during RE lessons before the term's half over.
Proxy servers and routers mate. They are restricting what can be used and what can be accessed at home. On their network and premises they can restrict what they want, not in my faarrrkkkking house.
_Maxxx_ wrote: Not allowing Chrome (17+ cuz you can browse porn with it?) is probably the IT dept.s idea of trying to prevent them bypassing the school's internet filters which will be aimed at IE probably.
Safari is what is they will use as it is embedded in the iPAD and iOS.
_Maxxx_ wrote: If she wouldn't have had one otherwise, then what's the issue with paying the money for what the school wants - i.e. a bog standard locked iPad? would make a difference if they asked for $800 and provided the device for the next 4 years instead?
Cause if they want the device locked and packaged exactly how they want they can pay for it and hand it over. I have paid for the device and at home I should be able to do what I want with it.
I don't have $800.00 sitting around with nothing to do.
_Maxxx_ wrote: Life's much to short to get in such a tiz about something so predictable!
No. They can go spend a month with a Catholic Priest instead of prying on what my daughter does under my care in my house. They have her from 08:50 to 15:00 they can restrict between those hours only.
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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Michael Martin wrote: Proxy servers and routers mate. They are restricting what can be used and what can be accessed at home. On their network and premises they can restrict what they want, not in my faarrrkkkking house.
How do they stop the little darlings installing an app at home and using it at school? They can't. So they do what they can/ It's not just aout the interwebs. Wen they get them to install an app they want them all to just be able to run it - none of this 'it won't work because I cracked the OS and I'm running Linux on it'
Michael Martin wrote: Safari is what is they will use as it is embedded in the iPAD and iOS.
good point
Michael Martin wrote: Cause if they want the device locked and packaged exactly how they want they can pay for it and hand it over. I have paid for the device and at home I should be able to do what I want with it.
But didn't you nuy it for school? wasn't it at their requ4est? Isn't it a bit like saying "Oh yes, we'll buut the school uniform" and then deciding to dye the shirt, shorten the skirt and wear pink socks? Sure, it's your clothes, you paid for them, but you paid for them for the school not because you wanted to.
Michael Martin wrote: I don't have $800.00 sitting around with nothing to do.
Nor I, but then you presumably had the option of not actually buying one.
Michael Martin wrote: No. They can go spend a month with a Catholic Priest instead of prying on what my daughter does under my care in my house. They have her from 08:50 to 15:00 they can restrict between those hours only.
If it was practical they would, I'm sure. But it isn't - unless you are prepared to back up and restore the thing every day.
Do the staff not have access to look in her school books at her school work - because this is a school device. Do the school provide all the text and work books or do you have to pay for them? if they ask you to buy a blue pen, do you buy one and fill it with green ink because you're an awkward sunshine? Do you expect them to look only at work she does during school hours in school books, and not at stuff she writes in those books at home?
of course not.
MVVM # - I did it My Way
___________________________________________
Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011
.\\axxx
(That's an 'M')
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_Maxxx_ wrote: If they don't lock down the devices
There's the problem: they have no right to lock down the devices.
They can use firewalls, proxies, VMs, all manner of stuff to defend themselves On Their Hardware, but have no right to interfere with hardware bought by, paid for by, and belonging to other people.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Dear Mr. Wallace,
It is with regret I find I have to write this letter to you, concerning the enrolment of your son Barnes.
As you know, in his Biology class we use the text book "The Human Body" by R.T. Constitution, which needs to be purchased by the student for use in class and for homework.
You may recall that some parents wanted to provide to their children copies of "Human Biology" by C. Darwin & I. Design, and we explained at the time how important it was to have all the students use the same text, even though some families may already own a copy of the other book? I remember you were one of those parents, but was initially very pleased to see that Barnes arrived in class with the proscribed tome.
What rather saddened me were the alterations he has made to his copy of the book. Ripping out pages means he may not be able to study along with other students. Sticking in pages from comics, I hope you can see, is detrimental to his education.
The final straw came when he stuck pornographic images, superimposed with teacher's faces, on the cover of his book (I notice he was careful enough to cover the most important parts with black tape - for which some of the more sensitive members of the staff remain forever grateful).
Every lesson is now disrupted when the text book is required, as a host of giggling students surround your son, looking at the images, and trying to read the comics within. Barnes has failed to do homework because "I couldn't find the bit we were supposed to read".
Of course, as you pointed out, the book belongs to you, and we have no right to dictate how you treat your property.
We can, and do, however, have the right to decide what the student's bring into and use in the classroom.
It is, therefore, with no small amount of relief, that I wish to inform you of the termination of your son's enrolment, with immediate effect.
I enclose enrolment forms for the local 'special' school, where I am sure they will allow your son to take in his comics and "jiz mags" to every lesson.
Sincerely
Posh Bloke
Principal
The Lovely School of Loveliness
MVVM # - I did it My Way
___________________________________________
Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011
.\\axxx
(That's an 'M')
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You mean you didn't do all that, back in school?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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When I was teaching? Yep sure.
MVVM # - I did it My Way
___________________________________________
Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011
.\\axxx
(That's an 'M')
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Some companies require that level of control to allow their employees access to work email on their personal iPad. It even allows them to reformat the entire iPad with a push of a button. Naturally, the employees can choose not to have their iPad mutilated, but it just means accessing their email from a browser instead.
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I was just doing some work on my 512 GB Surface Pro 2 with the backlit Type keyboard. I stopped typing for a bit to think and the keyboard back lights turned off. That's neat - saves power, I thought. Then when I put my hand near the keyboard again, the back lights turned back on ... before I touched the keyboard.
At first I thought it was my imagination, but no, it's repeatable. When my hand gets about an inch* from the keyboard, the lights turn back on. It even works when the Surface display has turned off.
I guess it must be capacitance activated or something. Perhaps everyone else knew about that and I'm just slow, but I find it neat, nonetheless.
* about 2.54 cm for the rest of the world
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E.
Comport Computing
Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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So the power saved by having the keyboard backlight switch off is consumed by having a sensor to switch it back on again!! 
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