(r11) MscSignInSignOut < MSC

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---+ Math Support Center Sign-In Sign-Out Form
%BEGINOVERVIEW%

The paper forms used by the Math Support Center to track student use of the facility are now implemented as an electronic sign in. An ancient laptop is now installed as a dedicated station for students to sign in/out and leave comments. The system was implemented to simplify data collection for an intensive assessment of MSC and is now available as a complete replacement for the paper forms. The department wiki has further details in the topic [[%WEB%.%TOPIC%]].

%ENDOVERVIEW%

---++ FYI:

   * The laptop is intended as a dedicated station for sign-in and sign-out.
   * Firefox is configured with the sign-in page as its home page.
   * The network connection is minimal -- only the sign-up server is accessible.
   * If someone quits Firefox, just relaunch it from the desktop icon.
   * If the laptop seriously misbehaves
      * Press the Power button until it powers off
      * Wait a few moments
      * Press the power button to turn it back on.

---++ Geek details:

   * Yes, it's really booting from a floppy.
   * Yes, its OS and configuration are all on the 64Meg USB Pen Drive.
   * Yes, its limited network access is configured elsewhere.
   * Yes, it's accessing a different machine.
   * Yes, it's running Linux. DSL Linux -- Google:DSL+Linux
   * Yes, it's modern Firefox running on a laptop with:
      * 300 Mhz Pentium MX processor
      * 64Meg RAM
   * Yes, it's likely I will strip superfluous stuff from the desktop.

The Logging system is web-based using an open-source CGI for maximum flexibility in choice of both client and server. Currently (Spring 2008)  the client laptop is on a dedicated network connected through a NAT firewall to the ITO network. A machine in the ITO hosts the cgi and collects the data.

Feel free to drop me a note if you're interested in more details.

Cheers,

-Dick


---
-- Main.DickFurnas - 27 Mar 2008
   * [[%ATTACHURL%/MSC_Sign.pdf][MSC_Sign.pdf]]: Signs directing students to the laptop.

   * [[%ATTACHURL%/Library_CGI-Executables.tgz][Library_CGI-Executables.tgz]]: cgiemail binaries for PPC Mac

   * [[%ATTACHURL%/mscSites.tgz][mscSites.tgz]]: ~msc Sites Snapshot

Attachments

Topic attachments
I	Attachment	History	Action	Size	Date	Who	Comment
tgz	Library_CGI-Executables.tgz	r1	manage	8.1 K	2008-05-07 - 15:52	DickFurnas	cgiemail binaries for PPC Mac
pdf	MSC_Sign.pdf	r1	manage	159.6 K	2008-03-27 - 17:38	DickFurnas	Signs directing students to the laptop.
tgz	mscSites.tgz	r1	manage	594.7 K	2008-05-07 - 15:53	DickFurnas	~msc Sites Snapshot

Topic revision: r11 - 2008-05-15 - DickFurnas