MscSignInSignOut < MSC

MSC Web>MscSignInSignOut (2013-05-17, DickFurnas) (raw view)EditAttach

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

An ancient laptop is installed in the MSC 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 use and is now available as a complete replacement for any 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.

---++ Troubleshooting:
   * If someone quits Firefox, just relaunch it from the desktop icon.
   * If the laptop seriously misbehaves
      1. Press the Power button to the upper left of the keyboard until it powers off
      1. Wait a few moments
      1. 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 good ol' Firefox running on a laptop with:
      * 300 Mhz Pentium MX processor
      * 64Meg RAM

The Logging system is web-based using an open-source CGI for maximum flexibility in choice of both client and server. Currently (Spring 2013)  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

Attachments

Topic attachments
I	Attachment	Action	Size	Date	Who	Comment
tgz	Library_CGI-Executables.tgz	manage	8.1 K	2008-05-07 - 15:52	DickFurnas	cgiemail binaries for PPC Mac
pdf	MSC_Sign.pdf	manage	159.6 K	2008-03-27 - 17:38	DickFurnas	Signs directing students to the laptop.
pdf	MSC_SignIn.pdf	manage	418.4 K	2008-09-10 - 20:42	DickFurnas	MSC Sign in HERE
pdf	MSC_SignOut.pdf	manage	419.2 K	2008-09-10 - 20:42	DickFurnas	MSC Sign Out Reminder
tgz	mscSites.tgz	manage	594.7 K	2008-05-07 - 15:53	DickFurnas	~msc Sites Snapshot