What!

Google Analytics is a great FREE resource offered by Google.
Essentially a small piece of code is added to every page on a web site. This code then queries every access to that page and the data is stored on Google’s servers.

Each Google Analytics account is unique and the account holder can interrogate the data in a vast number of ways finding out which page is most viewed, which time the web site is most active, which country is viewing the most, etc.
All of this is performed without the knowledge of the web site user and does not slow down any web site access.

I have been using this for some years with some very interesting results. Google Analytics is evolving and lots of third party ‘addons’ can be found, an interesting Data Export API has been developed which allows authorised users the ability to read some of the data produced by Google Analytics.

A beginners guide to using Google Analytics has been recorded in video format, available from YouTube,  and is very informative.

The school calendars are created by entering the data into a Google Calendar (GCal) and then by using the GCal flexibility, the calendar can be embedded into any web page or read via an RSS feed into other software, mobile phones, or other web pages.

Outlook 2007 now has the ability to add web based calendars into it’s own calendar. So the viewing of the school’s calendars in Outlook 2007 can now be done quite easily.

Web based calendars can be added by copying and pasting the URL (web address) of the calendar’s .ics (ICAL) output.

The School’s 2010 Lent Term Calendar’s ICAL URL is:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/greshams.me.uk_7saadss9oal1bnircfgmic9e3o%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Add this URL to the Internet Calendars account setting:

TOOLS > ACCOUNT SETTINGS > INTERNET CALENDARS

Click NEW and paste the URL above into the box and then click ADD.
Give it a name and then CLOSE the Account Settings dialogue box, the school’s Lent term calendar will now be visible in Outlook.

This is only the Lent term dates and does not include hockey fixtures, netball fixtures or exam dates which must be added separately with a different ICAL URL, these are:

Hockey:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/greshams.me.uk_mrm5d7ukqctcqn2u8c5sq6n6ck%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Netball:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/greshams.me.uk_d3vmlpu9110tf9gvsp51r8tf4g%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Exams:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/greshams.me.uk_0rks6nj31ds7vpueeut61hmq08%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Prep calendar on Google is:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/greshams.me.uk_kls2jj4sl9bcl5ln31dgvd22nc%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

All of the Senior and Prep school calendars are changed each term so the above link will have nothing in it for next term’s dates.

The Pre-Prep calendar rolls on so the link below will never need changing:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/greshams.me.uk_7j9es3tpspmg5chrvvg64agrlc%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

My understanding is that all staff across all three schools, teaching and ALL support staff, will be using Outlook Web Access (OWA) method for emailing.

The Precedence web based system, the one which shows an envelope when you login, will be replaced over this term (Lent 2010) with OWA.

OWA uses Microsoft Exchange as the main email server and will store all of Outlook’s data (emails, contacts, calendar details and tasks) rather than on the computer you are using. Outlook’s data will then be accessible from any computer connected to the internet. It will also allow users who have Outlook 2007 installed on their computers, the choice of using Outlook rather than OWA

All ‘teaching’ computers (using the greshams domain) at Gresham’s will have Office 2007 installed which Outlook is a part.
A small unseen script will be executed everytime a greshams staff member logs onto the computer. This script will ‘automagically’ configure Outlook to retrieve their data from exchange and will then close the connection when they log off, this then allows all teaching staff the ability to use Outlook on any ‘teaching’ computer at Gresham’s.

I have just performed another update to the blogging software (WordPressMU) so we should now all be using v2.9.1.1

On of the plugins did not work with the latest update so it has been removed. Previous updates did reset the timezone so please can all blog users check their timezone settings:

Settings > General > Timezone

Could be problematic for anyone with timed posts.

For anyone interested in the new/altered features of v2.9 can be found here

The fanciful idea that school productions can be added to greshams.com have moved a step closer.

I arranged with Stuart, the Auden Theatre Manager, to record (via several cameras), the House Music which took place on the 2nd October.
A DVD was created of all of the good bits and it is in now my hands to put onto greshams.com

I normally use Super and/or AutoGK to encode the DVD into a format I can use on the computer/web but I have found another use for the fantastic free VLC player.
This magnificent piece of kit has many, many uses and should be one of the first free downloaded pieces of kit on any computer. It is very easy and intuitive to use and allows me to do so much, things I would have previously used several pieces of software for.

I have just found out it can transcode directly from DVD wow, I just have to make sure the transcoding is started after the DVD title and it works a dream.

I’m off to the Bacchus Club now but I will finish this post later with full instructions on hwta I have done.