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A lot of things change over the space of 10 years, and computer equipment is no different. While the outlay in dollars is still considerable, purchasing a computer has never been better value. Advances in technology and manufacturing have seen the speed and capacity of computer equipment continue to expand while prices have dropped. Here are just a few amazing comparisons between PCs of today and the computers of 10 years ago.
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Today, a video card has more memory on it than a 1992 era computer would have had in total
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In 1992, 4Mb of RAM (random access memory) would have been typical, costing around $48 per Mb. These days a computer is likely to have 512Mb RAM (128 times more) costing approximately 50 cents per Mb.
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A standard 40Gb hard drive today will cost less than half a cent per megabyte, but 10 years ago a 120Mb drive would have set you back around $4.00 per megabyte (1000 times more)
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Ten years ago the best colour printing for home was done by 24 pin colour dot matrix printers, with no chance of getting photo quality output. Today, equipment such as scanners, digital cameras, and inkjet printers allow you to do what only professional printers could perform back then.
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A 486 CPU (Central Processor Unit) in 1992 ran at approximately 50Mhz and contained around 1.2million transistors. Today's CPU runs at over 2Ghz (2000Mhz) and has over 50 million transistors.
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Computers 10 years ago didn't have zip drives, CD burners, DVD drive, USB ports, wheelie mice or 17 inch monitors
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While all this is great for the consumer, and means you get more for your dollar, there has been a recent downside to the lower costs of computer hardware. Major hard drive manufacturers have announced that they will be reducing their standard 3-year warranty on certain drives back to 12 months. With prices and margins so low manufacturers are looking to reduce costs further. Just another reason to make sure you backup your data!
Thank you to all those timetablers that have given us feedback on the First Class Explorer BETA trial. Keep the suggestions coming!
First Class Explorer is currently in development and will provide an easy to use, browser based, search facility that links directly into your timetable. A demonstration of the package is currently available on our website if you would like to trial it online. It is best viewed using Internet Explorer 5.0 or later. If you have had problems using Netscape Navigator, try again as we have made recent changes to improve the display.
http://www.humanedge.biz/fc2kexplorer/
First Class Explorer will be part of the Internet Options Pack Licence that already offers great features such as publishing timetables in HTML format or as Adobe PDF files for electronic distribution. Call Gary Stoneham on 1300 550 765 for pricing information.
Using First Class Explorer
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Step 1
Select the Resource(s) you wish to search on. You can choose either a teacher, student name, subject, room, form, or any combination of these
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Step 2
Select Day/Period. Leave these fields empty to return all matches or limit to a specific day and/or period.
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Step 3
Search. Press the green SUBMIT button to have the results displayed on the right hand side of the screen. At present the program returns the first 20 results per screen similar to internet search engines, but the number of results returned per screen can be manually set in a configuration file.
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To begin a new search simply press the red RESET button to clear all search criteria.
Refining Your Search
Once you have your initial search results you can automatically refine them further by clicking on a particular field in the results area of the page. Try the following examples:
Example 1
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Select "Day 1" in the SEARCH CRITERIA (all other fields blank) and press the SUBMIT button. The system will return 632 matching results of Day 1 timetable entries.
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In the RESULTS AREA, move the cursor over a Teacher named "Mandy Almer" and press the left mouse button. First Class Explorer will automatically add Mandy Almer to the Criteria list and refresh the list. Now only 11 records are returned showing the periods for teacher Mandy Almer on Day 1.
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Example 2
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Press the red RESET button to clear the screen
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Type in Michael in the STUDENT FIELD and press SUBMIT. All timetable entries for students with Michael in the first name or surname will be returned (110 records).
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Move the cursor into the RESULTS AREA, place it over a value that says Day 2 and click. Eleven records will be returned.
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Now place the cursor over the name Michael Conway and click. 4 records are returned that show timetable for Michael Conway on Day 2 of timetable cycle.
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Another feature of the system is that if you have a particular search criteria that you use all the time, you can save it in the favourite links of your browser. Perform the search and once you have the results on screen use your browser's in-built feature to bookmark the page. The search criteria is stored as part of the link, so anytime you need to recall the search it's as simple as selecting from your list of favourites.
Due to strong demand we are pleased to announce that more Training Courses have been scheduled and will be held at the Human Edge Training Centre, 427 City Road South Melbourne.
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Introduction to First Class
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Friday 11 October 2002
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Introduction to First Class
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Wednesday 6 November 2002
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The introductory course provides a great overview of the software as well as tips for using shortcuts and other useful features.
The cost of the course is $280 per person (ex. GST) for schools on Service & Support, or $350 per person (ex. GST) for schools that are not on Service & Support. Discounts apply for multiple bookings, please see our website for further details.
http://www.humanedge.biz/firstclass/fc2000training.htm
A light lunch will be supplied and you will also receive a copy of the First Class training manual for you to keep.
On completion of the course you will know how to:
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Import data into First Class from other programs
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Export data from First Class to other programs
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Create and enter data into databases
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Create and enter data into a grid
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Resolve clashes
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Allocate students to classes
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Move students between classes
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Allocate extras
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Generate and edit a timetable
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The course commences at 9.00 am and concludes at approximately 4.00 pm. As our training courses are a forum for you to have your questions about the software dealt with, we remain flexible about the finishing time. Our instructors want to make sure that you get as much as possible out of your day and part of this is ensuring that we spend as much time as necessary answering your queries!
If you would like to reserve a place in this course please contact us using the link below or call 1300 550 765, but hurry places are filling fast!
Training Booking
How do I roll students up into their new year levels?
The latest release of First Class (version 3.0.308) has an End of Year Rollover function. To roll students up into their new Form group:
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Go to TOOLS>END OF YEAR ROLLOVER
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The left pane displays the current forms and the students in those forms. These can simply be dragged from there to the new form in the centre pane, either individually or as a form. You can even drag students between forms in the centre pane. Students not returning can be placed into the STUDENTS TO DELETE section.
Once all students have been rolled up, press RUN UPDATE on the right-hand-side
You are now ready to enter students' choices for the new year.
Often, when a report is being displayed, one of the buttons in the report toolbar is a COPY button. This allows you to copy the details of the report as text and paste it into, say, a Word document. Because it is pasted as text you can format it to your own needs.
www.savewater.com.au
A sobering thought...
"Australia is the driest continent on earth (excluding Antarctica) but we are the greatest consumers of water per capita"
As we are approaching summer, and many areas are facing the prospect of drought, saving water is an important consideration. The Save Water website provides tips for reducing our water consumption and also information about products that can help us to do this in the home, garden, office and even at school. Green thumbs will appreciate the plant selector that recommends plants that are best suited to where you live in Australia.
20 to 26 October is National Water Week, a great opportunity for us to examine the ways in which we use (and waste) water. Information about activities and competitions is available on the Save Water website.
"You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do."
Henry Ford (1863-1947)
For more information, please contact:
Robert Bakker
Human Edge Software
Phone: +61 3 9699 9777
Fax: +61 3 9690 2802
Email: firstclass@humanedge.biz
Human Edge adheres to a policy of not sending unsolicited (SPAM) e-mail. You are receiving this e-mail because you are listed as a contact for a product or service that our organisation provides or have requested that this service be activated for you. If you are receiving this message in error or wish to have our records changed please advise us via return e-mail or call us on +61 3 9690 5044
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