Mobile IT Education? 240
SickKiwi asks: "A
client, a local polytechnic, has recently asked me to come up with
plans for a mobile IT bus to bring technology to rural areas. I
would love to find out what other people in the field have come up
with in the way of workstation layout, OS choices and Internet
connectivity. There doesn't appear to be a huge amount of material
available but as the technology gets smaller, mobile classrooms
become more and more practical." What vehicles would work best
for this kind of application? A converted bus? A mobile home? An
18-wheeler with a heavily customized trailer? What kind of hardware
would you put in it?
Depends on budget of course. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Depends on budget of course. (Score:5, Informative)
Don't shudder...I think you're right (Score:1)
Re:Depends on budget of course. (Score:1)
Re:Depends on budget of course. (Score:2)
Has the concept of text not reached New Zealand yet?
Re:Depends on budget of course. (Score:1)
Re:Depends on budget of course. (Score:3, Informative)
The iBook, old iMac, and new iMac all seem to fit the bill nicely, especially considering for maintanance and netboot purposes these are BSD machines, have integrated LCD screens, and run the prerequisite Word, Excel, Office, applications?
Good and Bad (Score:2)
Still, despite these pitfalls it's worth some consideration.
Virg
Re:Good and Bad (Score:3, Informative)
As for networking... I'm not sure what his requirements are, but Mac networking is easier to setup and maintain, from my experience, than anything else out there.
Caveats: I don't run OS X server or Windows NT/XP servers, so I can't speak for those flavors. I have a mixed Debian, Powerbook, Win2k, and Win98 network at home.
Re:Depends on budget of course. (Score:2)
scale back man, wayyyy back. I strongly suggest finding freeware productivity apps (abiword) and burning cd's to hand out to people. running around showing off your XP and office XP doesnt help and is only flaunting.
and I do suggest having 2 Linux boxen up as an example of free, and have some copies to hand out also. I would throw in a mac too just for effect.
My Webhosting Provider Actually Did this Recently (Score:1)
I doubt that their budget was very large. On the other hand, they may have just gotten a grant (standard procedure for a non-profit).
Here's what they call what they did:
"MOLLIE (Mobile Learning Laboratory for Information Education--20 laptops connected wirelessly to hub which is connected to Internet)".
If you're interested, I can connect you with Ray Hoag and Dirk Koning (the people behind the project.
Otherwise, you can probably get in touch with them through http://www.grcmc.org.
If they're trying to train them to act like our IT (Score:1)
Re:If they're trying to train them to act like our (Score:1)
Yup. I just love it (Score:1)
I tell you what though, if Mr. T said "settle down fool, I'll have email back up in a minute!" I don't think I'd call more than once.
Re:If they're trying to train them to act like our (Score:1)
Re:If they're trying to train them to act like our (Score:1)
Consider this... (Score:2, Funny)
I think what we also need to consider is whether or not this bus will be driven by DeVry graduates. They are serious about success, but are they serious about keeping their eyes on the road? I don't really fucking think so.
Honestly... (Score:3, Insightful)
Have the ambitious ones come to the city to learn and take their newfound knowledge back with them.
Unless this is simply a scam you are running.
Reverse Natural Selection (Score:2)
Have the ambitious ones come to the city to learn and take their newfound knowledge back with them.
You expect them to go back? I'm reminded of a former resident's characterization of a town in backwoods Ontario: "It's reverse natural selection. The smart and ambitious ones move to the big city, the rest stay here and breed."
I would use... (Score:1)
Linux/Win2k/OsX/Solaris
a single screen (KVM) and it doesn't need much power
OS Choices? (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, if that isn't a loaded question...
Of course 99% of the community will say Linux, but I'll be the guy modded down that says go with Win2K. Don't do anything too hairy with the Win2K boxes (to get it so you don't need to worry about crashes), but MS makes good GUI's. Its easier to understand point-and-click with people that don't know how to use a mouse, than command line execution in a shell window.
Sure, you can spend mucho time getting SuSE (or GNOME) to have nothing but point and click, but I ask one question:
What do you have more of (or, more freedom of)?:
Time to setup the systems, or
Money to buy the systems?
Time to setup the systems? (Score:1)
Re:OS Choices? (Score:1)
Re:OS Choices? (Score:2)
And I'll be more bold. I'll even say that a Linux distribution requires contant maintanance to stay secure, while Windows XP has automatic updates.
Don't consider me anti-linux. I do use Linux, but I don't recommend it to beginners who are not inclined to read books and books on how to use it. However, if the person really wants to learn hard, then I recommend linux.
Most beginners don't even know the difference between a file and a folder. Will they grasp the concept of devices and symlinks ? Fat chance.
You have most [dumb] users, for who Windows XP would be the best solution. And a handfull of [geek] students that would love linux, and could learn a lot using it. So why should you stick to just one OS? Use dual boot and have the best of both worlds. This way, they all can learn in their own pace.
Re:OS Choices? (Score:3, Insightful)
What? Oh my...
My Grandma got a new computer from the family for Christmas. Nice new Dell box with WinXP pre-installed. Now Grandma's last computer was running DOS, with automenu. (automenu would run programs for you, and when you exited the program, it would dump you back into automenu. She never used the command line.)
Anyway, try and answer this question:
When do I click once, and when do I double click?
Doesn't seem like a hard one, but...
single click web links.
click once to select icons on desktop
click once for start menu
click once to run a program on the start menu
double click to run a program from it's icon on the desktop...
and it goes on and on...
If MS created good UI, you would be able to answer that question in four sentences at most...
Re:OS Choices? (Score:1)
Double-click to run something or open a directory
Single-click the rest of the time
--and--
if single-clicking doesn't work, try double-clicking.
There's yer four lines. (And yes, I probably AM missing something)
But try to explain to someone over ICQ how to double-click, now there's a teaching experience...
Re:OS Choices? (Score:1)
simple enough.
Re:OS Choices? (Score:3, Insightful)
I believe if you enable "Active Desktop", everything is a single click, web-style. You might give that a try (I haven't used it in a long time, and I don't know what it looks like in XP).
Easy way to get around this. (Score:3, Insightful)
There's an easy way to answer that question.
Open Windows Explorer and go to Tools -> Folder Options. At the bottom of the dialog box, there is a "Click items as follows" selection box. Select the bottom radio button, and everything on your desktop acts like the Web -- single click to execute; mouseover to select.
That's not to say that Windows doesn't have its share of usability issues. However, this one is no longer one of them.
Re:OS Choices? (Score:1)
Re:OS Choices? (Score:1)
Re:OS Choices? (Score:1)
or you could just pay (hah) for all of those win2k client licenses.
Mobile IT.. (Score:1)
Hmmm...What OS? (Score:1)
Modified school bus (Score:3, Interesting)
all said and done that would make an interesting project.... want help?
Mobile IT Dept? (Score:1)
sounds kinda interesting, but hey, it could give a whole new meaning to a system crash
hmmm (Score:3, Insightful)
It's obvious. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It's obvious. (Score:2)
Man...It's truly insane if they don't. parts are so much cheaper than ready-made systems, I often wonder why everyone with the skill doesn't use it, and save a few hundred by building their own PC.
AOL and NASCAR (Score:1)
18 Wheeler-trailer (Score:1)
Re:18 Wheeler-trailer (Score:3, Funny)
The first thing that came to mind was the Knight Rider truck with the tricked out combo data center and auto maintenance bay.
Tech Demos (Score:3, Informative)
On the flip side, it's much easier to configure the power sources you'll need with an 18-wheeler, especially since many are already built for electric power.
Re:Tech Demos (Score:1)
I'd look at satellite broadband options (DirectPC used to have this.) There are also operations making equipment that make mobile satellite tracking possible, although if it will be stationary, you can just re-align manually at each site.
It's for a local school (Score:2)
Looks like this guy's going to be making a LOT of phone calls.
iM (Score:1)
A satellite internet connection would be neat too.
'bring technology' and 'rural areas' are to vague (Score:1)
Technology is just to open ended...but I suppose the poster meant Web Surfing
Afterall, a steel Hunting Knife is technology in many parts of the world.
Education? (Score:1)
How much does it cost to go to CompuCollege? ITI? Yea, all your money are us!
These days, all these graduates [*chuckle*]work at Microsoft... but many more are wandering the streets of America wearing signs that read: Will code in VB for food".
What they do in the sticks! (Score:4, Informative)
Works for them!
i-Macs (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, OS X is perfect for little kids that haven't yet gotten into the bad habit of using MS Windows.
I got one... (Score:1)
Bus - Bad, Trailer - Good (Score:2, Insightful)
Put it in a trailer that can be pulled by a large rig. This will give you much more space and better heating/cooling options.
A school bus is made to commute students, not sit around w/them working in it. Your eqipment would kill most of your available space. (Not just computers- but power, a.c., all that good stuff)
Not to mention- what do you do when the bus breaks down? Let it sit until you can drop a new engine or tranny in it?
Much better to hitch the trailer to a new truck and keep rolling.
These are just a few of what to seem to be the more obvious reasons why a bus would be a poor choice.
.
Neat idea (Score:1)
As to the internet connectivity, I was thinking that perhaps a couple of webservers would be a better idea. House some complete web-sites, or create specific html content geared towards the matter at hand. May be easier than looking for signals in rural areas. You would still be able to illustrate the mechanics and experience of hyperlinking.
As to OS, the context would have to be considered. Ideally, I would want a number of OSes running, with largely Linux/FreeBSD on the server side. But one would have to include Windows in some form. I would also want to be able to show Mac OSX and some X-windows desktops as well.
Have fun.
new LCD iMac seems an obvious choice (Score:1)
Also, it has an excellent technological base of UNIX, Java, all unix open source available, as well as MS Office for OSX, and Virtual PC (if you want or need to run anything in a PC environment). For a teaching environment, I can imagine VPC could be extremely useful to test Windows alongside Intel Linux in windows on Mac OSX (if they're comparing operating systems, approaches, etc.).
In sum, the new iMac is pretty all-inclusive with Virtual PC, Unix, Mac, and even MS Office native, not to mention less technical vocations like photography (new iPhoto just rocks), music (iTunes), and movie creation and publication (iMovie and iDVD) which are all excellent ways to introduce creative career paths superquickly and easily.
Good luck,
= Joe =
Spoken like a true Beavis and Butthead fan (Score:2)
I haven't done exactly what the original poster is asking for, but I have done a lot of trade shows and various demos.
You do not want a CRT in a mobile van. Ever. You do not want to pack them all up before you move ten feet because the guy who told you where you could park didn't have that authority. You do not want to deal with the even trivial cases of the socket getting flaky with the CRT, let alone with the cases where something will break in spite of your best efforts. No matter what you do, you will eventually have to deal with union guys and, unless you watch them like a hawk, there will be cases where the CRT's are packed improperly. You do not want to have a bunch of CRT's running in summer. Ever.
For the same reason and for the walking-away problem, you do not want to have laptops or separate LCD screens, because some union guy is going to think it's a great idea to stack them up to save space.
You could conceivably build everything into a set of consoles so that they didn't have to be stored. Then when they broke, which they would because nobody ever puts in enough shock protection, you could have dead machines sitting there until you got around to crawling behind and fixing them, which you will be a lot less likely to do than you think now.
Something like the new iMac would be good. Fairly durable, light, and bottom-heavy, but most important, you can put it in a box. Most of the volume will be air, and the screen will not be flat on a box side, so it's inherently resistant to packing problems.
Trailer (Score:1)
What about Michael Knight (Score:1)
Additionally, if you adopt their layout you would have a great parking spot!!!
Re: (Score:2)
obligatory (Score:1)
send in MegaCar (Score:1)
I'm sure there have been developments in uber-cool tricked out cars since MegaCar debuted, but I find it hard to care too much.
Is the poster looking for a big wow! factor, or something more practical?
much too funny on a friday afternoon (Score:2)
btw - the gateway folks or whoever came to one of the city festivals downtown with their bus last year to show off their kewl computers. i don't know how it went for them, but when i go out side, downtown, i really would like to NOT see a computer.
better idea (Score:1, Insightful)
Questions (Score:1)
I think the main question to answer this are :
1) Budget
2) How many people will be using it
3) What sort of internet connectivit will be avaiable where the bus/van/truck is going. Will there be a phone line, if not then some type of two way satillite would be the answer.
To get a good start on saving money.
1) Make sure you use as much open source/gnu software as you can.
2) Try to get a load of out of date pc's. Most education can be done on ~133mhz. You could get quite a few computers here for $5000. Mabey 3~4 upto date systems for projects that warrent it.
How do I check it out? (Score:1)
-J
semi trailer. (Score:1)
For interior hardware, I would want a distributed system -- since the trailer is in a rural area, it has to be able to switch configurations quickly and easily.
are they going to want to have 6 trailers? one for NetBSD, one for linux, one for microsoft, one for apple, one for cisco, one for sun? heck no. that gets expensive, and you need to cut a costs somewhere; there's less money to be made in a rural area (with less people) than a urban area (with lots of people).
mook
I've done this (Score:4, Informative)
Effectiveness (Score:1)
Cheap laptops and 802.11 (Score:1)
My idea... Van with a pull behind trailer. Get a couple of E-Z Up tents, folding chairs and tables.
Securing the laptops is the biggest problem I see...
Rural tech ed. (Score:1)
First, let me say that I think this is a commendable idea -- I grew up in towns of one to three thousand people, well outside of major urban areas, and any access I had to computers prior to high school was a special experience. As the technology needed to do highly mobile, Internet-connected computing gets smaller, cheaper, and more reliable, this kind of thing just becomes more and more appealing.
As far as the actual equipment used is concerned, I think there are better ways to go than a big truck full of gear. I think the best example to follow might be the sort of "mobile lab" starting to be used by a lot of schools: inexpensive laptops for each student, with 802.11 connecting them to a "server on wheels", which in turn handles user profiles/home directories, Internet connectivity, etc. If there's not going to be reliable hard-wired net connections in many of the areas, look into business wireless service; a number of digital cellular networks are starting to offer ~128Kb/sec dialup connections, which can certainly (with a proxy cache or compressed VNC gateway running on the classroom server) handle serving 15-20 students for basic email and browsing.
For hardware, if you're looking at new purchases, I think you'd be hard pressed to find better machines than the recent iBooks: they're sturdy, compact, fairly inexpensive (especially with Apple's educational discounts), and can run either OS-X or Linux without a hitch. With a decent KDE or GNOME setup, they could look and feel to the user eerily like a Win2k/XP machine, but you save $500+ on application licenses for each box.
Go for it, but don't forget that things have progressed well past the point where computing requires big iron and lots of space.
Did something like this (roaming cafe) (Score:5, Informative)
Our vehicle was a stretch Lincoln Navigator. It won't work for what you want, but it was good for us. It was a Navigator SUV, cut and stretched 10 feet. Each side had a 10 foot "gull wing" door at the top which swung up on actuators. Underneath each door was a actuator-mounted table with 3 systems on it. In the back of the thing was the generator, and there were 2 seats up front (driver and passenger) with the bulk of the backend gear mounted in a small rack between and just behind the seats. If I did it again with more money, I would have used flat panels because they are lighter and wouldn't have needed the motorized tables.
First, the internet connection. We used a 2-way satellite dish mounted on the top of the vehicle. The dish we purchased was specifically designed for ease-of-use mobile mounts. It had its own compass and GPS unit, and a motorized turntable. Inside the vehicle, we had the equipment for it mounted. All the driver had to do was select the deploy options from the menu on the device, and it would deploy the dish, track it to the correct rough position, then use the satellite signal to finetune the positioning. A unit like this was very important for making setup go smoothly.
Second, our "backend" servers. Since we were using satellite, we decided to set up a proxy server on the vehicle to try and make the satellite lags a little better. This worked very well for us, since all of the people surfing were supposed to be on the same website. But I think it would be a good idea regardless. You can also run a local website on this box (maybe a portal-type page for your homepage). And this is a good place for a DHCP server.
Third, the workstations themselves. We used NT Workstation installs, for at least marginal security. Used policies to lock down the systems a little bit and make sure that people couldn't cause too much damage. It helped us that we only had 6 computers, and usually 3 or 4 people on staff to watch them.
The miscellaneous is all fairly important as well. We used a 12kw gasoline generator which was mounted in the back of the vehicle and drew off the same tank as the engine (which was expanded). I think we had it set up so that we could get 8 hours of 75% load. We also had a connection so that we could connect to a power source at the setup site. This required a decent power management system, but it worked just fine. We did have problems with the exhaust from the generator (because it was so close to the workstations) and ended up having to do some custom work to vent it out the top of the vehicle. But surprisingly enough, the sound wasn't that bad when it was running.
We also had a sound system installed, so that we could do presentations/classes. Just microphone hookups in the front, a rack-mount DJ quality CD player, small amp, and a few speakers around the thing. I think it's not a bad idea for any application, because there's always going to be a use, even if it's just background noise.
All told, I designed the system so that it could be setup by any marketing droid that took it out. Flip a few switches to power gear up, deploy the satellite, power up the workstations, and that's it. And for the few times I saw it in operation before I moved out of the area, it worked nicely. There were a few bugs, but like I said, it was a prototype.
Things I would have done differently this time? First, flat panels. They take up less space. This may or may not work for you, depending on the vehicle you use and how many workstations you want to get in there (and your budget). Second, for your application I might also set up a wireless network. It wouldn't cost that much to add, and while your customers probably don't have laptops with wireless NICs, it would give you a little flexibility for use, as well as letting you roam around with a troubleshooting laptop, if need be.
Hope that helps a little. If you have any questions about what we did, post a followup to this.
-Todd
Re:Did something like this (roaming cafe) (Score:1)
Seriously, this sounds really really cool. Wish I could have seen something like this in action.
Kudos
Re:Did something like this (roaming cafe) (Score:2)
Oh yeah, it was also painted a really cool color, called Dupont Chromalusion True Blasberry. Changed colors depending on the angle that you looked at it from. Blues, purples, reds, oranges, greens, etc. It was especially cool because they painted the satellite housing, which has lots of angles.
-Todd
Re:Did something like this (roaming cafe) (Score:2)
I'd really be interested to find out what has happened to it, anyways. That satellite dish alone and the associated equipment was really expensive, and quite reusable. Not to mention the big-ass generator and the sound gear.
-Todd
Re:Did something like this (roaming cafe) (Score:5, Informative)
WOW was really cool, but a few things stick out in my mind:
Several people actually came over and told us they thought the flashy vehicle's presence was a shameless promotion for the venerable Washington Post. One of them even promised to send a complaint to Katharine Graham, but I think he may have missed his medication that morning. :o) We laughed at him after he was out of earshot.
You can see a picture of WOW here [naa.org], but I can't find any of its related promotional materials on washingtonpost.com today. At any rate, I thought the vehicle was an engineering marvel. Good work, Todd! :o)
Re:Did something like this (roaming cafe) (Score:2)
On the sunlight. Yeah, unfortunately, not much we could do about that. We actually thought about putting an extension to the "wings" that would slot into them, so that when you put up the wings, you would then pull an additional sunshield out of them. Part of the problem with this was the added weight for the doors (they were already stressing the actuators, and they were the biggest we could get for this application). The other part of the proble was supporting them. We would have had to have poles on the corners, which would have been a pain.
The lack of interest. Yeah, unfortunately that was somewhat characteristic at a lot of Washingtonpost.com's events, regardless of how we presented the computers. The computer setups were more popular at inside events (like conferences) where the Glamvan (I still refuse to call it WoW
Yeah, it was an engineering marvel. And a nightmare. The build process was very painful, and I had to spend a lot of time in Missouri (at the limousine shop that was building it) to make sure everything went right. There wsa nothing like this out there at the time, so we had nothing to build from. There were a lot of things that were jury-rigged, like the keyboard trays (cut & bent from sheet metal. They could have used a little more polish). Part of this was because everything was so custom, and part of it was because outside of the "sponsored" items like the car and computers, Washingtonpost.com didn't want to spend much money on this.
That's one more thing. It will help your budget on this a lot if you can get sponsors to donate parts. Like approach Dell or Gateway for computers, someone else for the vehicle, a third party for the Internet access.
Thanks for the praise
-Todd
Re:Did something like this (roaming cafe) (Score:2)
Wow [slashdot.org]
Great idea and sounds like fun to work on (Score:1)
OS: Linux, *BSD, Win2K, and Mac. Gotta show people the differences out there. We all have our pref's, but poeple need to be prepared for what they may be forced to use. Even if we're all so sure what is superior, gotta show people to convince them
Apps: Think about this one. People want to use applications, not OS's. This may effect above.
Net: I suppose it depends upon what kinda wireless you may have available in the area.
General: By rural, what do you mean? Is this an agricultural area? Modern farming uses a lot of IT these days, gps, chemical measurement, databases, sat photos even. Check with your local farmers/agri extension office. What do they use? What do they want to use? How can they help you? If it's not agri, but forestry, mining, tourism, light manufacturing, other, the same applies. Talk to the locals.
How many people will it serve at once? If not everyone can be on a machine at once, what other resources will you provide for people who are waiting that can enhance things? Video with projector for instruction while waiting? Other not-specifically IT technology education, like some basic electronics or radio stuff? These things can all be quickly unloaded and expand the number of people served and complement the IT stuff itself.
From what you say... (Score:1)
--
That being said If I where to go for a bus/truck ect I would take an existing school bus take out every other seat and add a small desk with enough room for the keyboard/mouse combo route the cables down to the existing storage under the bus add rack mounts and put the the computers down there (In the bus you would have to add extra AC with that many kids / computers plus noise) Put Flat panels attached to the seat infront of each desk and have multiple OS's on each computer..
Ask those who have done it (Score:2, Informative)
If your client isn't the Waikato Polytech, ring them and ask them. They had a bus a couple years back that had 10-20 computers in it from memory, arranged around the walls. I'm not sure about its power supply, but I think an extension cord from the roof of the bus (perhaps 3-phase)? did the job.
There's tons of different types of Buses in IT (Score:1)
You can put flames on the side of your case and pretend your computer is a hot rod.
Satellite Internet Access (Score:1)
eBus (Score:1)
A number of organizations who attempt to tackle the digital divide are considering something similar.
I would think the actual set up you want would depend on what you wanted people to get out of the experience. If you want to people to learn hardware skills you'll need a different set up than if you wanted to teach them MS Office.
If you don't actually need to provide the classroom space, I once used a neat mobile set up which had a half a dozen small Windows CE devices wirelessly networked to a hefty laptop than acted as a server. It was all packaged in a wheeled box that fitted into the trunk of a small car.
School Bus (Score:1)
Something large and comforatable. (Score:1)
The best way would be to get a bus with 1st class airline seats mounted in instead of bus seats. The ones that you can put a screen right in back of the seat in front of you. A trailer truck I fear would be too loud. Unless you insulate the trailer well (The truck's diesel engine would be loud and would be needed for the air conditioning). The advantage of the trailer truck would be the extra room. I believe both Bus and Truck engines can act as a generator when it is not being used for transportation. Remember get skylights. And either one of these vehicles can have advertising on the side.
The computer itself could be a small laptop (B-series Fujitsu for example) and seperate the screen from the keyboard. mount a small keyboard on the tray table and stick the computer under the seat with an easy to reach boot switch, CD-ROM Drive, and Floppy Drive.
The O/S choice depends on what you want to teach. If you are teaching Joe Smoe from Company X productivity teach him what he will be using. The easiest would to do dual boot systems and then reboot as needed. Or if you want to, you could install VMware and skip all the reboots.
If you are teaching Linux then Linux. If you are teaching Windows then Windows. If you are doing both... well then do both.
For internet connectivity use a satilite provider. It won't matter on your location.
Limitations and Possibilities (Score:3, Informative)
Since your audience can be assumed to be newbies, and since your function appears to be non-platform-specific (web access, etc), the OS should be chosen for stability and remote administration capabilities. The hardware should be chosen for space and power features.
I would suggest either running MacOS X on new iMacs (for space/power/remote admin/stability) or running Linux/GNOME or Linux/KDE on ldaptops, with external keyboards, mice and flat panel screens (for the same reasons, though the admin skill level will need to be higher, and it's more difficult to reload the OS/reconfigure the system if needed).
Also, in either case, you should be able to get some assistance from vendors in making this work.
For power, you can use readily-available generators that can be packed into tight spaces. For connectivity, you will probably need a microwave tower (if you can get line of site) or a bidirectional encrypted radio or satellite link. You might talk to the local telecom companies, or the local TV stations - they both have to solve this problem.
-jeff
SGI Bus... (Score:1)
While not for education, per say, it'd still be valuable to check out for some ideas if it still exists and you can get access to it.
Ditch Big Vehicles..here's how to make it work.... (Score:1)
School Busses Cost ~$80,000
Commercial Buses Cost >$100,000
18 Wheelers cost >$100,000
There is also the cost of insurance and maintence, neither one of which is trivial.
So here is what I what I would do instead:
1)Buy big pickup with shell/cargo van. Maybe 2/3. These don't need to be new.
2)Attach shell with waterproofing(on pickup) and racks for equipment.
3)Buy wireless lan hubs and network cards from linksys.
4)Buy folding card tables, 8 man tents (the ones you can stand in), and folding chairs from sports authority.
5)Buy laptops from Dell with Win2k.
6)Install all software you should ever need. Make OS work well.
7)Use Norton Ghost to make the OS easy to restore to perfect working order.
8)Build a HUGE fileserver runing linux (put shockproofing in the van so the HD's don't get fooed up).
9)Make SAMBA/unix acounts on aforementioned fileserver for each user who logs in.
10)If you want to be able to get internet acess beyond your little LAN, use a couple starband [starband.com] satellite uplinks to connect. Or equiv. service.
11) Find a source of power, or buy a generator. I would just use local power.
Re:Ditch Big Vehicles..here's how to make it work. (Score:1)
The easiest... (Score:3, Insightful)
Use the largest van (trailer) you can legally drive around with (53' I think) and build in a slide out section on one side. If you figure the front five feet go to HVAC, servers, a generator (sound insulated, 5 kW may be more than enough, two 5 kW if you want to be sure and have a backup) and storage and use 4' per workstation you should be able to fit a total of 24 workstations in. I would seriously recommend using laptops with 802.11, again Starband and a proxy. During transport and parking of the van these can be stored in a secured location. You want to be careful you don't have too much trouble with vibration damage too, not much of a problem if you've got a suspension system in the vehicle or trailer.
Keep in mind you'll need an exit at both ends, you don't want to be the guy responsible for a bunch of kids getting incinerated.
Be careful with the lighting too. Think about a nice warm environment, the kind you'd like to work in.
Fire for the prehistoric man? (Score:4, Insightful)
Is this like introducing fire to early humans? Or is it like selling freezers to Eskimos? Are those living in rural areas really going to benefit from this?
I think we can all agree that broadband connections in many urban areas are either severely lacking or extremely expensive... so why would they be any cheaper in rural areas? Sure, there could be a community effort to bring broadband to all, but I'm guessing this bus is not going to be visiting those communities anyways. Local telcos are forced to sell rural telephone lines below cost (offset by higher prices in urban areas); however, broadband does not fall under this regulation.
So one day, suddenly the mobile-tech bus drives up and stops next to Billy Bob's house. Billy Bob doesn't know anything about computers and probably is not going to understand the possibilities of them. But if Billy Bob has children, they may be very much interested in the mobile-tech bus and the goodies inside. But how does the mobile-tech bus really do anything for the rural inhabitants? It's like parading around in a Ferrari and saying, "Gee, isn't this cool? You could have this, but you can't afford it... sorry."
So now you've managed to generate some interest in computers and broadband in rural areas, but they still won't be able to make use of it.
I'd like to offer you a solution to the problem, but I cannot. I would recommend that you build your mobile-tech bus while at the same time working with local ISPs or government to promote broadband, etc so hopefully when the bus shows up, you're not trying to sell freezers to Eskimos -- instead, you have a plan for dispersing the technology to those who you're hoping will benefit from it.
Re:Fire for the prehistoric man? (Score:2)
Most dairy farmers I know have 4 year argriculture degrees. Market conditions demand that they be smart-New Zealand's position means that shipping costs are high so produce has to be top notch to sell overseas.
Case in point, my cousin uses a farm management program which contains a map generated for sat photographs that allows him to see grass growth rates, possible sheep density etc. It even schedules farm tasks so that workers can be called in just in time. How did he learn this program-? Free training from the NZ government. Its worth it
Re:Fire for the prehistoric man? (Score:2)
I'm not suggesting that those living in rural areas are uneducated rednecks. While they definitely exist, and I doubt their need for a computer, the other rural inhabitants are also likely to not have much use for a PC. Computerized farming, or computer-aided farming? Maybe. But frankly a roving vehicle filled with gaming PCs glorifying the Internet is hardly going to be of practical use (remember the price factor) to these people. Do they care about Linux and Open Source? Probably not. Do they care about Microsoft and Bill Gates? Probably not. They want whatever computers they have to work reliably. A visit from a techno bus will not change that. And may I remind you of the issue of broadband that is likely going to be tied to this new technology on parade.
I see this project as a way to bring technology to the young people in rural areas. But realize that if the areas being visited poorer for whatever reasons, a computer won't be high on the list of necessary household items. The children of this world are our future, and technology is a fantastic way to enable them to express themselves and to learn everything they desire... but ensure they can afford it and make use of it.
Don't teach them in the truck. (Score:2)
Buy a small van/SUV. Buy laptops with 802.11. Get an access point, and a server.
When you go tech, find a local church, school, or other hall with folding tables. Slap down the laptops, turn on the AP, and you're good to go.
It's very simple. It's durable, laptops are made to be moved around. You can increase or decrease the number of clients with ease, just add or remove laptops. You can probably also carry enough for 50-100 people, if you needed to do that. Also, laptops with batteries won't die if you accidently blow a breaker somewhere.
It's not fancy, but it would be easy and cheap.
What are you trying to teach? What size classes? (Score:4, Insightful)
Some of your decisions will be pretty obvious - basic flat-screens have come down in price enough that you're far better off using them than CRTs, because you're trading off the cost of the equipment vs. the cost of a bigger bus and more electricity. But if you're trying to show things to a larger group of people, you'll have to find something that fits your budget but still works, though that may be "display the same slides on N screens at once." And of course you'll want a couple of CD-R-burners for giving away software, as well as stacks of blank CDs and floppies.
Will you be showing off how to build hardware? Letting people know what the basic guts of a PC are like is valuable, so you'll probably want some basic PCs, card tables, and screwdrivers for people to play with, and spare parts to make up for the ones you'll lose or break. But if you're also doing telemetry, you'll need whatever flavors of hardware that uses, whether it's simple RS-232 stuff like X-10 or fancier data bus things, and you'll need a few sample things to telemeter.
Easy! (Score:2)
If you find it, steal it, dump the boat and the BMW for some cash and add a Beowulf cluster.
Also have done something like this (Score:2)
To answer the posted question, we actually roamed all around the state setting up mobile, networked labs at all the major universities, holding multiple sessions of four days for a few weeks at each location, and then tearing it all down to head to the next site. All of the sites were VERY different--we had to get creative when wiring networks and power setups.
As for how we traveled, we used a large Chevy van for all of our equipment. We had a couple of printers, a scanner, digital cameras, 80 toshiba laptops per site, a ton of hubs, power cords, a large spool of cat5 for wiring the rooms, and assorted other details. It took about 2 days to set up at each location, depending on how the layout of the rooms whatever university we were at had [grudgingly] bestowed upon us. We also patched into local drops at each site. This got real interesting when working with the campus sysadmins in each area.
At any rate, we had a good time and from the responses we got the program was a complete sucess. I wish you luck in your own venture!
-s
Fairground design (Score:2)
One approach would be to get a large trailer, just small enough that it can be towed on a conventional vehicle like a ute or something, and set it up with a fold-down side or sides. This radically increases your available floor space. Set up your PCs on desks such that in travel mode, all the desks can simply be dragged into the centre of the trailer, and the side(s) folded up. In classroom mode, you just fold down the side(s) and drag out the desks. In travel mode, if all the desks fit snugly and the monitors and PCs are bolted to the desks, there wouldn't be an issue with gear moving around in transit.
The trailer wouldn't be open to the weather; you could set up some simple canvas tenting arrangement to cover over your folded down side, creating the necessary three walls and roof. Temperature management would obviously be an issue; so you'd want some fairly gutsy reverse-cycle airconditioning.
On a separate subject, when contemplating glass monitors vs. LCD monitors, think about the cost difference per monitor, and the cost per square metre of floor space in your chosen vehicle. A glass monitor takes maybe a quarter of a square metre of space, versus an LCD monitor taking negligible space. If an LCD monitor costs, say, NZ$300 more than a glass monitor, is it worth spending that, or would it be better to simply spend NZ$300 more on the vehicle, to get one that's a teeny bit bigger? Plus, the glass monitor has the advantage of being less theftable.
iBooks, lawnchairs and Airport (Score:2)
Obvious reply: Maximog. :-) (Score:2)
(To the Moderator: Yes, this post was designed to be modded as "Funny" or "Redundant" Go right ahead and do that, but if you label it as "Insightful", you need to up your medication dosage. OK? Fine. :-)
Re:That's easy (Score:1)