[tech] Deep Thought

[Nic]

So, it’s been suggested I use this to ask my questions. Sorry, I wasn’t aware of this mailing list prior.

UniSFA recently decided that we should look into changing Deep Thought to Windows so it’s user friendly for our club and we can get an iTunes and Netflix account for it so we can host screenings slightly more legitimately. Alice, our VP, is capable in computing to do the switch for the most part but we wanted to run it past UCC prior so we were sure we wouldn’t fuck anything up UCC-wise. We asked Bob, as the self-proclaimed maintainer of Deep Thought, this morning but I’m somewhat confused by a lot of what he said so I was wondering if you could fill in the gaps.

Our main issue with Deep Thought is that we occasionally cannot use it because it runs Debian and therefore require a knowledgeable UCCan to do everything for us (I watched Gozz work for 20 minutes to get it to update Firefox automatically once). We hope shifting to Windows will make it more user friendly for the club and allow us to use several programs we cannot currently: iTunes, Netflix, potentially Dropbox. We also hope to buy a graphics card to allow us to connect it via HDMI to the TV and run screenings straight off the computer (utilising iTunes and Netflix). Are we wrong in this reasoning?

Bob stated we’d have to run it off the unsecure connection if it was a windows machine – Will we still be able to perform all the functions we expect from Deep Thought with this connection? 

I’ve also learned we’d need to have an appropriate anti-virus program as Windows machines are more susceptible to viruses. – Any suggestions?

Will this affect our goal to get a wireless connection to UCC for the clubroom?

Bob also said we wouldn’t be able to ask UCC for help if a Windows Deep Thought had any issues – Would someone be able to explain the reasoning for that?

I’ve sent this to our committee mailing list so your responses will also go to Alice and the rest of committee who may wish to ask more questions. (Sorry to those who get it twice because of that)

Nic
UniSFA President 2013
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