Something Fun

Thank you teachers! You all make a difference! Have an epic 2014-15! 

Pirate Pride.

And now something fun to start the new school year that is quickly approaching.

Here is a link to the full size image: PiratEdTech

After you have the file downloaded, Windows users can right-click on the file and select 'Set As Desktop Background'.

GCS Specific: Mobile Filter Resolution!

Have you experienced failed connectivity and / or crashing?

We have been working diligently with the folks at Lightspeed over the past couple weeks to pinpoint and resolve issues with the mobile filter that is running on all laptops. The problem behaviors include Google pages failing to load, Google Drive not connecting, lack of connectivity, and / or freezing & crashing of Windows. 

We believe we have reached a stable and consistent solution which will be automatically applied once you connect your laptop to the schools network – e.g. Connecting to GCS wireless. 

As it turns out, the issues stemmed from our Anti-virus software and the way it interacted with the mobile filter.

The antivirus will need to update itself to receive the new policy (aka the resolution). The update process will be automatically initiated after a few minutes of connectivity so you will want to stay logged into your laptop for 10 – 15 minutes. Please note,  the policy is only downloaded when the laptop is connected to GCS Wireless.

So, in summary once you and your laptop return to school the fix will be applied automatically. If you do not have your laptop yet, check your email for deployment dates / times.

Stay Positive.

You Should Get This Chrome Extension

Previously, one of the annoyances of Google Drive was the absence of ability to work with MS Office files directly from the web interface. Editing Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files basically consisted of downloading the file, editing in the appropriate Office software, then uploading the file again to Google Drive.

Google recently released an update that changes that scenario and makes editing Office files possible from Drive. Here is what you need to do to take advantage of the update:

ChromeBook: Nothing! It has been integrated for you.

Chrome Browser: Install this Chrome Extension

Mobile Apps: Nothing! It is automatically rolled out to Android and iOS.


*** Update 7/11/14 ***

It appears that the full functionality of this feature is not available until the Google Drive update is also released. Here is a youtube preview of that update. That update will be rolled out later this summer. If you have successfully used the Chrome browser extension to edit Office files please let me know in the comments!


Stay Positive!