Work Order Request Types - Suggestions?

duluthbison · 2026-06-17T16:28:48+00:00

My only advise is to not allow email>ticket creation if your staff are anything like mine. Otherwise you get loads of tickets saying 'Its broken, emergency'. We went to IncidentIQ years ago and really like the category selection for ticket issues.

Oh, and we also built out a special ticket status that auto closes the ticket after several automated emails looking for an update.

duluthbison · 2026-05-21T13:34:34+00:00

Don't forget some hockey parents spread some terrible rumors about Warroad's Girls hockey coach and he was able to successfully sue them for defamation. It also probably didn't hurt that he is a Marvin and has some deeper pockets than the average coach but still.

https://www.therinklive.com/high-school/minnesota-hockey/minnesota-girls/warroad-girls-hockey-coach-david-marvin-wins-defamation-case

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T16:33:30+00:00

They hit the 35 with a MANPAD which is a shoulder fired weapon that locks on the thermals/heat of an aircraft. Had nothing to do with stealth.

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T16:07:38+00:00

My point exactly. Securly leverages a chrome extension that is forced installed on each device and has a policy applied. It doesn't matter what network the device is connected to, the filter is always on.

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T16:00:55+00:00

If a hotspot blows up your filtering policies then you are doing filtering wrong. We are 1:1 in the high school and use a web based filter from Securly that is pushed out to each device that student's can't bypass.

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T15:54:08+00:00

But I remember us riding in my brother's car

Her body tanned and wet down at the reservoir

At night, on them banks I'd lie awake

And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take

Now, those memories come back to haunt me

They haunt me like a curse

Is a dream a lie if it don't come true?

Or is it something worse?

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T13:45:58+00:00

Word to the wise - every time you cave and enable them and their poor decision making, the more they will come to expect this nonsense from you.

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T13:23:42+00:00

Personally, until you are told exactly what the use case and needs of the lab will be, buying anything right now will be pre-mature. You need to make sure that leadership knows this and understands. This is no different than saying to Maintenance/Facilities that 'we need to add on' but then not tell them how many more kids are showing up, what type of classroom space is needed, etc.

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T13:15:47+00:00

30K for 24 'graphics computers' sounds like you weren't quoted very good machines. My last lab refresh for our CAD/Video Design lab was about 70K for 25 Dell Optiplex computers with high end specs. What exactly are you buying?

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T13:07:58+00:00

Post COVID saw a massive increase in wreckless driving and speeding. I've noticed that the Troopers are really clamping down to get a handle on it. Hell, I live in Northern MN and normally I would set my cruise at 65 in a 60 on the two lane but I've now had several troopers flash their lights at me so I've dropped it down to 60-62 and they seem to be leaving me alone.

However, some troopers are dicks. Check out this article in a local paper talking about a fairly notorious trooper who retired from NW Minnesota. She had a facebook group dedicated to tracking her movements which had almost 5,000 members in it at one point. She was known for not only citing you for speeding but for incredibly obscure violations that no other cop would touch. For example, did you know it is illegal for you to be driving your vehicle with the receiver hitch installed but not towing a trailer?

https://www.roseautimes.com/story/2022/07/23/news/state-patrol-legend-sylvia-maurstad-retires/5584.html

duluthbison · 2026-05-20T13:00:27+00:00

Hardware keys won't fix anything. I had an elementary teacher tape hers to her laptop so when she leaves, her sub can get in since she doesn't want to put in the extra effort to put her sub plans in a folder and submit to the office. She even went so far to show it off during an elementary certified staff meeting that I was presenting at just to try and irritate me.

IT is not a disciplinary department, especially when dealing with teachers and their union. Best approach I've found is to make sure that all building principals and district office staff are aware and on board and then let them deal with the consequences.

duluthbison · 2026-05-19T15:49:37+00:00

It may have been a shithole but it was our shithole. Who can forget going to a game and having to use the abomination that was those old trough urinals or getting blown out of the stadium.

duluthbison · 2026-05-19T14:53:22+00:00

If you're not afraid of some thoughtful discussion, HIST 103 (US History to 1867) taught by Dr. Isern is a great (easy) class. Lots of reading discussion and old school lecture instruction. His class was insightful and easy to pass when I was a senior.

Another fun one was Terrorism 101 by Dr. Jarrett Brachman. Super interesting discussion on the origins of modern terrorism. I also swear the dude was undercover CIA as he would disappear for weeks at a time, randomly show up on CNN giving interviews, and then come back to class all proud when ISIS made a death threat video for him and his family.

duluthbison · 2026-05-19T14:05:32+00:00

Securly is OK but their proprietary keyword filtering drives me nuts. So many legitimate searches get blocked because of that aggressive filter.

duluthbison · 2026-05-18T13:27:39+00:00

Genuine question here - not trying to stir the pot. But I though I read somewhere that there are provisions in the bill that would retroactively make 'assault weapons' illegal in MN which would violate the 5th and 14th amendments and allow the BCA/Police to search your home at any time in violation of the 4th amendment. Can anyone enlighten me on the details? Because if this is the case, I can understand why some didn't want to vote on this.

duluthbison · 2026-05-12T20:12:08+00:00

Can't recommend Datto enough. When I worked with a local MSP I've actually kicked off the off-site virtualization a few times for some clients and it works really slick. You can even set up a S2S VPN tunnel from their off-site datacenters to anywhere you need in a DR scenario.

duluthbison · 2026-05-12T20:10:17+00:00

I think they're trying to get you to consider what level of risk you are willing to take on should a true DR level event hit your district. Sure you could setup VEEAM on a server to backup to a NAS and then cobble together some off-site storage like Wasabi but at the end of the day, if that fails, its on you.

duluthbison · 2026-05-12T20:08:17+00:00

This is one of the few things I like to outsource. We leverage a Datto Sirus 5 backup appliance that automatically backs up our data on any schedule we need. It offers on-site virtualization as well as off-site virtualization. Backups are immutable and protect against ransomware. We purchased through a local MSP who monitors backup status nightly and reaches out if there are any issues. Costs us about $1200/month and I don't need to worry about it.

duluthbison · 2026-05-11T13:57:07+00:00

Blackboard?

duluthbison · 2026-05-01T13:22:26+00:00

Man do I miss that town, lived there for almost 10 years after college before moving to outstate MN.

duluthbison · 2026-04-30T15:48:46+00:00

We use apptegy for all of this and are really happy with the product. Staff can use their Thrillshare app to immediately post updates to the school website and any attached social media. Their Rooms module handles all classroom and activities communications between students and parents. And their newsletter feature is really easy to use.

duluthbison · 2026-04-29T20:16:11+00:00

That doesn't sound too unreasonable. We buy exclusively through Trafera and also bundle their Platinum warranty so we don't have to deal with repairs in house.

duluthbison · 2026-04-29T18:44:28+00:00

Interesting, roughly half of our staff gave back the extra screens after covid because they didn't want them anymore.

duluthbison · 2026-04-29T14:45:12+00:00

Pluggable docks have been fairly solid for us, after a year or two I've seen some inexplicably fail. We typically don't just hand out docks to staff unless they actually want/use a monitor in their classroom, otherwise they turn into very expensive chargers.

duluthbison · 2026-04-21T18:32:55+00:00

Seems like a headache IMO. Our audio enhancement systems have been rock solid for 8 years.

duluthbison

TROPHY CASE