Library Media Macs

The iMacs in the Media Services area continue to be more of a challenge than we had originally hoped. All of the iMacs have been configured to log into the campus domain, which is good. They have also been configured to print to the pay-for-print system, also good. Unfortunately, when printing from installed appllications, you must one again authenticate. This is handled by receiving a login dialog upon selecting your print options. This in and of itself is not bad but the username field is already filled in with your proper name and that will not work. You must change your name to your N-number and then enter your password below. This is not a terrible thing but certainly not completely user friendly. Worse is the fact that when trying to print from Firefox, the user ID box appears and dissapears immediately so you cannot authenticate at all. In other words, no printing from Firefox. I hope to have a solution to the Firefox printing issue today (September 9, 2008) even if it means using Safari instead but no timeline is set for changing the username display.

Another issue we face is that some of the DVDs from media services do not want to play properly when using the EyeTV application. The DVD menu will launch but you cannot select "Play All" or any of the chapters. I have experienced this with the sign language DVDs. The only solution is to use the iMacs DVD drive (not the VCR/DVD combo) and use Apple's built-in DVD player. Again not terrible but certainly less than intuitive. No timeline is set for resolving this issue either.

Finally, I am concerned by the fact that the iMacs' browser has been locked down to limit access to sites supporting their specific purpose but that is not clear when sitting down to the computers. I hope to have a new bookmark file installed today that shows where they can go. I'd also like to revisit which sites are blocked.

The iMacs seem to be fairly popular and I think things will get better but we need to work out some of these usability issues.