Administer remote system including remote shell access, remote file transfer, using SSH keys

Managing physical storage including filesystem, partition and swap space

Install Linux with Anaconda.

SSH

# scp original-file new-file
# rsync -a /home/student demo:/tmp
-a=all

Archive

# tar -cvf target/to/archive source/to/archive
-c=create
-x=extract
-t=test (tell)
-v=verbose
-f=filename

Using SSH

# ssh-keygen
# ssh-copy-id example.com

# service crond status
# chkconfig –list crond

# vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config
PermissionRootLogin no
PassordAuthentication no
# service sshd restart

Summary: I am not really concentrating today. The subjects aren’t interesting and the installation process failed again.

Yum

# yum list (get the list of .rpm, which stands for RPM Package Manager)
# yum search kernel (kernel is the name of the package)
# yum install kernel
# yum update kernel
# yum remove kernel

Network

# ip addr show eth0 (eth0 is the name of the network)
# more /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
# service network restart
# system-config-network
# ip route
# host visualgui.com
# dig visualgui.com

Users and Groups

# useradd donny
# passwd donny
# vipw (let’s one user edit at the same time)

Manage Files

# echo $PATH
# pwd (current path)
# ls /home/{dir1,dir2} (show more two directories)
# ln file1 file2 (link file 1 to file 2)
# ln -s file1 file2 (symbolic link)
# su – username (change user)
# cp -av /dir/to/copy /dir/destination

Permission

r (view content)
w (change the content)
x (requires r to execute the content)

rw-rw-rw-
rw-r–r–
umask 002

u+s (suid=4: file executes as the user that owns the file, not the user that ran the file
g+s (sgid=2: file executes as the group that owns the file
o+t (sticky=1: no effect)

Summary: The best day so far of the training. Picked up many useful information. Hope the next two days will be even better.

Introduced to Bash

Commands entered at the shell prompt have three basic parts:

# chmod +x gedit demo.txt
[command] [options] [arguments]

Command lines:

# pwd (path you’re currently in)
# history
//Using the tab key (“tab” “tab”) for completion
# scp filename user@ip-address:/ (copy file from local folder to virtual server)

Introduced to managing physical storage using the graphical interface
Learned to manage logical volumes
Introduced to monitoring system resources

Summary: Even though the topics were interesting, they aren’t related to my job.

Covered:
Installing Red Hat 6, which took almost half a day.
Using GNOME graphical desktop.
Editing files with gedit.
Managing files with Nautilus.
Getting help with manuals (F1 for help)
Managing system clock.
Configuring printers.

Command Lines:

uname -r (find out what version of Red Hat)
$ su – (log in as substitute user)
# useradd visitor (add username “visitor”)
# passwd visitor (add password to “visitor”)
# ip addr show eth0 (show ip address)
# ls /usr/share/doc (documentations)
# man man (access manual)
# man -k print (-k is for keyword)

Summary: The first day is a very basic introduction to Linux. Installation process took half of a day.

I was interested in the three-day conference for technology in library particular in the tracks on mobile trends and web presence. Sine my supervisor attended the latter, I went into the topic on mobile trends. The speakers covered mostly on mobile apps and designing a separate a mobile web site. The strategy is to offered only contents that mobile users would want. One speaker went as far as providing a device-detection javascript with a whole list of variable for every mobile device. The easiest way to make a mobile-friendly site is to provide a css file to hide all the big, unnecessary design elements on the desktop site. One speaker mentioned mobile-first design, but didn’t really give responsive web design its justice. While the conference was informative, the library folks need some catching up to do.

I also signed up for a post conference workshop on taking Drupal to the next step. Unfortunately the workshop was only three hours and the instructors spent the first half an hour install Drupal and modules on people laptops. We didn’t get very far and I wanted to see how to create a theme. It looks like the best approach is to take a base theme and modify it to meet your needs. I took a look at some of the starter theme and there are tons of php and css files to customize. I’ll take a crack at theming Drupal one of these days, but right now MODX seems like the best choice for really coding the site the way I wanted.

Install WordPress

wget http://wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz
tar xfz latest.tar.gz
cp -r * ~/public_html/your/website/folder/

Change Permissions (rwx => 4 + 2 + 1 = 7)

For Directories:

find /path/to/your/directory/ -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

For Files:

find /path/to/your/file/ -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Permissions

chmod -R 755 directory
chmod -R 644 files

Remove files and directory (use carefully)

rm -rf YourDirectory

Change Owner

chown -R apache new_name //change entire directory

Rename Directory

mv {old} {new}

Database

mysql -u root -p //To access database
mysql> create database [database name];
mysql> show databases;
mysql> drop database [database name];

Two years ago, social media was a hot topic at AACSB conference. This year a talk on social media sounds dated. Nevertheless, Samantha Novick who is the new media specialist for Thunderbird School of Global Management gave an insightful presentation on how to engage alumni using LinkedIn. The communication team in the School of Business doesn’t do much with LinkedIn since the Career Center handles it, which makes more sense in our case.

The last session was on maximizing marketing and communications reach with minimal resources. Stop outsourcing is one of the most effective cost-saving strategy and bringing staff in-house is a great move. Though hiring one person who handles both print magazine and web site design and development is the right method. I am not doubting that print designers can’t create a web site or vice versa, but to get the best from the both world is easier said than done. For me, someone with a strong web design background (HTML, CSS, SEO) and some graphic design skills is a much better fit for business school.

While all the sessions I had attended are informative, what I find most interesting is building a brand culture. How can we create something that is unique for our school? How can we position our school beyond our location, the usual academic programs and the overselling if “leadership?”

I didn’t expect to learn anything technical here, but it seems to me like everyone is struggling with its own CMS and some is looking for workaround using WordPress. Each mentioned about mobile version in development, but none makes use of its current content with responsive web design. I am more surprise that none of these schools is doing anything for the iPad. I could see all the cost of printing magazine, annual reports and publications could be saved if we start thinking about marketing our message for e-readers.

I finally landed in Tampa, Florida at one o’clock in the morning today. My original plan was to fly out at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, but I booked a day late. I made a horrible mistake and caused a great hassle, but in return I had some time to spend with Dao for a day. So I can’t complain.

I didn’t go to bed until 2 a.m. and woke up at 7 for some breakfast. The last thing I needed was to listen to some inspirational speech, but I have to handed to Donna Typson who delivered a motivating talk on “Peak Performance.” She was engaging in sharing her personal accounts and also providing some great advices. Here’s are a few wisdoms to keep in mind:

1. Don’t let your job take away your time with your children
2. We live our life in chapters. You are the only one who can give yourself permission to turn a new page
3. To be successful, you need to share time, energy, knowledge and contact

After her speak, I went up and bought her children’s book titled The Red Bow.

Followed by Typson’s was a presentation from The Mihaylo College of Business and Economics on “To Brand or Rebrand: Leveraging Research and Technology to Build B-School Brands.” Mihaylo is in the process of building its own social network using Moodle. The site has the following features: My Mihaylo, connections, classes, workspace, docs, bridge and goals.

After lunch, Tim Westerbeck, president of Eduvantis, gave a presentation on “Building a Brand Culture.” Here are the five principles he highlighted:

1. Identify your core institutional values
2. Codify the core values as “constitution”
3. Embody core values in everything you do
4. Develop policies and practices reflecting the core values
5. Deliver a service experience consistent with core values/brand

The last presentation of the day was from Daniels College of Business on how the communication team built danielspioneer.com from brainstorming to getting feedback to implementing site using WordPress. In a way, this site is somewhat similar to our “At the Center of It All.” The second half of the presentation is on “Managing Communications When Things Go Wrong” by Darlene Rotch, Chief Executive Officer, Panorama Public Relations.

For dinner, I went to Champp’s with five other people for informal networking. We had hamburgers and exchanged business cards. I am looking forward toward tomorrow’s programs which are “New rules of engagement: How to elevate your business school’s Web 2.0 to the next level” and “Maximizing your marketing and communications reach with minimal resources.” After that, I will head back to Virginia to be with Dana and Dao. I miss them so much already.

Social media networks were a big buzz at AACSB conference this year. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are mentioned in every session. My job in the next few weeks will be to get The George Washington University School of Business on these networks. We have talked about social media networks before, but never actually done anything. The main reason for the resistance is the time that devoted to these social media. Who is going to tweet? Who will update Facebook? Who is going to keep track of LinkedIn?

From what I have learned from the sessions, most of the B-Schools have a Facebook page to have a Facebook page. Some schools are using Twitter to let the students know about an upcoming event or to remind them a certain deadlines. A few use LinkedIn to connect with alumni. These reasons alone still weren’t convinced me those are the ways to approach social media. Hannah Paramore, president of Paramore Redd Communications, however, had shown us how to take advantage of social media as tools to reach different audiences. She gave an example of how a record company makes it profit by repacking its content. Take Miles Davis for instance. There’s the re-release of The 50th Anniversary of Kind of Blue, Miles Davis for Lovers, The Best of Miles Davis and so on. In comparison, social media networks are just different ways of getting out the message. Let say you write a blog post. The post could go on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to reach different audiences. Since most of these networks, especially Facebook, make sharing contents so easy, why not just make one and repurpose them to different channels.

Sounds like a fantastic idea to me. Does anyone else have any thoughts on that or how to best use these social media to benefit the school?

Universal Principles of Design is a must-read for designers. The principles of design provided in the text are valuable. The book is organized, well-written, concise and features a great resource for reference. While reading, I can’t help myself to make notes, highlight and bookmark the pages. As a web designer, I found this book extremely useful; therefore, I jotted down the following principles that applied to web design:

80/20 Rule

A high percentage of effects in any large system are caused by a low percentage of variables.
80 percent of innovation comes from 20 percent of the people.
Use the 80/20 rule to access the value of elements, target areas of redesign and optimization, and focus resources in an efficient manner.

Accessibility

Objects and environments should be designed to be usable, without modification, by as many people as possible.
There are four characteristics of accessible designs: perceptibility (textual, iconic, and tactile), operability (wheelchair access), simplicity (remove unnecessary complexity), and forgiveness (controls that can only be used the correct way).

Advance Organizer

An instructional technique that helps people understand new information in terms of what they already know.
There are two kinds of advanced organizers: expository (presenting novel information) and comparative (presenting information that is similar to what people know).

Aesthetic-Usability Effect

Aesthetic designs are perceived as easier to use than less-aesthetic designs. Aesthetic designs also foster positive relationships with people, making them more tolerant of problems with a design.

Alignment

The placement of elements such that edges line up along common rows or columns, or their bodies along a common center.
Use left- or right-justified text to create the best alignment cues, and consider justified text for complex compositions.

Chunking

A technique of combining many units of information into a limited number of units or chunks, so that the information is easier to process and remember. Do not chunk information that is to be search or scanned.

Closure

A tendency to perceive a set of individual elements as a single, recognizable pattern, rather than multiple, individual elements.
Use closer to reduce the complexity and increase the interestingness of designs.

Color

Color is used in design to attract attention, group elements, indicate meaning, and enhance aesthetics.
Number of colors – Use color conservatively. Limit the palette to what the eye can process at one glance (about five colors depending on the complexity of the design).
Color combinations – Achieve aesthetic color combinations by using adjacent colors on the color wheel.
Saturation – Use saturated colors when attracting attention is the priority. Use desaturated colors performance and efficiency are the priority.
Symbolism – Verify the meaning of colors and color combinations for a particular target audience prior to use.

Confirmation

A technique for preventing unintended actions by requiring verification of the actions before they are performed.
Use confirmations to minimize errors in the performance of critical or irreversible operations.

Consistency

The usability of a system is improved when similar parts are expressed in similar ways.
Use aesthetic consistency to establish unique identities that can be easily recognized.

Constraint

A method of limiting the actions that can be performed on a system.
Use constraint in design to simplify usability and minimized errors.

Cost-Benefit

An activity will be pursued only if its benefits are equal to or greater than the costs.
Consider cost-benefit principle in all aspect of design. Verify cost-benefit perceptions of target populations through careful observations, focus group, and usability tests.

Development Cycle

Successful products typically follow four stages of creation: requirements, design, development, and testing.

Entry Point

A point pf physical or attentional entry into a design.
Maximize the effectiveness of the entry point in a design by reducing barriers, establishing clear points of prospect, and using progressive lures.

Errors

An action or omission of action yielding an unintended result.
Always incorporate the principle of forgiveness into a design.

Five Hat Racks

There are five ways to organize information: category (similarity relatedness), time (chronological sequence), location (geographical or spatial references), alphabet (alphabetical sequence), and continuum (magnitude ? highest to lowest, best to worse).

Good Continuation

Elements arrange in a straight line or a smooth curve are perceived as a group, and are interpreted as being more related than elements not on the line or curve.
Use good continuation to indicate relatedness between elements in a design.

Hierarchy

Hierarchical organization is the simplest structure for visualizing and understanding complexity.
There are three basic ways to visually represent hierarchy: trees, nests, and stairs.

Hierarchy of Needs

In order for a design to be successful, it must meet people’s basic needs before it can attempt to satisfy higher-level needs.
The five key levels of needs in the hierarchy are: functionality, reliability, usability, proficiency, and creativity.

Highlighting

A technique for bringing attention to an area of text or image.
Bold, italics, underlining, use of typeface, color, inversing and blinking.

Iconic Representation

The use of pictorial images to improve the recognition and recall of signs and controls.
Use example icons when representations are complex. Generally, icons should be labeled and share a common visual motif (style and color) for optimal performance.

Layering

The process of organizing information into related groupings in order to manage complexity and reinforce relationships in the information.
There are two basic kinds of layering: two-dimensional (use 2D layering to manage complexity and direct navigation through information) and three-dimensional (use 3D layering to elaborate information and illustrate concepts without switching contexts).

Legibility

The visual clarity of text, generally based on the size, typeface, contrast, text block, and spacing of the characters used.

Mimicry

The act of copying properties of familiar objects, organism, or environments in order to realize specific benefits afforded by those properties.
Mimicry is perhaps the oldest and most efficient method for achieving major advances in design. Consider surface mimicry for to improve usability.   Consider behavioral mimicry to improve likeability. Consider functional mimicry to assist in solving mechanical and structural problems.

Ockham’s Razor

Given a choice between functionally equivalent designs, the simplest design should be selected.
Implicit in Ockham’s razor is the idea that unnecessary elements decrease a design’s efficiency, and increase the probability of unanticipated consequences.

Readability

The degree, to which prose can be understood, based on the complexity of words and sentences.
Complex information requires the simplest presentation possible, so that the focus is on the information rather than the way it is presented.
For enhance readability, omit needless words and punctuation, but be careful not to sacrifice meaning or clarity in the process. Avoid acronyms, jargon, and untranslated quotations in foreign languages. Keep sentence length appropriate for the intended audience.

Scaling Fallacy

A tendency to assume that a system that works at one scale will also work at a smaller or larger scale.
Minimize incorrect interaction assumptions through careful research of analogous designs, and monitoring of how the design is used once implemented.

Similarity

Elements that are similar are perceived to be more related than elements that are dissimilar.
Use similarity to indicate relatedness among elements in a design.

Symmetry

A property of visual equivalence among elements in a form.
There are three basic types of symmetry: reflection (the mirroring of an equivalent element around a central axis or mirror), rotation (the rotation of equivalent elements around a common center), and translation (the location of equivalent elements in different areas of space).
Symmetry is the most basic and enduring aspect of beauty. Use symmetry in design to convey balance, harmony, and stability.

Visibility

The usability of a system is improved when its status and methods of use are clearly visible.