Freshers: We're in, now for the practicalities...

Reply 180

14

By the way it is McAfee I meant, not Sophos - getting it confused with school!

3232

That sounds like a complete nightmare (and a bit of an invasion of privacy). I already have Windows update on and have AVG installed as my anti-virus. I don't have Kazaa, but i have got uTorrent (as well as 4oD and BBC iPlayer, which contain P2P software), is this gonna be a load of hassle to get my laptop approved?

As puppy pointed out, it's their network, and there's plenty of public (PWF) workstations around if you don't want to connect your own computer to it. They're paranoid about viruses and rightly so, after all it is the computer network which connects everything at the university together - communications (e-mail), student records, supervision reports, access control cards etc and those are just the aspects that every student will have to deal with.

I'm pretty sure that AVG, if it's the free version at least, is well known to not be very good. They won't like uTorrent - 4oD and BBC iPlayer will be tricky, as the reasons they dont like p2p is because of transfer of viruses due to dodgy downloads, the uni getting in trouble, and bandwidth eating (you do get limited data transfer). ie. basically the university associates all p2p with "illegal". Where they'll stand on legal p2p use, where only the latter problem applies, I have no idea.

Of course this all depends on which college you're at and the procedure they have for connecting student laptops to the network. :smile:

If you do want to share files just within the university, there's iTunes... there may also be other ways :wink:

Illusionary - That isn't the CD I was given, unless they've (sensibly) updated it. There were no "buttons" to do things as such - it was simply like a wizard, you had to do one step after another, and it had some mysterious way of making sure you'd actually installed McAfee, the updates etc before it'd let you proceed.

Oh there is a way to breeze through all of this - use Linux. The guy next door to me last year uses it, simply spoke to the college IT guru and they agreed that if he's geeky enough to use Linux day-to-day, he's knowledgable enough to keep it protected properly, and was given network approval straight away. Weird, because I could easily install Linux on my laptop and use it for internet, e-mail etc but wouldn't have much of a clue on making sure it's all properly secure.

Reply 181

--

OP

3

Ah well, guess i'll just have to put up with it. Still irritating though.

Reply 182

generalebriety

16

puppy

Not really, they don't force you at gun point to conect to their network, if you want to use it you have to play by their rules. If you don't like it, don't use it.

It's not really as if we can go and live outside the college, because we're not allowed to get jobs. :wink:

Reply 183

Lama

Lidka

I'm sure I can find a way. :p:

Will definitely take my parents there when we arrive. Also, does anybody know if any of the shops in Cambridge sell Polish food at all? Fruit juices, chocolate, meats, pickles, POLISH BREAD!!, basic cooking ingredients etc. Or is that something I'll have to persuade my parents to bring every time they visit?

Really? Even for really, really short people? :redface:

I have a feeling mine will swamp me when I get it...

There is a Polish shop near the Grafton (about 10 minutes walk from the centre of town) and you can also find Polish food on Mill Road where generally, they sell food from many parts of the world. Hmm, this reminds me I haven't had chleb for ages! :rolleyes:

Dont worry about the gown, I am sure I am shorter than you and tell you what, there is one advantage of being short when wearing gowns: they keep you warm if you are going to a formal in the middle of winter :biggrin:

Reply 184

Lidka

13

Lama

There is a Polish shop near the Grafton (about 10 minutes walk from the centre of town) and you can also find Polish food on Mill Road where generally, they sell food from many parts of the world. Hmm, this reminds me I haven't had chleb for ages! :rolleyes:

Dont worry about the gown, I am sure I am shorter than you and tell you what, there is one advantage of being short when wearing gowns: they keep you warm if you are going to a formal in the middle of winter :biggrin:

Czy jestesz Polką/Polakiem? Dziękuje ci bardzo! :biggrin:

...and back to English: Yeah, I've heard heard Mill Road is supposed to have more interesting (and less tourist-aimed) shops. My godsister's at Jesus; I'll have to get her to give me a proper Cambridge tour. And that's good about the gown, it seems I probably won't have to alter it after all. :smile:

Reply 185

generalebriety

16

Lidka

Czy jestesz Polką/Polakiem? Dziękuje ci bardzo! :biggrin:

Ahem. PMs, please. :wink:

Reply 186

D-503

1

dobrii vecher! Are you native Polish? I'd be surprised if there wasn't Lidka, and even so, London is but 15 minutes away! You guys have no idea how good it will be to leave Belfast lol.

Reply 187

r3m0t

1

fibiso

All this techy stuff is going right over my head, but Windows Update? What if you have a Mac??

They probably give you a different disk of course.

If they've made the "really nasty CD" themselves (sounds like a summer project!) they probably haven't made a mac version because it isn't worth the effort. They'de just tell you what to do.

Edit: Where the hell is my 200-post thread about freshers? (see sig)

Reply 188

Lidka

13

Pechorin

dobrii vecher! Are you native Polish? I'd be surprised if there wasn't Lidka, and even so, London is but 15 minutes away! You guys have no idea how good it will be to leave Belfast lol.

Dobry wieczor indeed! (Or dzień dobry now, really!) No, I'm afraid I'm merely a half breed. :redface:

I have just spent 7 weeks in Poland learning Polish as I rather neglected to pick it up when I was little (read: hated going to Polish Saturday school :biggrin:

), and I'm hoping to carry it on in the Cambridge Language Centre, if I have any time between the wild parties and late night essays. Yeah, you're right about London; I intend to take full advantage of that too...

generalebriety

Ahem. PMs, please. :wink:

Aw, c'mon, surely anyone with a basic knowledge of European languages would've been able to translate that... :p:

Reply 189

Catsmeat

13

thefish_uk

I'm pretty sure that AVG, if it's the free version at least, is well known to not be very good. They won't like uTorrent - 4oD and BBC iPlayer will be tricky, as the reasons they dont like p2p is because of transfer of viruses due to dodgy downloads, the uni getting in trouble, and bandwidth eating (you do get limited data transfer). ie. basically the university associates all p2p with "illegal". Where they'll stand on legal p2p use, where only the latter problem applies, I have no idea.

Blast, I'll have to bring a radio then if BBC is going to be a bit of a problem.

I can understand anxiety about viruses as most people aren't that aware of what's lurking away on their computer. Mine's fresh as a daisy for that matter, or so I hope.

Reply 190

generalebriety

16

Lidka

Aw, c'mon, surely anyone with a basic knowledge of European languages would've been able to translate that... :p:

Ahem. I speak (varying amounts of) French, German, Spanish, Latin and classical Greek, and I don't have a clue what you said. :wink:

Reply 191

--

OP

3

generalebriety

Ahem. I speak (varying amounts of) French, German, Spanish, Latin and classical Greek, and I don't have a clue what you said. :wink:

I don't speak any languages (apart from a poor grasp of English), but i'm going to have a stab at "Do you speak Polish?" or "Are you from Poland?".

Reply 192

generalebriety

16

3232

I don't speak any languages (apart from a poor grasp of English), but i'm going to have a stab at "Do you speak Polish?" or "Are you from Poland?".

Shush. Not the point. :wink:

Reply 193

FadeToBlackout

15

3232

I don't speak any languages (apart from a poor grasp of English), but i'm going to have a stab at "Do you speak Polish?" or "Are you from Poland?".

Maybe it's just me being paranoid, but "Look at the silly people who can't understand what we're saying" is possibly a more tendentious possibility! :wink:

In other news- grandkids! :biggrin:

Reply 194

larry2242

Okay, quick question.

What stops you re-installing p2p things after they've checked your computer?

:wink:

Reply 195

generalebriety

16

larry2242

Okay, quick question.

What stops you re-installing p2p things after they've checked your computer?

:wink:

I don't know this, but I'm guessing it's almost certainly the fact that they'll check you every term, or monitor your traffic if your bandwidth usage seems high, or something.

Reply 196

--

OP

3

larry2242

Okay, quick question.

What stops you re-installing p2p things after they've checked your computer?

:wink:

They will probably monitor the network connections coming from your PC, it's probably fairly easy to spot a P2P program (especially from continuous bandwith use). If they find you using one, and violating the terms of their network, they'll probably give you a warning/revoke your access to their network.

Reply 197

larry2242

Ahh of course.

Got it. Thanks.

Reply 198

FadeToBlackout

15

3232

They will probably monitor the network connections coming from your PC, it's probably fairly easy to spot a P2P program (especially from continuous bandwith use). If they find you using one, and violating the terms of their network, they'll probably give you a warning/revoke your access to their network.

But people do still use them :ninja:

You just have to be careful not to use too much bandwidth! Not that I'm advocating that kind of thing or anything of the sort....

Reply 199

hsitin

Why not just watch the stuff online instead of downloading? :wink:

Freshers: We're in, now for the practicalities...

Related discussions

Articles for you

How The Student Room is moderated