:cool: shucks.

Number of labs arent the problem. Its the number of them that are avaliable for public student access that is. As it stands they have maybe about 10 ish computer labs on the oakes field campus.


well if they have ten and only two available that makes the situation even worse than i thought. so why are the others not available? someone said they had wireless if that the case get a laptop with intergrated wireless LAN. tiger direct got some good deals on some. When it comes on to the bahamaian gov, actually the majority of gov's I have learned you just have to do things for ya self.

how many more years do you have to endure at COB anyway? do you plan to go to the states,canada, or UK for school?

When I went to University of Western Ontario, we had a number of coffee houses, soda bars, study areas that were opened by a smart entrepeneur. He knew that college kids like to hang out in a safe atmosphere, eat and drink inexpensive food (pizza, hot dogs, sodas, etc). We also needed places to have study groups, internet access (dialup only in my day) and computers / printers to use. He made a killing by selling semester passes and a la carte services for students.
With the right business plan and small investment (say $10,000 to $15,000), someone could create quite a profitable venture by making The Study Room, Ltd. The interior could be sectioned off to provide a few large study tables in a quiet area, some computer kiosks, a small kitchen and soda bar/dining area.
While tech fees are paid to COB, there is nothing to stop a private individual from providing a much needed service that CoB can't satisfy. People will pay for the convenience of having access to the services, but with the right study decor it could become 'the place' to do your homework in a safe environment.
TigerDirect volume pricing for computers, printers, wi-fi access points, etc really are excellent, as Rory has pointed out already. Ultimately, services could expand to a copy center or business services to capture additional markets. I wouldn't mind lending a hand to write a BP and construct some P&L's, if someone were interested in looking at the venture.
Fate usually rewards those that can identify and capitalize on an opportunity. Opportunity isn't always about invention of new ideas. Sometimes these opportunities are right in front of our eyes!

the thing that gets me is why isnt the school's IT department thinking outside the box. Does anyone write grants for the school. Do they go and ask corporations like microsoft imb- bahamas dell or any of um for discounted or damn near free cmputers. Where is the thinking?

well if they have ten and only two available that makes the situation even worse than i thought. so why are the others not available? s


They have a good amount of labs,but they are slated as "instructional" or "developmental" labs as in they are fore classes and not for access But they slated 2 on the main Oakes field campus to be used to print work, or whatever. (only one is be open all the time anyway).

Funny story. I went to the A-lab lab and twas full (as usual). But, with a sign saying go to the A-80 lab cuz the T-Lab was closed (which is the one that is rarely opened). So I was like yea!, cuz I really needed this work printed. That time, i went to the A-80 lab, and they mussie had like 10 or less computers in there and mussie 2 could log you on. Then, they was only printin to sorry Okidata printers, and I was like boss I een playin this Okidata printer game this year.



someone said they had wireless if that the case get a laptop with intergrated wireless LAN. tiger direct got some good deals on some. When it comes on to the bahamaian gov, actually the majority of gov's I have learned you just have to do things for ya self.


man, they have wireless now...bring your own printer and puter...CoB is moving up...give credit where credit is due

Guess what, the highly touted wireless network aint even up!!! From the summer till now it has been down. Why? I think they said it had problems (dont know what excatly). I'll give them props for the wireless when the wireless is up.


the thing that gets me is why isnt the school's IT department thinking outside the box. Does anyone write grants for the school. Do they go and ask corporations like microsoft imb- bahamas dell or any of um for discounted or damn near free cmputers. Where is the thinking?

DELL/MS
They have campus deals with dell and ms. For example, I bought, for $80, MS Office, MS Windos XP, MS Visio, MS Publisher, MS Visual Studio. Quite a deal.

With Dell, I believe but am not sure, they have a deal. They had a deal where they sold laptops to students for like 500 or 600 bux. Now I heard that it was for lecturers and they sold it to students, but then again, I'm not sure. But I do know that they sold out fast.
But the new bookstore/cafe, is nice and big, plus they opened a business center. They did an excellent job with that building. I was passing the offices of the lecturers and execs and man, they look like REAL offices, like your walking in some corporate office. Plus the lecture rooms are also great, and students are very happy about that.


how many more years do you have to endure at COB anyway? do you plan to go to the states,canada, or UK for school?


I wouldnt put it as endure. its a cool place, at spontaneous times.I'm in the beginning of my 2nd year of a 4 year BBA CIS program. Now that I have my Bahamian citizenship, I am trying to apply for some scholarships. I was looking at some Canadian schools and some US schools, but I'm not going to lose sleep if I dont go away, I am just testing the waters to see if I get accepted and maybe get a scholarship or two.

DELL/MS
They have campus deals with dell and ms. For example, I bought, for $80, MS Office, MS Windos XP, MS Visio, MS Publisher, MS Visual Studio. Quite a deal.

What? you paid money for MS Office.....Wow?

I know students get cheaper software, but ... thats in the US. Besides the fact that the software programs listed can cost into the $1000 mark, they more than likely sold you copies .. or if you were lucky, OEM versions. Either way they violated all kinds of any piracy laws by doing so.

Eg.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008I9K2/002-6074072-5309651

Dell doesnt give warranties outside the US, last I was told. Im no dell fan anyway, they are crap PCs basically, the Laptops arent bad, better if they actually made them. HP/Compaq are better, even better is a custom built PC.

What? you paid money for MS Office.....Wow?

Yea, I dont pirate software.


I know students get cheaper software, but ... thats in the US. Besides the fact that the software programs listed can cost into the $1000 mark, they more than likely sold you copies .. or if you were lucky, OEM versions. Either way they violated all kinds of any piracy laws by doing so.

Well the paper has MS Campus Agreement, the Visual Studio is an Academic version, and I activated Office/Windows and everything, plus by looking at the cd, I know they arent copies. I think the biz is legit.

The software are probably the Student and Teacher editions. Either way that was an excellent deal, deals with Adobe, Autodesk and Macromedia would also be very beneficial to students.
If COB has a deal with Dell then it would be a good idea for them to allow students to purchase systems through the bookstore or some other venue and pay over time.
It is likely that persons at the College read these message boards and pay close attention to threads regarding COB, so you may get some kind of action by simply making your issues known. A College President is more likely to learn of his/her organization's shortcomings by reading message boards than having to rely on their staff, who may be unimaginative and sub consciously envy or even resent the students they are paid to assist and facilitate.

in that case i would imagine it can only be used on school grounds? Otherwise, im a student too :-)

Well you can pay some student a lil something and let them buy it for ya.

Well you can pay some student a lil something and let them buy it for ya.


there's the entrepreneurial spirit!

Ok some good news. The hold up with the student employee thing seems to be a low amount of signups, not a lack of work on their part, so I apologize. Then I went around asking persons to sign up, and a few did. So if you go to COB, and want to make some extra cha-ching, and have some computer repair skills, check out the MIS office.

Signing up is not a long process, and hey you can make some cash while doing your work.

I know students get cheaper software, but ... thats in the US. Besides the fact that the software programs listed can cost into the $1000 mark, they more than likely sold you copies .. or if you were lucky, OEM versions. Either way they violated all kinds of any piracy laws by doing so.

Eg.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008I9K2/002-6074072-5309651

Dell doesnt give warranties outside the US, last I was told. Im no dell fan anyway, they are crap PCs basically, the Laptops arent bad, better if they actually made them. HP/Compaq are better, even better is a custom built PC.

i thought Dell owned Compaq

i thought Dell owned Compaq


Nope, HP/Compaq. Dell is a totally different company.

HP owns Compaq, Gateway owns eMachines.