Error message

  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementBase::execute($args = [], $options = []) should either be compatible with PDOStatement::execute(?array $params = null): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2244 of /home2/renealte/public_html/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::current() should either be compatible with Iterator::current(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home2/renealte/public_html/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::next() should either be compatible with Iterator::next(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home2/renealte/public_html/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::key() should either be compatible with Iterator::key(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home2/renealte/public_html/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::valid() should either be compatible with Iterator::valid(): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home2/renealte/public_html/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::rewind() should either be compatible with Iterator::rewind(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home2/renealte/public_html/includes/database/database.inc).

Me and Ms. Google [2015-08-28]

Seven boxes will be heading off today, bound for Cebu!  Most of the newly-purchased World Computer Exchange hardware will be sent on its way and will hopefully be waiting for us there when we arrive in mid-January.  I’ll be back in the garage packing more upon our return from Oregon.  In between finishing up the servers, Neal has been updating the Reneal IEO website to include our donation link to the National Cristina Foundation – check it out here.

I had a significantly more enjoyable task last evening.  A few of the laptops we’ll take to Tanzania, graciously donated by a large Bay Area company, had no memory installed.  The World Computer Exchange (www.worldcomputerexchange.org) generously provided some of the needed memory modules just this week.  After doing a little googling to see how to open up the laptop to insert memory, I did my surgery on five units.  After popping in the memory, the laptops now work perfectly!  This gives us a little bit of margin to replace attrition at the schools where we’ve already installed the system, something that has been worrying me. 

Ms. Google also helped me find out how to remove a BIOS administrator password on a laptop donated by a friend at church last Sunday.  Since I didn’t know the password, I couldn’t get into the BIOS to set up the laptop to boot to the network as a thin client, so it was a “must do” operation.  Again, a little bit of surgery (this to disconnect and reconnect the CMOS battery inside the laptop), and we now have a new unit for a school!  Donations each have their interesting little quirks, and I enjoy the detective work in figuring out how to make them play with the server properly.

One thing I really love sharing with the students and teachers with whom we work is the power of searching on the internet.  Of course not all schools that we support have internet, but for those that do, there is such a wealth of knowledge available to those who know how to ask!  Technology truly opens wonderful doors to learning!