Howdy everyone! This week the Geek tells why you can't print to the Walker printers without being in the Walker Labs, and what kind of computers Whim uses for publishing.

Q: I'm a rather computer savvy guy, and I want to be able to print to the Walker Printers, but I can't find them on the network. How do I print to the Walker Printers from outside the lab?
A: Academic Computing and the crew over in Walker Hall have worked hard for many years on ways to control who can print to the Walker Lab printers, and how to keep track of who is using the most paper. All of their efforts came to a head last year when the Walker Labs rolled out a new system. By making each user log into the computer using their own ID instead of the old (Login:user228 Pass:user) system, they were able to both monitor who was generating printouts, and regulate who could print to the printers. Each printer located in public labs on campus is connected to, and will only accept print jobs from, a central computer. This central computer records which machine, which user, and how many pages the user printed. This computer also denies access to non-authorized machines. Even this well known geek does not have access to print to the Walker printers, even when inside the Walker Labs using his laptop. There may be a way around the security (there always is), but it's illegal, and against the Student Code of Conduct to attempt to find such a hole. My advice: carry your document over there and print it. If you don't want to do that, buy your own printer, and stock up on paper and cartridges next time you are in Wal-Mart.

Q: What kind of computers does Whim use to publish every week?
A: Ah! You have reached a subject near and dear to this Geek's heart. Aside from my usual adventures as the Tech Section Manager and writer of this column, I have the dubious honor of being the guru whose job it is to keep the Student Media Publishing Lab running. The lab is a small room in Heth Hall, where student media staffers come to work on their various publications. The core of the lab is 7 G3/G4 Macintoshes attached via network to 2 network laser printers. Using these machines and printers, almost all student media publications are produced. This includes the Tartan (newspaper), Beehive (yearbook), Exit 109 (literary magazine), and Whim (the online magazine you are reading now). In addition, many ads you see about the student publications are produced in this lab by an industrious group called SMADS (Student Media ADvertiSing). So how do we do all of this work on 7 machines? Well, it does help that each media group has a computer or two of their own for administration and publishing. But aside from that, the most effective method we use is scheduling. Different media groups are scheduled to use the lab at different times to prevent conflicts. The lab usage schedule is arranged to coincide with deadlines for the various media groups.

To digress for a moment, it should be mentioned that Whim only needs computers. We do not have to specifically have PC's or Mac's. So Whim uses what's available, which are the Mac's. The yearbook and the newspaper need Mac's because they use an expensive desktop publishing program that was purchased for Mac's. Since all of Student Media run on shoe- string budgets, we can not afford to buy PC's and the software needed to switch from Mac to PC.

If you are curious, and want to see us at work, you should first check the lab schedule here to see when the group you are interested in meets in the lab. Next come find us in Heth 209A. The lab is secured with a swipe- card lock, which only admits Student Media members. Just knock on the door, and ask to speak to the Media Executive in charge. They'll be glad to give you a short tour, and have a chat with you about your interests in Student Media.

That's all for this week folks. Please remember to keep your questions coming by e-mailing whim@radford.edu.