Force Moodle to show course descriptions

We ran into an issue where course descriptions were no longer displayed if the number of courses in any given category reached 10.

I tried playing with various settings, and nothing worked. Supposedly, this is an option in Moodle 2.2. As of this writing, we are running 2.1.2. My fix came from a post I found on the Moodle.org site, dated 2006! And, THIS worked perfectly:

Thanks for this link, as it has also helped us to 'force' the Course Description display.

In our system, increasing COURSE_MAX_SUMMARIES_PER_PAGE from 10 to 25 in /course/lib.php did the trick i.e.

//define('COURSE_MAX_SUMMARIES_PER_PAGE', 10); // courses

define('COURSE_MAX_SUMMARIES_PER_PAGE', 25); // courses

Cheers

Geoff (Rowland)

Moodle forum link: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=56358

Create your own distribution lists in Google Apps/GMail

To create your own distribution list in Google Apps/GMail:

• Click "Contacts" at the top of the page.
• Click the "+" on the picture of the TWO people (located beneath the words "Google apps" on left, above "My Contacts")
• Type the name of the distribution list (ex: School Techs)
• Next, click on "All Contacts" on left
• Check each person you want in your new list (you can select multiple people, just check each box)
• With the people selected, on the RIGHT, click the drop-down under "Groups"
• Under the "Add to..." section, click the name of your newly created group

After a moment, you will see the number on the left change from "0" to the number of people you selected

*** Repeat the above steps for each distribution list you want to create. ***

Now, you have to SIGN OUT and sign back in to send mail to the groups.  It's weird, I know.

When you go back to MAIL and select "Compose Mail," as you start to type the name of your group, it should show up in the auto-complete drop-down. Just select the group and you're golden!

Cannot print from Windows in parallels

Are you having trouble printing from Windows inside Parallels on a Mac?  This might solve the problem:

First, make sure Parallels has installed the printer in Windows.  If not, then you will need to run the installation software for your printer.

If you've installed the software, but still can't print, you may need to force Parallels to play nice.  In some cases, you can simply use the "Devices" menu at the top of the Parallels window.  Inside, choose USB and force it to Windows.

That did not work for me, for whatever reason.  But, what DID work was to put Parallels in Windowed mode, then find the USB icon (shown below):

Click the USB icon and force the printer to use Windows.  Now, this means you cannot print from the Mac-side while running Parallels, but at least your computer should now be able to print from Windows!

Connect your Mac to a Windows Share

If you are having trouble getting your Mac to see a particular server or share on your network, you might want to first check your DNS server(s) if you are running them. If you are not running a local DNS server, and you cannot access your shares, you can try this: In Finder, choose GO then Connect to Server... At that point, enter the IP address of the server preceded by smb:// first. Example: smb://192.168.1.10 When you then Connect, you will be prompted to supply a valid username and password for the server. Once proper credentials are supplied, you should then see a list of shared folders. From there, choose the folder you wish to see and then you should be able to open, copy, etc.

Windows screen upside-down or sideways?

If you suddenly find yourself looking at your desktop sideways or it is upside down, chances are you've run into a "feature" built-in to several graphics card software.

The easy fix is to hold CTRL-ALT and while holding those, press one of the directional arrow keys on your keyboard.  Here is a list of commands anf their results:

CTRL-ALT-UP ARROW = Upside-right/Normal screen
CTRL-ALT-DOWN ARROW = Upside-down screen
CTRL-ALT-RIGHT ARROW = Screen turned on it's side to right
CTRL-ALT-LEFT ARROWN = Screen turned on it's side to left

Note: You do not have to cycle through these!  Simply press CTRL-ALT-UP and your screen will return to normal, regardless of its current state.