Rebuilding this iPod wasn’t much of a challenge. Honestly, the hardest part was deciding what I was going to do and waiting until I got all the hardware I needed. Anyway, here’s the scoop

Part 1:  Teardown

	Here’s the iPod before I change it up. Remember, the HDD was trashed, and the second one I bought wasn’t working either, so I’m installing a 16GB CF card and a new battery, to make sure I get a full lifespan from it. (Actually, I had already done all the work; I just wanted to install the new full-size memory card. It made a good opportunity to illustrate the process.)
	This little green case tool came with the battery replacement pack. To use it open the ‘pod, slide it between the plastic and the aluminum back, and slide it up the case while pushing down to pop the clips off. I had already opened it with a screwdriver to verify the problems and the components. Oops.
	Once you get down the length of the side, you should be able to pop the side off some. I actually bent mine a little. I’m not too concerned, really. It’s not like mine’s new. If I really wanted to do it well and not scratch or gouge anything, I’d probably buy and use this tool.
	This is the open iPod. The green board on the back is the connector for the headphones and some other jack I can’t ID. It also includes the Hold switch, which you probably should have turned on before you opened the case, just to make sure it’s not on. On the other side we have the hard drive, connected with a ribbon cable. (Not for long, though)
	The hard drive has been disconnected. Set it aside. We won’t need it again.
	With the drive gone, we can see the logic board and the battery. This is the heart of the device. Despite what it looks like, the battery is not taped to the board.
	We’ve got to take these screws out so we can pull out the cable for the battery. They’re T6 Torx screws, which are fairly tiny. I had to buy a new tool specifically to take these out. (It cost around 8 bucks at Lowes)
	I’ve removed all the screws, and pulled the logic board off the display board and battery here. Notice the ribbon cables remaining. They’re a pain to pull off, and you don’t really need to.
	This is the end result. Did you notice I have a CF card in the adapter next to the screwdriver? that’s the one that’s going to go be installed in the next phase.

Part 2: Replacement

	Here’s the replacement battery. It’s got the same specs as the OEM battery. I could have jumped for one with almost 40% more power, but I didn’t want to spend that much money. This one was about 6 bucks, and came with those green sticks. I don’t have any pictures of just replacing it, but it just fits into the slot on the logic board where the old battery was. If you want to, you can re-route the cables the same way, but I didn’t bother.
	The adapter for the CF card was about 5 dollars, too. The eletrical tape is to prevent the contacts underneath the part from shorting anything on the iPod when it’s reassembled.
	I bought this 16 GB CF card at the local Microcenter. It was the most expensive piece of the whole build at about 30 (or was it 40?) dollars. It’s a Kingston card the store sells in bulk along with their store-brand flash drives.
	The card just slides onto the adapter.

Part 3: Reassembly

	Once the battery is replaced, screw the logic board back down. When you do this, make sure you don’t have any bits between the screen and the front of the iPod. The adapter plugs into the IDE ribbon on the iPod without any problems, but you have to pay attention, because there will be unused pin sockets on one side. The adapter is marked to tell you which slot is for pin 1, which is also marked on the ribbon. Get it right, and it’s not an issue.
	The jumper for the master/slave switch on the adapter is too tall to fit on the ipod, unless you had one of the extra-thick had drives. I had to trim the pins and the jumper down using wire snips. If you don’t, you’ll get odd pressure spots on the screen. If you can take the blue foam off the hard drive neatly, you can use it as backing between the card/adapter combo and the logic board.
	Once that’s back together, reconnect the headphone jack board, and snap the back case on again. The battery will probably have some charge on it, so you can start it up, and put it in disk mode. Connect it to a PC with iTunes, and you’ll get this image. Congratulations! now, just follow the instructions from iTunes.

I haven’t put Rockbox back on it yet, but I intend to very soon. I’ll also make these pictures available as a gallery.

When I moved into my office, it came with a small two-shelf bookcase tucked into one of the walls.  On that bookshelf was one shelf full of hardware and software, and one containing a collection of books, including a couple of overdue library books, a few OS/DBS books, and one useful book:  Writing that Works by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson.  I’ll avoid gushing about how good it is and wishing that more people here would use it.  Instead, I’ll publish a few thoughts from it. Perhaps I’ll create a ripple effect that elevates the tone of workplace communication.

Regarding email:

“Cut to the point.  We mean that literally. Cut. Cut ruthlessly.”  Messages should be concise, complete, and coherent.  If you need to provide a lot of details, place them in an attachment.  In my experience as a reader of email, I am most likely to just skim over the first paragraph of a long, drawn-out email, then delete it.  Short messages get read.

I’m trying to make this blog automatically publish my posts to Facebook, but it’s having trouble. Grrr.

Hah! Scratch that thought!

I finished my iPod rebuild, and I’m working on the post for the whole thing.  This is the first time I’ve really tried to do a nicely illustrated step-by-step on WordPress, so we’ll see how it goes.  It will (hopefully) be up next week.

In relation to the desktop support portion of my job, I’ve recently handled several ‘problems’ that are really the result of a lack of skill when it comes to using a computer, so I’ve developed this list of computer skills.  I’ve created three levels:  Basic, Advanced, and Expert.

The items on the list, their order, and their level are completely arbitrary, as I choose them.  However, I expect that anybody working in a modern office should be able to perform Basic level skills.  Advanced may be required for job function, and Expert isn’t really needed, unless you’re a tech support person.  Inability to perform a Basic level skill should be remedied by training, as it hinders proper performance of any modern office job.

Basic

• physical power On/Off with the power button
• power off/restart from the Operating System
• logging on and off
• open and closing programs and files
• opening, closing, maximizing, minimizing, and moving windows
• use scroll bars
• mouse functions: movement, click, double-click, right-click, click and drag
• (laptop only) trackpad/touchpoint movement, click, double click, right-click, click and drag
• run programs from the Start menu/application launcher/application strip/etc.
• find and open files on the computer
• delete files
• copy files, using mouse techniques and keyboard techniques
• create folders
• rename folders and files
• use clipboard functions (copy, cut, paste)
• empty trash/recycle bin/etc.
• using help
• using a web browser
• word processor functions, including basic formatting (justification, font, font size, etc.)
• (laptop only) switch between internal and external displays (for presentations)
• (laptop only) connect a projector
• connect to a wired network
• (laptop only) connect to a wireless network
• connect to an already configured virtual private network
• connect peripheral devices: mouse, keyboard, speakers, printer, monitor, etc.
• change background wallpaper

Advanced:

• configure peripheral devices: mouse, keyboard, speakers, printer, monitor, etc.
• map network drives
• use any applications besides a basic word processor
• advanced word processor functions
• set up e-mail profiles
• change screen resolution
• install software

Expert:

• add or remove a computer from a domain
• physical hardware installation

I may edit this list as I see fit, or as I think of additional items to add.  Meanwhile, here’s a sample computer skills curriculum.  Don’t knock it because it’s for 8th graders.  I know plenty of “office professionals” who can’t do all the items listed on it.

Sunday after a Scout committee meeting, I was talking with one of the committee members, and he asked me if I would like an Ipod– Yes!– “with a broken hard drive”. uhh, yeah, still yes!  I’ve got more details, plus pictures on my main family blog, along with a poll to advise me on what I should do with it.

Most email programs include address books that support LDAP lookups.  LDAP allows you to forget email addresses and type names in the address fields of messsages, providing any matching results from the directory your server is set to query.  Here at GMU, that directory is every single active GMU employee and student, making LDAP a fantastic tool for individuals who need tofrequently need to send emails to new people, but only once, and who (like me) are too lazy to bother looking up their email addresses.

To set up an LDAP directory in Thunderbird 2 , using Windows, go to Tools, Options, Select Composition, and then the Addressing tab.

In here, press the “Edit Directories…” button, and then press “Add”.

Fill in the following fields on the General Tab:

• Name: whatever you want, really, but “GMU directory” or something similar may be wise.
• Hostname: directory.gmu.edu
• Base DN: o=gmu.edu
• Port number: 389 (This should be the default.)
• Bind DN:  (Leave Blank!)
• Do not check the “Use secure connection (SSL)” box.

Don’t bother changing any settings on the other tabs.  Just press OK, and then press OK again to get back to the Addressing Tab.

Now, check the Directory Server: box, and select “GMU Directory” (or whatever else you called it) from the drop-down list.

That’s it! Now when you type a name in the address field, the program will automatically query the GMU directory server and return a list of individuals who match records with yours.

Other mail programs have similar cababilities, but I’m not going to explain how to use them all right now, since I’m only using Thunderbird right now.

In my job as a network administrator, I come upons situations that leave me surprised regarding the tools I need in order to do my job.  Everyone expects me to use some tools regularly, especially screwdrivers.

People don’t expect me to need wrenches, yet I find that I do.  That’s why we have a very nice kit of socket wrenches in our tool drawer.  Everyone expects me to use duct tape.  I don’t.  Duct tape is not appropriate for most computer use.  If I need to tie up cable, I use a cable tie.  If I need to wrap exposed wires, I use electrical tape.  If I need to tape something to the ground, or a desk, or a wall, I would much prefer to use gaffer’s tape.

My favorite unexpected tool is the one that sits on my workbench right behind me.  Nobody ever expects to see it in the hands of an IT guy except as an implement of destruction:

The Hammer

Yes, I said the hammer.  What?  Have you been watching too much Office Space?

IT guys (and girls) use hammers for more than just smashing up misbehaving printers.  That’s why we have two.  In fact, I used my hammer more recently than I used my screwdriver, just yesterday.  If it weren’t for the hammer, we would have had to throw away three battery backup units because their battieres were swollen and the battery tray couldn’t get out of the UPS.  The hammer also got the batteries out of the tray, saving us about $1,200 each.  Yep.  The hammer saved us three thousand dollars.  I’d call that worthwhile.

So, another salute for you, Mr. Hammer:

hammer victorious!

It’s recently come to my attention that there is an interesting error involving Microsoft Word and Symantec Endpoint Protection (aka SEP).  Under the right circumstances, attempting to save a file directly from Word onto a USB-connected drive (flash or hard drive), results in an error:

“Word cannot complete the save due to a file permission error”

The problem doesn’t appear to affect Windows Vista users, only XP, and quite possibly, only XP installations that have been patched to Service Pack 3.

Luckily, on my network, it mostly won’t matter.  About 95 percent of my clients have Symantec Antivirus (SAV), not SEP.  My user’s home PCs, however, may have this version.  I know at least one person does.

Thankfully, there’s a rediculously easy way to work around the problem:  Save your file to your computer first, and then copy it to the flash drive.  That’s it.

If you don’t know if you have either one installed, or can’t tell one from the other, just check out this page for even more details.

I had put together a post (unpublished, yet) regarding computer security.  I’ll delay it in favor of this one.

One of The Rules of computer security is physical security.  If someone with malicious intent has physical access to a machine, they can at least compromise the data on it, probably steal it, possibly alter it, and definitely destroy it.  This is why the government freaks out so much about stolen (and lost) laptops.  (I should know.  I saw it happen a few times while I was at the IRS.)

What those rules don’t cover is restricting physical access among authorized users.  An uneducated user (or [especially] administrator) can wreak as much havoc as any malicious attacker.  This can be mitigated to some extent by using the principle of least privilege, but not totally eliminated.  I can easily write a script to delete files (or change them) and embed it in a webpage (even this one).  If I can convince someone browing the website to run it, it will run as whatever level of user they are.   If you’re a (standard) limited user, I can deleted/change any files you have access to  (Mostly your documents/data).  If you’re an administrator, I can delete/change anything on the computer.

In conclusion, I’ll go back to The Rules:  if you’re worried about the safety of data on your laptop, I have three words for you: Lock it up.  The laptop, not the data.  If you were worried about paper files, you’d put them in a locked office, file cabinet, or safe, right?  Do the same thing with the computers that hold your digital files, please.  Your administrator will thank you.  If you have anything you really care about, back it up.  If you don’t trust a site, don’t run stuff on it, and just because Google links to it, or because someone you do trust links to it, that doesn’t mean you should trust it.