[AG-TECH] physical security

[Michael Gates]

Our original node was (and still is) in a public area.  While we didn't have
the problem of equipment walk away, our biggest problem was that everyone
and their mother would twiddle with it when it wasn't in use.  It would
usually take us about 30-45 minutes to re-align our projectors/color temps,
mics, chairs, cameras, etc before each meeting.  The other problem that we
had was the distraction of non-meeting participants walking by during
meetings, talking, stopping to watch, etc.  This usual caused considerable
amounts of background noise, as well as video blips from large, fast pixel
changes in the cameras.  Not to mention non meeting people complaining about
the volume from the AG disturbing their work.  All in all, a very difficult
environment to work in.

-Mike

======================
Michael Gates
Information Technology
Support and User Services
mgates at sdsc.edu
858.534.8369
mgates at pager.sdsc.edu
Room 265
======================

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov [mailto:owner-ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov]On
Behalf Of Tony Rimovsky
Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 8:32 AM
To: Barbara A. Kucera
Cc: andrea jackson; Osland, CD (Chris) ; 'Tom Coffin'; Robert
Heckendorn; ag-tech at accessgrid.org
Subject: Re: [AG-TECH] physical security


I completely agree that this is problematic.  However, with properly
planned dedicated space, a public AG is possible and setting up a few
of them in public spaces could be an interesting demo.  Imagine random
walk by conversations between folks at nodes set up in common areas.
Or between a pair of museums as part of a technology demo.

Setup considerations:

  Use security style cameras.  Mark a spot on the floor for people to
  stand.  Make sure windows show local video.  (To be really cool, tie
  them to a tracking wand like they use in hospitals for directional
  lighting.  The only place I have seen this is in Labor and Delivery.
  Wand would need to be secured somehow.)

  Rear projection system with glass/plastic over the projection
  surface for protection.  This protects the projectors and computers.

  Ceiling mounted mics, or directional mics pointed at the camera
  focal point.  There are probably more clever ways to approach this.
  Lots of science museums and even some playgrounds use acoustical
  tricks to carry sound from point-to-point without mics, and
  eliminate background noise.  You could make one point the camera
  focal point and the other behind the screen, placing the mic's out
  of reach.

  Touch screen for venue navigation.  or to keep it simple, just tie
  the system to one venue.



On Fri, Aug 02, 2002 at 09:48:17AM -0500, Barbara A. Kucera wrote:
> You're absolutely right, Andrea!  Let's hope that Robert's space
> administrators realize the folly of even considering doing such a thing.
>
> Barbara
> ------------
>
> At 11:24 AM 8/2/2002 +0100, andrea jackson wrote:
> >Subject: RE: [AG-TECH] physical security
> >
> >
> >> Some thoughts to add to those from others ...
> >>
> >> Consider whether you can get the projectors inside a housing that
> >> is locked (a sort of projection tunnel fitted to the ceiling).
> >
> >etc.
> >
> >No, don't do it. It is wrong, it is a bad idea, and Robert knows it is.
> >Don't encourage it. It should be discouraged at all costs. I work in an
> >environment close to our own public cluster, and I've seen what they can
do
> >to a black and white printer in the middle of the night, nevermind the AG
> >equipment. Robert is trying to run a professional facility. Putting him
in
> >the position of never knowing if his AG node will still be intact in the
> >morning is bad practice.
> >
> >Robert, how will you operate, test, and run maintenance on the node if it
> >is
> >in a public area?
> >
> >
> >
> >Andrea Jackson
> >Manchester Computing
> >Tel +44 161 275 6090
> >accessgrid at man.ac.uk
>
> ________________
> Barbara A. Kucera
> Alliance/EPSCoR Liaison
> National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> (217) 244-0131 * Fax (217) 244-2909
>
> Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about
> telescopes. - Edsger W. Dijkstra, computer science professor