One very handy service offered by SUCS is "Desktop on Demand". This is a method of using an X desktop session in a Java-enabled web browser, enabling you to use one of the SUCS workstations from anywhere in the world. It even works from BT Internet payphones!
You may wonder what's so wonderful about this, given that you'd have to be at a computer to use it. Sometimes, you may be at a computer that doesn't have the software you want to use installed or is locked down in some way (the payphone being a good example). By using Desktop on Demand, you can bypass these restrictions and use any software that's available in the SUCS room. Bear in mind, however, that the image data for the desktop is coming over the Internet and so it's going to be slower than if you were at the machine - you're not going to be able to play BZFlag this way!
Getting started
To use Desktop on Demand, go to https://sucs.org/Tools/Desktop on Demand and choose a resolution to suit your seen size and connection. You should then get a screen that looks something like this:
Put your SUCS username and password in, pressing enter after each and you will be logged in. Once the desktop has finished loading, you should end up with a screen that looks something like this:
You can now run applications by selecting them from the Applications menu, and you will find the files in your SUCS disk space in the "user's Home" folder on the desktop.