Kansas State University

Beware of "Free Public WiFi" wireless networks

While sitting in an airport on the east coast last week waiting for my flight home, I checked the wireless networks available in the terminal and found an interesting one identified as "Free Public WiFi":

When I noticed it was an ad-hoc, computer-to-computer wireless network, I knew it couldn't be good since that means another laptop in the area is trying to get people to connect to it rather than a legitimate wireless service like the T-mobile network in the figure above. This had the appearance of someone with ill intent trying to lure people to connect to his/her computer for malevolent purposes.

Upon further investigation, though, it does not appear to be malicious. Rather, it is a "feature" of Windows XP — if you connect to an ad-hoc wireless network, your computer will start advertising it to others the next time you reboot. Thus, "Free Public WiFi" has spread around the world in a virus-like manner and persisted for years because of curious people connecting to that network and unknowingly becoming a server for that network name (or SSID) everywhere they boot their laptop from that point on.

Microsoft has known about this since 2005 and pledged to fix it in the next service pack, which was just released. (See the Windows XP SP3 article in this issue.) It is not yet clear whether this fix made it into SP3.

Follow these recommendations on "free public WiFi" offerings:

1. If you see "Free Public WiFI" or something similar in a public place, just ignore it. Do not connect to it.
2. Always avoid ad-hoc wireless networks in public places since they will not give you Internet access and they may be attempts to compromise your laptop.
3. Configure your laptop to never connect to an ad-hoc network.

Creating a grading scale for Electronic Grade Submission

Do you plan to import grades from your K-State Online course to the Electronic Grade Submission system? When you submit grades for your full-semester classes, you will need to create a grading scale in the Gradebook. To find out how, check out Defining a Grading Scale (PDF).

How to change the program used to open a file?

Whenever I click on a JPG image, Photoshop starts up and opens it. How do I change this so my PC uses a simple photo editor instead?

This is controlled by your Windows operating system. To change how your computer handles images (or any other file for that matter), use this process:

1. Click the Windows Start button.
2. Click Control Panel or if you are using the Windows Classic start menu, point to Settings and then click Control Panel.
3. In the Control Panel window, double-click Folder Options, then select the File Types tab.
4. In the Registered file types section, scroll down and select the file type you need in the Extensions list (JPG in this case).

   

5. In the Details section below the list, the "Opens with" text is displayed for that file type. Click the Change button.
6. In the Open With window, select the program you want to use instead, and click OK.
7. Back in the Folder Options window, the new setting will be displayed (and the OK button will be changed to a Close button). Click the Close button to finish.

The School of Everything

"Everyone has something to learn, everyone has something to teach". That's the premise behind the School of Everything, a website created with the hope of bringing learners and teachers together. Anyone with something to teach (it can be anything: knitting, technology, or even yoga) can create a profile at schoolofeverything.com, where those who want to learn can search the site by topic or by location.

Many teachers are located in Great Britain where the site first launched, but the site is growing. Teachers from all over the world, including Malaysia, the Netherlands, Mexico, and the United States, have signed up. Check out the School of Everything. Maybe you'll be inspired to learn something new or to teach something you know to someone else!