InfoTech Tuesday, Kansas State University's information technology news source

InfoTech Tuesday is a weekly newsletter about information technology at K-State.

Get past issues
Submit a news item
Subscribe to mailing list
Contact the editors
Search the archive

Executive editor:
     Rebecca Gould
Managing editor:
     Betsy Edwards

What's happening in IT
Projects
Security
TechBytes seminars
Technology training

Popular IT resources
Anti-virus software
Help desk
IT homepage
Labs, university computing
Technology classrooms
Media Development Center
Technology units
IT Index

Calendar of events

Dec. 27-28, 2003 (Sat-Sun)
K-State People Directory and license management may be offline for 15- to 30-minute intervals, from 10 p.m. Sat through 8 a.m. Sun.

Dec. 29, 2003 (Mon)
Library web services will be unavailable during system upgrades. 7 a.m.-noon.

Dec. 29, 2003 (Mon)
All LISTSERV mailing lists will be unavailable 6-9 p.m. for server upgrades.

Dec. 30, 2003 (Tue)
Holiday break. InfoTech Tuesday is not published.

Dec. 30, 2003 (Tue)
K-State Online is offline all day for upgrading to version 4.3.

Dec. 30, 2003 (Tue)
Usenet news server down all day for maintenance.

Dec. 31, 2003 (Wed)
K-State Online version 4.3 released.

mid-January 2004
Pay-for-print to be available in university computing labs and K-State InfoCommons.

Jan. 1-Feb. 11, 2004
Time to change passwords on K-State eIDs for spring 2004.

Jan. 16, 2004 (Fri)
All IT Units Retreat.

Feb. 11, 2004 (Wed)
Spring 2004 password deadline for eIDs.

July 1, 2004 (Thu)
Deadline for phasing non-administrative uses off the K-State IBM platform. Only essential administrative systems will be allowed to use the IBM system. See the Sept. 30 article.


K-State Online: Tip of the Week

First things first:  
Design your course with a clear hierarchy in mind. Emphasize details based on importance. Use larger fonts for headings. Use italics or bold for text that you want to be conspicuous. Place more important information towards the top and/or the upper left of the page so it is read first. Use the separators in the Content Management Suite to emphasize information. Well-designed course materials will help get the message across the first time and save time in the long run.

Send comments about these tools to helpdesk@ksu.edu.

To suggest a topic or help area for the K-State Online tip, e-mail help@online.ksu.edu. Questions? Contact the K-State Online Help Desk at 532-0198.
Vol. 3, No. 50 Dec. 23, 2003

   In this issue

Free printing planned for labs
and K-State InfoCommons

Free printing is coming for the university computing labs and the K-State InfoCommons in spring 2004. Stay tuned for detailed information in InfoTech Tuesday.
—T. Dille White, Computing and Network Services

New IT status page online for holidays

Any scheduled maintenance of central IT services will be listed on the IT status page during the holiday season. Check this webpage for current availability of K-State's central IT resources. Any access problems not referenced on this page should be reported immediately to the K-State IT Help Desk, 532-7722, helpdesk@ksu.edu.
—J. Bell, Computing and Network Services

Bored over the holidays?
Do basic IT housekeeping

For those who have free time on their hands during the holidays, it's a good time to do some basic IT housekeeping.
  1. Delete old e-mails from your Inbox. This frees up space for you and other K-Staters.
  2. Streamline your address book, and erase unwanted addresses.
  3. Review and update the security and privacy settings on your computer.
  4. Make sure your antivirus definitions are up-to-date.
  5. Erase outdated and temporary files.
—the editors, InfoTech Tuesday

K-State's Internet bandwidth
to increase in January

In January 2004, before the start of the spring semester, K-State will add another 10 Mbps (megabits per second) to the Internet1 service received through Qwest, the Great Plains Network, and KanREN -- bringing the total bandwidth to 55 Mbps. The increase will be allocated to and paid for by the residence halls, Jardine apartments, dial-up modems, and Greek housing. The resulting distribution of Internet1 bandwidth is shown below.

Internet1 bandwidth
distribution at K-State		 Current Mbps New Mbps
General campus 30 Mbps 30 Mbps
Telecommunications customers (dial-up modems, some Greek housing, Jardine apartments) uses Mbps of general campus 7 Mbps
Residence halls 15 Mbps 18 Mbps
Totals 45 Mbps 55 Mbps

For the first time, Telecommunications customers will have dedicated bandwidth, which will be especially important in the spring when broadband Internet service is introduced in the Jardine apartments.

These changes are one more step toward keeping pace with K-State's growing bandwidth demand. This fall, K-State's 45 Mbps of Internet1 service was at maximum use 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every weekday -- confirming that the Internet continues to play an increasingly important role at K-State.
—H. Townsend, Computing and Network Services

January target rollout for Adobe contract

Since Aug. 15, K-State has been working with Adobe to finalize a campus licensing program. One phase of the contract is for vendors to bid on serving as K-State's reseller. That process was completed in November, and a reseller has been identified.

During negotiation, a change in legal staff at Adobe caused delay of their review. K-State is ready to administer the contract as soon as it is received from Adobe.

With a fall-semester completion no longer feasible, the goal now is an early January rollout. Once the contract is in place, the campus will be notified via selected mailing lists and InfoTech Tuesday.
—K. Leonard, Computing and Network Services

Faculty encouraged to try Lectora software

Lectora (www.lectora.com) is an offline authoring tool that allows the user to create multimedia-rich content, assessment tools, and surveys; to insert video or audio clips into slide presentations; and more. The output requires no viewer or reader and is currently only PC-based. The price is $2,300 to $2,850 for a 5-pack of Lectora Publisher or ProSuite, respectively.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to evaluate this tool for mediating courses. Visit www.lectora.com/download for a free trial version. Send your comments about the usefulness of the tool to ragou@ksu.edu.
—R. Gould, Information Technology Assistance Center

Training for K-State Online
planned for January

Training for the new version 4.3 of K-State Online starts in January. See iTAC's training calendar for sessions and registration details.
—C. Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center

Readers ask

When I graduate and leave K-State, how long will my eID and e-mail address continue to work?

If you are a student who has left, your e-mail account will be turned off on the 20th academic day of the following semester. If you set up mail-forwarding on your e-mail account, it will forward "forever" -- or up to five years if the account is not active (i.e., has not been used).

If you are an employee who has left, your e-mail account will be turned off on the first day that Human Resources' records no longer list you as an employee. If you set up mail-forwarding on your e-mail account, it will forward "forever" -- or up to five years if the account is not active (i.e., has not been used).

Got a comment? TellTuesday@ksu.edu.

Websites worth watching

The Poinsettia Pages

Enjoy reading about the history, legends, facts, and care of this seasonal plant. The editors wish readers a safe and happy holiday.

Send site suggestions to TellTuesday@ksu.edu.

Tuesday's Gem

Regents Educational Communications Center prepares DVDs for troops

Last week, while many at the university were studying for or grading finals, the Educational Communications Center was busy videotaping messages to send to deployed troops. The project, entitled, "Video Post Cards", kept four, two-person video crews busy for five straight days recording holiday messages from over 1,500 family members.

Individual messages were recorded live directly to a DVD disk. The DVDs were sent as a group via Army Post to each battalion, with anticipated arrival in Baghdad just before Christmas.

Susan Jagerson, project coordinator, indicated that it was a very rewarding experience. The families that participated were happy to have the opportunity to send a personal video message to their loved ones. Some of the children played concerts and sang carols, and many fathers were able to see their babies for the first time.

For more about the story, see Video greetings go abroad, a Dec. 21 news article in the online edition of The Topeka Capital-Journal.

—S. Jagerson, Regents Educational Communications Center