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

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

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Executive editor:
     Rebecca Gould
Managing editor:
     Betsy Edwards

What's hot in IT
Antivirus
eIDs and passwords
Projects
Security
TechBytes seminars
Training calendar

Handy IT resources
Help desk
IT homepage
Computer labs
Tech classrooms
IT Index

IT events
and deadlines

July 1, 2004 (Thu)
Outdated e-mail addresses to be deleted. See the May 11 article. Faculty who want to keep old addresses referenced in professional journals should contact aliashelp@ksu.edu.

July 1, 2004 (Thu)
Deadline for phasing non-administrative uses off the K-State IBM platform. See the Sept. 30 article.

Aug. 1, 2004 (Sun)
Residence-hall Internet fee changes to $50 per semester.

Aug. 1, 2004 (Sun)
K-State's Internet connection will get 10 Mbps more bandwidth. See the article in this issue.

Aug. 4-5, 2004
SIDLIT conference at Johnson County Community College. See the May 25 article.

Aug. 7, 2004 (Sat)
K-State Online is offline all day for upgrading to version 5.0.

Aug. 18, 2004 (Wed)
Fall 2004 classes begin. See the August academic calendar.

K-State Online: Tip of the Week

Download it: 
As a quick reminder, here is a step-by-step "how to" for downloading submitted student files.

1. Click on the Tools button in your K-State Online Course Organizer.

2. Click on the Manage Files link.

3. Select your Submitted Files folder in the left-hand pane.

4. Select the checkboxes of the submitted files you wish to download.

5. Click on the Download button in the middle of the toolbar.

6. Select the Save button in the File Download window.

7. Rename your file to something meaningful.

8. Make sure your file is being saved where you want it to be on your computer.

9. Press the Save button.

10. Close any windows that you no longer need.

E-mail a suggestion or help areas for the K-State Online tip to help@online.ksu.edu. Questions? Contact the K-State Online Help Desk, 532-0198.
June 8, 2004 

   In this issue

K-State's Internet connection to get
10 Mbps more bandwidth

Because of lower costs for Internet service, K-State is adding another 10 Mbps (megabits per second) of Internet bandwidth Aug. 1 in anticipation of growing needs at the start of the fall semester. Through most of the spring semester, K-State's Internet connection was saturated on weekday afternoons, which caused poorer network performance when trying to access websites on the Internet.

This is like adding another lane to the Interstate -- more people can use the Internet connection without running into traffic jams and being slowed down.

All of the 10 Mbps will be allocated to campus users for academics and research, including the Salina campus. Internet service for the residence halls will not be affected by this change, since K-State keeps residence-hall traffic separate from the rest of campus. The new total of 65 Mbps will be allocated as follows:

  • 40 Mbps for the main campuses
  • 18 Mbps for residence halls
  • 7 Mbps for Jardine apartments and dial-in modems
—H. Townsend, Computing and Network Services

IT support during new-student orientations

New-student orientations begin June 10 and run 12 days through June 25. During that time, new students and their parents will benefit from and learn more about K-State's information technology resources.
  • Central IT staff will be in Union Station assisting students who need to set up their eIDs and passwords.
  • Temporary computer labs have been set up in Hale Library for College of Arts and Sciences advising.
  • Telecommunications has set up a temporary phone for quick response to eID questions from advisors.
  • IT staff will roam throughout the colleges to provide eID support.
  • The Information Technology Assistance Center will give presentations to parents on students' technology needs and IT resources at K-State.

Stay tuned for parents' latest questions about IT at K-State.
—R. Gould, Information Technology Assistance Center

Print stations in computing labs
to be upgraded June 14-16

Print stations in the university computing labs and K-State InfoCommons will be upgraded June 14-16 (Monday-Wednesday) to Windows XP, and the PC hardware will be standardized. This affects the labs in Nichols 21, Dickens 1, Justin 325, Seaton 22-24, the Union Copy Center, and the K-State InfoCommons in Hale Library.

As each print station is being upgraded, it will be unavailable for about 30 minutes. Any print jobs that are being processed will be queued temporarily, and no printing will be lost. Questions about this upgrade can be sent to Rob Satterlee, satterl@ksu.edu, 532-4925.
—R. Satterlee, Computing and Network Services


Cool IT tool:  Windows single-click shutdown

You can shut down your Windows computer with a single click by creating a shortcut, adding it to your Quick Launch bar, and clicking the shortcut when you are ready to turn off your PC.

To create a Shutdown shortcut on a Windows XP desktop:

  1. Right-click on the desktop.
  2. Select New, then Shortcut.
  3. In the Create Shortcut window, type the location as shutdown -s -t 01 and click Next.
  4. Type a name for the shortcut, and click Finish.

Note that "-t 01" means the system will shut down in one second. The default is 20 seconds.

To add the Shutdown shortcut to the Quick Launch bar, drag the Shutdown icon to it (next to the Start button). If the Quick Launch bar isn't displayed, right-click the taskbar, select Toolbars, and click Quick Launch.

—from TechBytes "Cool Tools"

 

Web watch

Storm weather, watches, and warnings

When you need information fast on the latest tornado and thunderstorm watches and warnings, go to the National Weather Service (NWS) website at www.nws.noaa.gov. Its Storm Prediction Center is charged with monitoring and forecasting severe weather over the 48 continental states.

The following sites are updated frequently, ranging from every two minutes to an hour at most:

If you just want the broad view, see the Storm Prediction Center's map of U.S. watches, warnings, and advisories.

Send site suggestions to TellTuesday@ksu.edu.
Tuesday's Gem Photo of new sound booth in 313B Hale Library
Students, faculty, and staff can use the new sound booth in 313B Hale Library to record and customize audio files.

Media Development Center unveils
new sound booth

The Media Development Center (MDC) is proud to offer its newest service to the K-State community: an 8-by-8-foot, all-enclosed sound booth located in 313B Hale Library. The service became available April 15.

With a fully functional digital mixer and an assortment of software including Acid 3.0 Pro, SoundForge XP, ProTools 6.1, and Adobe Audition 1.0, students, faculty, and staff can record and customize any audio file they wish.

Due to the booth's sound-deadening capabilities, there is no background noise -- and audio recordings are quite clear. The egg-crate padding that covers the room's interior effectively absorbs all sound so it isn't heard outside the booth.

Within 30 minutes of the booth's completion, a student was ready to record with his guitar. The studio has been used to record conversational German and upload to K-State Online, to digitize music, and to record sound for the Dean of Libraries retirement DVD.

This project was funded by K-State central administration and the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Services and Technology.

—A. Cabrera, Information Technology Assistance Center