E-mail improvements handle heavy load after holiday
by H. Townsend, Computing and Network Services
published Nov. 29, 2005
The first Monday after Thanksgiving is typically one of the heaviest
days of e-mail use in the entire year, and yesterday was no exception.
K-State's central e-mail service handled more than 1.21 million messages
on Monday, which is 25 percent more than the normal Monday weekday load.
Fortunately, new servers were added to the e-mail
infrastructure on Sunday, Nov. 20, to address the e-mail performance
problems K-Staters have been experiencing throughout the fall semester.
The new servers proved their mettle by handling the load with virutally
no delays in delivery or response time.
With this enhancement, along
with the software bug fix applied Nov. 2 (see IT Tuesday's
Nov. 8
e-mail article)
and many other enhancements made during the fall semester, K-Staters
will now enjoy a more consistent, reliable, and speedy e-mail service.
IT newsletter now going to all K-State faculty/staff
by E. Unger, Vice Provost for Academic Services and Technology
published Nov. 29, 2005
All K-State faculty and staff have been auto-subscribed to
InfoTech Tuesday, K-State's weekly information technology (IT) newsletter
that provides up-to-date information about IT happenings on campus. It is one of
many ways used to keep K-Staters informed.
In this issue, readers will learn about e-mail improvements, a new worm
hitting computers across the globe, and a mobile computing lab that can be
checked out through iTAC. Weekly features include a calendar of IT events, a
K-State Online Tip of the Week, and more.
Those who wish to opt out of receiving the weekly IT newsletter
e-mail announcement may do so by using the newsletter's
Join or Leave webpage.
Sober worm variant is worldwide threat
by the K-State Security Incident Response Team
published Nov. 29, 2005
The latest Sober worm variant is considered the largest computer
outbreak in more than a year. Damage occurs on computers when a file is
opened that is attached to the infected e-mails. Many operating
systems are vulnerable, including Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, and Windows
Server 2003. Remember:
- Don't click on unexpected attachments, no matter who the e-mail says it's from.
- Configure your antivirus software to check for daily updates. Make
sure your antivirus software is loaded when your computer starts
and that it is automatically updating its virus signature files on
a daily basis. See K-State's
Live Update
page.
- Patch your computer software with critical updates as soon as they are released. Both
Microsoft and Apple publish periodic security/critical updates for
their operating systems. Use the
Microsoft Update Service
and the Apple Update Service.
K-State Usenet news to be discontinued
by J. Bell, Computing and Network Services
published Nov. 29, 2005
Over the holiday break, on Dec. 28, K-State's Usenet news server
will be discontinued. The service, which began in 1987 with a news feed
and donated equipment from NCR, has gradually become obsolete due to
technology advances in communications such as the World Wide Web, online
news services, instant messaging, blogs, and so forth. K-Staters are
encouraged to use other free services to get their news, including
Yahoo groups,
Google groups, or for a list of
free news servers, see dmoz.org's
public news servers.
Nov. 30 is last day Symantec supports AntiVirus CE 8
by B. Edwards, Computing and Network Services
published Nov. 29, 2005
Tomorrow, Nov. 30, is the last day that Symantec will support its AntiVirus Corporate Edition 8.0 software.
Thereafter, updates for that version will not be available, and it will become more vulnerable to
viruses over time. K-Staters who have this version on their computers should update by Nov. 30
at the latest. See the Aug. 9 article
for details.
Free downloads of Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition version 9.0.4.1000 are available to all K-Staters
for use on office and home computers. Instructions are on the
antivirus download and install page.
Dec. 1 deadline for IT award nominations
by the IT Awards and Recognition Committee
published Nov. 29, 2005
All K-Staters can submit nominations for the IT Awards and
Recognition process through Dec. 1. Take a minute
to nominate a colleague or IT team for their outstanding
contributions to the university.
Go to the IT Awards website and click on
the word "Nominations" at the top of the page to access the nomination
form. See the Nov. 1 article
for more details.
IT leadership conference Dec. 7-8 in Topeka
by R. Gould, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Nov. 29, 2005
The 2005 Kansas Technology Leadership Conference, "Re-imagining Technology in
Education", is Dec. 7-8 at the Maner Conference Center (Capital Plaza Hotel) in
Topeka. For more information about the conference and registration details, see
www.taken.org/techconf .
| Q/A: IT questions from K-Staters |
by T. White, Computing and Network Services
published Nov. 29, 2005
What does "Virus definitions are out of date" mean?
K-Staters who install version 9 of Symantec AntiVirus Corporate
Edition (SAVCE) should immediately receive the message "Virus
definitions are out of date".
This means the accompanying virus-definition files are old and also need to be updated to
protect against the latest known viruses.
Just click the Live Update button in SAVCE to update your
virus definitions. If you continue to receive the
message after clicking "Live Update", then something is wrong.
You may need to uninstall and reinstall the software.
Why are the definitions outdated when you first install the new version?
When the new version is created, only the virus definitions current at that time
are saved with the install files. K-State's install was
created several months ago, so the virus definitions are also several
months old. Therefore, updating the definitions via Live Update
is needed.
Have a question or comment?
TellTuesday@ksu.edu.
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| Web watch |
iTAC's Media Development Center
by B. Edwards, Computing and Network Services
published Nov. 29, 2005
A variety of free computing and technology resources are available to
K-Staters in iTAC's Media Development Center located in
Hale Library. Visit the website and call (785) 532-7422 for details.
Find a good site? TellTuesday@ksu.edu.
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