K-State's new web presence to debut Feb. 19
by B. Edwards, Computing and Network Services
published Feb. 7, 2006
Kansas State University's new homepage is scheduled to go live Sunday, Feb. 19,
as part of the university's new web presence. The new design will
- Provide a "new and improved" look in a vertical format
- Eliminate the current pop-up windows feature
- Provide news and events in a prominent central area, to be maintained by Media Relations
Future features of the enhanced web presence will include new webpage templates and single sign-on
-- a one-time sign-in for seamless access to KATS, K-State Online, e-mail, and e-Profile.
The redesign project, which started last May, has been a cooperative effort between
University Publications, Media Relations and Marketing, and Computing and Network Services.
eID password deadline is Wednesday, Feb. 8
by B. Edwards, Computing and Network Services
published Feb. 7, 2006
Wednesday, Feb. 8, is the deadline for all K-Staters to change
passwords on their eIDs for spring semester.
As of 10:41 a.m. today, 14,241 eID passwords still need to be changed.
A final password reminder is being e-mailed to those K-Staters today.
To change your password, sign in at eid.k-state.edu and select the
password "change" link on your eProfile page. For security purposes, passwords cannot be reused within a two-year period.
See the Password FAQs for more details.
Mass-mailing worm circulating through K-State e-mail
by the K-State Security Incident Response Team
published Feb. 7, 2006
When the new variant of the W32.Mytob@mm worm started spreading on the Internet,
some infected messages were delivered to K-State inboxes. The antivirus software used
in the central e-mail system and the Symantec AntiVirus software used on desktops were
quickly updated to detect and discard infected messages. K-State's security and system
administration staff once again reacted quickly to prevent widespread infections on the
K-State campus.
You may have been one of the persons to receive an infected message
before they were detected, so PLEASE don't click on attachments. Update
the virus definitions on your antivirus software if you have not already
done so.
While there are MANY iterations of the subject and content of the
e-mails, they all contain an attachment with the worm. Here is just one
example of the worm e-mails:
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From: webmaster@k-state.edu [mailto:webmaster@k-state.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 4:41 PM
To: agronomy@k-state.edu
Subject: Your password has been successfully updated
Dear user agronomy,
You have successfully updated the password of your K-state account.
If you did not authorize this change or if you need assistance
with your account, please contact K-state customer service at: webmaster@k-state.edu
Thank you for using K-state!
The K-state Support Team
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Avoid this trap and DO NOT OPEN ANY ATTACHMENTS. Simply delete the
message. More information can be found on Symantec's
W32.Mytob@mm webpage.
E-mail viruses are spreading faster and wider than ever, and can land in your
mailbox before your antivirus software can be updated to know about them.
While antivirus software is an essential tool for protecting your data and the
K-State network, it is not infallible. DO NOT ASSUME that a recently received file is safe simply because your
antivirus software hasn't warned you about it. ALWAYS check with the sender to make sure that they sent you
the file, and make sure that you trust them to play it safe as well.
K-State to host CHECK conference in May
by A. Hagedorn, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 7, 2006
The CHECK 2006 conference will be held at K-State May 23-24.
Proposals are being accepted now for conference speakers, as well as
suggested topics of discussion. The deadline for submissions is March 3.
If you are interested in presenting at this year's conference, see the CHECK
call for papers webpage
for details on where to submit proposals. Look for updated conference
information in future InfoTech Tuesday issues.
E-mail quota is 50MB, but don't go there
by J. Morrill, Computing and Network Services
published Feb. 7, 2006
Once a week, the size of all central e-mail inboxes at K-State are checked. If
your Inbox is larger than 20 megabytes, you'll get an e-mail notice
asking you to move messages to another folder and delete anything you
don't want to keep.
To understand how much space this is, 20MB will hold about 1,000-1,200 average e-mail messages,
including some with attachments and photos. By comparison, the complete
works of Shakespeare will fit in 5MB of space. See SearchStorage.com's
"How many bytes for..."
webpage for more comparisons.
If the size of your Inbox increases to 50 megabytes, you'll get a daily notice for seven days
reminding you to reduce the number of messages or else the entire Inbox will be moved.
For more information, see K-State's e-mail quotas.
Clarification on K-State's Software Update Services
by B. Edwards, Computing and Network Services
published Feb. 7, 2006
In a Jan. 24 article, K-State's
SIRT recommended all
Windows 2000, 2003, and XP users configure their computers to use
Microsoft's Software Update Services
to automatically download and install critical system patches onto their computers.
Update services allow computers to automatically check for and install any new updates every day at a pre-set time.
The key is that a computer must be turned on and connected to the Internet at its pre-set time.
And most computers need to be rebooted to complete the installation of security patches and updates.
K-State's Software Update Services for Windows is
a recently updated webpage that details how K-State-owned computers and those in the residence halls
can speed up the update process by using a K-State SUS server maintained by Computing and Network Services.
When IT threats and virus outbreaks occur, it is faster to
reach the K-State update server instead of Microsoft's website, which
may not be available anyway due to high demand by computers worldwide.
This also eases K-State's Internet bandwidth and
reduces the chance that a K-State computer will miss an update.
Questions about this service can be sent to the
IT Help Desk, (785) 532-7722,
helpdesk@k-state.edu.
LASER: iSIS updates coming soon
by A. Hagedorn, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 7, 2006
Since March 2003, K-State academic, technical, and administrative
departments have been working on the customization and implementation of
new financial and student information systems. The multi-year
collaboration is known as the LASER project, or Legacy
Application Systems Empowered Replacement. The first phase of the LASER
project was completed in July 2005 with the implementation of the new
Financial Information System (FIS).
This coming summer, the project will reach another milestone when the
Admissions module of the Student Information System (iSIS) goes live in
June. K-Staters are encouraged to stay informed about the progress of
the project because of the impact it will have on various aspects of
student administration, such as admissions, enrollment, grade posting,
and more. Look for iSIS updates in future issues of InfoTech Tuesday.
To read about the history of the LASER project, visit laser.k-state.edu.
TechBytes Feb. 8: Wimba
by C. Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 7, 2006
Are you interested in learning how to develop or enhance an
online learning course by using a collaboration tool? Wimba
allows you to create interactive courses fairly quickly as well
as assist in conducting live virtual classroom sessions. With Wimba's fully featured live
virtual classroom, you can share audio, applications, and various
content displays. Personalize your online courses by holding
live online classes, office hours, guest lectures, webcasts,
and meetings. Features include voice over IP, chatroom, application sharing, polling, whiteboard, and more.
To learn more about Wimba, see www.horizonwimba.com.
TechBytes seminars are the second Wednesday of the month at
1:15 p.m. in 501 Hale Library and are open to the K-State community.
See the TechBytes website for more information.
Atomic Learning tutorials no longer available
by S. Silva, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 7, 2006
In early January, iTAC learned
that Atomic Learning abruptly stopped access to the tutorials without prior notification. The
company is requesting that K-State renew the contract at a much higher rate.
Therefore, it was decided to discontinue the purchase.
iTAC apologizes for the sudden elimination of access to the
tutorials and hopes that K-Staters will consider using a different type
of tutorial available through iTAC. To learn more about those, see iTAC's
Customizable Courseware webpage.
IT by the numbers: K-State Libraries databases
by the editors, InfoTech Tuesday
published Feb. 7, 2006
K-State Libraries has approximately 140 databases. The database
section was recently pulled over from CATnet and put at
www.lib.k-state.edu/db.
If you have questions about this or other library resources,
ask a librarian.
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