Welcome from the VPAST
by E. Unger, Office of the Vice Provost for Academic
Services and Technology
published Aug. 22, 2006
Welcome to the fall 2006 semester. InfoTech Tuesday is our way of
engaging the K- State community with IT happenings across the campus and
beyond. We do this by
- Informing the campus about IT issues
- Providing information on security
- Spotlighting uses of and champions of technology
- Covering IT projects planned and in the works
and sharing with you what IT staff do.
We spent the summer improving the campus IT
infrastructure, upgrading K-State Online, upgrading four new technology
classrooms and studio, finishing up IT projects and more. We are committed
to providing the best information technology and computing services for
campus. Suggestions for improvements can be e-mailed to
TellTuesday@k-state.edu.
Have a great semester!
All K-Staters: Massive battery recall by Dell
by B. Edwards, Computing and Network Services
published Aug. 22, 2006. updated 8:40 a.m. Aug. 23, 2006
On Aug. 14, Dell announced a recall of 4.1 million lithium-ion
batteries due to a potential fire hazard. According to CNET News.com, this
may be the largest battery recall in the history of the electronics
industry. For safety, customers should immediately remove affected
batteries, switch to AC power on their notebook computers, and return
the batteries to Dell for free replacement.
Dell's Battery Recall
site says the affected batteries were shipped to customers
between April 1, 2004, and July 18, 2006, for
Latitude, Inspiron, Precision, and XPS notebook computer models or as secondary batteries.
However, not all batteries shipped during this time are affected by the recall.
Dell's site provides criteria to identify the specific batteries affected.
This is not a warranty issue, so it is being addressed directly by Dell
instead of through its service partners. K-Staters who are
concerned whether their computer is affected should go to
www.dellbatteryprogram.com
or call toll-free 1-866-342-0011 to contact Dell. For more details:
K-State employees can access paycheck data online
by A. Deutsch, Division of Human Resources
published Aug. 22, 2006
Employee Self Service allows K-State employees to view their paycheck
data, leave balances, life insurance summary, personal data,
compensation and training summaries. Employees may update their W-4 tax
information online using Employee Self Service.
For complete information on using Employee Self Service, see
the Employee Self Service Instructions page.
Prior to using Employee Self Service, new employees need to verify
their affiliation with K-State. See
K-State eID Affiliation Process for New Employees.
Employees who need assistance should contact the IT Help Desk at 785-532-7722.
Sept. 13 deadline for changing eID passwords
by B. Edwards, Computing and Network Services
published Aug. 22, 2006
It's time for K-Staters to change passwords on their eIDs for the fall
semester. Aug. 1-Sept. 13 is the mandatory password-change timeframe.
Passwords not changed by the end of Wednesday, Sept. 13, will cease to
work. This is a basic security measure that is required twice a year and
has been in existence
since 1999. To enhance security, passwords cannot be reused in a two-year
period.
Visit the eid.k-state.edu website
and sign in to change the password on your eID. If you've forgotten your
password, call the IT Help Desk at 785-532-7722 to verify your identity,
and staff will set a temporary password
for signing in. For more about passwords, see the
Password FAQs.
Operation PC goes automated, moves in-room
by R. Gilbert, Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Services and Technology
published Aug. 22, 2006
From Aug. 18-20, K-State residence hall and central IT staff registered
more than 3,550 computers in the residence halls. This year, the process
was automated using the Bradford Campus Manager, a device for
network-access control and security policy enforcement.
Students were
given instructions to connect in their rooms to the virtual network (VLAN) where they
downloaded the Bradford Campus Manager, installed K-State's
antivirus software, patched their computer with all critical updates,
installed an antispyware program, and registered their computer. Interesting facts:
- 36 staff from ResNet and central IT assisted with the process, which is 70 fewer staff than last year.
- Students were pleased that they didn't have to carry their PC to the
kiosk and wait in line for hours.
- 400 more PCs were processed than last year in the same amount of time.
Operation PC continues with housing staff providing
assistance to the remaining students moving into the residence halls.
Those needing assistance with their PCs should contact
Residential Networking, 785-532-2711.
New Dell computers in university computing labs, InfoCommons
by E. Dover, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Aug. 22, 2006
Over the summer, K-State IT staff replaced 95 Dell computers with
19-inch flat-panel monitors in several locations, including the
Dickens and Seaton university computing labs and
the second floor of the K-State InfoCommons in Hale Library.
These new Dells are part of the ongoing replacement cycle of workstations
that happens every year in the university computing labs and InfoCommons.
K-State IT security site has new look, more resources
by H. Townsend, interim K-State IT security officer
published Aug. 22, 2006
K-State's newly renovated IT security website at
www.k-state.edu/infotech/security
was unveiled Aug. 18.
The site underwent
extensive restructuring to make it easier for people to find information
to help secure their computers and protect K-State's information resources.
Old pages were updated and much new information was added on topics like
identity theft; securing Macintosh computers; phishing and other types of
Internet scams; spyware/adware; and wireless security.
Much information formerly located on the Security Incident Response
Team's (SIRT) website was incorporated into the new pages to make it
easier to find.
A new
IT security resources page
provides an
extensive set of procedures, websites, and training materials to assist
K-State users and system administrators. All K-Staters should also read
and follow the revised and expanded list of
basic IT security practices.
K-Staters are urged to explore the new IT security website.
The greatest defense for the security of information is an
informed and careful user.
The time you invest now will yield high returns in the future when you avoid
being a victim of Internet fraud -- and your computer and data are protected.
K-State Online upgraded; more training available
by R Gould, S. Silva, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Aug. 22, 2006
On Aug. 5, K-State Online (online.k-state.edu) was upgraded
to add new features and make improvements to existing features. Notable improvements include
the process of entering and managing grades, and creating and managing assignments.
A description of the changes is on the What's New page.
If you didn't attend the K-State Online training
sessions earlier this month and would still like training,
let the iTAC technology trainers know. You can fill out
the form on iTAC's enrollment page
or e-mail Cathy Rodriguez (cathyr@k-state.edu) or Sarah Silva
(gr8ful@k-state.edu) to request training. Future training
sessions are being planned, but individual help is also available if needed.
In the meantime, check out the
K-State Online training handouts (PDF format).
Wimba: Voice technology enhances K-State Online
by B. Vandiviere, Office of Mediated Education
published Aug. 22, 2006
This semester a new voice technology has been integrated within K-State
Online to bring live classroom interaction to online courses. Among the
numerous features Horizon Wimba has to offer, here are just a few that
faculty and students alike can utilize:
- Online chatroom
- Voice over IP
- Archiveable presentations
- Annotation
- Application sharing
More details about Wimba will be outlined in future issues of
InfoTech Tuesday. If you have questions about this new technology,
contact Bryan Vandeviere, 785-532-2508,
bzv@k-state.edu.
Security tip: Basic IT security practices
by H. Townsend, interim K-State IT security officer
published Aug. 22, 2006
Check out the revised and expanded
basic IT security practices
on the new IT
security website. While there's no guarantee your computer will never get
compromised if you follow these guidelines, you will certainly reduce the
risk substantially if you read and adhere to these recommendations.
IT by the numbers: Trend Micro usage in residence halls
by R. Gilbert, Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Services and Technology
published Aug. 22, 2006
K-State's Trend Micro Office Scan reported the following stats for the residence halls
since Aug. 18:
| Trend Micro summaries | Number |
| Total number of registered clients (Windows) | 1,812 |
| Total number of infected clients | 380 |
Virus(es) detected
(includes 3,056 spyware/grayware detected) | 17,495 |
| Clean-up capability ratio | 100 percent |
| Spyware protection ratio | 100 percent |
|
