Wednesday, Sept. 13, is eID password-change deadline
by B. Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Sept. 12, 2006
Wednesday, Sept. 13, is the deadline for all K-Staters to change the password on their eIDs for fall semester.
To change it, sign in at eid.k-state.edu and on your eProfile page,
select the password change link. For security purposes, passwords cannot be reused within a two-year period.
See the Password FAQs for more details.
EDUCAUSE president to speak at first provost lecture
by L. Carlin, Office of the Provost
published Sept. 12, 2006
Anyone interested in IT and higher education should attend the first event in the
Provost Lecture Series
3:30-5 p.m. Sept. 27 in the Hemisphere Room of Hale Library. Brian Hawkins, president of EDUCAUSE, will present
"IT and the Future of Higher Education: Fire,
Fuel, and Focus". Hawkins will address the challenges of the
transformative nature of information technology and its impact on
changing the nature of teaching, research, and outreach of colleges and
universities.
As president of EDUCAUSE, Hawkins is a leader of the
premier technology association in higher education. Prior to heading
EDUCAUSE, he held a variety of positions in academia. He has written
extensively on the subject of higher education and the use of
technology, and in 1991 received the CAUSE ELITE Award, a lifetime
achievement award for exemplary leadership and information technology
excellence.
For more information, see Media Relations' Sept. 12 news:
Provost's Lecture Series
at K-State features information technology experts, including one of the Internet's 'founding fathers'.
Trend Micro antivirus implementation
by R. Gilbert, Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Services and Technology
published Sept. 12, 2006
This is a reminder that the deadline for having your PCs, laptops, and servers that run
Microsoft Windows Operating System converted from Symantec AntiVirus to Trend Micro antivirus is Oct. 2.
All Linux servers should have Trend Micro antivirus installed on them by Oct. 2 as well.
Macs running Mac OS will continue to use Symantec AntiVirus.
After Oct. 2, scanning will begin on the network for K-State-owned computers that are still running Symantec.
The owners of those computers will be notified that according to K-State IT Policy, they are required to switch
to Trend Micro.
After Oct. 28 -- the cutoff date for access to Symantec on the antivirus website -- K-State will begin
blocking PCs still running Symantec.
Note that this does not include PCs owned by external sources who are visiting or working at the university.
The policy requires that they have an up-to-date version of a comparable antivirus software active on their PCs
in order to access the K-State network.
For additional information, visit antivirus.k-state.edu.
Departments and colleges that need assistance with this transition should contact Royce Gilbert, 785-532-0547,
royce@k-state.edu.
New cellphone vendor for K-State customers
by A. Brenner, Telecommunications
published Sept. 12, 2006
Due to the purchase of Cellular One in Kansas, K-State's cellular vendor
changed to U.S. Cellular effective Aug. 28. For customers who subscribe
through K-State plans, rates and plans are not affected by this change.
Customers who subscribe through regular retail plans will have their rates
and plans changed, and the new rates will be reflected on their Oct. 1 billing statement.
Additional notes to cellular plans:
- Effective Sept. 14, text-messaging rates switch to $4.95/month, which
includes 250 outgoing messages and free incoming messages. Other optional
text-messaging plans are also available.
- Effective Sept. 14, mobile guard insurance rates will increase for
current subscribers to $5.95/month, which will be reflected on your Oct. 1
statement. This plan also extends the manufacturer's warranty to five years
for faulty parts or workmanship. To add this insurance to
your plan, contact Telecommunications to sign up.
- If you currently subscribe to data services (web, downloads of
ringtones/games, or transfer of pictures) besides text messaging, your
current phone must be exchanged in order to use data services. Go to 109 East Stadium to exchange your phone.
- Effective Sept. 30, the current Hello2Fun data services will be
discontinued. Text messaging will continue to work on all phones.
For more information about K-State cellular plans, see Telecommunications'
Wireless Phone Services.
Fall IDT Roundtable series starts Sept. 21
by V. Clegg, Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning
published Sept. 12, 2006
The Fall 2006 series of the
Instructional Design and Technology Roundtable
has been scheduled. This information is provided by the Office of Mediated Education.
- Podcasting: The Future is Now!
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, Union 212.
Sign up by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19.
Have you heard of podcasting? Come and learn what podcasting is, how it works, and how instructors
around the country have utilized this powerful tool. Examples of
podcasting will be shared. We will discuss and share ideas on the
future uses of podcasting.
- Building Educational Games and Simulations
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, Union 212.
Sign up by 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23.
Ever want to jazz up your class with a learning game but just didn't know how to get
started? Have you thought about building a simulation but thought it would cost too much money, time,
and effort? Join Ben Ward, instructional designer for OME, as we explore the basics of game design,
playing with a purpose, and the tools you will need to make it all happen.
- Accessible Design: Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, Union 212.
Sign up by 5 p.m.Tuesday, Nov. 14.
The use of technology to deliver course content is a great asset to many students. This presentation
will provide you with a better understanding of how students with disabilities access technological course
content -- by showing how to use accessibility options on your own computer. You will also be provided some
"simple" solutions for making your technologically-mediated courses accessible from the outset.
Coffee, tea, and water will be available, and you may bring a lunch.
Please observe the sign-up dates listed above.
Sign up as early as possible for all the sessions you plan to attend. Questions should be sent to the
Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (catl@k-state.edu, 532-7828).
New student recruitment system implemented by Admissions
by J. Elsasser, Office of Undergraduate Admissions
published Sept. 12, 2006
In July, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions completed their Phase 1 implementation
of a new student recruitment system powered by Talisma Corp. The constituent relationship management
(CRM) tool allows for
- Personalized communications with prospective students
- Accurate tracking of all interactions with students, including events, registration of events, and campus visits
Ultimately, all recruitment activities will be migrated off of the IBM mainframe.
Talisma Corp. project manager Shawn Hilditch wrote, "The project was a great success. We also owe a
great deal of the success to the outstanding K-State team, one of the most driven and competent teams
I've ever worked with."
Sept. 16 is last day of "Mac+iPod" sales offer
by C. Loehr, K-State Student Union Computer Store
published Sept. 12, 2006
K-Staters planning to buy a Mac computer soon should take advantage of Apple's
back-to-school rebate
on iPods that runs through Saturday, Sept. 16.
Buy a qualifying Mac computer and an iPod of your choice, and get up to a $179 mail-in rebate.
This offer is only available to
qualified Apple education individual end-user purchasers, which includes K-State students and employees.
The Union Computer Store offers
Apple products at educational pricing, which is a savings over standard Apple retail prices. A valid
educational ID is required for Apple purchases. For more information, contact the store at 785-532-7319,
computerstore@k-state.edu, or stop by the store, adjacent
to the Little Theatre and art gallery.
Use of free blogs in education
by S. Mukherjee, Office of Mediated Education
published Sept. 12, 2006
Blogs have become the common word these days. A blog is like an online journal or diary where entries
are made on a particular subject in a reverse chronological order (the latest postings being on top).
Blogs are essentially textual, but can include images, links to other blogs, audio, and video. To learn
more on the history of blogs, go to Blogging 101.
Blogs are being used more and more in teaching, where students use them to express their opinions on a
particular topic. They read others' blogs, and share resources found on the Web with the class. Many
instructors at K-State are showing an interest in using blogs in their courses.
LiveJournal,
Blogger,
Six Apart, and
Bloglines are several of the free blogs available on the Web.
Class Blogmeister allows instructors to preview a student's blog
before they can post.
It's really quite simple to create a blog. Go to any of the free blog sites, create a user name and
password, and log in and start blogging. Invite
your colleagues and students to join in. To learn more about blogging in education, see Information Today's
Blogging and RSS: The "What's It?" and
"How To" of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators.
For an example of a K-State blog, see the Office of Mediated Education's
Instructional Design Open Studio (IDOS),
which is a forum for digital instructional design practitioners to share their expertise.
Security tip: Greeting card e-mail scams
by H. Townsend, interim K-State IT security officer
published Sept. 12, 2006
In the past two weeks, many K-Staters have received bogus e-mails that appear to be
an electronic greeting card from a friend but, in reality, are an attempt to trick them
into clicking on a link that infects a computer with malware. Greeting card or "e-card"
scams are not new to the Internet. However, people are still falling prey to the deception,
so we want to offer help in recognizing when an e-card is a scam.
If you received one of these fake e-cards, just delete it. DO NOT click on
any link in the message, since it will immediately infect your computer with malware. See the new
Greeting card e-mail scams security page for
- An example of an e-card scam received at K-State
- Clues that indicate an e-mail is bogus
- How to determine if a greeting card e-mail is legitimate
IT by the numbers: Trend Micro stats
by H. Townsend, interim K-State IT security officer
published Sept. 12, 2006
The new Trend Micro security software provides reporting capabilities
that were not previously available to K-State security staff. This
allows us to see what type of malware is affecting the campus and
develop prevention strategies accordingly, or mobilize staff to respond
to an outbreak. Here are some statistics from the last week (Sept. 4-11)
for the computers that have installed Trend Micro:
Trend Micro stats
at K-State, Sept. 4-11, 2006 | Number |
| Viruses/worms detected | 10,124 |
Most common
viruses/worms detected |
6,614 TROJ_VB.AML (Win32/Alcan.J)
650 WORM_NETSKY.AQ
232 TROJ_AGENT.J
205 WORM_MYTOB.C
|
| Spyware detected | 8,264 |
| Most spyware detected in a day | 1,757 (Wed, Sept. 6) |
The most common malware from last week, TROJ_VB.AML, is a Trojan Horse
known to spread through peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing programs like Kazaa,
Limewire, grokster, and Morpheus. This not only points out the risk of
using these types of programs, but K-Staters are reminded that the use
of these P2P programs is prohibited on the K-State network. See the
Prohibited Use of Recreational Software policy. Also, K-Staters
should make sure they have the legal right to possess any music, movies,
or software stored on their computers.
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