Popularity soaring for K-Stater's Web. 2.0 video
by B. Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 27, 2007
Web 2.0. The Machine is Us/ing Us has captured the
attention and imagination of people around the globe since its Jan. 31 debut on YouTube.com.
Created by Michael Wesch, assistant professor of anthropology, the 5-minute video explains the next level of web-based services
that allow people to share, collaborate, and communicate more effectively online -- including
web blogs, wikis, online videos, and more.
Wesch said today via e-mail, "In three weeks the video has been viewed over 1.5 million times on YouTube alone.
It appears on over 7,000 blogs and has been the most talked about video in the blogosphere for over three weeks
since it emerged as #1 just four days after it was released. The video has appeared in major conferences in
multiple disciplines worldwide and has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Japanese."
(For more numbers, see IT by the numbers below.)
In the past weeks, Wesch has done multiple interviews for blogs, newspapers, radio, and TV, including
an interview with TV channel NBC 27 today, which will air tonight at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
For more about the video, do a Google search or see these sites:
Copy center to close in library; digital scanners coming
by D. Ekart, K-State Libraries
published Feb. 27, 2007
K-State Printing Services will soon be consolidating all copying services to their location
in the Student Union. At 5 p.m. Friday, March 9, the Copy Center in Hale Library will close permanently.
In order to continue providing high-quality, convenient copying services inside the library,
Hale Library is acquiring digital scanners for use by library patrons.
Once the scanners are in place in early March, individuals can scan library materials for free
instead of paying for paper photocopies. The resulting files can be saved to a flash drive or e-mailed. Scanners will be
available in three locations throughout Hale Library, and staff members will be available to help patrons
who require training or assistance during normal service hours.
The library will retain coin-operated copiers on the first, second, and third floors for patrons who need
or prefer physical copies. Additionally, full-service copying from K-State Printing Services, including
coursepacks and large copies, will continue to be available at the Student Union location.
Summerhill Series Feb. 28: How to Prepare for Daylight Saving Time Changes
by J. Bell, Computing and Telecommunications Services
published Feb. 27, 2007
The second lecture in the Summerhill Series will be 1:30 p.m. Wednesday,
Feb. 28, in Room 212 of the K-State Student Union. "How to Prepare for the
Daylight Saving Time Changes" will be presented by Richard Becker, Julie Bell, Dennis Devenney, and Tammy White.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is being extended in the United States by four weeks,
starting March 11. This change is due to the passage of the
Energy Policy Act of 2005. All systems and applications that process dates
and times using the U.S. DST rules will be affected by this change.
This lecture is open to all K-Staters. For those unable to
attend the seminar, it will be archived online at www.k-state.edu/infotech/summerhill.
ECC gets name change, interim director
by B. Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 27, 2007
The name of the Kansas Regents Educational Communications Center, informally known as ECC
on campus, was officially changed to "Educational Communications Center" on Jan. 4. Also
on that date, Doug VonFeldt was named interim director of the ECC.
VonFeldt said the name change more accurately reflects the ECC's operational status within K-State and within the State of Kansas.
The unit's mission remains unchanged, "to extend the educational resources of Kansas State University and the State of Kansas
to the residents of Kansas and the world through the appropriate utilization of communication technology," he said.
Upcoming TechBytes sessions: IRC, community blog
by C. Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 27, 2007
"Collaborating with IRC (Internet Relay Chat)"
1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, Union 213.
How often have you been stuck on a problem or needed direction on doing
something? Regardless of your profession -- from accountant to zoologist --
there's probably a community of professionals you can join, collaborate with, and call on when you have questions.
Learn how to
- Use IRC's valuable resources to network with your peers
- Connect to different IRC channels and networks
- Use popular IRC programs
- Learn the proper IRC etiquette for chatting online
Next week: "Creating Community with a Community Blog"
1:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, Union 213.
TechBytes seminars are free and open to the K-State community.
The series is also video streamed live for off-campus viewers and others
who wish to view it from their desktop. Visit the TechBytes site for
a link to the next live video, plus handouts, videos, and resources from previous seminars.
IT training for March now open for registration
by C. Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 27, 2007
iTAC's IT training calendar
for March is now online. All classes are free for K-State faculty, staff,
and graduate students, but require pre-registration. Details are listed
on the individual registration pages. Courses include:
- Introduction to HTML
- Introduction to Cascading Style Sheets
- Using K-State Web Templates
- K-State Calendar
- Introduction to RSS Feeds
Provost lecture March 8: GIS Vision and Enabling Technology
by the editors, InfoTech Tuesday
published Feb. 27, 2007
Jack Dangermond, a pioneer in Geographic Information System technology, as well as founder and president of ESRI, will present
"GIS Vision and Enabling Technology"
1:30-3 p.m. Thursday, March 8, in the Fiedler Hall Auditorium.
This presentation is part of the Provost Lecture Series.
SkillSoft demos March 7-8
by C. Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 27, 2007
SkillSoft, an e-learning provider, will be doing demos of their products at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 7,
and 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 8. Both sessions will be in 501 Hale Library. SkillSoft provides a
wide range of training offerings including soft skills (management, leadership, etc.), basic desktop (office
packages, Adobe suite, etc.), and IT professional skills (software development, web design,
databases, servers, etc.). They also have 24x7 e-books. Browse their
online catalog.
If you are interested in learning more about SkillSoft, please
register online for
one of the demos.
K-State announces Invention to Venture Workshop
by R. Vail, Division of Continuing Education
published Feb. 27, 2007
K-State has been selected to host an exciting one-day workshop, Invention to
Venture. Backed by the National Collegiate Inventors and
Innovators Alliance and the Kauffman Foundation, this event is
one of a national series of workshops for science and technology
students and faculty.
The national Invention to
Venture series has been established to tap the entrepreneurial
ambitions of students and faculty on college campuses across the
United States. Workshop topics
include:
- What is Technology Entrepreneurship/Is Technology Entrepreneurship for You?
- Idea Validation and Opportunity Assessment
- Intellectual Property and Licensing
- Building the Team
- Developing the Perfect Business Plan
- Finding the Money
- Sales and Marketing
The workshop will be 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. April 13 in Fiedler Lecture Hall on the K-State campus.
Workshop participants will be joining the Fourth Annual K-State
Spotlight on Intellectual Property luncheon with guest speaker
Thomas V. Thornton, President and CEO of the Kansas Bioscience
Authority. A networking reception will be held in the K-State
Union Ballroom following the workshop.
Cost for the workshop
is $20 for students, $40 for faculty/staff, and $75 general
admission. For additional information, contact Sharon Brookshire
(785-532-2566, sharonb@k-state.edu. To register for the
workshop, see www.invention2venture.org and click on
"Manhattan, KS" under the schedule heading.
Security tip: Joke programs not funny to Trend Micro
by H. Townsend. interim IT security officer
published Feb. 27, 2007
Joke programs are generally harmless computer programs commonly used to play
a practical joke on an acquaintance. They usually cause abnormal behavior or
display fake error messages to trick users into believing that something's
wrong with their computer. One popular program makes the computer screen look
like it's melting. Another pops up a window with a soft-drink logo and offers a
free beverage holder, and clicking "Accept" causes the CD-ROM drive to open as a cup holder.
Fortunately, joke programs do not change system settings or cause damage, nor do they
infect files or replicate themselves, so they are more of a nuisance than a security threat.
Most people view them as benign fun.
However, they can be disruptive or upsetting to an unsuspecting victim, especially when
people have been trained to be on guard against social engineering.
K-State's centrally managed servers running Trend Micro ServerProtect are configured
to delete joke programs but they are not deleted from workstations running OfficeScan.
Departmental system administrators responsible for Trend Micro ServerProtect or OfficeScan
installations are free to configure their systems either way. Contact Shea McGrew
(slmcgrew@k-state.edu, 532-4925) for details.
Trend Micro's Joke Programs page identifies programs
detected by its antivirus software.
Some of the ones seen at K-Stare are JOKE_MELT.A, JOKE_GESCHENK.A, JOKE_SALARY.A, JOKE_BUTTON.A, and JOKE_WINAVOID.A.
IT by the numbers: Popularity of Web 2.0 video
by B. Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 27, 2007
Web 2.0. The Machine is Us/ing Us premiered on YouTube.com
Jan. 31. According to Media Relations' Feb. 22 article, the following numbers have accrued
for the video produced by Michael Wesch, assistant professor of anthropology:
- Most popular video on the Internet Feb. 5
- No. 1 featured video on YouTube Feb. 9
- Is the No. 1 favorite of all time in YouTube's science and technology section
- Is one of the top 100 favorites of all time on YouTube
- Has been viewed by more than 1 million people
And the numbers are still going up. At 1:10 p.m. today on YouTube.com, the video was up to 1,505,727 views.
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