• March 4, 2008

Another e-mail scam tries to steal your eID password

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published March 4, 2008

Many K-Staters received a scam e-mail on Monday, March 3, with the subject "Upgrade Your K-state Email" and purporting to be from "K-State IT Admin <upgrade@ksu.edu>". This is a scam that is trying to trick you into revealing your eID password. Do not under any circumstances reply to the e-mail. Just delete it. It tries to get the following information:

CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW

First Name:...................
Last Name:...................
K-state eID : ...............
Password : ................

Remember that K-State IT support staff will NEVER ask for your password in an e-mail. Plus, a reply to this e-mail would go to "beta_services@hotmail.co.uk", which is obviously not an account for a legitimate K-State IT support person.

To protect K-Staters, replies to this scam e-mail are being blocked by K-State's central e-mail system as of this morning. Those who were tricked into divulging their passwords earlier are being notified to change their eID password immediately.

For more on how to recognize a scam e-mail, see the Feb. 5 IT Tuesday article that was written in response to a similar e-mail scam sent to K-Staters Jan. 31.

Campus Adobe contract expired Feb. 29; new one coming

by Kathy Leonard, Computing and Telecommunications Services
and Betsy Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 4, 2008

K-State's Adobe CLP contract expired Feb. 29, and staff are working feverishly to get the the new contract in place. In the interim, departmental software orders sent to Software House International (SHI) will be held by the company until they receive K-State's new license number. We hope to have the new contract in place by March 15.

The CLP (Customer Loyalty Program) is based on the volume of business K-State does with Adobe, and generates a great cost-savings for the university. For example, to purchase one Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional license, a department will normally pay $38 for the license and $23 for the media. (By comparison, participating in a transactional licensing program, the cost for that same license is $140 plus $23 for the media. Purchasing through Amazon.com yields a price of $383.99. The Manufacturer's Suggested List price is $449.)

Contact Kathy Leonard (785-532-4926, kantink@k-state.edu) if you have questions concerning this contract. Notification will be sent to the Purchasing mailing list as soon as the new, two-year contract has been finalized.

March IT training calendar now online

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 4, 2008

iTAC's March IT training calendar is now online. All classes are free for K-State faculty, staff, and graduate students, but require pre-registration. Details are on the specific registration pages. Courses include:

  • Various eTips
  • Introduction to HTML
  • Introduction to Dreamweaver
  • Introduction to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
  • Dreamweaver and CSS

Faculty/staff prices on Adobe Student Licensing end March 15

by Chris Loehr, K-State Student Union Computer Store
published March 4, 2008

Since last fall, Adobe has allowed faculty/staff to purchase software on its Adobe Student Licensing program, which has significantly lower prices than shrink-wrapped, boxed educationally priced products. This special pricing (PDF) is scheduled to end March 15 for faculty/staff.

Popular software under this program includes Adobe Design Standard ($249), Design Premium ($399), and Acrobat 8 Pro ($69). The Student Licensing program represents significant savings over the educational shrink-wrapped box pricing, which in turn has big savings over the retail price.

Microsoft products will continue to be available to faculty, staff, and students at Student Select prices.

Questions about special pricing and available Adobe and Microsoft products can be directed to the Union Computer Store, 785-532-7319, computerstore@k-state.edu.

K-State TV program features for March

by Traci Taylor, Educational Communications Center
published March 4, 2008

  • Live SGA election coverage begins 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 5. The program will also be available live online at www.kstate.tv. Mass communication students, with assistance from the Educational Communications Center, will provide live coverage from Aggieville, coverage of the primary, and an interview with the winners.
  • K-State Idol, another program featuring students, will air throughout March.
  • The Landon Lecture Retrospective series also airs this month, featuring the Sam Brownback and Bill Clinton lectures. The program series concludes with an originally produced interview with Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker, hosted by Charles Reagan.
  • The Tuttle Creek Story, a 1953 documentary funded by the town of Randolph and filmed by a Hollywood producer, highlights the grassroots movement opposing the construction of the dam.
  • Watch the most recent Provost Lecture, Time and Einstein in the 21st Century: The coolest stuff in the universe by William Phillips.

For specific air times and information, visit the www.kstate.tv website.

TechBytes March 6: Podcasting 101

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 4, 2008

Jenny McCraw will present "Podcasting 101" at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in 301A Hale Library. Recording and publishing your own podcasts to the Web is as simple as taking a few easy steps. Join this session to discover just how easy it is and how to get started.

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. Use the "View live video" link on the TechBytes homepage to watch the next live video as it's being recorded. The TechBytes archives contains a wealth of information on IT tools and topics. It includes programs, handouts, videos, and resources from seminars in 2003 to the present.

Strategic Case for Online Learning in archive

by Janice Nikkel, Division of Continuing Education
published March 4, 2008

An archive of the "Strategic Case for Online Learning" webcast is available on Washington State University's Video/Multimedia site. Click on one of the "View with RealPlayer" or "View with WindowsMedia" links below the webcast description. The webcast was produced by the American Distance Education Consortium in cooperation with NASULGC and Sloan-C.

eTips March 12: Modifying Styles in Word

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 4, 2008

Marty Courtois will present an eTips session on "Modifying Styles in Word" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, desktop webinar via Wimba. Using styles makes working with Microsoft Word much easier, and the ability to modify and create your own styles gives you real control over the appearance of your documents.

This session will cover how to modify and create custom styles in Word. Examples will focus on creating styles to meet requirements of the American Psychological Association (APA), but the same procedures can be applied to other formatting guidelines. Word 2003 (Windows) will be used during the session, but the same basic techniques apply to all versions of Word. As a prerequisite, you should be familiar with the concept of "Styles". In Word's Help section, search under "Styles" for a quick introduction, or request access to the eTips archive on "Creating Lengthy Documents in Word". Archive requests should be sent to cathyr@k-state.edu.

Reminder: Adam Bohannon will present an eTips session on "Using Diigo to collaborate, share online" at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 6, desktop webinar via Wimba.

eTips registration is required at least 24 hours in advance to allow time to add you to the session and ensure your workstation is configured properly for accessing the session.

New iPod models: 32GB iPod touch, 2GB iPod shuffle

by Chris Loehr, K-State Student Union Computer Store
published March 4, 2008

On Feb. 5, Apple announced a 32GB iPod touch model that joins the current lineup of 8GB and 16GB iPod touches. Pricing is $299 for 8GB, $399 for 16GB, and $499 for 32GB, and all models are available in the Union Computer Store.

On Feb. 19, Apple lowered its pricing on the 1GB iPod shuffle from $79 to $49. It also introduced a 2GB iPod shuffle model at $69, which should be in the store soon. Both models are available in your choice of silver, blue, green, or purple. A red model is being sold only through Apple retail stores and Apple online.

More about iPods is available at www.apple.com/itunes.

Apple announces updates to MacBook, MacBook Pro computers

by Chris Loehr, K-State Student Union Computer Store
published March 4, 2008

Tuesday, Feb.  26, Apple announced revisions to their MacBook and MacBook Pro lines. In addition to the details below, more info and education pricing is at the Apple Store for Education.

New in the MacBook computer:

  • 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo processor on Combo drive models, or 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor on Superdrive models
  • 2GB RAM standard on 2.4GHz model
  • Larger standard hard drives
  • Education pricing starts at $999

New in the MacBook Pro:

  • 2.4GHz and 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo processors with an optional 2.6GHz processor
  • NVIDIA 8800 GT graphics processing -- 256MB or 512MB Video RAM
  • 200GB or 250GB hard drives standard
  • Multi-Touch trackpad
  • Education pricing starts at $1,799

New MacBooks and MacBook Pros are shipping and should be arriving at the K-State Student Union Computer Store soon. If you have questions, contact the Union Computer Store, 785-532-7319, computerstore@k-state.edu.

Security tip of the week

Security roundtable on identity theft this Friday

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published March 4, 2008

This month's IT security roundtable will discuss identity theft as a continuation of the February security roundtable on how to recognize a scam and what to do should you become a victim of a scam or identity theft. The roundtable will be 9:15-10:30 a.m. Friday, March 7, in Union Staterooms 2 and 3.

An estimated 9 million to 10 million people are victims of identity theft each year in the United States -- the FBI lists it as the fasting growing crime -- and many people at K-State have received a letter in the last few years from their bank or credit card company informing them that their personal identity or financial information may have been stolen in a security breach. Thus, it is important to know how to protect yourself and what to do should you receive one of those letters.

Topics to be covered include:

  • What is identity theft and why is it such a big problem?
  • How is it different yet related to financial fraud (like a stolen credit card number)?
  • Is the risk to a debit card different from the risk of using a credit card?
  • What should I do if I become a victim?
  • What is the difference between a fraud alert placed on your credit, a free credit report, fee-based credit reporting and monitoring, and freezing your credit file?
  • What should I look for in my free annual credit report?

Notes from the February roundtable discussion (PDF) are available on the IT security website and include the topics that will be covered this Friday. As always, the IT security roundtable is open to anyone and sponsored by SIRT.

K-State Online

How to view course tools being used?

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 4, 2008

I wonder how much students are using different areas within my K-State Online course. Is there a way I can tell how much usage certain tools are getting?

Yes. You can view the Tools Usage course statistic, which displays the percentage of visits to each tool (out of 100 percent). Only tools that you have installed will show on the Tool Usage page. To view the Tool Usage statistics, do the following:

  1. Under Course Management on the Course Tools page, click Course Statistics.
  2. On the left menu, click Tool Usage.

K-State's wireless network, text-messaging service

by Waldo Berry, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 4, 2008

Why can't I get my laptop to link to K-State's wireless network?

Access to the K-State wireless network is restricted to a secure access and requires a pass code. The pass code can be obtained by coming to the IT Help Desk (214 Hale Library) or logging in to a secure page and using your K-State eID and password. Go to the Wireless Networking Card Configurations page and click on the "K-State's WEP settings" link.

I signed up for K-State's text-messaging service, but I did not get the response message when I signed up. Why?

T-Mobile and Alltel customers will not receive the automatic sign-up message response. However, you are connected to the text-message system. You should have received the initial test message that was sent to all subscribers last week. If you did not, and you know you signed up, contact the IT Help Desk at 785-532-7722 or 1-800-865-6143.

Spotlight

2008 Consumer Electronics Show product highlights

by Ernie Perez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published March 4, 2008

After attending the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in January, here are a few products and websites to keep an eye on.

To locate some more exceptional products that were demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show, see 29 Exceptional Products for Tech Lovers, featuring laptops to displays, to the smallest and greenest PC, and more.