In this issue
- Emergency Text Messaging Service tested today
- Online newsletter launched for distance students
- May IT training calendar now online
- eTips May 8: Effective e-mail and task management
- Discount on departmental purchases of Dell computers
- Security tip: Laptop security discussion at roundtable Friday, May 2
- K-State Online: Uploading and submitting files in K-State Online
- Feedback: WebMail upgrade status? New version of Perl?
- Spotlight: Landon Lecture airing on K-State TV April 30, again in May
Emergency Text Messaging Service tested today
by Molly Small, Office of Mediated Educationpublished April 29, 2008
K-State tested its Emergency Text Messaging Service (ETMS) at 10 a.m. today. In order to ensure that the service is functioning correctly, K-State needs feedback from ETMS users.
Following the test, the Division of Public Safety at K-State sent an e-mail that contained a link to the feedback survey to all ETMS users. Users are encouraged to complete the survey to help improve the Emergency Text Messaging Service. The feedback survey will take approximately five minutes to complete. All responses are anonymous and confidential.
K-State students, faculty, and staff may sign up for ETMS anytime through the eProfile website. For assistance, contact the IT Help Desk, 785-532-7722, helpdesk@k-state.edu.
Online newsletter launched for distance students
by Rosanna Vail, Division of Continuing Educationpublished April 29, 2008
The K-State Division of Continuing Education announced the release of its first issue of "The Leading Edge — a newsletter for K-State distance students". The newsletter will be published online five times each year and will help distance students develop an even stronger connection with the university. Current distance students, as well as K-State instructors who teach distance education classes, will receive an e-mail notification linking to each new issue.
The newsletter is specifically designed to open the campus to distance students who may or may not have the opportunity to visit the K-State campus. Each issue will feature campus services, including photographs of various buildings on campus where the services are housed as well as staff profiles.
Each issue will also provide information about campus events and upcoming dates and deadlines valuable to all Wildcats, near or far. Archived issues will be available online.
May IT training calendar now online
by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Centerpublished April 29, 2008
iTAC's May 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
eTips May 8: Effective e-mail and task management
by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Centerpublished April 29, 2008
Cathy Rodriguez will present an eTips session on "Effective e-mail and task management" at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 8, desktop webinar via Wimba. Do you find that you are constantly struggling to keep your e-mail under control? Do you use your e-mail Inbox as your to-do list or an archive of information that you might want to refer to later? Join this session to see how the integration of Gmail and Remember the Milk can inprove your productivity as well as help you manage your projects and daily task lists.
Reminder: Brian Arthaud-Day will present an eTips session on "Tips for making iSIS easier to use", 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, 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.
Discount on departmental purchases of Dell computers
by Eric Dover, Information Technology Assistance Centerpublished April 29, 2008. Updated 10:21 a.m. May 1, 2008
Every year, iTAC works with computer vendors to get the best pricing for workstation upgrades in studio classrooms and the university computing labs. This price break is also extended to other campus units and will be available through August. This year we were able to negotiate six packages provided by Dell with the specifications and prices below.
| Dell computers | Specifications | Price |
| Monitor/PC all-in-one monitor mount | Processor: Intel 3GHz Core 2 Duo Memory: 2 GB Hard Drive: 160 GB SATA Optical Drive: 8X DVD+/- Video Memory: 256 MB Monitor: Dell 19-inch UltraSharp Flat Panel Warranty: 5-year onsite |
$1,227.36 |
| Minitower with 20-inch widescreen monitor (without adjustable stand) | Processor: Intel 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo Memory: 2 GB Hard Drive: 160 GB SATA Optical Drive: 16X DVD+/- Video Memory: 256 MB Monitor: Dell 20-inch Widescreen Flat Panel Warranty: 5-year onsite |
$1,015.47 |
| Minitower with 20-inch UltraSharp widescreen monitor with adjustable stand | Processor: Intel 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo Memory: 2 GB Hard Drive: 160 GB SATA Optical Drive: 16X DVD+/- Video Memory: 256 MB Monitor: Dell 20-inch UltraSharp Widescreen Flat Panel Warranty: 5-year onsite |
$1,123.12 |
| Latitude D630 Laptop Only | Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Memory: 2 GB Hard Drive: 120 GB Optical Drive: 8X DVD+/- Video Memory: 128 MB Warranty: 3-year Complete Care |
$1,468.27 |
| Latitude D630 Laptop with Docking Station and 20" Widescreen Monitor | Processor: 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Memory: 2 GB Hard Drive: 120 GB Optical Drive: 8X DVD+/- Video Memory: 128 MB Warranty: 3-year Complete Care |
$1,942.20 |
| OptiPlex 755 Minitower | Processor: 3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Memory: 2 GB Hard Drive: 160 GB Optical Drive: 16X DVD+/- Video Memory: 256 MB Video Card: ATI Radeon HD with dual DVI or VGA Media Card Reader: 19-in-1 Media card reader Monitor: 20" UltraSharp Widescreen Warranty: 5-year onsite |
$1,433.25 |
Note: These packages do NOT include a floppy drive. If you need a floppy drive, ask the Dell representative when obtaining a quote for your order. Dell also has promised competitive pricing for unique department needs as long as those are based off of the original quote.
Campus units can make their purchases directly through Dell. Departments that want to participate in this pricing, or have questions concerning this quote or the Dell systems being offered, should contact Dell representative Mitch Jones, 800-822-8965 (extension 7246729), mitchell_jones@dell.com.
Security tip of the weekLaptop security discussion at roundtable Friday, May 2
by Harvard Townsend, IT securitypublished April 29, 2008
A K-State faculty member on sabbatical in Europe last year had his laptop stolen; 12 laptops were stolen from a K-State residence hall earlier this month in two separate incidents; and a laptop and a flash drive with confidential data about 23 K-State students was stolen from an accounting-firm employee's car.
Laptops are increasingly a target of criminals and pose a significant threat to the security of K-State's information as well as your own personal identity information. Come to this month's IT security roundtable to learn how to protect your laptop and the information stored on it.
The roundtable is 9:15-10:30 a.m. Friday, May 2, in Union Staterooms 2-3. Harvard Townsend, K-State's IT security officer, will facilitate discussion on the following topics:
- Physical security -- how to protect your laptop from theft
- Information security -- how to protect the data on the laptop
- Protecting the laptop while you travel
- Wireless security and using K-State's VPN service in public WiFi hotspots
- Recording your laptop's identifying characteristics, including how to find the MAC address of the network interfaces
- Tracking and recovery software
- Some useful freeware tools (TrueCrypt, Eraser, and Spider)
As an added bonus at no extra charge, we'll throw in a discussion of securing USB flash drives. This one-time offer is made exclusively to readers of InfoTech Tuesday, so come by Friday to collect on this special offer!
As always, the IT security roundtable is sponsored by SIRT and is open to everyone.
Uploading and submitting files in K-State Online
by Scott Finkeldei, Tina Deines, Office of Mediated Educationpublished April 29, 2008
What file types can be uploaded into K-State Online?
Any file type or file format can be uploaded to K-State Online. Locations within K-State Online that allow submitting files:
- Message Board. You can enable attachments on Message Board posts so people can attach a file to their post. You can limit the size of files uploaded.
- Student Groups. Group members can upload files to their File Center for sharing and submitting group assignments. If you assign a group paper, the group could use the File Center to share research, drafts, and the final copy.
- File Dropbox. You can have a course-level File Dropbox listed in the student navigation. This way, you receive files in the "File Dropbox" folder in Manage Files. These dropboxes allow you to define what files types you will accept. For example, you can limit it to image files (.jpg, .gif, etc) or document files (.doc, pdf, etc). You can also limit the maximum file size. One of the most interesting options with these dropboxes is the ability to enable Voice Recordings, which allow students to record and submit an audio recording that they create within dropbox without the need for any other software. This can be useful for pronunciation of a foreign language or submission of oral reports.
WebMail upgrade status? New version of Perl?
by Information Technology Assistance Center staffpublished April 29, 2008
What is going on with the new WebMail program that was previewed several months ago?
The upgrade for WebMail is on hold while the university moves to a new central e-mail system.
Is it possible for you to upgrade the version of Perl on K-State's Unix system? We need a higher version for BioPerl programming.
A newer version of Perl will be available on the new Unix boxes that will be ready in June. The current unix.ksu.edu is not upgradeable.
Landon Lecture airing on K-State TV April 30, again in May
by Traci Taylor, Educational Communications Centerpublished April 29, 2008
CIA Director Michael Hayden
The upcoming Landon Lecture, to be presented by CIA Director Michael Hayden, will be available via a live, on-air broadcast at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, on K-State TV (Cable Channel 8).
The April 30 lecture will also:
- Be re-broadcast at 9:30 p.m. that evening
- Air through the month of May
Check the K-State TV online schedule for details.