• May 6, 2008

E-mail slowness being investigated

by the editors, InfoTech Tuesday
published May 6, 2008

Central e-mail has been slow for the past two days, and central IT staff are working on the problem. We appreciate the patience of K-Staters as we work to resolve the issue.

Leaving K-State? IT things to do first

by Betsy Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published May 6, 2008

Graduating students and others who are leaving K-State long-term (not just for the summer) should check the Preparing to leave K-State site and follow the checklist of things to do before leaving. The site includes Frequently Asked Questions plus information on how to:

  1. Forward your e-mail to another mailing address.
  2. Review your mailing lists and unsubscribe from any you don't wish to remain on.
  3. Copy any files you are entitled to keep, such as files on your office workstation, the central Unix system, personal webpages, and personal e-mail. See What happens if I leave and don't copy my files?
  4. On your personal computer, remove any software received under a K-State site license or volume purchase agreement, including K-State's antivirus software and others on the K-State software licenses page. See Software received from K-State.
  5. If you live in a residence hall, point your computer back to the Microsoft Windows Update Service. See Windows updates.

A new webpage with instructions for removing Trend Micro went live today. See Uninstall K-State antivirus software (to access that secure page, a K-State eID and password is required).

CHECK conference early registration deadline is May 12

by Betsy Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published May 6, 2008

Monday, May 12, is the last day for $25 early registration for CHECK 2008, the Conference on Higher Education Computing in Kansas. The conference is May 21-22 at Emporia State University and is open to all employees in higher education institutions in Kansas. According to the CHECK website, the fee includes refreshment breaks, Wednesday evening dinner, Thursday breakfast, and Thursday lunch.

The conference schedule has three tracks -- Security, Applications, and Technology -- and a keynote address by Bob Lee, a WEbEx learning solutions strategist. The diverse range of topics includes using a wiki, records retention, hybrid library catalogs, emergency alert systems, Banner system, Sharepoint, dual-boot, security incident management, and using the Second Life virtual world for teaching and learning.

K-State TV programming update for May

by Traci Taylor, Educational Communications Center
published May 6, 2008

Tech Break.  Watch a new Tech Break segment on Laptop Security with Harvard Townsend, K-State's IT security officer. Townsend offers excellent tips for keeping laptop computers safe from theft at home and abroad. Tech Break segments are short features addressing technology topics of interest and can be seen online at www.k-state.tv, or on K-State TV, cable channel 8.

Link TV.  An exciting new addition to K-State TV's acquired programming is Link TV. Currently airing are world music blocks, and the Explore Series. Link TV broadcasts programs that engage, educate, and activate viewers to become involved in the world. In the future, programs that provide a unique perspective on international news, current events, and diverse cultures, presenting issues not often covered in the U.S. media, will be added to the K-State TV programming line-up. K-State TV also offers quality acquired programming provided by Annenberg TV, the Research Channel, and Classic Arts.

Leadership topics.  Three segments from K-State's 12th Annual Leadership Seminar will air in May and feature keynote speaker Jeffrey Stamp plus two panel discussions:  From the Boardroom to You; and Greensburg KS: When Change Wasn't a Choice. For more information, see the Leadership Seminar site and check the K-State TV website for specific air dates.

Also airing in May.  Jazz at the Forum, highlighting a performance by the K-State Concert Jazzz Ensemble, three College of Business Administration lectures, Reading the Rocks, The 1951 Flood, Solar House Project, Magic of Painting, and Kids a Cookin'. See www.k-state.tv for details.

May 9 is last day for Electronic Grade Submission training

by Sarah Silva, Information Technology Assistance Center
published May 6, 2008

Instructors and others who want to use the Electronic Grade Submission system to submit final grades this semester must complete the online tutorial by noon Friday, May 9.

Those who have participated in training in past semesters are not required to complete training this semester. Those wanting to use the system can enroll via the Electronic Grade Submission System training enrollment page. After the deadline, no more training will be offered this semester.

No eTips session during finals week May 12-16

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published May 6, 2008

There will not be an eTips session during finals week, May 12-16. eTips will resume the week of May 19.

Reminder: 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.

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.

Windows Vista Ultimate now on Student Select program for K-Staters

by Chris Loehr, K-State Student Union Computer Store
published May 6, 2008

The K-State Student Union Computer Store recently added Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade * (32-bit only) to the Microsoft Student Select Program. It is priced at $99.95 (as opposed to $219.95 downloaded directly from Microsoft's website) and is only available to K-State faculty, staff, and students (including K-State Salina campus and distance students) who present a valid K-State ID at time of purchase. (Proof of enrollment or proof of current K-State employment can be substituted for those not issued K-State IDs.)

For details, see these Microsoft pages:

Other upgrade versions of the Windows operating system offered by the Union Computer Store are

  • Windows XP Pro upgrade (includes 32-bit and 64-bit disks)*
  • Windows Vista Business upgrade (32 bit only)*
  • Windows Vista Home Premium upgrade (32 bit only)**

* $79.95 and only available to KSU Faculty, Staff, and Students, must present valid KSU ID at time of purchase
** $79.95 and available to anyone presenting an education ID at time of purchase

It is suggested that Mac users looking to run Windows on their Macs purchase the Windows XP Pro upgrade, as it will act as a full, clean install, without requiring an existing upgradeable Windows operating system to already be installed. Windows Vista versions sold by the Union Computer Store are true upgrades and require an upgradeable Windows operating system to already be installed.

Visit www.k-state.edu/computerstore to view or download a PDF with Microsoft Student Select pricing and products available. There are per-person purchase limits on the Microsoft Student Select Program, so contact the store for details (785-532-7319, computerstore@k-state.edu).

These products are available for purchase with personal funds, for your own personal educational use. Departmental purchases should be made through SHI, the state contract provider for software.

Updated: Flex-computing demo May 13 for IT professionals

by Eric Dover, Information Technology Assistance Center
published May 6, 2008. Updated 2:58 p.m. May 12, 2008

Updated: Due to a shipping error, the demo portion of this will be rescheduled for a later date. Please join us for a whiteboard/general discussion of flex computing.

Dell will be on campus 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, in Hale 212 to provide a hands-on demonstration of their Flex Computing option. For more information on flex computing, see Dell's flex-computing white paper (PDF).

Security tip of the week

Cyber Security Tips from US-CERT for non-technical users

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published May 6, 2008

The vast majority of the 214 security incidents identified at K-State thus far in 2008 can be attributed to inappropriate user behavior:

  • Replying to spear-phishing scams with their eID password
  • Clicking on a malicious link in an e-mail purporting to be an electronic greeting card, but which installs the Storm botnet on the computer
  • Personal workstations compromised with a botnet and used to send thousands of spam messages
  • Digital Millennium Copyright Act violations (illegal sharing of music, movies, or software)

Thus, user education and awareness of IT security threats and best practices is critically important for protecting K-State information and technology resources.

To help with this, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) publishes Cyber Security Tips that provide a rich source of information and advice on a wide variety of IT security topics that are written for non-technical users. Topics include:

  • Protecting portable devices (i.e., your laptop)
  • How anonymous are you?
  • Protecting your privacy
  • Using caution with e-mail attachments
  • Understanding firewalls
  • Understanding encryption
  • Avoiding copyright infringement
  • Staying safe on social network sites

and much, much more.

You can subscribe to these "Cyber Security Tips" so they arrive in your e-mail Inbox when new ones are published. Whether you subscribe or just visit the website to learn about specific topics, I encourage you to use this great resource to learn how to function online safely.

K-State Online

Assignment listings

by Scott Finkeldei, Office of Mediated Education
published May 6, 2008

Assignments listed on the student's My Assignments page will always be listed in the order they are due. The Expiration date of the assignment decides the order in which they are listed.

In one example, the instructor had three assignments, all with a due date of the same day near the end of the semester. They were listed for the students in the order of #3, #1, #2 because the expiration date of #3 was the same date as the others but its expiration time was 1 minute after #1 and #2 closed.

What happens when an assignment doesn't have an expiration date? How does that get listed? When comparing two assignments, it uses the "expires on" first. If that's not set (if the assignment has an "open" end date), it falls back to the ordering set by the instructor in the Assignment Listing (that numeral in a dropdown on the instructor side).

Mac support at help desk? Safari problem with WebMail?

by Fred Darkow, Information Technology Assistance Center
published May 6, 2008

I went over to IT Help Desk with Mac questions, and they sent me to the Union Computer Store. Even though the computer store answered my question, why doesn't iTAC support Macs? The help desk is available more hours than the store.

While the IT Help Desk does support Mac computers, we are not as expert in some areas as the Union Computer Store can be. Generally, if the consultants exhaust their knowledge on a Mac specific issue, they will send a customer to the more knowledgeable Mac people at the store.

When I use Safari to go into K-State WebMail and want to delete a bunch of e-mail, if I "Select All" and hit the Delete button, it doesn't recognize that any mail was selected. But when I manually checkmark each e-mail, it does recognize it. Is this a bug that someone can fix?

Yes, K-State WebMail does currently have a glitch in it when it comes to Safari and using the Select All option. The administrators are working on a resolution for it, but in the meantime you will have to manually checkmark each e-mail.

Spotlight

Virtual commencement for distance education Class of 2008

by Betsy Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published May 6, 2008

About 119 students are graduating this week from the Division of Continuing Education's distance education and off-campus programs. The Virtual Commencement site has congratulatory speeches by K-State administrators, a list of graduates, and a "reception" page for sending messages to graduates.

In his commencement address online, Provost M. Duane Nellis noted the importance of technology to distance education students. He said, "Twenty years ago we could not have predicted how much personal computers would transform our offices and our interactions with one another. It is impossible to predict what discoveries will be made and how technology will change our lives in the next twenty years and beyond. But we do know that technology will continue to advance and transform our lives and work. Through completing your education from a distance and through participating in this commencement via the Internet, you are showing that you are able and prepared to adapt to whatever technology changes bring to your life."