In this issue
- Updated web search debuts Thursday, Aug. 21
- Class rosters in iSIS, K-State Online, not on paper
- Operation PC Aug. 21-24 for residence halls
- Old .org sites targeted by sleazy advertisers
- Course-accessibility workshop popular with faculty/staff
- Media Development Center's fall hours
- Security tip: Don't fall for "Antivirus 2008 XP" rogue software!
- K-State Online: Tegrity lectures being converted to MP4 format
- Feedback: Emergency information link on K-State homepage?
- Spotlight: K-State search enhancements: Tabs, format, faster results
Updated web search debuts Thursday, Aug. 21
by Neil Erdwien, Computing and Telecommunications Servicespublished Aug. 19, 2008
A new and revised K-State web search will debut Thursday, Aug. 21, in time to greet students as they arrive for the fall semester. The top two enhancements in the update were frequently requested in the recent IT Needs Assessment survey.
- Many students asked for the ability to selectively omit some of their personal information from search results. Through their eProfile, K-Staters will be able to control their information displayed from the People Directory.
- Improvement of webpage search results was another frequently requested feature that is being implemented by moving to the Google Search Appliance.
Starting Thursday, the revised search function can be accessed from the search box at the top of the K-State homepage or by going directly to search.k-state.edu. See the Spotlight article in this issue for a preview of the new search engine's look and feel.
Class rosters in iSIS, K-State Online, not on paper
by Jennifer Gehrt, LASER Projectpublished Aug. 19, 2008
Beginning with the new school year, all class-enrollment management will be completed in iSIS, K-State’s new student information system. With this change, class rosters are only available online both in iSIS and in K-State Online. Paper rosters will no longer be distributed to faculty by the Registrar’s Office.
Besides improved efficiencies, this change also allows K-State to better protect student identities, since the SSN is no longer used as a primary identifier on class rosters. Instead, the Wildcat ID, or WID, is used. Instructions for faculty on how to access the class roster can be found on the iSIShelp faculty page (right sidebar).
Operation PC Aug. 21-24 for residence halls
by Rob Satterlee, Housing and Dining Servicespublished Aug. 19, 2008
From Aug. 21-24, K-State IT staff will be working with the 5,300 students moving into the residence halls and Jardine Apartments, to prepare their computers for accessing the network. Students must:
- Verify their computer's operating system license
- Install necessary operating system updates
- Install the Kansas State University antivirus solution
- Install the Client Security Agent (CSA)
- Verify their successful registration to the campus network
To date, more than 1,600 students moving into the residence halls have completed the process remotely, which is available from www.k-state.edu/infotech/networks/access.
Old .org sites targeted by sleazy advertisers
by Amy Hartman, Research and Extensionpublished Aug. 19, 2008
Research and Extension recently had to scramble to change some of its web links and print materials because some .org web addresses were bought for re-use by unscrupulous advertisers. These advertisers wait for a "nice" site to become available and then pounce on it to market things not consistent with the goals of the original site.
For instance, many land-grant universities and other agriculture-related groups use information from Iowa State's Midwest Plan Service (www.mwps.org), which produces publications on how to build barns, etc. When that entity stopped paying for its older, slightly longer .org address, someone bought the domain and used it advertise bikinis and such. K-State and other universities have had to change all their web and print materials to remove references to the old site.
A similar issue occurred earlier this year with a family-related .org address. Fortunately, web addresses with .edu domains are safe from this type of re-use.
What you can do
- Web authors who have links to .org web addresses should check those links regularly.
- Authors of a .org site should realize that if they ever stop paying for their domain, it can be bought and turned into something they wouldn't want associated with their organization's name.
Course-accessibility workshop popular with faculty/staff
by Betsy Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Centerpublished Aug. 19, 2008
More than 70 K-State faculty/staff attended the one-hour Course Accessibility workshop Thursday, Aug. 14, in Hale Library's Hemisphere Room. The workshop provided a fast-paced, informative look at:
- Policy requirements
- Tips for PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, text images, and Word documents
- Creating transcripts
- Purchasing accessible third-party software
- Resources available on campus, including the Media Development Center
To register for additional sessions, see the IT training site.
- 2-3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in Hale 501
- 12:30-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, in College Center Conference Room at K-State Salina
For more information, contact Disability Support Services and see the K-Access website on accessibility of online content.
Media Development Center's fall hours
by Phyllis Epps, Information Technology Assistance Centerpublished Aug. 19, 2008. updated 9:10 a.m. Aug. 20, 2008
The Media Development Center, 213 Hale Library, will be open noon-4 p.m. this week, Aug. 18-22.
Its fall semester schedule will start this Saturday, Aug. 23.
Sunday 1-10 p.m.
Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday noon-5 p.m.
Security tip of the week
Don't fall for "Antivirus 2008 XP" rogue software!
by Harvard Townsend, IT securitypublished Aug. 19, 2008
In the last week, four computers in one K-State department were compromised and used to send massive amounts of spam to recipients all over the world. Likewise, I was contacted by a K-State employee who had warning messages pop up repeatedly on her home computer telling her the computer was infected and she needed to purchase special software to fix it. The common denominator in all five cases is rogue anti-spyware software called "Antivirus 2008 XP" (aka "Antivirus XP 2008") that's making the rounds on the Internet.
Typically, this malware gets installed when you click on a malicious link in a spam e-mail. Symantec reports that this fake security software has been associated with spam e-mails that claim to provide "updates to Microsoft products, including the Malicious Software Removal Tool and Internet Explorer 7, videos with adult material, and news alerts from CNN and MSNBC."
Once installed, it pretends to scan your computer and then claims to have found a large number of security risks that can only be removed by buying their software. The risks are all fake and the rogue software continues to pester you from that point on with incessant pop-up warnings like these:
If your computer gets infected with Antivirus 2008 XP, do not click on any links in any of the pop-up warnings. Contact your IT support person, the Technology Service Center, or the IT Help Desk for assistance in removing this malware. You can also find removal instructions by searching Google for "Antivirus 2008 XP removal", but be careful that the instructions and/or removal tool you use are provided by a reputable website.
K-State's Trend Micro OfficeScan will detect some forms of this malware, and newer web browsers will try to prevent you from visiting malicious websites known to contain this rogue software. However, the spam e-mail messages used to distribute this malware, the installation files, and host websites are constantly changing, so these tools cannot prevent 100 percent of the infections. The best prevention is for YOU to never click on a suspicious link or attachment!
Tegrity lectures being converted to MP4 format
by Molly Small, Office of Mediated Educationpublished Aug. 19, 2008
Tegrity lectures in K-State Online are currently being converted to an MP4 video format for delivery in the new Axio Flash player. The Flash player makes it easier for students to view video, including converted Tegrity videos, without having to download additional plug-ins. The decision was made to move away from Tegrity's proprietary format to an open, popular format and as a result of the recent IT Needs Assessment survey.
Converting the thousands of videos online will not be completed until October. Some lectures will continue to play in Tegrity format while conversion is being completed. Tegrity lectures will continue to work, but will be accessed in an MP4 format. See this one-minute example of a video converted from Tegrity to Flash.
Faculty do not need to do anything for the conversion of their lectures. The Office of Mediated Education is handling the converting, uploading, and replacement of current Tegrity lectures in all K-State Online courses. Questions about the Tegrity conversion to MP4 can be sent to Bryan Vandiviere, bzv@k-state.edu.
Emergency information link on K-State homepage?
by the editors, InfoTech Tuesdaypublished Aug. 19, 2008
When did the "Emergency information" link get put on K-State's homepage?
The Emergency information link was placed in the left sidebar of the K-State homepage yesterday, Aug. 18.
It points to the university's guide that has contact information and instructions for handling various types of threats, including fires, tornadoes, hazardous substances, shooters, suspicious packages, medical emergencies, and more.
This first iteration of the information (associated with the link or available from the link) will be updated over time.
K-State search enhancements: Tabs, format, faster results
by Janelle Corkill, Computing and Telecommunications Servicespublished Aug. 19, 2008
K-State’s new search debuts this Thursday, Aug. 21, and racks up improvements three ways — by using Google, providing quicker visual access to search results, and updating the format of the People Directory results.
The webpage-search results are powered by a Google Search Appliance (GSA) purchased in cooperation with K-State Libraries and K-State Research and Extension. The GSA produces more relevant search results and enables the popular "Did you mean" feature that catches and offers to automatically correct potential spelling errors.
"Three tabs" format
The most obvious change is that results will be presented on a page with three tabs, just like many other popular search sites. The new tabs mean less scrolling and quicker access to specific search results.
The new search still searches three information sources:
- K-State webpages
- K-State people
- K-State departments, units, and organizations
Search results for People Directory
The format of People Directory search results has been improved by observing how people use that data. First, people scan the list of possible matches by name, and second, they scan for identifying information — such as class/major for students, and title/department for faculty and staff.
In the new format, names are larger and more prominent, and identifying information stands out and is more clearly associated with the name.
