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Archive: October 5, 2005

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Security and
Internet Services

Security home

LOOK OUT KATRINA SCAMS. HERE COMES RITA!
In the wake of Hurricane Rita comes a new wave of online donation scams. You can expect to see fraudulent e-mails and websites with subjects and names similar to those that followed Katrina. See Sept. 23 ZDNet News: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5878884.html.

SPAM JUSTICE IS SERVED
A major spam case resulted in indictments for three people. They are accused of sending tens of millions of unsolicited messages. See http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5843505.html.

SEPTEMBER SPAM AND VIRUS STATS
In September, 2005 central e-mail spam controls blocked 12,964,247 messages. Anti-virus controls blocked an additional 33,571 messages.

Network and Telecommunication
Services

NTS home

UPDATING CAMPUS WIRING: CRP
As part of the network upgrade NTS is updating campus building wiring for a faster and more reliable data network. This phase is called the Communication Restoration Project (CRP). This project will identify substandard wiring that prevents full use of gig service to the desktop.

CRP PLANS AND PROGRESS
The Communication Restoration Project is expected to span the next few years while NTS evaluates each building and makes corrections. The CRP will improve the power distribution to the equipment, security, and environmental conditions of locations that may have lead to decreased reliability. The progress and plans will be available on the NTS website in November 2005.

PAY PHONES AND CAMPUS PHONES ON CAMPUS
Although the number of pay phones on campus will be greatly reduced, many will be replaced with campus phones as a courtesy of NTS. The campus phones will be available for local calls, 911, and University information. You can download a 1MB PDF map of campus phone locations from the NTS website: http://www.umn.edu/nts/campusphones/map.pdf.

GOPHER GIGANET PROJECT SURVEY RESPONSES
We received very valuable information from the 40 responses to our online survey. More than 50% of the respondents visited web page news and information. Most rated the overall network upgrade, communications, and technical information very well. Also, most have noticed an improvement to their network connection; some remarked that we did an outstanding job without using outside consultants. Responses will be at http://www.umn.edu/nts/networkupgrade.

Academic and
Distributed
Computing
Services

ADCS home

1-HELP CALLS IN SEPTEMBER
September is always a very busy time on the Technology Helpline. This year was no exception. The consultants on 1-HELP answered over 14,000 calls during September 2005. The majority (over 6,600 calls) were about Internet connections and e-mail configurations. Over 2,100 were for Internet password resets.

BEWARE IRBOTS: DO NOT CLINK ON INSTANT MESSAGE LINKS
We're been seeing an IRBot outbreak on campus spreading via MSN Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. Infected computers will send an Instant Message to everyone on their "buddy list." Generally the messages contain a short sentence and a link to a web page that tries to download the virus onto your computer.

HANDLING INSTANT MESSAGE LINKS
If you do click on a link in an Instant Message, and you are asked if you want to open it, run it, or save it to your disk, cancel the download! Then ask your "buddy" if they really sent the message. More information on the Safecomputing website at http://safecomputing.umn.edu.

NEW SEMINAR: RESPONDUS 3 ORIENTATION
This seminar provides an overview of Respondus, a new tool available to UM faculty and course designers who use WebCT Vista for online quizzes. Respondus allows instructors to create quiz questions offline as a text file, which can later be imported into Vista. For more information see http://uttc.umn.edu.

NEW SEMINAR: PODCASTING ORIENTATION
Toss out your transistor radio and grab your iPod! This new seminar provides an overview of podcasting, an emerging technology that allows the user to subscribe to radio-style audio broadcasts and play them back whenever they want. The orientation will also cover some of the methods for podcasting audio and how this might be applicable for education. For more information see http://uttc.umn.edu.

UPDATED COURSE: SAS 9 PROGRAMMING I - ESSENTIALS
Would you like to expand your SAS programming skills? This new course explores writing SAS programs to accomplish typical data processing tasks. SAS Programming I builds on the concepts and skills presented in SAS Introduction to Programming Concepts. For more information see http://uttc.umn.edu.

A SUCCESS: MICROSOFT STUDENT SELECT PROGRAM
So far this fall 9,700 orders have been processed for students under the Microsoft campus agreement program. More info here http://www.umn.edu/ms4students.

GOODBYE MEETING MAKER. HELLO UMCAL
OIT is now officially out of the Meeting Maker business; we no longer provide upgrades or support. We are concentrating our support on UMCal, a University wide personal calendar management and scheduling system. Note: current Meeting Maker users can still run the product without violating any contract terms. UMCal info at http://www.umn.edu/umcal.

REMINDER: AUTOFILING CONTENTS OF LARGE INBOX
Central e-mail users who have a large amount of e-mail in their inbox will receive notice that they may have old e-mail moved into a folder called AutoFiled. This folder is viewable by WebMail or any e-mail client set up for IMAP. More information about this process is at http://www.umn.edu/adcs/accounts/emailautofiling.html.

REMINDER: WATCH TECH TALK SEASON #4
Need help explaining or understanding the digital technology we encounter in our daily lives? On Tech Talk (aired on TPT 17 on Sundays at 9 p.m.) University and local experts discuss a broad range of topics. Season 4 begins on November 6 with Home Networking. More at http://techtalk.umn.edu.

Digital
Media
Center

DMC home

OCT 10 MEETING: EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS FORUM
Peter Weinhold and Chad Fennell from the University Libraries will discuss "Developing a Podcasting Framework: Producing Podcasts in a University Environment" with campus developers of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) projects: OCT 10, 3-4:30 PM, 402 WALTER. See http://dmc.umn.edu/etf/schedule05.shtml.

OCT 25 COURSE: FOSTERING ONLINE COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION
Instructors can explore a variety of strategies for promoting online communication and collaboration in technology-enhanced learning environments in our a 3.5-hour seminar. Fees are waived for eligible faculty members. To register, see http://uttc.umn.edu/training/courses/description.jsp?secName=TEL121.

NOV 2 SEMINAR: USING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL ACCESS
Panelists will discuss how learning technologies can be used to disseminate University research and service work to outside communities or involve outside communities in this work: NOV 2, NOON-1:30 PM, 155 PETERS HALL. This TEL seminar also will be broadcast online. See http://dmc.umn.edu/series/fall05.shtml#2.

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