News, Tips, and Information for NC State University from
Information Technology Division's Computing Services and Systems
For up-to-the-minute reports on ITD-supported systems, see SysNews

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* TOC * Table of Contents

-01- Security Reminders!
-02- Unity POP email services end February 1!
-03- Help Desk moves to Room 106, Hillsborough Bldg.
-04- Campus-wide Brickyard/Oracle calendar roll-out delayed
-05- ArcGIS Desktop for $9.99 and other software news
-06-ClassTech offers ADVICE
-07- Free technology training offered to students
-08- Computing Essentials web site wins award

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* 01 *   
Security Reminders!

The continuing onslaught of virus, hacker and password cracker attacks puts private information, critical work data, and the campus computing network at risk. Here are some important security reminders from the NC State Help Desk and ITD’s security staff:

Keep your antivirus protection updated - NC State requires that all computers connected to the campus network have antivirus software installed and up-to-date. NC State faculty, staff and students can down load free copies of the latest Symantec Corporate AntiVirus for campus and home computers: http://www.ncsu.edu/antivirus/
Keep operating systems patched - If possible on your computer, enable the “automatic update” feature, or check the vendor’s site weekly. For help, see http://www.ncsu.edu/resnet/security/updates.php
Change your password - ITD’s new Unity Password Change Tool makes it easier for faculty, staff and students to create new, stronger passwords for Unity accounts: http://www.ncsu.edu/password/
Back up your computer files – And keep the copies in a location separate from your computer
Use spam filters: If unsolicited commercial email (a.k.a. span) is interfering with your campus email service, check that your PureMessage filtering options are set appropriately. For help, see http://www.ncsu.edu/it/mail/puremessage/#PMfilter or http://www.ncsu.edu/it/essentials/email_messaging/pure_message/webmail.html

For more advice on safe computing at NC State see http://www.ncsu.edu/it/essentials/antivirus_security/safe_computing.html

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Unity POP email services end February 1

Last fall, ITD Systems announced they would discontinue offering POP (Post Office Protocol) email services, effective February 1, 2006. Users of Unity POP email services were informed of the change by email and encouraged to move to Unity IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) email services before the POP "end-of-life" date.

Remaining POP email users should begin the process of moving to IMAP email soon, in case technical support is needed to avoid transition problems. Instructions for converting accounts from POP to IMAP are posted at http://www.ncsu.edu/it/essentials/email_messaging/imap/howmove.html

In addition, Systems has created a new online tool that makes it easier for POP email users to request quota changes and other modifications to their IMAP account before the move is made: https://sysnews.ncsu.edu/tools-php/pop2imap.php

For more information on this change, please contact the NC State University
Help Desk at help@ncsu.edu or 515-HELP(4357).

As noted in the original SysNews posting, "This decision was made after careful consideration of the business needs of the university, and the cost needed to support two mail protocols." For background information, see "POP mail end-of-life announcement"; http://sysnews.ncsu.edu/news/000d8ea2

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Help Desk moves to Room 106, Hillsborough

The NC State University Help Desk has moved to a new location. Formerly located in Room 208 Hillsborough Building, Help Desk staff are now downstairs in the more easily accessible and newly renovated Room 106. The Help Desk is open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.- 6 p.m. Stop by and visit Room 106; send email to help@ncsu.edu; or check out the online knowledgebase and chat online with a computing consultant at http://help.ncsu.edu

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Campus-wide Brickyard Oracle Calendar roll out delayed

Due to unforeseen difficulties with the new Oracle 10g technologies and staff shortages, ITD has been forced to delay the campus-wide deployment of the Brickyard Oracle Calendar for NC State students, faculty and staff. ITD apologizes for the inconvenience. Steady progress is being made on the project; a complete summary is posted at http://brickyard.ncsu.edu/news.html. A definite date for the delivery of the Brickyard Oracle Calendar to the entire campus cannot be given at this time.

In the interim, ITD will upgrade existing Oracle Calendar services on campus. Current Oracle Calendar users will soon see a more robust system; they will be able to add their new employees and a limited number of student accounts on a pilot basis. To receive updates on the progress of the NC State Brickyard Oracle Calendar project, you are invited to join the 'brickyard_news' list. Visit http://brickyard.ncsu.edu/ for more information, send email to help@ncsu.edu or call 515-HELP.

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ClassTech offers ADVICE

ClassTech, ITD's classroom technology support and consultation service, will continue to offer its popular series of ADVICE (Audio Visual ClassTech Education) sessions in the spring semester. The ADVICE program provides information on the AV products and concepts. Classes planned for this semester include
"Can You Hear Me (Now)? Fundamentals of Audio"; and "Playing with Signals: Interfacing, Conversion, and Routing."

The ADVICE classes are free and open to interested faculty, staff and students. No registration is neccessary. For more information, see http://www.ncsu.edu/classtech/advice/index.html

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ArcGIS Desktop for $9.99 and other software news

As a result of ITD's work in cooperation with the UNC General Administration and NCSU Bookstores, NC State students as well as faculty and staff can now purchase many software packages at significant discounts. For example, the student edition of Mathematica for home use is available for $3.99, and the ArcGIS Desktop/ ArcInfo Workstation set costs $9.99 at the campus bookstore. Adobe products are available to students at Contractual Licensing Program (CLP) prices. Students need to ask the bookstore staff for these specially licensed products and present their campus IDs to purchase the software at these reduced prices.

Under a new agreement with NC State, WebAssign has reduced its prices for NC State students. Beginning this semester, the cost for WebAssign access will be $8.65 for each class or $22.95 for an All Class Access Code (offered exclusively to NC State). As before, faculty and TAs may use WebAssign free of charge to teach their classes. Students enrolled in classes that use Webassign will be able to purchase access online directly from Webassign. For more information, see the Webassign FAQ: http://www.ncsu.edu/it/essentials/software_ncstate/webassign/
For more information about Software@ NC State see http://www.ncsu.edu/it/essentials/software_ncstate/

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Free technology training offered to students

ITD Computing Services Education Program is offering free technology workshops for NC State students, faculty and staff. Workshop topics include learning skills in Photoshop, Excel, Word and PowerPoint and also learning how to create a webpage with Dreamweaver. For more information about these and other technology workshops offered free of charge, please go to http://www.ncsu.edu/itd/education.

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Computing Essentials web site wins award

The Computing Essentials site (http://www.ncsu.edu/itd/essentials/) received the 2005 "Overall Winner" Communications Award for computing services web sites from the international Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services (ACM SIGUCCS). The award was presented to Rob Gierka, ITD Computing Services head of publications, at the annual SIGUCCS fall conference. For more information see http://www.ncsu.edu/it/news/SIGUCCSaward05-Essentials.html

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