The Help Desk will close Wednesday, November 25, at 5 PM and will remain closed through Friday, November 27, for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

We will return to normal operating hours Monday, November 30.

If there is a campus emergency affecting campus servers or IT services, please dial (704) 894-2900 and select option 4.

If you have a non-emergency request or problem, please email the Help Desk or leave a voicemail by dialing (704) 894-2900 and selecting option 1 or 2. Messages will be responded to once the Help Desk reopens.

Our normal business hours are Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Snow Leopard -- aka Mac OS X 10.6 -- is in the Davidson testing pipe. That's good news, but it's also a warning: If you use non-standard software that isn't provided or supported by ITS, you should be checking now to make sure it's compatible with 10.6. That way, when the upgrade becomes available campus-wide, you'll know if you're ready to move or not.

There are two easy ways to ensure compatibility.

It's the kind of thing that everyone knows and figures should go without saying: You spend a lot of time on your work, so make an extra copy of it just in case, right? The average hard drive probably holds years' worth of information and work, some of it irreplaceable. So you're backing it up, aren't you?

Are you sure? Every standard computer here at Davidson comes with a backup system that's installed with the computer and configured to run automatically, but have you checked yours lately to be sure it's running? There are a lot of pieces required to make a regular, automatic backup work correctly, and even one item out of place can halt or block the backup. If you're not checking yours occasionally to make sure it's running right, you should be. Here's how.

• How to ensure your backups are running in Mac OS X 10.4


• How to ensure your backups are running in Mac OS X 10.5


• How to ensure your backups are running in Windows XP

If you're in line for a new computer in the near future, you may be interested in ITS' newest standard configuration, based on Apple's recently-updated iMac lineup. The new standard desktop includes:

• a true 16:9 screen with bright, low-power LED backlighting (both bigger and brighter than the previous 20" model)
  
• 4GB of memory
  
• a 500GB hard drive (up 180GB over the previous standard)
  
• dual-layer DVD optical
  
• an SD card reader (no more cables or weird adapters to get pictures off your digital camera)
  
• the new wireless multi-touch Magic Mouse
  
• a 2.66GHz processor (up from 2.06 on the previous model)
  

As always, ITS is very happy to be able to offer our users a full range of hardware options to meet the demands of the College's mission. If you have questions, or want to discuss purchasing a new machine, please don't hesitate to contact us.

It is time to think about your spring semester classroom technology needs and we would be most grateful if you could submit your requests by October 16th. This date is earlier than it has been in past years as a key ITS staff member will be on leave beginning December and we want to allow ample time for testing the lab and classroom setup for the spring semester.

To see the services and software we currently offer in the computer labs and classrooms, please visit http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x23259.xml. From here you can request any additional needs you may have.

If you have any questions, please contact Shauna'h Fuegen, Student Computing Services Coordinator.

Thank you for helping us better serve your computing needs.

Has all the talk in the media about Windows 7 had you wondering what Windows 7 is and what happened to Windows Vista? Does the media buzz remind you that at one point ITS was talking about upgrading to Windows Vista from Windows XP across campus? Well, here is the latest information to satisfy those burning questions.

We had the pleasure of assisting approximately 255 students at the computer setup fair. Check out some of the pictures.

In the rapidly changing face of online communications, Information Technology Services (ITS) is staying nimble and meeting students where they are on Facebook and Twitter. These social-networking sites serve as direct discussion forums between Davidson students and ITS staff. Read all about it at:

http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x36726.xml

Inside Davidson, the new campus intranet, is now up and running. Beginning this fall, campus communication will increasingly be made available in Inside Davidson. Reports from the various strategic implementation teams, payroll pay stubs, minutes from faculty meetings, etc - will be posted to Inside Davidson. We ask you to set Inside Davidson as your startup webpage. For assistance with changing your default page - please email the Help Desk (helpdesk@davidson.edu) or call extension 2900. You may also follow the instructions below

Safari - Mac
Firefox - Mac

Internet Explorer - Windows
Firefox - Windows

We are pleased to announce the addition of the Plan-A-Meeting feature to Event Management Systems (EMS).
When you visit the EMS Website, and make a 'Room Request', you will see new options to add events to your personal calendar and email calendar invitations to attendees.

How to: Invite attendees to your events using the Plan-A-Meeting feature in EMS.

EMS is used by the campus community to coordinate the requests and booking of spaces and services on campus. (More EMS Info and FAQ's).

EMS documentation and training videos can be found on Blackboard.

If you have questions, please contact the Help Desk (helpdesk@davidson.edu, x-2900).

To keep our campus wireless system secure and virus free, we will begin deploying a new access control system, known as Bradford Campus Manager, on Monday, August 3rd. The existing control system, Cisco Clean Access, no longer delivers the comprehensive security, performance, or coverage required for safe computing.

All college and personally owned laptops that connect to the Davidson wireless network will need to download and install the new Bradford Campus Manager software before gaining wireless access. This change does not affect office computers. The Bradford software will only need to be downloaded and installed one time per device. To install the Bradford Campus Manager and register your computer on the network, you will need to connect to the wireless network, open your browser, and follow the prompts on the screen. The requirements for gaining access to the wireless network will remain the same as they were with Cisco Clean Access. These requirements include having up-to-date Macintosh and Windows patches and an up-to-date version of Sophos Anti-Virus.

As always, we are here to help. If you need assistance or have any questions, please call or email the Help Desk (helpdesk@davidson.edu or x-2900).

Did you know that Davidson faculty, staff and students are eligible for software discounts? Through Davidson's membership in NCICU (North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities) Davidson employees and students may purchase personal copies of select Adobe and Microsoft products at reduced rates. Visit www.shopscholar.com, select North Carolina and then Davidson College to view the school store.

Right now Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 is being offered at an additionally discounted rate of $59.98. This offer is valid until October 31, 2009.

Under the terms of our printer service agreement with OfficeMax, Davidson College is eligible to receive one Preventive Maintenance Inspection per networked printer per year at no charge. This free service applies to networked HP printers purchased through ITS.

To request the inspection, complete the OfficeMax Printer Service form. The username is DAVIDSON (or any combination of capital and/or lower case letters). The password is COLLEGE. Click on "Order Service" and request an "annual preventive maintenance inspection" in the problem field. Click on the Save button to submit your request.

Do you spend time on Facebook or Twitter? If so, you can keep up-to-date with the latest happenings at ITS using these social networking sites.

ITS at Davidson is pleased to announce its presence on both Facebook and Twitter. Follow along as we announce new initiatives, offer helpful tips and share the latest news about campus technology.

Join us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

We look forward to sharing our latest news with you, and hope that you are having an enjoyable summer.

The Help Desk will be closed Friday, July 3, for the 4th of July holiday.

If there is a campus emergency affecting campus servers or IT services, please dial 704-894-2900 and select option 4.

If you have a non-emergency request or problem, please send the Help Desk email or leave voice mail (704-894-2900, select option 1 or 2).

We will contact you when the Help Desk reopens. Our summer business hours are Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Help Desk will close Thursday, June 25, from noon until 2:00 PM for the annual ITS picnic lunch.

If there is a campus emergency affecting campus servers or IT services during this time, please dial (704) 894-2900 and select option 4.

If you have a non-emergency request or problem, please email the Help Desk or leave a voicemail by dialing (704) 894-2900 and selecting option 1 or 2. Messages will be responded to once the Help Desk reopens Thursday afternoon.

*The Help Desk summer schedule is Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. In August, the Help Desk will return to normal business hours, Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

If you use Time Machine to back up your Mac (as all 10.5-equipped workstations on campus do), backups are pretty much automatic. That's fine, right up to the point where TM starts alerting you that your backup drive is full, and it's going to delete older backups. Under normal circumstances, this is a completely worry-free aspect of the software's behavior. It's just removing out-of-date material to make room for current data.

If your drive seems to have filled up unnaturally fast, though, it can be kind of disconcerting. Especially since Time Machine's backup file structure makes it difficult to tell exactly what's eating up all your space. This is where soma-zone's BackupLoupe comes in handy.

We are pleased to formally launch Inside Davidson, a new Web-based intranet system intended to be the primary information and communication tool for employees.

As Inside Davidson becomes the primary tool for getting information about College doings, checking the site daily will become more and more important. The simplest way to make sure you remember to peek at the page regularly is to make it your browser's home page. Depending on your browser, there are several ways to accomplish this, all of them fast and simple.

Mac users running Safari can either set their home page manually with this quick process, or they may opt to grab a copy of our Set Home Page tool, which will automatically reconfigure Safari to use Inside Davidson as its home page. Mac folks using Firefox can use this simple manual procedure.

On the Windows side, use this easy procedure for Internet Explorer, or this process for Firefox.

If you have problems accessing Inside Davidson, please don't hesitate to contact the Help Desk for assistance!

Starting Monday, May 18, the Help Desk moves to its summer schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Help Desk closes at 10:00 AM Friday, May 22 for the All-Campus Spring Meeting and remains closed Monday, May 25, in observance of Memorial Day. Help Desk staff will respond to messages Tuesday, May 26.

If there is a campus emergency affecting campus servers or IT services, dial (704) 894-2900 and select option 4.

If you have a non-emergency request or problem, email the Help Desk or leave voicemail at (704) 894-2900.

Have a good holiday.

We invite you to drop in and talk with faculty colleagues using technology in creative and interesting new ways to enrich teaching and learning. ITS' instructional technologists will also be available to answer questions in what will be our first annual Teaching with Technology Fair. If you have considered teaching with technology and want to learn more about what works, what does not, and how you can get started with support from ITS, please drop by the 900 Room on May 12 any time between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

As previously noted in this space, Evernote is an excellent tool for storing, searching and retrieving just about any kind of document from just about any computer. Entourage, on the other hand, isn't renowned for its user-friendly search. Put those two facts back to back like that, and you have a unique opportunity to polish your AppleScript chops and solve a problem.

What? No AppleScript chops?

No problem...Justin at Veritrope has already put together a little tool to help you out. His Entourage to Evernote AppleScript takes any selected Entourage email and turns it into one or more Evernote entries, complete with tagging and notebook assignments.

I'll walk you through the process. It's not difficult, it won't take long, and the result is worth the effort -- I use this script myself, and it's been most handy.

You are invited to the semiannual used computer equipment sale on Friday, May 1st from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. in the Sprinkle Room of the Knobloch Campus Center.

Computers will be sold on a first come first served basis. A signup sheet will be posted at 7:30 a.m. on Friday morning and doors will open at 9:00 a.m. Sales will be handled sequentially per the signup sheet. You or your designated representative will need to be present when your name is called to retain your place.

There's a lot of good information floating around the Web. That's a good thing. It's also a bad thing, since finding a few grains of wheat can require sifting a great deal of chaff. Search PDF helps you with that sifting when you need a book, ebook or instructional PDF.

Just open the Search PDF web page and enter a search phrase, book title, etc. From the list of returned links, you can open a direct link to the PDF (using your preferred viewer), or click View to preview the PDF using Scribd's iPaper (so there's no need to start up a separate piece of software on your machine). Search PDF is very much a single-purpose tool, but it does an excellent job of wading through the worst of the irrelevant material, helping you to narrow your searches more rapidly and effectlvely than a straight-up Google search.

We invite you to let us know about your Fall semester 2009 classroom technology and course content needs. We will work on fulfilling those needs over the summer break and ask that you submit your request by May 15, 2009. Also, our Instructional Technologists are available to work with you in preparing course content.

To see the services and software currently offered in the technology classrooms and computers labs, please visit http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x23259.xml. From here you may make additional requests. Software requested for the Spring semester 2009 will continue to be deployed for the Fall semester unless otherwise requested.

Thank you for helping us better serve your instructional computing and course content needs.

It's no great secret. You know it and we know it -- few things in life are more boring than waiting for your computer to reboot. It's a time sink when you have work to do on the machine, and a distraction when you need to be working elsewhere.

It's also one of the single most important things you can do to keep your machine -- and the College's network -- safe and secure.

With that enticing bon mot, tools developers Print What You Like (PWYL) introduce a simple tool called PageZipper. This unique tool quickly and simply merges the contents of multipage articles into a single page for quick reading/skimming (ad-supported sites are notorious for breaking up their content to increase pageviews). PWYL's summary of PageZipper says it best:

Ever read one of those top ten lists or photo galleries where every item is on a different page? You spend more time clicking "Next" and waiting than actually reading anything. PageZipper is a free bookmarklet which automatically merges all the "Next" pages into one, so you can skip directly to the stuff you want.

We are pleased to announce the availability of Davidson's iTunes U site located at http://itunes.davidson.edu. iTunes U, the educational component of the popular iTunes music store, is quickly emerging as a dominant new platform in the delivery of educational, instructional and cultural content in a rich media format.

Everyone's had it happen at least once. You leave the domicile in a rush and reach your destination with only minutes to spare, whip out your computer or flash drive, and promptly discover you don't have the document you need. No? Then maybe you've lost that one bookmark you really wanted to revisit in the wash of hundreds of favorites, misplaced a receipt for an online purchase, or accidentally chucked an important piece of paperwork or business card.

All of these problems have a single, simple, elegant solution: Evernote.

I discovered Evernote months ago while it was in beta, tried it briefly, and forgot about it. For some reason, I wasn't impressed. Tweaked by friends who are avid users of the current release, I jumped back into the service two months ago, and have since become completely addicted. Evernote is, as its name implies, a single repository for your documents. Here's how it works.

Please check out the September 2009 NITLE opportunities. There is an interesting and diverse set of offerings including - pedagogical implications of wireless and mobile technologies, using technology for collaborative student projects, handling information overload, ethics of information, emerging technologies and so much more. If you wish to attend any of these opportunities, please email Mur Muchane

A virus named "Conficker" (also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido) has been very much in the news these past few days. The virus infects Microsoft Windows computers and is reported to have an activation date of April 1st, 2009. We want to provide information to you about what ITS has done to protect our campus systems and what you can do with your home systems.

Microsoft released a patch for this virus in late 2008. Shortly after this release, ITS began requiring this patch on both student and college-owned systems connected to the Davidson network. Our primary defenses against such viruses, Sophos anti-virus and Brightmail, are constantly scanning inbound e-mail and documents for suspicious or malicious files and attachments. Both of these systems are constantly updated with new and better ways to detect viruses and block them before they reach campus computers.

For home computers, we recommend you review the Microsoft website (link below) for advice on protecting your personal computer. At the very least, ensure that your home computer is fully updated with the latest patches from Microsoft and running updated anti-virus software.

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/worms/conficker.mspx.

Everyone knows Google is an excellent search engine for text and links. Fewer know that it's a great way to find images as well. Until recently, though, only a very few people realized that you can also search Google's database of images according to the color of the image. Here's how.

First, load up Google Image Search. Then enter the keywords you need to specify the category of images you want to search for. For purposes of this example, I'll search for "car." Obviously, this is really, really broad -- the basic search returns about 129 million results.

Have you been spending late nights barricaded inside the new group study rooms in the Belk lab, yet had no idea what they were called? Nameless no more, these comfortable and group-friendly rooms have brand new monikers: The Think Tank and the Digital Den!

The names were selected after a month-long contest filled with 147 submissions from students. In total, four lucky Wildcats were selected for suggesting the winning names: Daniel Cook, Kayla McCann, Alayne Kane and Evan Colbert.

If you haven't already, come check out the new Think Tank and Digital Den the next time you're in Belk and see what everyone is talking about!

ITS is interested in soliciting your feedback about all the services we provide including Help Desk, Instructional Technology, Systems & Networks, and Administrative Systems. We are pleased to offer a new and improved customer satisfaction survey which will be automatically triggered for every fifth Help Desk ticket closed (so you will not receive a survey each time you contact the Help Desk). If you receive a survey, I hope you will take a few minutes to tell us how we are doing. You may also contact me directly by email or at x2672.

By way of a reminder, answers to your technology questions are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through Answers Online, a self-service resource customized for your use. You may also view or create Help Desk tickets through Answers Online. I hope you will take advantage of this valuable tool. Contact Lydia Lorenzin (x2431) if you have any suggestions for improving Answers Online.

A new piece of Windows malware is going around that offers to "fix" your files. What it actually does is encrypt your files (including Word documents and pictures), then demand money to decrypt them.

Details are still sketchy, but one way people have caught this is through a bogus MP3 file downloaded from file sharing sites. Exercise extreme caution!

On Tuesday morning, March 17th, a software update will be required on each campus computer which uses Banner. While the desktop updates are software driven, they require manual acknowledgements through the process. A step-by-step guide is available. Open the "March 2009 - Banner 7 Installation document (pdf)" document.
You will not need to do anything before March 17th. Your computer will know if it is lacking the proper software and start the installation process that morning (or whenever you next try to start Banner).

Most people bump up against this scenario once or twice. You're browsing the Web happily enough, then you click a link and - whammo - a non-English page pops up, and your pleasant browse comes to a screeching halt, because whatever language the page is in, you can't read it. Well, as seems so often to be the case, Google to the rescue. Say hello to the "To English" bookmarklet.

There are other ways, even some that are automated, to translate pages, but this is by far the simplest tool I've found. The bookmarklet is just a bit of JavaScript that takes advantage of the Google Translate service. Here, try it for yourself. Just click and hold on the "To English" below, and drag it to your bookmarks or favorites bar:

To English

Over the next two months, please take time to review your CMS content. Do you have pages that are no longer used? Or events that have come & gone? If yes, delete them from webcontent\buildsite. Page cleanup will help optimize our site, and reduce backup and maintenance times.

A note regarding Events: re-using old events is not recommended. Developing templates that have NO DATE selected in them provides the best results.

Thank you for helping with the Spring Cleanup!

DukeNet, our Internet service provider, is planning equipment maintenance this Wednesday, March 4th. Their work begins at 6:00 a.m. and may continue until 7:30 a.m. During this window all external network connectivity will be unavailable, VPN services included.

If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to Robert Lee (rolee@davidson.edu).

Social networking for academics! Take a look at academia.edu - a family tree of academics and a news feed for academic research, started by Richard Price at the University of Oxford. Instructional Technology created the initial Davidson College department space and invited a few interested parties to try it out. See who's there and what they've posted, then add your own research. If you happen to be a Facebook user, you can add a Facebook connect. Read more on the background and purpose of the site.

How can you transform copyrighted materials for media literacy instruction? The Center for Social Media at American University has published a code of best practices in fair use for media literacy education that identifies five guiding principles about acceptable practices for fair use of copyrighted materials. The code of best practices was created by over 150 education leaders and reviewed by legal scholars and experts in copyright and fair use. Although the site does touch on the use of media materials as is, the document is meant to address media literacy instruction that is transformational and constructive - creating media messages to develop critical thinking and communication skills.

DukeNet, our Internet connectivity provider, plans maintenance this Wednesday, February 4th at 6:00 a.m. We anticipate the resulting outage will be very brief--approximately five minutes. During this short window all external network connectivity will be unavailable, including VPN services.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Robert Lee by replying to this message.

On Tuesday, February 3rd, we will push install Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (IE7), long held back awaiting vendor certifications with most campus software, out to Windows computers. This version of Microsoft's browser is a substantial upgrade from Internet Explorer 6. It includes features now common in other web browsers such as anti-phishing, tabbing, and an overall better user interface. The transition will take a matter of minutes, be done in the background, and you may continue to work as usual during the process.

When you open Internet Explorer 7 for the first time you will be redirected to a "Customize Your Settings" page. Please select the following:

Section A. Please select "Keep my current default search provider." Section B. Please place a √ beside "Turn on automatic phishing filter" Please leave all other options as they are by default. After you "Save your settings" you may take a tour of the new features of Internet 7 or close your browser.

If you would like to take a tour of IE 7 before the upgrade, please see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/tour/fre/interface/. Please do not download it from the Microsoft web site. For future support and maintenance, we will install it on your computer via the campus network.

Beginning Monday January 19th, there will be a change in the way campus guests obtain access to the wireless network. The change keeps us compliant with current legal requirements. Anyone planning a visit to campus may request a temporary guest account in advance of their visit. Similarly, sponsors bringing visitors to campus may request temporary guest accounts. During regular business hours, guest access may be obtained by contacting the Help Desk (helpdesk@davidson.edu or x-2900). After hours, guests may obtain access at the following locations: Library Reference Desk, Guest House and Campus Center. For more information about this change, please visit: http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x34549.xml

The Help Desk is closed from 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 23 until 8:00 a.m. on Monday, January 5.

If there is a campus emergency affecting campus servers or IT services, please dial (704) 894-2900 and select option 4.

If you have a non-emergency request or problem, please email the Help Desk or leave a voicemail by dialing (704) 894-2900 and selecting option 1 or 2. Messages will be responded to once the Help Desk reopens.

For answers to common computing questions, visit ITS Answers Online at http://help.davidson.edu

The Help Desk will be closed from noon until 2:00 PM on Thursday, December 11.

If there is a campus emergency affecting campus servers or IT services during this time, please dial (704) 894-2900 and select option 4.

If you have a non-emergency request or problem, please email the Help Desk or leave a voicemail by dialing (704) 894-2900 and selecting option 1 or 2. We will respond to your messages when we return.

Happy Holidays to all from the ITS staff.

Spring courses are now loaded onto Blackboard. As a courtesy to students, we will make all fall semester 2008 courses "unavailable" on January 08, 2009. The courses will still be visible to you. If you have any questions or want additional training on Blackboard, please do not hesitate to contact an ITS Instructional Technologist.

We also remind you to let us know about your spring semester 2009 classroom technology needs. We will work on fulfilling those needs over the winter break. To see the services and software we currently offer in the computer labs and classrooms, please visit http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x23259.xml. From this site you may make additional requests. Software requested for fall semester 2008 will continue to be deployed for the spring semester unless otherwise requested.

In order to enhance the group study experience with technology, ITS is offering the use of TeamSpot, a collaborative software intended for group assignments, in three locations on campus. Faculty and students can find TeamSpot in the two new collaborative rooms in the Belk lab, as well as in the Library's 24 Hour Room.

With TeamSpot you can:

- Develop group projects such as papers, presentations and assignments on a common screen by editing from their personal laptops in both Windows and Mac OS

- Easily move files between computers by dragging and dropping

- Copy and paste URLs, images or text across computers

- Easily discover and share online materials and data

- Create an archive of information shared during the group session

- Work on parallel tasks and then quickly integrate the results

All of this is done without needing to switch video cables or email files to each other.

If you would like to learn more about how to use Team Spot for your group assignments, please contact Shauna'h Fuegen, Student Computing Services Coordinator (shfuegen@davidson.edu).

We are making extensive upgrades to the CMS and web infrastructure in order to meet increasing demands on our public web presence. For this reason, webcontent\buildsite will be unavailable from Tuesday evening (December 2nd) through Wednesday morning (December 3rd). Please close your client by 5:00 pm this afternoon. Any changes made after 5:00 pm will be lost.

Webcontent\buildsite should be available at 7:30 am tomorrow morning.

If you have any questions, please contact Paige Herman.

The Help Desk will close Wednesday, November 26, at 5 PM and will remain closed through Friday, November 28, for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

We will return to normal operating hours Monday, December 1.

If there is a campus emergency affecting campus servers or IT services, please dial (704) 894-2900 and select option 4.

If you have a non-emergency request or problem, please email the Help Desk or leave a voicemail by dialing (704) 894-2900 and selecting option 1 or 2. Messages will be responded to once the Help Desk reopens.

Our normal business hours are Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

In an effort to make it easier to find lab computers and check for availability, ITS is pleased to introduce a new service that allows students to find open lab computers in real-time online. The new service should be particularly useful during finals when labs are crowded, helping avoid the frustration of walking from lab to lab to find an open computer.

Visit the ITS website and click on the "Available Lab Computers" link under the "Resources" section. From there you can check all the campus computer labs. If you are interested in finding a specific computer type (Windows or Mac), the map link will show you a visual layout of each lab and display information on operating systems available on each lab computer.

As always, we welcome your feedback on how we can improve this service and/or your overall campus computing experience.

ITS is pleased to announce a new sustainability initiative that will improve the student printing experience at Davidson. PawPrint allows students to actively manage their printing in the public labs and contribute to a greener Davidson. Phase one of PawPrint begins this week in the Student Computing Center in the lower level of Belk. ITS anticipates that PawPrint will lead to a reduction in paper and toner, as well as a more organized and efficient system of printing. There is no charge to use PawPrint.

How does PawPrint Work?

• Print from any computer in the lab
• Swipe your CatCard at one of the printers
• Select which of your documents you want to print from the touch screen
• Retrieve your document(s) from the printer

In addition to the environmental benefits of conserving paper and toner, PawPrint provides the potential to offer enhanced services to students in the future, such as:

• Photocopying
• Color Printing
• The ability to retrieve printed documents from any public printer on campus

If you would like to learn more about PawPrint, please see:

http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x33387.xml

Information Technology Services recently improved campus security systems and simultaneously reduced the recurring operating costs by moving to Internet protocol (IP) communications. Prior to this change, two phone lines connected each alarm panel to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) for primary and backup communications. The system required 140 dedicated phone lines to communicate with a central monitoring service. By moving the communications to the campus PBX switch and the Internet, ITS was able to eliminate direct connections to the PSTN for each alarm panel, significantly reducing the system's recurring costs. For more details, click the link below:

http://www.cbpmagazine.com/article.php?articleid=260

Starting October 27, 2008, all campus wireless networking for college-owned computers, as well as for computers owned by students and employees, will use DavidsonSecure for wireless connectivity. This wireless network is encrypted to better protect your data. Learn more about the change.

On that date, students and employees logging in to DavidsonWLAN or WildcatNet will be directed to the upgrade instructions and must update their computers and other wireless devices to connect to DavidsonSecure before receiving network connectivity. But you don't need to wait until then - upgrade to DavidsonSecure now!

We are very pleased to announce the rollout of a new service called ITS Answers Online to extend and enhance campus technology support. The new service is a comprehensive database of answers to technology issues. This rich web-based resource allows searching on Davidson-specific solutions and a collection of over 150,000 solutions from vendors such as Adobe, Apple, Blackboard, Microsoft and SCT Banner. Starting on Monday, September 29th, you can access this new resource from the ITS website (http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x1108.xml).

If you are unable to find the solution to your question, a link on the website will open an ITS Help Desk ticket for you to detail your inquiry. You will also be able to review your open and closed Help Desk tickets.

To learn more about this new service, please plan to attend an Information Session on Monday, September 29th from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in Alvarez 313 of the Knobloch Campus Center.

Davidson College encourages students and employees to explore and use legal sources to maintain compliance with the law. ITS has provided a listing of numerous multimedia providers for the campus in an effort to promote copyright observance. The services listed allow purchase, license or download of content. Be sure to thoroughly read all service agreements and practice safe computing.

Click here to view a listing of copyright protected multimedia providers.

NITLE Update - September 2008.pdf

Please check out the September 2008 NITLE opportunities by clicking on the link above. If you wish to attend any of these opportunities, please email Mur Muchane

As part of our campus sustainability efforts, we hope you will elect to use an eco-friendly online AT&T phone directory instead of the traditional paper-based phone books we distribute each fall. To access the online AT&T phone books, browse to www.realpageslive.com You may search on the main page using City, Community or Zip or you may click on the state of North Carolina and it will show you all the NC directories.

If you wish to have a hard copy of the phone books, please contact the ITS Help Desk and we will get the books out to you.

This Saturday morning (8/30) beginning at 12:01 a.m. our Internet Service Provider, NC-REN (the North Carolina Research and Education Network) is performing major maintenance on the communications equipment into which all Charlotte area colleges and universities connect.

Because of this maintenance, we expect the campus to be without Internet access on August 30, between 12:01 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.

ITS is pleased to introduce CounterSpy, a new tool to protect campus computers from all kinds of threats including spyware and malware. CounterSpy will replace Ad-aware on standard Windows computers.

The changeover will be done over the network beginning on Wednesday, May 21st. No action is required on your part. The transition will take a matter of minutes, be done in the background, and you may continue to work as usual during the process. CounterSpy will automatically scan for malware and spyware. If your computer isn’t connected to the network on Wednesday, there’s no need to worry. CounterSpy will install automatically the next time your computer connects to the network.

If you wish to initiate a manual scan or have other questions, please refer to our instructions and Frequently Asked Questions documentation.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Help Desk with questions.

On Monday, March 24 ITS will be upgrading its Internet service with an approximately 50% boost in speed, from 42 megabits per second to 62 megabits per second. At the same time, we are building in growth potential for speeds as fast as one gigabit.

Please take a moment to review the NITLE opportunities below.There is a nomination process and it is simply letting me (Mur Muchane) know which opportunity you are interested in. These are open to faculty, technologists and librarians.

ITS is offering instructional technology workshops in web design to interested faculty. The sessions will assist faculty creating web sites for teaching and research. Additional workshops will be announced soon...

As you may know, Congress passed a law that changes the start and end dates for Daylight Saving Time (DST). The end date for DST is Sunday, November 4th, 2007.

Microsoft released the patch for the Daylight Saving Time change in August. ITS has already applied the necessary update to all campus servers and college owned computers. As a user, the update should be transparent to you and requires no additional action. Campus Apple computers did not require any updates for the DST change and are unaffected.

More information about the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Daylight Saving Time change is available from the US Department of Energy http://www.energy.gov/about/EPAct.htm

Sophos Anti-virus Home Use Option enables Davidson College faculty and staff to install Sophos Anti-virus on one (1) personally-owned computer. These instructions describe how to install the application which will stay updated via the Internet each time you go online. Updates are downloaded, either manually or automatically, from Central Installation Directories (CIDs) on Davidson's Sophos web server.

ITS is pleased to announce the availability of Office 2007 for Windows. We would like to make the upgrade to Office 2007 as rewarding and trouble free as possible. To help guide your decision, please review the Key Information and Request to Upgrade.

Faculty and staff email accounts will be moved to an Exchange 2007 email server on Friday, September 21st, at 5:00 p.m. Your email quota will increase from 100MB to 1GB.

During the past week, ITS has been upgrading the Clean Access hardware and software. Some unexpected issues will affect your use of the system.

We are pleased to announce that ITS will be supporting the new Apple iPhone connected to Davidson's Exchange 2007 e-mail system and our newly expanded Wi-Fi network.

We will be upgrading the Ingeniux Web Content Management software on August 7, 2007.
Webcontent/buildsite will be unavailable during the normal maintenance window that ends at 7:30 AM.

Please remember to ALWAYS log out of the CMS at the end of the night or when not working in the system.

After the upgrade, the next time that you log-in to webcontent/buildsite, you will be prompted to download the software. Go through the prompts, making special note of the screen that asks about installation. There are two options: Install for Me or Install for Everyone. You must select the For Everyone option.

You will probably not notice any changes from this upgrade. We are upgrading to stay at the current release level.

On Tuesday, July 24 we will be upgrading the Clean Access hardware and software beginning at 6:00 a.m. Major work should be completed by 8:00 a.m., with testing continuing throughout the day.

Between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. service interruptions are possible for the following access types:

• Residence halls
• Wireless networking
• Open (unassigned) network ports in buildings and labs

Off campus access to the network via VPN will not be interrupted; however, active users that logon during the maintenance period may have to re-logon after 8:00 a.m.

Along with the release of Office 2007, Microsoft introduced a new file format for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In order for earlier versions of those applications to open Office 2007 files, a converter must be installed.

In preparation for the widespread use of Microsoft Office 2007 on and off campus, ITS will install the converter on standard Windows computers running Office 2003 on campus. The installation will take place on Monday, July 23. No action is required on the part of the computer user, as this “silent” install will take place via the campus network.

Information about the new XML format is available on the Microsoft web site.

Note: This information does NOT apply to computers running the Macintosh operating system or non-standard Windows computers.

ITS instructional technology staff will host a series of targeted workshops designed to assist you with the new Blackboard version 7.2. The new version adds features to online assessments (tests and surveys) and makes significant changes to the discussion board. We will also offer training on the new version of the campus pack – a third party tool that allows for course blogs, wikis, podcasts and web pages, all managed within your Blackboard course site. Please visit our workshop schedule on the Davidson website to learn more and to register for classes:

As always, we continue to offer “desk-side” one-on-one workshops for new Blackboard users. Please contact your instructional technologist to make an appointment.

We hope you are enjoying your summer.

Are you planning to develop surveys this Fall? Surveyor, the campus survey tool will be replaced on August 1, 2007 by a new survey tool called Checkbox. Using Checkbox, users can create dynamic surveys and forms for the web and develop data reports instantly.

The Ingeniux CMS software will be upgraded on Tuesday, May 1. The CMS be unavailable from 5:00 am to 7:30 am. As always, please remember to close out of the CMS client at the end of your day.

Part of our summer will be spent updating computer classrooms and labs to meet academic computing needs for classes next semester. To accomplish this goal, we need to hear about your requirements as early as possible in our planning process. If you will use ITS academic computing facilities, services provided by ITS, or ask students to use these services, please be sure to let us know your plans and needs.

Request computing services for fall semester 2007 now. Please submit software requests by May 18 and other requests by August 24.

Did you miss the February Office 2007 and Vista information session? Maybe you were able to attend but now have new questions you would like answered. ITS has good news for you……

Due to the number of requests to repeat the February Office 2007 and Vista preview, we would like to invite you to join us for the April Office 2007 and Vista preview.
Drop by to view an online presentation of Vista and Office. Learn about the new features of all the Office applications and about One Note, a new addition to the Office family. Sit down at a computer running Vista and Office to get a first-hand look at the new user interface, features, and security enhancements. ITS staff will be available to answer your questions.

Refreshments will be served.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Sprinkle Room, Campus Center

This fall ITS offered centrally funded Adobe Acrobat Professional 7 and Dreamweaver 8 installations for Davidson Faculty and Staff. The ITS Department would now like to announce the availability of Acrobat Professional 8 for utilization on college-owned Faculty and Staff computers. Acrobat 8 may be installed as an upgrade to Acrobat 7 or to a system that does not currently have Acrobat.

The campus FTP service is up and running. If you share files that are larger than 10 MBytes, the FTP server will make sharing much easier than before. Unlike e-mail, you won't have a small quota that can easily get filled with just a few large files. And you can share files with anyone that you work with even if they don't have a Davidson account. The FTP server has a separate account and password that you can share with anyone. Any staff and faculty can get an account. Students can get an account through a faculty sponsor for academic use. Contact the help desk to get your account set up.

For more details see the FTP service FAQ: http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x23065.xml

Have you tried to login to Outlook Web Access (OWA) using just your username and password only to get an error message that your login has failed?

Everyone with a network account has been given a folder on the campus network file server ("Louise") in which to store personal files. Each of these folders has a limit (or quota) of 100 MB of disk space.

Each department has been given 500 MB of space on Louise. This space can be increased to 1.5 GB by requesting it through the Help Desk. If more than 1.5 GB of space is needed, then a special request must be made.

Before you request a quota increase, be sure to take the appropriate steps to reduce the space you are already using.

Delete duplicate copies of files. Do you need versions 1, 2, 3, AND Final?
Delete any files that are no longer needed.
Move files from Louise to the hard drive of a personal computer or archive to CD.

How secure are your files on the Louise file server? Are you unintentionally allowing others access to sensitive information? It is in your best interest to learn more about what permissions are set on your personal and departmental folders.

Beginning in July 2006, a new plan is in place to improve and streamline the budgeting and replacement of computers on campus to ensure that campus computers are replaced on a regular cycle. The goals of the new plan are to:

Assure that all faculty and staff members that use computing resources have a computer of sufficient capabilities to fulfill responsibilities;
Assure that appropriate computing resources are available in shared computing facilities (classrooms, labs, etc.);
Simplify departmental budgeting and planning for new computers;
Acquire computers at lower cost through consolidated ordering and reduced administrative overhead.
From this month forward, ITS will begin proactively contacting individuals and/or designated department representatives to discuss and make arrangements for computer replacements. The entire replacement process will continue to be handled in the normal consultative manner.

The standard replacement cycle for desktop computers is four years. Some

computers will be replaced on a three-year replacement cycle. These accelerated replacements have been identified and approved by the head of the department or division. Networked printers will be replaced every six years. Replacements will be based on the original purchase date of the equipment. ITS will contact individuals or designated department representatives when equipment is eligible for replacement. At that time, individuals will be able to choose from the standard configuration available or describe a special need.

Standard replacement: By default an individual will be offered the option to replace her/his current computer with the newest version of that system (i.e., Dell laptop replaced with the current Dell laptop model or Mac desktop replaced with the current Mac desktop model). If the standard replacement computer meets current needs, the employee will be asked to confirm and suggest a convenient timeframe for delivery of the new computer. ITS will contact the individual to schedule delivery of the new computer and pickup of the current system. This replacement is automatic and does not need prior approval.

If the current standard replacement option does not meet an individual’s current needs or the employee wants to make a change (i.e., replace a Dell with a Mac or replace a desktop with a laptop), she/he may request a computer consultation. (See Changes, New or Special Needs below.)

Changes, New or Special needs: New computing needs may arise for a computer or printer (an additional staff member, replace equipment before its standard replacement cycle, or change from previous model). These special needs must be identified and funded during the annual budget approval process or approved by a Vice President.

Preparation and Delivery: ITS inventories computers and printers, affixes a Davidson College property tag, and installs the standard software suite. ITS staff will contact individuals or coordinate with departmental IT specialists to schedule a mutually-convenient time to deliver new equipment. ITS will set up the new equipment and assist with data transfer.

Out with the Old, in with the New: When a new computer or printer is delivered, the old one will be collected. If you have a departmental need for the older equipment, please discuss the need during the initial conversation with ITS (see Tier II below). Note: with the exception of new needs, one old computer must be returned to ITS for every new computer delivered.

Tier II: Computers and printers are valuable college resources. Older equipment serves a useful purpose for second tier functions, such as student or part-time workers. If you have a departmental need for older equipment, please discuss the need with ITS.

File sharing seems to be a great way to get any music or video you want without paying for it. But whether you know it or not you already are paying for it. File sharing across the Internet takes up bandwidth on our connection to the Internet, so we have to pay for a connection that is about twice the size that we would need without file sharing. That eats up a little tuition.

When a file sharing application gets out of control and requires that we find out what went wrong on the network, that takes away time that we could otherwise use to improve network services. When we get a notification from a media company that someone on campus is sharing a file out to the Internet, we spend time finding whose computer the file was shared from. When we find out, we temporarily suspend the network connection for that computer to make sure that the sharing stops. We do this to protect campus network participants from being sued by media companies. The Dean of Students, VP of Academic Affairs, or the staff member’s supervisor talks with the person involved to make sure he or she knows the college's policy on file sharing. And finally we require a form to be filled out to make sure that file sharing has stopped. All this causes us to lose otherwise productive time and subtracts from the quality of services provided by the staff involved.

Occasionally when some new twist on file sharing occurs, we meet with Deans and Vice Presidents and sometimes lawyers to ensure that we are following both the law of the land and the spirit of life on campus. Again this subtracts from their time in trying to make the college function as smoothly as it can. Although you might not notice it now or even while you are at Davidson, it is the fine grit that slowly wears away the gears that run the college. When your parents see another bump in tuition or when you graduate and are asked to give to the college, remember that you are paying a little bit of that for something that you thought was free.

Because we respond quickly to requests by media companies to stop sharing their content, we believe that the likelihood that any individual on campus will be sued is very low. If it ever happens though, that individual will, in effect, foot the entire bill for everyone’s dine and dash habits.

If you are backing up your computer with the Maxtor OneTouch drive, you should check at least once a month to ensure your backups are taking place.

To check if your backups are running on a Dell with Windows XP: click Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Scheduled Tasks. Locate your Weekly Backup task and ensure the “Last Run Time” date listed is no later than 3 weeks ago. If your system indicates a date older than 3 weeks ago, please email the Help Desk and request that someone check your backups.

The Mac backup is an exact duplicate of the user's home directory, so verifying is just a matter of checking that the contents of the backup drive match the contents of the backup source (i.e. the home directory). You can also open SilverKeeper and look at the Status tab for a summary of the date and outcome of the backup attempt.

If you do not have a Maxtor OneTouch drive, please email your request to the Help Desk. This option is available to both Mac and Windows XP users. If your computer's operating system is Windows 2000 and if it has a Davidson College property tag over 4000 you will need to upgrade to Windows XP prior to the installation of your Maxtor drive. You will need to submit both a Maxtor drive request and a Windows XP upgrade. Please use davidson\username when prompted.

Apple, Dell, and other laptop manufacturers voluntarily recalled millions of batteries last month. Because these batteries may overheat and cause a fire, they will be replaced at no-charge to their customers.

Learn more about the recall, determine if your battery has been recalled, and how to request a replacement.

Apple

Dell

In addition, Toshiba America today announced a voluntary exchange program for Sony-made batteries in select Dynabook and Satellite models sold in the United States between March and May of 2006. This does not affect any College-owned machines, but if you use a Toshiba Dynabook or Satellite at home, you may wish to contact Toshiba support at (800) 457-7777 to determine if your machine is part of the recall.

Two years ago, ITS implemented a Customer Satisfaction survey that is generated automatically when a Help Desk case is closed. We sincerely appreciate everyone who took the time to share general comments, well-earned praise, and well-deserved criticism.

Your responses to the survey were reviewed weekly by ITS management. We use the input to help shape and improve our service.

The time has come for us to take a short hiatus and revise the questions. No surveys will be generated over the summer. The Customer Satisfaction survey will return in the fall and will be generated randomly rather than when every Help Desk case is closed.

Our sincere thanks for your feedback; we look forward to your continued input. If you have suggestions or comments about the Help Desk service or the survey, please email Lydia Lorenzin, Director of Computing Support Services.

What is a blog?

A weblog or “blog” is an easy-to-use, web-based application that enables users to publish content to the web via a standard web browser. Postings are chronological and typically presented in reverse order. Blogs are primarily used as journals or diaries, usually on a specific topic.

Teaching with Blogs

In the classroom, blogs are primarily used for simple collaboration, student portfolios, and rudimentary course management. Students and faculty can post draft papers for peer review or participate in group research. Blogs also enable collaboration outside of the course, drawing participation from other institutions and the community at large.

Davidson blogs

At Davidson, we deployed a pilot blog server using an application called Movable Type. Although external blog services like Blogger are available to any individual, a Davidson blog gives us the flexibility to modify the structure, add multiple editors, create our own branding and limit blogs to campus access by request. Our pilot course blog, Pressing Matters, was created by the Instructional Technology Group for Jennie Buckner's “Critical Issues in Mass Media” course. The blog is used to create a public forum for discussion about the current state of the American press. Click here to read more about the course's use of the blog. ITG trained two students in the class who, with assistance from our staff, customized the blog to meet the needs of the class.

We hope you will review the course blog by clicking the link above. In the Fall, ITG will create a course blog for Dr. David Martin's "Davidson in India" program. If you have any questions about course or research blogs or would like to set one up, please contact ITG at any time.

Languages - Kyosung Koo (x2648)
Music - Jason Brewer (x2659)
Social Sciences and Humanities - Kristen Eshleman (x2583)
Sciences and Math - Bill Hatfield (x2897)

The ITS academic needs registration process enables faculty to submit technology needs they will have for classes the following semester. This includes requests for special software to be installed in ITS computing facilities or facilities in the sciences, network services, etc. The schedule for registering academic needs with ITS is generally:

April for the following fall semester
October for the following spring semester
If you have any special needs, please inform us by participating in this process. If you are wondering why you can't make software requests throughout the semester, we have an explanation that you might want to view.

Select the services you need from the list below:

disk space on servers
using technology in your courses
software that you wish to use in ITS public computing facilities
software or setup in the Sciences' computing facilities
Outlook public folders
Outlook global distribution lists
in-class training on a lab application
network directories on Louise
other technology need
The computers in ITS public facilities contain a set of lab software. You do not need to request software that is included in this list. If you need software not included on the list, please request it by October 31, 2006.

If you need in-class training, network directories, Outlook public folders, or listservs, please request them by January 12, 2007.

If you need assistance with this page, please email the Help Desk.


Editing Video and Creating DVD's
This workshop for faculty introduces basic video editing and DVD authoring skills. No prior skills are required. At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

Organize video clips
Add various types of titles
Make a photo slideshow
Use background music
Insert transitions
Create cool effects
Produce a DVD movie with menus
When?
Thursday, March 23 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Where?
Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) in the south basement of Chambers (Chambers B260)

How can I attend?
There are 5 seats available. Please send your email reservation request to Kyosung Koo and include your name and department. Attendance is limited, so please let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel the reservation. We will move down to the next person on the waiting list. If demand is high, we will conduct additional workshops.

If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact your ITS Instructional Technology Group (ITG) representative:

Kristen Eshleman: Social Sciences and Humanities
Kyosung Koo: Foreign Languages
Bill Hatfield: Sciences
Sarah Hatfield: Sciences

Note: It is the responsibility of the individual making duplication to secure copyright clearance. ITG does not provide video duplication services for purposes other than classroom instruction within fair-use guidelines of copyright law.

If you notice that a system, network, or telephone service is down, you may wonder if you should report the problem. Below, we have provided information about times you might expect service to be down due to regular maintenance. We have also highlighted some Web pages that report maintenance schedules and server status. Hopefully this will help you decide if you should report a service outage.

Does the service problem occur during a time when regular maintenance is scheduled for the service? System, Network and Telephones/Voice mail devices may periodically be rebooted between 5:00 and 8:00 AM without notification. Voice mail maintenance is routinely performed the first Friday of each month between 7:00 am and 8:00 AM.

Is there a posting on the web about the outage you are seeing? Check the Downtime and Outages Web page to see if there is a scheduled maintenance outside of the normal maintenance window.

If the time is outside of a maintenance window and no special announcement about the service being down has been made, please check the Server Status web page to see if the service is active, inactive or under repair. Any service without a green check mark is known to be problematic and is being addressed by ITS staff.

These web pages will help you determine if you should report a problem to the Help Desk. Please also know that ITS uses a number of different monitoring systems to determine if there are problems with services and, if there are, selected staff members are notified.

Hewlett Packard (HP) Printers
Under the terms of our printer service agreement with OfficeMax, Davidson College is eligible to receive one Preventive Maintenance Inspection per networked printer per year at no charge. This free service applies to networked HP printers purchased through ITS.

To request the inspection, complete the OfficeMax Printer Service form. The username is DAVIDSON (or any combination of capital and/or lower case letters). The password is COLLEGE. Click on "Order Service" and request an "annual preventive maintenance inspection" in the problem field. Click on the Save button to submit your request.

Konica Printers

If you purchased a Konica printer from Carolina Office Systems, preventive maintenance is part of their routine service. Their technicians will clean and inspect systems on service calls as part of their routine procedures. If preventive maintenance is needed at other times, a message will display in the window on the printer. Call Carolina Office Systems to request maintenance. Refer to the sticker on the printer for the phone number and other necessary information.

If you are backing up your computer with the Maxtor OneTouch drive, you should check at least once a month to ensure your backups are taking place.

To check if your backups are running on a Dell with Windows XP: click Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Scheduled Tasks. Locate your Weekly Backup task and ensure the “Last Run Time” date listed is no later than 3 weeks ago. If your system indicates a date older than 3 weeks ago, please email the Help Desk and request that someone check your backups.

The Mac backup is an exact duplicate of the user's home directory, so verifying is just a matter of checking that the contents of the backup drive match the contents of the backup source (i.e. the home directory). You can also open SilverKeeper and look at the Status tab for a summary of the date and outcome of the backup attempt.

If you do not have a Maxtor OneTouch drive, please email your request to the Help Desk. This option is available to both Mac and Windows XP users. If your computer's operating system is Windows 2000 and if it has a Davidson College property tag over 4000 you will need to upgrade to Windows XP prior to the installation of your Maxtor drive. You will need to submit both a Maxtor drive request and a Windows XP upgrade. Please use davidson\username when prompted.

Starting January 16, 2006 all Dell laptops purchased through ITS will come standard with a new wireless network card, the Intel Pro 2200. This wireless network card allows for a stronger signal, greater wireless range and a more intuitive user interface. The Intel Pro 2200 wireless network card replaces the Dell True Mobile wireless network card.

To combat the pervasive problem of spam, ITS implemented PureMessage in May of last year. PureMessage scans email coming in from the Internet and assigns a spam score to each message. Messages that receive a spam score that falls within the spam threshold as defined on the server are quarantined, and messages that receive a spam score below that level are delivered to your inbox.

Fortunately, PureMessage has helped tremendously with the spam problem. Server statistics indicate that, on average, PureMessage has determined that approximately 60% of all email from off campus is spam. However, spam continues to be a problem. Even with the Outlook junk email filter enabled, spam still sometimes makes it to your inbox.

As another layer of protection from spam, ITS will be implementing the Exchange Intelligent Message filter on Monday, January 23. This filter will scan messages that either did not get scanned by PureMessage because they were sent to a distribution list, or messages that received a spam score lower than the PureMessage threshold defined on the server. Messages passing through the Intelligent Message Filter are assigned a “Spam Confidence Level" (SCL) which ranges from 0 (unlikely to be spam) to 9 (very likely to be spam). Initially, the SCL on the server will be set to 9. This should ensure that only the messages that are most likely to be spam will get sent to your junk email folder. This is how the Intelligent Message Filter will work:

If a message receives an SCL of 9, the Intelligent Message Filter checks the recipient’s safe senders list as defined in Outlook 2003 or OWA and then one of two things happen:

If the sender is on the recipient’s safe senders list, the message is delivered to the recipient’s inbox.
If the sender is not on the safe senders list or if no safe senders list is defined, the message is delivered to the recipients junk email folder.
If a message receives an SCL below 9, the Intelligent Message Filter checks the recipient’s blocked senders list as defined in Outlook 2003 or OWA and then one of two things happen:

If the sender is on the recipient’s blocked senders list, the message is delivered to the recipient’s junk email folder
If the sender is not on the blocked senders list or if no blocked senders list is defined, the message is delivered to the recipient’s inbox.
ITS will be monitoring and fine-tuning both PureMessage and the Intelligent Message Filter in an attempt to further reduce spam. Stay tuned for more information and details as they becomes available.

For this process to work correctly each user must have junk mail filtering turned on. Office 2003 users have this option turned on by default. Entourage, Office 2000, and OWA users will need to turn on this filter via OWA by following the steps outlined in the online kb article.