Answers to your IT questions

Information Technology Services has launched a new Web site that offers answers to many common questions about how to access and use technology tools and services at W&L.

The Knowledge Base features question and keyword searching, links to helpful websites and documents, an ITS terms glossary and more. The site may be accessed at http://help.wlu.edu , and is also accessible from the ITS home page, http://its.wlu.edu (see Knowledge Base banner at top of page).

Give this new resource a try; if you have questions or comments, please contact Julie Knudson (x8125, jmknudson@wlu.edu).

Faculty, staff to receive software update

Information Technology Services will upgrade the computer management software on undergraduate faculty, lab and administrative staff computers from April 28 through approximately May 7.  The upgrade, which will begin in administrative offices proceed later with academic offices,  will occur automatically in most cases and will be completed very quickly.

Users of Windows computers will trigger the upgrade when they log in to the W&L network. One phase of the upgrade will produce a small pop-up window labeled “Symantec PCAnywhere” in the bottom right corner of the screen, but no action is required on the part of the user. ITS staff will install the software manually on Mactintosh computers beginning the week of May 3.

ITS uses computer management software to remotely install software requested by faculty and staff, to provide support remotely with the user’s permission, and to automatically install updates to anti-virus software and other security-related software. For more information, see http://www.wlu.edu/x15461.xml .

Please contact the Information Desk (http://help.wlu.edu or x4357) or Ruth Floyd (floydr@wlu.edu or x8847) with any questions.

“Paypal” phishing scheme

A message purporting to come from Paypal has been received by some W&L faculty, staff and students, asking them to open an attachment and complete a form (see text below). Never open e-mail attachments unless you are certain about the source.  Typically, vendors do not initiate these kinds of requests via e-mail, so be wary about any similar e-mails.

———-

Your credit card information has been changed.

On Apr 28, 2010, your credit card has been removed from your PayPal account.

You are receiving this email notification because this email address is listed as the administrative contact email for your PayPal account. If you belive this is an error, please fill in all the details that are required to complete this verification process.

To do this we have attached a form to this email.

Please download the form and follow the instructions on your screen.

Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choice but to temporary suspend your account.

Sincerely, PayPal Account Review Department. Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response.

Sincerely,

PayPal

ITS response to student letter

March 23, 2010

Information Technology Services appreciates the time taken by Jarrett Brotzman to express his technology/ITS concerns in his March 8 column in the Ring-Tum Phi, and we encourage other students to contact us with any technology-related complaints and needs (use http://help.wlu.edu, or call xHELP (x4357)).

The majority of Jarrett’s column addressed three problems. One was an interruption of  network printing, which was unavailable for several hours during the week of Feb. 15. Another problem was with e-mail delivery issues with  students in Sakai (our course management system). The third problem was with lab computers being slow in many places. These issues were not planned, and came up without our intent.

Network printing in labs and other areas was unavailable for several hours because the central (and brand new) main page counter software went down hard. The software helps us and Copying Services keep track of our relatively new “bizhub” printers and our more traditional laser printers. We were disappointed in that outage and worked with our vendor to correct the print service settings as quickly as possible. We also apologize for the unplanned outage happening during a time when the printing was well needed.

The problem with e-mail being sent by W&L faculty and staff from Sakai and classified as “junk” by students’ Outlook Live accounts was caused by Microsoft, which manages Outlook Live for the University. After a series of exchanges on this matter between ITS and Microsoft, this problem has been resolved, hopefully permanently. We know Microsoft is working hard to ensure that student e-mail works better and has fewer issues. We want to help and work with Microsoft all we can where needed.

Relative to the lab issues, we are working on ways to improve lab performance, and are looking at new options in public labs. There is creative, financial, and technical work to be done in the labs so that they provide what the students and faculty need.

Thanks again for writing up these issues and please feel free to let us know where we can improve difficulties or help create desired technologies.. For specific, individual issues, please contact the Information Desk (http://help.wlu.edu, or call xHELP (x4357)). For broader issues/interests, please contact Jeff Overholtzer at joverholtzer@wlu.edu or x8440.

Enjoy Spring!

Rick Peterson
Chief Technology Officer