Winter 2009

Welcome
Shawn Beattie, ITS, editor

Welcome to Augie Techknowledge from ITS, an e-newsletter to share "what's new" in ITS and provide useful tips and articles on Information Technology and Educational Technology at Augustana.  We hope you like it and find it useful.  The newsletter will be archived on the ITS web site at http://campus.augustana.edu/offices/its/techknowledge.  Enjoy! 

e-portfolios with Mahara Shawn Beattie, ITS

Augustana is in the testing phase of an electronic portfolio, or e-portfolio, system. Called Mahara, which means "think" or "thought" in New Zealand's native language, the tool is now available for general evaluation and academic use. E-portfolios allow students and faculty to create a web-based portfolio of work, including files, images, reflective writing, blogs, and resume information.   Different portfolio views can be created for different audiences; for example a portfolio for senior assessment might look different from a portfolio for employers or grad schools.  Mahara provides a simple drag-and drop interface for building a resume or portfolio of work.  Look for more training on on Mahara soon; in the meantime, take a look at the site by going to http://mahara.augustana.edu. A quick start guide in PDF format is available on our educational technology page on the ITS website. If you have comments or questions about Mahara, contact Shawn Beattie in ITS.

New Online Calendar Brad Isbell, ITS

You may have noticed a bit of a new look to the calendars you see on Augustana.edu and the CampusNet sites. This is part of a new piece of software called aCal, that will allow campus users to help promote their events on and off campus. aCal was designed by Augustana employees and allows campus users to put in their events and target them to certain groups, such as students, alumni, faculty/staff, etc. Based on the event category and target audience, the system automatically takes care of putting the event in the proper places on the website. It also allows for recurring events, even with odd schedules.

Have an event that occurs the first Monday of every month, except for December where it is on the 2nd Tuesday? No problem! What if you want to add an event for current students only? No problem! All events also contain location data for future use to make calendar entries more useful for users. Let’s say you are hosting a dinner for alumni in Cedar Falls. Alumni in the area could potentially subscribe to Augustana events happening within 25 miles or so and automatically be notified. aCal even works with your Google Calendar (or other calendar software that uses a standard iCal ICS format) to provide updated information in a feed.

We would be happy to have your events listed on the Augustana website. If you are interested in learning how to use aCal, please contact Beth Whitty at 7476 for training times.
 

Viruses and Malware: Stay Away! Dennis Hurd and Markus Harris, ITS

Have you ever noticed a new toolbar, shortcut or annoying pop-up that was soon followed by slow, dismal computer performance?  Noticed a lot of weird error messages, sometimes even before you start using a program?  Well, it’s possible that you could have a virus or some “malware” working silently in the background of your computer.

Malware, short for malicious software, is any software that is misleading, potentially malicious, or unwanted.  Usually they are installed either knowingly or secretly through the use of misleading ads, bundled software, or even just visiting a website.  Not only are the “too good to be true” ads and “free stuff” websites sources for these things, but even trusted sites like CNN, Facebook and Google can be avenues of infection as hackers exploit even the smallest security hole on the original site and the ads posted on those sites.  This makes the job of keeping your computer safe that much harder because no longer is it just “stay away from bad sites.”

Thankfully, we at ITS are here to help.  Our hardware support group will gladly check your PC for problems if you think you might have any unwanted software running on your office computer.  This may be as simple as running a quick scan while you go get a fresh cup of coffee or may require us to bring the computer back to our lab for more extensive work.  If your computer does require a trip back to our lab, we'll do our best to securely backup all important data and get you and your computer back to work as soon as possible.

To help prevent these more drastic situations, ITS suggests being alert and aware of unexpected changes to your system, reporting any suspicious activity on your computer, and keeping the software you knowingly use up to date (Adobe Reader, QuickTime, Windows Updates, etc) as these are points of entry for viruses if not properly secured.  As always, storing data files such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel on a network drive such as your H: drive or O: drive and making backups is definitely recommended.

Our department is currently evaluating an updated version of virus protection from our current provider, Symantec.  It promises to be a more dynamic and intuitive system of protection that will not only scan files for known threats, but will examine the behavior of programs to determine if it’s a new emerging threat.  Stay tuned as ITS provides more information on this software and other ways to keep your computer safe.
 

What's up with Windows 7? Shawn Beattie, ITS

You may have heard about a new version of Windows in the pipeline -- Windows 7.  Yes, it seems like just yesterday that Windows Vista was released, back in early 2007. But given that Windows 7 has been touted as an incremental update to Windows Vista, an anticipated release of 6-12 months from now is realistic.   One of the most notable changes in Windows 7 is a redesigned task bar. Improved boot and shutdown time is also a major goal of this update. Windows 7 has been viewed by many in the industry as an update that addresses some of the flaws or criticisms of Windows Vista. 

Like many businesses and schools, Augustana currently has no plans to update our faculty and staff desktops to Vista.  However, as with our Office 2007/2008 update last year, we continue to evaluate new technologies, including new Windows versions, to determine when the right time to pursue an update program.

You may read more about Windows 7 at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/

How to Inspect Your Documents for Hidden Information
Beth Whitty, ITS

Before distributing Word 2007 documents, it's a good idea to inspect them for hidden text, such as: Document author and company information Revision information, including comments meant only for the document authors Watermarks Distributing documents with such information could have embarrassing, if not legal, repercussions. Your privacy may be violated, and in some cases, document revisions have shown contracts destined for one company that were originally written for another, possibly a competitor. Thus, it is highly recommended to always remove hidden text before sending document files to anyone. 1. Save your document first. Otherwise, Word will prompt you to do so. As noted in the tool, some changes made cannot be undone. You may wish to save a copy of the current document first, meant only for internal use. Just make sure you distribute the copy with the hidden text removed! 2. Click the "Office" button. 3. Choose "Prepare" in the left pane of the menu. 4. In the right pane, select "Inspect Document". 5. The "Document Inspector" dialog box will appear. Choose what types of items you want inspected (the default is to check for all items): Comments, Revisions, Versions, and Annotations Document Properties and Personal Information Custom XML Data Headers, Footers, and Watermarks Hidden Text 6. Click the "Inspect" document to begin the inspection process. 7. You will be shown whether or not items were found. To remove a particular group of items, click the "Remove All" button next to the group. 8. When done, click "Close" to close the Document Inspector. For more information, see this page from Microsoft

Tip - Change Your Password!
Beth Whitty, ITS

All users must change their Augustana password every 180 days. Mac or off-campus Users Click here to change your password on the web Windows Users 1. Log into any Windows computer on campus 2. Press Ctrl – Alt – Delete 3. Click on the Change Password… button 4. Enter your username (FirstnameLastname), your old password, a new password and then type in your new password again to confirm. 5. Click OK 6. When you get back to the first screen-click Cancel

 

Have a great Spring Break!
-ITS