Shortly after the semester comes to a close, a new era in information delivery will begin at Miami as a new myMiami debuts with the myCampus portal product from CampusEAI.
Over the past week a virus referred to as “Flashback” or “Flashfake” has infected over 600,000 Mac computers.
Although there is no campus-wide automated backup and recovery solution for student computers, there are several options you can consider for backing up your data.
Begin gathering your confidential documents now for ShredFest 2012.
When someone sends unsolicited email asking for personal information or to verify that an email address is active, that’s a phish. They are “fishing” for information. Don’t respond!
Nearly everyone carries a cell phone, smartphone or other mobile device with them these days. Everyone uses these devices in different ways.
Earlier this week IT Services made some changes that allow faculty, staff and students the ability to create a Preferred First Name for more than just Niihka and staff email.
Are you new to Miami this year? Have a new computer on campus? IT Help has a place just for you.
Each year a pool of funds from the Student Technology Fee is available to stimulate the development of innovative student-focused technology projects on the Oxford campus.
On Wednesday, December 21, the MU-WIRELESS network server security certificates will change from Global Sign Root CA to AddTrust External CA Root.
Information technology has become a very large part of our daily life, and that is extremely evident at a place like Miami. We experience it in the classroom and at home, in fact, virtually everywhere.
The weather outside is starting to get frightful, which means the holiday season is right around the corner. This includes "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday," which means there is plenty of shopping to be done.
In response to students' ever increasing need for more Internet bandwidth, Miami University is introducing a new service called "ResNet Turbo."
Nearly everyone carries a cell phone with them these days, and other mobile devices like smartphones, iPods/iPads, and netbooks are also becoming more prevalent.
We all know that when we ride our bicycle to the dining hall for lunch, if we lock it up it won't ride off on its own. However, we also know that if we don't lock it up, there is a good chance it won't be there when we are finished eating.
When someone sends unsolicited email asking for personal information or to verify that an email address is active, that's a phish. They are "fishing" for information. Don't respond!
Free shredding event allows university community to dispose of documents safely
Miami's Information Technology Services is partnering with Cintas Corporation, the leader in secure document management services, to host ShredFest on Wednesday, October 12, on the south side of Cook Field from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
Miami is again hosting events this year to celebrate Information Security Awareness week. Events take place on the Oxford campus on Wednesday & Thursday, October 12-13.
It is Family Weekend at Miami, so we thought it would be a good idea to remind our visitors (as well as current students, faculty and staff) that Miami University has a Mobile version of myMiami.
IT Services has been receiving reports that some email messages sent from one muohio.edu account to another have been returned with a message stating there is a delivery failure for that recipient.
Of course, many students bring their own printers** but do you know how to use the uPrint service or are aware of the IT Print Center?
IT Services and the University Bookstore have partnered to offer volume discount pricing on Microsoft software for personal computers. Students, faculty and staff can purchase Microsoft applications at the Miami University Bookstore at rates that are significantly discounted over the suggested retail or educational pricing.
For the second straight year, IT Services is hosting a traveling tent event throughout campus. Students are encouraged to visit the tent to receive assistance with connecting to MU-WIRELESS, Miami's preferred Wi-Fi network.
The transition from Blackboard to Niihka is on course to be completed by the start of the new school year this fall. To support the switchover, there is ongoing training for faculty as well as awareness events being organized.
As part of the Miami Makeover program, Housing, Dining, Recreation & Business Services is revamping the access system in student residence halls. The new system will improve security while maintaining ease-of-access in these halls.
All too soon, another school year is coming to an end. Before you leave (or bunker down) for the summer, put your technology life in order by following these tips.
Blackboard goes away August 31
Niihka, the new collaboration and learning environment is replacing Blackboard, What does that mean for you? Blackboard will no longer be available after August 31, 2011. If you have files in your Blackboard courses that you want to keep, they must be moved before Blackboard goes away.
A (recent) report released by database security vendor Imperva Inc. shows that most users still don't care about the strength of their passwords if they are left to choose them on their own.
If you just got a new iPad 2, or are simply cleaning out your room preparing for the end of the school year (where did this year go?), you may be looking for ways to get rid of your old electronics.
As part of muConnect powered by Google, Miami students will soon have access to a number of new Google apps. Google is transitioning to a new infrastructure that will make more Google apps available to educational users. This transition will give you access to popular Google apps like Blogger, Google Books, iGoogle, and Picasa Web Albums.
Niihka Kick-off week with IT Services
Miami's move from Blackboard to the new collaboration and learning environment Niihka will kick off with a series of events planned to help faculty and students prepare for the change. A series of open forums will feature demonstrations and time for questions. The open forums will take place Feb. 21 and 22 in Oxford, Feb. 24 in Hamilton and Feb. 25 in Middletown.
IT Services now has a Facebook page. If you are part of the Facebook world, add us as a friend. Search for Information Technology Services at Miami University.
Printing to a campus pay-for-print printer from your own desktop or laptop computer is easy with Miami uPrint. This service allows you to configure your Windows or MacOS computer to access printers across Miami's campus.
Miami University's IT Services is taking steps toward an environmentally friendly future. Here are some steps you can take when using technology to help Miami's green efforts.
Optimizing Miami’s new e-mail system
Nearly every Miami undergraduate student has been transitioned to Miami's new e-mail/calendaring system - muConnect powered by Google. With this change also comes new ways to access your e-mail. Of course, you can still get your mail from myMiami, but there are other ways as well. Here are a few tips on how to set-up various e-mail systems and where to go to get assistance.
Miami University has an iPhone app and now myMiami has Mobile myMiami. Students, faculty and staff can access much of the basic information available through the myMiami web portal via their smartphones at http://m.muohio.edu.
IT Services offers workshops
The number of Miami students who own Mac laptops is growing. Although the software available for Mac is pretty substantial, a Windows environment is still needed for some classes such as CSE141 (Personal Computer Applications) and CSE148 (Business Computing).
IT Services will be performing maintenance and implementing changes in the computing environment over the upcoming Winter Break. This is traditionally a time when demands on systems are lower, reducing the risk that students, faculty or staff will be inconvenienced by the outages and disruptions that this work may cause.
Although "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" is behind us, if you are anything like me, there is still plenty of shopping to be done. Online shopping has become a very popular way to make purchases without the annoyances of crowded malls and traffic. But be advised – the Internet has unique risks – so it is important to take steps to protect yourself when shopping online.
Most students take their laptops when they leave campus for the holiday breaks. So, to help you keep your computer and data safe and secure, here are a couple of reminders.
Have you noticed the netDisk link just below muConnect on your myMiami page? Have you wondered what it was? Well, netDisk is a way to access a secure storage space that exists just for you. "MyFiles" is your place on the Miami University servers. It is one gigabyte of free, private, secure and frequently backed up space ready to hold your files so you can access them from anywhere, using any computer with Internet access.
IT Services last year began hosting Miami e-mail through Google. Part of the transition requires your participation! Act now before it's too late. Migrate your e-mail by January 4, 2011 to save old messages. Get the full details here to upgrade your account.
Would you like to know how to save yourself a trip to the support desk at Information Technology Services? Here are the top 5 issues and their solutions.
Nearly everyone carries a cell phone with them. Other mobile devices like smartphones, iPods/iPads and netbooks are also becoming more prevalent. Everyone uses these devices in different ways. Some people only use the phone aspect of a device, while others might make calls but also use texting features. Then there are the full service devices that allow for email, web surfing and document sharing.
Miami is again hosting events this year to celebrate Information Security Awareness week. Events take place on the Oxford campus on Monday, October 25 in the Shriver Center Multipurpose Rooms B-C.
We all know that when we ride our bicycle to King Library, if we lock it up it won't ride off on its own. However, we also know that if we don't lock it up, there is a good chance it won't be there when we get out of the library. So, the majority of us lock up our bikes.
As the use of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter has exploded over the past few years there has also been an increased concern about privacy issues. As a user of one of these services, there are things you can do to help protect your privacy. The following guidelines are specific to Facebook, but the ideas can be used for all social networking sites.
When someone sends unsolicited e-mail asking for personal information or to verify that an e-mail address is active, that's a phish. They are "fishing" for information. Don't respond!
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month and Miami's IT Services is celebrating in Oxford, Hamilton and Middletown with a variety of events designed to highlight the importance of keeping your personal information, as well as Miami's, safe and secure. All Oxford events will take place in Multipurpose Rooms B-C in the Shriver Center.
The deadline to enter the Miami Collaborative Learning environment (CLE) naming Contest is Friday, Oct. 1. Don't miss a chance to win a $200 MU Bookstore gift card, as well as the distinction of naming an influential service that impacts the entire university community.
On Sunday, September 12, IT Services will remove the filters on MU-WIRELESS that have been bypassing the Cisco Clean Access system. Once these filters are removed, students in the residence halls will need to authenticate when they log in via wired or wireless connections. This work is not anticipated to cause any network disruptions.
IT services provides an excellent platform for students to share their ideas, opinions and advice on Miami's technology services. It is called the Student Technology Advisory Committee (STAC). Sign up now to be a part of the committee.
Miami undergraduate students can now activate their new Miami e-mail/calendar account – muConnect powered by Google.
The use of Blackboard (BB) has been continuously increasing at Miami and the institution also projects that hybrid and online courses will play an increasing role in meeting our instructional mission. This new context demands a learning management system (LMS) that is quick to learn, easy to use, reliable, and accommodates academic needs. Additionally, the current version of BB, version 8.3 will not be supported after May 2011, requiring an upgrade to version 9.0.
To locate a list of your academic advisers, log in to myMiami and click the "Student" tab at the top. You should see a list of contacts for your advisers in the right column at the top.
To add this box to your "My Tab" front page, click "My Tab," then in the top right select the box that says "Modify Content." On this page, you can select different modules to appear on your front page every time you log in. The first option is "Academic Advisers." Check that option and click "Submit" at the bottom of the page.
Want to get instant answers to your technology questions? Try the Support Desk's new Click to Chat and connect with live support right here on campus. From the IT Help page (ithelp.muohio.edu) just select "Click to Chat" to open a chat with one of IT Services' friendly support staff.
Click to Chat is available Sunday - Thursday from 9 am - 10 pm, Friday and Saturday from 9 am - 6 pm. To see current hours for any Support Desk service, check the IT Help Answers Online.
Contact the IT Services Support Desk with any technology question at ithelp@muohio.edu or (513) 529-7900 - and now via Click to Chat!
Did you know that you have 1GB of free storage that you can access from nearly anywhere? Over winter break IT Services moved the old UDS (Universal Disk Space) from Novell servers to a Windows environment and increased each person's space from 100Mb to 1GB. Now called MyFiles, this space can be used to store and to share files.
How you reach MyFiles differs depending on what kind of computer and operating system you are using. Most users can reach their personal space using the NetDisk tool on myMiami. If you connect directly or map your drives, see the following information in IT Help:
Mac OS
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Regardless of what kind of computer you are using, to access MyFiles from outside the Miami network, you will need to use VPN. Instructions for logging in to VPN can be found in IT Help.
For help accessing MyFiles or logging in to VPN, contact the IT Services Support Desk at ithelp@muohio.edu or (513) 529-7900. Or try the new live chat from the IT Help home page: ithelp.muohio.edu.
Planning to take your laptop home over the holidays? Did you know that when you connect to most wireless networks the information you are browsing and sending from your Gmail account or Instant Messenger can be picked up by anyone who wants to steal your information? That means when you send your credit card number to order that sweater or IM your holiday travel plans you could be giving away information that could be used to steal your identity or break into your house.
There is a safe way to be online wirelessly from anywhere. It's called VPN or Virtual Private Network. When you use VPN your data is encrypted and no one can tell which web pages you visit or what you type over IM. As a bonus, you get access to more Miami network services, like connecting to your M:drive. IT Services recommends that you use VPN every time you connect to the web off campus.
You can get the VPN software for free from https://software.muohio.edu. Instructions on installing and using the VPN client are available in IT Help or by contacting the IT Services Support Desk at 513-529-7900 or ithelp@muohio.edu.
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