IRT: News & Events: TechUpdates: November 18 2003

The latest URL to fade away is the exchange1 address for Drexel's Exchange server. Users who have been accustomed to accessing their Exchange email through the web at http://exchange1.drexel.edu found this week that it didn't work. The grace period had run out, and this should not have been a surprise!

The new web access address, as announced in the IRT Technology Update of February 28, 2003, is http://exchangeweb.drexel.edu .

For further details, check http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/support/Exchange.html .

2. WHAT'S MY UNIVERSITY ID?

You don't need it often, but you do need it sometimes. Your university identification number is the eight-digit tracking number unique to each person that the university uses for identifying you instead of the social security number, which for your security needs to be kept private.

Since users do not have to produce this number very often, many people tend to forget it. There are three easy ways to retrieve your number:

* Log in to http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/univid. You will authenticate yourself with your email user-ID and password, and the system will display your university ID.

* Log in to the Computer Accounts Management Service, click on Manage Your Accounts, and authenticate using your email user-ID and password. The university ID is usually on the first line of your accounts list.

* If you are a university employee, look at the upper left-hand corner of your paycheck stub.

3. MORE NASTIES ON THE NET

You can always expect a new batch of worms, viruses, and Trojans crawling through the Internet. Since many of them come as attachments to email, let's review some salutary precautions.

* Never open an email message - even from someone you know - if you see several messages with the same subject line from different people. And if you were not expecting the attachment, it's best to check back with the alleged sender to make sure it isn't a "spoofed" address.

* Beware of executable programs in attachments. Do NOT open files with extensions .EXE, .VBS, .VBE, .COM, .JS, .HTA, .REG, .WSE, .SHS, .SHB, .SCR, .BAT, .PIF. These are program files and should be deleted at once without opening. The extension .ZIP is also sometimes used to transmit viruses. Note that Microsoft does NOT distribute security patches via email.

IRT is continually upgrading and strengthening the university's anti-virus gateway. You should realize, however, that this gateway does not protect you on accounts provided by someone else (departmental servers, Yahoo!, Hotmail, etc.). For your own protection, and for ours, be especially vigilant when connecting to the Drexel network on computers you use to access these accounts. You not only risk infection for yourself, but can spread it to others from inside the gateway.

For further information, go to http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/support/virusinfo/ or http://www.symantec.com/avcenter.

4. POPUPS ARE ANNOYING, POPUP BLOCKERS ARE ALSO ANNOYING

It is annoying to have ads constantly popping up while you are browsing the web. You may be tempted to install a popup blocker, but you need to think it through.

There are two main types of popups. One occurs when you go to a site that contains popups. Many commercial sites use popups to deliver ads to you. These are annoying but usually harmless. The second type occurs because your computer has been contaminated by spyware.

With spyware, popups can occur with any web site, any time you are using a browser. If you find popup ads showing up on a non-commercial site like http://www.drexel.edu, that is a good clue that your machine is infected with spyware. This may be malicious, and will, at least, use up system resources and slow down your computer. A popup blocker eliminates the popups, but leaves the spyware running in the background.

It's hard to know in advance which sites install spyware, but entertainment and game sites are generally risky. Weather Bug, Date Manager, and Precision Time all install spyware on your machine. If an entertainment site invites you to install a plug-in, beware.

The other side of the question is that some legitimate and necessary sites use popup technology. DrexelOne, WebCT, and WebExchange use popups. A popup blocker may prevent you from using these sites. One solution is to look for a setting in your popup blocker that will notify you when a popup is trying to pop up; then you can choose whether to allow it.

One final warning. Some purported popup blockers are actually Trojan horses, and will harm your computer. Make sure you get your popup blocker from a reputable source. Google's toolbar, http://toolbar.google.com/, offers a free and reliable popup blocker.

5. WAIT A BIT FOR OFFICE 2003

At this point, we recommend that Drexel administrative users continue to use Office 2000 or Office XP and not consider upgrading to MS Office 2003. Given that there are no distinct advantages to upgrading, IRT recommends that other users also continue using their current Office Suite product.

If you are considering a change to Office 2003, please review the information posted at http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/services/software/office2003.html before you do anything. IRT has prepared a comparison of features at a glance and a general guide to the most apparent innovations to assist you if you are considering moving to this new release.

Office 2003 is available for download at FTP://software.drexel.edu.

6. SAP ALLIANCE CENTER AT DREXEL

Drexel University is one of five universities in the USA hosting a coalition of colleges and universities in SAP University Alliance Competency Centers. Drexel hosts the software and provides services to the other institutions in a network that incorporates SAP enterprise software and e-business solutions and makes them available for use in curricula for graduate and undergraduate courses in business, engineering, and computer science.

The basic philosophy of the program is open collaboration and resource sharing, producing sophisticated graduates with real-world learning experiences. As a leader in cooperative education and applied technology, this innovative approach has long been a cornerstone of Drexel's educational mission.

The SAP modules Drexel hosts under this program include, but are not limited to: SAP R/3, SAP Business Intelligence (BW and SEM), SAP Supply Chain Management (APO), SAP Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SRM).

Drexel implements the IDES training versions of this software. This encompasses a variety of business processes that represent a living organization doing business on a daily basis. To learn more about the SAP University Alliance or to arrange to use SAP products in courses, see http://www.drexel.edu/irt/sap or contact Jan Biros (biros@drexel.edu).

7. ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIO PILOT OFFERS TEMPLATES

IRT is continuing to pilot Folio, an e-portfolio application. The latest version of Folio includes twelve different presentation templates. It can be used to create resumes, compile research, and store electronic collections of work. If you are interested in participating in the pilot, send email to eportfolio@drexel.edu.

Using the standard forms, you can store information about yourself - career and academic objectives, skills, personal information, samples of work. You can then select a template to create a portfolio or resume, which collects the information from the standard forms you have previously saved. Thus you can use Folio for the job search process, for applications to graduate school, and in presenting work for academic or professional collaboration. In general, it's a good way to keep a record of your work during your career at Drexel.

-------WebCT News-----------

As 2003 draws to a close . . .

8. WebCT BROWSER UPDATE

Some WebCT users have been experiencing browser problems with Internet Explorer 6.x. Graphics fail to load completely, the session is kicked out of WebCT, or there are problems using the HTML editor.

This seems to be an IE problem, not a WebCT problem. These difficulties do not occur for those using Netscape. In IE, most of the problems go away if you go to Tools > Internet Options and then Delete Cookies and Delete Temporary Internet Files.

9. TIME TO BACK UP COURSES

You should back up your fall term courses as soon as your use of WebCT for the term is complete. You can walk through the process in the DES-101 (Course Designer Forum) course. Select Backup & Restore in the Course Menu. For more assistance, send email to webct@drexel.edu.

10. WE MAKE HOUSE CALLS

If you need help with WebCT and would prefer to have a WebCT staff member come to your on-campus office, we can do that! Write to webct@drexel.edu with your request and some suggested times, and we'll schedule it.

11. WebCT BOOT CAMPS

If you plan to use WebCT in winter term, sign up for a Boot Camp now. There are two remaining for 2003:

Friday, Nov 21 - 2 slots remaining
Friday, Dec 19 - 3 slots remaining

Boot Camps are held in Room 116, Korman Computing Center. Seating is limited, so reservation is required at webct@drexel.edu

This is primarily a hands-on activity right in WebCT. Workshops begin at 9 a.m. and continue through 3:30 or 4 p.m. Laptops are provided; also lunch when (as is normal) the session is full.

12. HAGERTY LIBRARY STAFF HELPS WITH WebCT

Hagerty Library has a new representative to help with WebCT courses. Ms. Tracy Hull (ext. 2751, tlhull@drexel.edu) can assist with linking your students to the library's electronic resources. Mr. Jay Bhatt (ext. 1873, bhattjj@drexel.edu) works extensively with WebCT among the engineering faculty.

13. SHARING YOUR COURSE

If you would like to show your course to a visiting colleague, write us at webct@drexel.edu and give us the name and email address and - very important - the CRN of your course.

14. TIPS FOR THIS MONTH

The DES-101 Course Designer Forum offers tips for WebCT instructors. Look on your My WebCT page under the default term: header and check out the following:

* Boot Camps Part 1, 2. This shows the latest narrations from our WebCT Boot Camps. Use them to review what you learned.

* See new features of WebCT Campus Edition 4.0 by clicking on "CE 4.0 Demos" in the Course Menu.

* The Backup & Restore menu contains a handy HTML Tutorial.

15. BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Ultimate WebCT Handbook (2nd edition)

Author: Georgia State University
Publisher: Ultimate Handbooks.net
Copyright: 2003
Available at: http://www.ultimatehandbooks.net

This is a user-friendly manual that provides "a practical and pedagogical guide to WebCT."

Modified: August 20, 2008

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