There will be an upgrade of the VPN appliance on Monday July 25, 2011 starting at 11:00 PM. Please allow an hour for the upgrade although it may be longer (or shorter) depending in the circumstances.
VPN services will be unavailable during this time to please plan accordingly.
These directions are for showing “shared” departmental account mailboxes in one’s Outlook.
To view the account in Outlook:
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From AU’s Office of Information Technology:
The security of our network and of our users’ personal information is a high priority at Auburn University. In an effort to improve security, we are taking simple but effective steps to strengthen authentication required for off-campus access to the AU Network.
A VPN connection is required to access the AU Network from off-campus. Effective June 13, all users will be required to go through My Account VPN registration before they can use the VPN. You can register now by going to www.auburn.edu/myaccount
Please call the OIT Help Desk at 844-4944 if you need assistance.
The steps to request VPN access:
1. Go to http://www.auburn.edu/myaccount
2. Login with your AU username and password.
3. Click on the “Request VPN Access” link. It will say “incomplete” next to the link in red if you have not requested access yet.
4. Enter the requested information and click Submit.
You are returned to the main screen, and the Request VPN Access link is disabled, with the word “COMPLETE” appearing in green next to it.
This post will no longer be relevant once a user is on Microsoft Exchange.
Congrats on your shiny new Android phone. You’re now part of the largest user-base in terms of smart phone systems (Android passed Blackberry and iPhone earlier this year).
After downloading all the fun games and other apps from the market, you’ll probably want to setup e-mail and calendaring.
For instructions on how to setup e-mail for your Android phone, go to this Auburn OIT link: [click here].
Setting up contacts and calendar appointments is a bit tricky.
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SPSS 19 is now available for Windows computers. Our license also includes Macintosh computers, and information on how to install will be available in the next few days.
Installation Instructions for On-Campus SPSS 19 Users
1. Open the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel:
How: Windows 7: Click the Start button. In the Search box, type in appwiz.cpl and press enter. Windows XP: Click the Start button and choose the Run option. In the Run box, type in appwiz.cpl and click OK.
2. Locate any previous versions of SPSS (recall version 18 was called PASW) and choose to uninstall them.
3. After uninstallation is complete, click the link to view programs available on the network:
How: Windows 7: In the Programs control panel, click on the “Get Programs” link in the left margin. Windows XP: Click on the “Add New Programs” link in the “Add or Remove Programs” control panel.
4. Allow a few minutes for the list of programs to become available. From the list, locate and click on SPSS 19. Click the Install or Add button.
5. Installation takes several minutes, and shortcuts are created in the following location: Start Menu > All Programs > SPSS Inc.
If you have any questions, please e-mail us at lrctech@auburn.edu.
Installation Instructions for Off-Campus or Notebook Computer SPSS 19 Users
Notebook computer users are encouraged to schedule a time and bring their notebook to the LRC for us to install SPSS 19 on it. Email LRCTech@auburn.edu for assistance. Home users can check out SPSS 19 media from the LRC if they are authorized users.
Please refer to the steps below when ordering Apple products, including computers, iPads, iPods, Apps and other Apple products.
Ordering Apple Products
1. All Apple products (hardware and software) must be ordered by Auburn University’s Procurement and Payment Services (PPS) unit. Departments are not allowed to use their purchasing cards for any Apple products.
2. Use the form to request a quote for an Apple product: https://fp.auburn.edu/education/ali/computerrequest/
3. Asim will prepare the quote and return it to the department/unit for review/approval for purchase.
4. Department/unit will confirm approval and provide FOAP to be used for order.
5. For orders under $2,500, Asim will send an Email to Burnette Tolbert in PPS a) requesting Apple products that include the Apple MPN, b) state the business purpose for the Apple products, c) provide the appropriate FOAP, d) a ship to address, and e) copy to department/unit financial staff. Burnette Tolbert will place order and provide confirmation to Asim and department/unit financial staff.
6. For orders over $2,500, the LRC will prepare a requisition and use the FOAP provided with the confirmation. Tammy Sanabria will provide documentation of requisition to department/unit financial staff.
Ordering Apps
Apple apps can be purchased with the university purchasing card. The business/education purpose for the apps must be provided at time of purchasing card reconciliation.
A request that the sales tax be reimbursed should be made after the purchase is made. Send the Apple receipt showing sales tax and and a request for sale tax reimbursement should be sent to Susan Salheiser (salhesu@auburn.edu) of Procurement and Payment Services. She will make the contact with Apple to send a check for sales tax reimbursement.
1. Refer users to the following website for latest available technology options. They are also welcome to contact me directly to help determine their needs and solutions.
http://education.auburn.edu/facultystaff/technology_options.html
(From COE homepage, click on “Faculty / Staff”, then choose “Technology Options” from links on left).
2. Based on the user’s selection, please submit a quote request form (either the user, you, or a student assistant may submit this as long as the info is correct):
https://fp.auburn.edu/education/ali/computerrequest/
Please note the standard questions we need answered in order to process your request, i.e. FOP for Apple computers, etc.
For Apple Macintosh:
3. The LRC will complete a requisition form using the FOP provided by you. You will be CC’d on the communication from PPS regarding order processing.
Updated 2/8/2011: Please refer to the directions in the new post for all Apple related orders: [click here]
For HP computers:
3. You will receive a PDF file containing the quote. Please SAVE this email. The quote number, and my email address (asim@auburn.edu) can be used to pull up the quote at the following website: http://hp.com/buy/auburn (choose “Retrieve saved quote” option).
4. Process the order using your credit card, and for delivery please do the following:
For name (Attention area), include the last name of the primary computer user and choose the LRC address for delivery. For example, a computer for Dr. Smith should say:
Asim Ali (SMITH)
3402 Haley Center
Auburn, AL 36849
5. When HP sends you the “Order Confirmation” email, please reply to the email from #3 (the quote email from lrctech) with the customer number and order number. We do not need the entire email forwarded to us. Also, we do not need any additional emails from HP (order tracking, shipping, etc.). All we need is the order number and customer number. This will be the first two lines of the order confirmation email.
Some other things to note:
* HP is currently averaging 10 days for delivery. The new Macintosh ordering process has added about 2-5 days to the process.
* We will e-mail the end user and determine a setup time that is convenient for them.
* We recommend ordering monitors for HP computers from GovConnection. Latest ordering information will be included in the email containing the quote.
As always if you have any questions at all, please let me know.
We are happy to note that these directions have been successfully followed by several departments in ordering new equipment. Thank you for working with us to achieve efficiency. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Today’s tip comes from Darrell Crutchley in Liberal Arts. It affects Mac users who use Mail as their e-mail client and may have experienced problems receiving attachments from students on the new TigerMail Live system.
Some Mac users reported problems receiving attachment files from their students using the new TigerMail Live student e-mail system. When viewed in Mac Mail, the only “attachment” was a winmail.dat file that is not readable on a Mac.
Darrell brought the issue to OIT’s attention, and a change to the server seems to have fixed the problem.
There is a workaround–if you get a winmail.dat file in Mac Mail, open Tigermail at tm.auburn.edu to view and download the attachment correctly. If you continue to have problems with winmail.dat files, please email us for support.
Sports broadcasting giant ESPN (owned mostly by Disney) has paired up with Disney’s Playdom to bring a new Facebook App. This application is a college management simulation game called ESPNU CollegeTown.
Several users in the college use Virtual-U (http://www.virtual-u.org/), a college-management simulation program that is no longer updated or managed (as of 2003).
With CollegeTown, Playdom asks players to, “[b]uild your own University and recruit the best athletes to challenge your rivals”. The description of the game continues, “[c]onstruct everything from Dorms & Classrooms to huge Sports Stadiums! Will you be revered for creating the best University, or will you be crushed by the competition?”
ESPNU CollegeTown is of course developed with a sports twist, and since it is on Facebook, it has a fair share of social-networking underpinnings. CollegeTown lead developer Jay Arrera says, “The goal is to build the biggest, most dominant campus possible. You can buy your own custom buildings and decorate the campus to make it how you either remember your campus or wish your campus had looked. The buildings upgrade, so as you play the game, the buildings get more elaborate and look like more traditional Ivy League schools and the stadiums go from little fields to massive stadiums with lights and JumboTrons. The stadium grows and evolves as you play the game.”
Screenshot from Playdom
The game starts with a small collection of academic buildings and a few fields for sports. From there the user decides to either focus on academics only, athletics only, or a healthy balance of both. The social-networking competition element pits the sports teams of your school against other players’. Although academics is not part of the game, academic facilities are. The algorithm that determines the “winner” of a competition not only depends on quality players, but also student body “happiness”, a result of good academic facilities, social activities and residences.
As of this writing, nearly 200,000 users “Like” playing the college simulation game, and nearly 16,000 users reviewed it by giving it 4.9 stars out of 5. It is significantly lacking as an education tool, particularly since managing academics is not at all part of the game. But, for bringing across the basic point that being an administrator requires a very delicate balancing act of many demands, CollegeTown may work.
I know what many of you are thinking: Great. As if you needed another reason to have your students on Facebook.
For those interested in trying it out: http://www.facebook.com/ESPNUCollegeTown. Facebook account is required.
You may be interested in sharing PDF files with users without giving them the ability to copy the content or print it. The steps below will guide you through the necessary steps to make your PDF file password protected. Before beginning, you should already have a PDF file (created either with Acrobat Professional, or another method). Also, please note that as with any feature, this is not 100% secure/fool-proof. This feature should be used more as a deterrent.
1. Open the PDF file you wish to make password-protected using Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional.
2. From the File menu, choose the “Properties” option.
3. In the “Document Properties” window that opens, select the “Security” tab.
4. For a new document, the “Security Method” will say “No Security”. Click on the drop-down menu and choose “Password Security“.
5. In the “Password Security - Settings” window that opens automatically, you will see a few options:
(a) “Encrypt all document contents” is selected by default. This prevents search engines or desktop searches to pick up cache the document’s contents. This option should remain selected.
(b) “Require a password to open the document.” Checking this box will require the user to enter a password before the document contents are displayed. This password should be something easy to communicate, i.e. avoid letters and numbers that can be easily confused such as lowercase-”l”, the number “1″, a capital-”I”, capital-”S” or number “5″, etc. This will help you avoid confusion with users later.
(c) “Restrict editing and printing of the document.” Choose this option, and enter a strong password (combination of letters and numbers). The password chosen here should be different than the one in step b. Choose “None” for the “Printing Allowed” option, and “None” for the “Changes Allowed” option. Uncheck the box for “Enable copying of text, images and other content.
6. Once you have chosen the password settings to your liking, click “OK“. The Document Properties window shows again. Verify your settings under the “Document Restrictions Summary” that appear.
7. Click “OK” in the Document Properties window.
8. Save your document.
Share the PDF file as planned, either via the web, a shared drive, or email. Communicate the password for opening the document, while making sure to keep the password for editing or printing the file in a safe place.