Archive for the 'ITD Support' Category

Make it a productive new year by getting more out of IT  - here’s how

ITD would like to wish the UNE community a happy and productive new year. It will be a busy new year for ITD with the continuation of the UNE data network upgrade, the introduction of a new learning management system including a web presence for all units and the electronic submission and screening of assignments.

This is also the year to get organised and get more out of IT. This year the ITD news blog will include a series of features to help you get more out of IT. This will start with a get more out of Google series. From Google calendar to Google reader to Google alerts there are loads of new products that can help make your study or research more efficient.

Why not start by exploring Google reader to automatically get updates to this blog and other frequently updated web content. Google reader will allow you to subscribe to your favourite sites and automatically get new content delivered to you.

To check out Google reader go to www.google.com.au and look for the navigation bar along the top right. You’ll have to go to more and scroll down to find Google reader. If you don’t already have a Google account you’ll have to create one (this is free).

Once you’ve found Google reader it’s easy to search for content or add a subscription. To get this blog automatically for example just click on add subscription and insert the address blog.une.edu.au/itd-news

Because Google products are web based you will be able to see your updates wherever you are which is particularly convenient if you use a number of different computers.

640K ought to be enought for anybody - Bill Gates 1981

To opt in for SMS results delivery..first go to your student portal MyUNE (There’s a link to myUNE at the top of every page just next to the search button).

Once in myUNE select the myStudy tab. The results section on the right will advise whether you are signed up for SMS and guide you through the process.

The results tab also tells you that you will receive exam results by email (and reminds you of your UNE email address) and on top of that there’s a link to the online results page!!

When is a photocopier not a photocopier? When it’s an MFD….

New generation photocopiers are printers, scanners, faxes and more as Ross Williams in Finance discovered. “They used to be just photocopiers but now they’re really more like computers - they have software and they need to be networked.”

The MFD (multi-function device) is coming to UNE and will significantly reduce the cost of printing and photocopying not to mention the number of devices cluttering up offices. Copying and printing will be reduced to 0.8c a page for black and white and 9c a page for colour.

UNE is planning to roll out more than 100 MFD’s around the university. As UNE no longer has an arrangement with Konica to service current machines an interim servicing arrangement has been negotiated by Finance. Contact Ross Williams for more information.

Take advantage of mobile phone savings and support by purchasing mobiles through the ITD Servicedesk.

UNE has negotiated with Telstra for the provision of mobile phones to the university. This means that mobiles purchased through the Servicedesk are often considerably cheaper than phones purchased elsewhere.

The Servicedesk is able to organise phone purchasing, account administration and international roaming. The Servicedesk can only provide support for mobiles that are covered by UNE’s contract with Telstra. The Servicedesk cannot provide support for privately owned mobiles or work mobiles not covered by the contract. For more information see http://www.une.edu.au/it-services/staff/phone/mobilephone.php

As more and more web browsers have the ability to ‘read’ RSS feeds built-in, it’s getting easier to take advantage of the ease of RSS feeds.

RSS feeds are fast becoming a standard way of distributing content on the web. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a way of enabling your computer to automatically search nominated sites for updated content. So you can have the latest information without spending hours searching for it. 

You’ve probably seen lots of links to RSS feeds on websites – usually a little orange button. Until recently, subscribing to a feed was a tad complicated because it involved another bit of software (an RSS reader or aggregator) and some fiddling around. Well not anymore…

In a bid to make accessing RSS feeds easier most browsers have begun to incorporate the RSS reader into the browser allowing for a much simpler subscription process. 

Newer browsers such as Internet Explorer 7.0, Firefox 2.0 or Netscape 8.1.2 have built in RSS readers (To find out what browser version you are using go to help and then about (name of your browser).  

If you click on the icon for a feed and get a lot of code, you probably have an old browser – consider updating your browser or alternatively downloading an RSS reader (many are available free).

Here are the instructions for subscribing to a feed with Internet Explorer 7

1. Go to the webpage that has the feed to which you want to subscribe.
2. Click the Feeds button
    to discover feeds on the webpage.
3. Click a feed (if more than one is available). If only one feed is available, you will go directly to that page.
4. Click the Subscribe to this Feed button – the add to favourites button
5.  Type a name for the feed and select the folder to create the feed in.
6. Click Subscribe.
7. To view your subscribed feeds, click the Favourites button (yellow star), and then click  Feeds.

If you get stuck just check out Internet Explorer’s help information.

Firefox RSS instructions are available at:

http://johnbokma.com/firefox/rss-and-live-bookmarks.html 

Safari RSS instructions are available at:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/safari/

If, like me, you find the rapidly expanding array of techno-gadgets a tiny bit overwhelming - a quick visit to Wired’s How to wiki is a must.

Dedicated to understanding and getting more out of new technologies the Wired How to wiki has entries on everything from Facebook etiquette and getting big on Youtube to making an ipod nano case from a bike inner tube. Lots of fun and well worth a visit…

It’s at  http://howto.wired.com/wiredhowtos/index.cgi

A virus is doing the rounds disguised as an Internet Explorer security upgrade.

A number of UNE users have received an email claiming to be a security update for Internet explorer. The email is not from Microsoft. It is an attempt to get users to follow the link and download malicious software to their computer.

If you recieve the email simply delete it - The email itself is not the virus. The virus is only activated once a user clicks on the link.

With plagiarism in the academic world reaching plague proportions UNE is set to take preventative measures with the use of Turnitin plagiarism detection software in 2008.

Academic plagiarism is a serious problem. With the rise of electronic publishing of research ‘cutting and pasting’ online content has never been easier. And it’s not just students who are tempted to copy others’ ideas -  there are no hard and fast statistics (obviously) but one estimate places the number of theses and books in the arts and humanities with unacceptable levels of copied material at around 10-15% (http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/plag.html)

Turnitin plagiarism software is able to detect unacceptable levels of copied material in submitted texts. UNE is currently planning for the integration of Turnitin screening for submitted assignments in 2008. See http://turnitin.com/static/home.html for more information and keep an eye out for UNE-official announcements on the subject.

So what is plagiarism and how can you make sure you’re not inappropriately using someone else’s ideas?

Check out UNE Library resources at http://www.une.edu.au/library/eskillsune/using/legal.php

Plagiarism today is a blog that looks at online plagiarism http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/

An article that includes a useful demonstration of plagiarism – what’s acceptable and what’s not http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/plag.html

UNE has signed up to a mobile phone recycling program. This means reducing waste, pollution and raising money for a good cause.

In 2002 75% of Australian households had at least one mobile phone. Like other new technologies there’s pressure on mobile phone users to constantly upgrade their phone. That means that there’s millions of old mobiles heading into landfill.

Throwing a mobile into the bin is particularly worrying given the toxic chemicals that are common mobile phone components. Arsenic, Beryllium, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Lithium, Mercury and Zinc are all commonly found in mobile phones.

Clean up Australia in association with Aussie Recycling has set up a mobile phone recycling program that ensures that no mobile phone waste will make it into landfill.  This means no toxins in the environment - but wait there’s more. The recycling program will help to raise funds for The Spastic Centre - helping to provide services for children and adults with cerebral palsy. The program also helps to provide affordable communication to developing countries.

To donate your old mobile just pop in to the service desk and pick up a yellow phone recycling satchel. This provides free postage for your old mobile.

Nokia has announced a product recall covering a common battery.

A problem in the manufacturing process has resulted in Nokia announcing a recall of around 42 million batteries. The batteries, BL-5C were manufactured in Japan between December 05 and November 06.

These batteries have been shown to potentially overheat while recharging causing the battery to dislodge. No serious injuries or damage to equipment have been reported.

If you want to find out more about the recall, including serial numbers of affected batteries visit http://batteryreplacement.nokia.com/batteryreplacement/en/