March 2012
IT Connections Masthead
In This Issue
Recognize your colleagues with ITS-U
New! Summer Institute
Tech Updates
IT Out and About
Professional Development Opportunities
Spiders Create Webs
ITidbits
Our public privacy
Quick Links
Join Our Mailing List

Quick Notes  

 

Staff Milestones

 

Bruce Boardman, Support Analyst - 5 years

Steven Medicis, Functional Business Analyst - 5 years

Erik Anderson, Director, Information Technology - 10 years

Jenny Gluck, Associate Chief Information Officer - 20 years

Lenny Heisler, IT Analyst - 25 years

Myra Daly, IT Analyst - 30 years

 

Staff News

 

Please welcome Carrie Donelan as the new Administrative Specialist for Core Infrastructure Services (CIS). She comes to ITS and SU from working as Office Manager at Commercial Roofing & Sheet Metal, and has a Bachelor of Information Technology degree with specialization in Network Administration from American InterContinental University. Carrie will be providing administrative and project support for the ITS staff in Machinery Hall and will work in collaboration with the ITS Business Office. Carrie is located in 214 Machinery Hall and can be reached at x3534 or [email protected].

 

Don Howard joined Administrative Computing Services (ACS) on March 1. He comes to SU and ITS from Georgia State University where he worked as a PC Systems Technician for several years. Don has a Bachelor's degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He is both A+ and Network+ certified and is an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT). He will be providing primary IT support for the Athletics Department, splitting his time between Manley Field House and 621 Skytop Rd and can be reached at [email protected]. Welcome aboard, Don!

 

On February 1, 2012, Kara Patten assumed a larger role in the support of student employees and Start IT Up in Academic Applications and Service Centers (AASC). She continues to provide Opening logistics and office coordination. Kara now reports to Bonnie Dunay. She kept her phone number (x4704) and has moved into the CST 1-205 suite. At the same time Dan Lowe, who had been working with Learning Environment and Media Production (LEMP), joined AASC and now reports to Jenny Gluck, Associate CIO of Academic Services. Dan retains his budget responsibilities with LEMP, which have been expanded to include AASC. He moved to CST 1-116 where his phone number will be x3631. Please congratulate Kara and Dan on their new roles!

Simple Unified Messaging

 

Help your organization get ready for CallXpress, SU's new voice mail system

  

Personal introductory security codes were distributed by voice mail message. Please remind the people you support to get their codes and initialize their new voice mailboxes.

  

On Wednesday, March 14 each SU employee who is subscribed to voice mail was left a voice mail message containing their personal introductory security code for CallXpress�, SU's new voice mail system. They will need this security code to initialize their new CallXpress voice mailbox.

 

As mentioned in our previous announcements, this message did not activate the "message waiting" indicator on their phones, so please remind the employees in your organization to log into their voice mailboxes and hear the message about their security codes. Further remind them to call 3-2578 from their campus phone and use the security code to initialize their new voice mailboxes.

 

CallXpress will be activated on the evening of Wednesday, April 4. Once activated, calls to the SU voicemail access number (3-2527) will be directed to the new system. CallXpress includes a new feature called Simple Unified Messaging (Simple UM), which allows you to receive an email notification and a WAV file of each voice mail message.

 

Complete information, including detailed instructions, how to request Simple UM, FAQs and a Quick Reference Guide can be found at http://telecom.syr.edu.

 

To get ready for CallXpress employees need to:

  • Retrieve their personal introductory security code from the voicemail message they were sent on Wednesday, March 14.
  • Initialize their voice mailbox from their SU landline phone. This can be done at any time, preferably before the system is activated on the evening of April 4. Initialization will take only a few minutes.
    • Dial into the system at 3-2578.
    • Enter the Personal Introductory Security Code (from the voice mail message).
    • Follow the prompts to set up and personalize the mailbox with a new security code, and record a user name and a new greeting. The employee's new, four to fifteen digit security code must have at least three unique digits, not contain your mailbox number, and not form a simple numeric sequence (i.e., 12345).
    • After the mailbox is set up, the tutorial will continue with some shortcuts and tips for using the system.

After the new system is activated, any user who has not already done so will be required to initialize their mailbox the first time they dial into the voice mail system on 3-2527.

 

Employees will be able to begin using CallXpress the morning of Thursday, April 5 by calling the same phone number now used for voice mail: 3-2527 or 443-2527.

 

Visit http://telecom.syr.edu for detailed information, instructions and reference materials. If you have further questions, contact Telecommunications at x4730 or [email protected].

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 CallExpress logo

 

ITS-U Logo 

Celebrate and recognize the excellent work of your colleagues!

Show your coworkers how much you appreciate them with ITS-U!

 

Over the past two and a half years the ITS-U employee appreciation program has flourished, with a total of 127 awards distributed in recognition of jobs well done. If you think one of your colleagues delivers quality-driven service, professional expertise and embodies the skills and behavior that keep ITS and its work moving forward, nominate them for an award!

 

ITS-U Certificates

 The HIPTA (high performing team award) and the Kilimanjaro, an award for outstanding contribution to the successful completion of a project, are the most common awards. Your hard working coworkers might deserve one of these or one of the 5 other unique awards! In the past, awards have been given for a wide variety of efforts, including team support for classroom installations; troubleshooting and resolution for Adobe Connect Pro; and rebuilding the Telecom Closet after the flooding in April 2011.

 

Celebrate and appreciate a coworker by nominating them for an award today! For complete details, click here.

 

Learning with technology

 

 

NEW!  

Summer Institute for Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning

 

Intensive experience for faculty looking to add online and technology elements to their courses

 

The Online Learning Services (OLS) group of Information Technology and Services (ITS) will offer its inaugural Summer Institute for Technology-Enhanced Teaching and Learning (SITETL) to be held this summer in two separate week-long sessions in order to accommodate different schedules. The two sessions are planned for May 21-25 and August 6-10. The Summer Institute is designed as an intensive experience for SU faculty members who plan to teach an online course or who want to make significant revisions in a face-to-face course to incorporate technology for teaching and learning. This unique program will offer presentations and hands-on workshops focused on current topics and technologies, as well as strategies and pedagogies to support online and technology-infused courses. The Summer Institute is co-sponsored by University College and the Office of Faculty Development.  

 

For more information, including an application form, see the Summer Institute web site at http://sitetl.syr.edu. Or contact Michael Morrison, Manager of Online Learning Services at [email protected] or x1806.

 

 

Tech Updates

Keeping current with software, systems, issues and devices

 

SU's Green Data Center 

ITS has completed migration of the enterprise and virtual hosted environments (VHE) into the Green Data Center. This work, performed by Joshua Slade, Peter Pizzimenti, Bruce Hammond, and John Boland of the Core System Services (CSS) group, involved moving over 1,000 servers for systems and services from a wide variety of university systems, and took almost a year to complete. The migration process for the virtual environment was completed while the systems were available and did not require any scheduled downtime. Congratulations on a job well done!

 

New Four Winds Wayfinding Sign at Bird Library

The folks at Bird Library recently developed and installed SU's first interactive touch screen using Four Winds Wayfinding. It is located on the first floor (ground level) on the wall between the elevators and Pages Caf�. Along with maps, locations, live events, hours, and a staff directory, it uses onscreen QR codes to launch Cascade-generated mobile pages with directions and destination photos to follow to over 115 locations at Bird. With initial development by Four Winds, a team consisting of library staffers Cindy Barry, DeAnn Buss, Pamela McLaughlin, Russ Silverstein and Pamela Thomas finished development and implementation. Check it out next time you're there!

 

 

Dell Logo

You're invited! Representatives from Dell will be hosting a Product Road Map presentation in 060 Eggers Hall on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 between 9:00 a.m. and Noon. This presentation will preview Dell's new products, with particular focus on the models that will be featured in this year's Big Buy procurement. All are welcome, no registration or RSVP needed. For more information contact Stan Ziemba at x9011 or [email protected].

 

 

White Ribbon Campaign Banner '12

 

There's still time to support the Vera House White Ribbon campaign! The ribbons and wristbands are just $1.00 with your personal statement never to support, commit or remain silent about domestic or sexual violence. 

 

Please see Tina O'Mara in 1-133 CST (x5324, [email protected]) if you are willing to help out with this good cause.  This campaign is the biggest fundraiser for Vera House, which gives shelter and support to domestic and sexual abuse victims. Volunteering to lead SU's charge to support the 2012 campaign are co-chairs Melvin Stith, dean of the Whitman School of Management, and Colleen Bench, director of the Parents Office.

 

For more information about Vera House and the White Ribbon Campaign, visit http://www.verahouse.org/.

 
IT Out and About
Connecting with the campus and beyond 

 

This semester Alex Corsello is teaching IST-335 Organizational Behavior.

Lee Badman, blogger 

 

 

Lee Badman raises a ruckus as a blogger for Network Computing.

 

Professional Development Opportunities

Resources that might help you sharpen your edge. Please note that ITS neither recommends or endorses these items.

  

NYSERNET Education Services logo

 

NYSERNet has partnered with their peer organization in Michigan (MERIT) to offer workshops not currently in the NYSERNet Education Services curriculum. This reciprocal arrangement will typically make on-line workshops available. However, the first MERIT offering does require that you attend in person in the NYSERNet Syracuse office.  MERIT is offering Hands-On Network Security: Practical Tools and Methods to NYSERNet members (including SU) at a discounted rate. This is a two-day workshop, Wednesday, April 18th & Thursday, April 19th, 2012 at the Syracuse NYSERNet Office, 8:30 to 5:00, $599 per student (includes breakfast and lunch). A detailed course description and registration form is available at the MERIT web sitePlease be sure to select "Register to attend in Syracuse, NY" when submitting your registration request.

  

NYSERNet is also presenting a Network Security and Engineering Technical Summit (Tech Summit) on May 23, 2012 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. If you are a Network Engineer, the "How to Diagnose and Fix Network Performance Problems" presentation by Dr. John Graham is, according to NYSERNET, "an absolute must to attend." Systems Administrators will learn about IPv6 back office issues and what your peers are doing to address them. You will also appreciate learning how the American Museum of Natural History developed an app called "Explorer" which guides visitors to exhibits within the Museum. You will be invited to use this app just after the lunch break to visit exhibits of your choice. Joel Rosenblatt will return to the Summit again this year to speak on network security tools that can minimize risks to your networks. You can view abstracts of all the presentations at the registration page. This is an opportunity to touch base with your peers from other NYS Higher Ed institutions. Click here more information and to register for the Tech Summit. 

 

NYSERNet is always searching for new workshop topics that are of value to its members. If you have a topic in mind, please share your idea with Steve Knapp, Director, Network Operations and Education Services at [email protected] . If you have expertise you would like to share, Steve's looking forward to hearing from you. 

 

Spiders Symbol  

 

 

 

Spiders create webs

Student team in ITS-Online Platforms nurtures beauty and function online

 

As the internet has become a visual feast, institutions, businesses and other site owners are clamoring for skilled web practitioners who can deftly merge beauty and function online. An ITS program is preparing SU students for this digital realm, while adding to department capabilities. With the help and leadership of Jono Chowdhury, manager of Online Platforms, a group of twenty students have become Spiders, creating websites for the new digital age.

  

"Spiders are students doing creative work," says Chowdhury. "We develop and harness their talent to do great things."

 

The Spiders program began last year. After a brief training period on the basics of Adobe Creative Suite, the Spiders perfected their skills through hands-on experience. Spider Kateryna Hlynchuk is an architecture major and provides graphic design work for the team. She says the architecture program taught her some design skills but being a Spider took it to the next level.

 

"It's nice to see my visual communications style on a site," says Hlynchuk. "I've learned to be more cohesive, and think how others will see it."

 

Spider Deven Pitcher worked as the coder and developer on Project Hope. "Being a Spider is the perfect recipe for creativity and productivity," says Pitcher, a graduate student in engineering. "I was Project Hope logolearning as I was doing."

 

A recent Spider assignment was designing a web presence for Project Hope, an organization that helps destitute women in Bangladesh. A team of 5 spiders worked their magic for 221 hours and completed their first website. Being a Spider isn't just web and design training, as they discovered when they had to present their finished product to ITS leaders.

Orange TV wb pages, before and after
Orange TV, before and after the Spiders' redesign

 

The Spiders' next projects are in various stages. Mel's Angels, the team that did Project Hope, will start by looking at the style and branding of current sites and try to separate styles from what works best. In about 15 weeks or 300 work hours, the team expects to be ready to present their work. Another team, the Elite Confusers, is developing websites for Imagining America. The Mad Hatters are developing functional plug-ins for Expressions. Other Spiders are completing a first draft of a Design Manifesto for new Spiders that will be published as an app with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, and as a textbook using Apple iAuthor. Other Spiders' projects include developing the Expressions personal web site service and the Orange TV web presence, configuring the Collage digital asset management service, and development of portions of the SU Mobile App.

 

"What we make has context and meaning," says Pitcher. "The environment here is free, the creativity is better than anywhere else on campus."

 

The Spiders design graphics, write code, develop websites and produce presentations. They expand upon their classroom experience with hands-on learning, while supporting the missions of their various University clients.

 

"It's all about utilizing student talent to make contributions to SU and the community," says Chowdhury. "This is our Scholarship in Action."

 

Spiders logotype

 

ITidbits

Facts and figures about IT @ SU 

 

As of March 26, more than 84%of admitted undergraduate students for the Fall 2012 term had already activated their NetIDs.

 

SU Email Stats 3/1/12

  

In the thirty days ending 3/1/12, of the 104,449,473 email messages that were sent to SU only 11,393, 968 (11%) were accepted and delivered to addressees. The remaining 89% were spam, or contained mal-ware, viruses or had other characteristics that prevented them from getting past SU's firewall and filters.

 

SU Network Stats 3/8/12

SU's opening game in the Big East Tournament on March 8 once again was occasion for establishing a new record for use of the University's internet connection, with peak reaching 3,559.9 Mb/s near the end of the game. This was more than triple daily average use, and exceeded by more than 40% the last peak of 2,524.1 Mb/s, set during last year's Big East Tourney SU opener.  SU Mobile App

 

 

As of March 15 the Syracuse University official mobile application had been downloaded on more than 5,100 devices: 4,057 iOS, 944 Android and 137 Blackberry. This is an increase of 28% overall since mid-January, and 361% among Blackberry users.

 

Anybody watching?

 

 

 

Our public privacy

A student ponders privacy in the age of targeted marketing


My peers and I grew up during the rise of the Internet. In our youth we saw broadband eclipse dial up, and text messages transcend instant messages. Whatever it took we were online and that's what mattered. Now, as college students it matters more than ever. We post personal information in emails, calendar appointments, address books and on social media sites. In very real ways we've made digital clones of ourselves online. However, as we demand privacy and space for our physical selves, we find it elusive for our digital and commercial selves. Whether it's Google's new privacy policy or a department store monitoring our purchases, the definition and value of privacy has never been so blurred.

 

Google instituted a new privacy policy on March 1, 2012.  For several weeks prior, a pop up appeared on every Google log-in: "This stuff matters!" And it does. Yet, apparently not enough to make most students read it.

 

"The first time I saw that box thing I hit dismiss right away," said Amy, a junior majoring in English and Textual Studies. "I didn't really care."

 

"I thought it was just an ad for some new Google+ stuff," said Pat, a senior civil engineering major. "Nothing important."

 Google watching?

In a nutshell, Google says their new privacy policy will bring uniformity among all their platforms. First, Google will combine all your accounts and ask you to use your real name for all of them. When signing up for a new account you will be asked for your name, birthdate, gender and phone number. Google can use this information to get more of your personal data. Google will also gather and record what you search, watch on YouTube, do on Google+, send through Gmail, schedule on Google Calendar, store in your Android phone, and discuss in Gmail chats. The idea is to create a "single user across all products." Google has assured users that combining all this information will benefit them with more tailored content, relevant searches and advertisements. Also, this single user will remain anonymous: although Google uses your personal information to gather and organize content, you, as an individual user, will remain anonymous to advertisers. There is no option to 'opt-out' of Google's new policy.

 

"If the only thing that happens is different ads, it's not a big deal," said Pat.

 

It is a little disappointing to hear that Google wants to use our information to attract advertisers for profit. We think of Google as our go-to friend for entertainment, work and answers. We forget Google is a business that needs and wants to make money. If companies can target specific people using data from Google, they save money and Google sells ads. They both win. But do we?

 

"It makes me feel like I'm being watched," said Sara, a freshman marketing major. "Like I have to be careful about everything I do online or I could get in trouble."

 

Most students don't seem to mind more targeted ads. Google will use our information to attract advertisers and in return we get more interesting and pertinent ads. Users, Google and advertisers save money, so everyone wins, right? After all, Google isn't doing anything new or unique. Browser cookies function in a similar, although cruder fashion and have been around since the 90's. Brick and mortar merchants have been using customers' information to target their marketing for years, and a timely reminder appeared two weeks before Google implemented their new privacy policies when The New York Times Magazine published the article "How Companies Learn Your Secrets."

 

Target watching?

In brief, the article looked at how Target has been working on analytics and statistics to tailor coupons and promotions based on consumer buying habits since the early 2000's. In 2002, their marketers saw an opportunity to advertise specifically to pregnant women. Pregnant women need a wide variety of products for themselves and their growing babies, which Target already stocks. Target marketers asked their statisticians to figure out which shoppers were pregnant so they could build brand loyalty and sales among these shoppers. For decades Target has collected data on every person who regularly shops at their stores, and when possible assigned a unique "Guest ID" number to individual customers so they can track everything they buy.

 

"If you use a credit card or a coupon, or fill out a survey, or mail in a refund, or call the customer help line, or open an e-mail we've sent you, or visit our Web site, we'll record it and link it to your Guest ID," a Target statistician said. "We want to know everything we can."

 

Also linked to the Guest ID is a wide variety of demographic data, including the guest's age, marital and family status, home address, how far they live from the store, their estimated salary, what credit cards they have and what web sites they visit.  They augment this with other purchased data. 

 

With the sales and demographic data the statisticians developed a profile that was able to predict if a particular female customer was pregnant. If a female shopper buys items pregnant women typically buy in their second trimester, Target starts sending her special coupon books offering deals on maternity and baby products alongside other products that anyone might buy.

  

"And we found out that as long as a pregnant woman thinks she hasn't been spied on, she'll use the coupons," said a Target executive. "She just assumes that everyone else on her block got the same mailer. As long as we don't spook her, it works."  

 

It works. Not just for Target, but for almost every major retailer and service, from grocery stores to banks, to the U.S. Postal service. They all have some sort of "predictive analytics" operation with the aim of increasing their marketing efficiency. Just like Google.

 

Does it work for us, the customers?  On the one hand, we get marketing messages that are tailored to our individual needs. We see ads and promotions for things we actually want to buy. By allowing ourselves to be "targeted" we get to use some pretty powerful online tools and services without paying cash for the privilege of doing so. On the other hand, strangers know a lot about us, perhaps more than we know about ourselves, and they are often trading this knowledge for commercial success. Is it a fair tradeoff? If we don't think so, or if we get spooked, is our answer to boycott Google and department stores? Probably not.

 

Our best bet is to monitor our online behavior and be careful about the personal information we post online, whether public or private. We're in the middle of a fast-paced digital age and it's almost impossible to not participate. It seems a little less privacy is the price we have to pay for free online searches, social media and instant news updates, not to mention more personally relevant advertising and junk mail.  

 

Even so, at times I wonder if it's worth it.

 

by Dania Souid

 

IT Connections is published monthly by Information Technology and Services at Syracuse University. Please submit story ideas and news items to Chris Finkle.

  

 

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