Dragonfly 3 is Drexel's secure wireless network that everyone should be using!
IRT has some great write-ups for various operating systems, and if you have trouble getting any of them to work, come see me.
In case these links change, visit http://www.drexel.edu/irt/support/wireless/dragonfly3/
I've been running Windows Server 2008 as a workstation for a few months now, and I can join the countless others who agree that this is Microsoft's best desktop OS ever. In the same way that Windows 2000 was far more stable than 98 and 2003 was more stable than XP, 2008 beats out Vista with optimized network and disk drivers, resulting in 5-10% performance bumps across the board.
Increase the Filesystem Memory Cache Size in Vista
How-To-Geek does some sleuthing into the largely undocumented regkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
Double-click on the NtfsMemoryUsage key on the right-hand side and change the value to 2. Here's the available values:
- Not Set: 0
- Set to Default: 1
- Increase Cache: 2
More tweaks to come. Send me any that you've found to work for you.
I’ve made a few changes to the main office printers that I’m
hoping will alleviate some of the issues we’ve been having lately. Instead
of using the little Brother laser which has the unfortunate habit of jamming
and intermittently refusing to print, everyone will be printing to the Dell
Laser next to it. How, you may ask?
How to print from Windows
1.
Make sure you have your MSE username and
password and can get to the file server (\\mse-files).
2.
Go into your printer list and delete all Main
Office Laser printers (Dell, HP, Brother—get rid of them all).
3.
Now, go to \\mse-files
(click Start->Run, type it in, and hit OK)
4.
Right click on Main Office Printer and click Connect.
6.
Print!
How to print from Mac
1.
Find the jade monkey before the next full moon.
2.
Rub your lucky rabbit’s foot on your monitor.
3.
Spin around 5 times.
4.
Print!
5.
(I’m not 100% sure on these instructions, but I
don’t have a Mac to test them on. So, the first person who needs it
installed on a Mac will have the honor of me using your computer to write up
instructions J)
The MainOfficeLaserBro will remain available for a short
period longer, but once we run out of supplies for it, we will be taking it off
of the network.
Upcoming Changes
We’re currently looking into a higher-capacity color copier
that will allow walk-up scan-to-email (so nobody has to bug Keiko with a
document to be scanned!). It also does walk-up printing, which holds your
print job until you walk up to the printer and tell it to print. How many
times have you sent something to the printer only to realize seconds later that
you forgot to add something or needed to change a setting? Now, when you
get down to the printer, you only print the jobs you want. You can delete
the rest, or if a job isn’t picked up in x hours, it gets deleted
automatically. No more wasted reams of paper! If you’re worried
that you’ll now have to wait longer for your print jobs, you won’t—it prints 50
pages/minute. I’ll send out more info about this in the coming months.
Experts have recently begun to warn against stand-alone antivirus software, claiming it gives users a false sense of security but does little else to protect against the hundreds of newer attach vectors that exist online. Drexel provides Symantec Antivirus to its students, but there are a number of other programs, suites, and practices that are necessary to protect your computer.
1. Responsibility.
Since most banks and credit cards won't hold users responsible for fraudulent purchases, many computer users aren't nearly as careful as they should be online. Remember: no matter how you choose to protect your computer, you are responsible for your computer and keeping your personal information and data safe. Firewalls, anti-malware, and spam filters help, but things will still get through that require user intervention. Be smart about what you click on!
2. Updates.
I can't stress this enough. Set Windows to install important updates automatically. When you're at home, set your parents' computer to do the same thing.
3. Protection.
Performance issues aside, anti-virus is not a bad thing to run. But there are more things you should have in your arsenal:
- Microsoft Defender (free) - anti-malware that checks a number of additional attack pathways
- Top 5 Antispyware programs - Defender made it to #4, although McAfee's suite made #1 ($40)
- Turn on your firewall! All modern OSs have them built-in. Get a third party one if it makes you feel safer.
- Are you backing up your important research and data? It's hard to feel bad for people who don't have backups--it's like living in New Orleans without flood insurance. Just do it.
4. Give Your Computer A Check-up.
- Shields Up! - free,
quick port scanner to see what on your computer is communicating with
the outside world. On the second page, click the All Service Ports
button for a full scan.
- Make sure your protection software is updating. Most show the
last date that new definitions were downloaded on their main screen.
Make sure this date is recent (as in either yesterday's or today's date).
5. Don't Be Stupid.
Pop-ups on websites telling you "We've detected a virus! Click here to clean it!" or emails saying "This is the IRS--we have money for you if you click here." are not real. Newer browsers are designed with anti-phishing algorithms that compare the websites to both white- and black-lists and will turn the address bar green or red depending on what it finds. Pay attention to where you are! Bad websites are the equivalent of 23rd and Lehigh at 2am--get out of there quick. Clicking Yes to something you didn't want is the equivalent of some stranger calling you at home saying they need your credit card number and you giving it to them.
If you find your computer is infected, let me know. Programs like Process Explorer, Current Ports, Current Processes, and Hijack This make it easier to find and remove things, and plenty of boot disks like Ultimate Boot CD and Trinity Rescue CD make it possible to boot up outside of Windows and fix certain problems. But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be safe!
This excellent post from Adam Pash over at LifeHacker has instructions for freeware file recovery apps covering all three major OSs. Grab one of these programs and throw it on a thumbdrive for the next time you're in a panic.
[LifeHacker] File Recovery: How to Recover Deleted Files with Free Software
Have a PDF file that you'd like to make changes to? Tired of fighting with Acrobat? Try feeding your PDF file into Zamzar (http://www.zamzar.com/). It lets you convert audio, video, documents, archives, and images into any supported file type (within reason--obviously converting an MPG into a DOC file will probably throw an error).
After reading tech news, forums, and review sites for years, I took it as a given that everyone knows what RSS is. After a year of dealing with people using computers in the real world, I've come to realize that knowledge of what RSS is and how it can make your life easier still has yet to break mainstream, even with pushes from both of the major browser companies to makes RSS a more inline, organic extension of the browser.
How does RSS work?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a stream of text called XML, that happens to look a lot like stray bits of HTML (<p></p>, <div></div>, etc.). Instead of abiding by strict rules that give a limited number of identifiers to place between the < and >, XML allows the markup to represent the data. An example would be showing a simple list using XML markup.
Instead of using HTML to say
<p>Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are running in the primaries for the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively.</p>
XML uses markup to show
<candidates>
<candidate name="Ron Paul" party="Republican" />
<candidate name="Dennis Kucinich" party="Democratic" />
</candidates>
The great thing about XML is that it can be read into many pieces of software as easily as a database can, allowing programmers to say "For each item in this XML set, I want you to a) put the name up top, and b) assign each name a color based on the party."
RSS is just a form of XML that has been agreed upon by a large number of people as useful to transmit news. It includes a title, description, date and time, url, and various other descriptors that make it useful for staying up to date on a bargain hunting site, a news site, or your friend's blog. Even if you know what they are, if you aren't using them, you're wasting time on the web.
How do I read RSS?
RSS is read, simply enough, with an RSS reader. Many browsers can handle RSS feeds. They typically call them something like "Live Bookmarks." You can also download third party readers like Sage (http://sage.mozdev.org/) as a plugin for Firefox. If you aren't yet using Firefox... Let's just say that most web developers, who genuinely enjoy the challenges of webdev, loathe the work-arounds and crazy hacks that accompany getting a website to work well with any version of Internet Explorer. Microsoft--you could stand to do so much good, if only your ego didn't preclude you from participating in industry-wide standards that can only make our lives easier... Plus, extensions in Firefox almost make it worthy of its own dedicated platform. But I digress.
However you aggregate RSS feeds, if you spend more than fifteen minutes a day mindlessly surfing for no reason at all, try these--you'll still have time to surf mindlessly, but you'll feel like you're getting something out of it as well.
For those of you interested in such things as John Conway's Game of Life, a new open-source implementation pretty much takes the cake in terms of speed, size, and samples. You can find it on SourceForge at http://golly.sourceforge.net/. I've created a dung beetle who leaves presents in his path:
I wouldn't be surprised if it's not original, but I've never seen it before...
Every once in a while, you may notice that you can no longer log onto the MSE domain. This is usually due to an expired password. The domain policy is:
- Passwords expire every 365 days
- You cannot reuse your last two passwords
- Passwords must be at least 6 characters long
You can reset a password from any domain computer by logging on. If your password has already expired, it will prompt you to change it immediately. If it hasn't expired, but you'd like to change it anyway, press CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose 'Change Password'.
If you've forgotten your password, stop by LeBow 434 or email me and I'll reset it for you.
So, Microsoft has finally done something right! 
Office 2007 uses the OpenXML file format that has received ECMA approval (that's a good thing for interoperability).
The biggest change is that the file itself is actually a collection of other files within--go ahead and change the extension of one to .zip and open it up. You'll see a hierarchy of XML and image files that make up the document, presentation, or spreadsheet. This is great news, as it allows damaged documents to be troubleshot without knowing Office's internal file structure. However, in making the switch, it breaks compatibility with old versions. Or does it?
IMPORTANT: Before installing the compatibility pack, please go to http://update.microsoft.com and make sure all of the latest Office updates are installed--especially critical updates.
Microsoft has released compatibility packs for older versions of Office (XP and 2003) for the PC here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en
and for the Mac here:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx?pid=download&location=/mac/download/office2004/converterbeta_0_2.xml
Install these, and for the most part, you should be able to open and print files made in the new version.
If you're already using Office 2007, you can set the program to continue to save files in the older format by pulling down the list of file formats under the file name on the Save dialog box and choosing the correct version.
Although search engines are constantly working to improve the quality of their searches, they seem to have no trouble increasing the quantity of what is being searched. Sometimes, it can help a great deal to steer the search more in the direction you need--Google might do a lot of various work in their labs, but mind-controlled search is still a few years off.
The Google Cheat Sheet is a 2-page PDF that clearly outlines many of the basics of Google. Very useful tips, and some quick shortcuts around the sprawling site.
Also useful -- IHackStuff.com has a Google Hack Database of many known searches that will yield "useful" results...
Any time someone gets a new computer, people always ask: does it need to be on the domain? What are the advantages and disadvantages of putting it on the domain? If you're unfamiliar with the concept of a domain, I would direct you towards Wikipedia's entry on Active Directory.
Advantages of being on the MSE domain
- Caching of your user name and password for accessing network resources
- Automatic mapping of your personal file folder and group folder
If your computer isn't on the domain...
- You can access your file share at \\mse-files\files\{username}
- e.g. \\mse-files\files\jdoe
- You can access your group folder at \\mse-files\groups\{group name}
- e.g. \\mse-files\groups\pmg
I only add department-owned desktops to the domain--since laptops are mobile, they won't always be on Drexel's network, which can cause problems if you're out of sight of the domain controller for too long.
If you have questions regarding this policy, or if you'd like your desktop added to the domain, feel free to contact me.
There are two ways to connect your computer to the new projector in the MSE Conference Room.
The first way is to use the VGA cable coming out of the wall next to the side door. This cable is long enough to reach almost everywhere in the room.
The second option is to connect wirelessly, using a piece of software from Epson. Installation is straight-forward. Simply download the file below, double-click to run the file, and follow the instructions (choosing all of the defaults).
Download: PC Version | Mac Version
When running the software for the first time, it should automatically detect the conference room projector. Tick the checkbox next to the projector and click 'Connect'.
Okay, so after a month's off-and-on search for answers to this, I think I've finally gotten my workaround working.
When you visit an url without defining a specific document, whatever server is serving the page is usually instructed to provide a default document, e.g. index.html or default.aspx. Nothing new here.
The problem creeps in when using an asp.net sitemap, which requires that the entire page path be enumerated, such as ~/Test/Default.aspx, in order for controls like the breadcrumb to "know" which page a visitor is on. When you click on links generated by these controls, you are taken to the full url (including the default page name). I want to hide the default page name.
My original thinking was to test Request.ServerVariables("SCRIPT_NAME") for the default page, and then redirect the browser to the truncated URL. Since any of the ASP Request.ServerVariables, as well as Request.Path, include the full path whether the request implicitly or explicitly names the default document, that's no help.
Instead, the only way to see what's in the browser's address bar is via client-side scripting, and the best part is: it only takes two lines of javascript code.
The only drawback to this method is that it has to update the location, which creates another GET to the server. However, the location.replace() does not create a new history entry, so this method is almost completely transparent to the visitor.
<code>
var testremove = location.href.toLowerCase().indexOf("default.aspx");
if (testremove != -1) {location.replace(location.href.substring(0,testremove))};
</code>
Of course, replace default.aspx with whatever your default document is called, or repeat this concept for additional default document names... Attached is the .JS file that you can just drop in to your page as well.
I hope this helps at least one person out there, because this would have saved me a small headache. I know it really doesn't matter if it shows the default name or not. I'm just a stickler for stupid details.
From the day I announced that we were rolling out a department file server, people have been asking if they could get FTP access to it. Because of the inherently insecure nature of FTP, I was hesitant. After careful research, however, I was able to find a secure FTP server that will allow MSE domain users to access their files without being on (or VPNing onto) Drexel's network. Support for the MATERIALS domain has been discontinued.
Step 1: Finding a client that works for you
Most FTP clients have built-in support for secure certificate negotiation, so if you already have an FTP client you like, try it out. I was able to find a very able free client called Core FTP (download), but you're free to choose any that you like. Downloading and installation should be quite simple.
Step 2: Logging in
Server: ftp://files.mse.drexel.edu/
There is no need to put MSE in front of your username, as the FTP server will search the domain automatically. You will have to tell the client to use Secure FTP--you'll be looking for an option that looks like "AUTH SSL" or "AUTH TLS" or "Implicit SSL". SFTP is not the same as Secure FTP--it stands for SSH FTP, which we do not use. Selecting this won't get you to your files.
Step 3: Troubleshooting
Since this is a new system, I expect that there will be issues. If you receive "Invalid home directory", it's because you don't have a user directory on the file server, or it is improperly configured. Contact me to have one created. If you receive "Invalid user name/password", you may have to reset your domain password. Again, contact me and I'll reset it.