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DoIT e-newsletter offers useful tech news and tips for faculty and staff

Following is the most recent TechNews e-newsletter from DoIT. Info on subscribing is at the end.

  • Protect Your Computer
  • Protect Your Identity
  • Faculty & Instructors: Help Shape the Campus IT Plan
  • Bookmark the New Service Outage Page
  • Stay Informed of Campus IT Projects
  • Customize Your My UW Content

COMPUTING RESOURCES FOR FACULTY, STAFF & DEPARTMENTS
UW-Madison faculty, staff and department administrators have three ways to find out what computing resources (i.e., free software, instructional support, productivity tools) are available to you. 1) View a seven-minute video at http://www.doit.wisc.edu/facultystaff/2007video.aspx 2) Review the online version of the Computing Essentials Guide at http://www.doit.wisc.edu/facultystaff/ 3) Request a more detailed hard copy of the guide by emailing your name and office address to meg.mccall@doit.wisc.edu

PROTECT YOUR COMPUTER
Threats to computing security are everywhere, but there are several simple steps you can take to protect your computer: install the free campus anti-virus software; keep your operating system and other patches up to date; and use strong passwords. Read what other measures the UW Office of Campus Information Security (OCIS) recommends at http://www.cio.wisc.edu/security/secure/ The OCIS web site also has a variety of other resources for keeping campus users secure, including tips for safe social networking and how to avoid illegal file sharing (and the big fines that come with it!).

PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY
The number of phishing attempts, fraudulent solicitations, counterfeit web sites and fake messages is on the rise. Unless you have initiated the contact, you should never give out personal identity information (SSNs, account numbers, user names, passwords, etc.).
As a general rule, UW will not ask you to reveal this type of information via email, so don’t be fooled by emails posing as the campus email or other UW authority. Learn how to recognize scams at http://www.cio.wisc.edu/security/scams.aspx and other ways to protect your identity at http://www.cio.wisc.edu/security/identity.aspx

FACULTY & INSTRUCTORS: HELP SHAPE THE CAMPUS I.T. PLAN
CIO and Vice Provost Ron Kraemer invites faculty and instructors to participate in two special sessions to help craft the first-ever UW-Madison Information Technology Strategic Plan. Participants will be asked to provide input regarding campus IT priorities for Teaching & Learning, Research, Outreach and other areas. The planning dates are:
• Monday, Sept. 15 from 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. (Lunch Provided)
• Tuesday, Sept. 30 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Snacks Provided)
• (Backup Date Only) Wednesday, Oct. 1 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. (Only sign up for this date if you are unavailable to attend the previous two dates; this session is subject to cancellation.)

Please RSVP at http://www.cio.wisc.edu/plan/schedule.aspx using the link next to the appropriate date and/or visit the planning web site at http://www.cio.wisc.edu/plan/

BOOKMARK THE NEW SERVICE OUTAGE PAGE
DoIT has created a new web site to publish information about planned and unplanned outages for major campus-wide computing services (e.g., network, calendaring, My UW). The site will help users plan for and understand when and why services are unavailable. Please bookmark the site (www.doit.wisc.edu/outages) and/or subscribe to the RSS feed to stay on top of any scheduled (e.g., service maintenance windows) and emergency (e.g., WiscMail not working) service outages.

STAY INFORMED OF CAMPUS I.T. PROJECTS
Want to know what large-scale information technology projects are happening around campus? The Office of the Chief Information Officer has recently launched a new web site (www.cio.wisc.edu/projects/) describing current pilot projects, major service launches, software negotiations, infrastructure changes and IT planning efforts. The site will serve as one of several methods for keeping both IT staff and campus end users aware of changes in our computing environment. By definition, projects are limited-term and affect all or significant parts of campus.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR MY UW CONTENT
Did you know that you can modify the content that appears in the My UW-Madison portal and that you can arrange it in a layout that best meets your needs? Learn how at http://kb.wisc.edu/myuw/page.php?id=4675. This help document is one of thousands of active documents available online through the DoIT Help Desk KnowledgeBase at http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/. Just type in a key term to search for help with your technical issue.

To subscribe to TechNews, go to http://www.doit.wisc.edu/news/subscribe.asp It takes just a minute, and you can unsubscribe at any time. If you already subscribe to TechNews, you do not need to re-subscribe.

TechNews is published by the UW Division of Information Technology (DoIT).