Information Technology Services Blog

Dear Students,

Welcome back! Over the break ITS and the Library installed a print management system in all libraries and the O’Kane lab. Printing for the Holy Cross Community is free. However, we are trying to reduce waste as part of the overall Holy Cross committment to reduce our carbon footprint.

There are 2 major differences in how printing will work.

1) Each location will have one print release station. You can print from any computer, but you must go to the station to release your job.

2) Logging in with your network ID is essential. This is how your job will be identified at the release station. Please remember to logoff when you’re finished so the next person doesn’t accidentally print with your name.

There will be instructions in the libraries and in O’Kane. Our staff members are also available to assist.

Please help the campus Go Green and print only what’s needed.

Sincerely,

Ellen Keohane, Director of Information Technology Services

Karen Reilly, Interim Director of Library Services

Today (August 24, 2009) at 5:30 p.m. there will be a brief network printing outage while ITS staff updates the software.  If you have any questions, call the Help Desk (x 3548).

Dear Moodle users,
On July 24, the look-and-feel of Moodle changed. These are only cosmetic differences such as color schemes and graphic elements. All functionality and navigation remains the same.  The Montserrat Moodle site is not changing.

We hope you like the new look. Let us know what you think.

Posted Thursday, May 21, 2009

Saturday, May 23, we will be upgrading the Groupwise e-mail server to version 8. This upgrade will start at 4:00 AM, Saturday morning, and last throughout the day. While this upgrade is in process, your Holy Cross e-mail will be inaccessible. We expect the upgrade to be finished by 4:00 PM.

This upgrade will not result in any change for those folks who use the current Groupwise mail client. E-mail and calendaring will continue to function as they have. This will not require you to update your software, or to make changes. Additionally, folks who download their e-mail to mobile devices using mail clients on those products will not see any changes.

For those who use the web to access Groupwise, you will notice that the interface has been significantly improved. The web version now has features that make it nearly as strong as locally installed mail client. A full list of the changes to Groupwise Webaccess can be found here:

http://www.novell.com/documentation/gw8/gw8_userweb/index.html?page=/documentation/gw8/gw8_userweb/data/email_improvements.html If you have any questions, please contact the Helpdesk (x3548).

Dear Holy Cross Faculty, Staff, and Students,

Some of you have noticed that the speed of our internet connection seems faster than before.  This is because Information Technology Services upgraded our internet connection over the Spring break.  ITS has historically increased the size of our internet “pipe” by some amount each year.  This year we negotiated a contract with a new service provider, Cogent Communications, to increase the size of pipe 17 times (going from 60Mb to 1,000Mb) for a small increase in cost.  Before this upgrade, between 9:00AM to 2:00AM our internet connection was at peak capacity – like a highway jammed with cars.  Now, that traffic is moving along smoothly.  We hope you’ve noticed a difference.

Certainly, this isn’t the last time we will need to make such an adjustment.  Files and media streams used by people both here and elsewhere are steadily expanding in size and scope.  ITS will continue to study our internet connection usage to ensure that we address the ever-growing needs of the Holy Cross community.

Dear Holy Cross Faculty and Staff, Since the release of Office 2007, we have been getting three questions fairly frequently. Given that so many folks want to know the answers, we figured we’d just send out the news to everyone all at once. 1) Can I get Office 2007 installed on my Office machine? Generally, the answer is yes. Office 2007 is compatible with the documents and spreadsheets created in older versions of Office, and the files created in 2007 can be opened and edited by those who don’t have Office 2007. Some managers and directors might rather have all of their staff on the same version of Office – so you should check with your supervisor. If it is alright with them, just give the Helpdesk a call and put in a request to have it installed. 2) Can I get Office 2007 installed for my whole department? Managers and Directors who want Office 2007 installed for their entire area can put in that request with the Helpdesk. 3) Can I get Office 2007 for home? Due to the license agreement that we have with Microsoft, we can do this. Just give the Helpdesk a call, and let them know that you want to stop in and get the CD. They will create one for you to pick up. Note: this is a fairly unique situation; most software is not licensed this way, and so we cannot do this in those cases. If you have any other questions, give the Helpdesk a call at X3548. Lorrie Jeskey, Help Desk Manager Paula Sylvestri, Help Desk Specialist Tim Cronin, Help Desk Specialist Information Technology Services College of the Holy Cross 1 College Street Worcester, MA 01610-2395 Phone: 508.793.3548; FAX: 508.793.2711 helpdesk@holycross.edu Monday – Friday; 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM http://www.holycross.edu/its/get_help/ Submit/View Help Desk Tickets: https://sd.holycross.edu ( https://sd.holycross.edu/ )