It’s the last week before classes, and there are so many things to discuss regarding information technology and college preparedness. Because of this, I decided this week would just be an array of nuggets of information for everyone—a list of happenings, tips, helpful hints, reminders, and what is upcoming, if you will. So hang on to your seat and bear with me as I try to give you the essential information for this week.
WINDOWS UPDATES almost killed my computer!
Yes, yes, you did!
- I am still learning on this job, and this was a BIG lesson that the rest of the IT team and I learned last week; once a year, OIT pushes mandatory Windows updates to the computers on campus, and it just so happens that this once a year was last Thursday, Aug 11,2022.Due to the workload on the server pushing these updates, more than 8,000 computers were “stuck” trying to simultaneously update for more than a day and, in some cases, over two days.
- So, what will I do to avoid this in the future? Well, first and foremost, I have a meeting with Dr. Marc Hoit on Wednesday to discuss how I can help with the following:
- Help strategize an onboarding process for new IT leaders to ensure communication is shared across the university and the colleges, manage expectations better, and avoid disruptions like the one we just experienced for our users.
- To educate myself on the processes pushed centrally from OIT and to be involved in the change management process. Ensuring the Poole IT team can help our users through the mandatory updates during a much less critical time (just before the start of classes) and with as little interruption as possible.
- Discuss alternative ways to handle updates in the future and possible opportunities for a way to manage our computers more efficiently.
- After strategizing with Dr. Hoit about the next steps, I will plan a post-mortem analysis—identifying action items for how we can adequately prepare for this type of event in the future—and follow up with communication to the college.
Google Drive is your friend because we had unlimited storage… but for how much longer?
The Google Service Team (GST) has announced that the unlimited storage will end for its Education customers. How does this affect you?
- New storage quotas will be implemented for your google accounts
- Users will be e-mailed with personal quota limits and enforcement dates; there will be a progress bar that appears in your google drive which shows account usage and overages (if applicable)
- Google workspace accounts (Shared drives) will also have storage limits
- Until users are officially notified of their storage quota, GST encourages users to do the following:
- Review your storage usage here: storage usage
- Move personal content out of your google drive to an alternate storage location (i.e., emails, files, photos, and videos)
- Review the type of stored data you currently have in your google storage, such as project notes, documents, research dates, etc., to help identify use cases where it could be moved to an alternate storage location
- As the processes are worked out, more information will be coming soon from the Poole IT team. To learn more, you can read about it here.
- Classroom support reminders: All Nelson Hall classrooms are supported and managed by Classtech. What does that mean exactly?
- Fall of 2021, Poole College switched to having all its classrooms match the exact technical setup of the rest of the campus and managed by Classtech, allowing for a more unified support model for the faculty switching from teaching spaces.
- In the Spring of 2022, the classroom telephones were programmed (Line 2) with a direct line to contact Classtech, avoiding the helpdesk call center for a more natural and emergent response.
- Classtech provides IT support between the hours of 8 am-5 pm. Mondays-Friday during the Academic semester, Poole IT staff are on site until 6:30 to provide after-hours “emergency assistance.”
- Phishing is on the rise, and so is Smishing! What can you do to avoid it? I recently sent out an email reminder containing helpful tips on recognizing phishing attempts and what you can do to protect yourself and your data. OIT is reminding everyone again of the rise of cyberattacks; 80% of them start with a phishing email! Take the time to inform yourself of ways to avoid becoming a victim of a phishing attempt listed below here:
- NEVER give out any personal information; this includes passwords, credit card, bank account information, or any other personally identifying information.
- Use STRONG passwords; the best passwords contain phrases with a mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols.
- Always use 2-factor authentication if it is an option, not just when you are required. So many companies are offering this now. Take advantage of it and protect yourself.
- And lastly, if you suspect a message is a phishing attempt, NEVER CLICK ON THE LINK. Simply report it to security for review.
- For more information on ways to avoid Phishing, you can check out these sites from NCSU OIT:
- Texting attempts to your cell phone are called “smishing” (SMS- fishing).
- Becoming increasingly popular, be very wary of any text coming to you from unknown numbers with links referring to a reputable company. If you receive a message like this, DO NOT select the link and provide personal information. More information is below:
- What is Smishing
New Displays are being installed throughout Poole (the first two have been installed in PCJ), and a new way to push and manage content using Airtame!
What is Airtame?
- Airtame is an easier way for screen sharing, engaging digital signage, saving time, and improving teamwork.
- Allowing us to engage the screens in multiple locations:(such as classrooms) in a multitude of ways:
- Pushing content specific to students in particular locations, not to every machine (such as events, advertising, job placements, etc.)
- Grouping Screens based on contents and units allow each department to manage the content specific to their areas. i.e., OUP has two screens in their space that they will be able to manage the content displayed during critical times, working collaboratively with the Marketing
- Airtame allows for the connection of computers efficiently, supporting both Mac and Windows quickly and seamlessly in the conference rooms over wireless (acting very much like Apple Airplay).
- And lastly, the most exciting news is these new screens will allow us to bring together students in the shared spaces for College-wide sporting events (PCJ can stream sporting events)
- Allowing us to engage the screens in multiple locations:(such as classrooms) in a multitude of ways:
Keep an eye out for more information, training sessions, and documentation from Poole IT on these new screens and Airtame as the installations are finalized.
Reminder! FoxIT Pro has replaced Adobe Acrobat Professional as the Campus PDF editor (Acrobat Reader is still available as a free download).
Central OIT has replaced Adobe Acrobat Professional (this is the software used for editing PDFs) with a less expensive software called FoxIT Pro, which has the same capabilities and features. If you had this software and it expired, or you wish to have it, please send a ticket to pcom_support@ncsu.edu requesting the new PDF editor and include the type of computer you use (Windows or Mac) so one of the IT members can remotely install this software for you.
To learn more about how to use FoxIT Pro, click here: