Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the New Spam Firewall Service

Miami’s new Spam Firewall Service (introduced in the November issue of TechTalk) from Barracuda Networks is a valuable, customizable tool that you can use to dramatically reduce the amount of spam that finds its way to your Inbox. IT Services answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the new Spam Firewall in this article, including how to prevent e-mail you send from being treated as spam, in this article.

If you have additional questions, please check out the Spam Firewall Service information in the Knowledge Base or contact the IT Services Support Desk at supportdesk@muohio.edu or 513-529-7900. To arrange for a half-hour group demo/Q&A session for your department, please contact IT Services Learning & Information Services at LIS@muohio.edu.

IT Negotiates Substantial Discounts on New Computers — Orders Due by 2/15/07

At the end of last semester, IT Services requested bids for a bulk purchase of Windows and Macintosh computers and, in response, Miami University received quotes with very favorable pricing. Leveraging the state capital funding set aside by the Provost for computers in the academic areas, the university has a one-time opportunity to purchase computers at significant savings.

Work Underway on Move to Microsoft Exchange for E-mail/Calendaring

IT Services' E-mail/Calendaring project is up and running. With a dedicated team of Miami staff, supplemented by specialists provided by a contract with IBM, the groundwork is being laid in anticipation of the early summer migration to Microsoft Exchange as the university’s new e-mail/calendaring system.

IT Support Now Available Night and Day

The IT Services Support Desk has expanded phone/e-mail support hours to be more accessible to students. IT support analysts are now available day or night most days of the week to answer your questions and assist with IT problems.

Spam Scams - Don't Be Taken In By Them

We have all seem them. The unsolicited “junk” e-mails that clog up your e-mail Inbox. They are annoying, not to mention time-consuming. They cost organizations billions of dollars in lost productivity, equipment, and software. Much of the spam received involves sale pitches for bogus products and services. Some spam can be crude and even offensive.

Building a Better MUnet Password

Your MUnet password protects important information like your e-mail, your grades, and your pay stubs, to name just a few items.  For faculty and staff, the password protects important university information as well. Choosing a good password and keeping that password confidential is critical to preventing unauthorized access to information.

Decision Support Project Launching New Tools

How can the university take all the information in the Banner system and use that data to predict which prospective students are most likely to actually enroll or to evaluate faculty workload or identify what percentage of the staff are likely to retire within the next five years? To answer those questions, the Decision Support project is moving Banner data into special databases known as operational data stores and using the newly acquired SAS Business Intelligence tools to analyze data-driven scenarios and identify trends.

Strategic Advisory Council Tackles Big IT Issues

The IT Strategic Advisory Council (ITSAC) held its first meeting in October and since then the group, chaired by Provost Jeffrey Herbst, has opened discussion on a number of significant strategic issues.

Survey Tool Pilot Planned for April 2007 – Faculty/Staff Participants Needed

As reported in previous issues of TechTalk, the university has purchased and is implementing two survey tools – Prezza and Snap – for faculty/staff use. The project team anticipates conducting a pilot release of each tool in April and is looking for faculty and staff who would like to participate.

Alan Ferrenberg Joins IT Services as IT Planning and Budget Officer

IT Services is pleased to welcome Alan Ferrenberg as the new IT Planning and Budget Officer. Alan is responsible for managing the division's resources to ensure that excellent service is delivered as cost-effectively as possible. His two main goals are to ensure that the division is a good steward of the resources entrusted to it and to clearly articulate the value that IT adds to the university.

Update on Availability through Miami’s Microsoft Agreement for Personally-owned Computers

While release of Windows Vista and Windows Office 2007 has been on the horizon for quite some time, Microsoft’s true marketing blitz kicked off on Monday, January 29, 2007 with Bill Gates hosting a launch event to announce the “Worldwide General Availability of Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System”.

Digital Asset Management System To Enhance Teaching and Learning in Fine Arts

Higher education in general and the Visual Resources field in particular are undergoing a major transition from an analog to a digital environment. Faculty and students desire digital visual materials to use in and outside of the classroom. In response to these changing needs, Almagest, an open source program developed at Princeton University, has been installed here at Miami University. It was implemented in a collaborative effort of the School of Fine Arts, IT Services, and the University Libraries.

Office 2007 Sneak Peek

Microsoft recently released Office 2007. Office 2007 has a new and very different user interface that is designed to make creating and working with documents, spreadsheets and presentations faster and easier. This article offers a first look at the new interface for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access.