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ITS News

Did You Know...

NYUHome can help reduce all that spam clutter

NYUHome offers a customizable spam filtering service that can help reduce the spam clutter in your e-mail inbox. Whether you access your e-mail using NYUHome’s webmail client or a desktop mail client (e.g., Eudora, Macintosh Mail, Netscape Messenger, or Outlook), the NYUHome PureMessage spam filter will help remove that annoying junk mail. Activate this convenient service through your NYUHome “Preferences” settings, or visit www.nyu.edu/its/email/spam/ for a full set of instructions.

You can download AntiVirus software from NYUHome, and easily keep it up-to-date!

ITS automatically checks your incoming NYU e-mail for computer viruses (see below), but with new viruses emerging daily, you should take additional steps to protect your computer. ITS provides Symantec AntiVirus (and other useful software) to the NYU community through NYUHome. To download this software, log in to NYUHome at http://home.nyu.edu/ using your NYU NetID and password. Click on the “Files” tab, scroll down to the “ITS Software” channel, then click on the AntiVirus link for your computer’s operating system. Once you’ve installed AntiVirus, be sure to use the “LiveUpdate” feature to update the virus definitions. Then, continue to check for updates daily or whenever you’re online. (You can set LiveUpdate to do this for you automatically.) See “When Computer Viruses Strike” in this issue, the Security Awareness Month website {no longer available}, and the ITS website (http://www.nyu.edu/its/security/) for more information about protecting your computer.

What’s new at the ITS labs and classrooms

ITS’ Academic Computing Services has recently improved and expanded a number of the lab and classroom facilities and services available to NYU faculty and students. Recent enhancements include a redesigned Video Editing Lab, new Apple G5 computers at the ITS Multimedia Lab, and expanded end-of-semester hours at the ITS labs and the Faculty Technology Center. See “What’s New at the ITS Computer Labs” in this issue for details. And, in case you haven’t already heard, ITS offers several hands-on computer classrooms that can be reserved by faculty for regular or occasional class meetings that require in-class computer use by students. See http://www.nyu.edu/its/classrooms/ for more information.

ITS can help with your research or academic project

ITS offers a variety of services in support of instructors and researchers at NYU, including computing facilities and special resources, technical support, consultation, and resources management. Examples discussed in this issue include digital project support (“The Clerk’s Tale,”), arts technology resources (“Rapid Prototyping,"), and high performance computing services (“High Performance Computing Rocks at NYU,”). Contact the ITS Faculty Technology Center to find out more about the ways that we can help: its.ftc@nyu.edu.

You can keep in the know with Connect-Direct

Be sure to watch Connect-Direct, ITS’ monthly e-mail publication, for computer-related news, security alerts, eTips, and other information of interest to people who use information technology at NYU. See http://www.nyu.edu/its/pubs/connect/direct.html for more about Connect-Direct.

NYU Stops Viruses Before They Get to Your Inbox

A Day in the Life of NYUHome

NYUHome, the University’s web portal to a wide variety of information and services, is being used by NYU students, faculty, and staff on an ever-increasing basis. For example, on March 10, 2004, a typical recent day in the life of NYUHome, the portal received more than 12 million “hits” across the day. During the peak period of this average day, NYUHome accommodated 722 hits per second, with 1,464 community members using the site concurrently! As we anticipate that this trend of increased usage will continue, ITS is in the process of engineering the portal to handle a capacity of ten times that amount: up to 7,200 hits per second.

We are pleased that the ever-evolving NYUHome portal has proved to be so popular with the University community, and are committed to continuing to meet your needs—both by expanding and adapting the services NYUHome offers, and by delivering those services to you with speed and convenience. We encourage you to help us guide the future of NYUHome by sharing your feedback with us. Please send e-mail to home@nyu.edu, or submit your comments through the Feedback channel of NYUHome.

A detail of a back-lit digital print created by Philip Galanter.

The First Annual ITS Staff Art Show

In March 2004, ITS held its first annual staff art show, providing ITS employees the opportunity to share their talents with their colleagues. This informal show featured an impressive variety of work, including photography, illuminated digital art, sculpture, and painting. The exhibit was on display for the entire month, enlivening the halls of our facilities at 10 Astor Place. For a busy department focused on providing for the technical needs of the NYU community, this fun show was a welcome opportunity to learn more about the artistic talents of our colleagues, and is sure to become an annual tradition.

NYU Voice Mail

NYU’s voice mail systems provide an easy-to-use messaging service for recording and distributing voice messages via the telephone. The voice mail systems are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Messages can be retrieved via touchtone phone from anywhere in the world. Each user is provided with a voice mailbox which is protected by a unique password.

Printed brochures containing instructions on using NYU’s voice mail systems are available upon request (send e-mail to telephone.service@nyu.edu), and the information is also available on the ITS website at: www.nyu.edu/its/telephone/staff/voicemail.html.