SYSTEMS STAFF MONTHLY UPDATE - DECEMBER 2005

WREQ Problem Reporting Tool
Email work requests and problem reports are now being entered into the WREQ problem reporting tool. You should submit all requests directly to WREQ and not to ntadmin or individual staff members. You can do this by posting a request through the web interface at: http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~wreq or simply by sending your email request to WREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu.

Before reporting a problem visit www.cs.sunysb.edu/~faq and see if there's an faq addressing your question/problem. If not, then a wreq request is your next step.

Your problem report must include the following information for us to be able to help you promptly:

1. The room you are working in, either room number or lab name.
2. The name of the host you are working on (hostname command in Unix, machine number in 1239, the number written on the bookshelf by your desk in the student offices).
3. The sequence of things you did just prior to having the problem as best you recollect.
4. The exact text of any error message you see on the screen, or a complete description of the problem that occured.
5. Do NOT send attachments or mime mail. Wreq will reject such email. Text only.

Please report problems promptly as they occur so they can be investigated under the same set of conditions as far as possible.

WREQ Problem Reporting Tool for Administrative Requests
There is now a WREQ Problem Reporting Tool for work requests directed to the department secretarial and administrative staff. You should use secwreq for requests such as requisitions, course room changes, office supplies, grade changes, room reservations, payroll issues, tuition issues, reimbursements and building management needs (heat/cooling/lights/leaking roof). This tool can be found at http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~secwreq or you can send mail to SECWREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu.

Announcements
Congratulations to staff member Ashwin Nagrani who has completed his MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) certification.

Congratulations to staff member Dr. Ajay Gupta and his ping pong partner Amogh Ranadive for their win in the Fall 2005 Ping Pong Tournament!

Graduate PC Lab
Robolab 2.5 has been installed in the Graduate PC Lab. Based on LabVIEW(TM), from National Instruments, Texas USA, the ROBOLAB Software uses an icon-based, diagram building environment to write programs that control the RCX programmable LEGO brick. For more information see http://www.lego.com/eng/education/mindstorms/home.asp?pagename=robolab.

Acrobat has been upgraded to version 7.0.5.

TortoiseCVS version 1.8.22 has been installed in the grad lab. TortoiseCVS lets you work with files under CVS version control directly from Windows Explorer. For more information see: http://www.tortoisecvs.org.

nVu Editor v1.0 has been installed. nVu is a complete web authoring system. See http://www.nvu.com/ for more information.

If the grad lab printers run out of paper please see Edwina to obtain more. If a printer runs out of toner or experiences a jam, please submit a WREQ job. Please do not continue to send jobs to the print queue if the printer is stalled for some reason as this can result in a hung queue.

Translabs
Professors are encouraged at this time to submit their requests for software that will be used for teaching in the translabs during the Spring 2006 semester. These are state-of-the-art machines and can be used for many interesting undergraduate projects. Please contact the staff as early as possible to discuss your needs and ideas.

The lab in room 2114 is open with 20 seats. All monitors have been upgraded to flat panel LCDs. The lab runs the same software as the translab lab (Advanced Programming Lab I) in 2126 and the teaching lab (Advanced Programming Lab II) in 2129.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0.7 has been installed. Firefox is an award-winning web browser with an intuitive interface that alos blocks viruses, spyware and popup ads. See http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ for more information.

Robolab 2.5 has been installed. Based on LabVIEW(TM), from National Instruments, Texas USA, the ROBOLAB Software uses an icon-based, diagram building environment to write programs that control the RCX programmable LEGO brick. For more information see http://www.lego.com/eng/education/mindstorms/home.asp?pagename=robolab.

TortoiseCVS version 1.8.22 has been installed. TortoiseCVS lets you work with files under CVS version control directly from Windows Explorer. For more information see: http://www.tortoisecvs.org.

Undergraduate Computing Lab
The Undergraduate Computing Lab (room 2128) has been upgraded to flat panel LCD monitors. This lab has 40 seats running FreeBSD Unix and MS Windows.

Databases
The JISQL instructions in the translab has been updated with the latest connection and driver information. It is available at the following link:
http://www.translab.cs.sunysb.edu/jisql.html.

A section has also been added to the existing Graduate Lab Oracle documentation page to walk a user through the steps involved in connecting to the Oracle server using jdbc drivers. Sample programs have also been provided for download. It is accessible from the following link:
http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~gradlab/OracleJdbc.html.

Solaris
 JDK version 1.5.0_02 has been added to the software repository in /usr/local/pkg on the Solaris machines.

Mathematica 5.2 is available through the campus site license to both students and faculty. Students may purchase it at the Seawolves store in the SAC for $5. Faculty should submit a WREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu job requesting a copy and should specify in the WREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu job whether it will be for a home or
a campus machine.

Maple 10 is available through the campus site license to students and faculty. Students may purchase it at the Seawolves store in the SAC for $5 and faculty should submit a WREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu job requesting a copy.

WWW
The WREQ user interface uas been streamlined for user convenience. The number of pages required to submit a wreq report are shortened and the Credits portion of the initial page has been compacted so that more useful information can be displayed.

The undergraduate course web pages have all been upgraded to be consistent with our ABET document. These expanded pages contain much more information about each course than previously. You can view them via http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/undergrad/cse_courses/index.html, click on the Course ID to reach the new web page.

The End of Semester Course Objective Surveys for undergraduate courses are now available. You can reach them via http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~survey.

A Reserveroom FAQ has been added to the faculty area of the website. You can reach the faculty area via www.cs.sunysb.edu/~sso.

Department logos for use on official documents have been added to the faculty area of the website. Look under "Misc." on the main faculty menu.

The Department Committees and Course Coordinators listings under the People section of the faculty area have been updated. Any errors or additions should be reported using the WREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu tool.

The faculty only area of the website is being completely redesigned. The new interface will be available soon. You can reach the faculty only area via http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~sso.

General News

The Applied Algorithms lab has been moved to room 1309. The campus Computing Center has sent the following alert to all computer users on campus:

"TO ALL FACULTY, STAFF & STUDENTS"

UPDATED:

There have been reports of email circulating recently on campus that ask you to go to a Web site to confirm your user name and password. Some common wording of such attempts are listed below:

"We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account. To ensure that your account is not compromised, please click on the link below to confirm your identity."

"During our regular verification of accounts, we couldn't verify your information. Please click here to update and verify your information."

Please do not divulge sensitive personal information (passwords, credit card information, Social Security number, date of birth, Solar PIN etc.) on Web sites that you go to by simply clicking
on Web links from emails. Other common phishing attempts purport to be from other trusted sources (banks, credit unions, etc.). Passwords and other sensitive information can be used to steal
your identity. In addition to identity theft, sensitive personal information can be used to compromise University systems. It is more than likely that emails with such links are forged and are fraudulent attempts to steal your account and personal information. There have recently been a large number of such attempts.

Never reply to these emails, simply delete the phishing email, or if you use Lotus Notes you can report any phishing email to our spam filter provider by doing an "Actions - Other, This is Spam"
from the menu bar.

If you believe your personal information has been scammed file a complaint at http://www.ftc.gov and then visit the government's ID theft Web site at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft

If you feel a university account has been compromised please contact University Police."

Future Plans
The PC connected to the fax machine in room 1435 will be upgraded in December.

Comments or Concerns?

When in doubt, send all systems requests to http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~wreq and all building maintenance or administrative support issues to http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~secwreq.

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