Computer Science Department - Systems Staff Monthly Update

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.

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. 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.

New/Upgraded Software for Solaris
The PGPLOT Graphics Subroutine Library for making simple scientific graphs has been installed in /usr/shareware/bin/pgplot.dir. There is a README file that gives directions for setting environment variables before using the library. Online documentation can be found at: http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~tjp/pgplot/.

The following perl modules have been installed on the Solaris network: GD-2.21, GDTextUtil-0.86, GDGraph-1.43, ExtUtils-F77-1.14, and PGPLOT-2.18. In order to use the PGPLOT module you must set your environment variables as detailed in /usr/shareware/bin/pgplot.dir/README.

Translabs
TPPT
Transaction Processing Performance Tool or TPPT as it is commonly known, is a java based application/tool developed within the department and is being made available to the students of CSE-315 (Transaction Processing Course) for testing database performance at different isolation levels. The details of how the tool works and what inputs need to be fed to the
application to get the desired results are outlined in the links below:

Small Stella and Great Stella
These are 2 computer programs which let you create and view polyhedra on the screen, then print out the nets required to build your own models out of paper.
Great Stella has all the uniform polyhedra built in. It also has pyramids, cupolae, cuploids, and cupolaic-blends built-in. It has advanced features for creating new models too, including stellation, faceting, augmentation/excavation/drilling, finding convex hulls etc, and it can export models to various 3D formats.

Macromedia DreamWeaver MX 2004
DreamWeaver is Web Design and Devlopment software hat includes features such as Rich CSS Support: Create sophisticated, standards-based sites with Cascading Style Sheets, Cross-Browser Validation: Automatically
check tags and CSS rules for compatibility across leading browsers, and Secure FTP.

Vision5 software allows student computer supervision, browser control and web monitoring, screen sharing and remote control of classroom computers.

Graduate PC Lab
The Graduate Windows Lab desktops have been upgraded. The lab now has 10 SX270's and 7 GX150's. Next to be upgraded will be room 1204.

A new scanner has been installed in the lab. The instructions for scanning are attached on the scanner itself. Please send email to WREQ if you have any further questions.

On the Web
Work continues on the CS@35 and the Alumni web pages. Please contact any Stony Brook Computer Science graduates you may be in touch with and encourage them to sign up for the CS@35 celebration and to register themselves with the alumni database. These pages are all available through http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/cs@35.

The Single Sign On (SSO) area is being revised and expanded with new features. In the near future downloads will no longer require a second set of passwords. Wireless access information presently available on the Unix filesystem will become available online.

Please check the FAQ area for answers to your most common problems. The FAQs are continually being revised and expanded. Recently the popmail FAQ has been revised to include information pertinent to some browsers. If a problem and cannot find the answer there please let us know so we can create an appropriate FAQ.

PCs and Laptops
The campus has signed an agreement with Microsoft to enable students to obtain one copy of the following Microsoft products: MS Office for the PC or MAC, Win XP Prof Upgrade, Frontpage, and Visual Studio.net. Beginning on Tuesday, March 1, 2005, Graduate Students and Seniors may go to either the Seawolves Marketplace or HSC Bookstore to get the
software. Please visit http://www.stonybrook.edu/mscampus for information about the agreement and details about the distribution and cost.

Virus/Spyware/Security
Symantec has reported the finding of a potential remote access vulnerability in their family of products. Please be sure to keep
your antivirus product and definitions up to date. You can read about the Symantec issue at:
http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/security/Content/2005.02.08.html
See the department FAQ pages for information on downloading, installing and configuring anti-virus software.

W32.Mydoom.AX@mm is a mass-mailing worm that uses it own SMTP engine to send email to addresses that it gathers from the Windows Address Book on a compromised computer. This type of virus will also use stolen
addresses as the return address, which is why you sometimes receive bounced mail that you didn't send in the first place. For more details about this virus see:
http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.mydoom.ax@mm.html
To protect against this virus your virus definitions myst be up to date as of Feb 16, 2005 or later.

The main campus has sent out mail warning users of fake FBI email which actually contains a virus. The FBI has warned that messages purportedly from the FBI should be ignored. The full story is available at:
http://www.computerworld.com/newsletter/0,4902,99957,00.html?nlid=AM

Mozilla and the Firefox browser have both been found to have a security flaw. Users are urged to update to the newest versions. You can read the full story at:
http://www.techweb.com//wire/security/60403995.

AntiSpam Software
The department has both anti-virus and anti-spam software installed on our mail system. All mail is checked for viruses. Participation in spam control is voluntary. If you opt in to the system you will receive a digest twice daily that lists all the probably spam sent to you that day, along with instructions for retrieving it. If you opt out of the system all of your mail is delivered directly to you.
You can change your setting at: http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~sso.

HOW TO REPORT A PROBLEM or MAKE A WORK REQUEST
First you should check the FAQ pages at:
http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~faq

There is also a link to an index of FAQs.
If the answer to your question is not in the faq's you should use wreq to report the problem or make a work request.
There is a short blurb on wreq in the faq area (search by index).
Wreq lives at: http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~wreq/

You can also send email to:WREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu from your dept account, or campus account. The subject line should cover what is wrong or what you need. The body of the email can supply any details.

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

The room you are working in, either room number or lab name.
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).
The sequence of things you did just prior to having the problem as best you recollect.
The exact text of any error message you see on the screen, or a complete description of the problem that occured.

Please report problems promptly as they occur so they can be investigated under the same set of conditions as far as possible. When in doubt, feel free to send email to: