C O M P U T I N G N E W S U n i v e r s i t y o f O r e g o n IN THIS ISSUE? W inter 2003 Security Spam Scam Exploits Windows Messenger ........................... 4 SpamPal, SpamAssassin Make War on Spam ...................... 5 Security Alerts (Ongoing Microsoft Vulnerabilities, Latest MP3 Worms, Wireless Network Security) ....................... 15 da Cruz?s Safe Network Computing .................................... 19 Networking First Joint NANOG/ARIN Meeting in Eugene ..................... 3 Check Out www.DNSstuff.com ............................................. 7 Network Status Tools .......................................................... 10 AOL: How Do You Check Out? ........................................... 12 Toll-Free Dialin Access for Travelers .................................. 12 AT&T Cable Modem Users Lose Email Addresses ............. 12 Creeping Impoverishment of Online Search Engines ........ 18 Technology in Education Call for NWACC Grant Proposals .......................................... 5 Create a Course Website with Blackboard .......................... 17 Interesting Sites Accessible Web Design White Papers ................................... 8 Pittock Internet Exchange, Darknet, IPv6 Internet, Cyber Law, ODOT, Web Color Picker, and more ...................... 13 Where Geeks Go for News .................................................. 20 IT Training Winter Workshops ............................................................... 23 Microcomputing New VPN Client for Mac OS X ................................................ 2 FTP: Transferring Web Files Safely ......................................... 4 WebDAV: Cross-Platform Filesharing Made Easy ................... 6 Tracking the Life Cycle of Computer Hardware ...................... 8 Microsoft Limits Access to its New Office Suite ................... 13 New Utility Reconstructs Lost Windows Files ..................... 13 Stop Popups and Blinking Ads with Mozilla ........................ 16 Recall Alert: APC Recalls Some Backup-UPS Models .......... 20 Large Systems New Year Brings Web-Based Banner, Other Changes ............. 2 Perl 5.8 Installed on Darkwing, Gladstone .............................. 7 Vi Text Editing Tips ............................................................... . 12 Invoking FinMetrics within Splus on Darkwing ................... 19 Just Enough Mathematica to Make You Dangerous .............. 21 Email How to Preserve Your Pine Address Book .............................. 9 List Owners: Solve Address Migration Problems ................. 11 Consult Majordomo?s ?Obscure Words? List .......................... 11 More Hazards of Hotmail ....................................................... 13 Spam Reporting Tips Revisited .............................................. 19 Vijay Gill of AOL Time Warner was among the featured speakers at the fall 2002 NANOG/ARIN conference in Eugene (story on page 3). 2 computing news winter 2003 computing news winter 2003 If your campus de part ment r e c e i v e s s u r p l u s c o p i e s o f C o m p u t i n g N e w s , y o u m a y r e t u r n t h e m t o t h e UO Com put ing Cen ter for re dis tri bu tion. Got Extras? In November, 2002, Cisco released a new virtual private network (VPN) client for Mac OS X. The new version, 3.7, is a much-improved version of the software that shipped on the 2002 Duckware CD. VPN uses a set of hardware and software that enables your computer to transparently connect to a remote network as if you were physically attached to that network. In addi- tion, the communication between your computer and the remote VPN hardware is encrypted. The primary improvement in Cisco?s VPN 3.7 is the inclusion of a graphi- cal user interface (GUI) for both installation and use. The addition of a graphical user interface makes installation and use much easier. Prior versions required text-based New, Improved VPN Client for Mac OS X Available Get a free copy from CC Public Domain, Documents Room Library installation steps and functioned as a GUI application only in conjunction with a freeware helper application. VPN 3.7 for Mac OS X is available at no charge from CC Public Domain ( c c p d . u o r e g o n . e d u ) . T h e f i l e , CiscoVPN.dmg , is located in the Network Software folder under ?VPN OS X.? As access to CC Public Domain is limited to university IP addresses only, the software is also available on CD-ROM from the Documents Room (175 McKenzie Hall). Currently there is no free VPN solu- tion for Mac OS 9. A commercial product, Netlock, is available at http://www.netlock.com/ To learn more about VPN, see http://micro.uoregon.edu/g e t c o n n e c t e d / vpn_overview.html Patrick Chinn Distributed Network Computing Consultant pchinn@oregon.uoregon.edu The year 2003 will be a busy year for Administrative Services staff as we continue to work to keep pace with t e c h n o l o g y w h i l e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y meeting users? needs. Several major changes are in the works this year to help us better serve administrative users, including new versions of Banner, hardware upgrades, shifting away from the use of Social Security numbers to identify people, and the development of new online services. One of the most notable changes will be a new way of accessing Banner. We?re in the process of confi guring and testing two Sun Fire servers that will support web access to Banner. This new version of Banner, known as Internet Native Banner (INB), will allow users to access Banner via a web browser. Under INB, you?ll no longer need to install client software before using Banner. After testing INB with an Oregon Hall group in January, we plan to make it available to the entire campus in spring 2003. Also on the horizon is an upgrade to Oracle 9.2, probably in the late summer or fall, as well as the annual Banner upgrade?this year we?ll be migrating to Banner 6. Other Administrative Services proj- ects for the year include: ? i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e u s e o f a u t o- matically generated IDs instead of Social Security numbers to iden- tify people in Banner ? developing an LDAP directory ? r e p l a c i n g D a i s y w i t h m o r e powerful hardware in anticipation of increased user demand ? continuing to monitor and enhance the security of the administrative network If you have questions about what we?re doing, or suggestions as to how we can better serve you, please contact Susan Hilton ( hilton@oregon.uoregon.edu , 346-1725 ). Susan Hilton Director, Administrative Services hilton@oregon.uoregon.edu New Year Brings Web-Based Banner, Other Signifi cant System Changes COMPUTING NEWS VOL. 18 #1 C O M P U T I N G C E N T E R Computing News is pub lished quar ter ly by the User Services and Network Applications staff of the Computing Center. ? University of Oregon 2003 Contact: Joyce Winslow jwins@oregon.uoregon.edu Photography: Dave Ragsdale dave@oregon.uoregon.edu Joe St Sauver, Ph.D. Director, User Services and Network Applications joe@oregon.uoregon.edu Website: http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews/ Telephone: (541) 346-1724 2 computing news winter 2003 computing news winter 2003 3 First Joint NANOG/ARIN Meeting Attracts International Network Talent to Eugene T h e E u g e n e H i l t o n o v e r f l o w e d w i t h international Internet expertise during an historic joint NANOG/ARIN conference last f a l l . T h e i n t e n s i v e s i x - d a y e v e n t , w h i c h was hosted by the University of Oregon and Sprint Corporation, featured senior network engineers from various commercial Internet service providers who are members of the North American Network Operators Group (NANOG), and policy administrators from The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN). All told, over 500 people?including participants from as far away as Kenya, Ghana, the Congo, Japan, and Sweden?attended. Joyce Winslow jwins@oregon.uoregon.edu Computing Center network technician Jeff Hite assists AfNOG?s Ayitey Bulley in terminating a fiber connection. Between sessions, conference participants grab a snack and share ideas. The NANOG meetings, which ran from Sunday, October 27, through Tuesday, October 29, covered such topics as network security, troubleshooting techniques, traffic characteristics and network planning, and next-genera - tion IPv6 developments and strategies. ARIN?s portion of the conference began the following day and concluded at noon on Friday, November 1. Speakers discussed various Internet addressing policy proposals, including ICANN evolution and reform. Conference speakers were drawn from the ranks of industry, network organizations, and educational and research institutions worldwide. UO-affiliated presenters included Dave Meyer (UO Advanced Network Technology Center and Sprint) and the Network Startup Research Center?s cofounder and PI, Randy Bush. Among the international group of presenters were Ayitey Bulley (Ghana) and Didier Rukeratabaro (Congo), who addressed ARIN participants concerning recent Internet registry developments in AfriNIC, the African Regional Network Information Center. Both Ayitey and Didier are instructors for the African Network Operators Group (AfNOG), a forum for technical coordination and coop - eration among African Internet Service Providers and academic and research network engineers. (Ayitey is shown above working with the Computing Center?s Jeff Hite to terminate a fiber connection.) The UO, Cisco Corporation, and Sprint set up the multicast connection for the conference. Other equipment contributors included Packet Pushers and the Internet Engineering Task Force Secretariat. You can view the entire conference online at ftp://limestone/pub/videolab/video/nanog26/ References AfNOG: http://www.afnog.org/ ARIN: http://www.arin.net/ NANOG: http://www.nanog.org/ Network Startup Research Center: http://www.nsrc.org/ Participants from Asia, Africa, U.S., and Europe converge to discuss developments in the evolution of Internet technology photo: Steve Huter photo: Dave Ragsdale 4 computing news winter 2003 5computing news winter 2003 Spam masquerading as Windows system alerts is one of the more recent exploitations to watch out for. Originating from ?Direct Advertiser,? this scam takes advantage of the Windows RPC (Remote Procedure Call) function to send spam to thousands of Windows users in minutes. While fi rewalls are effective against this ploy, the simplest way to protect yourself is to disable Windows Messenger service on your PC. For more details, see ?Windows Messenger is new spam vector? at ht t p:// w w w.t her eg i ster.co.u k /content /4 / 27634.ht m l For some years now, the Computing Center has been recommending the use of encryption tools to save your password and other communication from electronic eavesdroppers. Most applications provide an easy way to encrypt your data. For example, most email programs support an SSL encryption option via a simple check box labeled ?use SSL? or ?SSL required, alternate port? for Eudora users. Unfortunately, however, there are no such easy solutions when using FTP (fi le transfer protocol). The FTP Challenge The primary challenges posed by FTP are its integration into widely used website creation tools such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Adobe?s GoLive, as well as the cost and uneven quality of SFTP (secure fi le transfer) software currently available for the Macintosh. C o n v e n i e n c e a n d e f f i c i e n c y v s . security: Dreamweaver and GoLive. F o r e x a m p l e , i f y o u m a n a g e a l o c a l d e p a r t m e n t a l w e b s i t e , y o u may be using a page creation and s i t e m a n a g e m e n t t o o l s u c h a s M a c r o m e d i a ?s D r e a m w e a v e r o r Adobe?s GoLive. Neither application supports an integrated encryption option at this time?so how can you upload your HTML fi les to the host securely? While it is possible to use Dreamweaver or GoLive to edit a set of HTML fi les and then use SFTP to transfer them to the host, this is a clumsy solution at best. Built-in fi le transfer tools such as those provided by Dreamweaver and GoLive are not only convenient, they can greatly assist site management. For example, if you wish to make a site- wide change affecting dozens or even hundreds of documents, Dreamweaver can perform this entire process for you automatically. Unfortunately, there?s currently no way you can use this helpful feature and at the same t i m e m a i n t a i n s e c u r i t y, b e c a u s e Dreamweaver relies upon plain text (i.e., unencrypted) FTP to transfer the edited fi les. Here?s another example: suppose you are using Dreamweaver to create and manage your website and you have to rename an image fi le. When you do this, Dreamweaver automatically gives you the option of updating all references to that fi le in any HTML document on the site. This type of fl exibility can be immensely useful, but it comes with the risk of compromising your site?s security. Computing Center staff have been requesting an integrated encryption o p t i o n f r o m M a c r o m e d i a a n d Adobe for several years, but at the present time these vendors are still not offering secure solutions. As additional security options become available, we?ll post them on the Dan Albrich Microcomputer Network Specialist Microcomputer Services website at ht t p:// m icro.uor egon.edu / secu r it y/ The imperfect world of Macintosh solutions. On the Mac, we have a situation where Mac OS 8 and 9 users will likely have to pay for an encrypted fi le transfer option. Two current solutions include the SFTP offering at ht t p:w w w.macssh.com and Kagi?s Interarchy (formerly known a s A n a r c h i e ) . F o r d e t a i l s a b o u t Interarchy, see ht t p:// w w w.i ntera r chy.com In the Mac OS X world, we have a free option called Fugu. Fugu is a graphical front-end to the command- line SFTP program. In our tests, it delivers graphical drag-and-drop fi le transfers with encryption for most operations. However, there are some things it can?t do. For example, you can?t drag several folders into another folder on the host side?a common method of reorganizing a set of folders. Fugu is a work in progress and each release has been a marked i m p r o v e m e n t o v e r t h e p r e v i o u s version. For the most current release, go to Fugu?s website at h t t p : / / r s u g . i t d . u m i c h . e d u / s o f t w a r e / f ug u / Hope for the future. We?re not giving up on FTP yet. The day will come when we can have our cake and eat it, too: eventually, we?ll have the software solutions to perform ef- fi cient, comprehensive fi le transfer and site management tasks? with encryption. The FTP Dilemma: Transferring Files Safely is not Always Easy Lack of encryption support makes it hard to use integrated page upload tools dalbrich@oregon.uoregon.edu Spam Scam Exploits Windows Messenger 4 computing news winter 2003 5computing news winter 2003 SpamPal, SpamAssassin Make War on Spam I f y o u ? r e l o o k i n g f o r w e a p o n s i n t h e w a r o n s p a m , y o u m a y w a n t t o i n v e s t i g a t e S p a m A s s a s s i n ( h t t p : / / w w w. s pa m a s s a s s i n .or g / ) and SpamPal ( ht t p:// w w w.spa mpa l.or g.u k ). B o t h o f t h e s e p r o g r a m s e m p l o y fi ltering techniques to help screen out annoying (and sometimes malicious) junk mail. SpamPal may be downloaded for free, and it works with standard email programs such as Outlook, Outlook E x p r e s s , o r E u d o r a , o n Wi n d o w s machines (it is not recommended for Unix-based machines). SpamPal uses a variety of rules to screen incoming mail, tag suspected spam, and fi le it in a separate folder. You can download an open-source version of SpamAssassin for Unix systems from ht t p:// w w w.spa ma s sa s si n.or g / Commercial versions of SpamAssassin come in two fl avors (Pro 2003 for Outlook 2002 and Enterprise 2003 for Exchange servers) 1 , and Deersoft also distributes a commercial Eudora plug-in called Spamnix. SpamAssassin supports a variety of mail systems and employs a wide range of heuristic tests to screen for spam, including header and text analysis, blacklists of known mail abusers, and the Vipul?s Razor spam-tracking database. Neither SpamPal nor SpamAssassin are the ultimate answer to the spam problem, and they may not be ideal t o o l s f o r e v e r y o n e . H o w e v e r, i f you?re fed up with spam and want to experiment, these anti-spam tools may be worth looking into. Change to Secure Email Required by April 2! Make a New Year?s resolution to secure your email password http://micro.uoregon.edu/security/email/ Here, you?ll fi nd instructions for the following email clients: ? Qualcomm Eudora 5.2 for Windows and Mac ? Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 (Windows) ? Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 (Mac) ? Mozilla 1.0 (Windows and Mac) ? Netscape 7.0 (Windows and Mac) ? Mac OS X Mail (10.1.3 or newer) Remember, if your email program is older than the versions listed here, you?ll need to upgrade in order to continue accessing your mail after April 2. If you have questions or concerns about this change, please contact the Microcomputer Services Help Desk ( microhelp@lists.uoregon.edu, 346-4412 ). As of Wednesday, April 2, 2003, everyone using Darkwing, Gladstone, or Oregon for email must have either r e c o n f i g u r e d o r u p g r a d e d t h e i r email program to support encrypted passwords (SSL). While SSL has been available as an option for a number of years, this marks the fi rst time Computing Center staff will require its use. If you use UO Webmail, you?ll be completely unaffected by the new policy and won?t need to make any changes. However, everyone who reads their email with a POP or IMAP program (e.g., programs such as Outlook, Eudora, or Netscape mail) will need to make the change. And if your email program is too old to support SSL, you will not be able to retrieve mail after April 2. How to enable SSL on your email program. For complete, step-by-step reconfi guration instructions, go to NWACC Grant Program for 2003 Announced Deadline for proposals is February 28 To stimulate new curricular uses of advanced information technologies, the Northwest Computing Consortium (NWACC) is once again awarding grants for innovative education project proposals. Faculty, librarians, or full-time professional staff of NWACC member institutions may submit their ideas for classroom applications of such technologies as voice recognition software, personal digital assistants, multicast video, wireless voice and data, and GIS software. Guidelines and online application forms are available at ht tp://w w w.nwacc.org /grants / Add it ion a l i n for m at ion i s ava i lable on N WACC 's website at ht t p : // w w w.nwacc.or g / Applications must be received by 5:00 P . M . PST, February 28. For eligibility codes, contact Joanne Hugi ( hugi@oregon.uoregon.edu ). 1 A 14-day free trial of SpamAssassin Pro is available from http://w w w.deersof t.com / sapr o.ht m l For more information on Deersoft?s antispam products, see ht t p:// w w w.deer sof t.com /col latera l / 6 computing news winter 2003 7computing news winter 2003 C o n s i d e r We b D AV: C r o s s - P l a t f o r m F i l e S h a r i n g M a d e E a s y The handy WebDAV protocol may one day simplify cross- platform fi le transfers for campus users Spencer Smith Microcomputer Support Specialist spencera@oregon.uoregon.edu Network fi lesharing has become very important on campus. Collaboration, backup, and delivery are often arranged through the network to speed processing and productivity. But transferring fi les from a Macintosh system to a PC running Windows, and vice versa, can be confusing and complex. Enter WebDAV, an extension of the HTTP protocol created to facilitate just this sort of network collaboration. WebDAV stands (loosely) for ?Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning.? DAV is an IETF Proposed Standard (RFC2518), open source, and available for development. The original specifi cation was created to allow web developers to easily collaborate on websites and network-based content, but over time, WebDAV specifi cation has been extended to include fi le locking, versioning control, and other more exotic functions. People often use fl oppy disks to transfer fi les, but when the fl oppy disk fails (read ? when it fails,? not ? if?), the fi les are gone, never to return. An easy, reliable and secure method of storing and accessing fi les from the UO network has become increasingly necessary. Could WebDAV be the solution? It already qualifi es as being ?easy and reliable,? and it promises better security in the future. If and when the security and access issues of WebDAV are addressed, a campuswide implementation could be possible. As it stands now, however, the current lack of real security features makes widespread deployment and use a problem. Because there is no straightforward way to use the standard Unix password authentication, security is enforced using standard .htaccess fi les and passwords, dramatically increasing the maintenance of a WebDAV service. Files that are created by the WebDAV server are given insecure permissions as well, making access and modifi cation a problem. Until these security fl aws are addressed and rectifi ed, a WebDAV access to your UO computing account will unfortunately not be possible. However, you may want to try WebDAV using your off-campus commercial account, if you have one. (Note that Apple Computer?s .Mac service is DAV enabled.) Accessing WebDAV via IE 5.x Access to WebDAV resources is built into many modern operating systems and web browsers. To access a WebDAV resource through Internet Explorer 5.x, you need to open the File menu, select the ?Open? item, and in the resulting dialog box check the box that says ?Open as Web folder? (see Figure 1 below). Fig. 1: Accessing WebDAV via Explorer 5.x. This example shows how to access public domain soft- ware on the Public server using WebDAV and IE. After accessing ?Open? from the File menu, just type ht t p:// publ ic.uor egon.edu / sof t wa r e in t he dialog box to open t he public domain sof t ware menu. Fig. 2: Example of Public folder opened in IE. For example, you can access the software on the Public fi leserver from this dialog using the address http://public.uoregon.edu/software/ The WebDAV folder opens in IE as if it were another web page, but you can drag and drop fi les and folders to the WebDAV folder as though it were any other mounted directory: 6 computing news winter 2003 7computing news winter 2003 C o n s i d e r We b D AV: C r o s s - P l a t f o r m F i l e S h a r i n g M a d e E a s y Fig. 3: Accessing WebDAV using Mac OS X. Accessing WebDAV Via Mac OS X Mac OS X has similar technology built directly into the operating system. From the Finder, select the ?Go? menu, then the ?Connect to Server? item. I n t h e r e s u l t i n g d i a l o g , e n t e r t h e s e r v e r a d d r e s s h t t p : / / c c p d . u o r e g o n . e d u / T h e C C P u b l i c D o m a i n s o f t w a r e directory will m ount on the desktop, just like any other network share. What Else Supports WebDAV? Aside from IE 5.x and Mac OS X, there are several other commercial products that offer WebDAV access. Microsoft Word and Excel can open and save documents from a DAV-enabled server. Macromedia?s Dreamweaver has WebDAV support for managing websites, and Adobe GoLive and other tools are also DAV-enabled. For more information on WebDAV and related technologies, see http://www.webdav.org/ Perl 5.8 Installed on Darkwing, Gladstone Perl 5.8.0 is now installed on Darkwing and Gladstone, replacing Perl 5.005_03 as the default Perl version. Your scripts already use the new version if your Perl scripts begin with #!/usr/local/bin/perl or #!/usr/local/bin/perl5 (Note that /usr/bin/perl is a version of Perl 5.005_03 distributed with Solaris 8, and does not include many features of Perl 5.8.0.) For a description of changes between Perl versions 5.005_03 and 5.8.0, issue one of the following commands: man perldelta (describes changes between 5.6.1 and 5.8.0) m a n p e r l 5 6 1 d e l t a (describes changes between 5.005 and 5.6.1) You may wish to use Perl add-on modules for personal projects. We recommend using CPAN (the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network) to install such modules in your own account. To learn more about CPAN, go to ht t p : / / w w w.c pa n .or g / or i s s ue the command perldoc CPAN The following add-on modules have been installed systemwide because they have been frequently requested and were avail- able in previous Perl installations: DBI GD HTML::Tagset HTML::Parser URI libwww-perl Steve VanDevender Academic Unix Systems Manager stevev@oregon.uoregon.edu Looking for DNS information? Computerized Horizon?s ad-free site at http : www.DNSstuff.com provides free reports on such DNS-related topics as domains, hostnames, server response times, whois, traceroute, and ping tools. You can track down common problems, check listings, trace a packet route, pinpoint an IP?s geographical location, and more. Check Out www.DNSstuff.com 8 computing news winter 2003 9computing news winter 2003 read accessible web design white papers: http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/accessibility/whitepapers/ An aging computer is much like an old car: there is a point when spending more money on it will result in nothing more than a reduced checking account balance. Determining when to buy rather than upgrade is not a science, and it helps to develop and use a technology management plan. I have included several popular techniques: ? The Four-Year Plan ? ?If You?re Born With It, You Die With It? ? ?You Must Be This Tall to Ride? The Four-Year Plan University students study for four y e a r s , a t w h i c h p o i n t t h e y h a v e (theoretically) earned enough credits to graduate and move on to the next phase of their lives. Why not apply the same rule to technology? Budget and plan to replace one quarter of your computers every fi scal year. (While most corporations replace hardware once every three years, the university lacks the funding of t h e t y p i c a l c o r p o r a t e t e c h n o l o g y department. Instead, let?s make our computers work one year more before we move them on to the next phase of their computing tasks.) If You?re Born With It, You Die With It Some companies, such as Microsoft, Life, Death and Reboot? Tracking the Life Cycle of Computer Hardware subscribe to the concept that it is time to replace a computer when, as users, we decide we need to upgrade to the newest operating system. Aside from fi lling Microsoft?s pockets, there is some merit to this concept. Wi t h a p p r o p r i a t e p l a n n i n g , b o t h computer hardware and operating system will reach the end of their lives at about the same time. Also, buying a new computer with a preinstalled operating system is generally less e x p e n s i v e t h a n b u y i n g t h e O S upgrade and any requisite hardware u p g r a d e s t o m a k e t h e c o m p u t e r compatible. Under this plan, Windows 98 users are due for some new hardware. Also note that Microsoft is dropping support for Windows 98 and ME at the end of this year, and its new Offi ce Productivity Suite is designed to run only on newer operating systems (see article on page 13). You Must Be This Tall to Ride The local county fair was always a fun visit as a child until you realized that the one ride you absolutely had to experience had a height restriction that even the extra lift in your Buster Browns simply would not help you exceed. P r o v i d i n g c o m p u t e r s u p p o r t f o r equipment that no longer measures up is often a source of frustration and wasted work time. That?s when the concept of minimum specifi cations applies. If you?re using a computer running any version of Windows, we strongly encourage you to consider buying a n e w c o m p u t e r i f y o u r p r o c e s s o r i s 2 6 6 M h z o r s l o w e r. ( To c h e c k the speed of your computer, right- click on My Computer and select ?Properties.?) I f y o u ? r e a M a c i n t o s h u s e r, y o u should be planning to get a new Mac if you have anything other than a G3 or G4 processor. (To check your computer?s processor, run a program called ?Apple System Profi ler.? It is installed on most every Macintosh, although the location varies.) Purchasing Myths Among the roadblocks to purchas- ing new hardware are two common myths: Myth #1: ?As soon as I buy a new computer it will be obsolete.? Merriam-Webster?s Collegiate dic- tionary defi nes obsolete as ?no longer in use or no longer useful.? While your new computer may soon be replaced in a company?s product line by a new model, this doesn?t mean your PC suddenly becomes useless. Myth #2: ?They are so expensive!? The price of computers has been dropping steadily since the PC was invented in the 1980s. Today, you can buy an entry-level PC or Macintosh for under $1,000. Dell and Gateway, for instance, often have complete systems priced around $600. Top-of-the-line computers, by their nature, are more expensive than entry-level systems, but they too have been dropping in price. Conclusion Take 15 minutes to do a quick survey of the computers you use on a daily basis and then implement one of the life cycle plans outlined here. This type of planning will reduce the amount of downtime you experience from computer problems. For assistance with purchasing new c o m p u t e r s , c o n t a c t y o u r d e p a r t - ment computer support person or c a l l M i c r o c o m p u t e r S e r v i c e s a t 346-4412 . When is it fi nally time to retire your old system? Patrick Chinn Distributed Network Computing Consultant pchinn@oregon.uoregon.edu 8 computing news winter 2003 9computing news winter 2003 Moving email from Oregon to Darkwing and need to save your Pine address book? Here?s a step-by-step tutorial on how to do it: 1. Log in to Darkwing using ssh and type: % pwd Press Enter. You should now see something like: /home3/llynch Write this down! 2. Now log in to Oregon by typing: % ssh oregon Press the Enter key. If you have never used ssh, you will see something like: % ssh oregon The authenticity of host ?oregon (128.223.32.18)? can?t be established. DSA key fi ngerprint is e8:a4:a0:d7:8f:6d:c5:c1:60: 84:68:bd:58:6d:fc:51. Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? Type yes and hit the Enter key. You?ll see the following warning: Warning: Permanently added ?oregon,128.223.32.18? (DSA) to the list of known hosts. University of Oregon Computing Center VMScluster node OREGON. Unauthorized access to this system is prohibited. Systems to identify unauthorized users may also monitor authorized users. Next, you?ll be prompted for your Oregon password, as follows: llynch@oregon?s password: Type in your password and press Enter. 3. At the $ prompt, type: $ dir pine.* [enter] Among the fi les listed you should see something like this: P I N E . A D D R E S S B O O K ; 1 P I N E . A D D R E S S B O O K - L U ; 1 PINE.PINERC;1 The fi le you want to save is PINE.ADDRESSBOOK. You?ll need to move this fi le to Darkwing using scopy , as follows: 1. First, enter the scp2 command followed by the fi le name and the complete path to your Darkwing home directory (the result of the pwd command!): $ scp2 PINE.ADDRESSBOOK "Darkwing.uoregon.edu:: /home3/llynch/" [enter] If you haven?t used scopy before, you may see something like the following message: Host key not found from database. Key fi ngerprint: x u m e p - d i t i m - d i b u d - l e d i s - n y v y l - n o c i t - p y c o l - m e f o n - gydeg-hagag-tuxux You can get a public key?s fi ngerprint by running (OpenVMS) $ multinet sshkeygen /ssh2 /fi ngerprint= publickey.pub (UNIX) % ssh-keygen -F publickey.pub Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? If so type: yes [enter] You?ll see a short report: Host key saved to DISK$USER3:[LLYNCH.SSH2.HOSTKEYS] key_22_darkwing.pub host key for Darkwing, accepted by llynch Thu Dec 12 2002 12:08:49 Then you?ll be prompted for your Darkwing password: llynch@darkwing?s password: 2. Type in your Darkwing password and press Enter and the fi le will be transferred pine.addressbook 33B | 0.0 kB/s | TOC: 00:00:01 | 100% 3. You can now log out of Oregon by typing: $ logout [enter] 4. You should be back at the % prompt in your Darkwing home directory. Type ls -al .add* [enter] 5. Now you should see something like: -rw-r--r-- 1 llynch cc_acad 6821 Dec 9 11: 34 .addressbook -rw-r--r-- 1 llynch cc_acad 6218 Dec 9 11: 34 .addressbook.lu If you have already entered addresses in your Darkwing address book and want to save them, type: % cat pine.addressbook >>.addressbook [enter] This will add your Oregon address book to the Darkwing address book (you may need to remove duplicate entries using Pine). If you want to replace the .addressbook fi le on Darkwing with your Oregon address book (and save the Darkwing fi le, just in case), type: % mv .addressbook .addressbook.old [enter] Then, type: % cp pine.addressbook .addressbook [enter] Yo u c a n n o w s t a r t P i n e a n d u s e y o u r O r e g o n addresses! How to Preserve your Pine Address Book when Moving Email from Oregon to Darkwing Lucy Lynch User Support Specialist llynch@darkwing.uoregon.edu 1 0 computing news winter 2003 1 1computing news winter 2003 If you?ve ever experienced difficulty connecting to Gladstone, Darkwing, or Oregon and wondered whether the problem was system-wide or yours alone, there is way to find out. Network Services provides several online tools to help you trouble - shoot network connectivity issues. These tools enable you to answer, among other questions, ?Is the host or service I need up or down?? For example, you may wish to see the status information for Darkwing, Gladstone, or Oregon. Obviously, if the host is down, then all dependent services are not available. This article introduces you to some of the basic tools that can enable you to determine host and service status. The specific methods mentioned here are not a complete list, so you will be able to glean more information through experimentation. Also note that the tools themselves are first and foremost for network services internal use with regard to network management. For this reason, they may initially appear complicated to the average user, and some features on the list are actually not enabled for your use. For security reasons, these tools are domain restricted. What this means is that you need to have a computer connected to the university network, UOnet, to view this information. Campus users and UO dialup users will have no problem viewing this information. If you are off-campus and using a third party (not the UO) to connect to the Internet, then get and install our VPN software to ac - cess this information remotely. For more information about VPN see http://micro.uoregon.edu/getconnected/ vpn_overview.html Network Monitoring Tools L e t ?s s t a r t w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n o f h o w t o d e t e r m i n e t h e s t a t u s o f Gladstone, Darkwing, and Oregon, including up/down and also specific services like web and email. First, g o t o t h e n e t w o r k s e r v i c e s p a g e ( http://ns.uoregon.edu ) , then click on ?Network Monitoring.? Determining host and service status. F r o m t h i s p a g e , s e v e r a l n e t w o r k monitoring systems are available. For host status information, go to ? N e t w o r k M o n i t o r i n g S y s t e m . ? When you click on this link you will be prompted for a username and password. Enter ?uonet? for the username, fol - lowed by ?uonet? for the password. At this point you should see a web page called ?Nagios? with links down the left side of the page. The fastest way to determine host and service status is to simply click on the link ?Tactical Overview.? From this screen you can view network outages, host outages, and service outages. Host status. For host status, click on the link under the heading ?Hosts? and then ?Down.? If the host in question is not listed, then that host is up. Service status. For service status, click on the link or links under the ?Services? heading, and ?Critical? s u b h e a d i n g . F o r a w e b - s p e c i f i c outage, you should see the ?HTTP? service listed on the host in ques - tion. If, for example, ?Darkwing and HTTP? are not listed, then they are not down. Don?t trust the system and need to see for yourself? Click on ?service d e t a i l ? u n d e r m o n i t o r i n g . S c r o l l down to find the host in question, select ?Darkwing? and check to be sure all services you are interested in are running. Some of the listed services may not be obvious. For example, most modern email programs use either POP or IMAP to get your email, so if these services are down, this may impact your ability to read email. SMTP is used to send email, so if that?s down, this will impact your ability to send email. PING indicates the host is reachable or ?up.? Note: We don?t recommend checking this way because the tactical overview will display if the host or service is down. Confirming an outage. Another thing you might want to do is confirm an outage. For example, suppose you suspect that Darkwing?s HTTP service was down yesterday at 5 P . M . , and you simply wish to confirm it was a real problem with the host, as opposed to a problem with your computer?s setup. To do this, click on ?Availability? u n d e r ? R e p o r t i n g . ? C l i c k o n ?Services? and then ?Continue to Step 2.? Select ?darkwing;HTTP? from the drop- down menu. ( Shortcut: click once on the drop-down, then type the letter ?d? to get down the list faster.) Click ?Continue to Step 3.? The d e f a u l t r e p o r t p e r i o d i s t h e l a s t seven days, which will include the information you are interested in, or you can adjust these settings as you see fit. Click ?Create availability Report!? This will take you to a screen with statistics (percentage of availability) and specific log entries for specific outages. If none are listed and avail - What?s Up with the Network? Use Network Status Tools to Troubleshoot Connectivity Problems Dan Albrich Microcomputer Network Specialist dalbrich@oregon.uoregon.edu How to determine host, service, and modem status 10 computing news winter 2003 11computing news winter 2003 What?s Up with the Network? Use Network Status Tools to Troubleshoot Connectivity Problems ability is 100%, you?ll know the outage did not occur. Modem status. One fi nal example of information that is commonly r e q u e s t e d i s m o d e m s t a t u s . F o r example, if you?ve been able to dial in and everything has been working fi ne, and suddenly you cannot con- nect during a time when you think you should be able to, then you might want to make sure there is not an outage. To view this information, go back to the main http://ns.uoregon.edu page and click on Network Monitoring again, but this time select ?Modem Pool Status Report.? The informa- tion is listed in graph form showing modem usage over time. In addition, inside the graph window you?ll see the current usage statistics, including how many modems are currently in use and how many are available total. If, for example, you see 576 out of 576 modems in use, you?ll know all the modems are in use and this would explain a busy signal during that time. On the other hand, if you notice an unusual, extreme drop-off in modem use, this may indicate a systemwide problem of some sort, which can be re- ported to nethelp@ns.uoregon.edu As many of you may know, Darkwing u s e r s c a n n o w c h o o s e t o u s e username@uoregon.edu instead of usern ame@darkwing.uoregon.edu (see h t t p : / / c c . u o r e g o n . e d u / c n e w s / f a l l 2 0 0 2 / dw_address.html ) While this is a nice change for email users, it may cause a few problems for list owners. M a j o r d o m o e x p e c t s p o s t s f o r c l o s e d l i s t s t o c o m e f r o m t h e user?s SUBSCRIBED email address. I n m o s t c a s e s t h i s w i l l s t i l l b e darkwing.uoregon.edu , so posts from username@uoregon.edu will bounce to the list owner if the actual sub- scription address is from Darkwing. Conversely, users who have changed to username@uoregon.edu and have subscribed from that address may still send messages that bounce if they use webmail (email.uoregon.edu) which sends mail as username@darkwing.uoregon.ed u How can you fi x this without sub- scribing to both addresses (which will cause the user to get two copies of each message)? Create a white list! A white list is a secondary posting list that allows you to maintain a ?hidden? list of users? addresses that can post to the list but don?t get copies Lucy Lynch User Support Specialist listmaster@lists.uoregon.edu List Owners: Solve Address Migration Problems by Creating a White List of list messages. For details, see h t t p : / / d a r k w i n g . u o r e g o n . e d u / ~ l l y n c h / majordomo/secondary.html Warning: The only ?gotcha? here is that in order to make this work you will have to turn off welcome mes- sages for new subscribers. Majordomo Resources Majordomo documentation for list owners: http://cc.uoregon.edu/mailinglists/ manage.html Workshops: h t t p : / / d a r k w i n g . u o r e g o n . e d u / ~ l l y n c h / majordomo/ Problems: h t t p : / / d a r k w i n g . u o r e g o n . e d u / ~majordom/problems.html How to take the ?bounce? out of your mailings To ensure that your list postings reach their intended audience, make sure the fi rst ten lines of your message don?t contain any of the administrative key words listed at http://www.uoregon.edu/~llynch/majordomo/obscure-words.html Typical rejected command words include ?cancel,? ?add me,? and ?unsub.? If your message includes one of these or any of the other listed expressions in the fi rst ten lines, it won?t be sent to the mailing list members. avoid rejection: consult majordomo?s ?obscure words? list 12 computing news winter 2003 13computing news winter 2003 To l l - f r e e D i a l i n A c c e s s f o r Tr a v e l e r s If you travel frequently and are looking for toll-free dialin access while you?re on the road, you might want to try Sprint Prepaid Internet. You?ll fi nd details, including current card rates, at h t t p s : / / p r e p a i d . s p r i n t . c o m / E c o m m e r c e / s p r i n t 2 / c o n t r o l . j s p ? nex t For m = phoneCa rd & t y pe = i nter net V i (?vee-eye?) is an older text editor that? s popular with some Unix users. Here are a few vi tips to make you more productive. ( Please note that you must be in vi?s command mode before you type these commands. Typing ESC twice will make sure that you are in com- mand mode.) ? To delete all blank lines: :g/^$/d ? To jump to line number 78: 78G ? To replace every instance of apples with oranges: %s/apples/oranges/g V i (?vee-eye?) is an older text editor that? s popular with some Unix v i t i p s AOL: You Can Check In, But How Do You Check Out? try the general AOL Billing Services number, 1-800-827-6364 . Other Options If you prefer, you can send a cancella- tion request via fax ( 801-622-7969) or U.S. mail. AOL?s mailing address isAOL is undeniably good at making it easy for you to sign up for its ser- vice: its free CDs are everywhere, and we?ve all gotten those pesky little sign-up-for-a-free-trial-of-AOL icons strewn across our desktop when we?ve installed one program or another. Because of AOL?s mastery of sign- me-up-for-a-free-trial marketing, it is common to see new students or new faculty members who have legacy AOL accounts. Now that they have UO accounts, those folks probably don?t need their old AOL account and they could save the monthly cost of that account ?if they could fi gure out how to unsubscribe! Unfortunately, while AOL makes it very easy to sign up for service, it?s not so forthcoming about how to cancel service. (Perhaps AOL hopes that if it makes canceling hard enough, maybe, just maybe, you?ll forget about cancelling and just continue as an AOL subscriber by default?) Cancel by Phone Let us help: if you want to cancel your AOL account, go to h t t p : / / w w w . a o l . c o m / n e t h e l p / fi nd i ng helponaol.ht m l That page has the magic, semi-hidden, c a n c e l - m y - A O L - a c c o u n t - p l e a s e phone number, which is actually 1-888-265-8008 (unfortunately, you can?t cancel your account by email; you?ll need to do it by phone). If that number is busy and AOL won?t let you wait for the next available agent to help you cancel, you can also Joe St Sauver, Ph.D. Director, User Services and Network Applications joe@oregon.uoregon.edu A MERICA O NLINE B OX 1600 O GDEN , UT 84401 If you write or fax AOL, you must include your full name, address, phone number, and AOL primary username, and specify that you?d like your account cancelled. AT&T Cable Modem Users Lose Email Addresses?Again! For the second time in 18 months, b e l e a g u e r e d c a b l e m o d e m u s e r s will have to change their email ad- dresses if they?re using one provided by AT&T. Beginning in March, two million a d d r e s s e s e n d i n g w i t h a t t b i . c o m will have to switch to addresses e n d i n g w i t h c o m c a s t . n e t . I n a d - dition to this suffi x change, any AT&T subscriber whose username matches that of a Comcast user will be required to change it, too (see the Associated Press article online a t h t t p : / / w w w. c e n t r e d a i l y. c o m / m l d / cent r eda i ly/ news / loca l /4661887.ht m ). T h i s t i m e , AT & T ?s m e r g e r w i t h Comcast is behind the disruption to cable modem subscribers, who must now notify numerous friends, family, and clients of their change of address and reprint business cards and stationery accordingly. To help ease the transition, Comcast is promising to provide a temporary email forwarding service for AT&T customers to give them?and their correspondents?time to adjust. 12 computing news winter 2003 13computing news winter 2003 ? s i t e s w o r t h s e e i n g ? 1. The Pittock Internet Exchange - Learn more about Portland?s ?Internet hotel,? where over 40 network providers interconnect, at ht t p:// sdot s.com / pit tock / 2. ? Da rk net a nd t he Fut u re of Content Dist r ibut ion ? - Read how some tec h n ica l a na lyst s v iew t he f ut u re of peer - to - peer fi le sha r i ng, C D a nd DV D copy i ng, a nd key or pa ssword sha r i ng on ema il a nd newsg roups i n t he PDF doc u ment at ht t p:// w w w.geocit ie s.com / m i r ror med ia2 / p2p /da rk net5.pd f 3. ?Moving from 6bone to IPv6 Internet? - This working document of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) makes interesting reading for those who are concerned with next-generation Internet problems: http://www.ietf.org/internet- draf ts/draf t- savola-v6ops - 6bone -mess - 01.txt 4. TUCOFS: ?a Complete Resource for Cyber Law Technologies - ht t p:// w w w.t ucof s.com / t ucof s.ht m 5. Campus webcam - Watch the progress of the Lillis Business Complex construction at: ht t p:// l i l l i s.uor egon.edu / v iew/ i ndex.sht m l ht t p:// l i l l i s2.uor egon.edu / v iew/ i ndex.sht m l ht t p:// l i l l i s3.uor egon.edu / v iew/ i ndex.sht m l 6. ODOT road condit ion s repor t - C heck t h is out before you t ravel: ht t p:// w w w.t r ipcheck.com / RoadCa m s / roadca m s.ht m 7. Web Color Picker test i ng site - Th is ha ndy site ca n help you fi ne t u ne t he hex color codes for you r web page: ht t p:// w w w.paget utor.com / paget utor/ ma kapage / picker/ 8. Spa m laws a rou nd t he world - ht t p:// w w w.spa m laws.com / Microsoft Limits Access to its New Offi ce Productivity Suite Offi ce 11 runs only on Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 and Windows XP In late October, Microsoft acknowl- edged it was dropping support for older versions of Windows on its latest version of Offi ce, code-named ?Offi ce 11,? which is slated for release in mid-2003. This means Windows users will have to upgrade to the latest operating system?Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 and Windows XP? before in- stalling the new Offi ce productivity suite. This is not altogether unex- pected, as all support for Windows 98 and NT offi cially ends this year on June 30. In the past, Microsoft supported two separate code bases, but its Offi ce 11 policy signals a move toward focusing support on 32-bit operating systems from now on. (Another reference to fading Microsoft support for older ver- sions of Windows appears in Patrick Chinn?s article on page 8.) AOL?s ongoing efforts to fi ght spam w e r e r e w a r d e d r e c e n t l y w h e n a Virginia court awarded the company almost $7 million in damages. The court ruling was an historic victory in the fi ght against spam. In its suit, AOL had complained that despite earlier injunctions, spammer CN Productions and its conspirators had transmitted more than one billion junk email messages to AOL members since 1998. For more details, see the article, ?AOL Wins $7 Million from Spammers? in the December 16 issue of PC World.com at ht t p:// w w w.pcworld.com / news /a r t icle / 0,a id,108007,00.a sp AOL Wins Anti-Spam Suit New Utility Reconstructs Lost Windows Files A new product called RecoverMyFiles promises to restore lost Windows fi les under a wide range of circumstances, whether from unexpected system s h u t d o w n s , c r a s h e s , a c c i d e n t a l o r d e l i b e r a t e d e l e t i o n s , s o f t w a r e failure, or even partition formatting. More details are available from the developer?s website at http://www.recovermyfi les.com More Hazards of Hotmail Anti-spam researcher Steve Linford recently tracked a massive spam attack against the mail servers of both Hotmail.com and MSN.com. The attack, which has run continu- ously for the last fi ve months, targeted Hotmail and MSN email accounts at the rate of three to four tries per sec- ond, 24 hours a day, hitting Hotmail?s server more than 52 million times. U n f o r t u n a t e l y f o r u s e r s , s p a m delivered to their bulk mail folder counts toward their mailbox quotas. Until Hotmail and MSN act to prevent such attacks, the only way subscribers can protect themselves is to create a long user name with plenty of random characters interspersed with digits. For d etails, see ?Hotmail: A Spam- mer?s Paradise?? at h t t p : / / w w w.w i r e d . c o m / n e w s / p r i n t / 0,1294,57132,00.ht m l 1 4 computing news winter 2003 1 5computing news winter 2003 Windows 9x/Me ?Share Level Access? Vulnerability Still Bites! If you haven?t yet installed the patch, don?t delay any longer A recent wave of viral infections points up the fact that many Windows users are still vulnerable to a flaw that was first reported in October 2000. (Also see the Computing News article, ?? TCP File Sharing Vulnerable to Password Probes ? at http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews/spring2001/ winwarning.html ) If you run Windows 95/98/Me with File and Print shar - ing enabled, you are potentially vulnerable because of a flaw in the way the File and Print Sharing service implements password protection for a directory that?s shared over a network. Unless you install the patch for this vulnerability, you run the risk of having a malicious user easily retrieve, modify, or delete any file within the network share. Note: Only share level access permissions on Windows 95/98/ME machines are vulnerable. Because they can only be set up with user-level file share access controls, Windows NT and Windows 2000 machines are not susceptible. Where?s the patch? You may download the patch from Microsoft?s Security Bulletin MS00-072 page at h t t p : / / w w w . m i c r o s o f t . c o m / t e c h n e t / t r e e v i e w / defau lt.a sp?u rl = tech net / secu r it y/ bu l let i n / MS00 - 072.a sp This page also contains detailed instructions for applying the patch to your site, as well as a method for verifying that it?s been correctly installed. Extra protection from Symantec. In recent months, we have had almost daily reports of W32 Opaserv worm infection on the unpatched machines of dialin Windows users. Computing Center network security staff saw one recent instance in which Norton Antivirus apparently did not detect a variant of this worm, so if you want to be sure you?re protected on all fronts, install the Microsoft patch and get Symantec?s removal tool at ht t p :// sec u r it y r e spon se.s y ma ntec.com /avcenter/ venc /data / w32.opa ser v.wor m.r emova l.tool.ht m l Comput i ng Center sta f f a re ema il i ng wa r n i ngs to UO computing account-holders when t hey detect a n infected mac h i ne. Security Alerts? Buffer Overrun in Microsoft Data Access Components Prior to Version 2.7 With the exception of Windows XP, most Windows systems are affected by a buffer overrun vulnerability in versions of Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) prior to version 2.7. Web servers running versions of MDAC earlier than 2.7 are at risk, and Internet Explorer 5.x and 6.0 web clients are also affected. (Note that despite the fact that it uses IE 6.0, Windows XP is not vulnerable because it ships with MDAC 2.7.) This vulnerability could be exploited to run code of the attacker?s choice on a compromised system, and warrants a maximum severity rating of ?critical.? Get the patch. Any IIS server with MDAC and all Internet Explorer clients should apply the patch immediately. Full details are available in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS02-065 at h t t p : / / w w w . m i c r o s o f t . c o m / t e c h n e t / t r e e v i e w / defau lt.a sp?u rl = / tech net / secu r it y/ bulletin/MS02-065.asp Disguised Email Worm Targets Microsoft Outlook Address Book Late last fall, Symantec Security Response uncovered a new type of worm that masquerades as an electronic greeting card in order to exploit the contents of Outlook address books for spamming purposes. Known as the ?W32.Friendgreet.worm,? the new worm is not classified as a malicious threat because it is activated only if you agree to download software so that you can read your ?E-Card from?? You can spare yourself?and the people in your Outlook address book?spamming grief by simply refusing to open the installer package and not accepting the End User License Agreements (EULAs). The latest information on this worm, as well as some websites that may harbor it, is available on Symantec?s security response page at http://www.sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/friendgreetings.html 14 computing news winter 2003 15computing news winter 2003 C ritical Flaw in Microsoft?s Virtual Machine Update fi xes all known VM vulnerabilities in one fell swoop ?Security Alerts Latest MP3 Worms Expose Critical Windows XP, Winamp Vulnerabilities Music fi le swapping can be dangerous to your computer?s health. The security fi rm Foundstone recently reported two new security vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to completely take over a computer system via a malicious MP3 or WMA audio fi le. WEP Security Analyzed Research sparks controversy about wireless network security The Wired Equivalent Privacy algorithm, or WEP, recently came under fi re from three security researchers in Berkeley, California. Nikita Borisov, Ian Goldberg, and David Wagner discovered a number of fl aws in the algorithm when they put it to the test. Their conclusion? Despite its claim to privacy protection, WEP, which is part of the 802.11 standard, falls short. For full details on the trio?s analysis, see http://w w w.isaac.cs.berkeley.edu/isaac/wep -faq.html A rebut ta l by t he c ha i r of I EEE 802.11 (t he Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc .) appea rs on ht t p://sla shdot.or g /a r t icles / 01/ 02/15/1745204.sht m l Net work ad m i n ist rators who wa nt to lea r n more about w i reless net work sec u r it y shou ld c heck ht t p://or ei l ly.com /cata log / 802dot11/ In December, Microsoft issued the latest in a series of eight different warnings about security fl aws in its implementation of the Java Virtual Machine (VM). This latest fl aw affects Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, and XP?as well as several versions of Internet Explorer?and has the potential to enable an attacker to gain control of a user?s system. All versions of the Microsoft VM earlier than 5.00.3809 are affected. The other Microsoft VM vulnerabilities (such as codebase spoofi ng and domain spoofi ng) were not considered as serious and earned only ?important? and ?moderate? warnings from the software developer. Upgrade to Microsoft VM version 5.00.3809. You can fi x all eight VM vulnerabilities by installing this new version of the Microsoft VM. For a full description of VM vulnerabilities, as well as download information and details on how to install the update for your particular version of Windows, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article MS02-069, ?Flaw in Microsoft VM May Compromise Windows,? at ht t p:// suppor t.m icrosof t.com /defau lt.a spx?scid = K B; en - u s ; 810030 & 1. Windows XP vulnerability. If you?re running Windows XP, you are at risk of having your system compromised if you simply allow your cursor to hover over the fi le icon of a malicious MP3, or open a folder where the fi le is stored. The malignant audio fi le may be placed on a website, sent in an email, or stored in a shared network drive. Once the worm is activated, attackers have com- plete control over the affected system?they can modify or delete data, reformat the hard drive or reconfi gure the system, and run any program they choose. Microsoft urges XP users to apply the patch immediately. F o r f u l l d e t a i l s o n t h e p r o b l e m , i n c l u d i n g p a t c h download information, see ?Microsoft Security Bulletin MSO2-072 at ht t p:// w w w.m icrosof t.com / tech net /secu r it y/ bullet i n / MS02 - 072.a sp 2. Wi na mp v ul nerabilit y. A si m ila r problem a f fec t s users of t he popula r Windows ju kebox player ? Wina mp. ? I f you use Wi na mp, you shou ld dow n load t he fi xed versions of Wi na mp 2.8.1 or 3.0, wh ic h a re ava ilable f rom Nu l lsof t ? s Wi na mp tea m at ht t p : // w w w.w i na mp.com / new s.jht m l; $ s e s sion id $ 4 H4UA A Z23M AT BT N24U Y BCZY?a r t icleid = 9680 1 6 computing news winter 2003 1 7computing news winter 2003 Try these economical solutions for blocking unwanted images Dan Albrich Microcomputer Network Specialist dalbrich@oregon.uoregon.edu Notes: 1. If you right- or control-click on an animated image and you can?t find the option to block that image, see Customization #4 below. It is likely that you are looking at a Macromedia flash-based advertisement. Such advertisements are increasingly common. 2. Mozilla also offers a cookie manager with similar functionality. To learn more about what ?cookies? are and how they work, see ?How to Avoid Being Profiled by Online Advertisers? in the winter 2001 issue of Computing News at http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews/winter2001/optout.html Customization #2 Select Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Images -> Animated images should loop -> ?Once? Effect: GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) files can be easily animated, and are commonly used for advertising. This enables the animation to play only once. After that, it will not continue playing. How to Undo: Change the ?Never? selection back to its default ?As many times as the image specifies.? Customization #3 Select Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Scripts and Plugins -> Uncheck the following: ? open unrequested windows ? move or resize existing windows ? raise or lower windows ? hide the status bar Effect: Blocks most popup ads and other annoyances How to Undo: Re-check the boxes listed above. More Extreme Measures to Stop Advertisements: The following customizations are recommended only for folks who really want to block ads, at the expense of not being able to view some websites at all. Customization #4 Uninstall Macromedia Flash. Go to http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/ remove_player.htm Effect: This change blocks Macromedia animation that is popular both with content producers and advertisers. You may have seen recent TV advertisements for Internet providers that block popup ads. There are also companies that sell software expressly for this purpose. What you may not realize is that much of this convenience can be had for free. E n t e r M o z i l l a , a b r o w s e r a l t e r n a t i v e w i t h b e t t e r customization control than Internet Explorer. You can install Mozilla in addition to your current browser, which allows you to try it out without losing the browser you currently use. To install Mozilla, you need either Duckware 2002, (available from the Microcomputer Services Help Desk in 151 McKenzie) or an Internet connection. See http://www.mozilla.org/ to download the software. Mozilla versions exist for Macintosh, Windows, and Linux operating systems. How Can I Use Mozilla to block Annoying Advertisements? Mozilla has several configurable options that enable you to control the content you receive. However, it?s possible?even easy?to accidentally block content you actually want. If you cannot view some desired content after introducing these controls, then undo that change. You may also adopt a ?two browser strategy,? in which one browser setting is more restrictive than the other. The following suggested customizations can help to eliminate blinking and animation: Customization #1 : While browsing a page with a blinking image, right-click (or control-click, if you?re using Mac OS with a single- button mouse) on that image, and select ?Block Images from this Server.? Effect: All images sent from that server are now blocked. (Note that some links are themselves images, so you may need to experiment to see if your blocks have the desired effect while still enabling you to navigate the site.) How to Undo: Select Tools-> Image Manager-> Manage Image Permissions. Select the site, then select ?Remove Site? to re-enable it. How to Stop Popups and Blinking Ads with Mozilla 16 computing news winter 2003 17computing news winter 2003 How to Undo: Flash is easy to reinstall if you decide you do not want this change. The Macromedia URL cited above has instructions for both uninstalling and reinstalling Flash. Customization #5 Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy and Security -> Images -> ?Do not load any images? Effect: Turns off images completely. This change is one of the most severe, but can greatly speed text browsing, especially over slow links. It?s unlikely that most users will be able to use a browser exclusively with images off, although they might be able to get by with this option for some websites and use an alternate browser for the others. You can do this in most browsers. How to Undo: Reselect ?Accept all images.? Note: A less severe version of this one is to block im- ages that are not from the originating server. You might experiment with these options to fi nd the ones that suit you best. What Else Can Mozilla Do? Mozilla supports ?tabbed browsing.? This is similar to opening a new window in other browsers. When you select ?File? followed by ?Open Web Location,? you?ll see three options displayed in a drop-down menu. These options include the familiar choice to open the page either in the current window or in a new window, plus the option of opening a ?new navigator tab.? The navigator tab option loads multiple virtual pages in the same frame, with tabbed labels at the top. When you click on a label, that page is displayed. In addition, you can bookmark a series of tabs as one entry and open the series from one bookmark. You can also change the way Mozilla looks through the use of themes. In fact, there?s even a theme that makes Mozilla look like Internet Explorer if you wish. These and other advanced customizations are available from http://themes.mozdev.org , and http://www.mozdev.org/ Other Related Options: Mozilla is just one browser based on the ?Gecko? engine, the engine behind multiple new browser options. Others include Phoenix, which offers the ability to selectively block popups (instead of always turning them off), and ?Chimera? for Mac OS X. See http://www.mozilla.org/ for more information. If you?ve been thinking about creating a website for your course but don?t know where to begin, you might want to investigate Blackboard, a system offered by the University of Oregon Libraries. Blackboard provides the infrastructure to help you easily create full-featured course websites regardless of your class size or technical abilities. Typically, a Blackboard course consists of the following elements: ? announcements (such as class cancellations and other important informational items) ? course information, such as the syllabus ? staff information so students can more easily contact instructors and GTFs ? course documents for download ? assignments ? communication, which includes a discussion area, live chat capabilities and email links ? external links to other websites for further research ? student tools, such as a digital drop box for student submissions These features can be activated or deactivated according to your needs. You can grant GTFs various levels of control over course data, and if you wish, you may limit access to the entire course site to only those students who are enrolled in the class. Need help? The Library?s Faculty Instructional Technology Training (FITT) Center can assist you in creating and confi guring an online course. For more details, see ht t p:// l ibweb.uor egon.edu / fi t tc / More information on Blackboard is available at ht t p:// blackboa rd.uor egon.edu / To create a Blackboard course, see ht t p :// blackboa rd.uor egon.edu / loca l /generate.ht m l Want to Create a Course Website? Try Blackboard How to Stop Popups and Blinking Ads with Mozilla 18 computing news winter 2003 19computing news winter 2003 T h e C r e e p i n g I m p o v e r i s h m e n t o f O n l i n e Directories and Search Engines How the commercialization of search engines and online directories is compromising the quality of searchable information Joe St Sauver, Ph.D. Director, User Services and Network Applications joe@oregon.uoregon.edu Check out this course management tool designed specifi cally for higher education: http://www.edutools.info/course/index.jsp We all depend on online website directories and search engines to help us fi nd Internet resources, and many of us naively assume those resources will always return objective and as- c o m p l e t e - a s - t e c h n i c a l l y - p o s s i b l e results. U n f o r t u n a t e l y, w i t h l i t t l e o r n o fanfare, a number of online search e n g i n e s a n d o n l i n e d i r e c t o r i e s have made a fundamental decision a b o u t h o w t h e y ? r e g o i n g t o d o business. With that choice, they?ve dramatically limited the richness and completeness of the results you?ll see when you do a search using their service. What is that fundamental decision? It is the decision to charge for inclusion in their listings. Have a Commercial Website, but Don?t Want to Pay? Too bad. If you don?t pay, in many cases your site will simply become invisible, not existing in that direc- tory or in that search engine?s search results. (Some pay-for-listing search sites still offer generally well hidden no-fee submission options available on an if-we-get-around-to-it basis, but that?s typically the exception, not the rule.) Pay-to-be-included plans may also often determine how quickly your site gets crawled, indexed, and listed, or how often a site gets revisited and reindexed. Now it is certainly true that search engine and directory companies have every right to run their businesses as they please?they do own those companies after all, and it does cost money to offer a website directory or search engine. It is also true that even search engine companies need to eventually turn a profi t if they want to avoid going out of business. However, as a search engine or di- rectory service user, you really don?t want the completeness and quality of the results of your searches to be colored by the willingness of website owners to knuckle under and pay a ?listing fee.? For example, consider Yahoo. If you want to list your business website in their commercial directory, you now must pay a non-refundable annual listing fee of $299 per site. Ouch! Online search engines and directories are betting that they have become so crucial to online success that website owners will have no option but to pay to be listed (or, as they?d probably prefer to have you think about it, by being listed you?ll get more than e n o u g h i n c r e m e n t a l b u s i n e s s t o recover that cost ??just like buying advertising?). What Happened to Impartiality? But let?s think about that for a minute: if you trust a search engine or online directory to guide you to the best and most relevant search results, do you want an impartial and all-inclusive guide, or a guide who?s only willing to direct you to his ?friends??i.e., those sites that have coughed up la mordida (?the bite?)? Most of us do not want our search r e s u l t s t o b e m o d u l a t e d b y t h e willingness of website owners to pay to be considered! Just a Cost of Doing Business Online? Business website owners should also beware of simply resigning them- selves to paying such fees readily, assuming that they?re just another unfortunate cost of doing business. In the short term, if online directories and search engines fi nd they can get away with demanding a ?little gift? for the privilege of being listed, staff with sharp pencils at search engine and directory sites will feel free to ?tune? or ?tweak? the charge model they?re using. For example, does it make sense that a small entrepreneur working from his garage and an online retailing gi- ant should pay the same amount for equivalent online directory listings? If being listed by search engines and online directories is truly key to online success, listing companies should be able to extract more cash from a large online client than from a tiny one. Alternatives I s t h e r e a n a l t e r n a t i v e t o e v e r- escalating fees? Three possibilities come to mind: 1. Federal involvement. One option would be for the federal government to regulate search engine and online 18 computing news winter 2003 19computing news winter 2003 T h e C r e e p i n g I m p o v e r i s h m e n t o f O n l i n e Directories and Search Engines directory listing practices, recogniz- ing the oligopolistic market-making (or potentially company-crippling) power that online directory and online search entities now exercise. Alternatively, it may be time for a neutral third party like the Library of Congress to offer a web directory with listings available to anyone on a free or nonprofi t basis. 2. Self-regulation. A better option w o u l d b e f o r o n l i n e d i r e c t o r i e s and search engine companies to r e g u l a t e t h e m s e l v e s , o f f e r i n g a s an alternative to paid-submission- only policies a trusted centralized n o - c o s t s u b m i s s i o n m e c h a n i s m , available to any interested website and accepted by all participating search engines and web directories. Web directories and search engine sites should also make full disclosure of any commercial relationships that infl uence website inclusion or exclusion, or the ordering of search results returned. 3. User power. The ultimate option, however, the true power to deal with this problem, lies with end users. U s e r s n e e d t o s e l e c t w e b s i t e d i r e c t o r i e s a n d s e a r c h e n g i n e s t h a t d o n ? t ? p l a y f a v o r i t e s . ? F o r e x a m p l e , t h e r e a r e e x c e l l e n t o n l i n e d i r e c t o r i e s t h a t d o n ? t c h a r g e f o r l i s t i n g , s u c h a s t h e O p e n D i r e c t o r y P r o j e c t ( h t t p : / / d m o z . o r g / ) . The Long Term Over the long term, I predict a new t r e n d w i l l b e c o m e c l e a r : o n l i n e directories and search engine sites that do not charge for inclusion will become more and more comprehen- sive and inclusive, and thus useful and popular, while sites that continue to charge for inclusion will begin to return fewer and fewer relevant re- sults and simply get ignored by users in favor of less biased alternatives. As fee-for-listing sites lose their rel- evance and usefulness, they will also lose market infl uence and the ability to demand fees for listings. The only question is whether those sites will recognize this in time to pull back to a sustainable, inclusive, fair and fully functional objective model. Spam Reporting Tips Revisited Spam is an increasingly unpleas- ant fact of life for Internet users. Every time you fi ll out forms on the web, post to Usenet groups, or give out your email address, you?re potentially exposing yourself to spammers. Even after taking all the right precautions, some spam still gets through. So what can you do? If you?re getting offensive spam directed to your UO email account, notify spam@uoregon.edu within a day or so of receiving it. When you do, you?ll need to include the full header of the spammer?s message so we can track the source of the spam and take action. If you?re not sure how to enable full headers in your email client, see the ?Enabling Full Headers? s i t e a t h t t p : / / m i c r o .u o r e g o n . e d u / f u l l h e a d e r s / T h e r e y o u ? l l f i n d detailed instructions for enabling full headers in Eudora, Mozilla, Netscape, Mulberry, Outlook and Outlook Express, Pine, Webmail, and Mac OS X Mail. More Information Resources: 1. Reporting spam to government agencies: ht t p://cc.uor egon.edu /cnews / fa l l2002 / spa m r epor t.ht m l 2. ?Open Proxy Servers: A Growing Source of Spam? ht t p://cc.uor egon.edu /cnews / fa l l2002 /openprox y.ht m l 3. ?Coping With Spam? http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews/ summer1999/coping_w_spam.html 4. ?Reporting UOnet Related Abuse? ht t p://cc.uor egon.edu /abu se / Invoking FinMetrics within Splus On Darkwing The FinMetrics module is currently available within Splus on Darkwing. However, to enable Splus to access Finmetrics functions, you fi rst need to give the following instruction at the Splus prompt: module(fi nmetrics) Full documentation for FinMetrics can be found in the S+FinMetrics Reference Guide, available in the Computing Center Documents Room Library on the ground fl oor of McKenzie Hall. Y ou?ll also fi nd some FAQs online at ht t p:// w w w.i n sig ht f u l.com / suppor t / fi n met r ic s10 /defau lt.a sp Frank da Cruz, the guiding light behind the Kermit 95 project at Columbia University, has written an excellent article describing one set of steps you can take to keep your PC safe in an increasingly rough online world. See his great article ?Safe Network Computing: Windows Desktop? at ht t p:// w w w.colu mbia.edu / ker m it / sa fe.ht m l DA C RUZ ? S S AFE N ETWORK C OMPUTING : W INDOWS D ESKTOP 20 computing news winter 2003 21computing news winter 2003 Users sometimes ask where they can go online to keep up with technology news (besides keeping an eye on UO?s Computing News , of course!). The most timely news usually propagates through the technical community via a variety of mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups. However, the volume on some of the more popular lists and newsgroups can be overwhelming. For big stories, most users will be just as well served by checking some of the more popular web-based computer and network news resources. Some of the more popular sites of this type are (in alphabetical order): ? ArsTechnica ( ht t p:// w w w.a r stech n ica.com / ) ?The PC enthusiast?s resources.? ? CNet News.Com ( ht t p:// news.com.com / ) Offering a ?mainstream? technology focus, CNet provides a nice source for conventional technology news and analysis, commonly featuring items from Ziff Davis technical publications. ? Freshmeat ( ht t p:// f r e sh meat.net / ) Excellent source of news about Linux (and other Unix, and Palm OS) software. ? [H]ard|OCP ( ht t p:// w w w.ha rdocp.com / ) Hardware news and evaluations. ? IDG.net ( ht t p:// w w w.idg net.com / ) ?The Global IT Network,? IDGNet usually features stories from Computerworld, ITworld, MacWorld, PCWorld, and related titles. ? Internetnews.com ( ht t p:// w w w.i nter net news.com / ) ?Realtime News for IT Managers.? ? Kuro5hin ( ht t p:// w w w.k u ro5h i n.or g / ) ?Technology and culture, from the trenches.? ? LWN: Linux Weekly News ( ht t p:// lw n.net / ) ?Your Linux info source.? ? Network World Fusion ( ht t p:// nw f u sion.com / ) Describing itself as the ?leader in network knowledge,? Network World Fusion is an excellent source of network-related news and information. ? SiliconValley ( ht t p:// w w w.si l iconva l ley.com / ) . ?Inside the Tech Economy.? ? Slashdot ( ht t p:// sla shdot.or g / ) Billing itself as ?News for Nerds. Stuff that matters,? Slashdot is an incredibly infl uential site viewed by hundreds of thousands of users each day. Slashdot is so popular and so infl uential that mere mention of a website on Slashdot can result in a sudden Joe St Sauver, Ph.D. Director, User Services and Network Applications joe@oregon.uoregon.edu stampede of viewers, often enough to slow or crash some sites (a phenomenon generally referred to as a site ?being /.?d?). ? The Register ( ht t p:// w w w.t her eg i ster.co.u k / ) The Register?s motto is ?Biting the hand that feeds IT,? and it can be counted on to have a variety of interesting and timely articles. ? Tom?s Hardware Guide ( http:/w w w.tomshardware.com ) The best source on the network for detailed analysis of current and forthcoming PC hardware. ? Wired ( ht t p:// w w w.w i r ed.com / ) The Wired News website is the online companion site for the magazine Wired and is perhaps at its best when providing in-depth and forward-looking coverage of technology issues. APC Recalls Some Back-UPS Models Because of Fire Hazard Where Geeks Go For News Consumers advised to stop using some Back-UPS CS 350 and CS 500 models immediately American Power Conversion Corporation (APC) is voluntarily recalling two specifi c models of its backup power supply devices after reports of serious overheating. The recalled models include the Back-UPS CS 350 and Back-UPS CS 500, in both 12-volt and 230-volt models. The fi rst six characters of the serial numbers for the affected units range from AB0048 through AB0251, BB0104 through BB0251, and JB0125 through JB-0251 ( Units with an ?R? at the end of the serial number are not part of this recall. ) The recalled units were manufactured between November 2000 through December 2002. For more details, see APC?s website at ht t p:// w w w.apc.com / r ely/ and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission site at ht t p://cpsc.gov/cpscpub / pr er el / prht m l03/ 03068.ht m l Or, call 866 APC-RELY ( 866-272-7359) to learn more about the recall and replacement process. 20 computing news winter 2003 21computing news winter 2003 Just Enough Mathematica to Make You Dangerous 2 2 computing news winter 2003 2 3computing news winter 2003 Linear Algebra...???????????????????????????????????????????????Create a 2x2 matrix (we?re using symbols, but you could equally easily use numeric values) ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Use a dot product to apply that matrix of coefficients to two variables to form a system of two equations with constants {k1, k2} ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Mathematica can easily do most standard linear algebra operations, for example, we can easily transpose matrix w...?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Or compute the inverse of a 2x2 numeric matrix...???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Or compute the determinant of a 3x3 symbolic matrix... ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? In addition to entering matrices on an elementby element basis, Mathematica will also let us construct matrices using rules, such as this example that sets elements of a 3x3 matrix to be 1 if the column or row is an even number.Plotting in Mathematica...??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Note: besides GIF format, you can also use the Display function to save Mathematica graphics in PDF, EPS, PCL, PBM and other formats.Plot a function over an interval. If connecting from a Unix workstation or an X terminal, your graph will be shown in a new window; we also show saving graphic output in gif format. Page 2????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????[not shown]?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????[not shown]?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Work with (x,y) data points from an external file.!!mydata.dat shows us the contents of the file.Read in pairs of numbers from that file, storing the list of values by the name newvals. Plot the dataset. Fit a line to the points & plot that. Finally, overlay both and save as a gifMathematica As A Programming Language... ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? If Mathematica doesn?t have precisely what you need (or what it has is overkill), you can always use Mathematica as a programming language and write your own code. For example, assume you have a pile of 5, 10 and 25 pound weights. Using no more than 7 of them in any instance, how many combinations can you form that will total no more than 45 pounds?We can solve that problem using Mathematica?s Combinatorica package, or we can just write a little program to solve that problem directly bylooping through a three way nested do loop, using an if statement to tally only solutions that meet the specified restriction.Mathematica on other platforms...UO has a site license for Mathematica covering its installation on University owned PC?s, Macs, and Unix systems.For more information, please seehttp://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~hak/mathematicaMore Information About Mathematica...The Mathematica Book, 4th Ed., by Stephen Wolfram [ISBN 0-521-64314-7, 1470 pages] is the definitive reference.See also http://www.wolfram.com/ andhttp://documents.wolfram.com/ for online copies of many Mathematica documents. 2 2 computing news winter 2003 2 3computing news winter 2003 W I N T E R W O R K S H O P S These information technology (?IT?) workshops are free and open to currently enrolled students, as well as staff and faculty. There is no registration ; all seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Unless otherwise indicated, prerequisites are required. Requests for accommodations related to disability should be made to 346-1925 at least one week in advance of the workshop. For more information, contact the Office of Library Instruction ( 346-1817 , cbell@darkwing.uoregon.edu, http://libweb.uoregon.edu/instruct/ ). This schedule is subject to change. See http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/ for course outlines and the most current information, including answers to frequently asked questions (such as why you can?t use your Oregon account in most of these workshops). ?Fair Use: Copyright Content and Your Course Website - Discusses library services and the issues involved in linking to copy - righted content within your course website. Demonstrates several ways to integrate content into your Blackboard course site. Tue Feb 18 9 - 10:20 AM 144 Knight Library Bell EndNote/ProCite? Two programs to help you organize and retrieve your citations and format your footnotes and bibliographies Mon Feb 10 12 - 1:20 PM 235 Knight Lenn, Zeidman-Karpinski Tue Feb 11 12 - 1:20 PM 235 Knight Lenn, Zeidman-Karpinski N EW ! Copyright Issues Online (videoconference) Thu Feb 20 11:30 AM - 1:20 PM Studio A, Knight Johnson Things You Should Know About Copyright - Bring your copyright questions for a lively discussion about images, text, and me - dia, both online and off Mon Feb 17 9 -10:50 AM Studio A, Knight Sundt Power Point Basics Tue Feb 11 2:30 - 4:20 PM 267B Knight Heerema More Power Point ? Prerequisite:Power Point Basics or equivalent knowledge and skills Tue Feb 25 2:30 - 4:20 PM 267B Knight Heerema Course Websites, Copyright, Presentation & Research Software ? Requires an active account on Darkwing or Gladstone Web Publishing, Multimedia ? Prerequisites Basic Web Design for the Non-Designer Wed Jan 15 2:30 - 4:20 PM Studio A Knight Library Stanton Web Publishing I - ?? Prerequisites: Familiarity with a graphical web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer and an account on Darkwing or Gladstone (not Oregon!); you must know your username and password Mon Jan 13 2 - 3:50 PM 235 Knight Library Nicholson Thu Jan 23 10 - 11:50 AM 235 Knight Library Frantz Web Publishing II - ??Prerequisites: Web P ublishing I or equivalent knowledge and skills, and a web page you ? ve created Mon Jan 27 2 - 3:50 PM 144 Knight Library Nesselroad Thu Jan 30 10 - 11:50 AM 144 Knight Library Munro Web Publishing III - ? ? Prerequisites: Web Publishing II or equivalent knowledge and skills Mon Feb 3 2 - 3:50 PM 144 Knight Library Bell Web Sites with PHP - ?? Prerequisite: Web Publishing I & II or equivalent knowledge and skills, and an account on Darkwing or Gladstone (not Oregon!) . Learn how to use this general-purpose scripting language that?s especially suited for dynamic web pages. Mon Feb 10 2 - 3:50 PM 144 Knight Library Lechnyr Introduction to Flash Wed Feb 19 3 - 4:50 PM 144 Knight Library McCallum Introduction to Photoshop - ? Prerequisite: ?Shooting Great Digital Images? recommended Wed Jan 22 2:30 - 4:20 AM 144 Knight Library Harmon, Stanton Dreamweaver I - ? Prerequisite: Web Publishing I & II or equivalent knowledge and skills Thu Feb 6 10 - 11:50 AM 144 Knight Library Nesselroad Dreamweaver II - ? Prerequisite: Web Publishing I & II and Dreamweaver I (or equivalent knowledge and skills) Thu Feb 13 10 - 11:50 AM 144 Knight Library Smith Publishing with Equations - ?? Prerequisites: Familiarity with a graphical web browser Wed Jan 15 12 - 1:20 PM 235 Knight Library Johnson Thu Jan 16 12 - 1:20 PM 235 Knight Library Johnson Workshop Day/Date Time Location Presenter COMPUTING NEWS UO COMPUTING CENTER 1212 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON EUGENE, OR 97403-1212 UO Website ht t p:// w w w.uor egon.edu / Computing Center Website ht t p://cc.uor egon.edu / Microcomputer Services (151 McKenzie Hall) ? microcomputer technical support ? help with computing accounts, passwords ? scanning, CD-burning, digital video ? help with damaged disks, files ? system software help ? Internet connections, file transfers ? p u b l i c d o m a i n s o f t w a r e , v i r u s protection ? s o f t w a r e r e p a i r ( c a r r y - i n o n l y, $60/hour, 1/2 hour minimum) 346-4412 microhelp@lists.uoregon.edu ht t p:// m icro.uor egon.edu / Documents Room Library (175 McKenzie Hall) 346-4406 ht t p://da rk w i ng.uor egon.edu /~doc sr m / Modem Number Dialin modem number for UOnet, the campus network: 225-2200 Large Systems Consulting (225-239 Computing Center) ? VMS, UNIX ( Gladstone, Darkwing, Oregon ) ? email, multimedia delivery ? scientific and cgi programming ? web page development 346-1758 consult@darkwing.uoregon.edu consult@gladstone.uoregon.edu consult@oregon.uoregon.edu http://cc.uoregon.edu/unixvmsconsulting.html Statistics Consulting Robin High 219 Computing Center 346-1718 robinh@uoregon.edu COMPUTING CENTER GUIDE N McKenzie Annex UO Computing Center Chiles Business School UO Bookstore 13th Avenue Kincaid Street EMU Electronics Shop (151 McKenzie Hall) Computer hardware repair, instal - lation, and upgrades. 346-3548 hardwarehelp@oregon.uoregon.edu ht t p://cc.uor egon.edu /e_ shop.ht m l Network Services Provides central data communication and networking services to the UO community. 346-4395 net help @ oregon.uoregon.edu ht t p:// n s.uor egon.edu / Administrative Services Provides programming support for ad - ministrative computing on campus, including BANNER, A/R, FIS, HRIS, and SIS. Call 346-1725 . Computing Center Hours Mon - Fri 7:30 A . M . - 5:00 P . M . McKenzie Building Hours* Mon - Thu 7:30 A . M . - 11:30 P . M . Friday 7:30 A . M . - 7:30 P . M . Saturday 9 A . M . - 9:30 P . M . Sunday 9 A . M . - 8:30 P . M . * Note: These are building -access hours; hours for individual facilities may vary .