U n i v e r s i t y o f O r e g o n IN THIS ISSUE? SPRING 2003 C O M P U T I N G N E W S Microcomputing Norton Antivirus Troubleshooting Tips .................. 2 New Pay-for-Printing Policy Saves Trees, Costs ..... 4 Why We Don?t Recommend Recycled Toner Cartridges ............................................................... 5 Sharing Printers with Mac OS X 10.2 ..................... 6 Eudora Mood Watch Feature Can Create Network Server Problems ..................................................... 6 Floppies Going the Way of the Dinosaur .............. 11 Handy USB Thumb Drives Available on Campus 13 Free Fortran, C/C++, and Pascal Compilers for PCs .. 21 Dell?s Computer Hardware Recycling Service ...... 21 Understanding Web Addresses ............................. 22 UPnP and Internet Gateway Devices .................... 25 Large Systems End of an Era: DuckCall is No More ....................... 3 Darkwing Quotas Raised ......................................... 3 URL Change for Library?s Proxy Server Info ........... 5 Email Having Problems Enabling SSL for Email? ........... 11 Darkwing Email Duplications Traced to Sendmail .. 17 One-Stop Shopping for List Owners ..................... 17 Security Critical New Windows Exploit ............................... 8 Buffer Overfl ow Vulnerability in Windows DLL .... 8 Windows RPC Could Allow DOS Attacks .............. 8 New IE, Outlook Security Patches .......................... 8 Sendmail Vulnerabilities ......................................... 8 OpenSSL Security Advisory ................................... 8 MS-SQL Server Worm ............................................. 9 Hackers Steal Vital Student, Staff Data at UT ......... 9 Potential Security Hole in Sprint?s DSL ZyXEL Modems ............................................................... .. 9 Serious Flaw in Samba Security Code .................... 9 BHO Cop Keeps IE Problems at Bay ..................... 12 Apple Mail Server Vulnerabilities ........................ 24 ?Super DMCA? Acts ............................................... 26 Networking CIS Professor Helps Advance Network Research ......... 7 Use XML to Create and Syndicate News Feeds .... 18 Wireless Ethernet Bridge ....................................... 26 Statistical Computing Loading SAS 8.2 onto a PC .................................... 12 How to Design Your Data Entry for Transfer into SAS or SPSS: the Excel Advantage .................... 14 Technology in Education Interactive Media Group: New Mission for New Media ............................................................... .... 10 MathType Available to UO Users .......................... 13 UO Buffl eheads Ace Regional ACM Competition .. 16 Interesting Sites Sites Worth Seeing ............................................ 17,26 IT Training Spring Workshops ...................................................... 27 Pulling the plug on DuckCall: Just after 11 A . M . on Friday, February 14, UO Registrar Herbert Chereck pulled the plug on the university?s DuckCall phone registration system. DuckCall is being retired in favor of DuckWeb, the online registration system that?s become increasingly popular in recent years. See story on page 3. 2 computing news spring 2003 3computing news spring 2003 COMPUTING NEWS VOL. 18 #2 C O M P U T I N G C E N T E R Computing News is pub lished quar ter ly b y t h e U s e r S e r v i c e s a n d N e t w o r k 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/ 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? Norton Antivirus Troubleshooting Tips: How to Avoid Two Common Problems Dan Albrich Manager, Microcomputer Services Recently, we?ve seen a couple of p r o b l e m s o n c a m p u s r e l a t e d t o Norton Antivirus software. NAV?s email scanning function caused p r o b l e m s w i t h e m a i l s e t t i n g s a n d S S L s e c u r i t y, a n d n e t w o r k c o n n e c t i o n s w e r e b r o k e n w h e n p e o p l e t r i e d t o u n i n s t a l l N AV 2002. You can avoid running into either of these snags by taking note of the following tips: Problem 1: NAV Email Scanning. Because of the problems associated w i t h t h i s f e a t u r e , i t ?s a l w a y s a good idea to turn off NAV?s email scanning. Historically, this feature has never worked well. In NAV 2001 and earlier, if email scanning was enabled, the POP proxy daemon running on the desktop PC was vulnerable to external attacks. E m a i l s c a n n i n g a n d s e t t i n g s issues. Be aware that Norton may change the POP settings in your email client software when email scanning is turned on. When you turn email scanning off, be sure to check your email confi guration s e t t i n g s f o r a c c u r a c y. ( To l e a r n more about this problem, go to h t t p : / / s e r v i c e 1 . s y m a n t e c . c o m / S U P P O R T / n a v . n s f / p f d o c s / 2 0 0 0 0 2 07 16 0 6 4 2 0 6 a n d o p e n t h e ?NAV 2001? link.) Here?s an example of settings that were changed: Host: pop3.norton.antivirus Server Type: POP3 Username: jsmith/mail.uoregon.edu To fi x the problem, change these to: Host: gladstone.uoregon.edu (or darkwing.uoregon.edu, as appropriate) Server Type: POP3 Username: jsmith Each email client looks slightly d i f f e r e n t . F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n on how to get the correct settings, see ht t p : // m ic r o.uor e gon.e du / em a i l / Email scanning and SSL issues. Current versions of NAV continue to use a virtual proxy, and so cannot be used with SSL. The basic problem is that you cannot proxy an SSL connection, so NAV doesn?t try to intercept anything but the standard non-SSL port for POP. Likewise, when email scanning is enabled, NAV also fails to protect IMAP connections. (NAV autoprotect does, however, continue to scan all email attachments for possible viruses). Suffi ce it to say that turning off NAV?s email scanning feature has been, and continues to be, good advice, and we have updated our NAV pages a t h t t p : / / m i c r o .u o r e g o n . e d u / a v / t o refl ect this. Problem 2: Uninstalling Norton A n t i v i r u s 2 0 0 2 k i l l s n e t w o r k connection. If for some reason you want to uninstall NAV 2002, you should be aware that you can lose your network connection in the process. This occurs because NAV 2002 adds an entry to the Windows registry that causes the computer to wait for a certain fi le to load before obtaining an IP address from the DHCP server. Uninstalling NAV through Add/Remove programs or using the NAV uninstaller removes this fi le but leaves the registry entry, so your computer will never obtain an IP address. Solution: You must edit the registry to remove the entries that were left behind. Please be careful when do- ing this ? removing any other entries could make your system unusable. To edit the registry: 1. Click Start, then Run. Type regedit and click OK. 2. Navigate to the following subkeys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\ Services\DHCP HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ CurrentControlSet\Services\ NetBT 3. In the right pane, double-click on DependOnService . 4. Delete any references to SYMTDI or NISDRV. 5. Exit and save changes. (See also Cornell?s Troubleshooting s i t e a t h t t p : / / w w w. c i t . c o r n e l l . e d u / helpde sk / w i n / nav/ nav i nter net.ht m l ) Note: Both these problems relate to special circumstances, and we do not mean to imply that you should not continue to use NAV?s regular antivirus features. It is essential to protect your computer from viruses by using NAV and keeping it updated. dalbrich@oregon.uoregon.edu 2 computing news spring 2003 3computing news spring 2003 End of an Era: DuckCall Phone Registration is No More After eleven years of faithful service, t h e D u c k C a l l p h o n e r e g i s t r a t i o n system was fi nally laid to rest on February 14. At precisely 11 A . M . , University of Oregon Registrar Herb Chereck pulled the plug on the old 25 MHz 386 warhorse. Since its debut in 1992, DuckCall had processed over fi ve million transactions without a hiccup. Although it never faltered, DuckCall gradually lost favor as students became increasingly Internet savvy, and the speed and convenience of its younger cousin, DuckWeb, made online registration more attractive. T h e D u c k C a l l s y s t e m w a s o r i g i n a l l y d e s i g n e d by systems programmer Pat Lucas. Pat and his Computing Center colleagues Tim Ketchum and Royce Tokar, aided by the VMS expertise of facilities director Rick Millhollin, kept DuckCall running smoothly over the years through numerous iterations of Oracle and Banner and two major VAX/VMS releases. DuckCall?s successor, DuckWeb, was fi rst introduced in 1997 but was not used for registration until fall 1 9 9 9 . S i n c e t h a t d a t e , D u c k C a l l ?s u s e s t e a d i l y declined, and only 4 percent of UO students used it to register in fall 2002. UO Registrar Herb Chereck (center) prepares to dismantle DuckCall, a s A s s o c i a t e R e g i s t r a r S u s a n E v e l a n d ( l e f t ) a n d A d m i n i s t r a t i v e Services Project Manager Jim Bohle look on. Longtime DuckCall programmer Tim Ketchum (left) was on hand to witness the dismantling ceremony. Here Herb Chereck takes the preliminary step of removing the ?Live? sign on the VPS machine before fi nally pulling the plug. Faithful registration system is superseded by DuckWeb Joyce Winslow jwins@oregon.uoregon.edu DARKWING QUOTAS RAISED When Darkwing storage was upgraded last February, users with a disk quota of 50MB or less had their storage capacity increased to the new default quota of 100MB. More disk space means more fl exibility: users whose lives depend on email will fi nd 100MB can store a large number of email messages, faculty who host web sites from Darkwing will have double the capacity for website content, and others may fi nd it handy to use Gladstone or Darkwing to store copies of important course work or to have those fi les available from multiple computers. 4 computing news spring 2003 5computing news spring 2003 New Pay-for-Printing Policy Saves Trees, Reduces Costs Amy McCoy Microcomputer Lab Manager mccoy@oregon.uoregon.edu A dramatic increase in paper conservation is evident since the new pay-for-printing policy was instituted in the Computing Center?s computer labs last fall. The change from free printing to fee-based printing has also reduced student traffi c, particularly in the CC-EMU Computer Lab. In the CC-EMU Computer Lab alone, paper use has dropped 72%?from 265,249 sheets per month in 2001-2002, to only 73,300 sheets per month over the past six months: Thanks to the paper savings, Campus Recycling now visits the CC-EMU Computer Lab only once a week?down from last year?s average of three weekly visits. As shown in the graph below, we?ve also recorded a slight drop (17%) in the number of people using the CC- EMU Computer Lab so far this year (possibly because people who used the lab solely for printing are no longer coming in): 4 computing news spring 2003 5computing news spring 2003 Robert Bennett and Rob Jaques Computing Center Electronics Shop Technicians hardwarehelp@oregon.uoregon.edu People often ask us if there is any a p p r e c i a b l e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n recycled toner cartridges and brand new ones. If recycled cartridges are just as good, why not use them and save a little money? Our experience with laser printer repairs argues against using recycled cartridges. We see a lot of laser print- ers in the shop that have no problems other than a bad toner cartridge?and in the majority of these cases the cartridge is a refi lled cartridge. The Life Span of a Toner Cartridge Toner cartridges have a life span l i m i t e d b y t h e v o l u m e o f t o n e r they contain, and toner cartridge manufacturers design the components of their products to be able to function throughout this life span. Not all parts are created equal: the importance of the photoreceptive drum. Most toner recycling com- panies rely on the fact that many of the components may have been e n g i n e e r e d t o l a s t l o n g e r t h a n a single life cycle, and therefore refi ll the toner and reuse many of the old cartridges components, most notably the photoreceptive drum. T h e p h o t o r e c e p t o r s u r f a c e o n a cartridge drum is the most important element in a toner cartridge, as it most directly affects the quality of the print. The drum surface on a refi lled cartridge may not be as good as that of a new cartridge. It?s also likely that the mechanical elements (gearwheels, drive belts etc.) of a recycled cartridge could be unusually worn, and these elements are often overlooked by cartridge recyclers. To n e r. T h e t o n e r u s e d b y m o s t recyclers is touted as having better print quality than the toner used i n t h e o r i g i n a l c a r t r i d g e s . T h i s simply isn't true. The toner used by the manufacturers is designed specifi cally to work in the cartridges they make and in the printers they make. Most recyclers use toner that is designed for copiers, toner that has different properties (in some cases, the toner is fi ner but also has a rougher texture). T h e r e c y c l i n g i s s u e . M a n y l a s e r printer users are concerned with t h e ? r e c y c l i n g ? a s p e c t o f t o n e r cartridges, and like the idea of reusing their old cartridges. All the major manufacturers of toner cartridges offer some way to recycle their cartridges, usually in the form of a prepaid mailer that comes with the cartridge. Just put your old cartridge into the box the new one comes in and ship it back using the mailer. The manufacturers will recycle the raw materials in your old cartridge (as opposed to reusing its components). C o s t b e n e f i t a n a l y s i s . T h e s m a l l cost benefi ts associated with the u s e o f r e c y c l e d c a r t r i d g e s m u s t be weighed against the increased support and maintenance costs, print quality problems, and down time. Many users don't suspect cartridge problems, even though they are the single most likely cause of poor print quality. Or if they do, they will install another refi lled cartridge, which may not be any better than the one they removed. We generally fi nd that the small cost savings are not justifi ed. It ends up costing you more to use refi lls if you have to have your printer down for maintenance because of problems a s s o c i a t e d w i t h f a u l t y r e f i l l e d cartridges. Laser printers do require periodic maintenance and component failures do cause printer malfunctions, but there is no reason to accelerate the need for service by using refi lled cartridges. References: For more information about toner cartridge use and maintenance, see 1. HP?s warranty statement at http:// h20000.www2.hp.com/ bizsupport/ TechSuppor t / Document.jsp?objec t I D = bp l02665&locale = en _US &prodSer iesId=2 5471& prodTy peId =18972 # P11_1227 (All printer manufacturers have state- ments very similar to HP?s.) 2. Laser Printer Secrets by Steven B u r r o w s . T h i s c o m p r e h e n s i v e t e c h n i c a l g u i d e i s a v a i l a b l e f o r c h e c k o u t f r o m t h e C o m p u t i n g C e n t e r D o c u m e n t s R o o m , 1 7 5 McKenzie Hall. Recycled Toner Cartridges and Why We Don't Recommend Them Note URL Change for Library?s Proxy Server Info UO Library patrons interested in using secure online connections to their patron account should note that the address of the Library?s information pages on this topic have changed to ht t p:// l ibweb.uor egon.edu /dbs / prox y/ By using this secure connection, students, faculty, and staff can log in to their library account to see what books they have checked out, renew books, and change personal information such as address, phone number, and email address. (See the Summer 2002 Computing News article, ?Library Now Offers Secure Online Connections to Your Patron Information? at ht t p://cc.uor egon.edu /cnews / su m mer2002 / l ibra r y.ht m l ) 6 computing news spring 2003 7computing news spring 2003 When Good Features Go Bad: Sharing Printers with Mac OS X 10.2 Patrick Chinn Distributed Network Computing Consultant Mac OS X 10.2 provides the ability to share printers with other users on your network?but unfortunately, Mac OS X does not provide a way to indicate which printers to share. Say you have two printers confi gured on your Mac, an Ethernet-connected HP LaserJet and a USB-connected Canon i850 inkjet. Enabling printer sharing makes both of these printers available to any other Mac OS X 10.2 user in your department (specifi cally, other users on your subnet). Now let?s hop over to a colleague?s Macintosh. This Mac also has the department?s HP LaserJet confi gured in Print Center. With printer sharing enabled on the fi rst computer, the LaserJet will appear twice in Print Center: once as the printer added by the local user, and once as a shared printer. The i850 inkjet also appears in the printer list. That?s rather confusing! How can you determine whether a printer is local or shared? Here are some clues: 1 . C o l o r. F i r s t , s h a r e d p r i n t e r s appear in Print Center with a pink background. 2. Delete button. Second, shared printers cannot be deleted; the Delete button remains disabled when the printer is selected in the list. 3. Printer menu within applications. When printing from an application, Mac OS X also gives us hints as to which printer is local and which is shared. In the Print dialog there?s a Printer pop-up menu that allows the user to select which printer to use. This menu also features a ?Shared Printers? submenu that lists printers available from others? Mac OS X computers. 4. Appendages. Another strategy to reduce printer name confusion uses Print Center?s ability to append a local printer name with additional text. When adding the printer in P r i n t C e n t e r, u n c h e c k t h e ? U s e default queue on server? check box and enter some additional descriptive text in the ?Queue Name? box. T h i s h i n t i s l i m i t e d b y s e v e r a l restrictions. First, the descriptive text cannot contain special characters or spaces. Second, in some rare instances, the printer will not work if you alter the default print queue name. When we contacted Apple technical support regarding this issue, their s u p p o r t s t a f f a g r e e d w i t h o u r a s s e s s m e n t o f t h e p r o b l e m b u t couldn?t yet offer a workaround. They promised to look into it. The ability to share printers is new to Mac OS X 10.2 and later. Other users should not be affected by it, although we were not able to test this scenario. pchinn@uoregon.edu Here?s a cautionary tale for anyone who is upgrading older versions of Eudora to 5.2 and storing mail on a NetWare server. Newer versions of Eudora have a feature called ?Mood Watch? that a t t e m p t s t o r a t e e m a i l m e s s a g e s f o r ? o f f e n s i v e ? c o n t e n t . O n e o f the settings (found in the Tools-> O p t i o n s - > M o o d Wa t c h m e n u ) i s ?scan stored mail in background.? The consequences of selecting this option can be dire. Case in point: One of our users had over 10,000 stored messages, with some individual folders containing more than 2,000 messages. His .toc (table of content) fi les were quite large, and after he upgraded to Eudora 5.2, Eudora began fi ltering all of his stored messages in the background. This in turn caused the program to constantly rewrite the .toc fi les as quickly as possible. Since his .toc fi les were up to 1.5MB in size, system administrators saw his KB/Write/sec numbers on our NetWare server go off the charts, effectively saturating his network card. Only quitting out of Eudora would stop the fl ood. Once the server had continually written and deleted a few gigs of his data, things started breaking down and the server processor utilization went through the roof, negatively impacting the other 150 users on our server (a MoodWatch denial of service attack!). Chris Butler Director of Information Technology Intercollegiate Athletics cbutler@oregon.uoregon.edu Eudora Feature Can Create Network Server Problems Upgrading to Eudora 5.2? Some Mood Watch settings can eat your quota! How we solved the case: Our fi rst clue about the source of the problem emerged when we looked at the s a l v a g e a b l e d e l e t e d f i l e s i n t h i s u s e r ?s E u d o r a d i r e c t o r y a n d s a w many instances of the same .toc fi les separated by only a second or two. We were also fortunate enough to have AdRem Server Manager for NetWare, and we used it to monitor this user?s traffi c statistics and opened fi les. I would not have been able to diagnose this problem without this tool. If you haven?t tried it, I recommend you download the free trial version at ht t p : // w w w.ad r e m s of t .c om / i nde x.php and check it out. L e s s o n l e a r n e d ? We n o w t u r n o f f Eudora Mood Watch entirely. Or, if the user wants to activate that feature, we make sure to turn off background scans when upgrading Eudora. 6 computing news spring 2003 7computing news spring 2003 UO Computer Science Professor Helps Advance Network Research Daniel Zappala?s zest for developing practical large-scale network applications fuels the growth of CIS?s Network Research Group Joyce Winslow jwins@oregon.uoregon.edu When Daniel Zappala came to the University of Oregon Computer and Information Science Department in 1997, he was primarily attracted by two things: the university?s strong support for networking, and the opportunity to establish a cutting-edge network research program. Zappala had already developed a taste for network research, having worked with leading networking researchers Deborah Estrin, Lixia Zhang, and Scott Shenker, as well as Internet pioneers John Postel and Bob Braden, while earning his Ph.D. in computer science at USC. At that time, the USC team, in conjunction with researchers at Xerox PARC, was developing the Resource ReSerVation protocol (RSVP), which provides quality of service guarantees to applications by reserving resources along network paths. Although Zappala hasn?t lost interest in RSVP, since arriving at the UO he has turned his attention to other portions of the Internet architecture, including multicast routing, peer-to-peer networks, and mobile ad hoc networks. In the past six years, nurtured by Zappala and several other CIS faculty members, the fledgling Network Research Group has grown to a total of six faculty and five Ph.D. students (with more being recruited this spring), and has graduated a dozen students with M.S. degrees. The biggest boost came last fall, when assistant professors Reza Rejaie and Jun Li joined the team, adding their expertise in multimedia distribution and network security to the research effort. Zappala is excited about the growth of the program. Since the arrival of the two new faculty members, he notes that there has been a ?burst of activity?new projects being started, grants and papers written, etc.? ?We now have a good ?critical mass? in (networking), so I expect a lot of continuing activity,? he says. Other distinguished core faculty members include Virginia Lo, Art Farley, and Andrzej Proskurowski, w h o a r e c u r r e n t l y w o r k i n g w i t h Z a p p a l a o n a n i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y p r o j e c t i n v e s t i g a t i n g n e w g r o u p c o m m u n i c a t i o n a r c h i t e c t u r e s . T h e p r o j e c t , w h i c h incorporates aspects of graph theory and parallel computing into Internet group communication, is funded by the National Science Foundation. Last fall, Zappala and grad student Chris Gauthier-Dickey traveled to Assistant CIS Professor and Network Research Group co-founder Daniel Zappala. Taiwan to present papers on the group?s findings to the Global Internet Symposium. This work has led to a joint project, funded by Cisco, between Zappala and Kevin Almeroth at UC Santa Barbara to build new multicast dissemination protocols. Although the language of multicast protocols (?SSM proxies,? ?multiple core trees,? ?Cyclic block allocation?) i s e s o t e r i c a n d t h e t e c h n o l o g y s e e m s a r c a n e , i t s applications can be practical and universal, and Zappala foresees a time when multicast communication will be ?used daily by everyday people.? Multicast technology is already used for transmitting stock market updates and updating website mirrors, and when it?s more widely available it could be used routinely in all types of group communication?including education, games, conferences, and Internet TV. The research Zappala and his colleagues are doing in ad hoc wireless networks also has great practical potential. Ad hoc routing protocols, which enable mobile users to exchange data directly among themselves without going through a base station, are especially useful in situations (such as a conference, rescue site, or military campaign) that require networks to be set up on the fly, without first installing the usual network infrastructure. To further its work, the Network Research Group maintains a research lab for development, simulation, and prototyping of network protocols for the Internet. The lab?s custom-built PCs run the Linux operating system, which is both open source and free. This allows the group to modify the operating system code as needed and easily share code with the research community. If you want to keep abreast of what Zappala and his group are up to, visit the Network Research Group website at ht t p:// w w w.n r g.c s.uor egon.edu / 8 computing news spring 2003 9computing news spring 2003 Critical New Windows Exploit (98/ME/NT/2000/XP) In mid-March, Microsoft announced a new critical flaw in Windows that has the potential to allow an attacker to run malicious programs on a user?s computer. This flaw, which results from the way Windows interprets and executes JSscript, exposes users to vulnerability if they open an email or web page containing malicious code. Get the patch. All Windows users are urged to run Windows Update at once, or download the patch immediately from Microsoft?s security website at ht t p:// w w w.m icrosof t.com / tech net / t r eev iew/ defau lt.a sp?u rl = / tech net / secu r it y/ bu l let i n / MS03 - 008.a sp Microsoft also reminds users to use discretion when choosing what websites to visit, or what links to open in an email. Vulnerability in Windows Dynamic Link Library (DLL) WebDAV-enabled Microsoft IIS 5.0 servers exploited A newly identified critical security vulnerability in Windows 2000 could allow an attacker to take control of computers used as web servers. Thus far, only IIS 5.0 servers that are WebDAV-enabled have been affected, although DLL is a core operating system component and it?s possible that other exploits exist. Complete information about this vulnerability is available from CERT (Advisory CA-2003-09, ?Buffer Overflow in Core Microsoft DLL?) at ht t p : // w w w.c er t.or g /adv i s or ie s / C A- 2003 - 09.ht m l and Microsoft (Security Bulletin MS03- 007, ?Uncheck ed Buffer in Windows Component Could Cause Web Server Compromise?) at ht t p:// w w w.m icrosof t.com / tech net / secu r it y/ bu l let i n / m s 03 - 007.a sp G e t t h e p a t c h . Yo u s h o u l d d o w n l o a d t h e p a t c h immediately from Microsoft at ht t p:// w w w.m icrosof t.com /dow n loads /details.aspx?Fa m ilyId= C9A38D45 - 5145 - 4844 - B62E - C69D32AC929B & d i splayla ng = en Windows RPC Could Allow Denial of Service Attacks NT 4.0 too flawed to fix On March 26, Microsoft released an ?important? security bulletin (MS03-010) regarding its Remote Procedure Call (RPC) communication protocol. This protocol contains a flaw that could allow a remote attacker to launch a denial of service attack on a Windows machine. Patches are available for Windows 2000 and XP, but not for NT 4.0. Microsoft cites ?architectural limitations? as an impediment to removing the vulnerability in NT 4.0, and urges NT users to employ a firewall instead. Both the NT workaround and patches for 2000/XP are available at ht t p:// w w w.m icrosof t.com / tech net /secu r it y/ bullet i n / MS03 - 010.a sp?f ra me = t r ue Get Newly Released Patches for Critical Holes in IE, Outlook In late April, Microsoft issued new patches for security flaws discovered in its Internet Explorer and Outlook Express applications. IE 5.01, 5.5, and 6.0 are all affected by four flaws, the worst of which could allow an attacker to take control of a victim?s computer. The Outlook Express vulnerability results from an error in the software that handles the encapsulation of HTML in emails, and it could also allow an attacker to run programs on a victim?s computer. Even if you don?t use either Microsoft Outlook Express or Internet Explorer on your Windows machine, you are advised to install the updates. For more details, see Microsoft?s Security Bulletin M S 0 3 - 0 1 4 a t h t t p : / / w w w. m i c r o s o f t . c o m / s e c u r i t y / secu r it y_bu l let i n s / m s 03 - 014.a sp Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerabilities in Sendmail This March, Internet Security System researchers reported discovering two vulnerabilities in Sendmail that could be exploited to cause a denial-of-service condition and allow an intruder to gain control of a Sendmail server. 1. Mail transfer agents exploit. This particular Sendmail exploit is triggered by a malicious email message that can be passed undetected via mail transfer agents (MTAs) on a network system?even penetrating many common packet filters or firewalls. Get the patch. System administrators should apply the appropriate patch, as listed on the CERT Advisory site at ht t p:// w w w.cer t.or g /adv i sor ie s / C A-2003 - 07.ht m l 2. Address parsing code. Because of a flaw in Sendmail?s address parsing code, an email message with a specially crafted address could trigger a stack overflow. CERT warned that most medium- to large-sized organizations are likely to have at least one vulnerable Sendmail server, and common packet filters or firewalls are an inadequate defence against this exploit. Get the patch. System administrators should apply the appropriate patch, as listed on the CERT Advisory site at ht t p:// w w w.cer t.or g /adv i sor ie s / C A-2003 -12.ht m l Security Alerts? 8 computing news spring 2003 9computing news spring 2003 ?Security Alerts OpenSSL Security Advisory Users of versions prior to 0.9.6i and 0.9.7a strongly advised to upgrade Swiss University security researchers recently uncovered a weakness in a common security protocol supported by all major web browsers. Their tests demonstrated that Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) with CBC encryption could be compromised by a timing-based attack on a local network server. This vulnerability is described in detail in a paper by David Brumley and Dan Boneh, ?Remote Timing Attacks Are Practical,? which is available in PDF format at ht t p://cr y pto.sta n ford.edu /~dabo / paper s / s sl - t i m i ng.pd f Upg rad i ng to OpenSSL 0.9.7a (most desi rable) or 0.9.6i is recom mended. I f suc h a n upg rade is not i m med iately possible, a sou rce code patc h is ava ilable at ht t p:// w w w.open s sl.or g / news / secadv_ 20030219.t x t MS-SQL Server Worm Two buffer overrun vulnerabilities in Microsoft?s database server SQL Server 2000 caused havoc last January when the so-called ?SQL Slammer Virus? was released on the Internet, negatively impacting network performance worldwide. The SQL Slammer worm has powerful denial-of-service capability. By using a large number of UDP packets to spread infection, it attacks systems at randomly generated IP addresses and creates huge, paralyzing, amounts of traffi c. Affected systems include Microsoft SQL Servers 7.0 and 2000, Microsoft Desktop Engine (MSDE) 2000, and any application that includes MSDE. Get the patch. Although Microsoft fi rst reported this SQL vulnerability in July 2002 and released a patch for it, many servers remained unpatched and vulnerable. Systems administrators are urged to immediately install the patch, which is available at ht t p:// w w w.m icrosof t.com / tech net / t r eev iew/ defau lt.a sp?u rl = / tech net / secu r it y/ bu l let i n / MS02 - 039.a sp You'l l fi nd more i n for mat ion on t he SQL ser ver wor m at ? ht t p:// w w w.nex tgen s s.com /adv i sor ie s / m s sql - udp.t x t ? ht t p:// w w w.cer t.or g /adv i sor ie s / C A-2003 - 04.ht m l ? ht t p:// w w w.cer t.or g /adv i sor ie s / C A-2002 -22.ht m l Hacker Steals Vital Student, Staff Data at University of Texas A hacker broke into a University of Texas database in late February, compromising the personal information of nearly 60,000 staff members and students. University offi cials acknowledged that the break-in could have easily been prevented with basic precautions, and redoubled their efforts to phase out most uses of Social Security numbers on campus as quickly as possible. In addition to 59,000 names and SSNs, the hacker obtained email addresses and some offi ce addresses and phone numbers of current faculty, leaving them vulnerable to the crime of identity theft. (The hacker, a UT student, was soon a p p r e h e n d e d . S e e h t t p : / / w w w. d a i l y t e x a n o n l i n e . c o m / v n e w s / d i s p l a y.v / A R T / 2 0 0 3 / 0 3 / 17 / 3 e 7 5 d 4 b 4 4 e d 8 2 f o r details.) In an article posted March 14, 2003, on eWeek ( ht t p : // w w w.e we ek .com /a r t ic le2 / 0, 3959,933132,0 0.a s p ) , Ti mot hy D yck d isc usses t he lessons lea r ned f rom t h is at tack?i n pa r t ic u la r, t he need to i mplement i nt r usion detec t ion capabil it ies i n web appl icat ions. Potential Security Hole in Sprint?s DSL ZyXEL Modems In late January, security experts warned Sprint DSL customers that weak security controls on their DSL modems put them at risk of having their email addresses and passwords stolen?even when their computers were powered off. The ZyXEL Communications DSL modems issued by Sprint to tens of thousands of its FastConnect broadband customers are protected by the default password ?1234? Until recently, Sprint didn?t provide instructions for resetting this administrative password, and many of its customers were unaware of the need to create their own password to safeguard access to their personal information. Leaving their modem password set to the widely-known default exposed users to a remote attack even if they shut down their computers when not in use, because their ZyXEL modems often remain powered on. After the problem was reported, Sprint published instructions for changing the administrative password on ZyXEL modems online at ht t p://c sb.spr i nt.com / home / loca l /d sl help / r elea se645m.ht m l Serious Flaw Discovered in Samba Security Code A recently discovered fl aw in the main smbd code of the Open Source Samba freeware suite could allow an attacker to anonymously gain root privileges on a server running Samba. The fl aw exists in all versions of Samba from 2.0.x to 2.2.7a, and users are urged to either update to v. 2.2.8 immediately or prohibit access to TCP ports 139 and 445. R elease notes for the Samba upgrade are available at h t t p : / / u s1. s a m b a .or g / s a m b a / w h at s n e w / s a m b a - 2 . 2 . 8 . h t m l Th is page a lso conta i ns a f u l l desc r ipt ion of t he fl aw, a s wel l a s adv ice for protec t i ng a n u npatc hed Sa mba ser ver. You may dow n load t he sou rce code for Sa mba 2.2.8 f rom ht t p://dow n load.sa mba.or g / sa mba / f t p / 1 0 computing news spring 2003 1 1computing news spring 2003 Interactive Media Group: New Mission for New Media Joyce Winslow jwins@oregon.uoregon.edu Team gets a new name and broadens its scope to take on a variety of teaching-related projects Since its inception in 1995, the UO?s New Media Center has evolved from a specialized multimedia team sup - porting a few intensive academic research projects, to a broad-based operation encompassing a full range of new and traditional media support services. The group, which moved from its original home in the Riverfront Research Park to join forces with Knight Library?s Media Services nearly two years ago, also has a new name: Interactive Media Services, or IMG. In addition to taking on leading-edge, large-scale multimedia development projects, IMG now also assists faculty with smaller project proposals?particularly in the areas of web and multimedia courseware and research. At the helm is a diminutive woman with a big name: Kellie Ann Garsed-Donnelly. As IMG?s manager, the energetic Garsed-Donnelly oversees a full-time professional staff of three (two project developers and one project manager) and a crew of five students. On the day of our visit, all eight workstations in 31 Media Services Center were cranking as the team hustled to get four of its current projects out the door. Two of these projects, ? UO [ V ] MOMA ? and ? BEAM ,? are prime examples of the kind of innovative instructional enhancements IMG can provide. For UO [ V ] MOMA , a collaboration with Assistant Professor Lars Bleher for his Architecture 222 class, IMG is using Flash and other advanced media tools to create a vir - tual modern art museum online. This virtual museum, completed just in time for the start of classes in April, allows architecture students to browse interactive gal - leries of past and current assignments, access student and section information, and witness the development of their ideas into larger, collaborative works. BEAM (Building and Environment Analysis Modules) is another ambitious project with the Department of Architecture. With the aid of Educational Technology Funds, IMG and Assistant Professor Ihab Elzeyadi are building a complex Internet application using data IMG Manager Kellie Ann Garsed-Donnelly in a rare moment of repose. Garsed-Donnelly, who has a deep background in telecommunications and multimedia, also serves as president and principal of Electrum Studios, Inc., a multimedia design firm based in Seattle. loggers and webcams to capture real-time environmental information about interior spaces. The system is being designed to display data such as temperature, humid - ity, and light levels in searchable format on the web, so that students may access, interact with, and download them for studying energy-conscious heating and cooling, solar building design, electrical lighting controls, and the effects of daylight within a space. Not all IMG courseware projects fit into the BEAM - UO [v] MOMA mold, however. The group welcomes a variety of assignments, whether it be creating interactive Flash modules for a class website (as they did for Robert Madrigal?s Marketing 452 class), developing logotypes, designing promotional websites (UO Art Museum), or multimedia CD-ROMs (School of Music, NASA). The integration of computer-based instruction and interactive courseware is still in its early phases of adoption on campus, but Garsed-Donnelly intends to work closely with faculty and departments to identify areas where technology might be an appropriate teaching tool. ?Although we understand that the use of technology is not the answer for all instructional situations?our goal is to provide campus-wide support in identifying and developing interactive learning environments which improve instructional outcomes and motivate students to learn,? she says. For more information about IMG and its services, visit them online at ht t p:// i mg.uor egon.edu / or call 346-1458 . 10 computing news spring 2003 11computing news spring 2003 Pegasus Mail Now Has SSL Having Problems Enabling SSL for Email? Try these tips if you?re using Eudora, or if you have Windows CE handhelds and wireless devices Note to Mac OS X users: Remember, Eudora does not support SSL in Mac OS X 10.0 or 10.1. You must upgrade to Mac OS X 10.2 or later in order to use SSL with Eudora. Comprehensive instructions for enabling SSL with Mac Eudora are available at ht t p:// m icro.uor egon.edu / secu r it y/ ema i l /eudora.ht m l # macosx Wireless. If you?re using Windows CE handhelds and wireless cards, or Pocket PC 2002 devices such as the new Toshiba e740 with integrated wireless, you?ll need to download software or fi rmware updates in order to use 128 bit SSL encryption (128 bit encryption is required to access the campus network). Windows CE. The Windows CE High Encryption pack for 128 bit SSL may be downloaded from ht t p:// w w w.m icrosof t.com / mobi le / pocket pc /dow n load s / s sl128.a sp Pocket PC 2002. Ma ny Pocket PCs suc h a s t he new Tosh iba e740 requ i re fi r mwa re updates, which a re available f r om i nd iv idu a l ve ndo r we b s it e s (u s u a l ly l i s t e d u nde r P r o du c t s -> [ select your dev ice ] -> Suppor t.) These updates ca n be d i f fi c u lt to i nsta l l, a nd it is c r ucia l t hat you fol low i n st a l lat ion i n st r uc t ion s to t he le t t e r. I f you h ave q ue s t ion s about i nsta lli ng fi r mwa re updates for you r device, contact a Microcomputer S e r v i c e s C o n s u l t a n t ( 3 4 6 - 4 4 1 2 , microhelp @ lists.uoregon.edu ). Need Help? If you st ill r u n i nto problems enabli ng SSL a f ter fol low i ng t he i n s t r uc t ion s a t ht t p : / / m ic r o.uor e g on .e du / s e c u r it y/ ema i l / , plea se ca l l 346 - 4412 a nd a sk to spea k w it h a consu lta nt. A s o f A p r i l 2 , e v e r y o n e u s i n g Darkwing, Gladstone, or Oregon for email was required to reconfi gure or upgrade their email program to support encrypted passwords (SSL). Complete instructions for doing this are posted o n t h e M i c r o c o m p u t e r S e r v i c e s website at ht t p : // m ic r o.uor e gon.e du / secu r it y/ema i l / For most, the transition to secure email has been smooth, but in some cases, the reconfi guration problem turned out to be a bit tricky?especially for those using Eudora. Some handhelds and Pocket PC devices also require special handling. If you?re in the latter category, here are some tips that may help: Windows Eudora. If you?re having problems enabling SSL for Eudora on Windows, try the following ?trick:? 1. Open Eudora. 2. Select ?Tools? -> ?Options?? 3 . S c r o l l d o w n ( o n t h e l e f t ) t o ?Advanced Network? and select it. 4 . M a k e y o u r s e t t i n g s l o o k l i k e these: N etwork Open Timeout [300] Seconds Network timeout after [300] Seconds Network buffer size of [8192] bytes Dan Albrich Manager, Microcomputer Services dalbrich@oregon.uoregon.edu Floppies Going the Way of the Dinosaur Dell?s fl oppy drive phase-out signals the beginning of the end Joyce Winslow jwins@oregon.uoregon.edu I n M a r c h o f t h i s y e a r, D e l l C o m p u t e r s t o p p e d i n s t a l l i n g fl oppy drives as a standard feature on its high-end Dimension 8250 d e s k t o p s . O t h e r v e n d o r s a r e expected to quickly follow suit (Apple was the fi rst to abandon fl oppy drives, when it introduced the iMac in 1998). This move comes as no surprise, a s f l o p p i e s ? l i m i t e d s t o r a g e capability has rendered them i n c r e a s i n g l y l e s s u s e f u l i n recent years. With the advent of affordable CD-RW drives and keychain-sized, ?plug and go? USB storage devices*, fl oppies are losing the last vestiges of their utility as a small, portable fi le transport medium. A l t h o u g h t h e p h a s e - o u t o f fl oppies will be gradual (Dell is still including them as an option), analysts predict their days are numbered. For details on Dell?s decision, including its implication for the future of fl oppies, see the February 6 article, ?Dell ready to fl ip the fl oppy? by John Spooner of CNET News.com at ht t p : //zd ne t.com.com / 210 0 -1103 - 983596.ht m l *You ca n now buy USB t hu mb dr ives f rom t he E - Shop, 151 McKenzie Ha ll. Se e stor y on page 13 for deta i ls. With the latest release (v4.11) of Pegasus Mail, you can now use this free email client securely. I n s t r u c t i o n s f o r c o n f i g u r i n g P e g a s u s 4 . 1 1 f o r S S L o n a W i n d o w s m a c h i n e a r e a v a i l a b l e o n t h e M i c r o c o m p u t e r S e r v i c e s w e b p a g e a t ht t p:// m icro.uor egon.edu /ema i l / pega su s / To lea r n mor e about Pega su s, see ht t p:// w w w.pma i l.com 12 computing news spring 2003 13computing news spring 2003 UO faculty, staff, and students who want to perform statisti- cal analyses or need to manage one or more large data fi les may install SAS software on their personal computers. This includes laptops and computers located off-campus. SAS installation is straightforward, but it requires you to take two preliminary steps: Step 1. Fill out the SAS software request form at h t t p : / / s a s .u o r e g o n . e d u / I f y o u a r e o f f - c a m p u s a n d using a third party (not the UO) to connect to the Internet, then you need to install our VPN software to access this information, as well as the SAS online documentation. For more information about VPN, see http://micro.uoregon.edu/getconnected/vpn_overview.html The SAS software request form allows us to keep track of the number of SAS users in order to confi rm their request and send each one an attached setinit.sss text fi le via email. The text fi le is actually a SAS program that contains the information SAS needs to verify its license is valid. After you receive this message, you need to transfer the setinit.sss fi le to your PC?s hard disk: ? Log in on Oregon, Darkwing, or Gladstone with a secure shell (ssh) connection and view the message with pine. ? Use s to save the attached fi le in your PC?s c:\ directory (it will already have its required name). ? Use a secure ftp client such as SSH to transfer this fi le to the root directory of your PC?s hard disk, either by direct transfer or via another portable disk. ( When you begin to load SAS you will be prompted for the location of this fi le; SAS will expect the fi le to have this exact name, so don?t modify it. ) Step 2. The second step is to go to the Computing Center Documents Room (175 McKenzie) with your photo ID and check out the set of SAS installation CDs. You may want to call ahead to 346-4406 to make sure a set of disks is available. The SAS CDs may be checked out for a maximum of 24 hours. Plan to take about an hour to install the software on your system. Approximately 700MB of free disk space will be required for the installation. Installing SAS Place the fi rst disk marked ?SET-UP? into your PC?s drive. At this point you will automatically be given a menu with several options. You should read Chapters 1 and 2 at the line labeled ?Installation Instructions.? When you are ready to install the program, click ?SAS System Setup.? One of the fi rst prompts you will receive is to specify the location of the valid setinit.sss fi le you downloaded in the fi rst step. For example, if you placed it in the root directory of your C drive you would enter c:\ at that point and continue. If your computer uses a different letter designation for the hard drive, or if you placed this fi le in a subdirectory, you?ll need to include the drive and path name where it resides. When you?re fi nished with each disk, SAS will prompt you to enter the next labeled disk. Most users will require only four of the ten disks that come with the installation set, and of these, Disk 2 requires the most installation time. When you?re fi nished loading SAS, return the installation CDs to the Computing Center Documents Room within the 24-hour time limit. Now you?re ready to discover some of the many powerful data analysis and management tasks SAS can do for you! See ?How to Design Your Data Entry for Transfer into SAS or SPSS? on page 14 to learn one of the ways you can use SAS to help you with a common data manage- ment chore. Loading SAS Version 8.2 onto a PC Robin High Statistical Programmer and Consultant robinh@uoregon.edu By following a few simple steps, you can have the power of SAS at your fi ngertips BHO Cop Keeps IE Problems at Bay If you use Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher, you may not know that when you launch IE, special Browser Helper Objects (?BHOs?) are being installed on your system that allow developers to customize and control the browser application. While there are good uses for some of these, others are ?spyware,? devised specifi cally to gather information on your surfi ng habits without your knowledge or permission. Another downside of BHOs is that, if poorly written, they can cause problems or crashes that are very diffi cult to diagnose. A product called BHO Cop is available to help solve such problems. BHO Cop identifi es the BHOs on your system and lets you diagnose and resolve confl icts by temporarily disabling them. For more information, and to download the product, go to PC Magazine?s utility library at ht t p:// w w w.pcmag.com /a r t icle2 / 0,4149, 270,000.a sp For some good backg rou nd i n for mat ion on BHOs, see ht t p:// w w w.techweb.com / w i n mag / fi xe s / 2000 /1023.ht m 12 computing news spring 2003 13computing news spring 2003 Campus Site License Makes MathType Tool Available to UO Users Thanks to a recently purchased site license, UO faculty, staff, and students now have access to MathType, a full-featured equation editor for Microsoft Word. M a t h Ty p e r u n s o n b o t h Wi n d o w s a n d Macintosh computers and is capable of creating mathematical notation for word processing, web pages, desktop publishing, presentations, and for TeX, LaTeX, and M a t h M L d o c u m e n t s . T h e t o o l ?s w e b capabilities are especially useful, allowing you to create high-resolution mathematical equations that display beautifully on web pages across browser platforms. You can even add color to all or part of your equations, a feature that may be desirable in PowerPoint presentations. How to obtain your copy. As long as you are a UO faculty or staff member or a currently enrolled student, you may install MathType at work and at home. Bring your UO photo ID to the Computing C e n t e r ?s D o c u m e n t s R o o m L i b r a r y ( 1 7 5 McKenzie) and check out a MathType CD. You may want to call fi rst ( 346-4406) to make sure a copy is available. Our site license doesn?t include manuals, but one is available for checkout in the Documents Room, or you can purchase your own for $15. Need help? If you have questions about how to install and use this software, contact Robin High ( robinh@uoregon.edu , 346-1718 ). For more information on MathType, see Handy USB Thumb Drives Now Available on Campus E-Shop stocks a variety of these compact backup devices Now that major manufacturers like Dell are signalling the phase-out of fl oppy drives (see ?Floppies Going the Way of the Dinosaur? on page 11) you may already be looking for reliable alternatives. One convenient new option for storing and transporting your essential fi les is the lightweight USB Flash Drive. These colorful translucent drives, barely bigger than your thumb, are small enough to fi t on your key chain and can be plugged into any USB port. No power supply or cables are needed. In spite of their toylike appearance, the drives have a lifetime of up to one million rewrites and can retain data for up to 10 years. The Electronics Shop (E-Shop) stocks USB thumb drives in three sizes: 128MB ($50), 64MB ($30), and 16MB ($15). You can purchase them at the E-Shop reception desk in 151 McKenzie Hall any time between the hours of 8 A . M . and 5 P . M ., Monday through Friday. For more information, call E-Shop technicians Rob Jaques or Robert Bennett at 346-3548, or send an email message to hardwarehelp@oregon.uoregon.edu Detailed product information is also available at the vendor?s website: ht t p:// u sbkeyd r ive.com / USB_ Dr ive.ht m ? ht t p://de s sci.com /en / produc t s / mat ht y pe / ? ht t p:// w w w.mat ht y pe.com /en / produc t s / mat ht y pe / 1 4 computing news spring 2003 1 5computing news spring 2003 How to Design Your Data Entry for Transfer into SAS or SPSS: the Excel Advantage Data entry can be a very laborious and often very boring task, prone to errors resulting from fatigue or carelessness. Accuracy is likely to suffer when you?re attempting to manually enter data from a data source directly into a computer file. A primary rule of data entry is that it should never be done with a word processing program. Various specialized programs are available for data entry that are far more appropriate. Since most software programs allow data and information to be exchanged between applications, it makes sense to use the most efficient data entry process available. Entering data by scanning. Some data types (e.g., discrete categories or Likert scales) can be entered from ques - tionnaires onto individual Scantron forms, one for each subject. The Computing Center is able to scan them for you at a nominal cost and provide you with a text file that can be read by most statistical programs. Entering data into a spreadsheet: the advantages of Microsoft Excel. If data compiled from other sources are to be entered by hand, one of the most popular and convenient ways is to enter them directly into the rows and columns of a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel. Although SPSS and some other statistical programs have their own integrated spreadsheets, they do not offer the flexibility that Excel gives you. A warning! With data entry as the primary goal, always remember that Excel is first of all a spreadsheet and should not be considered a database management system nor a data analysis program. If your intent is to analyze data with SAS, SPSS, or some other program, learn to use the features of Excel that will minimize potential problems with data transfer later on. With that in mind, consider some of Excel?s limitations for data entry: ? It is very easy to put garbage on a spreadsheet that may later cause problems with data transfer. ? U s e r s o f t e n e n t e r c h a r a c t e r v a l u e s f o r m i s s i n g numerical data such as NA or some other value Excel interprets as text for that particular cell. The best strategy for entering missing data in Excel is to format the columns for the particular data type you will enter and then leave cells blank that have missing data. ? Data from one subject can easily be spread across several worksheets in an inconsistent manner (i.e., w i t h o u t a u n i q u e s u b j e c t i d e n t i f i c a t i o n f o r e a c h worksheet). ? Data can be surrounded with screen colors, borders, and other formats not defined for the entire range of cells in each column. Many Excel users seem to consider formats only as a way to improve the way data are displayed, not how they are stored. ? No record is kept of any changes or additions to the worksheets, including the date entered or modified. If you modify or enter anything new, it is very difficult to trace the changes unless you keep separate backups over time or keep a written log of when you made them. Documentation of the stages data entry goes through is one of the criteria to prove they are of good quality. ? For many statistical analyses, especially with large data sets, Excel is not a good choice as a statistical analysis tool, although it is fine for data entry. Notwithstanding these and several other limitations, Excel remains a reasonable and effective method to enter and store moderate-sized data sets because: ? It is widely available and easy to use. ? It is designed for column-by-column viewing with the split-screen option, which makes data entry and review much easier, more efficient, and usually more accurate. ? It has some built-in functions that provide useful quality control features or compute summary statistics as you enter data. ? It has easy-to-use graphical features that will help you visualize your data. From the very beginning, design each individual worksheet so that it can be analyzed with another program: columns should contain data of one?and only one?type (e.g., numeric, character, or date) and rows should be the subjects or experimental units in your study. Getting to know your data in this structure is visually helpful, because it is exactly how SAS, SPSS, and other statistical programs work with data. You?ll find a helpful guide on how to effectively use spreadsheet packages for data entry at ht t p:// w w w.rdg.ac.u k / s sc /d fid / book let s / topsde.ht m l Getting Started with Excel If you want to transfer your data into SAS, SPSS, or some other program, follow these guidelines: The cells in Row 1 should contain the column?s eventual data set name. Each name should be a relatively short and unique acronym that clearly identifies the data. Robin High Statistical Programmer and Consultant robinh@uoregon.edu Prior to data analysis, simplify your data entry by using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet 1 4 computing news spring 2003 1 5computing news spring 2003 How to Design Your Data Entry for Transfer into SAS or SPSS: the Excel Advantage It should begin with a letter and contain only letters, numbers, or an underscore ( _ ) where spaces would naturally fall. Avoid using special characters such as $, &, @, in variable names. Since each row represents the values from one subject, the first column(s) should contain one or more variables that give each subject a unique identifier. They become especially important if you need to merge two or more data files. In Excel, data formats are defined for a range of cells rather than for a complete column. For this reason it is important that each entire column, including cells with missing or uncollected data, have one, and only one, format. Actually, you do not need to format the entire column, only the portion you will eventually use. Highlight that portion and select the appropriate format from the Format/Cells option. Do not select formats that will enter commas, dollar signs, or other visual enhancements. Numeric, text, and date formats (e.g. mm/dd/yy is often a good choice) are probably the only formats you?ll ever need. The ?Split? option (under the ?Window? pull-down menu) keeps the row of variable names and the columns of identifiers in view, whatever range of cells in the worksheet you may need to review. First place the cursor at the most extreme upper left-hand corner where data entry begins (e.g., the intersection of Row 2 and the column in the upper left-hand corner where data appear) and then select ?Split? from this menu. For any row or column of the worksheet you move to, you?ll know exactly which variables you are observing (column names) and their associated ID values (rows). For versions of Excel later than 4.0, one file can contain multiple worksheets. By default, the tabs at the bottom of these sheets are supplied names (?sheet1,? ?sheet2,? etc.). You can change these names by clicking this space with your mouse and entering a new name. Use the same conventions for first-row variable names: use a short acronym of the page contents that begins with a letter, use only letters or numbers, and enter the underscore ( _ ) where a space naturally falls. Planning Ahead: Multivariate or Univariate Format? Another reason to give careful thought to the design your data entry worksheet is to consider the objectives of your data analysis. Some statistical procedures require data to be entered in ?multivariate? format; others require ?univariate? format. A simple example demonstrates their difference. If you collect repeated measurements of data on individuals over time, your data would typically be stored in a multivariate format with this structure: Subject Date P1 P2 P3 T1 T2 T3 P001 11/01/2002 123 234 345 30 28 27 P002 11/01/2002 111 232 143 31 23 22 The numbers on the variable names (attached to P and T) indicate the order two different types of variables were collected over time for each individual (row). This is the data structure required for multivariate analysis with PROC GLM in SAS or repeated measures with SPSS. However, to use this same data in procedures that require a univariate format (such as with procedures MEANS, PLOT, or MIXED) you should store the data with the structure shown below: Subject Date Time P T P001 11/01/2002 1 123 30 P001 11/01/2002 2 234 28 P001 11/01/2002 3 345 27 P002 11/01/2002 1 111 31 P002 11/01/2002 2 232 23 P002 11/01/2002 3 143 22 Time now becomes a new index variable. The values of the two variables are now listed in two individual columns. You may need to be able to convert data from one structure to the other. Several methods of transposing data in SAS are available at ht t p://da rk w i ng.uor egon.edu /~robi n h / 06appl.t x t Transferring Data from Excel After you?ve entered a few records into Excel, you can test the procedure to read them into SAS or SPSS. To transfer your data to another computer system such as Darkwing, your one choice with SAS version 8.2 1 is to save it as a text file (comma, *.csv, or tab-delimited, *.txt) and move it with a file transfer program. The column headers you entered into Row 1 will be your variable names. This row can be extracted and form the variable names of the INPUT statement. By default, statistical programs assume all variables are numeric, so if you have text or date formats, you?ll need to specify them on the respective input statement. Also, indicate firstobs=2 on the INFILE statement to show the data begin in Row 2: DATA one; INFILE ?mydata.csv? dlm=?,? dsd firstobs=2; INPUT subject $4. date mm/dd/yy/10. p1 p2 p3 h1 h2 h3; RUN; 1 Note: Unix SAS 8.2 doesn?t have the capability to access PC files directly across a network, but you can expect to be able to do this with SAS 9.1, which is scheduled for release sometime next year. 16 computing news spring 2003 17computing news spring 2003 To read data into PC SAS, you can follow the procedure above for saving data as text fi les and read them in an analogous manner, or you can review several data transfer methods summarized at ht t p:// w w w.ita.doc.gov/ i ndu st r y/otea /dc sug /excel sa s.pd f Instructions for importing to SAS or SPSS. Assuming you have followed the above steps for data entry and your data begin in Row 2 of an Excel worksheet, both SPSS and PC SAS have the capability to read them directly. In SPSS, select ?Open/Data? and choose *.xls as the fi letype. PC SAS has an IMPORT wizard that will lead you through these steps one at a time, but it?s helpful to know how to use the SAS IMPORT procedure. PROC IMPORT DATAFILE =?c:\\test.xls? OUT =test REPLACE ; SHEET =?sequence?; GETNAMES =yes; run; The DATAFILE= option tells SAS where to fi nd the Excel fi le (path and fi le name). The OUT= option tells SAS to create a temporary dataset called ?test.? This dataset could be made ?permanent? by using a reference to a LIBNAME statement with a libref that appears prior to PROC IMPORT. The REPLACE option tells SAS to over-write the data set listed on the OUT= option if it currently exists. If the Excel fi le contains multiple worksheets, you?ll need to specify the name of the worksheet you want to read with the SHEET= statement . If SAS variable names have been placed in the fi rst row, the GETNAMES=yes statement tells SAS to use these Designing Data Entry for Transfer to SAS, SPSS, continued? names rather than to create default names and formats of VAR1 VAR2 VAR3, etc. To verify that data transfer worked, immediately print the data fi le with PROC PRINT (use the obs= option for large fi les) and check the data formats with PROC CONTENTS: PROC PRINT DATA=test(obs=20); PROC CONTENTS DATA=test; RUN; Another Data Entry Option You might also consider using EpiData, a comprehensive, easy-to-use tool for simple or programmed data entry and for data documentation. Thanks to donations and volunteer efforts, EpiData is free. It is currently developed for Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, but also works on PowerMacs with emulators. You can download EpiData from http://www.epidata.dk/ EpiData is easy to get, easy to set up, easy to learn, and has valid-range checking capability. It also outputs the entered dataset for use in SAS, SPSS, Stata, etc., by producing fi les of commands plus data, so going through the process described above with PROC IMPORT is not necessary. References Bourque, Michele. ?Reading External Data Files Using SAS?: Examples Handbook.? Cary, NC. SAS Institute, Inc., 2002. Bourque, L.B., & Clark, V. (1992) Processing data: The survey example (Sage University Paper series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, series no. 07-085). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. (Email: order@sagepub.com ) UO ?Buffl eheads? Ace Regional ACM Programming Competition A trio of computer-savvy UO students who call themselves ?the Buffl eheads? recently took fi rst place in a regional programming competition sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Because of their win, Buffl eheads James Marr, Dan Stutzbach, and Carl Howells were among the select few invited to participate in the international fi nals. Out of a total of 3,850 competing teams, only 70 (the top two from each region) moved on to the fi nals, in which students from Africa, Europe, and the South Pacifi c participated. The international competition, offi cially titled the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, challenged each team to solve eight complex problems in only fi ve hours and write a computer program implementing their solutions. Each team?s score was based on how many problems were completed, how much time it took to complete them, and the accuracy of the solutions. CIS Professor Eugene Luks coached the UO team for the international fi nals, where they distinguished themselves with an honorable mention. You can see the full report of the contest at ht t p:// icpc.baylor.edu / icpc / 16 computing news spring 2003 17computing news spring 2003 1. Monocu lt u re Con sidered Ha r m f u l ? ? Thoug ht- provok i ng a r t icle by Joh n S. Q ua r ter ma n compa r i ng t he I nter net to a n ecosystem a nd wa r n i ng of t he da ngers of a ? monoc u lt u ra l, ? homogeneous I nter net. ht t p:// w w w.fi r st monday.or g / i s sue s / i s sue7_ 2 / qua r ter ma n 2. The On li ne Book s Page? Fu l l tex t s on l i ne, i nclud i ng over 18,000 book s, l itera r y news, specia l on l i ne l itera r y feat u res suc h a s A Celebration of Women Wr iters a nd Banned Books Online , a nd genera l a nd foreig n la ng uage a rc h ives. Ed ited by Joh n Ma rk Oc kerbloom at t he Un iversit y of Pen n sylva n ia. ht t p://on l i nebook s.l ibra r y.upen n.edu / 3 . Locally produced E-book holdings? ? A selection of texts, most in Microsoft Reader format, a few in PDF format. Many topics in Asian history, culture, and literature. ht t p:// fl u f f y.uor egon.edu / r ead / produc t.ht m l ? Renascence Editions , a n on l i ne repositor y of work s pr i nted i n Eng l ish bet ween t he yea rs 1477 a nd 1799. The site is c reated a nd ma i nt a i ned by t he UO Libra r y's R ic ha rd Bea r. ht t p:// w w w.uor egon.edu /~rbea r/ 4. ?A radica l ret h i n k... ? on cu r rent copy r ig ht laws? Opi n ion colu m n i n Economist.com t ac k l i ng t he t hor ny issues su r rou nd i ng copy r ig ht i n t he d ig it a l age. ht t p :// w w w.econom i s t.com /opi n ion / P r i nterFr iend ly.cf m? Stor y_ I D =1547223 5. Unof fi cia l Visio 2000 FAQ? Q uest ion s a nd a n swers about M ic rosof t's d iag ra m prepa rat ion tool, Visio. ht t p:// w w w.d iag ra ma nt ic s.com /d iagenvs / v i sio / faq 6. AOL.Webma ster.I n fo? Tec h n ica l i n for mat ion on AOL a nd it s operat ion s. ht t p:// webma ster.i n fo.aol.com / 7. Ripoff Report? If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But to be sure, you can check it out at ht t p:// r ipof f r epor t.com This site includes publicly searchable consumer complaints from around the country. 8. ? Why Doesn't MSN work w it h Opera? ? ? Is Opera speci fi ca l ly t a r geted by M ic rosof t a nd MSN? A n a na lysis of t he tec h n ica l bac kg rou nd of Opera problem s w it h some MSN sites. ht t p ://deb.opera.com / howcome / 20 03/ 2 / m sn / 9. SpeedGu ide.net TC P/ I P A na lyzer? Ty pe i n you r net work add ress a nd see you r st at s at ht t p :// for u m s.speedg u ide.net 10. Test Your Network Connection and Throughput? Check out ht t p:// m i ra nda.c td.a n l.gov:7123/ 11. Tech Bargains? Interested in discount computer deals? Check out ht t p:// w w w.techba r ga i n s.com / Darkwing Email Duplications Traced to Sendmail Glitch A bug in Sendmail 8.12.7 caused Darkwing users some annoyance recently when duplicate email m e s s a g e s b e g a n t o a p p e a r frequently in their mailboxes. Because of the Sendmail bug, Darkwing?s mail queue wasn?t updating quickly enough, caus- ing some messages to be sent multiple times. To avoid this problem, system administrators who are running Sendmail may want to lower the ?CheckpointInterval:? option in their server?s sendmail.cf until a patch becomes available. ? s o m e s i t e s w o r t h s e e i n g ? One-Stop Shopping for List Owners One website has it all Everything you ever wanted to know about managing a campus mailing list is now in one location! Visit the Majordomo List Owners information pages at ht t p://da rk w i ng.uor egon.edu /~majordom / There you?ll fi nd answers to common problems, list application and deletion f o r m s , M a j o r d o m o a n d M H o n A r c workshop materials, detailed information about your lists?and more. Still have questions? Send email to listmaster@lists.uoregon.edu 1 8 computing news spring 2003 1 9computing news spring 2003 Mary Harrsch Network and Information Systems Manager College of Education RSS (Rich Site Summary, sometimes known as Really Simple Syndication), is a very basic implementation of XML. It?s a syndication format that enables content providers to share news headlines, links to recent articles, descriptions, and even images?with not only other content providers, but also users of a variety of devices such as PDAs, cell phones, email ticklers, and voice update pagers. This is possible because XML is, fundamentally, a database tool instead of a display language like HTML. In education, RSS files can be used to syndicate research news, learning modules, position vacancies, awards and achievements, new publications, significant donations ?anything that is dynamic in nature and would be of interest to a particular audience. As information sources, RSS files can also be used to create subject-specific news portals for students, faculty, and staff, making it easier for them to stay abreast of discoveries and developments in their particular area of interest. The RSS file itself, like its HTML cousin, is a simple text file. It begins with two lines to identify the version of XML and RSS that can utilize the file: This is followed by ?channel? information to describe the type of news contained in the file, the related Url of the publication, the language used, contact information, etc. Example: Roman Archaeology http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mharrsch/ romanarch.html Items of interest about excavations and history of the ancient Roman world en-us Then each news item, enclosed by the tag, includes a title, a URL, and a description. Example: Wooden cart and team found in Roman grave http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/ news/content.asp?aid=262 A team working under archaeologist Diamantis Triandafyllos uncovered the four-wheeled cart, which was decorated with bronze ornaments and buried along with the two horses that drew it, in a large tumulus near the village of Mikri Doxipara, some 25 kilometers. After all news items have been included, the document closes with: XML does have a few characters that are reserved for special purposes. These characters must be replaced by their XML equivalents: The five most common are: 1. & for the ampersand & 2. " for the double quote ? 3. ' for the single quote ? 4. < for the less-than bracket < 5. > for the greater-than bracket > XML also does not like em dashes. I replace these with two hyphens (--). To make sure you haven?t overlooked any special characters or made a mistake in your tags, you can validate your RSS file at ht t p:// feed s.a r ch ive.or g / va l idator/check / Although I have also learned to create my own RSS files from scratch, I have found it most convenient to create them with a tool like Blogger Pro ( http://w w w.blogger.com / ). Blogger is a web log service that provides an environment to produce date- and time-stamped postings of informa - tion. Blogger offers free weblogs, but only the Pro version (presently costing $35 per year for any number of blogs totaling no more than 100KB of text per month) provides automatic RSS file generation of your web log content and the ability to assign team members to a weblog. Blogger Pro must first be configured to create an RSS file. The resulting RSS file is then updated automatically each time you post an item to your weblog. First, select Settings : Then select the Format tab: Looking for the Next ?Killer App?? Use XML to Create and Syndicate News Feeds 1 8 computing news spring 2003 1 9computing news spring 2003 Scroll down and select Yes for the Titles field and the URL field : You should now see a Title field and URL field in your posting environment. Now press the Settings button again and choose the RSS tab. Then highlight and copy the code under the URL field (it includes the code under the Title field). S a v e y o u r c h a n g e s . T h e n c l i c k o n t h e Te m p l a t e button: S c r o l l d o w n t o t h e s e c t i o n t h a t b e g i n s w i t h t h e tag and insert the Title/URL text below the tag: Save your template changes and click the Publish button to apply your new template. Select your Descriptions option. With the None option, none of your own text will appear in the RSS file, only the Title and URL. With the Small option, the first paragraph of your text up to 255 characters will appear with the Title and URL. With the Full option, your entire text will appear as well as the Title and the URL. Scroll down and fill in your server directory location (like your other Blogger settings, use the full path from the root level of your host server), filename, and URL to your RSS file and click Save Changes: You?re now ready to become the next competitor to CNN! Some Glitches to Watch For? I have encountered a few glitches in Blogger?s RSS conversion tool, however. At this time, Blogger does not appropriately convert apostrophes to their XML ' equivalent. It also chokes on em dashes in text and ampersands in link references (some database driven sites and search tools result in links containing ampersands). I have reported these bugs to Blogger but in the meantime I simply omit apostrophes, avoid links with ampersands (sometimes I have to find a different source), and replace em dashes with --. Blogger-generated RSS files include a tag that the RSS validator does not like, but it does not seem to interfere with actual use of the feed. Looking for the Next ?Killer App?? Use XML to Create and Syndicate News Feeds 20 computing news spring 2003 21computing news spring 2003 Inserting Images RSS fi les can also include images. Blogger Pro lets you upload fi les to attach to your post, but I prefer to insert HTML image source code into a post so I can manipulate the placement and alignment of the image. However, it is important to remember that the code must include an absolute (full) path to the image: I usually just keep Dreamweaver open, insert the image I want into a blank Dreamweaver page, set the alignment, size, etc. then copy the code. Then with my web post in the edit window of Blogger, I place my cursor in the position of my web posting where I wish the image to appear and select ?paste.? You?ll see the result in the lower post list window. the web to help you with this as well. I presently use a site provided by Wyethville Community College at ht t p : // w w w.wc.c c.va.u s / s er v ic e s / ne w s / I simply select an appropriate feed from Syndic8, right click on the XML tag and copy the shortcut. XML News Feeds, continued? When the RSS fi le is created, it includes the image refer- ence as well and displays the image appropriately. Publicizing Your News Feed To publicize your news feed, submit your RSS fi le URL to an aggregator like ht t p:// w w w.sy nd ic8.com / Syndic8 will not only add your fi le to their database of over 10,000 news feeds, but also provide links to other news feeds you may wish to use in creating a news portal. I also recommend including a link to your RSS fi le in your web log template so it appears on your web page and can be easily copied by others interested in integrating your news fi le into a news portal. Since news feeds cannot be displayed directly as HTML, embedding a news feed in a web page requires the use of CGI or JavaScript. However, there are free tools on Then I paste it into the JavaScript tool on Wyethville?s page and press Enter. If the feed contains no errors, it will display the appropriate script to copy and paste into your web page. It also nicely formats the feed with a gold title bar. If the feed contains an error, you can trouble shoot the feed by clicking on their ?Validate feed? link. Although you can?t correct someone else?s feed, you can use the tool to check one of your own or to provide the information to email to the feed publisher to aid them in correcting their feed. To see a page created this way, go to h t t p : / / i nt e r ac t .uor e g on .e du / R S SNe w s / I Tn e w s . h t m l Since RSS production and use is still rather new, I try to spread the word about its potential use. When I fi nd a web page that contains news items I?d like to include in one of my news portals, but the page does not ap- pear to offer an XML link, I email the webmaster with information about RSS, links to basic resources, and an explanation of how I would like to use an RSS feed from their site. I?ve been looking for the next ?killer app? for quite some time and think this implementation of XML technology could be it. Although relatively simple in concept, much like email, RSS provides an opportunity to effi ciently communicate relevant information to specifi c interest groups and leverage distributed effort across a global environment. 20 computing news spring 2003 21computing news spring 2003 Most Unix programmers are quite familiar with GCC ( ht t p://gcc.g nu.or g / ), which really sets the standard for Unix compilers, as well as various vendor proprietary compilers such as those offered by Sun and HP (formerly Compaq, formerly Digital Equipment Corporation). However as PCs running Windows have become faster and faster, there has been growing interest in Windows- oriented C/C++/Fortran/Pascal compilers, too. There are many good commercial compilers available for Windows users, but if you?re looking for a free option, you?re in luck?some excellent free compilers are now available for Windows: Open Watcom compiler suite. For example, on February 7, 2003, Open Watcom released a free open source C/ C++/Fortran compiler suite for Windows users. For more information, please see ht t p:// w w w.openwatcom.or g / B o r l a n d c o m p i l e r . B o r l a n d h a s r e l e a s e d i t s C + + Compiler (version 5.5) for free download. See ht t p://com mu n it y.borla nd.com /a r t icle / 0,1410, 20633,00.ht m l If you miss the ?good old days,? you may be inter- ested to know that Borland is also making free copies of some of its ?antique? compilers (as released circa 1989) available at no charge from their online ?software museum.? For example, you can obtain Borland Turbo Pascal 5.5 from ht t p :// com mu n it y.borla nd.com /a r t icle / 0,1410, 2 0 8 03, 0 0. h t m l , Borland Turbo C v2.01 from http://community.borland.com/article/ 0,1410,20841,00.html , a nd Tu rbo C++ 1.01 f rom ht t p://com mu n it y.borla nd.com / a r t icle / 0,1410, 21751,00.ht m l Salford compilers. Salford?s FTN77 Personal Edition Compiler for Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP, including the Salford C/C++ Compiler, is available free for private non-commercial use. Note that this license permits personal use at home and use by students for their personal studies, but it may not be used in teaching environments such as college or university classes, nor in university projects with commercial funding. Executables display a popup box with a licensing message at run time. For more information, see h t t p : / / w w w. s a l f o r d s o f t w a r e . c o . u k / c o m p i l e r s / f t n 7 7 p e / i ndex.sht m Digital Mars compiler. Another C/C++ compiler for Windows that you may want to check out is the free compiler from Digital Mars. For more information, see ht t p:// w w w.d ig ita l ma r s.com / Pascal. If you?re interested in Pascal, FreePascal, a Borland-compatible Pascal for Windows, is available from ht t p:// w w w.f r eepa sca l.or g / Intel compiler for Linux. If you are running Linux on Intel hardware, rather than Windows, you could run GCC just like any other Unix user. However, you should also know that Intel is now making its Intel Fortran 7.0 Compiler for Linux available for non-commercial use at no change. See ht t p : // de veloper.i ntel.com / s of t wa r e / produc t s /compi ler s / fl i n / noncom.ht m This appears to be a very fast compiler, based on b e n c h m a r k s s h o w n a t h t t p : / / w w w.p ol y h e d r o n . c o.u k / compa re / li nu x /f 77bench _p4.ht m l . Intel also makes its C++ 7.0 Compiler for Linux available for noncommercial use at no charge. See ht t p:// w w w.i ntel.com / sof t wa r e / produc t s / compi ler s /cl i n / noncom.ht m In addition to free compilers, users are often interested in free or inexpensive numerical libraries. Some resources you should know about include: - The GNU Scientifi c Library, available from ht t p:// sou r ce s.r ed hat.com /g sl / - The Imatrix Standard Function Library (about 450 functions), available from ht t p:// w w w.i mat i x.com / ht m l / sfl / i ndex.ht m - A variety of mathematical software, available from ht t p:// w w w.net l ib.or g / - Several versions of the Numerical Recipes books from Cambridge University Press, available online at Free Fortran, C/C++, and Pascal Compilers For PCs Joe St Sauver, Ph.D. Director, User Services and Network Applications joe@oregon.uoregon.edu Compilers for Windows and Linux are available for the asking C HUCKING Y OUR O LD C OMPUTER H ARDWARE ? C HECK O UT D ELL ? S R ECYCLING S ERVICE http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/topics/segtopic_dell_recycling.htm ht t p:// w w w.n r.com / Please note that while the Numerical Recipes books are available for free online, you will still need to purchase a license to use the routines contained in the books (a single screen license for a PC running Windows or Linux, or a single screen license for a Mac, costs $65). 2 2 computing news spring 2003 2 3computing news spring 2003 Site Address UO?s password- changing website ht t p:// pa ssword.uor egon.edu ( not http://www.password.uoregon.edu/ ) Slashdot, a popular site for technical news ht t p:// sla shdot.or g / ( not ht t p:// w w w.sla shdot.or g ) In talking with users, we know that while many folks are able to ?click around? and eventually get where they need to go on the World Wide Web, they may still be confused about web addresses (also known as ?URLs?) and how browsers work with them. This article is intended to clear up some common questions and help you use your browser more efficiently. Changing Your Browser?s Default Home Page Your web browser comes preconfigured to start at a de - fault website, usually the browser creator?s own ?portal? site. Most of these sites aren?t bad, but since you have a choice, you may want to set your default home page to any web page you like, such as: - Google ( ht t p:// w w w.goog le.com / ) - The Open Directory Project ( ht t p://d moz.or g / ) - The University of Oregon?s home page ( ht t p:// w w w.uor egon.edu / ), - Your own home page on Darkwing or Gladstone, or even a home page stored locally on your own Mac or PC. Below are instructions on how to change your home page setting, according to the browser you?re using: Mac OS X Mozilla: Go to the Mozilla menu and select Preferences ... Click on Navigato r. Enter your preferred home page in the Location: box. Click OK. Windows Mozilla: Go to the Edit menu and select Preferences ... Click on Navigator . Enter your preferred home page in the Location: box. Click OK . Mac OS X Internet Explorer: Go to the Explorer menu and select Preferences ... Click on Web Browser . Enter your preferred home page in the Address: box. Click OK . Windows Internet Explorer: Go to the Tools menu and select Internet Option s... On the General tab put your preferred home page in the box. Click OK . Manually Entering a URL Although it?s common practice to begin web journeys by using a search engine, there are times you will already know exactly what site you want to visit. If so, there?s no need to search for anything, you can just go directly to that site. To do so, simply type that web address into your browser?s address bar and hit return. Your web browser will then immediately take you to that address. Note that your browser?s address bar is near the very top of the browser screen?it is not the search box that most portal pages prominently feature. This is the browser?s address bar ( y ou can directly enter known website addresses here) Joe St Sauver, Ph.D. Director, User Services and Network Applications joe@oregon.uoregon.edu Understanding the Ins and Outs of World Wide Web Addresses and Your Web Browser Answers to some common questions about navigating the Internet This is a portal page search engine box . If you already know the complete web address of a site you want to go to, you do not need to bother searching for it here! Simply enter the address in the browser address bar. Not All Web Addresses Begin With ?www? It is certainly true that many web sites have addresses that begin with ?www,? but many others may not. For example: In some cases, sites with perfectly good three-part addresses have become so resigned to users habitually using the www prefix that they?ve simply defined an additional address that includes www at the beginning of the address. However, we do not recommend that sites do this?it just adds to the confusion rather than eliminating a problem. Not All Web Addresses End With ?.com? Because most commercial websites end in ?.com? it is easy to make the unwarranted assumption that every web address has that suffix. Many web addresses do end in ?.com,? but many others do not. Consider, for example, ht t p : // w w w.uor e gon.e du / (our domain ends in .edu because we?re an educational site), ht t p:// w w w.wh itehou se.gov/ (the .gov domain is for US government entities), or ht t p:// w w w.bbc.co.u k / (the British Broadcasting Corporation?s website in the United Kingdom). ? ? 2 2 computing news spring 2003 2 3computing news spring 2003 If you forget to mind your .edu ?s, .gov ?s, or other URL endings, you can end up in some unexpected (and oc - casionally unsavory) online neighborhoods. What Are All Those Two-Letter Domains I Sometimes See? While .com , .net , .org , .gov , .mil and .edu are probably the most commonly seen domains at the University of Oregon, you may see other ?exotic? domains such as .de (Deutschland, better known to Americans as Germany), .ch (Cantons of Helvetica, aka Switzerland) or .za (Zud Afrika, aka South Africa). F o r a c o m p l e t e l i s t o f d o m a i n n a m e c o u n t r y codes, including pointers to the whois servers that h a v e r e g i s t r a t i o n i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t d o m a i n s , s e e ht t p:// w w w.ia na.or g /cc t ld /cc t ld -whoi s.ht m ?You Can Call Me Mr. Thomas James Smith III... or You Can Just Call Me Tom? While you?re always okay entering a complete web address (such as ht t p:// w w w.uor egon.edu /i ndex.ht m l ), you can usually get away with abbreviating web addresses quite a bit. For example, most of the time you can safely omit the ?http://? at the front of a web address. Thus, entering ht t p:// w w w.uor egon.edu / i ndex.ht m l or w w w.uor egon.edu / i ndex.ht m l will get you to the same location. Likewise, if you just want the default top page for a website, you don?t need to explicitly specify the ?index.html? part of the URL. Thus both ht t p:// w w w.uor egon.edu /i ndex.ht m l and ht t p:// w w w.uor egon.edu / will get you to the same web page. You can also usually omit the trailing slash, but it is more efficient (at a technical and probably imperceptible level) if you remember to include it. If you trim a web address further still, your browser will still try to make a good guess at the site you?re trying to reach. For example, if you enter just a single word as a web address, such as ?darkwing,? your browser will usually assume that you?re looking for darkwing . If you?re connecting from the UO campus network, o r f r o m a U O d i a l u p m o d e m , y o u r d e f a u l t l o c a l domain will be uoregon.edu , and hence you?ll go to darkwing.uoregon.edu , which is probably what you intended. However, if you?re connecting from a non-UO network, such as mindspring.com or attbi.com , for example, your default local domain will not be uoregon.edu , and your computer may assume you?re trying to go to darkwing.mindspring.com or darkwing.attbi.com by default, which is probably not what you meant. Specify the entire URL in that case. The people who created your browser also knew that many of the most popular websites have home pages of the format www..com Because of that fact, if you?re at the UO and you enter a single word as a web address, such as cnn , your browser will first look for cnn.uoregon.edu , and then try www.cnn.com (which is probably what you meant). Can these rules cause problems sometimes? They certainly can. Consider the case of a national website known as www.darkwing.com , or a local website called cnn.uoregon.edu ! If these rules about abbreviated web addresses seem puzzling to you, don?t worry about it. When in doubt, you can always just enter a full web address and it will work fine. Why Do Some URLs Have a Tilde ( ~ ) ? If you see a URL that has a tilde in it, that?s a clue that the web page is user-maintained and located within a user?s personal web space. Web pages that are stored in a web server?s primary document directory will typically not have a ~ in their URL. Why would this matter? Knowing whether a web page is an ?official? web page or a user-maintained web page may help you assess the degree to which that web page may be considered ?authoritative? or ?official? or may give you important clues about where to direct comments about a web page that may need attention. For example, if you had a question about the web page http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~xyz/ , you?d know to try writing to xyz@darkwing.uoregon.edu to ask for help with that page. Why Do Some Website Addresses Consist of Numbers Instead of Letters? When we talk about all-numeric web addresses, we?re talking about URLs consisting simply of a ?dotted quad,? or a numeric address that might look like ht t p : / / 128. 223.14 2 .13 / ? not a ?symbolic? domain within .com or .net or wherever that just happens to include a number, such as ht t p:// w w w.411.com / The first thing you should know about websites using raw numeric addresses is that using raw numeric addresses for websites is a really bad idea. If a web server needs to move from one network address to a new one and all you?ve got as an address for that server is its old numeric address, you?ve effectively ?lost? that website. On the other hand, if you are using a symbolic ad - dress for a server and that web server is relocated, everything will be back to normal as soon as the symbolic name for that server has been updated to reflect the new location. Understanding the Ins and Outs of World Wide Web Addresses and Your Web Browser 24 computing news spring 2003 25computing news spring 2003 Caution: Early Versions of Apple Mail Server Vulnerable to SMTP Relay Abuse So why do some sites use all-numeric addresses? Some websites with just a numeric address may have intentionally not bothered to create a symbolic name for that address. For example, in some foreign countries that don?t use the roman alphabet (e.g., China, Russia, Greece, Thailand), there may be little perceived value in registering an English language domain name and hostname in an ?alien? alphabet that will never be used by local customers. In other cases, a user may not have authorization to register a host name or to run a web server, and may be using just a numeric address in the vain hope that will let them fl y under the radar. (It usually won?t!) Why Do Some Web Page Names End in .html, While Other Web Pages End in .htm or .cgi or .php or .asp or .txt or?? Originally, normal web pages written using HTML (HyperText Markup Language) had names ending in .html, while preformatted plain text fi les (the online equivalent of a page of plain typewritten text) had fi le names ending with .txt When your web browser would see a web page with an .html extension, it would ?know? to expect a page that included HTML formatting instructions. Similarly, when your browser processed a URL ending with a .txt exten- sion, it knew it could just display that fi le ?as-written,? that is, as a preformatted plain text fi le. So how did .html become .htm? The .html extension was created as a matter of necessity for some systems that didn?t know how to handle fi le names with fi le extensions that were more than three characters long. What about .cgi , .php , and .asp? Those fi le extensions all signify that you?re working with a ?dynamic? web page, or a page that will usually accept information from you and return customized results. Examples of pages of this sort include online shopping carts used by e-businesses. Speaking of Online Businesses, What?s the Big Deal About ?Secure? Websites and Certifi cates, etc.? Most web pages are sent across the network unencrypted. That is, if someone were eavesdropping on your transmis- sions, they could see exactly what you were looking at, or see all the information you might be entering into an online order form. URLs that begin with https, however, are transmitted ?encrypted,? meaning that someone look- ing at an https fi le as it is transferred over the network would see nothing but gibberish. This is obviously a good thing for sensitive information such as usernames and passwords, credit card information, and so on. Secure web pages also protect you against another potential problem: how can you be sure of the identity of a particular site? In the case of websites running with a certifi cate issued by a major certifi cate authority (such as Verisign), you can be quite confi dent that you?re not connecting to a fraudulent site that?s masquerading as a legitimate e-commerce destination. You should be wary, however, if you connect to a site that is using a ?self- signed? certifi cate, or a certifi cate issued by a certifi cate authority that your browser doesn?t recognize! That site may be fi ne, but you can?t tell for sure. One other thing we should mention: just because a website transits its pages securely using https doesn?t mean that the site as a whole is secure. Protecting network transmissions from interception is important, but doesn?t do a thing to protect you from other threats? such as a hacker/cracker breaking into a server that has your credit card number stored on its disks in plain text! Ins and Outs of the Web, continued? Although most Apple OS X users don?t use Apple?s Mail Server (and don?t need to), it is very important that if you do use it, you use a secure version. We?ve seen at least one UO user running a version of Apple Mail Server older than 10.1.3. Please note that Apple?s Mail Server prior to 10.1.3 is insecure and vulnerable to SMTP relay abuse by spammers, and must be upgraded. More information about this is available at ht t p://doc s.i n fo.apple.com / a r t icle.ht m l?a r t nu m =106763 For general information on how to update your Apple OS X system?s software, please see ht t p://doc s.i n fo.apple.com /a r t icle.ht m l?a r t nu m =106704 . O r, go to System Preferences in the Apple Menu, select Software Update, and click on Check Now. While you?re there, make sure you?ve got ?Automatically check for updates when you have a network connection? and the ?Daily? option selected. Information on confi guring Mac OS X Server Mail service to prevent open SMTP relay is available at ht t p://doc s.i n fo.apple.com /a r t icle.ht m l?a r t nu m =107344 Note: Apple Mail Ser ver is an optional feature of OS X and is not par t of the default installation. 2 4 computing news spring 2003 2 5computing news spring 2003 The observation that there seemed to be an awful lot of network activity o n a q u i e s c e n t h o m e n e t w o r k c o n n e c t i o n a t a n a c q u a i n t a n c e ?s home lead me to notice something rather interesting (in a horrifying sort of way) about Windows XP when used in conjunction with certain Linksys DSL routers. As you may already know, ?Universal Plug and Play? (UPnP) permits your PC to recognize and manage stand - alone external devices. Microsoft?s enthusiastic overview of UPnP is available online 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 / d e f a u l t . a s p ? u r l = / t e c h n e t / p r o d t e c h n o l / w i n x p p r o / e v a l u a t e / upnpx p.a sp After reading it, you may be convinced that UPnP is the best thing to come along since sliced bread. But as we?ve previously mentioned, UPnP has some grave issues. For example, in the Winter 2002 issue of Computing N e w s , w e p r o v i d e d a h e a d s - u p about serious UPnP security issues ( ht t p://cc.uoregon.edu /cnews /w inter2002/ x p_ hole.ht m l ), and included a pointer to a patch for that vulnerability. A more general discussion of UPnP vulnerabilities is also available at Steve Gibson?s excellent web site at ht t p://g r c.com / u npnp / u npnp.ht m Today, however, we?d like to alert you to one specific example of how running UPnP on your PC can lead t o u n i n t e n d e d , u n n e c e s s a r y, a n d undesirable network behavior. You need to be concerned about this if you happen to have the following setup: ? a Windows XP, with UPnP enabled (as it is out of the box) ? a Linksys BEFSR41 DSL router (this is Linksys?s popular combination f i r e w a l l / 4 p o r t e t h e r n e t s w i t c h ) with a relatively current firmware r e v i s i o n w i t h U P n P S e r v i c e enabled, and ? you use the Windows XP Network Configuration Wizard to set up your network connection If you have this setup and use the C o n f i g u r a t i o n Wi z a r d ( a s m a n y folks will), then Windows XP will try to ?help? you by configuring your PC to talk to your DSL router v i a t h e I n t e r n e t G a t e w a y D e v i c e D i s c o v e r y a n d C o n t r o l C l i e n t , Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) and UPnP. See, for example: - ht t p:// w w w.m icrosof t.com / w i ndowsx p / home / u si ng / produc tdoc / en / h nw_dc _u nder sta nd i ng.a sp - ht t p:// w w w.sma l l netbu i lder.com / Sec t ion s - a r t icle21- page7.php In most cases, having XP talk to your DSL router via ICS and UPnP is both completely unnecessary and highly inappropriate. T h e D S L r o u t e r s h o u l d h a n d l e ?connection sharing? at the hardware level (it does include a four-port integrated ethernet switch after all!), and the PC should need to do nothing more than shovel packets out its network interface card directly to the DSL router?no additional network shim need be in the path. This problem is exacerbated when you throw the Windows XP RIP Listener service into the mix. RIP is a primitive and chatty routing protocol that is completely unnecessary for a typical simple home network consisting of a few PCs simply connected to a single shared DSL line via a Linksys DSL router/switch. Are you an XP user with a DSL router? Worried that you might be configured this way? If you?re not sure of your configuration, you can check it by fol - lowing the steps outlined below. (As always, before making any changes to your system, make sure you have a good backup in case you run into problems and want to back those changes out.) 1. G o t o S t a r t ? > S e t t i n g s ? > Control Panel ?> Add or Remove P r o g r a m s , t h e n c l i c k o n A d d / Remove Windows Components in the left-hand column. When the Windows Components window comes up, scroll down and click o n t h e N e t w o r k S e r v i c e s l i n e , then click Details . 2. D o y o u s e e I n t e r n e t G a t e w a y D e v i c e D i s c o v e r y a n d C o n t r o l Client selected? If so, clear that check box. 3. Do you see RIP Listener selected? If so, clear that check box. 4. D o y o u s e e S i m p l e T C P / I P Services selected? If so, clear that check box. 5. Do you see Universal Plug and Play selected? If so, clear that check box. 6. Click Next , as needed, to get to Finish (you?ll need to reboot if you?ve made any changes). You may also want to ensure that t h e S S D P D i s c o v e r y S e r v i c e a n d the Universal Plug and Play Device Host are stopped and disabled in Services . To do so, go to Start ?> Settings ?> Control Panel . Double- c l i c k A d m i n i s t r a t i v e To o l s , t h e n d o u b l e - c l i c k S e r v i c e s a n d s c r o l l down until you can double-click on SSDP Discovery Service . Make sure it is listed as Startup type: Disabled and Service Status: Stop . Repeat this process for the Universal Plug and Play Device Host service. As you install service packs or hot fixes to your system, you may want to check to make sure that these changes Microsoft Windows XP, Linksys DSL Routers, Universal Plug and Play, RIP, and the ?Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client? Joe St Sauver, Ph.D. Director, User Services and Network Applications joe@oregon.uoregon.edu Avoid unnecessary complexities when using Windows XP with certain gateway devices 26 computing news spring 2003 27computing news spring 2003 d o n ? t g e t i n a d v e r t e n t l y r e v e r s e d during the patching process. After you?ve cleaned up your PC, y o u s h o u l d c h e c k y o u r L i n k s y s DSL router?s confi guration to ensure that Universal Plug and Play is also disabled there. The easiest way to do this is via a web browser running on a networked PC connecting through your Linksys DSL router. From that PC, open Internet Explorer or Mozilla, and then go to the address ht t p://192.168.1.1 (this is a ?private network address? which will only be available to systems connect- ing from behind your DSL router). T h e r o u t e r ?s U P n P ?s s e t t i n g i s located on the Password tab (for more information on this, see page 54 of the BEFSR11 user?s guide, available at f tp://f tp.link sys.com /pdf / bef sr11_bef sr41ug.pd f ). While use of a DSL router that does NAT (such as the Linksys * DSL router mentioned in this article) eliminates many external attacks that may target your PC, it?s still probably a good idea to also use a bidirectionally functional software fi rewall product such as ZoneAlarm on your home PC, too (see ht t p : / / w w w. z on e l a b s .c om / s t or e / content / home.j sp ). *Cisco Systems recently purchased Linksys. See details at ht t p:// news.zd net.co.u k / stor y/ 0,,t269 - s2132250,00.ht m l Network Anomalies, continued? A number of states, including Oregon, are currently considering exceedingly broad new statutes outlawing devices or software that conceal the existence, or place of origin, or destination o f a n y t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s service. While these bills nominally target telecommunications fraud, they are so inclusive that they may o u t l a w i m p o r t a n t s e c u r i t y tools such as network address t r a n s l a t i o n ( N AT ) , o r u s e o f encryption. See, for example, the discussion at h t t p : / / w w w. s e c u r i t y f o c u s . c o m / news / 3912 These bills, which have come to be called ?Super DMCA? acts, all apparently modeled after a common ?model bill? drafted by the MPAA. You can see the Electronic Freedom Foundation?s analysis of these bills at http://w w w.ef f.org/ IP/ DMCA/states/ 200304 _ sd mca _ef f _a na lysi s.php Local users should note that Oregon is among the states that have ?Super DMCA? bills pending: h t t p : / / w w w . l e g . s t a t e . o r . u s / 0 3 r e g / m e a s u r e s / s b 0 6 0 0 . d i r / sb 0655.i nt ro.ht m l State ?Super DMCA? Acts Could Have Serious Side Effects 1. All About Ema il Header s? Comprehensive i nt roduc t ion to t he behav ior of ema il headers. P r i ma r ily desig ned to a ssist t he v ic t i ms of u nsol icited ema il, but a lso usef u l to t he genera l reader. ht t p:// w w w.stopspa m.or g /ema i l / header s / header s.ht m l 2. Spa m faq.net? Volu m i nous FAQs about u nsol icited bu l k ema il, i nclud i ng a g lossa r y of spa m fi g ht i ng's u n ique ja r gon. ht t p:// w w w.spa m faq.net / ter m i nolog y.sht m l 3. A nt i - Spa m Resea rch Group? A resea rc h g roup a f fi l iated w it h t he I nterent Eng i neer i ng Ta sk Force t hat is ded icated to i nvest igat i ng spa m problem s a nd solut ion s. For det a i ls, see ht t p:// w w w.i r t f.or g /cha r ter s /a sr g.ht m l 5. Spam Forum? The FTC is hosting a three-day ?Spam Forum.? See details at ht t p:// w w w.f tc.gov/opa / 2003/ 02 / spa m for u m.ht m 5. SpamGlass? If you want to get a sense of the spam people are seeing, check out the Spam Looking Glass, or SpamGlass, at ht t p:// w w w.open rbl.or g / spa mg la ss?s = la st 6. A not her Way to Block Web Ads? If you?re interested in an alternative way to block ads from your web browser, you may want to visit ht t p:// w w w.sma r t i n - de sig n s.com / host s _ i n fo_ ma i n.ht m 7. Get the Scoop on Open Proxies? Comprehensive report on the privacy and security pitfalls of open proxy servers (pdf and ppt formats). ht t p://da rk w i ng.uor egon.edu /~joe / prox ie s / ? s p a m s i t e s w o r t h s e e i n g ? HOME WIRELESS NETWORK TIP : A Wireless-to-Ethernet Bridge adapter is a device you may want to know about if you?re interested in adding a hard-wired Ethernet device such as an Xbox console to your home wireless network. This device is simple to install and works on all platforms and under any operating system. For details, see ht t p:// w w w.l i n k sys.com / spla sh / wet11_ spla sh.a sp 2 6 computing news spring 2003 2 7computing news spring 2003 S P R I N G 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, ht t p:// l ibweb.uor egon.edu / i n st r uc t / ) . 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). Blackboard for Instructors Tue May 27 2 - 3:20 PM 1 44 Knight Library Johnson Net a Job: Use the Web - ? Prerequisite: Familiarity with a graphical web browser. To register, contact the Career Center (346-6001) Thu April 17 3:30 - 4:50 PM 1 44 Knight Library Haynes EndNote/ProCite? Two programs to help you organize and retrieve your citations and format your footnotes and bibliographies Mon April 14 12 - 1:20 PM S eminar Rm Science Lib Lenn, Zeidman-Karpinski Tue April 15 12 - 1:20 PM 235 Knight Lenn, Zeidman-Karpinski PowerPoint Basics Tue April 29 2 - 3:50 PM 144 Knight Library Heerema More PowerPoint - ? Prerequisite: PowerPoint Basics or equivalent knowledge and skills Tue May 13 2 - 3:50 PM 267B Knight Library Heerema Academic Integrity? A free-for-all discussion of the issues surrounding student academic integrity, led by experts from the UO Office of Judicial Affairs and the ASUO Tue April 8 6 - 8:00 PM Browsing Room Knight Library Human Research Protections & UO Institutional Review Board - Protecting the rights of human subjects in academic research Mon April 7 2 - 2:50 PM Studio A Knight Library Kyrk, Olson Cheating and Plagiarism Using the Internet (Videoconference) - Learn about solutions to a growing problem Thu April 3 11:30 AM - 1:20 PM Studio A Knight Library Dealing with Plagiarism - Official UO policy, and tips for minimizing the likelihood of cheating in your class Wed April 9 2:30 = 3:20 PM Studio A Knight Library Loscavio Research Conduct and Misconduct Fri April 4 2 - 2:50 PM Studio A Knight Library Burkhart, Geller Visibility+Accountability=Reduced Plagiarism Mon April 7 10 - 11:20 AM Studio A Knight Library Bell, Neighbors Course Websites, Presentation & Research Software, Academic Integrity ? Requires an active account on Darkwing or Gladstone New! HTML Forms ? ? Prerequisite: Web Publishing I & II or equivalent, and an account on Darkwing or Gladstone (not Oregon!) Learn all about forms on the web. Fri May 9 9 - 10:50 AM 144 Knight Library Lechnyr 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 Tue April 15 2 - 3:50 PM 144 Knight Library Nicholson Fri April 18 9 - 10:50 AM 144 Knight Library Frantz Web Publishing II - ??Prerequisites: Web P ublishing I or equivalent knowledge and skills, and a web page you ? ve created Tue April 22 2 - 3:50 PM 144 Knight Library Munro Fri April 25 9 - 10:50 AM 144 Knight Library Benedicto Web Publishing III - ? ? Prerequisites: Web Publishing II or equivalent knowledge and skills Tue May 6 2 - 3:50 PM 144 Knight Library Bell Web Sites with PHP - ?? Prerequisite: Web Publishing I & II or equivalent, and an account on Darkwing or Gladstone (not Oregon!) . Fri May 23 9 - 10:50 AM 144 Knight Library Lechnyr Shooting Great Digital Images Thu April 24 2 - 3:50 PM Studio A Knight Library Kirkpatrick The Art of Recording Audio Thu April 17 2 - 3:50 PM Studio A Knight Library Kirkpatrick Introduction to Photoshop Tue May 20 2:30 - 4:20 PM 144 Knight Library Harmon Dreamweaver I - ? Prerequisite: Web Publishing I & II or equivalent knowledge and skills Fri May 2 9 - 10:50 AM 144 Knight Library Nesselroad Dreamweaver II - ? Prerequisite: Web Publis hing III and Dreamweaver I (or equivalent knowledge and skills) Fri May 16 9 - 10:50 AM 144 Knight Library Smith Publishing with Equations - Wed May 7 10 - 10:50 AM 235 Knight Library Johnson Web Publishing, Multimedia - ? Prerequisites Workshop Day/Date Time Location Presenter UO COMPUTING CENTER 1212 University of Oregon E ugene, 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 .