Topics

1) Status of Computer Security Changes
2) Computer Lab News: New Printer
3) Computer Lab News: Upgrade from Office 95 to Office 97


1) Status of Computer Security Changes:


Last Thursday, the security filters were implemented for the 33 subnet.
On Thursday, May 14, we will implement the last step in beefing up network
security, the IP-spoofing protection. After this day, any host outside
Chemistry pretending to be within Chemistry will be unable to communicate
with us. IP-spoofing is a method (only) used by hackers to exploit trust
relationships between computers on a local network.

If your computer is already using the correct netmask, 255.255.0.0, you will
not notice anything. If you are still using the wrong netmask, and/or have
not rebooted your machine, you will not be able to communicate with the
chemistry server anymore (even if you can still do so now, after all the
security filters have been implemented).

You can read about our Security Policy and about the netmask on the web:
Internal --> Computer Support --> Policy Statements, Support Bulletin.


2) Computer Lab News: New Printer:


We have installed a new public laser printer in the Computer Lab 2105 NW.
The printer is a HP LaserJet 4000 TN; it features two 250-sheet paper
trays, prints 17 pages per minute, and has a resolution of 1200 dpi.
We will purchase a duplex option in the near future to allow double-sided
printing. The printer name is still the same (2105nw on Unix machines), and
nothing has changed as to how to submit print jobs.


3) Computer Lab News: Upgrade from Office 95 to Office 97:


We have been upgrading from Office 95 to Office 97 in the Computer Lab 2105
NW. Some improvements include: better equation editor, more graphing
capability in Excel, Visual Basic and Web connectivity with Access databases,
complete customization of PowerPoint slide animation and transitions. This
upgrade does come with a warning label attached: Be careful when saving your
work. Make sure the version you are saving as is the same version you have
in your lab or at home. Improper saving will force you to read your files
from the Computer Lab 2105 NW.