Topics

1) General News: SSH reminder
2) Lab News: New G4s in the Lab 2105 NW
3) Lab News/Windows-NT News: NT accounts, etc
4) Windows-NT News: chemistry /home available from PCs
5) Web News: Updated Pages
6) General News: A Report of Y2K Events in the Department
7) General Tips: Update/Erratum

Newsletter Archive:
        http://www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/compsupp/Newsletter/



1) General News: SSH reminder:


This is a reminder that SSH will be required as of May 1, 2000, for all types
of connections from outside the Department that send usernames and passwords
in clear text. We discussed SSH and demonstrated port forwarding in our
user meeting on Dec. 13, 1999. A copy of the slides is available in The
Great SSH Primer, along with other useful information about SSH and what
services it replaces. More information is being added to the Primer.

        Internal --> Computer Support --> The Great SSH Primer

We are planning to have one more user meeting on SSH before May 1.


2) Lab News: New G4s in the Lab 2105 NW:


There are 4 new 400 MHz G4 Macintosh computers in the Lab, replacing the
older Macs. The software installed on the new Macs has been replicated with a
tool by the name of "Assimilator". Assimilator allows one to take an image
(snapshot) of the software, which can then be used to re-install the
machines. This will help us keep the operating system and all settings in a
pristine state. Whenever the Macs are rebooted, they will check their
configuration and will re-assimilate themselves if there are any
discrepancies in their software settings. Full assimilation takes about 25
minutes.

Users changing settings on the Macs and thus breaking applications (most
often printing) has long been a problem on the Macs. Since there is no form
of authentication (usernames and passwords) there is no easy way of locking
down settings; anybody sitting at a Mac can play "administrator" and change
things.

For a list of installed software, please go to

	Internal --> Computer Support --> PC and Mac Information -->
	Mac Software Inventory

The Macs are equipped with 4-button mice; for a description of what those
buttons do, see

	Internal --> Computer Support --> Chemistry Department Related FAQs
        --> How do I use all those mouse buttons on the Computer Lab Macs?


3) Lab News/Windows-NT News: NT accounts, etc:


After a prolonged period of rebuilds of the PCs in the Lab 2105 NW, they
are in a stable state again. Please follow the following rules when using
them or other Windows PCs in the Department:

 - As announced in COMPNEWS 26, all faculty, staff, postdocs and grad
   students in the Department should have an NT account. Logon with your NT
   account in the CHEMISTRY domain; the "student" account has been removed on
   the PCs in the Lab 2105 NW. Your NT account will be valid on any PC in the
   Department running WindowsNT. If you've never used or not been aware of
   your NT account, see the NT FAQ on our web pages under

	Internal --> Computer Support --> PC and Mac Information

 - All users of the PCs in 2105 NW and elsewhere are encouraged to use their
   personal storage space (U: drive) on the NT server instead of the disks on
   individual computers (C: drives). The computers in 2105 NW are now
   configured so that they can be restored quickly in case something breaks,
   similar to the new Macs. This means that their hard drives can be wiped at
   any time.  ALL DATA WILL BE LOST IF STORED LOCALLY!

 - If you have data in the Exchange folder, you should move them into your
   individual U: folder. Exchange will not be backed up anymore.

 - The U: drive is backed up regularly, like /home on the Unix server, and it
   is accessible from all PCs (and on request, also from all Macs) in the
   Department.

 - Don't forget to logout, especially in a public Lab such as 2105 NW (hit
   CTRL-ALT-DEL and select "Logoff"). Make sure that you DON'T LOCK THE PC
   instead. If you do, nobody else will be able to use it.

 - Your U: drive should be automatically mapped on all NT machines. To map
   your U: drive on PCs running Windows95 or Windows98 anywhere in the
   Department, right click on "Network Neighborhood" and choose "Map Network
   Drive". A window opens; under "Path", type \\chem-nt1\username$. If you
   get an access denied error, you need to correct the login information you
   provide on your PC. See the NT FAQ for more information.


4) Windows-NT News: chemistry /home available from PCs:


Your /home directory on chemistry, as well as chemistry's /scr disk are
available from any PC running Windows in the Department.

To map your /home directory, right click on "Network Neighborhood" and choose
"Map Network Drive". A window opens; under "Path" type \\chemistry\username.

To map chemistry's /scr disk, proceed in the same way. You can also map the
/scr disk by "browsing": Double-click on "Network Neighborhood", double-
click on "chemistry", double-click on "scr".

NOTE: When mapping resources on the chemistry Unix server from a PC, you
      need to specify your NT username/password, not your Unix username/
      password!

More information can be found in the NT FAQ under

	Internal --> Computer Support --> PC and Mac Information


5) Web News: Updated Pages:


There have been many changes taking place on our web pages. Here are a couple
of highlights:

Search Page:

	Search (at the top of the page)

(updated on 12/10/01 by Steven Parker)
	Search (at the top of the page)

You can access four different search engines from the Chemistry Search page:
Google, AltaVista, HotBot and Lycos.

OSU Links:

	Internal --> Links --> OSU Pages

This page contains links to popular spots on OSU's web page: University
Registrar, Graduate School and the OSU Buckeyes page, to name a few.

As always, send suggestions to webmaster@chemistry.ohio-state.edu


6) General News: A Report of Y2K Events in the Department:


The bottom line is that not much happened. A few web pages reported the year
as 19100, whereas some older elm versions thought the year was 100. These
bugs were quickly fixed, and we have returned to more productive work.

We will continue to look for minor gliches. If you discover any problems,
please report them to support@chemistry.ohio-state.edu as always.

For a slightly more detailed departmental Y2K report, go to

	Internal --> Computer Support --> Support Bulletin

If you want to see screen shots of other people's Y2K glitches, see

	http://y2kmistakes.com



7) General Tips: Update/Erratum:


In December, we informed you that the Encyclopedia Britannica was now online
free of charge at

         http://www.britannica.com

We should have pointed out that the Encyclopaedia Britannica has been
available to OSU for several years. You can connect from any OSU IP address
to:

	http://search.eb.com/

It is listed on the OSU Library web page

	http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/


Look under

	Other Online Research Tools --> Full Text Only --> Britannica Online
						   or Encyclopaedia Britannica

This site is sometimes faster than the free site open to the general public.

The Oxford English Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary are
available through the OSU Library page, too, along with full text of 21
editions of the Bible written in English.