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byte: a combination adjacent bit, usually eight, processed by a computer as a unit
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Jan · Feb · Mar 2016
Issue 2
Quarterly Newsletter
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In this Issue...
Have You Met...
...and much more!
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Welcome back! I hope each of you enjoyed your holidays off. During the past few months, ITS has been working to enhance our services and systems while making security one of our top priorities.
Please continue to help us by not sharing your password, do not click on phishing emails, downloading from bit torrent sites, and no peer-to-peer file sharing. Stay tuned as we continue to improve our technology environment.
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Justin Vaughner, Technology Support Analyst
Mr. Justin Vaughner is from White Hall, Alabama. He attended Alabama A&M University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Vaughner worked in the ITS department during his undergraduate studies. After graduating Justin worked as an Engineering Aid at Lockheed Martin. Later, he relocated to Madison, WI where he worked in Research and Development on Black and Decker Small Kitchen Appliances.
Justin rejoined the ITS department at Alabama A&M University in 2014 where he is a Technology Support Analyst in the area of User Support Services.
In his spare time, he enjoys reading about cars and doing autocross racing. He also enjoys free-lance photography as well as playing video games. In addition, he enjoys spending time with his family.
Justin lives with his wife and 5 month old son.
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Technology Purchasing Procedures
Information Technology Services (ITS) is responsible for maintaining the University network, computer workstations, hardware, software, storage, peripherals, and servers to ensure that quality is obtained at a reasonable cost, along with standards that align with the university's strategic objectives.
ITS seeks to purchase technologies and equipment that are sustainable, compatible with current systems/software, that can be successfully supported by the AAMU ITS support staff. As a result, ITS has negotiated numerous purchasing agreements with hardware, software, network, and telecommunication vendors, service agencies, multimedia companies, software developers and others in order to ensure the best pricing and technology; therefore the AAMU ITS department must be involved in all information technology related purchases.
Technology Requests
In order to ensure this standard is maintained, all technology purchases
will require a Technology Purchase Request Form. Technology requests may include but are not limited to the following:
- Laptops
- Surveillance cameras
- External Storage Devices
- Projectors
- Desktops
- Monitors
- Software
- Servers
- Installations
- License agreements/Maintenance
The Technology Request Form must include an attached vendor quote with pricing, and a detailed description of the technology requested. To obtain a quote, contact the ITS Help Desk at 256-372-HELP (4357) with your request and a quote will be sent back to you within 3- 5 business days, this quote must be uploaded to your Technology Request Form.
The Technology Purchase Request Form must be completed, have all signatures, and include all attached documents. No technology purchase(s) will be allowed without the the form which can be found on both the Purchasing and ITS websites, and may be accessed via the following link: http://www.aamu.edu/forms
ITS Services will assist with consulting on technology solutions for your department and/or project, feel free to contact the Help Desk at 256-372-HELP (4357) for assistance.
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Checklist Before Calling the ITS Help Desk
Before contacting the Help Desk, there are a few common problems and errors that can be easily fixed by you, and may help resolve your issue quicker, even if you don't know anything about computers. Here are a few checklist items below:
- Check Cable Connections - Check power connections to outlets including surge protectors; along with the Ethernet connection to outlets as well. check machine to outlet connections such as video monitors, keyboards, mouse, etc.
- Reboot Machine - Shutdown/Turn off the system and wait at least 30 seconds before restarting the system again.
- Validate your Password - Make sure your caps look is not turned on and you are typing the correct credentials for the system/program you are trying to access.
- Verify Software - If it appears to be a software application problem, verify if you are running the most up-to-date version.
- Check Internet - If you are experiencing Internet problems, try to reach other web sites that are not local to the AAMU campus.
- Co-Worker Validation - Check with office-mates to see if anyone else in your area is affected with the same issue.
- Save Data - If it appears that your operating system, or machine is ready to shut down or crash then immediately save any open applications or files.
- Capture Error Messages - Be sure to write down, copy or screen-shot any error messages you receive and include it with your report to the help-desk.
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Most spam mail will be blocked at the server level. However, some email messages can be blocked locally by individual users. Each user will receive a daily spam filter report regarding potential spam that was blocked from your email.
If you do not have any messages blocked locally, you will not receive any email from the ITS SPAM Filter that day.
In the ITS SPAM Filter report you can choose to:
- Deliver-a message that is not spam is sent to your email inbox
- Whitelist- a message that it is not spam is sent to your inbox and subsequent messages from the sender are sent to your inbox.
- Delete - remove the email and prevents the email from from returning
In addition, you may view your quarantine spam report at anytime by clicking on "
To view your entire quarantine inbox or manage your preferences Click Here " at the bottom of the spam filter report. You will need to login using your AAMU email address and your password credentials.
Please be reminded that the spam filter will not catch all spam. Users need to be cautious when clicking on links and typing credentials.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Help Desk at 256-372-HELP (4357) or email [email protected].
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Keep Tax Information Safe
As Tax Season approaches, tax payers should be aware of the risk of identity theft and tax fraud. Tax payers should be aware of Phishing Tax Scams, Phone Fraud, and Fraudulent Tax Filings. If you would like more information please visit
Basic Tips:
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Beware of anyone contacting you by phone, email, text, or social media who claims to be from the IRS:
- The IRS will never contact you via email to request personal or financial information or demand payment over the phone.
- If you get a suspicious call or other contact, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to confirm that the contact is legitimate.
- Report suspicious email activity to [email protected]
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Protect your personal information:
- File early to thwart identity thieves.
- Do not open email attachments or click on links from unknown sources.
- Do not give your social security number or financial information unless required.
- If you think you are a victim of identity fraud, contact the IRS Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490 and the state where you file taxes.
* information taken from https://www.irs.gov/
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Office 365 for Students!
Microsoft Office 365 software is available to AAMU students, free of charge. To obtain the free download of the Microsoft Office 365 software, students must activate their account using the following link:
https://portal.office.com/start?sku=e82ae690-a2d5-4d76-8d30-7c6e01e6022e
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Students should enter their Bulldogs email address and click signup. After signing up, students should access their Bulldogs email account and complete the Office 365 Education signup. Activation of the software takes approximately one hour.
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The Department of Homeland Security announced it will begin accepting applications for the 2016 Secretary's Honors Program Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative for current undergraduate and graduate students. Beginning in the spring of 2016, over 50 selected students will complete volunteer assignments supporting the DHS cyber mission at department field offices in over 40 locations across the country.
For more information about the Secretary's Honors Program Cyber Student Volunteer Initiative, including the selection and application process, visit
* information taken from http://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-careers/
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Discounts are offered on voice, data, upgrades new
devices and some features.The account has to be in the
student's/employee's name to get the discounts.
- Students 10% discount
- Employees 17% discount
For further details visit:
http://www.att.com/wireless/AandMemployees
- If you visit a local AT&T store, please have proof of eligibility (employee badge, paystub or student ID).
- Mention Discount Code: FAN2427751
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Peer-to-peer networking is a popular way to share files
among peers. File sharing can connect potentially millions
of users and easily access movies, music, games, software,
etc. File sharing software is often free; however, it may
introduce malicious content to your computer, capture
personal information and potentially introduce viruses into
a network.
Many people utilize peer-to-peer file sharing software such as Bittorent, Gnutella, Limewire, Kazaa, Bearshare and others to download music, movies, software or books. If you do not have the permission of the copyright owner, it is illegal to download these files. Even if you have a legal right to a copy, you may not have the right to share it with the others.
ITS at Alabama A&M University has recently acquired software to monitor peer-to-peer traffic on the campus network both for WiFi and Ethernet networking. ITS reserves the right to identify and limit outgoing/incoming peer-to-peer traffic, which may cause individuals who attempt to illegally download copyrighted material to have very slow download speeds resulting in poor performance.
Alternatives to Illegal Downloading
The EDUCAUSE Association provides the following
webpage that lists legitimate online services for students to use as an alternative to illegal downloading. Alabama A&M students are encouraged to use these free or pay websites to legally obtain electronic content.
For more information visit EDUCAUSE resources:
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Apps Spotlight!
AAMU Mobile App
Download the AAMU Mobile App for access to the directory, sporting events, email, calendars including Banner Access.
Available on:
iOS
Android
Mobile Web
Intel® Education Study
Interactive eTextbook and PDF e-reader, designed for education, helps you make the most of your study time. Highlighting, note taking, search, engagement reporting, and journal features can assist you in improving engagement, study habits, comprehension, and retention.
Buy or Rent your eTextbooks today for anytime, anywhere access across iOS*, Android*, and Windows* based devices.
RefME
Citations, MadeEasy.
EasyBib is the world's best and most accurate citation generator. EasyBib allows you to automatically create citations for your bibliography in seconds: MLA, APA, Chicago, and over 7000 other citation styles.You can also create the perfect citation for 56 different source types (databases, newspapers, etc.).
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Blackboard Learn Update!
Our Blackboard Learn system has been updated to the most current version available. This update should address hundreds of reported issues to help instructors, students, and administrators utilize all features of Blackboard Learn.
Highlights of New Features and Enhancements
- Goals Performance Dashboard - A competency-based education Building Block to map goals to courses within Learn. The Goal Performance Dashboard evaluates evidence of competencies individually, allowing for true measurement of mastery.
- Grades Reporting for SIS - A Building Block to integrate your institution's Student Information System with Learn. The Grades Journey B2 allows you to exchange grade information between two separate systems.
- HTML 5 Support - The Content Editor now supports HTML5 Audio and Video playback in Chrome and Edge browsers.
- Announcement Email Header - The From header now includes the sender's full name in course announcement emails.
- Thread-to-Thread Navigation in Discussion Boards - Users will be able to navigate to the next or previous thread in a discussion from the Thread Detail page without having to navigate back up to the Discussion Forum page.
- Announcement Date Restriction Default - When creating an announcement, "Not Date Restricted" is now selected by default.
- Special Characters in Assignment Titles - When a user uploads a file to Learn and the file name contains special characters (such as / \ : ? * " < > | ), the system replaces the special character with an underscore ( _ ).
- Notifications - Several fixes have been made to Assessments, Grading and the Mobile B2 to improve notification performance.
- Browser Support - The Microsoft Edge browser is now supported.
Accessibility Features and Improvements
- Assessments - When creating a hot spot question, an Image Alternate Text box is now available.
- Content Editor - The default heading size for all of the embedded headings has been increased so they are properly read in both the view and edit state in the Content Editor.
- Discussion Boards - Forum Descriptions are now read on Create Thread Page.
Hands on training with Blackboard Learn: Face to face and group sessions available. Integrate audio and video into your Blackboard course with tools that engage the student. Create a discussion board with audio and video! Use open source tools that are freely available to use with your own laptop or workstation.
Let us work with you to help make the transition to adopting technology easier. Schedule an appointment with us today! (256-372-4357.)
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FAQs
- How can I check to see if an email went to the spam filter?
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To view your entire quarantine inbox or manage your preferences; select
Click Here
- Login (email address: firstname.lastname; password: email password)
- How can I submit a support ticket to ITS?
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How can I check the status of my electronic forms submitted?
- www.aamu.edu/forms
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- Type in your email credentials (username: facstaff\firstname.lastname; password = email password)
- Once you are logged in, click on Pending/Draft Forms or Forms History.
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Locations
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No. of Computers
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Hours of Operation
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Library (LRC)
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47
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Mon-Thurs 8am-11pm,
Fri 8am-5pm,
Sun 1pm-11pm
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Foster Complex
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25
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Mon-Thurs 8am-10pm, Fri 8am-5pm, Sun 6pm-10pm
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Knight Center Complex
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35
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Mon-Thurs 8am-10pm,
Fri 8am-5pm,
Sun 6pm-10pm
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School of Business
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35
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Carver Complex North
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35
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Mon-Fri 8am- 5pm
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