Windows XP will reach its "End of Support" on April 8, 2014

Microsoft says that they will no longer support Windows XP starting on April 8, 2014.  See:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/endofsupport.aspx

for more information.  Some IT Security people expect that there are malicious people waiting for that date to take advantage of Windows XP computers.  Windows XP should not be used on networks after the support ends.

University owned computers can be upgraded with software available at:

https://microsoft.utoronto.ca/

 

 

More Information about new Certificate for UofT Wireless

For additional information about the new certificate for the UofT wireless system please see:

http://help.ic.utoronto.ca/solution_id_1942.html

Security Certificate for UofT (and eduroam) wireless networks will be renewed on March 10

Because the server certificate for the UofT and eduroam wireless networks here at the University are being renewed you will be asked to accept/verify this new certificate the first time you connect after it is installed (on March 10, 2014).  This should only happen once per wireless device.

 

Here is the message about this that was posted by the  Academic and Collaborative Technologies Support Manager on Blackboard:

On Monday, March 10th, the security certificate for the University’s wireless authentication server will be renewed.

When attempting to connect to the UofT or eduroam networks after this update, you will be prompted to accept or verify the new certificate. Once you accept the new certificate, your wireless device will save the setting and connect automatically thereafter.

For campus wireless access information, please visit the Information Common website at http://help.ic.utoronto.ca/content/20/704/en/wireless-access.html

 

University Policy on Encrypting Personal and Confidential Information

It is University policy that any personal and other confidential information that is outside our secure server environment with restricted user rights must be protected with properly implemented encryption.  This means that any personal desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, USB keys, etc. must not have personal or other confidential information unless they are securely encrypted.  This can help prevent any data breaches caused by lost/stolen hardware, although any system with personal and other confidential information must also be kept secure with restricted access, up-to-date software (including the OS), etc.

There are resources describing encryption and what types of information must be protected at: http://encrypt.utoronto.ca

If you have any questions please send email to requests@math.toronto.edu

MATLAB Technical Seminars at UofT on Friday February 7, 2014

Complimentary MATLAB seminars for educators, academic researchers and students at University of Toronto have been scheduled:

Date: Friday, February 7
Location: Claude T. Bissell Building, Room 205 (BL 205)
Time: 9:30-11:30A.M.
12:00-2:00P.M.

 

9:30-11:30A.M.: Session 1: An Introduction to MATLAB Software
Learn how to use MATLAB to analyze and visualize data, edit and debug code and publish and share your results.
12:00-2:00P.M.: Session 2: Parallel Computing with MATLAB to Perform Large-Scale Simulations and Data Processing Tasks
Learn how to boost the execution speed of computationally and data-intensive problems using MATLAB and the Parallel Computing Toolbox.

View complete session descriptions and register at www.mathworks.com/seminars/UTOR2014.

Server updates on 2013dec18 were successful

The departmental servers are working fine after the updates.

The updated firefox that is now on coxeter is able to view PDF files within a tab.  If you prefer you can still use a different viewer (for example, okular) for PDF files by choosing this at:

Edit -> Preferences -> Applications -> Portable Document Format (PDF)

New departmental colour laserprinter for faculty

The department has purchased a Xerox Phaser 7500DT colour laserprinter for faculty use.  This printer can print up to 11″x17″ (tabloid) pages.  Due to the high cost of the printer and toner, the printer is only accessible by the faculty.

The printer is called lwcol (for colour).  So, from coxeter the following would work:

Print -Plwcol filename

Remote printing (from laptops, for example) to lwcol is currently not supported.  Please copy files to coxeter and print them from there.

Please note that the department will be monitoring the usage of the printer toner cartridges and if costs become high then charging for using this printer will be considered.  It is hoped that usage will be reasonable and that this will not be necessary.

Blackboard outage (Dec 20 to Dec 22) during winter break

Major maintenance has been scheduled for the UofT Portal between 5:00 p.m. on Friday December 20th and the evening of Sunday, December 22nd 2013.

During this time The Learning Portal and Blackboard Collaborate will be unavailable.  Services will be restored once work is completed and may be available sooner.

For more information, please visit http://uoft.me/portalstatus

New wireless laser pointer for the Seminar Room – Update

It seems that someone has accidentally taken the USB wireless receiver for the wireless laser pointer in the Seminar Room. Without the USB wireless receiver the laser pointer can no longer be used to switch pages of a presentation.  If you find the receiver please bring it to the front desk.

UTmail+ outage this weekend

The University’s email system for students, called UTmail+, has a scheduled service outage this weekend. After clicking on the UTmail+ link on the University’s system status page (http://www.systemstatus.utoronto.ca/) you will currently see:

The service outage will begin on Friday, October 11, 2013 at 4:00 P.M. with service restored on or before Sunday, October 13.

The departmental email will not be affected (except if you try to mail to an address like user@mail.utoronto.ca of course).