Taking His Teaching On The Road

Congratulations go out to Dr. Corey Olsen of WC's Department of English. His project, The Tolkien Professor, has just gone big on iTunes. Dr. Olsen uses a website, RSS feed and podcasts to share his thoughts and lectures on Tolkien's work and the worlds created within. Since posting his podcasts up to iTunes only days ago, Corey has been named a featured publisher on the service . His podcasts have reached #38 in the top audio podcasts (as of today - they are probably still climbing!) which puts him ahead of MSNBC and NPR, to name but a few.

In Dr. Olsen's own words:

"As a literature professor, I love helping students to engage more closely with works of literature and to develop habits of careful and thoughtful reading. My website is intended to be a vehicle for undertaking that same project beyond the classroom. It is my hope not only that my free online lectures will help to bring many people to a richer understanding of Tolkien's works, but also that they will help to fuel a love of literature and a life of rewarding reading. In my lectures, I am working methodically through Tolkien's major works, discussing them in detail, covering one to three chapters in each session. I have begun with The Hobbit, which I will cover in eight lectures, after which I will move on to the Lord of the Rings. I have been delighted by the reception the lectures have received so far. [...] I am very excited about this project, and I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with my listeners."

Be sure to visit Dr. Olsen's website - www.tolkienprofessor.com - to learn more about his lectures and to take part in the community discussions or talk with Dr. Olsen one on one. You can also download Tolkien Professor content from iTunes U. The Department of English section now has a tab of The Tolkien Professor podcasts.

Strange & Wonderful Tech - Off The Circuit

Instructional Technology has launched a new feature on its blog - Off The Circuit. Off The Circuit will cover the strange and wonderful things that happen when cold technology meets with the emotions of humanity. Stories that are off the beaten path will be published on Off The Circuit biweekly. Today's first installment covers Shinto gadget blessings and a 13 year old's experience trading his iPod for a Walkman.

Email Scam - Do Not Reply

The following email is NOT from Washington College. Please do not respond to it. Washington College OIT will NEVER ask for your email user name and password by email.

Washington College Support Desk

Attention:

This is to inform you that we are carrying out a site upgrade, as a
mailbox Subscriber, we are carrying out a (inactive email-accounts)
clean-up process to enable service upgrade efficiency.
Please be informed that we will delete all mail accounts that are non
functioning. You are to provide your mail account details as
follows(This will confirm your Washington College mailbox Login/usage
Frequency):

*User name:
*Password:
*Date of birth:

Failure to do this, your email address will be deactivated from our
database.

Washington College Email Support.
Copyright 2009 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown,
Maryland 21620

OIT will never ask by email for your network user name and password.

Zimbra Email Client Access

If you are already set up to use Zimbra, the following tutorial created by Gene Sheehan will be very useful for you:

To log in to Zimbra:

• Go to the Zimbra link directly by going to https://zmail.washcoll.edu

OR

1. Go to the Washington College home page at http://www.washcoll.edu/ and click on Log In at the top right corner of the page
2. Then Click on the WC email button (labeled Zimbra Mail Client) at the left side of the window. Do not use the WEBMAIL LOG IN/Forward/New Password (old email) near the top center of the window

To change your Net ID password in Zimbra:

• Select the Preferences tab
• Select the General tab below Preferences
• Click on the Change Password button
• In the next window, enter old and new passwords, and press the Change Password button

Just In Time for Back To School

Apple announced yesterday updates to its MacBook Pro family of notebook computers. The 13" MacBook has now been named a "Pro," joining its 15" and 17" siblings (which only makes sense since it looked like them anyway.) The systems each received processor, memory and storage upgrades - and price reductions.

OIT has chosen its three favorite configurations of these new notebook computers and has placed them in the Recommended Systems section of our custom Apple Store for Education. You can visit the store by following the link below:

http://store.apple.com/us_edu_49719?cid=AOS-US-KOW-ED

When you arrive, be sure to click "Recommended Systems" in the upper right hand corner to view our preferred bundles. Shopping at the Apple Store for Education will yield savings between $100 and $250, depending on which system you choose. If you haven't purchased a computer yet for Fall, now is a great time!

Postal Service Rates for Fall 2009

The U.S. Postal Service enacted an across-the-board postage rate hike on May 11, 2009. The price of a first-class stamp rose 2 cents from 42 to 44 cents. Under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, prices for mailing services are reviewed annually and adjusted each May, with the overall average price increase capped at the rate of inflation, currently 3.8 percent. This postal increase will likely become an annual occurrence.

New Rates

• First Class Letter, 1 oz. $0.44
• Large Envelopes, 1 oz. $0.88
• Postcard $0.28
• Parcels, First Ounce $1.22
• Certified Mail $2.80
• First Class International Letter $0.98
• Canada $0.75
• Mexico $0.79

Promotion: Buy a Mac, Get an iPod

Thinking about buying a new computer for back to school season? Considering a Mac? Want an iPod for free?



Now through September 8th, Apple is offering a free iPod touch (or other iPod of equal or lesser value) to anyone who buys a new Mac through the Apple Store for Education. Don't miss this great back to school promotion!

Testing Windows 7 with Parallels

A lot of our campus community is using Windows via Parallels or VMWare Fusion on their Macs. How does a set up like this work with Microsoft's Windows 7, the successor to Vista? Gene Sheehan, our software guru, reports in on using Windows 7 with Parallels on his MacBook Pro:

After doing an upgrade to Windows 7 RC on my MacBookPro last week, Parallels Shared Folders did not work at all. This can be a disaster for users who keep all their files on the Mac OS rather on the Windows virtual machine. In researching the problem, I found that Parallels Shared Folders never working at all, or "breaking" after previously working, has actually been an issue for several versions, over the past several years. A solution which worked completely for me and many others is described below.

Fix for Shared Folders not working in Parallels:

1. Uninstall Parallels Tools using Add/Remove Programs control panel
2. Restart Windows (it will want to reboot automatically anyway)
3. Open Windows/System32/drivers and remove prlfs.sys driver if present
4. Install Parallels Tools using Install Parallels Tools item in the Virtual Machine menu (Action menu on older versions) of the Parallels Desktop application
5. Restart Windows

Another interesting feature of Parallels is that doing updates regularily does not necessarily mean that you are running the latest "Build." It seems that new Builds are not offered automatically, and most be downloaded and installed manually. As an example, until I had a problem with Shared Folders last week, I had all available updates installed on Parallels 4 Build 4.0.3810 (Jan 23, 2009). When I went to the Parallels site, I found that Parallels 4 Build 4.0.3844 (May 5, 2009) was available. (Upgrading to Parallels Build 4.0.3844 did not fix the Shared Folders problem.)

Is it a coincidence that this Build was made available the same day as Microsoft Windows 7 Release Candidate?

So far, Gene reports good results with Windows 7, noting its polish, speed and easy of use as well as ample compatibility with legacy programs and remarkable stability for what is, essentially, a Beta. He also notes that "Microsoft has not announced an official release date for Windows 7, but October is likely. [W]e can probably expect some Windows 7 computers to arrive on the Washington College campus by early 2010."

Fake Helpdesk Email - Don't Respond

Please do not respond to the email reprinted below. It is a fake and originated in Canada. Remember - OIT will not ask for your user name and password by email. The spammers are getting more tricky - this time they used information from the college Web site to make it look more official.

Here's the fake email:

Subject: Notice!!
From: HelpDesk@washcoll.edu
Date: Thu, April 30, 2009 8:39 pm
To:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Washington College Webmail wishes to inform you that we are having
congestion due to anonymous registration of e-mail
accounts. We will be shutting down and therefore are sending out this
notice to you so that you will verify your account
and let us know if you still want to use this account. If "YES" please
confirm your account by filling the form below
(Your User name, password, and country). We are requesting for this
information to enable us update your/all accounts
for a better use. The requested information should be sent to the
Technical Support Desk on: helpdesk01@live.com

* Username:..........................
* Password: ..........................
* Country: ...........................

Warning!!!
Any account user that refuses to update his/her account after 24HRS of
receiving this notice will lose his or her
account permanently. We apologize for any inconveniences this may have
cause you.

Sign;

HelpDesk
(Technical Consultant: Jillian Brady)
2 William Smith Hall, Lower Level
Washington College Webmail.

(end of fake email)

OIT will never ask by email for your network user name and password.

Important Reminder - Security

Please remember that no matter what email you may receive that asks for your user name and password for any account - not only Washington College accounts - you should never respond. Legitimate commercial, government and educational organizations will not request that information by email.

If you want to check on the validity of such a request you should telephone the organization directly or go directly to the Web address of the company. Do not use the link in an email that requests password information.