By Brooke Eder
Welcome, Ryan!
We are please to announce that Ryan Turcotte joined the Client Services team as our newest Computer Support Specialist on Monday, October 22nd, 2012. Ryan is a ’10 graduate of Amherst College where he received his B.A in Computer Science. During his undergrad days Ryan was a student worker in the Amherst Desktop Computing Services area where he perfected his IT support skills. After graduation Ryan was awarded a position as the Kermes Technology Fellow, allowing him to work for Amherst College Desktop Services full time for the last two years. While not fixing and repairing computers, Ryan likes to play guitar and is a huge “car enthusiast.” Please join us in welcoming Ryan to BUMC IT and to Boston University.
Tutorials for Faculty and Staff in BUworks, Blackboard Learn, WordPress and Outlook
Don’t miss our upcoming tutorials in BUworks (SAP), Blackboard Learn, WordPress and Outlook! View the schedule and register.
Google Apps to Stop Supporting IE8 in November
Google has announced that it will stop supporting Internet Explorer 8 on November 15, following the release of Internet Explorer 10 on October 26. After November 15, users accessing BU Google Apps with Internet Explorer 8 will see a message recommending a browser upgrade.
Punchout catalogs in SRM cannot be used in Firefox 16
To BUworks Shoppers and Approvers:
It was recently discovered that punchout catalogs are not functioning properly when accessed through Firefox 16 (released on October 9). You will be able to get to the punchout catalogs and put items in your cart. However, when you attempt to purchase them, you will get a blank screen. Firefox15 (and prior versions) still work correctly.
Until Firefox releases an update that solves the problem, we are recommending that Windows users shop with Internet Explorer. Alternatively, instructions are provided so that Windows users can revert to version 15. Unfortunately, all Mac users must revert to Firefox 15 since Safari and other browsers are not supported by BUworks.
The affected punchout catalogs in SRM include:
- Airgas
- Bio-Rad Laboratories
- Fisher Scientific
- Grainger
- Qiagen
- Office Depot (which is limited to only a select number of users)
- SHI International Corp
- Sigma
If you have any questions, or any problem downgrading to an earlier version of Firefox, please feel free to contact us.
BUworks will be unavailable November 21 at 7 PM through November 25
Dear Faculty and Staff,
Every year in early fall, SAP releases Support Packs. These software updates are required to bring our implementation of SAP up to the current support level, as well as provide the necessary payroll and accounts payable tax software updates for producing W-2's and 1099's in January.
The BUworks team has devised a schedule for installing the Support Packs over the Thanksgiving break. These updates are tested by the BUworks team in our test environments, and then thorough "user acceptance" testing is done by key central and distributed end user representatives. This testing will occur over the course of several weeks preceding the Thanksgiving break.
Installation of these updates into the SAP Production system takes about three days. After that, we require another day to check out the system to ensure that everything is working as expected. Access to the BUworks (SAP) system will therefore not be available starting at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, November 21 through 6:00 pm on Sunday, November 25.
Additional reminders will be provided as the Thanksgiving break approaches. The Payroll Office and Student Employment will be making changes to the November monthly and weekly payroll schedules to accommodate this work, and those changes will be communicated well in advance.
We apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Boston University Information Services & Technology
IT Help Center
ithelp@bu.edu
617-353-HELP(4357)
www.bu.edu/tech
New Version of the AnyConnect VPN Client
On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, a new version of the Cisco AnyConnect client was deployed. You should get this update automatically when first connecting to http://work2.bumc.bu.edu after this date.
This new version of the Cisco AnyConnect client was deployed in order to:
• Resolve several major bugs and conflicts with various desktop operating systems
• Provide reliable support for both Windows and Macintosh
• Provide new functions and features, including support for Android clients
• Patch identified critical security vulnerabilities
• Keep clients in a vendor-supported version
• Address an expired vendor signed certificate with the older client installation bundle
With the update, the name changed from "Cisco AnyConnect" to "Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client." Unfortunately, this name change will cause any existing shortcuts to stop working. If you have had trouble connecting to the VPN after October 3, you should delete any shortcuts in use and start fresh by connecting to http://work2.bumc.bu.edu. We apologize for any inconvenience.
At this time we are unaware of any other issues related to this upgrade. However, additional information on this release is provided by Cisco. Please feel free to contact the IT Help Center (617-353-4357 or ithelp@bu.edu) or BUMC IT (617-638-5914 or bumchelp@bu.edu) if you have any problems or questions.
Technology Now: Cloud Computing
The GIR recently produced a new Tech Brief for the community. Click here for the full collection of Tech Briefs.
This Tech Brief, "Technology Now: Cloud Computing," explores the entire spectrum of cloud computing programs that offer potentially lower cost, easy-to-use services with high reliability and rapid startup times are now widely available online. These services, provide computing resources as an online service, not as a physical product. Researchers and users are demanding access to the capabilities that these services provide, but security officers are reluctant to give them access and academic IT organizations are not typically resourced to provide them locally.
Information Security Awareness Student Video & Poster Contest
Win cash, gain experience, and earn international recognition with one short video or a poster!
The EDUCAUSE & Internet2 Higher Education Information Security Council (HEISC) is conducting a contest in search of short information security awareness videos and posters developed by college students for college students. The contest seeks creative, topical, and effective videos (two minutes or less) and posters that focus attention on information security problems and how best to handle them.
Winners will receive cash prizes, and their videos and posters will be featured on the HEISC website (www.educause.edu/security). The winning videos and posters may be used in campus security awareness campaigns.
A gold, silver, and bronze prize will be awarded in three categories—training films of two minutes or less, 30-second public service announcements (PSAs), and posters—for a total of nine cash prizes. Honorable mention prizes will also be awarded.
Cash prizes for videos
- Gold: $2,000
- Silver: $1,500
- Bronze: $1,000
Cash prizes for posters
- Gold: $1,500
- Silver: $1,000
- Bronze: $500
Deadline: March 8, 2013.
For more information, visit http://www.educause.edu/SecurityVideoContest.
Good luck!
Resolved: Crosstown Building Phone System is Temporarily Down
Incident Discovery Time: 08:30am on 9/25/2012
Incident Resolution Time: 09:30am on 9/25/2012
Services Impacted: Phone system- Crosstown Building
Description of Impact
The phone system in the Crosstown Building (801 Massachusetts Ave.) is currently down
Current Status
Phone system in Crosstown Building is back up and running. If you are located in the Crosstown Building and continue to experience issues, contact Telecom at 638-6890.
Resolved: Undeliverable Mail to BMC Email Addresses
Incident Discovery Time: 9:00am on 09/21/2012
Incident Resolution Time: 11:19am on 9/21/2012
Services Impacted: Email
Description of Impact
Clients receive "Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender" when sending email to @bmc.org or BU email addresses that forward to BMC
Incident Description and Resolution
BMC IT has resolved the incident.
If you continue to have issues, please contact the Service Desk.
