The Alfred Computer Guy
It’s the beginning of a new year and there’s a whole lot of great stuff that’s happened since May. Apple just released OSX.6 “Snow Leopard,” Microsoft is on the brink of releasing Windows 7, Netbooks are gaining ground in a big way, and Steve Ballmer is looking more and more like the monster hiding under my bed.
Each of these things warrant a good deal of discussion (especially Windows 7, which I’ve used extensively and am quite excited about), but that will have to happen all in good time. No, what I’d like to discuss first, in the interest of providing a safe and speedy computer environment for everyone, is a basic overview of some key points as you return to campus.
1. Bandwidth is a shared resource. That means the more of you that are active in high-bandwidth activity, the slower the Internet will be for everyone. If you’re going to be downloading content or streaming music or video, please be mindful and respectful of your neighbors.
2. If you have just recently purchased a Mac, then it may have Snow Leopard already on it. One of the biggest draws of the new OS is the Exchange support in Mail, Address Book, and iCal. Unfortunately, to take advantage of these new features, the account must exist on an Exchange 2007 server and Alfred accounts are still on Exchange 2003. The good news is that we are currently working on the upgrade and hope to have it complete by early next year.
3. A friendly reminder: hope for the best and plan for the worst; always back up your files. USB flash drives, external hard drives, the “U” Drive (our AU network share) are all perfectly acceptable methods, but the major point is to not keep your critical data all in one place. Viruses can corrupt, hard drives can fail, and even if systems can be wiped or repaired, data is often the most detrimental and irreversible casualty of computer problems.
Now, on to the questions sent my way. Typically, I wouldn’t have any this early in the year, but as I stumbled in to the ITS Department one morning in desperate search for coffee, I instead found this waiting for me:
Mike,
I understand that not everyone in this world likes Macs. Believe me, I’ve been ostrasized [sic] numerous times for my preference. But I’m sorry: when we redo the wonderful computer lab in Herrick with fancy new Macs, I’d like to use it AS a Mac. I fully support double boot, but as a Mac geek, I’m partial.
[Paraphrasing the rest of the query] I cannot log in to the OSX side of these Macs, is there something I’m doing wrong? Are there special instructions needed and if so, why aren’t they posted in clear view?
I’ll be waiting,
- Anonymous Person Who Left A Note Taped To My Office Door
Dear APWLANTTMOD,
First of all, thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. To answer your question simply, no you were not doing anything wrong and no, there are no special instructions needed for logging into the OSX side of the Herrick Macs. We looked into the problem immediately and as it turns out, there was a glitch affecting a half-dozen of those lab machines that prevented network log-ins from happening in OSX. It has since been fixed and you should be able to use them with your AU username and password.
As an aside, I welcome and invite you to call, e-mail, or just pop on down to the helpdesk if you have any future trouble. We are mostly harmless, we rarely bite, and all ostracizing is done with jovial intent. Additionally, it would give us a chance to provide you with suggestions and informing you of results as soon as the issues are resolved. We really do enjoy fixing problems, but we equally enjoy informing our users that the problems have been fixed – it makes us feel all snuggly.
Do you have any questions you would like to ask? Send me an e-mail at: stone@alfred.edu with the subject “Alfred Computer Guy”. Mac, PC, Linux, OS/2 Warp, NeXT… hit me with your best shot!
