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. Inside! Schedules of Hands-on Training . A Decade of W3C Transforms editor, and a browser, all christened . Courses and Free Computer Events . the World’s Webbing “WorldWideWeb.” He also set up the . . first web server, on his NeXT machine, . • Lee Ridgway . to serve the CERN community. . The next step – expanding the Web . IS&T Doubles MIT’s External . beyond CERN – came in August 1991 . e tend to think of the Web as Network Connections ...... 2 . W being everywhere, and acces- when, for a fee, CERN made the pro- . . sible from just about any device that gram files available via file transfer. Software Spotlight . . can connect to the Internet. What we The Web remained mainly within a Back Up Your Data with Tivoli . . may not think about is how this is small realm of research labs, universi- Storage Manager (TSM) 5.2.3 ...... 3 . ties, and techies, with about 50 known . possible. Thanks are due to the World . servers operating by January 1993. Network Notes . Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, for its . creation of standards and technologies That year seemed to be significant to Update on Web Browser . . that ensure the Web’s interoperability. the Web’s growth, with three develop- Support at MIT ...... 4 . . This year marks the 10th anniver- ments standing out: Bits and Bytes 4 ...... sary of the W3C and the establishment • CERN declared that the Web tech- . Safe Computing . of its headquarters here at MIT. A sym- nology would be free to anyone. . posium on December 1 remembered Security Principles: Identity, . • The Mosaic browser was released, . the W3C’s origins, and considered the Authentication, Authorization ...... 5 . for free, for all common platforms: . future of the Web and W3C’s role in it. . Unix, Windows, and Macintosh. This IAP, Get up to Speed on . Associated with this celebratory event, . • Articles on the Web appeared in Information Technology ...... 5 . Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney . The New York Times, The Guardian, . declared December 2004 “World Wide Tech Tips . and The Economist. . Web Consortium Month.” Backing Up When You Travel ...... 6 . This year also marks the 10th an- By the way, in 1993, the first web site . . niversary of MIT’s official home page, at MIT made its debut, created by the PI/Space Registration and . . http://web.mit.edu. So a look back and Student Information Processing Board SARA Reporting Move to SAP ...... 6 . . forward seems appropriate, and who (SIPB). It’s URL was www.mit.edu, . which is why MIT’s official site is Better Web Searches: IS&T . better to go to than the Web’s founder, . is&t web.mit.edu (that’s another story). Brings Google to MIT ...... 7 . Tim Berners-Lee, whom inter- . viewed by e-mail. Getting Help 8 . The W3C Takes Shape ...... At the Start Planning for the W3C began in Surf Sites: Specialized Search . . The Web’s beginning is pegged at 1994, with the late Michael Dertouzos Engines 8 ...... March 1989, when Berners-Lee presented of the Lab for Computer Science play- . ing a key role in bringing the Consor- . a proposal for a global hypertext system . to his employers at CERN, the European tium and Berners-Lee to MIT. The first . . laboratory for particle physics research. W3C meeting was held in December . of that year. . Berners-Lee recounts that in 1990, he  . . wrote the software for the server, an continued on page 2 .  works equally well on mobile devices represent areas of knowledge (such A DECADE OF W3C and conventional computers. These as medicine, music, real estate). These continued from page 1 standards would champion the con- descriptions make it possible for a com- cept of separating content from the puter to connect to data about the same When asked about challenges to the form in which it is presented. thing, even if the data is scattered on W3C in its first couple of years, Berners- different systems around the world. The Semantic Web Lee relates that HyperText Markup RDF and OWL, the foundation Berners-Lee himself is heavily in- Language (HTML), the coding behind standards of the Semantic Web, were volved in the Semantic Web. He sees web pages, “was in dire danger of frag- it as an extension of the current Web, developed by the W3C and are now menting.” Browser developers were “in which information, or data, is well established, leading to new direc- adding functionality in an effort to look given well-defined meaning, better tions of development. To follow these the best, but doing so with incompati- enabling computers and people to developments, start at the W3C’s ble extensions to HTML. The W3C was work in cooperation.” In short, it is Semantic Web site at left playing catch-up in this area, a situ- about data, not documents. http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/ ø ation that could have been lessened if Vast amounts of data are in XML or the Consortium had started a year ear- relational databases, application data Related Sites lier. In other areas, though, such as style files in proprietary formats, and spread- sheets and graphics, the W3C led the sheets. Some of these data do generate World Wide Web Consortium http://www.w3.org/ way with sample code and demonstra- documents on human-centric web sites. tions to show what was possible. Even so, the data can’t be treated as such: Although less of a problem in recent A Little History of the World Wide it can’t be queried, joined, or combined Web years, some web pages only work prop- into new relationships across the Web. http://www.w3.org/History.html erly with certain browsers. This seems The Semantic Web is about getting to be the case with some financial ser- data exposed to the Web in a standard Tim Berners-Lee’s original proposal vices, retail purchasing, and graphics- format, Resource Description Frame- to CERN intensive sites. Berners-Lee believes work (RDF). RDF is a set of rules for http://www.w3.org/History/1989/ these sites need to be redesigned quick- building a description of the real-world proposal.html ly, due to the growing diversity of things the data is about, then describing SemWebCentral browsers and devices on which web to the computer exactly how the data http://www.semwebcentral.org/ pages can be displayed. are related to those things. These de- The W3C is considering a Mobile scriptions use the Web Ontology Lan- SchemaWeb – RDF Schemas Directory Web initiative, which would develop guage (OWL). OWL is a set of subject http://www.schemaweb.info/ standards for coding content so that it or domain-specific vocabularies that

IS&T Doubles MIT’s External have facilities – Network Connections including the Level 3 point of Managing Editor Information Services and Technology presence (POP) at Robyn Fizz (IS&T) recently reconfigured its ex- 300 Bent Street in Cambridge. This Writer/Editor ternal Internet connections, lowering Lee Ridgway costs and effectively doubling MIT’s is where MITnet commodity Internet bandwidth. Three connects to Co- is&t is published six times a year. MIT faculty communications vendors – Cogent, gent, Level 3, and and staff receive copies through campus mail; is&t is also available in lobbies around campus. Level 3, and Sprint – now provide Sprint. Individuals at MIT may subscribe by contacting MIT’s external connectivity, so if one This ring provides MIT with “dark the managing editor. link goes down, the Institute will still fiber” to selected locations in the Send comments or subscription requests to: have Internet access through the other Boston area at very little cost. “Dark MIT Room N42-290B, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, two vendors. The increased band- fiber” refers to the whole network Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 width includes new one-gigabit fiber: MIT literally controls the ends Phone: (617) 253-0540 Ethernet connections to Level 3 of the glass fiber and can choose to Electronic mail: and Sprint. “multiplex” it into many individual is&t is published online at circuits. http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ Fiber Ring The IS&T web site also offers frequent news These new connections are routed Continuing Connections updates on its home page or at via the Boston Area Metro Fiber Ring, In addition, IS&T continues to http://web.mit.edu/ist/news/ which MIT, Harvard, Boston Univer- maintain its existing network con- All product names are trademarks or registered sity, and Northeastern University re- nections to Comcast, Northern Cross- trademarks of their respective manufacturers. cently acquired. This ring goes down Roads (Boston area Gigpop), Abilene Vassar Street, then to various “carrier (Internet2), and the Energy Sciences © 2004 Massachusetts Institute of Technology hotels” – places where many carriers Network (ESnet). ø

. . . . 2 . is&t • November / December 2004 • http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ • November / December 2004 • is&t . 3 . . S o f t w a r e S p o t l i g h t

Back Up Your Data with Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) 5.2.3 • Dave Kalenderian, Patrick Whitney, and Esther Yanow

TSM is MIT’s enterprise data backup and restoral software. Backing up the contents of your computer to a secure network server lets you restore data in case of error or computer failure. For more information on IS&T’s fee-based backup service, see http://web.mit.edu/ist/topics/backup/ IS&T recently released TSM 5.2.3 for You can check the status of your last backup by finding SCHEDULEREC STATUS BEGIN Windows and Macintosh. TSM 5.2.3 for near the bottom of your schedule log. Linux is also available and supported. This latest release of TSM includes For more information about encryp- not the department computers are minor bug fixes and additional features. tion, go to being backed up. Notable features of the 5.2.3 client on http://itinfo.mit.edu/ Reports are sent twice a month. Ad- the Macintosh are scheduled backups article?id=7444 ministrators interested in this service and encryption. should send e-mail to and include a list of node Scheduled Backups to . names to be monitored, along with Before this release, Macintosh users You can download TSM from the the e-mail address(es) the report(s) had to be logged in to run a scheduled MIT IS&T Software Site at should be sent to. backup. With version 5.2.3, the sched- http://web.mit.edu/software/ uler can be installed and the scheduled Information and Support backup will run regardless of whether Note that you need a current personal For instructions about obtaining, the user is logged in. certificate to download this software. installing, and using TSM, see Note: Users on all platforms who Backup Reports http://itinfo.mit.edu/ opt for scheduled backups should check The TSM Service Team offers, at no product?name=tsm/ the Schedule Log frequently to verify additional charge, backup reports for If you have questions about the soft- that scheduled backups are successful departments and organizations with ware or service, contact the Computing (see screenshot above). five or more TSM accounts. These re- Help Desk at or 253-1101. TSM 5.2.3 for all platforms now sup- and the date of the last backup. The In addition, the TSM Service Team ports encryption of backup data. With purpose of these reports is to facilitate will offer a free IAP session, “TSM: Why encryption, your data is secure while the management of backups, helping a Back Up Anyway?” on January 25 from being transmitted over the network. local administrator to see whether or 2 to 3pm in the N42 Demo Center. ø Often encryption is not necessary, but in certain circumstances it is required – Where Does My Backup Go? for example, when you are legally bound to protect data. You may be wondering what happens to your data when you perform a While the option to encrypt data backup of your computer using TSM (or when a scheduled backup occurs). addresses a need, care must be taken The answer is fairly straightforward: The data is sent, via MITnet, to one of when using it. If you decide to turn on four dedicated backup servers in IS&T’s secured Data Center in W91. Initially encryption, you will be prompted to stored in a compressed format on the backup server’s RAID (Redundant create a unique key. Without this key, Array of Inexpensive Disks) protected disk, the data is eventually migrated you won’t be able to restore your data. to highly reliable, robust tape cartridges stored in one of three automated It is very important that you keep a tape libraries. These tape libraries are a great addition to the TSM service, copy of this key someplace other than allowing restores to happen without human intervention in the Data Center. the computer that is being backed up. The data remains online and available for restorals 24 hours a day, 7 days If you lose this key, the TSM Service a week, 365 days a year. For details about TSM policies regarding data reten- Team will not be able to help you. To tion, see http://itinfo.mit.edu/article?id=6912. save the key, copy it to removable For more information about the automated tape libraries, see media, such as a CD-R, or to another http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/storage/tape/3494/ and computer. To be prepared in the event http://www.storagetek.com/products/product_ page30.html. of a disaster, you should keep a copy of the key in a secure offsite location. . . . . 2 . is&t • November / December 2004 • http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ • November / December 2004 • is&t . 3 . . . . T e Nc he tT w i op rs k N o t e s . B i t s a n d B y t e s . . . . . Update on Web Browser Macintosh . This column presents announcements . Support at MIT On Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later, the . about IS&T-supported software. For . recommended browser is Safari 1.2.2 . more information about recent releases, • Lee Ridgway . or later. Safari 1.2.2 supports x.509 . see http://web.mit.edu/swrt/ . certificates, and IS&T anticipates that . . Microsoft Campus Agreement Benefits ncreasingly, MIT relies on secure web new releases of Safari will continue to . operate within MIT’s web and certifi- . MIT Windows Users Isites to deliver critical information, . services, and applications to members of cate environment. . . Information Services and Technology the community. Access to these secure http://www.apple.com/safari/ . (IS&T) has negotiated and funded a . sites, such as Employee Self-Service or . Microsoft Campus Agreement for Versions of Safari prior to 1.2.2 do WebSIS, requires authentication of the . Windows operating systems and not support x.509 certificates. If you . user and an encrypted connection. This . Client Access Licenses (CALs). This are running a version of Mac OS X . secure access is controlled through . agreement grants MIT faculty, staff, previous to 10.3.4, IS&T recommends . x.509 digital certificates, otherwise . and undergraduate students the right that you upgrade. The Mac OS X 10.3.x . known here as the MIT CA and your . to use Windows XP Professional and upgrades include the later versions of . MIT personal certificate. . subsequent operating system releases Safari. . For many years, MIT’s implementa- . from Microsoft. . tion of the x.509 certificates required Windows . To learn more about or to partici- the Netscape browser on Macintosh . Internet Explorer (IE) 6.0 with SP2 . pate in this program, contact the Soft- and Windows platforms, or Mozilla on . is the supported browser on Windows. . ware Release Team at . Athena. Over the past couple of years, It is important that the IE browser . Also visit the Microsoft Campus . the situation has changed, so that version be current with the operating . Agreement at MIT page at . other browsers, including those native system, and that all browser patches be . http://web.mit.edu/ist/products/ . to an operating system, are now com- up to date. IS&T anticipates that new . vsls/mitwin/msca.html patible with MIT’s x.509 certificates. . releases of IE will continue to operate . Read on for a summary of current . for the latest information regarding within MIT’s web and certificate en- . these agreements. supported browsers at MIT. These vironment. . . On a related note, IS&T has extended browsers come with their respective http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ . operating system, and are not provided . support for Windows 2000 through ie/default.mspx . through IS&T’s software download site. . March 31, 2005. This extension parallels . For more information about a browser Netscape . that of Microsoft, and was made in . recognition of the planning it takes to or to download later versions, go to MIT support for Netscape will be . . upgrade an operating system across a the vendor’s web site. limited after June 30, 2005. The Mozilla . . department or lab. (Originally, IS&T organization, which produced Net- . Athena . had announced that support for Win- Mozilla 1.7.x is the current sup- scape, stopped work on this browser . in 2003. If you are still using Netscape . dows 2000 would be retired on Decem- ported version available in the Athena . ber 31, 2004.) Note that IS&T will not on Windows or Macintosh to access . environment on Linux and Solaris. . be testing new software releases on secure web sites at MIT, IS&T urges . Major updates to the default Mozilla . Windows 2000 after January 1, 2005. you to transfer to the IS&T supported . version are made when a new release of . the Athena system is installed, usually operating system and browser appro- . . Less Support for Selected Software during the summer. Minor updates priate for your computer platform. . . To maintain high-quality support for (e.g., to fix security holes) are installed, . Firefox . key applications and improve respon- as needed, in Athena patch releases. . Mozilla recently released Firefox . siveness to new vendor releases, IS&T http://www.mozilla.org/products/ 1.0. Although IS&T has not begun a . periodically downgrades its support . mozilla1.x/ release effort for Firefox, and it is not . for older versions of software. Starting . For a summary of the differences supported by IS&T, Firefox is recom- . December 31, IS&T will provide only . between Mozilla on Athena and Mo- mended as an alternative browser for . limited support for Eudora 5.1 (Win- . zilla in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see users who may still be running Mac . dows), Eudora 5.2.3 (Macintosh), File- . the IS&T stock answer at OS X 10.2.8 or earlier. Mac OS X 10.2 . Maker Pro 5.5, and Office 2001. On . June 30, 2005, IS&T will also reduce its http://itinfo.mit.edu/answer?id=7166 users, however, are strongly encour- . aged to upgrade to Mac OS X 10.3.x. . support for Netscape 7.02, Office XP . Linux http://www.mozilla.org/products/ . (Windows), and Office X (Macintosh). . Mozilla 1.4.x is the supported ver- firefox/ . IS&T will not test these products in . sion for stock (non-Athena) Linux. It . association with future releases, and Support . is fully integrated into Red Hat Enter- . won’t produce new documentation or prise 3 for Linux. Mozilla 1.4.x is in- If you need help installing or using . training for retired software. To learn . stalled with the operating system. any of these browsers, contact the . more about these decisions, see . http://www.mozilla.org/products/ Computing Help Desk at or 253-1101. . de-support-fy05.html ø . . . . . 4 . is&t • November / December 2004 • http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ • November / December 2004 • is&t . 5 . . 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 S a f e C o m p u t i n g

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Security Principles: Identity, forms of authentication are based on Authentication, Authorization conduct an act. Even when identity something you know, something you and authentication have indicated have, or something you are. • Christopher Logan who someone is, authorization may • Something you know is some form of be needed to establish what he or she information that you can recognize is allowed to do. ost of us use some form of and keep to yourself. This could be a By Way of Example: A Secure Entry authentication daily – for personal identification number (PIN) M The best way to understand how example, when we get money from for your bank account or a password. these security principles interact is by Within the information technology an ATM machine, log into e-mail, or example. Let’s say you work in a secure realm, a password is the most com- access the gym with a photo ID. In building. At the door, you present an mon form of authentication. a world full of passwords and “prox” ID card – a form of identity – to the cards, it’s useful to get a handle on • Something you have is a physical item security guard. The guard looks at you the key principles on which security you possess. This could be an item and compares your face to the photo is based. Identity, authentication, and like a photo ID or a security token. on the card. In doing this, the guard authorization are closely linked. A security token is a small hardware is authenticating you. Next, the guard Identity distinguishes who someone device such as a proximity or mag- checks your ID number and name is or what something is. Identity can netic strip card you carry to auth- against a database, and finds out that refer to a person, program, computer, orize access to a service or building. you are allowed inside the building. or data. Identification is the process of • Something you are is a human char- This look-up is a kind of authorization. establishing who someone or some- acteristic considered to be unique, You are now allowed to go inside. thing claims to be. like fingerprints, voice tones, and It’s useful to be aware of these con- Authentication is the process of con- retinal patterns. These are also cepts because information security firming a claimed identity. For exam- referred to as biometrics. plays a key role in our daily lives. Un- ple, motorists identify themselves to derstanding these terms can help you Once identity has been confirmed, police by presenting a driver’s license. better understand requests that come authorization may come into play. Police compare the photo and descrip- your way – online or in person. It also Authorization tion on the driver’s license with the is the act of granting per- serves to underscore the importance motorist to authenticate identity. All mission for someone or something to of keeping your identity secure. ø

This IAP, Get up to Speed on Tools for a Less Stressful Overview of Educational Information Technology Computing Experience Technology at MIT Jan 27, 11:30am–2pm, 7-143 Jan 27, 1–2:30pm, 3-133 • Jeff Pankin The ATIC Lab will showcase alter- Staff from Academic Computing native keyboards, pointing devices, will discuss and demonstrate a variety nce again, IS&T is offering a break software, and mouse-clicking of educational technologies in use by Oflurry of IAP events. The sessions software. The focus is for visitors to try MIT faculty. These include web-based described here are just a sampling. For out an extensive inventory of keyboards simulations, math software, instruc- a complete listing, see and pointing devices that may help tional video, geographic information http://student.mit.edu/iap/nsis.html prevent repetitive strain injuries (RSI) systems, web-accessible databases, Home Networking at the computer. Before and after IAP, and electronic textbooks. Staff will be Macintosh: Jan 18, noon–1:30pm, individual keyboards and mice are available to consult with instructors N42 Demo Center available for a three-day loan period on existing or potential projects. to anyone with a valid MIT ID. Windows: Jan 24, noon–1:30pm, Protect Your Computer from N42 Demo Center Best Practices in Web Publishing Spyware Jan 27, noon–1pm, N42 Demo Jan 28, 11am–noon, NE49-3100 If you have a high-speed (broadband) Center connection at home, you may want to Spyware is software that surrepti- connect one or more computers to it to Learn about the basics of MIT’s tiously gathers information and trans- access the Internet and MITnet. These web publishing environment. Topics mits it to interested parties. Learn sessions will cover required equipment, will include file naming conventions, about different types of spyware and such as routers and wireless access folder structures, image formats, file how it gets installed on your compu- points, and how to configure your transfer, using Dreamweaver MX 2004, ter. Understand the personal privacy, computer so that you can use Kerber- and more. This session is recommended security, and system issues caused by ized applications such as Eudora and for those who are interested in learning spyware. The session will also cover Fetch from home. You’ll also learn how the most efficient and painless ways strategies for removing spyware and to make your wireless networks secure. to keep web site files up to date. tips for prevention. ø . . . . 4 . is&t • November / December 2004 • http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ • November / December 2004 • is&t . 5 . . . . PI/Space Registration and T e c h T i p s . . SARA Reporting Move to SAP . . . • Lisa Lucenti . This column presents tips about computing. performance, and require no separate . If you have a question you would like to power source. Some devices include . . IT is committed to achieving see answered here, send it via e-mail to encryption software that can protect . . and maintaining compliance . your data from being easily viewed in . M . with federal, state, and local environ- the event you lose the USB device. . For more information technology Q&As, . ment, health and safety (EHS) laws and check the IS&T Stock Answers database at . Considerations . practices. To reach this goal, MIT is in http://itinfo.mit.edu/answer/ . If you opt to use some form of USB . the process of integrating EHS data . backup device, here are some things . into SAP. . Backing Up When You Travel to check out or keep in mind: . The first phase of this project – . moving Principal Investigator (PI)/ If you are away from MIT and can • Make sure that your laptop has . . Space Registration and SARA (Super- connect to the Internet, you can back an available USB port. Some flash . . fund Authorization and Reauthoriza- up files on your computer using TSM, drives require a USB 2.0 port, but . MIT’s enterprise backup system (see many will work with the slower . tion Act) Reporting to the SAPweb site . the Software Spotlight on page 3 for USB 1.1 ports (see Note below). . – was implemented in November. These . transactions are available via the EHS more information). The speed of the • If you decide to use the encryption . . site at backup will depend on your Internet software included with the USB . . http://web.mit.edu/ehs-ms/ connection service and will probably device, be sure to store the encryp- . . be slower than the service on campus. tion key in a safe place. . or directly through However, there may be times when . • Not all flash drives are created . http://web.mit.edu/sapweb/ TSM is not an option. For example, you . equal (see Note below). . may be going to a remote location and . PI/Space Registration • . plan to use your laptop while you’re Flash drives are not a replacement . PI/Space Registration focuses on for backing up to a more reliable . away. You know that it’s smart to back . the Principal Investigator and the space and robust enterprise backup . for which he or she is responsible. PI/ up your data, but also realize that . solution, such as TSM. They are . Space Registration groups rooms into you’re not going to have an Internet . connection and so won’t be able to ac- useful as a temporary solution . roomsets assigned to a particular PI or . cess TSM. Not to worry: even without when you are not connected to . supervisor and then identifies hazards, . an Internet connection, there are other the Internet. . safety equipment, and room roles – such . options for backing up your data. You can find these devices at your . as emergency contacts, EHS represen- . tatives, and SARA reporters. Based on local retailer or at the GovConnection . Backup Options . authorizations, the PI/Space Registration web site at . If you have a CD/DVD rewritable . transactions let appropriate personnel drive or Zip drive, you can use it to http://web.mit.edu/ecat/ . govconnection/ . view and update room and roomset do a quick backup of your files. If you . . information. don’t have either of these drives, con- Note: For a more in-depth review of . . SARA Reporting sider using a USB flash drive/memory some popular USB flash drive devices, . . SARA reporting is a requirement of stick type of device. These devices are including USB specifications, common . . the Environmental Protection Agency very easy to use. Just plug one into a features, performance benchmarks, . USB port and it appears as a new and a comparison matrix, go to . (EPA). Previously a paper-based pro- . cess, SARA reporting in SAPweb in- drive. In addition, these devices are http://arstechnica.com/reviews/ . . cludes a custom worksheet and online portable, durable, offer very good hardware/flash.ars . . . submission transaction. During the . annual SARA submission period, list- BACKUP OPTION COSTS CAPACITY PROS CONS . . ings of SARA substances can be copied . . from the previous year, updated, and USB flash drive . sent to MIT’s Data Warehouse. EHS then – Memory stick Inexpensive, small, . . sends a compiled report to the EPA. – Pen drive easy to connect. Small, easy to . $25–300 128MB up to 4GB . – Jump drive Some vendors include misplace or drop . Data Warehouse . – Key drive encryption software. . The Data Warehouse provides a – Thumb drive . . custom dashboard for PI/Space Regi- . . stration and SARA Reporting. Over a . CD/DVD drive $50–100 650MB Easy to use Bulky . dozen possible reports provide handy . . data analysis for EHS lead contacts Zip drive $75–300 750MB Easy to use Bulky . and coordinators. . . Small capacity, . Questions? Diskette drive Under $10 1.44MB Easy to use . becoming obsolete . If you have questions about using . . the EHS tab in SAPweb, send e-mail to . IS&T does not specifically endorse any of the alternative backup storage devices . or call 252- . ø described in this article. ø . 3477. . . . . 6 . is&t • November / December 2004 • http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ • November / December 2004 • is&t . 7 . . Better Web Searches: IS&T For tips on effective searches, see search engines to find them. Brings Google to MIT http://www.google.com/help/ Google has over 100 criteria basics.html • Suzana Lisanti for assigning a numerical For developer documentation “relevancy” rank to pages, (certificates required), go to but they don’t publish these nformation Services and Technology criteria. Some are well- https://mit.edu/ist/google/ (IS&T) has launched a phased roll- known, such as putting keywords in I internal-ref/ out of Google at MIT that will seam- your title, description, and keywords lessly replace the Google search on the By mid-January, IS&T will post ex- meta tags. For in-depth advice on im- MIT home page, run by Google, with a amples of Google search forms, as well proving your web site’s visibility, see licensed version of Google, run by IS&T. as instructions or tips on “Search Engine Submission Tips” at By running its own installation of • Adding a Google search form to http://searchenginewatch.com/ Google, MIT can increase the frequency your site webmasters/ of indexing of the Institute’s web sites • Customizing the look and feel of and “Using XHTML/CSS for an Ef- and better control its completeness. In search results fective Search Engine Optimization addition, search results can be returned Campaign” at in a look and feel that is customizable • Maximizing the search engine by each department’s webmaster. ranking for your site http://www.alistapart.com/ articles/seo/ IS&T will continue to support the • Keeping web pages out of search Inktomi search engine until depart- engine indexes Keeping Pages Out of the Index ments have migrated their web site If you don’t want a page to be in- search forms from Inktomi to Google. Getting Pages into the Index Google’s indexing crawler starts at dexed, insert this meta tag within the Why Google? the top of the MIT web site and follows page’s tag: Participants in an IS&T Discovery links to find all indexable pages in the project did “masked” tests of Google MIT web environment. All you need to various searches and ranked their per- Google index is ception of results. Google results were • Post the pages in a public web space This code will prevent crawlers from preferred twice as often as those of the indexing the page and from following • Ensure that your pages can be Inktomi search engine. Since MIT has any links from the page. If the page reached by clicking links from one over one million web pages on more has already been indexed, it will be of the top-level pages in MIT’s web than 1000 servers, it made sense to removed from the index the next time environment license the search engine that could Google crawls the page. provide the best results. There’s no need to submit pages to If you have pages that need to be The Google search appliance also the index: the Google crawler will pick removed from the Google index imme- provides up changed, new, and removed pages diately, send mail to . • Control over the schedule of Google’s automatically during its crawls. indexing crawler: the on-site search Note: Currently MIT does not index Support appliance crawls MIT web sites dynamic pages with “?” in their URLs, To learn more about Google at MIT, twice a week, while the commercial except by special request. These pages attend the Web Publishers User Group Google service only updates its uni- are usually generated by databases meeting on Thursday, January 27 at versity index about once a month with very large page counts, which noon in the N42 Demo Center. The pre- senters will discuss improving search • Searching of subcollections would use up MIT’s document limit under the license with Google. results, optimizing page visibility, and • Advanced features, including the creating a search form for your site. ability to search for PDF, .doc and Improving Your Site’s Visibility If you have comments or questions .ppt files and display them as HTML In most cases, if you’ve taken the about Google at MIT, send them to • Through authentication, the ability time to create web pages, you want . ø to crawl and index restricted content (coming this spring) MIT Search Engine Consultation This implementation of Google does not index images. However, you can The IS&T Web Communications Services (WCS) Team can help your department, search for MIT images using Google’s lab, center, or program use MIT’s search engine more effectively within your Advanced Image Search at web site, and optimize your pages for more accurate search engine indexing. http://www.google.com/advanced_ WCS web consultants can image_search • Add a custom Google search form to your site To limit your search to MIT, type • Customize the MIT Google search results in the look and feel of your site “mit.edu” in the Domain field. • Audit your site and provide a report detailing how to optimize the pages How to Use Google at MIT for better search indexing You can search MIT web sites via • Implement optimization recommendations discovered in a site audit the MIT Home Page or by using the These are fee-based services. To find out more, call WCS at 253-3500 or send Advanced Search page at mail to . http://web.mit.edu/search.html . . . . 6 . is&t • November / December 2004 • http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ • November / December 2004 • is&t . 7 . . G e t t i n g H e l p

If you don’t know where to get help For help with… Dial… Or send a message to… for your computer, network, or telephone problems, dial one of the General computing questions 253-1101 [email protected] help lines listed to the right. (Macintosh, Windows, and If you prefer to use e-mail, you network/connectivity) can send your questions to the cor- Academic computing 253-0115 [email protected] responding e-mail addresses on the Administrative applications 253-1101 [email protected] far right. (When logged into Athena, you can also use the olc command Athena Computing Environment 253-4435 [email protected] to send questions to Athena’s online Computer and printer repairs 253-0815 [email protected] consultants.) Computer presales consulting 253-7686 [email protected] You can also submit a question Disabilities and computing 253-7808 [email protected] online via Casetracker at http://casetracker.mit.edu/ Telephone and voice mail services 253-3670 [email protected] Telephone repairs 253-4357 [email protected] Unix/Linux 253-1103 [email protected]

S u r f S i t e s : S p e c i a l i z e d S e a r c h E n g i n e s

Google, recently customized for MIT A9 (see page 7), has been the most popu- http://A9.com/ lar Internet search engine for quite a Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections while. Even so, there will still be times http://infomine.ucr.edu/ when a specialized search engine re- turns the best results to your queries. Internet Guide to Engineering, Mathematics and Computing To the right are URLs for several http://www.eevl.ac.uk/ search engines that can help you zero Picsearch – The Search Engine for Pictures and Images in on what you are looking for. They http://www.picsearch.com/ range from an image search engine to one that canvases engineering, math, Radio-Locator and computing databases. To keep http://www.radio-locator.com/ up with developments in the world SpeechBot – Audio Search Using Speech Recognition of search engines, check out Search http://speechbot.research.compaq.com/ Engine Watch at http://searchenginewatch.com/ Technorati – Searching the World Live Web http://technorati.com/

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. . 8 . is&t • November / December 2004 • http://web.mit.edu/ist/istnews/ .