U n i v e r s i t y o f O r e g o n C O M P U T I N G N E W S SPRING 1999

IN THIS ISSUE…

Email Information Welcome to WebMail 3 Outlook Formatting Issues 15 POP versus IMAP 16 SMTP, Procmail Upgrade 22 Grant Opportunity 21 Internet2 Internet2 Update 4 Writing I2 Applications 5 Y2K Server Operating Systems 2 Y2K Info on the Web 2 Windows 3.1 Issues 19 Statistics Choosing Your Method 13 UO Stat Packages 14 Web Stat Resources 14 Features Who’s Who 6 New Media Center Project 8 Required by Law 20 Other News Call for Papers 3 Spring Workshops 10 New Services in CC 202 12 VMS Line Printer Maintenace Dropped 15 Web Images Tip 21 Security Alert! 22 Docs Room News 22

Greg Shepherd, Computing Center Network Engineer, works on the Cisco 12008 Gigabit Switch Router Tips for Checking Y2K Readiness of Server Operating Systems

By Don Gathers Novell has blurred its upgrade path Windows NT 4.0: Departments run- [email protected] considerably by adding versions 3.2 and ning or considering Microsoft’s 4.2 to its product line, along with the WindowsNT 4.0 server platform should latest addition of Netware 5.0. be aware that it can be made year 2000 The 1999 list of New Year’s resolutions compliant with the addition of Service for most departmental computer While the 5.0 release is a very new and Pack 4 (SP4). This is contrary to support staff must surely include different product for Novell, Version Microsoft’s earlier announcement that checking for Year 2000 compliance of 3.2 is little more than Netware 3.12 with Service Pack 3, along with the latest the computing software and hardware the complete set of available patches hotfix patches, would be enough to being used or purchased before the applied. If you are running a Netware assure that your NT 4.0 server was year’s end. To assist in this task, here’s 3.12 server with patches, you will not year 2000 compliant. some information on the Y2K com- need to upgrade to version 3.2. pliance of server operating systems. The good news here is that Service Similarly, the 4.2 release is little more packs are free and downloadable from than version 4.11 with all available the Microsoft web site. The bad news Novell Netware: Departments run- patches applied. Netware 4.11 servers ning Novell’s Netware need to be aware is that Service Pack 4.0 has been known need only to be patched rather than to cause some erratic behavior that is that version 3.11 and version 4.10 are upgraded to 4.2. not Y2K compliant. This means most difficult to troubleshoot. Testing of SP4 of the more than 60 Novell servers on on a non-production server is recom- Netware 5.0 is, of course, year 2000 mended if at all possible. campus will require an upgrade by compliant. Departments may want to year’s end. consider 5.0 for some of its other Departments are encouraged to share features, but as a Y2K fix alone it is the Y2K information on the Departmental most expensive Netware alternative, Computing mailing list. As depart- both in terms of the operating system UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ments begin to upgrade to Y2K com- cost and hardware requirements. pliant network operating systems, this COMPUTING CENTER Network Services is currently testing list should become a valuable forum for the functionality of Netware 5.0; the sharing tips. To subscribe, send to results of these tests will be published [email protected] and type subscribe in a future issue of Computing News. deptcomp in the body of the message. COMPUTING NEWS VOL. 14 #3

Computing News is published quarterly by the Academic User Ready for Y2K? Web Info Can Help Services staff of the Office of University Computing, 1212 By Susan Hilton Microsoft products and their degree of University of Oregon, Eugene, OR [email protected] Y2K compliance. Other software 97403-1212. You may reprint articles manufacturers offer similar informa- from Computing News, provided you Most people probably don’t know if tion on their sites. But be forewarned credit the source. their hardware and software is ready that Y2K readiness statements fre- for the year 2000 (“Y2K”). If you’re in Newsletter Editor: Joyce Winslow quently change! Because testing is ([email protected]) doubt, you can verify the status of ongoing, a product that’s reportedly your equipment by checking the web. compliant today may be listed as not Telephone: (541) 346-1724 Most computer hardware and software being “fully” compliant tomorrow. manufacturers have Y2K-readiness UO Year 2000 Web Site. You’ll find a Assistant Director, Academic User statements on their web sites. Services: Joe St Sauver list of the most common hardware and ([email protected]) Hardware. Apple reports that Mac- software vendors on the UO Year 2000 intosh computers have been Y2K- Web site at http://y2k.uoregon.edu/ Web site: ready since 1984. As for PCs, most 486 This site also contains other infor- http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews and better machines should be okay, mation relevant to the year 2000, but check with the vendor (or vendor’s including issues affecting adminis- Subscription requests: web site) to be sure. trative and academic computing us- [email protected] ers. Check the site frequently, as new Software. The Microsoft web site information continues to be added Cover photo: Joel Jaeggli (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/ year2k/product/product.htm) lists as it unfolds.

2 computing news spring 1999 Welcome to WebMail ■ New product lets you access your from almost any web browser

By Joe St Sauver [email protected]

How’d you like to access your mail from almost any machine, anywhere, with no special setup beyond a web browser?

WebMail is one of several new elec- tronic mail products that provides this service, and it’s now being offered to WebMail’s Log-in Screen University of Oregon users who have accounts on DARKWING and OREGON. Type in your username and password mail/ after you set the folder prefix, (Note: Until Computing Center staff and choose a server. You should then resulting in two “Outboxes” being has more opportunity to evaluate the see a screen displaying your Inbox. listed in the mailboxlist file. How- network traffic load, WebMail will not VMS (OREGON) users may proceed at ever, this glitch doesn’t prevent the be available for GLADSTONE users.) this point, setting the “Options” as program from functioning properly, they please, but to avoid problems and you can delete the first bogus Although WebMail runs on a Windows with their host folders, UNIX empty Outbox if it bothers you. NT system, it allows pass-through web (DARKWING) users need to follow the access to IMAP mail servers on steps outlined below. Questions? virtually any other type of machine. For more information on using Because WebMail uses only HTML to Special instructions for DARKWING WebMail, check out its online help communicate with the browser, it users. If you use DARKWING, the first resource, or see works with the widest possible variety time you run WebMail you must http://www-vms.uoregon.edu/www/ of browsers (including the latest choose Options and set the IMAP4 webmail.html versions of Internet Explorer and Folder Prefix to mail/ in order to see Netscape) and is not susceptible to Java your host folders properly. You may Watch system notices for additional bugs and incompatibilities. want to fiddle with the other options information that may become avail- as well. Then log out, and log back in able on WebMail as time goes on. again to activate the folder prefix. Using WebMail We Need Your Feedback To begin using WebMail, open Minor Caveats We’re interested in hearing about your web browser and go to Another minor annoyance for your WebMail experience, either http://webmail.uoregon.edu (regular positive or negative. Direct your DARKWING users is that on UNIX hosts, mode) or https://webmail.uoregon.edu Outbox is immediately created at first questions, problems, and comments (secure mode). log-in and is then recreated under to our consulting staff (346-1758, [email protected]).

Call for Papers: International Conference on Artificial Intelligence Nears Papers for the Thirteenth Interna- The deadline for submissions is No- tions, will be held in New Orleans on tional Conference on Industrial and vember 17, 1999. June 19-22, 2000. Engineering Applications of Artifi- The conference, which is sponsored by For more information regarding submis- cial Intelligence and Expert Systems the International Society of Applied sions, see http://www.cacs.usl.edu/ or con- (IEA/AIE-2000) are currently being Intelligence in cooperation with over a tact Dr. Rasaiah Loganantharaj (email: solicited. half-dozen international organiza- [email protected]) computing news spring 1999 3 Internet2 Update

■ A quick overview of Route Views at the UO’s Advanced Spring, we will shift additional web recent developments in Network Technology Center, a service cache traffic over to that link. high-speed academic for network engineers, also now in- cludes high performance route infor- Abilene Multicast Support networking mation at http://www.antc.uoregon.edu/ route-views/ Abilene has begun deployment of IOS By Joe St Sauver 12.0(3.3)S.0228 (Cisco’s multicast-ca- [email protected] Finally, the vBNS (Federal Very High pable version of IOS for GSR’s) on Speed Backbone Network Service) has Abilene’s Cisco core routers, software published a snapshot of the routes it is whose multicast support was imple- Internet2 and Abilene, the high-speed seeing at http://www.vbns.net/route/ mented by Dave Meyer of the UO academic and research networks we Advanced Network Technology Cen- reported on in the Winter ‘99 issue of ter/IETF Multicast Directorate. As Computing News, have come a long deployment continues, Abilene cus- way since January. tomers will begin to be able to source Among other recent developments, the and receive high bitrate multicast au- number of institutions directly con- dio and video streams not otherwise nected to Internet2 has grown signifi- supportable by commodity MBONE cantly, network traffic—particularly connections. at the UO— is up dramatically, and route views and traffic maps are pub- NLANR/Internet2 Joint lished on the web in several locations. Techs Workshop Directly Connected Cables enter the UO switchroom NLANR and Internet2 held a joint tech- Abilene Institutions nical workshop at Las Cruces, New Abilene Traffic Mexico, March 7th-10th. You may re- There are now about two dozen insti- view workshop presentations at tutions connected to Abilene (either You can see current traffic on Oregon’s http://www.ncne.nlanr.net/news/work- connecting directly as an institution or Sacramento Abilene links at shop/990307/agenda03_99.html via a regional Gigapop), including the http://goop.uoregon.edu/mrtg/ogig/ 198.32.163.9.html University of Oregon. New York State Schools Besides the UO, other institutions While it has only been up a few weeks, Coming Online Soon connected to Abilene at this time the University of Oregon connection A number of institutions in New York include California-Berkeley, California- is already generating more Internet2 Davis, California-San Francisco, State should shortly be connecting to traffic than most other I2 sites (contrast Internet2 via Gemini 2000, Applied California-Santa Cruz, Kansas, Kansas our Abilene traffic with the vBNS traf- State, Michigan, Michigan State, Theory/IXC Communication’s high fic reports available at performance network. Connection of Nebraska, NASA Ames Research, http://www.vbns.net/nettraf/default.htm) NOAA, North Dakota State, Ohio those schools is currently pending State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, completion of NSF review and certifi- To see traffic between nodes on the cation of Gemini 2000 as a high perfor- Oregon State, Purdue, South Dakota Abilene backbone (remember, we con- School of Mines and Technology, mance R&E network (`a la the vBNS nect via Sacramento), you may want to and Abilene). For more information. Stanford, Texas A&M, USGS EROS http://hydra.uits.iu.edu/ take a look at see http://www.ixc-comm.net/ Data Center, and Washington. ~abilene/traffic/abilene.html

Abilene Peering NLANR National Web Israeli High-Performance Networks and Routes Cache Hierarchy Network Coming Online Abilene now also has direct or indirect In the Middle East, the Israeli Internet2 The UO’s web cache server, peering up with the vBNS, ESNet, ATT high performance network will shortly proxy.uoregon.edu, has begun send- Government Markets (aka NREN/ be connecting to both Europe and to ing selected traffic to the National Web DREN) and Canarie. For a complete the StarTap in Chicago. For more in- Cache Hierarchy at NLANR in San list of network prefixes accessible via formation, see Diego via Internet2. As Internet2 rout- Oregon’s Abilene connection, see ing to San Diego improves later this http://www.machba.ac.il/stindex.html http://www.ogig.net/routes.html

4 computing news spring 1999 Writing Applications for Internet2? As we talk with users about writing but please remember that I2 is evolv- 5. Applications should be ongoing applications for Internet2, it’s clear that ing and developing, and institutional (or time critical). Applications par- it may be helpful to explicitly think eligibility for connection to I2 or other ticularly well suited to high perfor- about the minimum set of require- high performance networks isn’t some- mance networking connections should ments any prospective I2 application thing we control. be ongoing (rather than being one- author needs to keep in mind. time events), or they should be time 3. Your application should (ideally) critical (i.e., you need access to the data 1. One end of the application needs to have characteristics which take advan- ASAP). Put another way, if you have a be homed at the UO. It may sound tage of Internet2’s special capabilities. one-time, non-time critical need to self-evident, and we may very well be An application engineered for I2 should move data between two sites, it’s hard stating the obvious, but one end of the (ideally) have characteristics which take to beat the throughput and cost effi- application needs to be at the UO. Put advantage of that network’s special ca- ciency of a box full of DLT tapes sent another way, the system on one end or pabilities, i.e., your application should overnight via Federal Express. On the the other of the network connection require high bandwidth, low latency, other hand, if you’re moving data ev- needs to be here at the UO, in 128.223.*.* low jitter, or be otherwise particularly ery day, or the data needs to be avail- address space. well suited to I2’s big pipes. Put another able virtually immediately, then think way, a good I2 application is usually an If you work with a community network “let’s try delivering this data via I2.” partner (such as one of our Eugene/ application that doesn’t work well over 6. Applications can’t be for commer- Springfield K12 Lane Education Net- the commodity/commercial Internet. cial purposes, nor can they involve work community networking partners) 4. Your application needs to be able classified data. The UO Acceptable this may be an issue for you, since in to differentiate between high perfor- Use Policy prohibits commercial use those cases being “closely affiliated” mance Internet connections and com- of university resources, so the fact that with the UO isn’t “close enough” when modity Internet connections. Implic- your application will be running to or it comes to I2—you need to actually be itly or explicitly, you and your appli- from the UO means that commercial connected from the UO’s network. cation need to be able to differentiate projects are unacceptable. Similarly, I2 2. The other end of the application between high performance network- isn’t certified for use for classified re- needs to be at an site with live high connected partners and commodity search purposes, so don’t plan to use it Internet network-connected partners. performance connectivity. Another to move classified data, even though I2 seeming self-evident requirement Consider, for example, a web server has routes to places well known for which we nonetheless must mention: that can deliver high bit rate video on doing classified research (such as the other end of the application must demand. Our I2/Abilene connection Lawrence Livermore Lab, Los Alamos, be at a site that has high performance is designed for, and has capacity avail- Sandia, Kirtland Air Force Base, etc.). connectivity with I2/Abilene (i.e., sites able to service, those high bit rate 7. What Sorts of Applications Will Work connected via Abilene itself, the vBNS, streams. But what if a person comes in Well via I2? Here are some examples: Canarie, ESNet, NREN, DREN, etc.). via a commodity Internet connection - “pull” network applications where you Why is this an issue? Well, you may and requests those high bit rate streams? Our commodity network ca- can narrowly focus the networks from run into sites that are I2 members but which information is being retrieved pacity can’t satisfy that demand, nor are still working on getting physical - “push” network applications where you will a user trying to view that video at high performance network connectiv- can narrowly focus the networks to which ity deployed; obviously they won’t the other end of a commodity Internet information is being sent connection get the high bit rate multi- work, at least not yet. You will also run - prearranged server-talking-to-server ap- into other sites on foreign high-perfor- media experience you probably want plications such as NNTP (USENET News), mance networks, but they may not yet them to have. or World Wide Web cache hierarchies peer with I2/Abilene. Again, those sites Thus, your application needs to be - applications using multicast, once won’t work, at least not yet. aware of where its peers are coming multicast support comes up on I2 (and it The relevant set of institutions which from, either because it explicitly se- should be up by the time you read this) you can work with today are those lects the remote peers it works with - applications used by a relatively small number of technically competent trusted listed at http://www.ogig.net/routes.html itself (e.g., a web crawling spider that users working with large datasets (note that this is a small set of institu- crawls only I2 attached web sites), or - applications which open many parallel tions relative to the size of the Internet because it controls which sites can ac- network streams to diverse locations as a whole). cess it via a semiautomatic mechanism (such as a generated .htaccess file - applications where there is a large discrep- It can be frustrating to have data from which “knows” what network prefixes ancy between bandwidth available via com- a telescope in Hawaii, for example, are via I2), or via a manual mechanism modity network connectivity and band- that you’d like to retrieve via Internet2, width available via high performance net- (such as a person-to-person agreement works (e.g., overseas sites in many regions, only to find that the Hawaiian instru- to exchange data, reached by you with ment doesn’t have I2 connectivity— provided that the overseas site has access to a remote collaborator at an I2 site). high-performance network connectivity) computing news spring 1999 5 Who’s Who at the ■ Meet Our Staff Although she was born in Eastern Oregon and has lived in By Vickie Nelson various Northwest locales, the beach is Mary’s favorite [email protected] place. She recently vacationed in Hawaii, where despite rain, she managed to find some sun every day, and enjoyed swimming, snorkeling, and walking on the beach. Our spring issue introduces you to some veteran Computing Center staff members, as well as one who is Bob Jones relatively new. Senior Systems Manager Mary Bradley, Bob Jones, and Mohammed Maleki have Computing Facilities each been part of the Computing Center for close to a decade, while James Joule celebrated his first anniversary as a staff member last January.

Mary Bradley Clockwise from top left: Teri, Bob, Dylan and Denali Jones Micro Lab Coordinator Bob Jones grew up in Audubon, Pennsylvania, in the Computing Facilities suburbs of Philadelphia. He went to college at the Univer- sity of Delaware, where he majored in Computer Science Mary Bradley’s career in the Computing Center began and Statistics and met his wife, Teri. way back in the good old days of punched cards. After graduating, Bob worked for Sperry Univac (now After attending Northwest Christian College, she began known as Unisys) and then for Cray Research at the San working in the Computing Center as a job expediter in Diego Supercomputer Center on the UCSD campus. production control, setting up computer jobs and check- ing output. Visits to the Northwest had impressed Bob and Teri. Looking for a place to settle down, they began subscrib- Today Mary manages the Klamath, Millrace, and EMU ing to the Sunday Register Guard for the classified ads. computer labs and is working with the Grayson Hall One thing led to another, and in 1988 Bob joined the Design Development committee on a new lab that will Computing Center staff. As senior systems manager, Bob open next year. She manages the labs’ software budgets, is responsible for UNIX and VMS system administration schedules instructional labs, and keeps the computers up- and security. to-date. Bob and Teri have two boys, Dylan, 15, and Denali, 12. At home Bob lives a low-tech life (the family does have a Outside of work Mary leads the busy life of a single mom. computer, but it’s basically for the boys’ homework). The She has two children, Alex, 14, and Shauna, 13, and spends couple enjoy gardening, hiking, backpacking, skiing, and most of her after-work time on homework patrol. She’s sports ranging from basketball to Frisbee. They’re plan- also an active member of a fitness center. ning a backpacking trip to Southern Utah in April. 6 computing news spring 1999 Computing Center Mohammad Maleki Network Engineer Network Services

James Joule Systems Analyst Auxiliary Services

Although James Joule was born in Texas, he thinks of Westminster, Colorado, as home. Thanks to boyhood summers spent visiting relatives near Seaside, he’s When Mohammad was a young high school graduate in also quite at home in Oregon. Tehran, a family friend in Corvallis encouraged him to come to OSU. Once there, Mohammad studied English as After earning his undergraduate degree in Computer a second language, then went on to study math at the UO Science from Colorado State at Fort Collins, James and electrical engineering at Cal Poly, where he met his worked as an information systems manager for wife, Nahla Bassil. Applied Computer Technology, where he met his fiancée, Jennifer. Back at OSU in 1989 for graduate work in electrical engi- neering, Mohammad worked as a student assistant in In January 1998, James arrived at the Computing networking at OSU’s computing center. Center’s Auxiliary Services. During the past year he has assisted Kit Larsen with programming projects Mohammad began working at the UO as a network engi- for the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) neer in Network Services in 1992. His broad assignment is as the UO moved from an outdated payroll system to to keep the UO network up and running, and he’s respon- the new BANNER-based system. sible for the upkeep of switches, hubs, terminal servers, hdsl, rdsl modems, and fiber optics circuits. He also trouble- James enjoys campus life, especially taking graduate shoots and installs wireless networks. level computer science classes (he’s also interested in the new software engineering curriculum) and play- Mohammad swims whenever he can and enjoys playing ing basketball in the gym. with his five-year-old son Basseem (whose name means “Smiley” in Arabic) and his three-year old daughter Outside pursuits such as hiking and camping are Monya (whose name means “Best Wishes”). favorite recreations, as is playing with his chocolate lab, Lucy. James and Jennifer also bowl on EWEB’s After an absence of over 20 years, Mohammad is planning team. a trip to the Middle East this year. He’ll visit family in Iran and Lebanon, where he will meet college-age nieces and James’ plans for this summer include a 4th of July nephews for the first time. wedding in Colorado.

computing news spring 1999 7 UO’s New Media Center Adds New

By Joyce Winslow IDRS is definitely breaking new Recording pilot decisions during simu- [email protected] ground, and it has already attracted lated flight seemed an ideal departure the attention of the National Aeronau- from traditional methods of studying In the three short years of its existence, tics and Space Administration (NASA). the decision-making process. For de- the University of Oregon’s New Me- The initial leg of the study, funded by cades, psychologists and other cogni- dia Center (NMC) has already gar- a modest grant from the National Sci- tive scientists have conducted deci- nered numerous awards for its cre- ence Foundation, is a demonstration sion-making studies in laboratories ativity and innovation. Dedicated to project studying the decision-making using college student volunteers. breaking new ground in multimedia processes of airplane pilots during a However, researchers have come to applications, the NMC regularly at- simulated flight from Eugene to Se- realize that people in the real world tracts faculty and others from both attle under changing weather condi- frequently do not make decisions the public institutions and private indus- tions. With NASA’s funding, the study way their subjects did in the labora- try who are interested in developing will expand to include simulations of tory. Such questions as “How do multimedia courseware or research other types of real-life situations in which people solve problems?” and “How tools. pilots must make decisions. NASA is do we encourage good decision-mak- particularly interested in the data’s pos- ing and discourage bad?” remained sible application in improving flight largely unanswered because studies “If we’re not breaking ground on every new project, we’re doing something wrong.” Harold Hersey NMC Technology Manager

Most recently, the NMC attracted UO psychology department head Dr. Robert Mauro, who hoped to design an interactive decision-making test for pilots that simulated real-life flight situations. Mauro first approached the NMC in August 1998 and asked the staff if they could devise a system that would work on the Internet, using any browser. Could such an interactive test guarantee the confidentiality of the subjects’ responses? Could it measure the time it took each subject to make a Takeoff: In this scenario, the pilot takes off on a runway at the Eugene airport decision? Could it record the multiple stages of decision making? The answer to all these questions was yes, and the safety and minimizing pilot error, and relying upon college student volun- Internet-based Decision Research plans to use the information to develop teers working on artificial problems System (IDRS) was born. new training methods for pilots. did not reflect how decisions are made in important real-world situations. The technical challenges of Mauro’s The idea behind IDRS began with Dr. project appealed to NMC staff mem- Mauro’s quest for a better system for So Mauro and the NMC’s technical bers, who are fond of stressing the for studying real-life decision making. and graphic design staff set to work “New” in “New Media.” In the words Choosing flight scenarios was a natural designing a whole new environment of technology manager Harold Hersey, for Mauro, who holds a commercial —one that functionally simulated, “If we’re not breaking ground on ev- pilot’s certificate and is conducting other as realistically as possible, the ery new project, we’re doing some- aviation safety research with NASA and environments both on the ground thing wrong.” the University Consortium for Atmo- and in the air in which pilots make spheric Research (UCAR). decisions.

8 computing news spring 1999 Dimension to Aviation Safety Research

The technical staff (comprising tech- nology manager Harold Hersey, one full-time and one part-time pro- grammer, and two student pro- grammers) was charged with ironing out problems arising from using the World Wide Web as the testing medium. Because pilots would be taking the test using their own desktop computer setups, NMC programmers had to design with a variety of possible computer platforms and browsers in mind. They also had the task of writing a program that could measure, and store online, data on what decisions the subjects made and what informa- tion they examined, in what order, and for how long.

“The biggest Cockpit Decision #2: One hour into the flight, in the air north of Portland motivation for an expert to participate in fects (such as engine hum) and time the flight scenarios will be interesting research is to better the lapse indicators (such as moving and enough for the pilots who see it on the profession.” changing clouds) were also added. web to participate without further in- centives, taking the view that “the big- Dr. Robert Mauro As we go to press, the project has gest motivation for an expert to partici- UO Dept. of Psychology Head and just completed its first phase of test- pate in research is to better the IDRS Project Director ing and is entering the second. Dur- profession.” ing phase one, experts in both avia- tion and decision-making reviewed While the efforts of Mauro and the Meanwhile, the graphic design staff— the project and submitted their com- NMC hold great promise for the fu- design manager Scott Mongrain and ments, which were then used as a ture of aviation safety, their work also four graphic design students—began basis for adjusting and refining the stands to benefit other areas of research. the painstaking work of constructing test scenarios. Interactive online testing has potential a virtual world. Working from photo- uses in a variety of other disciplines, graphs of the Eugene airport, detailed In phase two, a group of flight tech- including education, linguistics, and flight maps, and actual cockpit nology students will be recruited to marketing. The sky, one might say, is instrument panels, the staff labored to go through the scenarios while “think- the limit. create realistic flight scenarios using ing aloud.” The students’ comments animation and vector graphics. Vector are recorded, and they are interviewed graphics were favored because, apart individually after their “test flight” to The New Media Center is located in the from their smaller file sizes and quicker determine whether the scenarios dis- UO’s Riverfront Research Park. Under loading time, they also have the torted their decision-making pro- the leadership of Mike Holcomb, NMC advantage of allowing users to “zoom cesses in any way. director and associate professor of fine in” for an enlarged view of graphic and applied arts, the Center has won detail without distorting it, a feature Chronicle of Higher Education that’s particularly useful for viewing The third phase of the project is slated awards for two of its multimedia the maps that are an important part of to begin this summer, when, if all goes courseware projects. The NMC’s award- these aviation scenarios. as planned, the test will be launched on the web. Mauro plans to advertise winning portfolio is online at http:// nmc.uoregon.edu/portfolio/ In an effort to make the “test flight” the project on bulletin boards and avia- as experiential as possible, audio ef- tion organization web pages. He hopes

computing news spring 1999 9 SPRING WORKSHOPS

What is The IT Curriculum? “IT” stands for Information Technology, and the Library and Computing Center are committed to making sure you have opportunities to build your technology skills. Want to learn how to publish a web page? How about find what you need on the ‘net? Or just how to use that darned computer? We provide a full range of computer and Internet training, from novice to advanced skill levels. These workshops are free and open to currently enrolled students, as well as staff and faculty. No advance registration is necessary; just show up a few minutes before the scheduled start. All seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. We do ask, however, that you meet the workshop prerequisites as stated in the description; otherwise, you may be asked to relinquish your place. If fewer than five people are present ten minutes after the scheduled start, the workshop may be canceled or rescheduled at the discretion of the instructor. This publication will be made available in accessible formats upon request to the Office of Library Instruction, 346-1817. Requests for accommodations related to disability should be made to Jon Cawthorne (346-1897) at least one week in advance of the workshop.

For more information, contact the Office of Library Instruction, 346-1817 (email: [email protected]).

Workshop Day/Date Time Location Presenter

This schedule is subject to change. See http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/ for course outlines/materials and the most current information.

Computer Software Applications Endnote/Procite: What Are These, and Why Should I Use Them? Wed Apr 28 3:30 - 4:50pm RSR Brownmiller, Lenn Thurs Apr 29 3:30 - 4:50pm RSR Brownmiller, Lenn Introduction to PowerPoint (http://micro.uoregon.edu/workshops/powpt.htm) Fri May 21 10 - 11:50am ITC Heerema Using the Internet 1: Introduction to the World Wide Web Tue Apr 13 11am - 12:20pm EC Esau

2: Beyond Just Surfing - ✔ Prerequisites Thu Apr 8 1 - 2:20pm EC Ward Mon Apr 19 10 - 11:20am EC Jenkins Fri May 14 11am - 12:20pm EC Darling 3: Power Web Searching - ✔ Prerequisites Mon Apr 26 10 - 11:20am EC Paynter

Electronic Communication

Managing a Majordomo List (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~llynch/majordomo) Tue Apr 27 3 - 3:50pm EC Lynch Using MHonArc to Create a Web Archive for a Majordomo List (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~consult/deptcomp/) Tue May 11 3 - 3:50pm EC Lynch

* WORKSHOP LOCATION CODES * EC: Electronic Classroom (Windows) 144 Knight Library ITC: Macintosh Classroom 267B Knight Library RSR: Reed Seminar Room (Windows) 235 Knight Library 8 Requires an active account on DARKWING or GLADSTONE 10 computing news spring 1999 SPRING WORKSHOPS Workshop Day/Date Time Location Presenter Electronic Research Resources Net a Job: Use the Web (Call the Career Center at 346-3235 to register for this workshop) ✔ Prerequisites Wed Apr 28 noon - 1:20pm EC Songer Thu May 27 3:30 - 4:50pm EC Songer PsycINFO Mon Apr 12 7 - 7:50pm EC Benedicto Tue May 11 7 - 7:50pm EC Benedicto Thu May 27 7 - 7:50pm EC Benedicto Statistics on the Web Fri Apr 2 2 - 3:20pm EC Stave Tue May 4 1:30 - 2:50pm EC Stave Publishing on the Web

Introduction to Web Publishing (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/govdocs/webpub/) - ✔ Prerequisites 8 Tue Apr 27 10 -11:50am ITC Bell Mon May 10 1 - 2:50pm EC Frantz, Sotak Fri May 28 10 - 11:50am EC Cawthorne, TD Smith Intermediate Workshops in Web Publishing 1: More HTML (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/morehtml/) Tue Apr 13 1 - 2:50pm RSR Johnson 2: Images on Web Pages (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/images/) Tue Apr 20 1 - 2:50pm RSR Holman 3: Imagemaps, Access Counters & Animated GIFs (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/maps/) Tue Apr 27 1 - 2:50pm RSR Holman 4: Designing for the Web (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~cbell/design/) Tue May 4 1 - 2:50pm RSR Bell 5: HTML Tools and Tricks (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/debugging/) Tue May 11 1 - 2:50pm RSR Johnson 6: Organizing Your Web Site (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/govdocs/webpub/orgindex.html) Tue May 18 1 - 2:50pm RSR TD Smith Miscellaneous Workshops in Web Publishing Cascading Style Sheets (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/css/) Wed May 5 2 - 3:20pm RSR Johnson Forms & CGI Scripts (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/forms/) ✔ Prerequisites Wed May 19 2 - 3:20pm RSR Johnson JavaScript (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/inter-pub/js/) ✔ Prerequisites Wed May 26 2 - 3:20pm RSR Johnson

Workshops Available on Video Looking for an alternative to the workshop format? The Computing Center Documents Room and Media Services in Knight Library have a growing collection of videos on using computers and computer software. You can use your UO picture ID to check out these videos, or schedule a viewing room in Media Services. For a list of available titles and descriptions, visit http://micro.uoregon.edu/workshops/ Call 346-4406 or 346-3091 for more information.

* WORKSHOP LOCATION CODES * EC: Electronic Classroom (Windows) 144 Knight Library ITC: Macintosh Classroom 267B Knight Library RSR: Reed Seminar Room (Windows) 235 Knight Library 8 Requires an active account on DARKWING or GLADSTONE

computing news spring 1999 11 Microcomputer Services Adds ‘CD Burning,’ Digital Video—and More

By Dan Albrich [email protected]

This spring, the Computing Center’s Microcom- puter Services group has added several new free services for students, faculty and staff.

In addition to answering technical questions about microcomputer issues, the group now offers flatbed color scanning, CD “burning,” and digital video acquisition from its office in Room 202. There are three sit-down stations to accommodate each of these new services.

Digital Video. The digital video acquisition sta- tion can copy video and audio from VCR tape, camcorder, DV camcorder (IEEE 1394), S-Video, RCA, and most commonly supported formats. The machine is equipped with a real-time MPEG1 encoder, which compresses the data to a trans- portable size. Once the data is acquired, you can copy it to a computer across the network or write it to CD, Jazz, or Zip. The data can also be see us for converted to Quicktime, AVI or other popular formats.

computer repairs CD Burning. CD burning allows you to write your data to a blank CD-R disc that will ulti- mately be readable by most CD-ROM drives. upgrades The typical cost of a blank CD is about two dollars; it can store 650Mb of data.

Note that copyright restrictions must be custom systems observed.

Help Desk Moved to Room 202. To accommo- date existing and new services, we’ve combined our help desk and Microcomputer Services staff. The unified help desk is now upstairs in the Microcomputer Services office (Room 202). The office is open Monday through Friday from 9am 346-4403 to 5pm. Microcomputer consultants can be [email protected] reached by calling 346-4412 or sending email to [email protected] [email protected]

12 computing news spring 1999 Does the Shoe Fit? Know What Statistical Analysis Method Works Best for Your Data

■ Always consider • To what type of data does each experimental units have some inher- statistical models that item correspond (nominal, ordinal, ent or planned matching feature, so will work well with interval, or ratio?) that the mean of the paired differ- ences between the two columns is of your data, rather than • Are the data objectively measured interest. In the first situation, the data forcing your data into with a physical instrument (e.g., are assumed independent of each some specific model heights, weights, lengths, etc.) or do other. In the second, there is an im- they come from a more subjective plied correlation, either positive or measuring device, such as Likert negative, that must be considered. The By Robin High scales used in surveys or consumer use of the words “means” and “differ- [email protected] ratings? ences” in these two situations give a very different interpretation of the • Do the data have discrete levels problem. (e.g., gender: male/female) or are The development of high-speed they collected on a relatively con- personal computers and user-friendly “Normal” theoretical models. A more tinuous measurement scale? statistics software capable of complex example involves data analy- performing many sophisticated sis that is perceived in terms of a “nor- The answers to these questions are procedures has increased the mal” or “bell-shaped” theoretical critical, because they define what sta- likelihood of choosing the wrong model, such as those used with the tistical techniques are most appropri- technique for the job. At the very least, analysis of variance or linear regres- ate for your data and research ques- the bewildering increase in the sion. These methods are usually tions. numbers and types of available among the first procedures taught and statistical procedures has made it easy in many respects are the most easily to overlook, or be unaware of, other Common Pitfalls understood. If necessary, data may be methods that might be more Chi-square test. For example, the com- transformed to make this “normal” appropriate to your needs. monly used chi-square test is most theory model fit. appropriate for nominal data (discrete Statistics can easily be applied data which have levels in no inherent In many situations these normal theory incorrectly and even abused with any order). If discrete data have an order models are good approximations; set of data. It’s advisable to always (i.e., ordinal levels) or if the data are however, statistical computing has think carefully about how a collection measured on a more “continuous” reached the level where models based of numbers can and should be used. scale (interval or ratio), some other on other distributions can be applied Before you even begin collecting data, technique will probably produce a to the data. Discrete data can and should ask yourself some key questions: much more powerful and appropri- be treated differently from continuous data. ate test. • Does the data collection process For example, if the data are counts, provide a random sample represen- T-tests. A simple example of choos- Logistic or Poisson regression may be tative of the population of interest? ing a less than optimal data analysis much more appropriate than ANOVA procedure occurs with a comparison or linear regression. • Do the data address your research of the two-sample t-test versus the questions? paired t-test. Both tests require the Choose Appropriate • Do the data come from a designed presence of two “columns” of inter- experiment or from an observational val/ratio data. Models study? To summarize, it’s essential for you to The two-sample t-test assumes two understand which statistical analysis • Power of a test: is the sample size independent groups of experimental is most appropriate for your data. Al- large enough to find a meaningful units, with not necessarily equal ways consider statistical models that difference between groups? sample sizes, where the difference be- will work well with your data, rather • Are the data cross-sectional or tween the two column means is of than forcing your data into some spe- longitudinal? interest. With the paired t-test, the cific model.

computing news spring 1999 13 Don’t Overlook Advantages of UO Statistics Packages

■ Powerful statistics appear as myfile.lst. Each of these pro- A step-by-step record allows you to software packages are grams has its own command structure. grasp the complete picture of what was done and places you in a better available free to all ALPHA Software. ALPHA, another position to repeat the process in fu- faculty, staff, and UNIX-based system, should be used ture, if necessary. students for computationally intensive pro- grams written in sas, spss, and Splus. Assuming you can type and are able to use a text editor, one of the real strengths By Robin High As DARKWING and ALPHA are both UNIX [email protected] of writing code in sas, spss, Splus, and systems, their commands are other statistical programs is that these interchangeable. All your DARKWING programs document the entire proce- files are accessible on ALPHA: just log While many people use statistical pro- dure. All the steps you take, from on to ALPHA with your DARKWING userid initial input to final data analysis, are grams on their personal computers, and password. they might also want to be reminded clearly written into the program. This is known as the “syntax” method. that UO computing systems have very To run an spss program on ALPHA, enter sophisticated and powerful statistics % spss -m myfile.sps > myfile.lis software packages that are available Note on PC Versions free to all faculty, staff, and students. Further Advantages of Although both the “point and click” and “syntax” methods are available OREGON Software. Statistics pack- Running UO Software with PC versions of the major statisti- ages on OREGON include SAS, SPSS, Running statistical programs in batch cal programs (e.g., SPSS 8.0 for Win- SCA, SHAZAM, LINDO, LIMDEP, and mode requires you to write a set of dows), documentation of the process PRELIS/LISREL. Programs can be sub- computer codes in a syntax file to per- is often not written into a syntax file. mitted in batch mode by writing the form the desired tasks. One feature of This makes it easy to lose track of the code with a text editor such as pico. some of the latest versions of personal sequence of steps or options selected. computer programs is a “point and It also takes more time to repeat the For example, to run a SAS program, click” style of moving from one win- analysis later or transfer your data to enter the program commands into a dow or task to the next. While this another user without confusion. The file called myfile.sas and type method has its advantages, far too of- syntax method is also highly efficient $ sas myfile ten people work their way into oblivion, if you have a lot of repetitive tasks or not keeping a record of what they did. many variables to process. The .sas extension is not necessary when submitting the command. You will always be given a file called myfile.log where you can check the Check Web Stat Resources execution for completeness, and if it site offers definitions, explanations and produced output, you’ll find it in a file By Robin High interactive demos to help you under- called myfile.lis. SAS and SPSS can [email protected] stand the broad range of statistical also be run in a more interactive mode tests and what types of analyses would through an X-Windows interface. Statistical resources abound on the work with your data. web. Whether you want to learn more DARKWING Software. DARKWING about statistical theory and applica- 2. Product information (including spe- statistics packages include sas, bmdp, tions, are looking for product infor- cial features, recent upgrades, new ver- Splus, eqs, and rats. (Note that mation, or want to test demonstra- sions, product descriptions, and more): DARKWING is case-sensitive, so the pro- tion software, you’ll find a variety of SAS: http://www.sas.com gram names must be entered exactly web sites serving your needs: SPSS: http://www.spss.com (includes a free as shown.) To run a program, first demo of SamplePower for Windows 95/NT) 1. Online statistics texts and courses: edit it with a text editor and then Splus: http://www.mathsoft.com submit the command: http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/ pa765/texts.htm 3. Other useful information and links to % sas myfile pertinent SAS, SPSS, Splus and statis- While it’s not designed to replace tics sites: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/ coursework or consulting help, this A file called myfile.log will also be ~robinh/statistics.html produced on DARKWING, and output will 14 computing news spring 1999 Outlook Email Users - Watch Out for HTML Formatting Glitch! By Hervey Allen Microcomputer Support Specialist, Computing Center they comprise a significant percent- Outlook 98 age of the thousands of people who [email protected] 1.␣ Start the program. read their email on DARKWING, GLADSTONE, or OREGON daily. 2.␣ Go to theTools menu and choose Microsoft makes its Outlook “Options...” At this time, Outlook comes in two available to users of both Microsoft common versions, and 3.␣ Click on the Mail Format tab. Office and Microsoft Internet Explorer Outlook 98. Below are some simple 4.x. While the email client included 4. There is a pull-down menu labeled instructions for turning off Outlook’s with Outlook has some very nice “Send in this message format.” Set this HTML formatting under Windows 95/ features, it also includes one that may to “Plain Text.” 98, and resetting it so that your email cause problems when sending email to is sent as plain text—which is what non-Outlook users. 5.␣ The additional buttons labeled “Set- almost every email client expects. tings...” and “International Options...” By default, Outlook formats your email should be fine as they are. text with Hypertext Markup Language Outlook Express 6.␣ Now click “OK” or “Apply” and you (HTML), the same language that’s used 1. Start the program. should be able to send email without to format web pages. While many email having it formatted as HTML. clients can read HTML-formatted 2. Go to the Tools menu. messages, there are some notable 3. Click on the Send tab. Formatting Messages Individually: exceptions. While it’s possible to turn off HTML 4. In the “Mail sending format” box, formatting on a per-message basis by For example, if you send email to any- check the “Plain Text” radio button choosing the Plain Text option in the one using , your message will ap- instead of the HTML button. (The Format menu whenever you start a pear as an attachment and will be dif- default settings under the “Set- message, we generally recommend ficult to read. Even if your Pine readers tings...” button are fine.) that you send all email as plain text save your message to a file and try to 5. Click on “OK” or “Apply” and you unless you’re sure the person receiv- open it, they’ll still have difficulty read- should be able to send email without ing your message can read any for- ing it. This is a significant drawback having it formatted as HTML. matting you may wish to include. because Pine users are numerous—

No More Maintenance for VMScluster Line Printers

By Rick Millhollin to perform repairs on a per-call ba- We encourage everyone to move [email protected] sis instead. their printing jobs to their own local printers or to the Comput- As a result, turnaround on repairs ing Center’s Xerox N24 laser print- may be slower (DEC/Compaq gives ers if need be. The Computing Center re- higher priority to devices that are cently removed both the line on contract). In the event of a seri- printers on the VMScluster The name of the queue for the ous breakdown, it is also likely that from service contract, opting Xerox lasers is sys$docuprint the line printers will not be replaced.

computing news spring 1999 15 Trying to Decide Which ■ Here’s a crash course POP and IMAP Protocols you use to read your email is the only place that email exists. People who in email While POP has historically been the travel, or who use several computers fundament- standard, in the last few years a grow- to read their email, may have prob- ing number of email programs have lems with this aspect of POP. als to help been written using the Internet Mes- you make sage Access Protocol (IMAP). , Disk Quotas. Here on campus, our a choice Pro, and Outlook Express are mail machines have a quota, an upper examples of email programs that use limit on the amount of disk space that’s IMAP. There are differences in the way available to the user. If the POP email By Spencer Smith the two protocols work that will affect program is set to delete all messages [email protected] the way you read and use your email. from the machine after it reads them, then there is no quota problem. But if The main difference between POP and the client is set to leave the messages There are many email programs on the IMAP is where they keep their mail on the email server, email continues to market today; some are even available files. POP brings the mail onto the pile up without your knowledge. When free from the Internet. This article is to local machine (the machine you’re us- you read your email on your local help you decide which email program ing to read your email), and manipu- computer and delete it, you may as- would be best for you, depending on lates that email locally. IMAP keeps all sume it’s gone altogether, but actually the way you access your email. the email on the server (e.g., DARKWING, it’s still there on the server, taking up If you’re satisfied with your current GLADSTONE, OREGON) and manipulates space. email program, congratulations! You the email files there. After a POP email program deletes a should stick with it. Changing email message, it deletes only the local copy. programs can cause delays, problems, POP Pros and Cons This invisible buildup of mail has stung and even result in the loss of your Convenience. POP makes one con- many people who use POP email email entirely. nection to the email server and does all programs. But if you’ve been having problems its transferring and negotiation at one doing what you want to do with your time. It can easily filter and redistrib- IMAP Pros and Cons email and you’re ready for a complete ute your email, since it has to read it all Backups. IMAP-based email programs change, then please consider the infor- coming in anyway. And since it makes keep everything on the email server. mation presented here. (Changing back a local copy, you can save all your mail Since our central computers are backed and forth between multiple email pro- onto floppies or other storage directly. up on a regular basis, a recent backup grams will almost certainly cause you to Backups. On the down side, keeping of your email is always available. lose email, so consider carefully.) all your email on your local machine Convenience. Deletions take place on can cause problems. Most POP email Pine and Eudora the machine, and are reflected in your programs are already set up to delete email listing, so you always know ex- The email programs used most widely your email off the server once the trans- actly what email exists at any given on campus are Pine and Eudora. fer is completed. That means that your time and can easily remove unwanted local machine is the only place that Pine is widely used because of its low messages. Multiple mailboxes can be your email exists. Unless you back up overhead; it runs in a text-based envi- created to sort and categorize your your email every day, you could lose ronment (without buttons, menus, or mail. And since everything takes place all your email if something happens other graphical enhancements) on vir- on the email server, you can access to your local machine. tually any computer, and it operates your email the same way from mul- the same way from wherever you run Security. Anyone unscrupulous tiple locations. it. Just about any computer that can enough to want to read your email There are, however, some disadvan- use a modem or connect to the UO could do so from your local copy, as tages to IMAP. Because the IMAP email network can use Pine. security of desktop computers is not program needs to maintain a connec- Eudora is widely used because it is free, as bulletproof (generally) as that of the tion to the email server, and messages has been available (and free) for a long central computers. never get downloaded to the local com- time, and brings a graphical, point-and- Mobility. Mobility suffers somewhat puter, there is no “off-line” mode. click ease of use to email. Eudora also with POP. If you’re using your POP This could cause problems for people uses the (POP) email program, and your email pro- who want to do their reading and com- method for handling email, which has gram is set to delete email after it’s position while they are disconnected long been the standard method for email been downloaded, then the computer from the network—on a laptop com- programs to access email. 16 computing news spring 1999 Email Program to Use? puter on a plane, for example. Since and you use WebMail to peek at your • If you want to get your email from email remains on the email server, if mail and try it out, all of your messages several places (home, school, and while you are used to a POP email program will be marked unread! So if you have travelling), an IMAP email program taking your messages off the email been using Eudora for a long time, delet- lik Outlook Express might be a good server, the buildup of email on the ing messages and believing them gone, choice. Or, you might want to try a server may take you by surprise. using WebMail will make Eudora down- browser-based program like WebMail. load all your email again the next time Good News for Travelers you read your email. •␣ If all you want is a quick peek at your mail from wherever you are, with no If you travel a lot and want to be able to If you use an IMAP email program like frills, then Pine may be right for you. access your email anywhere, anytime, Mulberry, or if you use Pine, you can browser-based email programs like evaluate WebMail without these WebMail offer an attractive alternative problems. Web Resources to POP- or IMAP-based programs. One For a discussion on the relative merits such program, WebMail, is now up and Why Switch Programs? of various IMAP email programs, see running at the UO (see Welcome to WebMail on page 3 of this issue). If you’re currently satisfied with your http://www.unc.edu/dande/eval/ email program, then there is no press- current.html WebMail handles the display, compo- ing need to switch. On the other hand, sition, and sorting of your email if you’re dissatisfied, here are a few For a general discussion of a variety of through any browser, anywhere on pointers to think about: email programs, see the Internet. This is a cool feature but • If you always read your email http://www.ccs.yorku.ca/Compnews/ be warned! If you are using Eudora or from one place, Eudora is a good archive/Fall98/mailcompare.htm any other POP email program now, choice as your POP email program.

Setting Outlook Express to use IMAP

To set Microsoft’s Outlook Express to use IMAP rather than POP, follow these steps: - Open Outlook Express. - Select “Accounts…” from the “Tools” menu. - Select the “Mail” tab in the dialog box that appears. - In the “Mail” dialog box, click the “Add” button and select “Mail.” - A new dialog box will appear with a space for your name (e.g., “Bob Bogus”). Enter it and click “Next.” - In this dialog, enter your email account (e.g., [email protected]) and click “Next.” - The third dialog asks for your host information. For the IMAP host, enter whatever is after the @ sign in your email address. In our example, Bob Bogus would enter oregon.uoregon.edu En- ter the same information for the SMTP host as for the IMAP host (they’re the same for major email machines). - In the sixth dialog, you’re asked to set up your connection. If - In the fourth dialog, you need to enter the part of your email you’re on campus, choose the “Using my local area network” address after the @ sign. In our example, Bob would enter bbogus. option. If you’re dialing in from home, the “Make Connection You may also enter the email password for this account, but that Manually” choice is best. The other choice, having Outlook Express can cause some security problems. If you leave the password field dial your modem, has caused some people problems. blank, Outlook Express will ask you for this information the first - In the seventh dialog, click the Finish button. time you try to send or receive mail. - Click OK at the “Mail” dialog (back where we started), and you’ll - In the fifth dialog, enter a name to be displayed in your account be taken back to Outlook Express to begin getting your email. In the list in Outlook Express. This name won’t have any effect on the way left-hand navigation bar, double-click the new folder (named your mail is handled. “Oregon Mail,” “U of O Mail,” “Campus whatever friendly name you chose), enter your email password if Mail” are good choices. prompted for it, and begin reading your email!

computing news spring 1999 17 18 computing news spring 1999 Time to Upgrade that Windows 3.1 Machine ■ Upgrading now can • Windows 3.1 is a discontinued Windows 3.1 and Y2K product, and has been for almost help you avoid future four years. If you’re interested in learning more about Windows 3.1 and year 2000 (Y2K) problems •␣ The last version ofMicrosoft Office issues, see the Microsoft’s Year 2000 available for Windows 3.1 (Office 4.2) By Hervey Allen web site at is no longer compatible with Office [email protected] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/ versions for the Mac and PC. year2k/product/product.htm • There are basically no new applica- While the thought of upgrading your tions for Windows 3.1 and none will Test your hardware. You may want to Windows 3.1 operating system may be available in the future. download a small DOS utility that will seem daunting, now may be the best test the hardware on your machine for • Many older 486 and 386 class time to take the plunge. If you’re still Y2K compliance. This utility is computers won’t work correctly on running Windows 3.1 on your available at January 1, 2000. This means that computer, Microcomputer Services http://www.nstl.com/html/ Windows won’t work correctly, either. staff strongly recommends upgrading ymark2000_instructions.html • Windows 3.1 offers very little to no to a newer operating system (e.g., Y2K at the UO. For an overview of support for modern hardware (e.g., Windows 98, Macintosh OS, Windows Year 2000 issues and to see what the printers, scanners, large hard drives, NT, etc.) to avoid future problems. UO has done about Y2K compliance, USB devices, etc.) go to http://y2k.uoregon.edu/ We’re making this recommendation •␣ Windows 3.1 has no built-in sup- now to ensure that campus depart- port for PCMCIA cards for portable ments have sufficient time to plan computers. This makes using newer ahead for next year’s budget, which PCMCIA cards very difficult. will be in place July 1, 1999. We also BANNER 3 •␣ Windows 3.1 has no built-in suggest that any such upgrade be support for networking, which scheduled for quiet periods of the year, Users Migrate makes networking a Windows 3.1 such as summer term or spring break. machine much more difficult. to ‘DEWEY’ What’s Involved? • Windows 3.1 is not supported by BANNER and can’t run the new and ‘HUEY’ Before making a change, you’ll prob- BANNER GUI system ably want to consult your local com- • 486 and 386 machines have almost By Susan Hilton puter support person, if you have one, no market value, so they are [email protected] to formulate an overall plan for your generally not worth upgrading work group. • Future versions of the Duckware Last February, the Computing As you may already suspect, a system CD-ROM may not contain any Center added two new Windows upgrade is not a trivial operation. Windows 3.1 software. NT servers, DEWEY and HUEY, You’ll most likely need to purchase a • While Windows 3.1 will run on which should enhance BANNER new computer and some new soft- newer hardware, it can’t take system performance and reliability. ware, transfer your data, and prepare advantage of it. For instance, no single yourself for some initial training or Windows 3.1 application can use more All BANNER GUI users were re- learning to become comfortable with than a theoretical maximum of 16MB quired to update their systems to your new system. of RAM. This makes manipulating use one of the new servers by April large files very difficult. 1, 1999, when the old BANNER 3 There are other factors to consider as server was disconnected. •␣ There are very few new support well. You may have a personal attach- Throughout the month of March, staff personnel with Windows 3.1 ment to using a program that has users were reminded of the sys- knowledge or training, and there served you well and may not look tem update each time they logged will be no new training of any forward to learning a new one. And in on BANNER. Computing Center support staff in then there are the costs: the real cost of Windows 3.1. purchasing new equipment to run the If you still have questions newer system, and the intangible costs •␣ ManyWindows 3.1 machines have regarding the upgrade, please of time and possible frustration. hard drives that are five years old or contact your department’s support older. These hard drives had a life person or Microcomputer Services Despite these obstacles, we think there expectancy of no more than five at 346-4412. are many good reasons to upgrade years. It’s critical that you have now. Some of these are cited below: backups of your data! computing news spring 1999 19 Required by Law…

By Matthew Latterell The other day a faculty member new Law building, with over 1000 Assistant Dean, wanted to share a file with his stu- network ports for just over 600 indi- Educational and dents. But some of his students were viduals, this will be very much true. Information Technology using Microsoft Word and some UO School of Law were using Corel WordPerfect. Some The need for a floppy drive is in- were using the Windows version of versely proportional to the strength ■ …sharing the lessons WordPerfect and some were using and accessibility of the network. Be- learned from the UO the Macintosh version. Some of the ing able to plug a floppy-free laptop Macintosh students use Claris or desktop into a network is one School of Law computer Emailer for their email—others use thing; sharing data across that net- requirement and the use Eudora. Because of application com- work is another. File servers go of technology in patibility problems and file attach- down, disrupting access to shared enhancing an academic ment issues, less than one-quarter and personal files and, for many of his students were able to use the Windows users, access to printing. curriculum file he sent. Students attempting to Dial-up access to network-based data share common documents have is slow at best. Downloading a large similar experiences. email attachment over a standard Winter is always the time I start 56k modem can be done, but even thinking about my garden. What The problems are not caused by the more could be done with that time should I plant this year, what work operating system or platform, but using a document saved to a floppy needs to be done to the soil before I by the applications. Word and or some other removable media. plant, and how soon can I actually WordPerfect are strangers to each get something in the ground? other on the Macintosh. WordPerfect Computers with or without floppies routinely alters formatting between require transparent network access. Winter at the School of Law is also its Macintosh and Windows versions. This understanding affects every- the time to think about what laptop sends attachments us- thing from the networking hardware computer configuration we are go- ing compression and encoding not in our laptops and desktops to the ing to recommend for next year’s easily understood by most email server hardware and software we entering class. Going hand in hand packages on either platform. choose and the underlying network with this is how we can get better infrastructure in the Law building tools to our faculty and staff—com- The applications we recommend to itself. puters that are at least as good as students affect the applications that those used by our students. We are must be available to faculty and Coming up with answers about soft- contemplating every possibility: staff. These recommendations in ware applications, floppy drives and buying or leasing, laptops or desk- turn affect the quality of machine— network access when contemplating tops, new machines or upgrades, new or upgraded—that must be on our computer recommendations and Macintosh or Windows. that staff or faculty member’s desk. purchases for the Law School is very much like figuring out what the soil The possibilities listed above, we Another decision that must be faced behind my house needs before I can have come to realize, are mostly a is the role the floppy drive will play plant the garden: if we don’t see to matter of personal preference and (or should play) in our computing the fundamentals, we won’t get the financial resources. The real choices environment. Part of this is driven results we desire. The computers that we must make are less about the by the fact that the new Macintosh students, faculty and staff use must hardware and more about the soft- desktop systems—both iMacs and be appropriate for their needs. Even ware, less about the individual ma- the “blue” G3s—are floppy-free. more importantly, the computing en- chine and more about the entire net- The lack of floppy drives on these vironment must be up to the task of work infrastructure, less about how machines is a challenge to conven- making these computers as easy to a person uses his or her own com- tional computing. It presupposes use and as functional as possible so puter and more about how our data that the computer is in some way that the real task at hand—the study is accessed, shared, and distributed. attached to a network. And at the of law—can proceed.

20 computing news spring 1999 UO Faculty, Save Space and Speed Staff Eligible Up Your Web Pages by for NWACC Grants Converting Gifs to Jpgs UO faculty and staff are eligible to apply for two awards offered by the Northwest ■ Use a simple script to convert your Academic Computing Consortium image files in one fell swoop (NWACC), a consortium of over 40 academic institutions from six states. By Joe St Sauver [email protected] This year’s two-grant program, in accordance with NWACC’s primary goal, is aimed at stimulating innovative uses of new information Many web designers are used to following quality versus size tools in education and research. A relying primarily on gif-format relationship: total of $150,000 is available for images, when often jpg-format awards in two categories: Faculty Original gif: 220520 bytes images are actually preferable. Incentive Awards for Web Use and Quality Size Collaborative Program Development. For example, jpgs tend to be smaller jpg @ quality 90 149242 bytes than comparable gifs for continuous- jpg @ quality 80 97294 bytes Faculty Incentive Awards. This pro- tone photographic images, and they jpg @ quality 70 71116 bytes gram provides small grants directly also render color more faithfully. jpg @ quality 60 56573 bytes to faculty members to promote inno- jpg @ quality 50 48203 bytes vative ways of using the World Wide If you have thousands of existing Web for instruction. Up to sixteen images in gif format, the thought of $3000 grants are available for faculty converting them all to a different A Few Caveats summer stipends, and up to five format might be a little daunting. Before you use this script, here are $10,000 grants will be distributed for Fortunately, however, you don’t a few more things to keep in mind: larger projects requiring student as- need to convert them one at a time. • The resulting jpgs are left in the sistance, travel, etc. Applicants may Instead, you can use this simple same directory. submit proposals for either the $3000 script on DARKWINGto convert them or the $10,000 award, but not both. en masse: • You’ll need to adjust any web pages referring to the old gif Collaborative Program Development. #!/bin/csh -x images so that they point to the foreach f ( *.gif ) This program supports collaboration set base = `basename $f .gif` new jpg images instead. between NWACC institutions for us- giftopnm $f | cjpeg -quality 50 > $base.jpg •␣ Be sure to check the protections ing technology resources. It funds travel end on the new jpg files to ensure that and other activities, such as workshops, they’re properly accessible. related to formulating joint proposals (Note that the backticks on line three and significant interinstitutional part- are just that: backtick marks, not • This conversion is intended for use nerships. Grants range from $2000 to apostrophes.) with generic gifs that need to be $10,000 dollars. Preference will be given converted into generic jpgs; if you’re to proposals that provide maximum le- The script assumes that your gifs have using gifs which exploit extensions, verage through institutional, founda- the suffix .gif and reside in your cur- this script probably won’t work for tion, and other funding matches. rent directory. It also shows a typical you. JPEG quality factor of 50; higher or If you have any questions regarding See man giftopnm and man cjpeg lower values may be appropriate if either of these grant programs, you for more information on those two you want better image quality or bet- may contact Joanne Hugi, Chair of commands. ter image compression. the Grants Committee, at (541) 346- If you run into problems or have 1702, or [email protected] For seat-of-the-pants calibration, a questions, feel free to send mail to More information on NWACC pro- sample image I converted had the [email protected] grams, including grant application forms and guidelines, is available at http://www.nwacc.org/ computing news spring 1999 21 Security Alert! OSU Computing System Compromised System administrators at Oregon State usernames and passwords, for some OSU systems within the past month, University have informed us that one systems at OSU. This means that if you you should still consider yourself vul- of their main systems was compro- logged into any OSU systems within the nerable and you should change your mised several weeks ago (estimated at past month or so, usernames and pass- OSU account password(s) promptly. Feb. 28, 1999). If you never log in on words for any account to which you estab- Oregon State University computers, lished a session (telnet, ftp, Eudora, Users who have not logged into an OSU you can safely disregard the rest of this rlogin, ...) may have been captured by the system since Feb. 27 are probably safe. article. If, however, you have logged in on intruder. Any such account is now vul- any OSU systems within the past month, nerable to attack by that intruder. For information on changing pass- please read on. words on OSU accounts, see http:// We have received information on a consulting.orst.edu/helpdocs/ OSU administrators are still investi- very limited number of accounts that academic_mainframe or http:// gating the incident. They are aware are known to be vulnerable, and we osu.orst.edu/dept/consulting/helpdocs/ that the intruder had installed, among are contacting the owners of those ac- dialing_in/Annex_Password.html ... or other things, a program which re- counts directly. If you do not hear contact the OSU consultants corded network traffic, including from us, but you have logged into any ([email protected], 541-737-3474).

For information on changing pass- words on UO accounts, see http:// cc.uoregon.edu/docs/passwd_policy.html Documents Room Acquires …or contact a UO consultant at [email protected], More CD-ROMs, Books [email protected], [email protected] … or By Vickie Nelson whatever␣ your level of expertise with call 346-1758. [email protected] Windows 98, you should be able to find␣ something to meet your needs.

The Computing Center Documents Other popular new titles include Room is starting to build a small Mail Upgrade - Red Hat Linux Secrets, 2nd edition collection of training␣ CD-ROMS to complement its popular collection of - Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese Improves Spam training videos. Information Processing - Java Servlet Programming Filtering The first␣ instructional CD titles cover - The Little iMac Book On March 23 the Computing Center Office 97, Windows 98, Excel 97, and - The Non-Designer’s Scan and Print Book Word␣ 97. We also recently acquired a upgraded sendmail and procmail, two series of CDs on Linux topics, including - Photoshop Artistry mail system components on DARKWING - Perl Cookbook and GLADSTONE. The upgrade is ex- - Linux Red Hat 5.2 (Apollo) pected to improve mail system per- - Linux Rough Cuts for M68K Processor Books may be checked out for a two- formance and spam-filtering mea- - Linux Rough Cuts for MIPS Processor week period. sures. Aside from that, you shouldn’t - Linux Rough Cuts for PowerPC notice any dramatic differences be- cause procmail and sendmail are the - Linux Rough Cuts for Ultrrasparc The Documents Room is located on the second floor of the Computing “plumbing” of the mail system that The CD-ROMs may be checked out for Center in Room 205. Hours are 9:30am delivers messages to your , one week. ␣ ␣ to 5:00pm Monday through Friday and you usually don’t interact with during the academic term. either of them directly. Recent book acquisitions include sev- If you have questions about the up- 346-4406 eral Windows 98 offerings, ranging For more information, call or grade, contact a consultant (346- from the␣ Microsoft Windows 98 Resource see 1758; [email protected], Kit to Windows 98 for Dummies. So http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~docsrm [email protected]).

22 computing news spring 1999 computing news spring 1999 23 COMPUTING CENTER GUIDE

Computing Center Web Site Help Desk (Room 202) Electronics Shop http://cc.uoregon.edu • microcomputer technical support For computer hardware repair, installation, • computing accounts, passwords and upgrade services, call 346-4403. Microcomputer Services • scanning, CD-burning, digital video (Room 202) Documents Room Library Network Services • Windows and Macintosh Designs, installs, maintains, and software and hardware (Room 205) 346-4406 troubleshoots networks and network • Internet connections, file transfers software for a wide variety of platforms. • public domain software, virus http://cc.uoregon.edu/~docsrm protection 346-4395 • help with damaged disks, files [email protected] http://ns.uoregon.edu 346-4412 [email protected] http://micro.uoregon.edu ➜ Modem Numbers N Dial-in modem numbers for UOnet, the Large systems consulting campus network: (Rooms 233-239 ) • V.90/x2 346-6520 • VMS, UNIX (GLADSTONE, • Kflex/V.90 346-3565 DARKWING, OREGON) • statistics packages • V.34+ (33.6 Kbps) 346-5975 • email 346-1758 Computing Center Hours [email protected] Sunday 9 am - 8:30 pm [email protected] Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 8:30 pm [email protected] Saturday 9:00 am - 4:30 pm

COMPUTING NEWS UO COMPUTING CENTER 1212 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON EUGENE, OR 97403-1212