Category Archives: Helpdesk Alerts

Key Survey Mobile App Update Now Available

KeySurvey LogoThe following information is pertinent only for individuals having a Key Survey account used to create, distribute, and work with surveys and response data.

Message text (excerpt) from WorldAPP’s Customer Care team, dated 10/21/14:

New updates for Form.com Mobile v4.0 and Key Survey Mobile v4.0 are now available for download.

What’s New: This latest software update provides enhanced ability to capture data from your mobile device while offline and offers improved data synchronization technology with a faster automatic data upload frequency rate when online – now, every 5 minutes.

Before downloading the update, please be informed that:

• Legacy versions of the Form.com Mobile and Key Survey Mobile apps will continue to operate, however, we highly recommend installing the latest update to receive the best possible performance.
• We advise performing a final synchronization request to ensure all data is uploaded to the server. Failure to do this could result in data loss.
• If you are still working from the WorldAPP Offline branded mobile app, it is recommended that you install the new mobile app (Form.com Mobile for Form.com accounts, Key Survey Mobile for Key Survey accounts), as WorldAPP Offline will no longer be supported. Follow these 4 simple steps for a smooth transition to the new app.

As always, WorldAPP’s support staff can assist with questions you may have.

 

 

Moodle Update on Friday, August 19th

From Remote-Learner:

Dear Valued Client,

In order to increase the resilience and reliability of our cloud platform we will be conducting database maintenance on September, 19th between 12:01 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. EST. During most of this period your site will be operational, but there may be short periods of connection loss to the internet.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to improve your experience.

Sincerely,

Remote-Learner Technical Support

ITS student printing updates

Information Technology Services updated some printing services over the summer:

Visit go/howtoprint to view our updated instructions on how to print to a public printer

  • Cash Cards replace credit cards.

In the event you need to increase your print page quota, PaperCut cash cards have replaced the online credit card system.  Purchase cards at Wilson Café in Davis Family Library, MiddXpress in McCullough, or the College Store in Proctor Hall.

Moodle Maintenance on Friday, August 15th

This message is from Remote-Learner, our Moodle host:

Remote Learner will be conducting database maintenance August the 15th from 01:00 AM EST until 04:00 AM EST on the Kansas City data center. During this window we will be improving the performance and resiliency of our database system. During this time you may experience periods with loss of connectivity to your hosted site. Thank you for your patience as we continue improving our services.

Sincerely,

Remote-Learner Technical Support

Heartbleed and the changing of the passwords

As noted in messages from LIS, we are requiring all individuals to change their Middlebury password as a precaution in response to “heartbleed” security threat.  If you have not yet changed your password since these email messages were sent, that is since Thursday, April 10th after 4 pm EDT, you were required to do so before this Thursday, April 24th at 4 pm EDT.

If you haven’t yet changed your password go to http://go.middlebury.edu/activate/ . (Please note that if you use a smart phone or tablet, you should turn off the device while you change your password.) If you need help changing your password, you can contact the Help Desk at 802 443 2200 or via the Help Desk ticketing system at http://go.middlebury.edu/whd.

Stay Safe.

Microsoft to end technical support for Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003

Microsoft will end support for the Windows XP operating system and Microsoft Office 2003 software on April 8.  Microsoft will no longer release security updates or provide technical support for either product after this date.

Both Windows XP and Office 2003 will continue to function, but computers running either product will become increasingly vulnerable to malware and other forms of cyber-attack.

Due to the risk these vulnerabilities create, the Information Security group considers it necessary that Middlebury College students, faculty and staff have an upgrade to better protect personal and College data.

If you are not sure whether you are using Windows XP, Microsoft has created an easy-to-use website you can use to help at http://amirunningxp.com.

If you have a College-owned device that is running Windows XP, please contact the helpdesk at helpdesk@middlebury.edu, or create a ticket at  https://webhelpdesk.middlebury.edu/ to discuss the best course of action. The Technology Helpdesk has already begun the process of migrating all College-owned computers to Windows 7.

Students, faculty, and staff with personal computers running Windows XP will need to upgrade their computer operating system to be able to connect to the Middlebury network or VPN at some point in the future, so please take action as soon as possible.

For questions or assistance, contact the Helpdesk at X2200 or visit https://webhelpdesk.middlebury.edu/ to create an online ticket.

Go/middfiles II: Electric Boogaloo

This post was made in the fall, but technical issues delayed the implementation. We’re now ready to move forward.

Recently, we at the Helpdesk have spoken with many individuals who were disappointed with the interface and performance of NetStorage, but were unaware of other, usually superior ways to access their files.

In an effort to improve awareness, and in consultation with Central Systems and Network Services, we will be changing the go/middfiles shortcut, currently pointed directly to Netstorage, to lead to our main documentation about Middfiles. Using this documentation, users should be able to quickly connect using faster, better methods and be on their way.

We realize that this will be a significant change for some in our community, but we anticipate that over time, this will help people distinguish between Middfiles, the server system, and Netstorage, a web application that permits limited access to that system and is not intended for daily use. Netstorage will still be accessible via go/netstorage for edge cases like mobile devices that cannot use WebDAV.

The plan is to make the switch within the next few weeks. (EDIT: The changes have been made.) This post (available at go/middfileschange) will be updated with any new information.

As always, we invite your feedback via comments. For specific questions or issues, please make a ticket.

Now’s the Time to Update Your OS & Apps: New Vulnerabilities Announced

burglarApple recently released software updates to iOS, Mac OS 10.7 and higher, as well as for Safari & QuickTime for Windows.  These updates address a vulnerability found in Apple’s implementation of SSL (secure sockets layer), a protocol computers use extensively for secure communications online.  While we are not aware of any specific information breaches at Middlebury College, and the steps necessary for someone to compromise these secure communications are far from trivial, we should all apply these important security patches to our Apple hardware and Windows computers running Apple software to mitigate these risks.  Please check your Apple software for available updates (especially iOS, Mac OS, Safari, and QuickTime updates).  Run your updates now and check again after the installation as some may have prerequisites.  For more information, links to specific updates for the SSL vulnerability and others are available at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

Moodle Maintenance Notice For 2/28/14

From Remote-Learner, our Moodle host:

In order to increase the resilience and reliability of our cloud platform we will be replacing our network firewalls. Upgrades on the firewalls will be conducted during the February 28th maintenance window between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., ET.

During most of this period your site will be operational, but there may be short periods of connection loss to the internet.

Moodle Maintenance on Friday, October 4th from 2am-6am

From our Moodle host:

Dear Valued Client,

In order to increase resilience and reliability of our cloud platform we will be migrating data within our server infrastructure. We will be performing maintenance during our October 4th maintenance window from 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., ET. During most of this period your site will be operational, cron will not be running; a brief loss of connectivity to the internet will occur at the end of the process.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Remote-Learner Technical Support