medieval help desk

Because it’s Friday, and because it never gets old:  Le Book.

Have a great weekend!

thinking about space

I attended a workshop today presented by Lennie Scott-Webber, PhD, of Steelcase Education Solutions.  “Dr. Lennie” has moved from faculty to a research position with the furniture and design company, and she focuses on environments for sharing knowledge in higher education and corporate learning centers. She had some interesting information to share.

I keep going back to her question of whether University tours include classrooms. Think about why or why not. Yeah.  She also asked how we (as in all universities) would deal with our real estate efficiencies, and she pointed to libraries as places where intentional design and efficient use of space lead to form following function.
And, she said, “You want retention? Build community.”

If you are interested in seeing information about her research and affiliated work, you can visit Steelcase’s 360Research webpages.

desktop audio/video capture

Sometimes a little “desktop capture” is all you need to make a point or distribute information or assistance. There is software available that allows you to capture audio and the content of your computer screen from your desktop for presentations, demonstrations, lectures, and other means.

Microsoft PowerPoint and some other presentation software products have nice features for recording lectures, but if you want to go a bit further, you might try some of the following:

• University of Kentucky instructors (and staff and students) have Echo360 Personal Capture available to them on UK download. UK instructors who would like to publish to their courses can request publishing permission for Echo360 Personal Capture (be sure to specify “personal capture”) by calling the UKIT Service Desk at 218-HELP.
• UK instructors and staff also have access to Adobe Captivate at UK download. This product is a bit more complicated, but it provides numerous additional features.
• I sometimes use Jing, which provides brief (up to 5 minutes) desktop capture capacity.  There’s a free version, but I’ve been using the paid version ($15/yr) at home, which removes the product name from the end of the captures, but that will be replaced in February by Snagit. Apparently Snagit will do the same thing (and grab longer captures), but you only buy it once ($49.95; $29.95 with educational discount) instead of paying a yearly fee.
• Jing’s big brother is Camtasia Studio, which is very nice high-end desktop capture software. It can be pricey, but there is an educational discount.

sing it!

I hope you had a restful/enjoyable/quiet/boisterous Labor Day weekend, per your preferences. Mine was nice and quiet … but with one cloud. Have you ever had a tune in your head that you cannot name, and it just bugs you to death? Gah!

It’s a happy little ditty, actually. Bouncy, no lyrics. Maybe a Percy Faith number … maaaaaaybe Mitch Miller. But the kind you cannot put your finger on it. If there were words, I would just type them into Google and the universe would serve an answer up to me. Yeah, I’ve done that many times, too. But what do you do when you can’t type it?

The answer is: sing it!

Yes, that’s right, you can search by singing or humming. Am I the only one who did not know this? My son clued me in. I was clueless. So I tried:

• Midomi, an online search
• SoundHound, an app

Aaaaaaand it did me absolutely no good. Just to be sure I was doing it right, I hummed The Girl from Ipanema, and I did get all kinds of appropriate returns. And so, my search continues.

Don’t click that link!

You’ve seen the links. You’ve gotten the emails. What the heck? Can that video be real? Let me just check it out and see what that’s about. or Wait, email tech assistance says my email’s been hacked? I need to login to update my account? Oh, boy, is this real?

Do. Not. Click.

Here at University of Kentucky, there’s an email “phishing” expedition going around, but those hazardous clicks can be found in email, in social media, and so on – even in a message from a friend that doesn’t quite sound right. Use your common sense. If it seems suspicious, it’s probably a trap.

Here are some good resources for avoiding the phishermen:

• Know how it works. HowStuffWorks “How Phishing Works”
• FTC tips: How Not to Get Hooked
• When is a login not a login?
• Security Matters by UK CISO Michael Carr
• antiphishing.org

Google+ please

I have recently had a couple of  instructors and staff check in on Google Plus being added to University of Kentucky”s Google Apps. I thought this might be of interest to a few of my gentle readers, so let me say:  Yes, we would like to add G+. Unfortunately, the addition of G+ does not fall under our current agreement for Google Apps, so I am involved in some discussions to determine what considerations are required before moving toward an agreement. But, rest assured, it is top of the list. The good news: we have a contact at Google who’s been very helpful in this conversation.

In the meantime, if you haven’t explored your options in UK Google Apps, link on over to the Google Apps FAQ and check it out.

doin’ the two-step (authentication)

A couple of weeks ago, I logged in to my personal email and found that I had requested that my Facebook password be changed. Except, I had not. Of course I quickly used the link that tells fb, no way, don’t change my password, and then I set about cleaning house and updating my password both to my Facebook account and to my personal email account. Along the way,  I let my fb friends know what had happened, and it brought about some discussion of what constitutes a safe password, how you keep it safe, and so on. My friends had good suggestions and food for thought. Here is a blog post by Facecrooks that you might find helpful in making your Facebook experience more secure: How To Lockdown Your Facebook Account for Maximum Privacy and Security.

There are instructors out there exploring Facebook, Dropbox, Google Plus and more as productivity and/or teaching resources. While those instructors may not want to “lock down” their profile or information, they may wish to make it more secure, or think about how and with whom they would like to share.

One of the options available in some cases is two-step authentication, a method for ensuring that you know when someone tries to access your account on a computer or device that is not recognized. It can be very helpful. Here’s how it works: The first time you login after setup, you will be sent a unique passcode via your cell phone (or an app accessible wherever you have it set up). You are able to name the device and have it recognized for subsequent logins. If someone is trying to login to your account from their own computer, you see evidence via the passcode notification … but the person trying to get into your account won’t have access to it and therefore will not be able to login. It’s just one more item that can help you be a little more secure.

Sure, it’s a bit of a pain when you first login after setting it up. If you access via multiple devices, every first-time login will require that you retrieve that passcode. But once that’s done, you are all set.

Where to find it?

• In Facebook:  Account Settings>Notifications>Login Approvals
• In Google Plus:  Account>Security>2-step verification
• Dropbox:  Settings>Security>Two-step verification (you will have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find it)

There are others, but the path will be very similar.