Its bits april 2002 3.fh10

InformationTechnologyServices NEWSLETTER FOR LINCOLN UNIVERSITY STAFF AND POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS Changes
We are making some changes to the way
the HelpDesk operates so we can
improve the service we offer as well as
providing a better working environment
for the HelpDesk staff.
monthly by
Information Technology
Our HelpDesk does a really good job at dealing with a huge range of support calls. In some Services
areas they are expert, in others they need to refer your call to other people. From the startof April, ITS software consultants will also be providing first level support. With this newarrangement we will be able to provide you with ready access to specialists in a wide rangeof areas.
All calls to the HelpDesk are logged and depending on the nature or likely duration of acall, that call may be assigned to a software consultant who will then call you back. Whilst appreciating that many of you will wish to get your problem solved at the time of your first call to the HelpDesk, it is more efficient to work this way. When the person answering yourcall can give you a quick answer, they will do this. If your issue is more involved then by referring the call we can free up HelpDesk staff to answer more incoming calls and attend to repairs, installations, tape restores etc. During busy times the software consultantswill also join the HelpDesk phone queue to answer calls.
You can now get your Novell network passwords changed in most departments by the ITS Trusted Agent, typically a senior member of your department’s administrative staff. Thiswill be much quicker than having to come down to the HelpDesk counter.
Where possible we recommend logging calls to the HelpDesk via the Pmail “IT services job request” icon ( ) or an email to [email protected] If you do ring the HelpDesk please LEAVE A MESSAGE, if your call is not answered! We check for voice messages very frequently and will get back to you as soon as possible.
Normally the staff HelpDesk counter is open from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm. From 20 March theHelpDesk will be closing its counter each Wednesday at 3 pm. This is to enable the HelpDeskto have regular meetings, attend staff training, and catch up on some paperwork. Whilstthe counter is closed you may continue to call 8048 and log calls with an ITS staff member.
April 2002
Urgent calls will be dealt with immediately, others will be logged and referred on to theappropriate people.
Most keyboards on campus now include two special Windows keys
— the Windows logo key (B) and the Application key ( ). These
two keys let you access many shortcuts from the keyboard. These
are summarised below:
Display or hide the Start menu.
Display the System Properties dialog box
By now most staff on campus have had the
opportunity for training in the voice mail
system. I would like to remind users about
some of the system features and offer some
operational tips:
1. If you are away from campus, set a temporary Open the Run dialog box
message letting callers know this. Use option Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.
8 3. Another good feature is that you can set an expiry date for the temporary message so that it automatically is deleted and reverts to your Some keyboard shortcuts may not work if StickyKeys is turned on in Accessibility standard greeting. Use option 8 3 9 for this.
2. If you forget to set a temporary absence greeting at work, you can set one up from home (or anywhere with a touch tone phone). Dial 325- 3838 then extension 3838 and your login details.
3. When replaying a message, you can call the user Reorganisation
who left the message by dialling 9 during 4. A shortcut for entering your mailbox from your of Network
extension: After you have dialled the access number (3838) dial # then your password #.
Directories
Several groups around campus have begun reorganising their share directories.
ITS test marking
These include ITS, AMAC, Lincworks and Student Enquiries & Admissions. The aim of this work is to tidy up existing files and develop consistent filing and service – Guidelines
sharing procedures. This work is already important, but the demise of some local hard disk drives raises it to urgent status. This should provide good motivation ITS have prepared a document containing guidelines for users of the multiple-choice test marking service. The document, which is available on the web, identifies the information ITS require before marking your test. It also contains details of Rationalisation of local, personal (H:\) and shared (U:\) drives, the format of the test results produced and the statistical If you would like more details about your department’s share directory, please contact your department information co-ordinator. Co-ordinators wishing to If you use the ITS test marking service please take a look at start work on this should contact Peter McNaughton, ITS this document which you can find on the ITS web page at Many people have asked me recently about how to block the growing volume
of junk mail (commonly called spam mail) coming in to them. The best place
to block junk mail is at the server level (before it reaches your mailbox) and
ITS are currently investigating options for doing this. Until we have a product
that can do this, the only defence we can suggest is auto-deleting messages
once they have got to your mailbox.
Spam rules should be set up as New Mail rules that are applied when the folder is opened
(“Tools | Mail filtering rules | Edit new mail filtering rules | Rules applied when the folder is opened” or click the shortcut button on the toolbar ). In the “New Mail Filtering Rules” dialogue box that appears, click on the Add Rule button.
Header rules and Expression rules are the best types of rule for catching spam. There is also a Scan List type, which you can use if you wish.
Header Rules
Scan List Rules
Header rules allow you to match on text within the commonly used headers of a message,
Finally, you can use the Scan List rule type to
check a sender’s address against a distribution list (black list) that you maintain. When a spam If the From field contains MakeMoney@bulkmail.com
reaches you, you can easily add the sender’s If the Subject field contains viagra
address to your black list by right-clicking the Note that, with a header rule, the search text you enter is automatically assumed to be part of the line only. In other words, you shouldn’t enter wildcard characters around the text This emulates Outlook’s “Junk Mail” feature and (e.g., *viagra*).
it may work for you, although it has never Expression Rules
seemed a particularly good way of catching Expression rules allow you to use regular expressions to match text anywhere within the spam, in my opinion, because spammers rarely message. You can match within the headers or within the body of the message, but note that you will always be better off matching within the headers only, if you can. Expression matches on the body of a message will slow down the opening of the new mail folder.
Here you can use wildcard characters as well as other special characters for expression What should you do with messages that match matching. For spam filtering, the asterisk, the plus and the square brackets are most useful.
your filters? It’s tempting to just automatically delete them, but there is always a risk of false An asterisk allows you to match on a word or multiple words anywhere within the message, matches. Filtering on the word girls in the
subject might seem sensible – until a friend *hardcore*
matches on the word anywhere within a line sends you an email about what their children *hardcore*sites*
matches on the words “hardcore” and “sites” in the same line, A plus sign matches multiple occurrences of the last character, e.g., matching messages into it, for manual checking at a lower priority, once a day or even once a *hardcore + sites*
The + after the space will force a match regardless of the Square brackets allow you to match a range of characters, e.g. [1-3] would try to match a
1, a 2 or a 3 on the line.
Combining all three of these special characters creates the following very powerful spam rule which I would recommend for anyone. Set this up as an Expression rule searching the Subject:* +[0-9][0-9][0-9]+
This matches on the text Subject: at the beginning of the line and, at the end of the line, a number of spaces followed by a sequence of 3 or more numbers. If you try this simple spam filter for a while, you may be surprised by just how much junk mail matches this pattern.
Novell Client
A lot of people are now using the automatic reply feature (under the “Tools”
menu) in Pegasus Mail to let others sending them mail know when they are
Updates and
away on leave. This is very useful especially when combined with a list of
alternative contacts.
Profiles
One problem with the Automatic reply feature is that it doesn’t attach your signature to the message it sends. On messages sent to departmental groups or to the secretaries list (where the individual’s name doesn’t appear in the “From” field), it can be difficult to work out exactly Al Sheppard is a temporary ITS
staff member who has been
When using an automatic reply, please ensure that your name is clearly visible somewhere in employed to upgrade the Novell
the message. If you wish, you could copy and paste your entire signature onto the bottom.
clients on staff and PG computers
over the next few months. The
process takes about 30 minutes,
Pegasus Mail tip:
and Al will be contacting staff
directly to organise
Launching
appointments for the work.
Pegasus Mail
Upgrading the Novell client will allowus to remotely deploy software updates from other
as well as offering the HelpDesk theability to fix problems on your computer programs
by remote control. Remote controlaccess is only possible after you have If you use Pegasus Mail, you may be interested This group consists of
representatives from the
Business Development Group
hyperlinks are clicked. I’ve written a script to (Patrick Aldwell, Roy
make this easy to set up under NT – simply click on the Start button and choose “Run”,
Bickerstaff, John Clark, Grant
then type PMSendto into the field and click
Cushman, Roger Field, Jenny
Ross and Tony Zwart).
Clicking on an email address hyperlink will launch Pegasus Mail (if not already open) addressed to the address you clicked on.
This will work for hyperlinks in Word, Excel, profiles has been on test in ITS for some click “Send To” menu in Explorer, providing message. In Explorer, you will be able to right-click a file or multiple files and choose Pegasus Mail from the “Send To” submenu.
This will launch Pegasus Mail (if not already

Source: http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/Global/bITS/2002_Archive/2113_apr2002_s5735.pdf