Vol III. No. 4 Information
Systems Office, College of Medicine and Public Health
November, 1999
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Palm Pilots
Being Challenged
1999 Holiday Season Computer Buying Guide
Medicine Administration Computer Rollout
Voluntary Laptop
Ownership Program
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Robert McKenney, FAAMA, Director
In the recent weeks, I've read communications from the AAMC listserver about the use of Palm Pilots by students and residents. One student writes " I'm a 2nd year medical student . . . (and) I have just been introduced to the Palm Pilot by a fellow student, and am amazed at the potential of using one while doing rounds/seeing patients/attending grand rounds and case studies etc! " We in the IS Office have talked with students, faculty and staff about the use of this electronic, handheld organizer and the available software/shareware.
The Palm Pilot V that was introduced is a lighter model with greater capability and better screen. Palm has gone a step further in the later models adding Internet connectivity. Recently, one may have noticed the price dropping. The Palm III has been advertised locally for $179. Well, what would you think about a $149 price tag for a similar unit . . . the Visor?
The new device, Visor, is from Handspring. It, too, can be used with Windows or Mac. Also, it uses the same Palm operating system. So what is different?
First, it comes in different colors, including clear. I think we are starting to see a trend
Second, the Visor is the first Palm operating-based device with built-in support for Universal Serial Bus (USB). The Visor and its deluxe models come with a standard USB cradle. The serial connection is considered an option.
Third, it has an expansion slot called "Springboard." The slot, located at the rear, accommodates modules (modem, memory, data-backup, and even a golf game) which load automatically when inserted.
Four, all Visor models feature a built-in microphone. In addition, its display is like the latest Palm Pilot model.
Five, in terms of weight, it's only 5.4 ounces.
Finally, its price starts at $149 with a $179 model and the deluxe model at $249. Initially, the Visor will be sold only through the Handspring Web site (http://www.handspring.com/). Based on available information, the company plans to offer the Visor retail next year.
Joe Stenger, Network and Security Manager
The College of Medicine and Public Health Information Systems Office has worked non-stop to enable GroupWise to work in a cross platform environment. Even though the Medical Center for the most part has standardized on Intel-based computers; there are IS customers in the College/OHS using other platforms (e.g., Mac OS) for their daily computer operations/needs.
Although GroupWise runs in several different environments, there was the introduction of WebAccess to further enhance remote connectivity. WebAccess will allow a customer to use a regular version of GroupWise, or a Java enhanced version. This capability really adds to the functionality of GroupWise. In addition to the remote enhancement, it facilitates user-friendly connectivity for non-Windows units in the sharing of e-mail and calendar resources with those on the College/OHS network.
Want to know more? Call the IS Office at 688-5635.
1999 Holiday Season Computer Buying Guide
Brian Wilson, Systems Manager
Well, it’s that time of year again! Many of you ask me about purchasing home computers and I’d like to give you a rundown on the latest and greatest in the home computer marketplace.
It seems that the buzzword in the industry in the past year has been the free or almost free computer. Many of these offers will be out there this Christmas. My best advice is to be very careful of these offers. While they offer a great bottom line price, there are many factors to consider. First, the quality and size or speed of the components is usually much lower. For example, processors in these machines are not Pentium based processors like those in your office machine. They are many times a Cyrix processor, which has actually ceased production within the past 6 months. Also, you are forced to sign a three year agreement for Internet access at rates that can go as high as $29.99 a month. Suddenly that free computer will cost over $1,000. You might be thinking, well I need to pay for Internet access anyway, so what’s the big deal? It is impossible to imagine what will be happening in the computer industry three years from now. If you can keep yourself from being locked down to anything for three years, it is a good idea.
So, what would I recommend? It is very possible to purchase a robust machine that will handle all of your family’s computer needs for a good period of time for under $1,500. Here is one possibility:
Dell: Pentium III 500MHz, 128 MB RAM, 13GB Hard Drive, 17” monitor, sound card with speakers, 32 MB Video Card, 56K modem, Office 2000, 3 year warranty - $1,494
The specifications of this machine, while not the fastest available today should give you a fairly large window of time where your computing power will run all available applications.
Britta August, Audio/Visual Operations Manager
Well, we have been very busy in the Audio/Visual Services Office. To this end, some new procedures and equipment are now in place. Meiling Hall auditoriums 112 and 160 (the main Med 1&2 rooms) now have phones in place on the stage for the convenience of lecturers. The ringers have been turned off so that the phones will not disturb classes; please do not turn them back on. You can tell that a call is incoming when the red light flashes on the set.
After taking over as Manager, I have been trying to determine, what exactly is a “flurry of activity”? In the first quarter of fiscal year 2000, the A/V Office served the needs of 285 different events. This included a total of 501 pieces of equipment for medical student classes, department meetings, Grand Rounds, and many other events. One of our newest pieces of equipment, the Boxlight 6001 LCD projector, has been worth its weight in gold. Since its purchase in April 1999, usage has exceeded 70 times, or approximately 63% of all LCD requests. We are glad for its acquisition.
Also new is our web feedback form. You can
find it on our web site at:
http://is.med.ohio-state.edu/AV/AVhomepage.html.
We welcome all comments and suggestions. And of course, feel free to contact us by phone at 292-8099.
Paul Becerra, Customer Support Specialist
Here are two quick tips that can help with your word processing. First, there are times when two words need to stay together, such as “Mr. Smith,” or “3:00 a.m.” Word’s wrap invariably separates them on to different lines. You can glue two (or more) words using the non-breaking space instead of an ordinary space between the words to be connected. The non-breaking space can be used by hitting CTRL-SHIFT-Spacebar.
Second, changing line spacing can be a time consuming process. A quick shortcut for double spacing text is to highlight the text and to press CTRL-2. To change back to single spacing, press CTRL-1. For space-and-a-half, it’s CTRL-5. If you need another line spacing option, you will need to go to the Format menu, select Paragraph, and click the Indents and Spacing tab.
Y2K Update
Robert McKenney, FAAMA, Director
The Holidays and Y2K are fast approaching and the College's IS Office is now loading the Microsoft Office 97 patch for both network and stand-alone customers. In addition, the Office has been working with areas to do workstation surveys/checklists. The Office uses a two-page checklist to compare an existing setup against a recommended platform in addition to checking the regional settings and BIOS.
One question the College frequently receives concerns Windows and the regional settings. For example, Windows 95 is shipped to default to the short date format of "MM/dd/yy." Users should change this setting to the four-digit year format of "MM/dd/yyyy." This is done by going to the Start button to Settings and then clicking on the Control Panel. Once there, double click on Regional Settings. After it opens, select the Date tab. The user will see "Short date style" next to a scroll down selection. There the user should select "MM/dd/yyyy."
In regard to fax machines and copiers, IS Office checked with the University concerning Y2K-readiness of such equipment. According to Campus, analog copiers do not have any date dependencies and should not be a problem. Digital copiers and multi-function devices have internal hard drives that use a proprietary operating system that stores the date. The University's Cost-Per-Copy vendors, Xerox and Lanier, have certified Y2K compliance for all digital devices they have supplied on campus. Fax machines are a bit trickier as most (but not all) are digital in nature and would have to be evaluated on an individual basis. Faculty and staff with copiers and fax machines in their offices are being encouraged to contact the vendor regarding the unit's Y2K-readiness.
In addition to these problems, there are also Y2K-related computer viruses. Many viruses are now being sent as attachments that claim to aid in the fix for Y2K.
The first is the Count2K, or Y2KCount. The Trojan horse virus is disguised as an e-mail message from Microsoft Corp. Support, with an attachment that the e-mail claims helps deal with Y2K problems. It doesn't, it enables an outside user to scan data coming into and out of the Internet.
The second virus is called W95/Fix 2001. It arrives as an e-mail attachment called Fix2001.exe. The subject of the e-mail is Internet problem year 2000, sent by Administrator. In short, it has the potential to destroy hard-disk data by overwriting it with I/O port commands.
The third, the W97M.Chantal.A, or VBS.Chantal, is rare. Opening a document infected with the virus immediately inserts a Visual Basic Script file and registers it to run every time Windows starts. The payload of the virus can delete all files from the C drive.
The fourth, which has three variants and is also rare, it is called W97M.MMKV. When a user opens an infected Microsoft Word 97 file, the virus unleashes code that deletes all files on several directories, depending on the variant.
The College's Information Systems Office (1080 Graves Hall) communicates routine updates regarding Y2K and may be contacted for assistance and information at 688-5635. Offices/departments behind the Hospitals' firewall should contact the Hospitals' Information Systems Help Desk at 293-3861.
Medicine Administration
Computer Rollout
Brian Wilson, Systems Manager
The Information Systems Office has been working diligently to bring upgraded systems to all staff in Medicine Administration. With the purchase of new Pentium III 450 Mhz machines, as well as upgrades to the memory of existing systems, we are quickly moving towards our goal of having each staff member upgraded to a minimum standard of computing power.
The new standard will be that all staff will have at least a Pentium 166 Mhz unit with at least 64MB of RAM. Prior to these upgrades many staff members were using 486 machines with as little as 16MB of RAM.
The reasons for implementing this comprehensive upgrade are numerous. First, in our assessment of Y2K readiness, many of the older desktops failed Y2K compliancy tests. While it would be possible to make changes to these machines, it was decided that it would more cost-effective to remove these machines from our network. Second, as software becomes more and more powerful, the amount of computing power necessary to run these programs increases. Upgrades ensure that today’s software runs smoothly and quickly. Finally, we are looking ahead to new software packages such as Office 2000 in the next year. As is the procedure with all new software, we are currently testing Office 2000 in our environment. All indications are that the new minimum standard that we are implementing will allow us to upgrade to Office 2000 in the future.
Brian Wilson, Systems Manager
The Medical Student Lounge in Meiling Hall is an area that has seen several enhancements. Four new computers and two new printers have been deployed. These machines make it possible for the students to check e-mail, perform word processing and do extensive research on the Internet. The increased power of the new computers also make it possible for many of the online student modules to be used in the lounge. The four new machines are now integrated into a server environment.
Improvements, too, have also been made to the Independent Study Lab in Graves Hall. Two new machines were purchased, as well as a server to house modules the students use on a daily basis. ISP students have access to these machines 24 hours a day.
A brand new lab was constructed in the School of Public Health in Starling-Loving Hall. The Public Health Informatics Lab (PHIL) has a server, 12 new Windows 95 workstations for general computing, 2 new Windows NT workstations for GIS, and a networked laser printer. Along with offering much improved computers for Public Health students, it has also created an area for lectures, both for Public Health classes and public workshops.
The Information Systems Office is proud to have been involved in all of these projects and would like to thank everyone who worked to make them a success. If you have any questions about student computing, please call our main number at 8-5635.
(Left) Independent Study Programs Students take advantage of two of
the new PC's in the ISP Lab.
(Right) Director of Information Systems Robert McKenney completes the
final setup of the new machines in the Medical Student Lounge.
Voluntary Laptop Ownership Program
Robert McKenney, FAAMA, Director
You may have already read about the College's Voluntary Laptop Ownership Program. Now, in working with Value America and IBM, the next 50 students, faculty, or staff to buy a notebook computer through this laptop site (Web address listed below) get a free Kensington carrying case and a laptop security lock/cable.
Also, as a reminder, the College's Information Systems Office has demo models of all three units in 1080 Graves Hall. "Open office hours" are 1-3 p.m. every Friday, or simply call us at 8-5635 to arrange a time to stop by. For more information:
http://is.med.ohio-state.edu/laptopprogram.html