Category: Software

Academic Technology, Faculty/Staff, Software, Students

Summer Software Developers: Don’t forget version control

Andrew Ruether

If you are planning on doing software development this summer, consider using some form of version control software.  This will let you backup your work, allow you to roll back to a previous version, and make it easy for multiple users to work on the same code.  If you are still appending suffixes on to different versions of your program (e.g. myapp, myapp_1, myapp_2, myapp_old, etc.) version control will be a big help. There are a number of free or paid options available online, but ITS offers a free software development system including version control.  If you are interested, get … Continue reading Summer Software Developers: Don’t forget version control

Security, Software

Apple & Other Critical Software Updates

Nick

Earlier in the week, Apple announced a number of security updates for multiple software products including Leopard, Snow Leopard, iOS, Safari, etc.  Approximately 56 security vulnerabilities were patched in OS X and 45 are considered critical since Apple states that they can provide “arbitrary code execution” (i.e., someone else running software on your Mac without your knowledge/consent). Please take a moment to run “Software Update” on your Mac and install the available patches as soon as you can. In addition to Apple, Firefox and Adobe (Flash, Reader and Acrobat) also announced the availability of critical software patches.  Firefox and Adobe … Continue reading Apple & Other Critical Software Updates

Academic Technology, Computer Classrooms, Faculty/Staff, Public Computing, Security, Software, Students

Electronic Blue Books and Online Testing

Andrew Ruether

Swarthmore ITS supports faculty interested in moving from paper blue books to their electronic equivalents.  Swarthmore uses SecureExam software to allow students to take tests on public area computers while providing a safe and secure way of administering tests.  Many students prefer typing to writing and the software provides a basic word processor and spell checking tools.  Many faculty prefer reading typed papers instead of deciphering handwritten pages.  The software prevents students from accessing other programs while taking the test so it is possible to have a “closed book” exam.  At the end of the exam, students submit their work and … Continue reading Electronic Blue Books and Online Testing

Academic Technology, Faculty/Staff, Software, Students

Mathematica 8 Now Available

Andrew Ruether

Last month, Wolfram Research released Mathematica 8.  Swarthmore ITS has the new edition available for download for faculty, staff, and students here:Download Mathematica 8 (Swarthmore username and password required).  We have versions for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. From Wolfram’s website, here are the top 8 reasons to upgrade: Enter your queries in plain English using new free-form linguistic input Access more than 10 trillion sets of curated, up-to-date, and ready-to-use data Import all your data using a wider array of import/export formats Use the broadest statistics and data visualization capabilities on the market Choose from a full suite of engineering … Continue reading Mathematica 8 Now Available

Security, Software

Freshen up your Java!

Nick

Ok, I’m not talking about coffee but rather the software that permeates most of our computers.  Sun’s (now Oracle’s) Java is ubiquitous in today’s computing environment.  Unfortunately, as is often the case with widely installed software, it is a major target for attackers and malware writers.  Add to this the fact that Java often has numerous security holes and you’ve got a formula for mass infection.  (Frankly, Java makes it very difficult to keep a computer secure.) What can you do to help the situation? 1) Make sure you’re always running the latest version.  You can find what version you’re … Continue reading Freshen up your Java!