Category: Software

Security, Software

Update Your Browser.. Save Your Computer!

Nick

Out of date browser software is a great way to install malware on your computer.  A simple way to help avoid computer “infections” while surfing the web is by keeping your browser up to date (note: this is one of the most common ways that Macs get infected). At the time of this writing, the following are the latest browser versions: Firefox 3.6.17 or 4.0.1 5.0.1 (you should strongly consider upgrading to 5.0.1 unless there’s a specific application you use that requires 3.6.x) Safari  5.0.5 Chrome 12.0.742.100 Opera 11.11 Updates for Internet Explorer are bundled in Windows Automatic Updates.  So, … Continue reading Update Your Browser.. Save Your Computer!

Academic Technology, Faculty/Staff, Software, Students, Workshops and Training

R Statistical Software Training

Andrew Ruether

R is a free statistics program widely used at Swarthmore (and the rest of the world, too).  If you would like to learn more about how to use R, ITS will be hosting a series of web training sessions from the National Institute from Computational Sciences.  The sessions take place every Wednesday at 3PM from June 22 to July 6, 2011.  The topics are: June 22 – Introduction to R June 29 – R graphing with ggplot2 July 6 – Parallel computing with R Contact Andrew Ruether (aruethe2, x8254) if you would like to attend any of the sessions. Continue reading R Statistical Software Training

Academic Technology, Faculty/Staff, Software

New Versions of Microsoft Office Now Available!

Mark Davis

MS Office 2010 (Windows) and MS Office 2011 (Mac) are available for download. Office 2010 (Windows): While the look of Office 2010 hasn’t changed much from 2007, its feel and navigation has certainly improved. For more information on what’s new in Office 2010 visit: http://www.microsoft.com/office/make-it-great/en-us/whatsnew.aspx Office 2011 (Mac): Outlook users rejoice!! Outlook is now available in 2011. For more information on what’s new in Office 2011 visit: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/word/whats-new   Continue reading New Versions of Microsoft Office Now Available!

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