Category: Students

Faculty/Staff, Help Desk, Software, Students, Tips

Windows 10 at Swarthmore

Seth

Microsoft will release Windows 10 on July 29th, 2015 and is offering the operating system as a free upgrade to existing Windows 7 and 8.1 installations for one year. ITS Recommendation ITS strongly recommends that College community members thinking of upgrading to Windows 10 adopt a “wait and see” approach, continuing to use earlier supported versions of Windows (Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows 8.1) until the initial bugs and compatibility issues in Windows 10 are identified and fixed. After the official release is tested, Swarthmore College’s full recommendation for Windows 10 will be posted to the ITS Blog. Information … Continue reading Windows 10 at Swarthmore

Email, Faculty/Staff, Software, Students, Tips

Tip: Disable Automatic Detection and Maintenance of Account Settings in Yosemite Mail

Seth

There is a problematic setting included in the latest version of the Mail application that comes bundled with OS X 10.10 Yosemite. If you use Apple’s Mail client to check your Swarthmore email, you will need to turn this setting off. The Mail application will now attempt to automatically change your email settings without warning, even when your email is working correctly. The automatic changes won’t necessarily be correct for your email account, and have caused issues with Swarthmore’s email settings. To stop this automatic configuration from occurring, make the following adjustments: 1. In the Mail Application, pull down the … Continue reading Tip: Disable Automatic Detection and Maintenance of Account Settings in Yosemite Mail

Faculty/Staff, Help Desk, Students, Workshops and Training

Make the Most out of your Mac

Christina Webster

Learn tips and tricks for customizing your Mac, and making it work better for you! The ITS Help Desk is offering two 45-min sessions to help you get the most out of your Mac. Part one (Nov. 11th) covers tips and tricks, and customizations; while part two (Nov. 12th) focuses on troubleshooting common Mac problems. These sessions are for Mac users, Mac enthusiasts, and anyone else who wants to learn more about how Macs work. You can come to one or both sessions, and bring your Mac along. Events will be in McCabe 306, from 5:00-5:45pm, on Nov. 11th and … Continue reading Make the Most out of your Mac

Faculty/Staff, Software, Students

Please hold off on updating to OS X 10.10 Yosemite

Seth

Apple released OS X 10.10 Yosemite as a free update on October 16th. Last week many of our students and staff experienced a rocky start with the new operating system, quite a few reporting that their Macs won’t even boot after the upgrade. At this time ITS is recommending that community members NOT update to Yosemite. As with all new software, it is advisable to wait at least a month or two before upgrading to let the initial bugs and incompatibilities to be resolved.   In addition, ITS asks that staff and faculty NEVER upgrade the operating system on College-owned computers … Continue reading Please hold off on updating to OS X 10.10 Yosemite

Academic Technology, Faculty/Staff, Software, Students

Free Autodesk software available for students and educators

Andrew Ruether

Autodesk, maker of high-end design software, has made a large set of its products available for free to students and educators.  Available products include: 3ds Max – 3D modeling software Inventor Professional – 3D CAD software AutoCAD – 2D CAD software Maya – tools for 3D modeling, animation, effects, and rendering Mudbox – 3D digital sculpting and texture painting software Motionbuilder – 3D character animation software for virtual production To learn more and download the software visit http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/all   Continue reading Free Autodesk software available for students and educators

Academic Technology, Faculty/Staff, Network, Students

Internet2 Arrives at Swarthmore

Andrew Ruether

Swarthmore ITS is pleased to announce a major network connection speed upgrade to Internet2, a blazing-fast network designed for research and education that connects schools, labs, and industry partners.  Internet2 allows faculty, staff, and students at Swarthmore to easily share large data files with collaborators at other institutions.  It also provides high speed connections to Internet2 business members such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, and Amazon Web Services — things you’re probably already using here!  Your campus technologies are already taking advantage of these higher speeds. We have a 1Gbit/s connection. About 40% of our normal Internet traffic now flows … Continue reading Internet2 Arrives at Swarthmore