Category: Tips

Faculty/Staff, Tips

Save Energy and Cut Costs: Use Sleep Mode on Your Computer

admin

Together we can save money and reduce our energy footprint! FACT 1: Flat screen monitors use less power than CRTs. FACT 2: Laptops use less power than desktops. FACT 3: There is no longer any technical reason to be concerned about turning your computer off. FACT 4: Computers that are in sleep mode use a tiny fraction of the power used by computers which are on but sitting idle. Scenario 1: A 17″ iMac uses 78 watts/hour when sitting idle and only 2 watts/hour when in “sleep” mode. Leaving it on all day, every day, costs $67/year more than leaving … Continue reading Save Energy and Cut Costs: Use Sleep Mode on Your Computer

Faculty/Staff, Security, Software, Students, Tips

Important (but easy) Tips for Office Computer Security

Nick

Hackers especially love the holidays because there are lots of new, unprotected computers to compromise and silently take over. Even without new computers to exploit, there has been an alarming increase in the amount of malware (viruses, spyware, etc.) being installed recently on Swarthmore community systems. The following tips will help keep your existing computer (regardless of operating system), and especially new out-of-the-box systems, more resistant to viruses, spyware and other malware. These tips are crucial to protecting the contents and integrity of your office computer. Of course, these tips also apply to your home computer. For more security tips, … Continue reading Important (but easy) Tips for Office Computer Security

Public Computing, Security, Software, Tips

Important Security Warning for Internet Explorer Users

Nick

UPDATE: Microsoft has released a patch for this important security hole. Your Windows PC should’ve installed the patch already (indicated by a pesky need to reboot). If not or if you’re unsure, you can run Microsoft Update (or Windows Update) or go to the Microsoft Download Center. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A security exposure was recently discovered within Internet Explorer (IE) that could allow malicious software to be installed on your computer without your knowledge. There is virtually no limit to what this malicious software could do once installed but might include logging user keystrokes, stealing passwords, etc. Simply browsing an infected or … Continue reading Important Security Warning for Internet Explorer Users

Email, Security, Software, Tips

Open an Unanticipated PDF File, Infect Your PC!

Nick

Most everyone knows not to open executables (e.g., .exe, .bat, etc.) and documents (e.g., .doc, .xls, .ppt, .html, etc.) received via email when they’re not expected. However, did you know that Adobe Acrobat documents (.pdf) fall into the same category?? It’s quite straightforward for an attacker to invisibly modify a pdf document in such a way that it takes control of your PC when you open it. Unfortunately, anti-virus programs won’t always detect these malicious pdf documents accurately. There are two ways to protect yourself: 1. Make sure you have the latest version of Adobe software (go to Help and … Continue reading Open an Unanticipated PDF File, Infect Your PC!

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

Google Chrome – a nice complement for browsing

admin

ITS tested Google Chrome on several of our swat online services, and found that many swat services function properly. Chrome is packed with many features that are easy to use including navigation and search history. If you are interested in road testing Google Chrome, feel free to download it; but keep in mind, Chrome is still in beta, and is not as mature as your current College supported browsers (Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox). Continue reading Google Chrome – a nice complement for browsing

Email, Calendaring, & Collaboration Tools, Faculty/Staff, Help Desk, Software, Tips, Workshops and Training

Office 2007 Line spacing tip

admin

Members of the Swarthmore community have shared valuable feedback about ITS’ Microsoft Office 2007 implementation as noted in this blog from our colleague, Cathy. During a recent overview session, we discussed line spacing options and modifications. By default, Microsoft Word 2007 applies a line space of 1.5, however, our colleague, Cathy found that we can reduce the space by using the following steps: Click the Page layout tab Go to the Paragraph Group Click the Launcher icon Adjust line spacing to “0” Click Save as default Continue reading Office 2007 Line spacing tip