Open an Unanticipated PDF File, Infect Your PC!

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!

Google Chrome – a nice complement for browsing

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

Office 2007 Line spacing tip

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

Thunderbird Features

As Thunderbird is being introduced to the community, ITS would like to point out some features available in the program. Thunderbird is capable of the following: Creating and using mailing lists Applying filters and rules for message handling Tagging, color coding messages Dragging/dropping messages to/from folders Creating subfolders Customizing the interface (move fields) Sorting by fields Creating and using signatures To find out more, please attend one of ITS’ Thunderbird Overview sessions. Continue reading Thunderbird Features

Thunderbird Overview Sessions

Join us on Thursdays to learn about Swarthmore’s new email system, Thunderbird. ITS will offer Thunderbird Overview sessions for our PC and Mac users. We will alternate each week, for example, the first session on June 19th will focus on Thunderbird on PCs, the following session will focus on Thunderbird on Macs. We look forward to seeing you, click here to attend! Continue reading Thunderbird Overview Sessions

Spam, spam, spam

To help control junk email on campus, Swarthmore uses Postini Perimeter Manager, a service that keeps junk mail from ever reaching your email inbox. However if you are still receiving a lot of junk mail there are a few things you can do to adjust your Spam filter. If you have an email alias that points to your email account you should add it to your settings in the message center. To do this go to http://messagecenter.swarthmore.edu and log in with your email address and password. Click the my settings link in the top right corner. Under personal settings choose … Continue reading Spam, spam, spam