OnTechNews, published monthly, seeks to inform UW faculty, staff, and students about new and interesting technology to use in teaching, learning, work, and life.
With the launch of the new IT Connect site (see next story), OnTechNews will no longer be published. Rather, these and other technology-related news items will appear as "News" on the front page of IT Connect when they are ready to be announced. Later this summer, we will be trying out a new short "tickler" email that will let you know about some of the key news items that have been appearing on IT Connect. This July 2009 issue will be the last to appear on our OnTechNews Web site, where all previous issues are archived.
A new UW information technology Web site, called IT Connect, launched June 30. It aims to connect faculty, staff, and students with IT-related resources, services, and news at the UW, and with each other through its links to blogs, forums, and groups. UW Technology is developing the site initially with content updated and streamlined from its Computing and Networking pages. Click "Contact IT Connect" at the bottom of any page to submit suggestions for content or links.
You now have the option to use "@uw.edu" for your UW email. It's easier to use in this age of mobile technology, and it reinforces our "UW" name. To receive email at "your_uwnetid@uw.edu" you do not need to do anything, except tell your contacts to use it. Both your old @u.washington.edu and your new @uw.edu email addresses will work. However, to send email from "your_uwnetid@uw.edu", follow the instructions online. This joint effort of UW Marketing and UW Technology is part of the UW Reputation Building Initiative.
UW is exploring opportunities to make state-of-the-art email, calendaring, and other communication and collaboration tools available to its community by partnering with a variety of vendors who provide cloud (over the Internet) computing services. Two pilot projects, with Microsoft Live@Edu and Google Apps Education Edition, are under way this summer. UW Technology expects these services will be offered to a broader cross-section of the UW community this fall.
Two staff, an alumnus, and two sophomores were winners in the first UW Pocketmedia Film Festival. Entrants were required to use a video camera device small enough to fit in their pocket (hence the festival title) to tell their "What do U do at the UW?" story in 90 seconds. Go online to see the creative use of this pocketmedia technology, or catch these shorts on UWTV (channel 27 in the Puget Sound area) between the regular programming.
Traveling this summer? Get answers to your practical questions about travel to 175 countries with Global Road Warrior. This UW-restricted travel guide includes information such as country facts, climate, culture, maps, points of interest, security, transportation, and more.
Learning & Scholarly Technologies offers free computing workshops at UW Seattle for students, faculty, and staff. Workshop topics include software from Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe; how to publish Web sites; working with digital audio and video; and more. The Summer Quarter workshops have started and run through August 18. The schedule is online.
Can't make it to a workshop? Need help now? Check out the handy how-to guides in Learning & Scholarly Technologies' online Help Center. You'll find step-by-step instructions for the Catalyst Web Tools, Web Site Creation, Podcasting, Adobe Dreamweaver and Creative Suite, and more.
At UW Seattle, the knowledgeable Learning & Scholarly Technologies' student Help Desk consultants provide the computing assistance you need. Visit the Help Desks, located both on the 2nd floor of Odegaard Undergraduate Library and in Mary Gates Hall 131, to gets answers to your computing-related how-to questions. Also, the Computer Vet service there can help you remove viruses and spyware from your personal computer.
With new iPhone and iPod touch software updates, you can download iTunes U videos -- including ResearchChannel programs -- directly to your phone. The 3.0 software updates make iTunes U directly accessible over both cellular and Wi-Fi networks through the iTunes Store. Look for ResearchChannel on iTunes U's new mobile platform to start downloading videos, including many programs from UWTV, straight to your phone today.
