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eduroam available at Tygerberg

Tuesday, October 5th, 2021

TENET and the Western Cape Government, in partnership with Liquid Intelligent Technologies, have been piloting eduroam in four of the Western Cape provincial hospitals:

  • Khayelitsha Hospital
  • Tygerberg Hospital
  • Groote Schuur Hospital 
  • Mowbray Maternity Hospital

The continuation and expansion of this programme within the hospitals and into other hospitals depend on the provincial Department of Health seeing value in the deployment. Unfortunately it seems that the demand on these four sites has been lower than anticipated, which could mean that there’s a risk that the pilot will not be extended. 

We would like to encourage staff and especially students who are on placement within one of the four hospitals where the trial is available to make use of the eduroam facility.

Unfortunately, eduroam coverage isn’t (yet) ubiquitous, with only a few access points in each hospital carrying the network. Currently eduroam is available near the main entrances of each of these hospitals or close to staff areas.  In particular, it is likely to be found close to signage for Liquid’s own Free Public Wi-Fi (see image right)

Once connected, students should be able to get Internet access without the usual cap that applies to the public Wi-Fi in those locations.  

More on the use of eduroam can be found on our service catalogue.

 

 

To meet or not to meet …

Monday, October 4th, 2021

Due to the current working-from-home situation we are likely to spend more time either in a teams meeting or on a Zoom call. Those working from home might have experienced a sharp increase in the number of virtual meeting invites since lock down started last year.

 We are either bouncing from one meeting to the other or struggling to schedule meetings, trying to establish who’s available and who’s not. This might be a short-term overreaction to the lack of other communication channels and social contact, but it could get in the way of productivity and efficiency.

Productive meetings are ones where you need to share expertise and the topics discussed require synchronous collaboration – where people need to be live at the same time, if not the same place. It is also helpful if you are dealing with conflict or need to build closer relationships.

On the other hand, if there’s no clear outcome, the topics are irrelevant, the outcome could be delivered without a meeting or you have no active role except to listen, then you may want to decline the meeting invitation. Typically, if we look at meeting content 40% of meetings are not necessary at all.

If you accept meeting invitations by default, particularly those without an agenda, you are saying that what the other person wants to talk about is a better use of your time than your own work.

Declining meetings can be a challenge to existing meeting agendas and fixed ways of working, but discuss the necessity of a meeting with your meeting leader. This could open up a discussion in your team about which topics you need to discuss and which are not important. Below is an infographic decision tree which might help you or your colleagues reconsider scheduling a meeting.

Take this opportunity to improve your meetings, save yourself time and improve on working towards a productive environment.

SOURCE: https://www.wrike.com/blog/meeting-infographic-decision-tree/

[ARTICLE BY MANDY WANZA]

 

 

 

New e-waste bins at IT

Monday, October 4th, 2021

 As part of the campus “Going Green” project Facilities Management will be placing e-waste bins at selected spots on campus. We encourage staff and students to use these bins for any non-asset e-waste.

Two of these yellow bins (see example right) will also be located at IT. A bin will be placed at the IT HUB by the entrance and a second one will be placed at the IT Main building in Hammanshand Rd at the service entrance (facing IT the door on your right) Both bins will be just inside the buildings by the doors. 

WHAT IS E-WASTE?

Electronic waste (e-waste) or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are the terms used to describe old, end-of-life or discarded appliances using electricity. It includes computers, consumer electronics, batteries etc. which have been disposed of by their original users.  More on e-waste.

We encourage all staff and students to use these bins for any non-asset e-waste. Bins will be serviced by Wasteplan and weekly inspections will be made by the university’s Wasteplan site supervisor to assess when a collection is needed.

For assistance and enquiries please email fmhelpdesk@sun.ac.za.

 

Get rid of your e-waste

Monday, October 4th, 2021

Do you have old computers, monitors, cell phones or batteries lying around or clogging up cupboards? Are you concerned enough to dispose of them responsibly and not simply consign them to the dump?

There is a responsible campus solution. Facilities Management implemented e-waste bins on campus where e-waste can be disposed of and will then be picked up by contractors who specialise in the refurbishment, reuse and safe disposal of e-waste.

Electronic waste (e-waste) or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are the terms used to describe old, end-of-life or discarded appliances using electricity. It includes computers, consumer electronics, etc. which have been disposed of by their original users. It can also include batteries.

E-waste is of concern largely due to the toxicity of some of the substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium and a number of other substances which are harmful to human health and ecosystems if not disposed of properly. The unsustainably rapid turnover of discarded electronics and computer technology is another reason for the need to recycle – or even better, re-use – e-waste.

What will happen to the e-Waste?

The contractors will separate the waste into items that

  • can be refurbished,
  • can be recycled and
  • must be safely disposed of.

Refurbishment of appliances and computers provides jobs and these items are then reused in needy schools and communities. Useful, scarce and valuable metals and other substances are extracted by recycling, while toxic e-waste is disposed of at special hazardous waste facilities. Examples of potentially toxic items include the old type of computer screens (CRT) and fluorescent tubes.

The procedure is as follows:

  1. Ensure that the items have been properly written off and dealt with in line with the University’s policy regarding the handling of redundant assets.
  2. Remove all your data, private and work related, from the devices. IT does not take responsibility for deleting or backing up any data or for any risk that your data might be accessible after disposal. Your device should be completely devoid of data.
  3. Dispose of e-waste in the yellow bins at the IT HUB (at the entrance) and IT Main Buiding (inside the service entrance on the right-hand side of the main entrance)
  4. For any further enquiries contact Clive Layman at Stellenbosch campus, Le Roux Franken at Belpark campus or Kevin Vermaak at Tygerberg. 

More information: www.ewasa.org

 

Spear phishing attack using a staff email

Monday, September 20th, 2021

If you receive an e-mail from Prof. Wolfgang Preiser – Head of the Department of Virology asking about a “PAYMENT”, you might be tempted to quickly answer and offer your assistance.

However, this was a spear-phishing scam designed to fool its victims into thinking the mail was sent out by someone like Prof Preiser.

We are getting several reports from personnel within his department saying that they are getting e-mail from Prof. Preiser and were concerned if his e-mail account has been compromised and if this is a phishing attack.

Here is what the phishing scam looks like.

An example of the spear phishing email using Prof Preiser's details

Click for a larger image.

Please note that the name, has been forged and that a “throwaway” execs.com e-mail address has been used with forged details inserted. The Professor’s account has not been compromised. 

The message below also serves as a warning and should give you an indication that this is not an email from an @sun address. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the University. 

Additionally there is a standard warning from Microsoft to also warn you.

This is a spear-phishing attack where an institution is attacked by impersonating prominent or public figures within the enterprise to gain access to the enterprise. The targets in this method of attack are usually subordinates of high-ranking personnel, to fool them into sending money or obtaining personal details of these personnel members.

Keep an eye open for this scam, and please report it to IT Cyber Security if you find it in your inbox by logging it on the ICT Partner Portal. Fill in your information and add the email as an attachment. Your request will automatically be logged on the system.​​

If you accidentally clicked on the link and already gave any personal details to the scammers it is vitally important that you immediately go to the USERADM page (either http://www.sun.ac.za/password or www.sun.ac.za/useradm) and change your password immediately.

Make sure the new password is completely different and a strong password that will not be easily guessed. Also change the passwords on your social media and private e-mail accounts, especially if you use the same passwords on these accounts.

Contact the IT Service Desk if you are still unsure.

[ARTICLE BY DAVID WILES]

 

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