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If you take )] TJ ET BT 61.016 573.475 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(note of all the IP addresses and see if they are in fact your devices, you will get a better idea of which device is generating )] TJ ET BT 61.016 562.486 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(the traffic and at which times.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 542.497 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Keep in mind that Stellenbosch University has numerous times been rated as having the fastest internet in South Africa. )] TJ ET BT 61.016 531.508 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Current speed tests show that the download speed is 95.29 MB per second and an upload speed of 58.12 MB per second. )] TJ ET BT 61.016 520.519 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Subsequently, you can easily run up a massive Inetkey bill within minutes.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 500.530 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(The following are a few potential causes for high Inetkey usage:)] TJ ET 0.153 0.153 0.153 RG 85.866 483.357 m 85.866 483.769 85.696 484.179 85.404 484.471 c 85.113 484.762 84.703 484.932 84.291 484.932 c 83.878 484.932 83.469 484.762 83.177 484.471 c 82.885 484.179 82.716 483.769 82.716 483.357 c 82.716 482.945 82.885 482.535 83.177 482.243 c 83.469 481.952 83.878 481.782 84.291 481.782 c 84.703 481.782 85.113 481.952 85.404 482.243 c 85.696 482.535 85.866 482.945 85.866 483.357 c f BT 91.016 480.541 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Windows 10 updates that cannot easily be switched off with traditional means. )] TJ ET BT 404.162 480.541 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(However, if the device is on the )] TJ ET BT 91.016 469.552 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(SU network and set up to receive updates from IT's WSUS server, updates will be downloaded locally and )] TJ ET BT 91.016 458.563 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(not run via Inetkey.)] TJ ET 85.866 450.390 m 85.866 450.802 85.696 451.212 85.404 451.504 c 85.113 451.795 84.703 451.965 84.291 451.965 c 83.878 451.965 83.469 451.795 83.177 451.504 c 82.885 451.212 82.716 450.802 82.716 450.390 c 82.716 449.978 82.885 449.568 83.177 449.276 c 83.469 448.985 83.878 448.815 84.291 448.815 c 84.703 448.815 85.113 448.985 85.404 449.276 c 85.696 449.568 85.866 449.978 85.866 450.390 c f BT 91.016 447.574 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Updates stopping and restarting or not completing. Windows 10 1709 Creative Update is a little under 4Gb.)] TJ ET 85.866 439.401 m 85.866 439.813 85.696 440.223 85.404 440.515 c 85.113 440.806 84.703 440.976 84.291 440.976 c 83.878 440.976 83.469 440.806 83.177 440.515 c 82.885 440.223 82.716 439.813 82.716 439.401 c 82.716 438.989 82.885 438.579 83.177 438.287 c 83.469 437.996 83.878 437.826 84.291 437.826 c 84.703 437.826 85.113 437.996 85.404 438.287 c 85.696 438.579 85.866 438.989 85.866 439.401 c f BT 91.016 436.585 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Inetkey being left open on a device that is unattended overnight or during classes.)] TJ ET 85.866 428.412 m 85.866 428.824 85.696 429.234 85.404 429.526 c 85.113 429.817 84.703 429.987 84.291 429.987 c 83.878 429.987 83.469 429.817 83.177 429.526 c 82.885 429.234 82.716 428.824 82.716 428.412 c 82.716 428.000 82.885 427.590 83.177 427.298 c 83.469 427.007 83.878 426.837 84.291 426.837 c 84.703 426.837 85.113 427.007 85.404 427.298 c 85.696 427.590 85.866 428.000 85.866 428.412 c f BT 91.016 425.596 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Video streaming from sites not on the firewall exception list. Watching an HD streamed movie during the day and )] TJ ET BT 91.016 414.607 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(evening can generate 3Gb of data per hour.)] TJ ET 85.866 406.434 m 85.866 406.846 85.696 407.256 85.404 407.548 c 85.113 407.839 84.703 408.009 84.291 408.009 c 83.878 408.009 83.469 407.839 83.177 407.548 c 82.885 407.256 82.716 406.846 82.716 406.434 c 82.716 406.022 82.885 405.612 83.177 405.320 c 83.469 405.029 83.878 404.859 84.291 404.859 c 84.703 404.859 85.113 405.029 85.404 405.320 c 85.696 405.612 85.866 406.022 85.866 406.434 c f BT 91.016 403.618 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Using a laptop as a wifi hotspot for a cell phone to save on data costs.)] TJ ET 85.866 395.445 m 85.866 395.857 85.696 396.267 85.404 396.559 c 85.113 396.850 84.703 397.020 84.291 397.020 c 83.878 397.020 83.469 396.850 83.177 396.559 c 82.885 396.267 82.716 395.857 82.716 395.445 c 82.716 395.033 82.885 394.623 83.177 394.331 c 83.469 394.040 83.878 393.870 84.291 393.870 c 84.703 393.870 85.113 394.040 85.404 394.331 c 85.696 394.623 85.866 395.033 85.866 395.445 c f BT 91.016 392.629 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Using filesharing protocols like BitTorrent. Remember that uploads and downloads both generate traffic. 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Often compromised e-mail accounts will cause )] TJ ET BT 91.016 326.695 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(high internet usage, because InetKey and email use the same password.)] TJ ET 85.866 318.522 m 85.866 318.934 85.696 319.344 85.404 319.636 c 85.113 319.927 84.703 320.097 84.291 320.097 c 83.878 320.097 83.469 319.927 83.177 319.636 c 82.885 319.344 82.716 318.934 82.716 318.522 c 82.716 318.110 82.885 317.700 83.177 317.408 c 83.469 317.117 83.878 316.947 84.291 316.947 c 84.703 316.947 85.113 317.117 85.404 317.408 c 85.696 317.700 85.866 318.110 85.866 318.522 c f BT 91.016 315.706 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Inetkey accounts being used on multiple devices.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 295.717 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(If none of these seems to be causing your high Inetkey usage, you can ask Information Technology to investigate )] TJ ET BT 61.016 284.728 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(your internet usage \(or issues\). If you have a query send a complaint within 14 days to )] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 432.635 284.728 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(helpinfo@sun.ac.za)] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 RG 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 432.635 283.298 m 516.929 283.298 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 61.016 273.739 Td /F1 9.0 Tf [(. The cost of an enquiry is R200.00 per enquiry. If an error is found, the administrative fee will not be levied.)] TJ ET BT 402.934 253.750 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [([Information supplied by David Wiles])] TJ ET BT 61.016 233.761 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [( )] TJ ET 0.400 0.400 0.400 rg BT 61.016 215.272 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(Posted in:Internet,Students | Tagged:Inetkey,Internet | With 0 comments)] TJ ET endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Helvetica-BoldOblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /A 13 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 380.6867 594.6202 501.2327 603.7777 ] >> endobj 13 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (http://www.sun.ac.za/useradm) >> endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /A 15 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 432.6347 283.8952 516.9287 293.0527 ] >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (mailto:helpinfo@sun.ac.za) >> endobj xref 0 16 0000000000 65535 f 0000000008 00000 n 0000000073 00000 n 0000000119 00000 n 0000000305 00000 n 0000000334 00000 n 0000000472 00000 n 0000000561 00000 n 0000010347 00000 n 0000010459 00000 n 0000010574 00000 n 0000010694 00000 n 0000010802 00000 n 0000010930 00000 n 0000011010 00000 n 0000011138 00000 n trailer << /Size 16 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R >> startxref 11215 %%EOF Students « Informasietegnologie
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The cloud is coming

Friday, September 26th, 2014

Within the next few months Matie students will be able to send e-mail like never before.

If you’re a regular Twitter user or sometimes wander around in the Neelsie or Library, you’ve probably seen notices referring to the “cloud”. Don’t worry, we’re not talking about the unpredictable Cape weather. On the contrary, this cloud brings good news.

Student numbers have been increasing rapidly over the past few years and with it the need for more e-mail storage space. Up till now student mail has been hosted on the university’s mail servers, but we’re starting to run out of space.

Information Technology has been investigating all the possible solutions and came to the conclusion that Office 365 would be the best choice for student e-mail.

MS Office and Microsoft operating systems are already used in student computer user areas and would integrate seamlessly with this existing technology.

With the e-mail cloud project Stellenbosch University will be entering a new phase for e-mail and although staff e-mail will also eventually be migrated, the biggest need is currently moving student e-mails.

The target date for migration is October, but we will continuously keep students updated on developments through Twitter.

A website will be made available where students can do the migration themselves and start testing the cloud platform. Students can choose when they want to migrate. Those who haven’t migrated by December, will automatically be moved by IT to Office 365 before the end of the year.

But why struggle with limited space, when you can have a whole 50 GB space to your disposal. Office 365 also offers other advantages such as storage space on OneDrive and online access to Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, etc.

If you want to stay updated on the e-mail cloud project, follow us on Twitter at @ITStellenUni or #theitcloud.

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Buying a tablet: The choices

Friday, September 5th, 2014

In a previous post we looked at the advantages of tablet-based learning. This time around we’ll investigate the options available when you’re buying a tablet.

While there are many different tablets on the market, they can all be categorised according to the software platform they run. Just like a computer runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX or Linux, a tablet also has a so-called operating system. In choosing a tablet, then, you have three main alternatives:[1]

  1. An iOS-based tablet:
    1. Apple iPad (starting at around R4 500 for an older iPad 2 with WiFi)
    2. Apple iPad Mini (starting at around R3 500 for a first-generation device with WiFi)
  2. An Android-based tablet:
    1. Samsung Galaxy Tab (starting at around R6 000 for an older Galaxy Tab 2 P5100 with WiFi)
    2. Samsung Galaxy Note (costing around R7 000 for a Galaxy Note N7100 with WiFi+3G)
    3. Lower-end alternatives by other companies (costing as little as R1 500)
  3. A Windows-based tablet:
    1. Lenovo and Dell tablets (starting at around R5 000)

The first two groups are by far the most popular. Although many people will argue that an iPad is better than a Samsung Galaxy Tab – or vice versa – choosing between the two is ultimately a matter of taste. However, if you own a smartphone (e.g. an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy), it makes sense to get a tablet that runs the same software so that you can easily share dataandapps between the two.

If cost is your biggest concern, your best option will be to get a lower-end Android tablet. These tablets should be able to do most things that their Samsung big brother can do, albeit at a slower pace and without some of the enhancements that come with Samsung devices. When buying such a tablet, make sure that the battery life is good (you’ll want at least 8 hours of battery life to get through a full day of classes) and that the tablet has enough storage space (less than 16 GB will fill up rather rapidly).

For detailed specifications on available tablets, click here (downloadable pdf)

TIP: Stellenbosch University is part of the national Student Technology Programme (STP), which offers laptops and tablets at reduced prices. Take a look at their website: www.stp.ac.za. Mid-September new tablets will also be added to the list.

[1] Please note that the listed prices of tablets are merely intended as a general guideline and were current as of January 2014.

[ARTICLE BY JOHANNES JONKER]

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Posted in Connectivity, Students | 2 Comments »

Using a tablet for smarter learning (part 1)

Friday, August 22nd, 2014

Since tablets became mainstream in 2010, more and more students have started relying on these nifty gadgets to take their learning experience to the next level.

However, many students still are unaware or unconvinced of the advantages of tablet-based learning. In the following section, we’ll look at why exactly a tablet is a fantastic investment.

Why a tablet?

In short, there are four reasons:

1. The most obvious advantage of a tablet is the level of mobility it offers. As a student, you’ll most probably carry around at least a notepad, your prescribed books and your class notes. And, for many, a calculator, dictionary and diary/calendar are also indispensable. Carrying these items around all day long can quickly become a back-breaking burden – which is why most students simply leave their heavy books at home.

With a tablet, though, you can have all of these resources compacted into the size of an A5 notepad. No more forgetting books or notes at home – everything you need is but a few finger taps away. This is a killer feature in itself.

2. However, the true academic value of a tablet becomes evident when one looks at its potential as an in-class companion. Not only does a tablet keep everything you need at hand, it also allows you to manipulate these resources in useful ways. For example, you can add bookmarks, highlights and notes to your prescribed books and class notes while the lecturer is discussing them. You can also efficiently create rich notes of your own.

You’ll be able to combine typing and drawing on the screen to capture, for example, key points in a class discussion or diagrams and charts drawn by the lecturer. You’ll be able to neatly organise these notes in subject folders for future reference.

The biggest killer feature of a tablet in class, however, is the fact that it allows you to record what is said in class so that you can listen to these recordings while preparing for an exam. While it’s not practical to record every second of every class (because –let’s be honest –you’ll never listen to all of that again), this feature is extremely handy to record important bits of a lecturer’s explanation or a class discussion.

Lastly, a tablet also gives you quick access to handy reference material. Need to quickly look up a word’s definition or do a calculation? A tablet lets you do both at lightning speed, which means that you won’t lose track of the train of thought in class.

3. Tablets don’t only shine inside the classroom. Any student who’s had to scour stacks and stacks of paper notes to review specific content before an exam will testify to how frustrating, tedious and time-wasting this can be.

Having all of your own notes –and the slideshows or hand-outs provided by the lecturer –neatly organised on a single device, where it’s accessible with a few taps of the finger, eliminates the hassles of paper-based exam preparation and gives you more time to actually study.

4. An often-missed advantage of tablet-based learning is the fact that e-book versions of prescribed books and textbooks are usually cheaper than their print counterparts. While many books are not yet available in digital format, the savings on those that are can quickly compound to a substantial amount.

And, of course, using an e-book offers all of the advantages of digital learning, including such timesavers as being able to search for words and phrases, jump to specific pages and chapters, add multi-coloured highlights and make digital annotations.

Next time : Buying a tablet: The choices

[ARTICLE BY JOHANNES JONKER]

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Advanced tips to get the most out of Zotero

Friday, June 13th, 2014

In a previous post told you more about Zotero, a powerful referencing tool. This time around, we’ll  give you a few advanced tips to get the most out of it.

GENERAL

  1. If you normally browse the internet with a browser other than Firefox (e.g. Google Chrome or Internet Explorer), it works great to use Firefox as a “research-only” browser. Disable all unnecessary add-ons and plugins and add quick links to your favourite research websites in your bookmarks toolbar. That way, when you open Firefox you’ll be able to research efficiently without distractions.

COLLECTING SOURCES

  1. If you’re browsing Google Scholar, JSTOR or something similar and both the address bar icon and the “Export” link are shown for a particular item, rather use the latter. In some cases, Zotero can’t extract the complete metadata for the item when it tries to do so automagically. In these (rare) cases, the metadata provided by the vendor (Google Scholar, JSTOR, etc.) is more accurate and so it makes more sense to use the “Export” link.
  2. Learn how to use ZotFile. This nifty Zotero add-on will allow you to store full-text PDFs of your journal articles on your hard drive. It will also allow you to send these PDFs to your tablet, letting you annotate them using your favourite PDF app. Afterwards, it pulls the annotated PDFs back into your library. This is brilliant for jotting down thoughts while you’re reading an article.

ORGANISING SOURCES

  1. The easiest way to organise your sources is by using collections. However, tags are also very handy for adding ‘statuses’ to your sources. For example, you could decide to add the tag “Started” to all the sources you’ve started reading for a particular project. When you’re finished with a particular source you could add the tag “Finished”. Also, you could indicate the quality of a source by using a tag, for example by adding tags like “Not applicable” and “Awesome”. Check out this article for help on using collections and tags.

CITING IN A DOCUMENT

  1. You can create your own citation style if, heaven forbid, none of the existing ones fits your needs. Be warned, though, that this requires a bit of technical knowledge.
  2. In Microsoft Word, create keyboard shortcuts for inserting a citation and editing a citation. This will make it even easier to insert citations while you type (literally reducing the time required to insert a citation to a few seconds). For example, you could assign CTRL+ALT+D to inserting a citation and CTRL+ALT+E to editing a citation.
LAST NOTE

The chances are that, once you start using Zotero, you will find it hard to remember how you did research without it. Apart from the short-term advantages set out above, using Zotero has the long-term advantage of letting you gradually build your own research library, ensuring a level of continuity across your different essays/articles/papers.

In conclusion, and to summarise: Zotero handles the nitty-gritty practicalities of research, letting you concentrate fully on what matters most: interpreting existing knowledge and contributing your own.

[ARTICLE BY JOHANNES JONKER]

 

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Struggle to manage postgrads?

Friday, June 6th, 2014

Two weeks ago we introduced you to NAO (Postgraduate Academic Support), a web based system to help you manage postgraduate student information without too much effort.

The following questions are most often asked by staff members who are already putting NAO to good use:

  1. Why is NAO not available via my.sun.ac.za?  I am forever losing the link sent to me!
  2. Could someone please wave a magic wand and get rid of all the forms we have to complete and replace them with pre-populated ones?
  3. Could we please be notified when new functionalities are implemented in the NAO system? 

The good news is that both questions 1 and 2 will receive attention next semester and we have a solution to the problem in question 3 already.  Bits & Bytes and the  blog will be used to make information about NAO available to staff members.

As far as question 1 is concerned, a workflow process is envisaged for staff members to receive permission from their line managers to use NAO.  The reason behind the strict access is that sensitive information, necessary for the management of postgraduate students, is available via the system and your line manager knows whether you should have access or not. 

The SU auditors would need to be in the know about the outcome of the authorisation process to decide whether legislation regarding the privacy of individuals’ personal information, is complied with. They also need to know who has access and who gave permission. 

As soon as the authorisation process becomes available, staff members would be able to apply for access to NAO via my.sun.ac.za and be assigned a specific Role within the system on the basis of answers given to questions and agreed on by the line manager. 

Question 2 has been under discussion for a long time.  At the moment, much thought is given to generic forms generated and pre-populated by NAO for various purposes e.g. nomination of M and PhD candidates, nomination of Study Leaders/Supervisors and numerous other examples, which could be used by all Faculties and Departments. 

The information collected by the forms of different Faculties correspond 95% and the idea is to add the other 5% as optional extras for staff members to fill in if their areas require the information. 

Maybe the best way to get people interested in generic forms, is to gradually add prototypes to NAO and wait for users of the system to respond.  It is virtually impossible to involve  everybody personally and it is easier to comment on something more tangible than an idea. 

 We’d like to invite you to leave us comments, ideas and suggestions on this on this blog post or contact Rita de Jager. 

[ARTICLE BY:  Rita de Jager (Head: Postgraduate Academic Support, Information Technology, SU]

 

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