Category Archives: EMU Technology

EMU rolls out new web site– thoughts?

Posted on July 25, 2010 by | 4 Comments

I don’t know when this happened because I don’t often have a reason to visit EMU’s homepage, but it looks like they’ve rolled out a new site.  My 2 minute poke around impressions are positive.  I don’t like the front page Flash animation for all kinds of different reasons, but I do like that users can chose their own color scheme, a feature I wouldn’t mind adding to EMUTalk.org  And I’m not sure about this, but it appears that the site might finally be powered by some kind of content management system instead of being static web pages.

Anyway, what do folks think?

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Posted in EMU Images, EMU Technology

my.emich: Does it work for you? And which browser?

Posted on July 22, 2010 by | Leave a comment

In the spirit of doing a little usability trouble-shooting for DoIT! today:  how is my.emich working for you?

This morning, I commented that my.emich was still not working for me, which is something that I chalked up to the system update still not being completed.  Then I got an email from one of the IT folks asking me to call for assistance, which suggested that they think it’s back up.

As I often do with web sites that don’t work the way I think they should, I decided to try a different browser.  I’m a Mac person, but my default browser is Firefox, which– and this is probably the problem– I just updated to version 3.6.7.  Anyway, instead of Firefox, I tried Safari, and my.emich popped right up.  And then, just for the heck of it, I tried Chrome, and that worked too.

Mind you, I haven’t had time to poke around my.emich yet, so there may be some glitches still with either Safari and/or Chrome.  But at least for me, the problem is probably not DoIT! but rather my updated browser.  Which is kind of a problem for DoIT! and SunGard because you wouldn’t think a Firefox update would completely disable my.emich

Anyway, has anyone else out there experienced similar problems?  Tried a different browser yet?

Update:

I did get a helpful email from the IT folks on this yesterday (Thursday, July 22).  It said in part:

There is a known issue with cookie handling between Luminis 4 and Firefox which results in that “session expired” loop in some cases.  Sungard has opened a defect in response to our reporting of the issue.  The temporary workaround is to enable private browsing, available from the tools menu in Firefox.  The IT Help Desk has been made aware of the issue and the workaround.

FWIW.  The easier workaround for me was to just open my.emich in a different browser– Safari or Chrome in my case.

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Posted in EMU Technology, Staff Life

I’m sure glad I don’t use my.emich for anything…

Posted on July 21, 2010 by | 3 Comments

This is because my.emich has essentially been off/out of service since Saturday or so.  I suspect for most people, this is not a “deal breaker,” because you can still access email via mail.emich.edu, and many (most?) people teaching who use some kind of technology to support their classes don’t use my.emich.edu  But if you do, the solutions seem pretty bad, as you can see after the “continued” part.

Two other things I’ll point out to DoIT! or anyone else:

  • When you are teaching a 7.5 week term, some sort of “mission critical” system being off from the weekend through Wednesday is a lot.  As I tell my students again and again, the spring/summer terms are not half as long, they are twice as fast, which means losing three or four days in the summer term is like losing a six or eight during the fall or winter terms.
  • This is the sort of reason why I rely as much as possible on systems not hosted at EMU, like emuonline or my own WordPress installations.  This is not to say that everyone could/should teach with WordPress, but it is why I’m all for “outsourcing” systems.  emuonline has been pretty rock-solid, IMO, and while Zimbra has had a few problems, it’s a ton more reliable for email, calendars, etc. than the old EMU hosted email ever was.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Administrator Life, EMU Technology, Faculty Life

EMU changes name to SunGard University

Posted on July 19, 2010 by | Leave a comment

No, not really.  But when I go to “my.emich,” I see I am being welcomed to “My SunGard University.”  I guess whatever latest update to the system isn’t quite working yet….

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Posted in EMU Technology

What’s up with EMU email?

Posted on May 3, 2010 by | 8 Comments

I can’t get my EmuMail to work, and it’s been that way all morning.  What the heck?  Is Pray-Harrold construction to blame?

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Posted in Buildings and Grounds, EMU Technology

Of course, one solution is to get a Mac….

Posted on April 21, 2010 by | Leave a comment

This just in from Ward Mullens about a computer virus going around campus:

The EMU Division of Information Technology is currently working to resolve a computer issue affecting faculty and staff computers. The problem is being caused by a corrupted anti-virus file that makes it appear that your computer is infected with a virus. Currently, student computer labs and Apple computer users are NOT affected by this issue. Windows computers are not at risk of losing data. Please let Windows users know what is occurring and that information technology is working quickly to resolve the issue. If you are having an issue with your computer, please call the Help Desk at 487.2120. Updates will be provided as information becomes available.

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Posted in EMU Technology

sitedad’s thoughts in the iPad

Posted on April 12, 2010 by | 3 Comments

Because Donna asked over a week ago, I thought I’d pass along here a couple of links from stevendkrause.com where I blogged about the iPad:

I’m not so sure that the iPad is a “must have” for everyone and I don’t think I would require students to show up to campus with one– at least not quite yet.  But the potential is huge and right now, it’s a heck of a lot of fun.

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Posted in Blogosphere, College Fun, EMU Technology, Faculty Life

“Seton Hill to Offer iPads to Full-Time Students”

Posted on March 31, 2010 by | 7 Comments

This came to me via a mailing list I’m on:  from the CHE blog, “Seton Hill to Offer iPads to Full-Time Students.” Here are the opening paragraphs:

Seton Hill University, a liberal-arts institution in Pennsylvania with more than 2,100 students, announced a program on Tuesday that offers an iPad to every full-time student.

Distribution will begin in the fall. Incoming freshmen will also receive a 13-inch MacBook laptop, which Seton Hill will replaced after two years; current sophomores, juniors, and seniors can opt into that program.

The iPad distribution marks the beginning of the university’s Griffin Technology Advantage Program, which will also include a completely wireless campus, quadrupled bandwith, and faculty training in advanced technologies. Students will be charged an additional $500 per semester in fees for the new technology program, and the university says it has absorbed the cost of the iPads.

Now, I don’t think this approach would work at EMU for a variety of reasons.  But for a long time now, I’ve personally thought that the best move a place like EMU could make when it comes to dealing with on-campus technology is to require students to have a minimum level of laptop computer.  Frankly, we are getting close to the point where laptops are so common that actually “requiring” them would be like requiring students to wear shoes– it’s just kind of a given.

Of course, as a devout Apple fan and as someone who is liable to be waiting in line to touch (and possibly buy) an iPad on Saturday, I like that part of the Seton Hill deal too.

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Posted in Academics, EMU Technology, Faculty Life, In the media..., Student Life

University House telescope?

Posted on January 19, 2010 by | 4 Comments

I was clicking through the latest version of EMU FOCUS (some good stuff in there), when I found this curious photo/story that I thought might be of interest since there used to be some astronomy club members around here once upon a time:

University House telescope

To quote the story/caption:

NEW TELESCOPE: Members of Eastern Michigan University’s Astronomy Club recently presented EMU President Susan Martin (standing, middle) with the new University House telescope. The telescope is 6 inches in diameter, sports a Newtonian/Dobsonian design and has superb optics. It sports a deep black tube, varnished woodwork, brass handles and EMU theme decals. The telescope was hand-constructed and donated by members of the EMU Astronomy Club. Excellent views of the moon, planets and stars await curious guests at University House.

Snazzy telescope.  So, is this at the president’s house, or is it more accessible/on campus? And is Martin a star enthusiast?

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Posted in Administrator Life, College Fun, EMU President, EMU Technology, Student Life

EMU names Carl Powell CIO

Posted on January 5, 2010 by | 3 Comments

An alert EMUTalk.org reader and media person at EMU emailed to let me know that “Eastern Michigan University names Carl Powell chief information officer.” Good for him, I suppose, and welcome to EMU, Carl.

I don’t know if Powell is really ready or able to address any wish lists, but I for one would simply like to see the same level of support from ICT that I receive from the company that hosts this site, icdsoft.com I have the $6 a month plan and I couldn’t be happier with them.

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Posted in Administrator Life, EMU Technology