Banks of student workstations may be replaced by online computer labs
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- Published on Monday, 29 April 2013 14:19
Almost all of the software that your students need – whether on campus or at a distance – can now be provided by a workstation accessible from a laptop.
Powerful computation software and everyday computer software packages can be accessed through the “image” of a workstation that creates a single stop for all students by creating a virtual lab – on the cloud.
The Virtual Computing Lab service streamlines licensing, hardware, time and money in the process. It also allows students to get access to course software at any time, from any location, and at no cost.
Piloted at the Universities of Alberta and Lethbridge over the past year, the Virtual Computing Lab was created specifically for Alberta institutions by Cybera, the advanced technical agency that operates Alberta’s Research & Education Network and related services. The University of Alberta is now exploring opportunities to expand the service.
“Prior to providing the Virtual Computing Lab, most students in my courses spent long hours in, or waiting to use, the graduate computer lab,” said David Ryan, Professor in the Department of Economics. “As someone who teaches almost solely in the area of econometrics, a quantitative side of economics that makes extensive use of computing, I have come to greatly appreciate this service.”
The online service also frees up classroom space, reduces the need for banks of computer workstations and their costly maintenance and upgrades, and decreases the demand for university technical support.
“In one case, the Virtual Computing Lab has completely eliminated the need for computers in the lab,” says Donna Gorday, Director of Client Services, Academic Information and Communication Technologies. “Students tell us they find the online lab is easy to use, and it’s certainly reduced calls to our help desk. It’s a win-win-win situation.”
To find out more about the program and the software it supports, please contact:
Donna Gorday, Director of Client Services, AICT, University of Alberta
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(780) 492-3343
David Chan, Project Manager, Cybera
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(403) 210-5332
More information about the service is also available online: http://www.cybera.ca/projects/virtual-computing-lab
Sensei Hungabee
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- Published on Friday, 15 March 2013 08:21
The University of Alberta's Martin Müeller (from the Department of Computing Science), and Kazuki Yoshizoe from Japan have joined forces—in conjunction with the computational power of Hungabee—to participate in the Sixth UEC Cup Computer Go Tournament hosted in Tokyo, Japan on the 16th and 17th of March.
Computer Go became so advanced that the most advanced program, Zen, won games against the professional player Masaki Takemiya. With the exceptional competition that recent computer Go programs provide, it's the reason why the Densei-sen competition was established—to further the advancement of computer Go.Beware of Trojan: RCMP International Cyber Security Protection Alliance
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- Published on Wednesday, 20 February 2013 15:27
A new trojan, "W32/Reveton" has been found on the campus network over the past few days. If infected, this trojan completely locks the user out of their account and the desktop replaces itself with a screen that appears to be from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The text on the screen may include:
Royal Canadian Mounted Police: International Cyber Security Protection Alliance.
Attention! Your PC is blocked due to one of the reasons specified below.
You have been violating "Copyright and Related Rights Law" (Video, Music Software) and illegally using or distributing copyrighted content, thus infringing Article 128 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
You have been viewing or distributing prohibited Pornographic content (Child Porn/Zoophilia and etc). Thus violating article 202 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
Illegal access to computer data has been initiated from your PC, ...
Illegal access has been initiated from your PC without your knowledge or consent, your PC maybe infected by malware thus you are violating the law On Neglectful Use of Personal Computer.
Spam distribution or other unlawful advertising has been effected from your PC as a profit-seeking activity or without your knowledge, your PC may be infected by malware.
The virus will also display your computer's IP address and the name of your machine. If a computer is in this state, applications cannot be opened nor will Task Manager be usable. The only way to get out of it is either by rebooting or pressing "Ctrl+Alt+Delete" and logging in with a different account.
To help protect against this trojan, please consider the following:
- Have the latest versions of Java, Adobe Reader/Flash, IE, Chrome, Firefox and all Windows updates installed.
- Disable or uninstall any web browser tool bars.
- Ensure you have antivirus software installed, and run regular scans.
- Be cautious of links and attachments in email messages.
- Avoid downloading programs form unfamiliar sites.
- Implement a Firewall.
- Turn on User Account Control (UAC).
- Use your borwser's privacy settings.
Please be aware of this particular behaviour; if you see anyone having this difficulty, or a campus computer with resemblance of the above content, please contact the AICT Help Desk. A representative will be able to assist you, or take responsive action to clean the affected machine.
This particular Trojan affects Windows-based computers. Computers running OS X, or Linux based operating systems are unaffected.
Scheduling Conflict: Incorrect or Missing Courses in Google Calendars
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- Published on Thursday, 10 January 2013 16:58
The content on this webpage has changed. Please visit again to read the latest information regarding this topic.
"When are my classes? Where are they?" These are questions that are important for the beginning of a term… Unfortunately for some students, these answers have been difficult to find. In fact, some students can't even find their classes within their Google Calendars, as was reported to AICT on January 6.
After investigating the missing classes, we have determined that information has been lost for about 800 courses this term. This critically impacts the following:
- Google Group Membership:
Each course has a Google Group associated with it. Membership for these groups has gotten stale as they have not been updated since January 3, 2013. - Student Calendars:
Enrollment changes are out of date. If you enrolled in a course for this term in the latter part of last year up until now, these changes are not being reflected in your calendar. - U of A Mobile App (iOS, Android):
The time table section content is inaccurate or missing entirely, and the "Courses" feature is missing the 800 affected courses.
**Please be aware that other systems may be affected that we are unaware of at this time. Should you encounter any that may be affected by stale data, please contact us: ualberta.ca/aict/contact
UPDATE (01/18/2013): Students may have two versions of "My Class Schedule" with overlapping events. We are actively looking at the issue, and will resolve it as soon as possible.
UPDATE (01/23/2013): Resolution
Over the weekend, all student calendars were deleted and recreated. These calendars are now displaying up-to-date and correct information. Please note that these are brand new calendars and therefore have not retained any of your previous settings. This means that you will have to share you calendar with others so they may have access to view it.
Our sincerest apologies extend to those of you impacted by this issue and for the inconvenience it may have caused you.
BEWARE OF MISLEADING AND UNSOLICITED EMAILS: SKILLPAGES
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- Published on Thursday, 10 January 2013 12:10
The content on this webpage has changed. Please visit again to read the latest information regarding this topic.
Recently, emails have been circulating to members of the U of A community from the corporation SkillPages—regarding a sign-up promotion.
If you are registered with SkillPages and have done so with a @ualberta.ca account, please be aware of the option to invite people from your contacts list. If you select this option, you provide SkillPages the ability to send unsolicited emails to all contacts within your address book.
For future reference, the University of Alberta does not endorse SkillPages and does not permit use of Directory Services in this way.
The latest information may be found on the U of A website: