Yale Law School ITS Blog

YLS Information Technology Services news and updates.
Important IT Update for Class of 2009 Graduates

FROM: YLS IT Services
TO: YLS Class of 2009
RE:  Important IT Update for Class of 2009 Graduates

An important date for YLS Class of 2009: October 1st, 2009: All email accounts will be closed and email stored on Yale's servers will be unavailable. All files on student file server "gryffin" will be deleted.

Instructions for accessing your files on the student file server:

Yale Law School will not archive student data after October 1st, 2009. Please use the instructions at the links below to access the folders and backup any information you have stored on the student file server to your local computer. The user folders for graduating students will be removed from the student file server "Gryffin" on October 1, 2009. Requests for extension of this deadline can be directed to Susan Monsen at susan.monsen@yale.edu or to Kevin Bailey at kevin.bailey@yale.edu, and will be considered on a case by case basis.

Microsoft Windows XP/Vista: https://inside.law.yale.edu/DepartmentInformation/Pages/DepartmentInfo.aspx?Dept=itservices&ContentPageID=11

Mac OS X: https://inside.law.yale.edu/DepartmentInformation/Pages/DepartmentInfo.aspx?Dept=itservices&ContentPageID=13

Instructions for preserving email messages you want to keep:

Those who use program like Eudora or Outlook to access their Yale email via POP should find that all their messages have been stored on their personal computers. To test this, unplug your network connection from the wall and see if you can access your saved email. If you can, the messages are stored on your own machine and can be accessed even after your Yale account is gone.

If you instead use an IMAP client like Web Mail or Pine, some of your email is likely stored on Yale's mail servers. All your data stored on Yale's email servers will be deleted when your account is closed. If you have email messages you would like to keep, you must transfer them to your own computer or to a different account.

To transfer an individual email message to a different email account, use the "forward" function of your email program.

Transferring email from an IMAP server to your own computer or to a disk can be done via the Pantheon Account tool (http://pantheon.yale.edu/account-tool/). Click on Email Archiver Details to create and pick up an archive.

Accounts of members of the class of 2009 are currently slated to be removed at 5:00 AM on October 1, 2009. All messages sent to your email account after this time will be bounced back to the sender. Email forwarding, email auto-reply, and Pantheon web pages cease to function at that time, and other data stored on on the email and Pantheon servers will no longer be accessible.

If you have problems with this transition please call the YLS IT Services help line at 203-432-0821 for assistance.

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As a service to Yale graduates, the Association of Yale Alumni runs a service called Virtual Yale Station. All class of 2009 graduates should have received an email from Alumni Affairs with information about this service, which offers a lifelong email alias to all Yale alumni. Note that an email alias is not an email account. Instead, an alias redirects mail to an account of your choosing. See the Virtual Yale Station web site (http://www.aya.yale.edu/vys/) for more information.

Finally, YLS IT wishes you all the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Kevin J. Bailey
YLS IT Services 

Posted: Sep 28 2009, 10:58 AM by kevin
Filed under:
Yale StatLab Fall 2009 Statistical Workshops

FROM THE YALE STATLAB:

We are pleased to announce our Fall 2009 statistical workshops.  We offer several introductory workshops this fall.  These  workshops are free and open to interested faculty and students of  all disciplines, not only the social sciences.  Yale staff are welcome to attend, space permitting.

All Classes will be held on Fridays 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. in the Main StatLab,  140 Prospect Street, room 101 unless otherwise indicated.

For more information and register online.

New way to get your Gmail: IMAP

Engadget, a technology blog, announced today that Gmail has made IMAP available, but evidently not to all its users...yet. Check your Gmail options, if you're interested. Read more here.

Posted: Oct 24 2007, 09:06 PM by kevin
Filed under:
Laptop Stands Help Beat the Heat

The truth is, whether they are sitting on your lap, your desk or your bed, laptops get hot - sometimes dangerously so. The NY Times has a great article that rounds up some of the better offerings.

 "LAPTOPS are sometimes more convenient than desktop computers, but they can generate a lot of heat. After it sits on a bed, a sofa or a lap for an extended period of time, a notebook computer can become uncomfortably hot, even dangerous.

Many protective stands are available; some, when used on a table or desk, can make a portable computer more like a desktop model by raising the screen and making it easy to attach an external keyboard and mouse. There are also lightweight, fold-up designs that fit into a carrying case for travel."

Click here to open the article in a new window.

 

Posted: Oct 04 2007, 04:10 PM by kevin
Filed under:
Make Windows Vista Behave More Like Windows XP

Several people have expressed frustration with just how different the Windows Vista user experience can be from Windows XP, and how that difference can impede productivity. Here are a couple of tips for making Windows Vista look and feel a little more like Windows XP:

  1. Configure Windows Vista to use the Classic Theme and Classic Start Menu. See this video for a step by step tutorial: http://video.tipsdr.com/item/ST8QRXTZWK3PQQRV
  2. Show the Computer icon on the desktop. The My Computer icon has vanished from Windows Vista. To add the new Computer icon to the desktop, click the Start button, then right-click the Computer option and choose Show on Desktop from the pop-up menu.
YLS IT Services can't make any guarantees on functionality after making these changes, but we hope they help make the user experience a little less frustrating.

 

Posted: Sep 21 2007, 05:01 PM by kevin
Filed under:
Network Registration for All

 From the Yale University ITS Blog:

Yale requires that all equipment utilizing the University data network be registered, and the registration information be associated with either the owner or primary user of the equipment. ITS enforces this policy by controlling access to usable Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. In order to get a legitimate IP address, you have to register the machine. When ITS provides an IP address, we collect the hardware address --sometimes called the Machine Access Code (MAC) or Ethernet Hardware Address (EHA)-- of either the wireless card or the ethernet card. If you are connecting via Wireless and via your ethernet cord (at different times), you would have to register both of these MAC addresses for the same machine. This system ensures accountability and helps ITS to provide better service for all the community, but in order to streamline the transaction, we provide tools to minimize the burden of registering your machine.

 Read more by clicking here.

 

Posted: Sep 05 2007, 09:55 AM by admin
Filed under:
Download the Student Computing Orientation Presentation 07

On behalf of YLS IT Services I would like to thank all the new students who attended Student Computing Orientation this year. A PDF of the presentation, complete with links to Yale's Ergonomics website and Yale's Security Office, is attached to this post.

Download the Student Computing Guide '07

YLS has published an updated version of its student computing guide. In it you will find step-by-step instructions for connecting your laptop to the network at YLS. A PDF of the guide is attached.

Announcing Yale GIS Workshops for Fall 2007
Yale University recently obtained a site license for GIS, and YLS IT Services has deployed GIS to all the computers in the cluster and classroom on L2 of the law library. If you would like to use GIS for your research, these training opportunities may be for you.
  • Is your data aggregated by county, state, country...?
  • Would you like to learn to make those nice maps you've seen in your colleagues work?
  • Need to measure the elevation at 1000's of points quicly?
  • Want to add that extra bit of punch to your Senior Essay?
  • Are you ready to move beyond Google Maps?
  • Need to map 1000's of addresses and then extract Census Data variables for them?
THEN YOU NEED:

The Yale Map Collection GIS Workshops!

The Map Collection at Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library is proud to announce the continuation of the Yale GIS Workshops. These workshops are intended as an introduction to ESRI's ArcGIS Geographic Information Systems Software Suite, for which Yale University maintains an Enterprise-level license. The workshops are open to all Yale University Community members and we are particularly interested in exposing undergraduate students to spatial analysis using GIS.

All workshops are held on Thursday afternoon and start at 1pm. The sessions and are generally designed to last 1.5 - 2 hours, with time for addressing specific needs after the tutorial sessions. The exception is the Introductory session, which is designed to last 2.5-3 hours.

All workshops will be held in the Library Electronic Classroom, which is located at Sterling Memorial Library, Room 609 until the Cross Campus Library renovation has been completed (sometime in October) when the workshops will be moved to the CCL Electronic Classroom 1a.

The Fall 2007 GIS Workshop Schedule is shown below.

REGISTER FOR THE WORKSHOPS HERE!

Please forward this announcement to any and all parties you feel may be interested in these sessions.

Event Data

Event Title
(Click to Register)

Description

9-6-2007
9-13-2007
10-25-2007
11-1-2007

Introduction to GIS Mapping and ESRI’s ArcGIS Software.

An introduction to the basic concepts of creating, managing and analyzing explicitly spatial data within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) framework.  Included is a step-by-step, "hands on" introduction to using spatial data within ESRI’s ArcGIS software.  Topics will include: Spatial Data Models, Spatial Relationships, The ArcMap User Interface, Thematic Mapping Using Symbology, and Simple Analysis Using Complex Selection Methods.

9-20-2007
11-8-2007

Finding GIS Data & Preparing It For Use.

Geographic data can come from a variety of sources, including your own database files and spreadsheets, federal, state and local governmental agencies and commercial vendors.  This workshop will focus upon dependable sources of commonly used GIS data, common data file formats, projections & coordinate systems, scale, aggregation, metadata, and issues of sources and citation. Special Attention will be given to downloading and preparing Census data for use in GIS software.

9-27-2007

From Non-Spatial Data to Spatial Data.  Geocoding & Georeferencing in ArcGIS.

This workshop provides the skills necessary for turning non-spatial data, such as street addresses and scanned maps, into explicitly spatial data for use in GIS analysis. Topics include: The TIGER Data Model, Collecting Useable Address Data, The Geocoding Process, Troubleshooting Problem Addresses, Using Offsets, Scanning and Georeferencing of Paper Maps, and Display of XY Data. 

10-18-2007

GPS & GIS: Collecting Spatial Coordinates and Using them in ArcGIS.

A workshop designed to introduce the participant to the use of consumer-grade GPS equipment for the collection of explicitly spatial data for analysis within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) framework.  Topics include: The Global Positioning Satellite System, Coordinate Systems, Minimizing Measurement Error, and Converting Tabular Data to ESRI Shapefiles.

10-4-2007

Raster: The ‘Other’ GIS Data.

The Raster Data Model provided an effective means of characterizing spatially continuous phenomena, such as elevation, temperature, precipitation and other environmental and climatic characteristics.  This workshop provides a targeted introduction to the tools available in ArcGIS for creating, managing and analyzing data in raster form.  Topics include: Introduction to Spatial Analyst, Map Algebra and the Raster Calculator, Surface Analysis, and Combining Vector & Raster Data in Analysis. 

11-15-2007

Editing in ArcGIS: Creating and Altering Spatial Data.

The objective of this workshop is to provide participants with hands on experience with editing in ArcGIS (or doing "heads-up" digitizing), to provide an appreciation of the issues involved in editing to maintain topological consistency and to demonstrate the steps which may be involved in creating a new, spatially accurate coverage. 

11-29-2007

Creating Map Layouts in ArcGIS.

This workshop will introduce the ArcGIS tools available for creating effective map layouts that are capable of clearly conveying the results of GIS analysis to an audience.  Topics include: Symbolization, Advanced Labeling, Annotation, Using Graphics in Layouts, Cartographic Elements, and Grids & Graticules.

12-6-2007

Classic Cartographic Techniques in ArcGIS.

One of the drawbacks of the computer revolution in mapping is the decline in attention to cartography as a graphic art.  Working in the Yale Map Collection exposes one to the most beautiful cartography ever produced.  This workshop is intended to provide the participant with an appreciation of the graphic and cartographic techniques used in classic cartography and the tools to reproduce some of these elements in their own cartographic work.  Topics will include: Coastal & Lacustrine Vignettes, Depiction of Topography, Use of Color in Thematic Mapping, Decorative Typography and Creating Custom Cartographic Elements.