Customize Your Google Meet Background with Images of Manhattan College!

You can now make Manhattan College your background in Google Meet!  

Google Workspace recently released a background feature that allows you to either blur or customize your background in a Google Meet by selecting one of the images google has provided or uploading your own. 

The office of Marketing and Communication provided us with some beautiful images of our  campus as well as a logo that you can now download to upload as your custom background. You can access the images directly from this link. 

Please use the following link for further direction on how to blur or upload a custom image for your background in Google Meet.

The Google Jamboard Has Arrived at Manhattan College

Jamboards can be found in the Library, Thomas Hall, and Leo!

More information about Google Jamboard:

Instructions on how to use Google Jamboard:

Reach out to ITS with any questions:
email:  its@manhattan.edu
Tel:  718-862-7973

Week 6 Tech Showcase - Lynda.com

Lynda.com

Lynda.com is a website where you have access to a plethora of online courses that can be taken any time, and at your own pace. The courses provided by lynda.com spans many different topics, and is really useful for learning any topic.

While lynda.com requires that you have a membership with them to access their course materials, anyone with a NYC Public Library Card can register for free. This includes the Manhattan College community which can register for a free NYC Public Library Card.

Additional Resources:
Applying for a New York Public Library Card
Accessing Lynda.com with a New York Public Library Card

We are interested in your feedback, please take a few moments to complete the following Lynda.com survey:

EdTech article featuring MC's CIO - Jake Holmquist!

Jake Holmquist, CIO proudly took the time to contribute to a recent article for EdTech. Manhattan College is mentioned for the pursuit of hybrid cloud strategy. Jake talks about how this happened organically for our very own Manhattan College optimizing our data center.

https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2019/02/how-use-hybrid-clouds-manage-demand-peaks

The Google Jamboard Has Arrived at Manhattan College

More information about Google Jamboard:

Instructions on how to use Google Jamboard:

The Google Jamboard Has Arrived at Manhattan College!

Click here for more information about Google Jamboard:

https://gsuite.google.com/products/jamboard/

Click here for instructions on how to use Google Jamboard:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1K7vAzs_22y_wq2y9OI4uPzt5WCqdqtwWLKHtYD5SDE8

WARNING: Phishing Attacks Have Started Again

Around 1:16 PM today an email was sent out from 'robert.damato@manhattan.edu' that looked like the image below:

EXAMPLE OF A PHISHING SCAM

The email from 'robert.damato@manhattan.edu' is a phishing scam and you should delete it immediately. Do not click on any links in the email. As with most  messages, the message contained a generic warning about spam and updating a spam filter.  
If you receive a message that asks you to  click on an unknown link or suspicious attachment, DO NOT OPEN the link or attachment. Instead, please verify authenticity with ITS  by forwarding the message to ITS@manhattan.edu. 

If you are worried that your account has been compromised, please go through Google's account Security Checkup:

https://security.google.com/settings/security/secureaccount

As always, be careful what you click!

ITS Service Catalog

ITS has put together a Service Catalog so that the community can better understand what services are provided as well as what is covered under each service.  This is a work in progress.  Over time, new services will be generated and outdated services will be retired.  Aside from ITS services, you will also find some non ITS services and how to request them.

Here is the direct link to our Service Catalog:
https://manhattan.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/Requests/ServiceCatalog

We need your help!  Please provide feedback and suggestions for the service catalog here.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES TRAINING COORDINATOR

Please spread the word.  ITS is looking for an Information Technology Services Training Coordinator.  See posting here.

List of Software Requestable for Manhattan College Owned Devices

In our continued efforts to provide exceptional customer service, we have created a new Knowledge Base Article (KBA) that lists all software that is available for installation on Manhattan College owned computers.  This list is a work in progress.  We are constantly working with vendors to secure the most cost efficient licensing options for the College.  We do not have all available software listed yet.  We are inventorying all software and listing once we confirm.  Here is a link to the KBA.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES TRAINING COORDINATOR

Please spread the word.  ITS is looking for an Information Technology Services Training Coordinator.  See posting here.

IT Support Specialist (Training) Job Opening

Please spread the word.  ITS is looking for an IT Support Specialist (Training).  See posting here.

Computer Lab Sustainability Efforts

#sustainability The first few weeks of the semester resulted in large pillars of wasted paper assembling near the kiosk computers in the library.  The IT department has taken measures to reduce the amount of waste paper generated.  The rate at which the pillars (shown below) are growing has significantly decreased:

Before:

Some of the measures taken to reduce the amount of waste paper generated include: minimizing the amount of time between clicking print and seeing the result, ensuring that each computer displays only the printers that are in the same room as that particular computer, and, lastly, the default printer on each computer is the printer closest to it.  The combination of these improvements has made a noticeable difference in the volume of waste paper generated, as you can see below.

After:

ITS Celebrates Global Handwashing Day #IWashMyHands

October 15th is Global Handwashing Day.  ITS is joining the over 200 million people in over 100 countries who are taking steps to ensure a healthy and productive learning/working environment by raising awareness to the benefits of handwashing and promoting ways to practice good hygiene when using shared computers and electronic devices.  There are also steps that you can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.

http://globalhandwashing.org/ghw-day -
Global Handwashing Day is an internationally celebrated day to promote good hygiene through handwashing with soap.  At Manhattan College, we are doing our part to extend the concepts of Global Handwashing Day and apply them to the ways that we operate in ITS and handle electronic devices and computers.

With smartphone and personal computing devices embedded in our daily routines, we may forget to practice good hygiene when using these devices.  Computer keyboard, mice, and phones can be a hotbed for germs - especially in shared environments.  Besides disinfecting these surfaces between uses, handwashing before and after use can significantly reduce the spread of germs when using these devices.  For information on cleaning your electronic devices:  http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/assets/1/Page/Computer%20Cleaning.pdf


References:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3988 - "How to disinfect the Apple internal or external keyboard, trackpad, and mouse"
http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/assets/1/Page/Computer%20Cleaning.pdf - "American Cleaning Institute - Computer Cleaning - Hotspots for germs in the office'
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Germs/story?id=4774746 - "ABC News - Your Keyboard: Dirtier than a Toilet" 

ITS Voicemail Back to Normal

We are happy to report that the issue with ITS voicemail has been resolved.

ITS is Hiring Students for the Summer

Interesting in learning more about technology?

Have some free time this summer?

If you answered yes to these questions, come work for ITS!

We are looking for Manhattan College students eligible for Federal Work Study or Campus employment who are highly motivated.

If this describes you, email your resume and cover letter to richard.musal@manhattan.edu ASAP!

Tell ITS

#TellITS - We would like to express our gratitude to the Manhattan College community for continuing to reach out to us for tech support as well as provide us with feedback on our services. The 'Tell ITS' icon found on public computers across campus is a convenient way to communicate with us and help us identify technology-related issues.

Please continue to reach out to us via the TellITS form (http://manhattan.edu/tellits). You may also report issues to its@manhattan.edu or 718-862-7973. The faster we know about an issue, the faster we can resolve it. We need your continued support in helping us identify issues and get them resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Network Maintenance - Sunday 3/16 6:00-11:00PM

ITS will be performing network maintenance on Sunday evening 3/16 from 6:00 - 11:00PM to implement a permanent fix for the issue that affected Overlook earlier this week. 

Affected locations:

• All Residence Halls
• Horan
• East Hill
• Jasper
• Chrysostom
• Overlook
• All Main Campus Academic Buildings
• De La Salle
• Memorial
• Miguel
• Hayden
• Thomas
• Draddy
• Alumni
• Smith

JasperNet services (from off-campus) will NOT be affected during this maintenance.

Google Calendar Group Invites

Inviting a group to an event in your Google Calendar is the easiest and most efficient way to invite substantial numbers of people at one time. Using Google groups, you can invite up to 10,000 attendees for one-time events and 5,000 attendees for recurring events. This new feature eliminates the hassle of adding a large number of guests to calendar events one by one.

Click here for more information on using this new feature.

Need help creating a group? Click here for step-by-step instructions.

Tell ITS

#TellITS - We have been receiving multiple tech-support requests via the Tell ITS form (http://manhattan.edu/tellits) as well as relevant feedback which enables us to provide faster and more efficient service to the Manhattan College community.  Thank you!

If you come across a technology issue on campus, please continue to notify us via the TellITS form.  You may also report issues to its@manhattan.edu or 718-862-7973.  The faster we know about an issue, the faster we can resolve it. We need your ongoing help to identify issues and get them resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.