More than 60 e-mail scams have arrived at K-State in the past four months. Last May, the university began tracking and posting scams to the IT security homepage to serve as a reference for the campus community. On Sept. 25, the growing list of scams was moved to a page of its own. E-mail scams seen at K-State shows the date each scam arrived, the subject-line text, and a link to the full e-mail version. Continue reading “Growing list of e-mail scams gets separate webpage”
Tag: website
Updated web search went live Aug. 27
The updated K-State web search went live Wednesday, Aug. 27. K-State Search can be accessed by going directly to search.k-state.edu, using the search box at the top of the K-State homepage, or webpages that have the search box in the K-State brandbar. New aspects include:
- K-State students can now control and selectively omit some of their personal information displayed from People Directory search results. Many students had asked for this ability, which is controlled through their eProfile.
- Improvement of webpage search results has been achieved by moving to the Google Search Appliance.
- The format uses standard K-State page format and tabs for viewing search results by category (web, people, directories). See the Aug. 19 Spotlight article for more about the new search engine’s look and feel.
For more information see Media Relations’ news release today.
InfoTech Tuesday overhaul
In an effort to enhance all aspects of InfoTech Tuesday, the iTAC Communications and Training group worked over the summer to bring a new vision to the IT newsletter. The new format, mimicking a blog layout, is a departure from a once-a-week static newsletter webpage towards an always on, always changing dynamic news environment.
In the new website, each article has its own page and its own discussion section where anyone can post comments or vote. Articles are both categorized and tagged and easily printed, e-mailed, and shared to social news and bookmarking sites. The new feature-rich format is tailored for interaction with polls, a tag cloud, lists of most voted for and most viewed articles, and multiple ways to view and share the news the way you want it. Not sure about the new look? Don’t worry, it’s still called InfoTech Tuesday and we’ll still be sending out a weekly e-mail newsletter lineup!
Before you leave, be sure to:
- vote for an article
- subscribe to the RSS feed
- subscribe to the events and deadlines calendar
- answer the poll question
- sign up for the weekly e-mail newsletter (all faculty are automatically subscribed)
Old .org sites targeted by sleazy advertisers
Research and Extension recently had to scramble to change some of its web links and print materials because some .org web addresses were bought for re-use by unscrupulous advertisers. These advertisers wait for a “nice” site to become available and then pounce on it to market things not consistent with the goals of the original site.
For instance, many land-grant universities and other agriculture-related groups use information from Iowa State’s Midwest Plan Service (www.mwps.org), which produces publications on how to build barns, etc. When that entity stopped paying for its older, slightly longer .org address, someone bought the domain and used it advertise bikinis and such. K-State and other universities have had to change all their web and print materials to remove references to the old site.
A similar issue occurred earlier this year with a family-related .org address. Fortunately, web addresses with .edu domains are safe from this type of re-use.
What you can do
- Web authors who have links to .org web addresses should check those links regularly.
- Authors of a .org site should realize that if they ever stop paying for their domain, it can be bought and turned into something they wouldn’t want associated with their organization’s name.
Emergency information link on K-State homepage?
When did the “Emergency information” link get put on K-State’s homepage?
The Emergency information link was placed in the left sidebar of the K-State homepage yesterday, Aug. 18.
It points to the university’s guide that has contact information and instructions for handling various types of threats, including fires, tornadoes, hazardous substances, shooters, suspicious packages, medical emergencies, and more.
This first iteration of the information (associated with the link or available from the link) will be updated over time.
K-State search enhancements: Tabs, format, faster results
K-State’s new search debuts this Thursday, Aug. 21, and racks up improvements three ways — by using Google, providing quicker visual access to search results, and updating the format of the People Directory results.
The webpage-search results are powered by a Google Search Appliance (GSA) purchased in cooperation with K-State Libraries and K-State Research and Extension. The GSA produces more relevant search results and enables the popular “Did you mean” feature that catches and offers to automatically correct potential spelling errors.
“Three tabs” format
The most obvious change is that results will be presented on a page with three tabs, just like many other popular search sites. The new tabs mean less scrolling and quicker access to specific search results.
The new search still searches three information sources:
* K-State webpages
* K-State people
* K-State departments, units, and organizations
Search results for People Directory
The format of People Directory search results has been improved by observing how people use that data. First, people scan the list of possible matches by name, and second, they scan for identifying information — such as class/major for students, and title/department for faculty and staff.
In the new format, names are larger and more prominent, and identifying information stands out and is more clearly associated with the name.
