The Sametime Instant Messaging server is available for live chat in the Lotus Notes client software as well as VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The student e-mail server - VRAM1 - has been returned to service. HTTP and IMAP connectivity has been restored. The server was out of service between 4:30 PM - 11:50 PM, Friday June 22, 2006. E-mail Services has corrected the problem. For any assistance with an e-mail related issue, please contact Doctor Notes at dnotes@vcu.edu or contact the TS HelpDesk at 828-2227.

Posted by at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

E-mail & Network Services corrected the issue affecting the faculty/staff e-mail services.

Posted by at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 2006 Lenovo ThinkPad Educational Tour Bus will visit VCU Wednesday,June 21 from 8:30-4:00. The bus will be parked in the QQ lot adjacent to the Technology Administration Building on the corner of Broad & Pine Street. All members of the VCU community are invited to visit and see the latest ThinkPad technology available to VCU Students, Faculty and Staff. Giveaways including T-Shirts, frisbees and beach balls will be given away at each event. If you need directions please call 828-1177.

Posted by at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The myVCU Portal will be unavailable from Friday, June 23rd at 10:00pm to Sunday, June 25th at 10:00pm. Technicians will be upgrading to the latest version of the portal software in order to improve performance and response times. The myVCU portal will be back up Sunday evening when the upgrades are completed. If you are looking for a specific service please visit the links to the right.

Posted by at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Internet Browser favorites (bookmarks) or Desktop Shortcuts that are used to access the Blackboard from your system may be invalid, if they were created before June 9th, 2006.

After the recent Blackboard system upgrade (June 9th, 2006), you may be taken to a page with the message "Browser Cookies Disabled".

This may be due to your shortcut now pointing to an invalid URL. Before changing any browser settings to correct the problem, any shortcuts, bookmarks, or favorites may need to be deleted and re-created to access a valid blackboard URL.

For detailed instructions on how to update your browser favorites/bookmarks or desktop shortcuts, click here

Posted by at 1:28 PM | Permalink

A server software upgrade to all e-mail servers will occur beginning Saturday, June 17, 2006. This is a server upgrade only and users should not experience any visible changes. Scheduled outages are as follows:

Saturday, June 17, 2006 8 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Faculty/Staff Aspen servers will be unavailable. Users can connect to their alternate server of Oak, Oak2, Oak3, or Oak4.

Sunday, June 18, 2006 8 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Faculty/Staff Oak servers will be unavailable. Users can connect to their alternate server of Aspen, Aspen2, Aspen3, or Aspen4.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. Student VRAM servers 1 - 12 will be unavailable. Users can connect to their alternate server of VRAM 1C - VRAM12C.

Thursday, June 22, 2006 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. Student VRAM servers 1C - 12C will be unavailable. Users can connect to their alternate server of VRAM 1 - 12.

Posted by at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Campus email users have been receiving a new variety of spam (junk
e-mail) with a subject line containing a number (e.g., 1545453) and a
message body containing another different number with fewer digits
(e.g., 969). The messages do not contain any other text or attachments,
and the From: and To: fields often contain the same @vcu.edu address.

Technology Services (TS) suspects the messages are malformed virus or
spam messages. The messages do not appear to be harmful but users are
advised to delete them as they arrive.

The current problem appears to be widespread and is happening at other
institutions. TS is monitoring external sites for additional
information and will work to eliminate these emails at the anti-spam
gateway.

Posted by at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) and Content Management System (CMS) have been upgraded to versions LMS 6.3.1.593/CMS 2.3.1.504.

Items in this message:
• Documentation on new features in 6.3
• Please note a new Security Alert message may appear after you enter your Username and Password.
• New Help Tab
• What to do if you see a problem after the upgrade

Documentation on new features in 6.3
1. Log in to Blackboard
2. Click on the Content System Tab
3. Click on Institution Content
4. Click on LMS Documentation folder
5. Click on User Training Materials folder

Please note a new Security Alert message may appear after you enter your Username and Password.
Please be aware this is proper functioning for the browser and is not indicative of a problem. The message is dependent on which browser you are using and how it is configured. If it displays, the message would be similar to "You are about to be redirected to a connection that is not secure. The information you are sending to the current site might be retransmitted to a nonsecure site."

New Help Tab
This update includes a new Help Tab. The Help Tab contents will be different depending on whether or not you are logged into Blackboard. Please check it out when you are not logged in and when you are logged in. The My Browser Setting and Plug-Ins module is available to you and your students.

What to do if you see a problem after the upgrade
If you encounter any problems please contact the Technology Services Help Desk at (804)828-2227, help@vcu.edu, or submit an online ticket at http://www.ts.vcu.edu/helpdesk and a message will be sent to the Blackboard Team.

Posted by at 3:51 AM | Permalink

On Thursday the VCU network experienced intermittent network connectivity issues related to a firewall services module in a Cisco router. This began at approximately 8 p.m. with connectivity being restored at approximately 9 p.m. Cisco provided a patch to temporarily resolve the problem and continues to work with VCUnet staff to develop a permanent solution. Should you have any questions please contact the VCU Help Desk at 827-2227.

Posted by at 9:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)