Software Review 2013-14

Web browsersOn the student PC desktop Internet Explorer will be upgraded to version 10 and both Firefox and Chrome will be installed as alternative browsers.

New softwareAdditional software on the student PC desktop includes:

• Fragstats (spatial pattern analysis)• Mathematica (advanced symbolic mathematics)• Mendeley (citation software)• Paint.NET (image manipulation software)• R Studio (integrated development environment for R)• Skype (internet voice call and messaging)

For a full list see:

sussex.ac.uk/its/services/software/review

Withdrawn softwareSoftware to be withdrawn from the student PC desktop at the end of summer term 2013 includes:

• MSN Messenger (internet messaging)• SAS (statistical software)• Aladin, Stellarium and IRIS (astronomy software)• Sound2Picture (multimedia/music software)

Mac desktopThe hope is to upgrade the student Mac desktop to Mountain Lion (OSX 10.8). No major items of software are being added or removed, but Sibelius (music software) is being upgraded to version 7.

Engineering softwareWe are now delivering specialist engineering software using Application Jukebox. Software provided through Application Jukebox is installed on demand when it is needed and can be kept up to date centrally by IT Services. This enables us to provide software in a more flexible manner and is a move away from the more static PC desktop that historically has been delivered on a yearly basis.

IT Services hopes to extend the Jukebox service to deliver other complex software that is required in other locations.

Other softwareApart from these changes, the software on student computers will be the same as the current list, although in some cases, programs will be upgraded to more recent versions. You can check the exact version of all the applications on the 2013-14 PC desktop by visiting the software webpages online at:

sussex.ac.uk/its/services/software/list

We are now packaging and testing the new software configuration before deploying it to student computers during the summer vacation.

IT Services would like to thank all the staff who contacted us about the software review this year. We’ve been going through the responses and are now preparing the software to be installed on student PCs over the summer in time for the start of the new academic year.

The student PC desktop will once more be based on Windows 7 and continue to use Office 2010 (including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Project and Visio).

ITS Newsnumber 364 - summer 2013

Formula Student is an annual engineering competition held in the UK in which student teams from around the world design, build, test, and race small-scale formula style racing cars. Mobil 1 Team Sussex are the University of Sussex’s Formula Student Team; they have been competing in the competition since 2005.

The team identified a need for a laptop tough enough to be used trackside at Silverstone and capable of many tasks including

• calibrating engine sensors and creating an engine “map”

• collecting live telemetry data at racing events• performing dynamic simulations of car parts• perform computational fluid dynamic

simulation of the bodyworkThe team approached IT Services for advice – both with respect to the type of laptop that would be suitable and the procurement options open to them. The team offer several tiers of sponsorship and hoped that they might be able to obtain the laptop via this route.

Armed with the information provided to them by the team, IT Services approached Dell, their current preferred supplier of PCs, to find out whether they would be interested in supplying a laptop as part of a sponsorship deal. Dell agreed to the idea and IT Services subsequently negotiated the specification and hardware enhancements that the trackside laptop would need.

In the end the agreed model was a Dell Latitude E6430 ATG, a semi-rugged model designed for maximum performance in outdoor environments. This was supplied by Dell, set up by IT Services and delivered to the team before the end of February 2013.

A trackside laptop

Having a simple file naming convention is essential when dealing with a large amount of information and when you need to be able to find the specific data you want quickly and easily. Although the search facilities on many computer platforms are efficient and effective, knowing where to look in the first place will always save time.

In addition, creating a consistant naming convention from the start will ensure that you don’t need to move data later on, which can be time consuming and/or risky if involving large complex files.

What to use (and what not to use)✔ a-z 0-9

It is best to restrict filenames to alphanumeric characters only as other characters may not be supported on all platforms or may be reserved for use by the operating system.

✘ [ ] _ . , : ;

Avoid using spaces, underscores, periods (aside from the period used to separate the filename from the file extension) or other punctuation marks.

If you do need to separate words, use a dash character -. This improves human readability and can have additional benefits for documents placed on the web as many search engines treat words separated by dashes as discrete keywords.

Case sensitivityFile names on some platforms are case sensitive, whereas on others they are not. In order to avoid any potential problems this may cause it is best to use lowercase only when naming files and folders.

For further information, please see:

sussex.ac.uk/its/help/faq2564

The naming of files

There’s an app for that 5 site videoconferenceSussex Mobile, a smartphone app based on campusM, was launched during Freshers’ Week 2010.

A web-based service for providing useful information and tools for members of the University, since its launch nearly 14,000 users have registered with the app. Amongst this total user base, the devices used are as follows:

After more than thirty months the app itself is still being used on a regular basis by several thousand users. It contains a wide range of functionality, although analysis of use shows that 82% of the time it is used for looking up timetable details whilst on the move.

sussex.ac.uk/mobile

The Jubilee building is the first building on campus to incorporate high-quality, standards-based videoconferencing within teaching space (Main Lecture theatre and Executive theatre). The facility was recently used by Rob Byrne from SPRU to run a conference between 5 sites, attended at this end by his Sussex postgraduate students.ITS and TLDU encourage colleagues to consider using the facility to add value to their Teaching and Learning in a number of ways, e.g. by inviting contributions from guest speakers, encouraging students to interact and collaborate with colleagues and peers at other HEIs or sharing a session with any distant audience equipped with a similar facility. Further details available online at:

sussex.ac.uk/its/videoconf“The event ran smoothly, not least because of the technical support we got in setting it up. It was also very well received by our Tyndall partners, who gave us very positive feedback. I would certainly use this facility again.”

- Rob Byrne

In briefEndNote for iPadiPad owners who are also users of popular reference management software EndNote may be interested to learn that the iOS version is available on special offer for only 69p until the end of July (after which it returns to its normal price).

Further information: endnote.com/ipadBuy on iTunes: j.mp/endNote

Falmer Sports Complex wi-fiThere is now wi-fi in the upstairs fitness room of Falmer Sports Complex after IT Services completed installation in May.

For more details about the wi-fi at Sussex, including details on how to connect, please see:

sussex.ac.uk/its/wifi

Wi-fi capacity doubledIT Services brought an additional firewall cluster for the wi-fi network into service during March 2013.

The new cluster doubles the number of IP addresses available, allowing up to 20,000 devices to be simultaneously connected to the wi-fi network. To date this is twice the maximum ever observed.

Connection setup pagesIT Services are working on a new web portal to assist you in connecting your own devices to the campus wi-fi (and residential wired) network.

The new portal will automatically register the MAC address of the device being set-up and will be simpler to use than the current facility.

It is hoped that it will be launched during the summer.

Green IT WeekIT Services held their third annual Green IT Week from 18 until 22 March 2013 to raise awareness of the initiatives at Sussex for reducing power consumption, recycling computer equipment and saving on resources through the use of smart technology.

Study Direct improvementsStudy Direct had a small makeover at the end of March; the team improved the presentation of the typeface, line spacing and layout to make text easier to read. They also made some enhancements to the appearance of forms to make life easier for tutors when creating new content.The team would be pleased to hear your views on the changes - please let them know what you think on:

studydirect@sussex.ac.uk

EndNote Web renamedThomson Reuters are doing away with the term EndNote Web, however it should be noted that the free service itself will remain available to all. The name EndNote now refers to the situation where the user has an installed copy of the desktop version (giving them access to an online account with 5GB of attachments), whereas EndNote Basic refers to the online only account which can be created and used by anyone free of charge.EndNote Basic is a cut down version in that it has only 2GB for attachments, only 21 styles and only 5 database connections.

iOS

Android

Web

Blackberry

2%

67%

13%

18%

Iain StinsonIain Stinson is retiring from his post as Director of IT Services at the University at the end of June.

Iain came to Sussex almost five years ago having previously been IT Services director at Durham, UMIST and Liverpool. He has worked with the academic sector all of his career, first as a systems programmer and then as a lecturer at Imperial College before moving into computer services as Deputy Director at Liverpool.

His background is in computer architecture and operating systems and he spent a six months working at IBM’s Thomas Watson Research Center on their virtual machine hypervisor system and its interactive user sub system.

Iain’s first experience of computing was as a sixth former at school in the North East programming a Ferranti Pegasus computer (a valve based system with 56 words of memory and a magnetic drum with 4000 words of storage): technology has indeed made many advances since those early times.

At Sussex Iain has provided leadership and support for the IT Service team to help them develop and deliver major improvements to the computing service for students and staff; Iain notes that there are still many areas for

improvement and that he is confident that the Sussex team will continue to develop and improve the services it provides to the University community.

In retirement Iain plans to spend much more time practicing the organ, doing battle with the garden (ably assisted by his wife Sue), travelling and enjoying time with his family; he also expects to continue

to do some work within the sector providing advice and support to universities and colleges.

Iain said “I’ve very much enjoyed working within the HE sector and been very fortunate to have had jobs I’ve found interesting exciting and fulfilling. I’ve worked with some very talented, wonderful and inspiring people both at my home institution and across the sector. I’ve loved working at Sussex: my colleagues in IT services and other colleagues in the University have been very supporting and helpful. The IT Services team have worked hard to deliver the services we wanted to provide to the University; the keep positive and cheerful even when things get a bit difficult. I will miss working with them and hope that we will continue our friendship. I wish them and the University all the best for the future.”

Commit to Get FitIT Services have entered a team consisting of 13 members into the Sussex Commit To Get Fit challenge. They have set themselves the group goals of:

• Completing the Boundary Walk• Comparing wii fit with Sussexsport body composition

test• Looking at online fitness webpages and apps• Organising a table tennis tournament• Taking part in a group spin class

Team members’ individual objectives include: doing something active; completing 3 activities per week; trying different classes from usual; trying fencing; giving-up smoking; understanding core strength and healthy food; learning a yoga headstand; entering the Boundary Run.

General enquiries and helpThe IT Service Desk in Shawcross is open from 9am - 7pm (term time) and 9am - 5.30pm (vacation), Monday to Friday, ext: 8090.

The ITS Help Point in the Library is open from 11am - 5pm, Monday to Friday during term time.

Help is available online at sussex.ac.uk/its/help or via email support@its.sussex.ac.uk.

Support for staff desktopsPlease request support in the normal way by using the web form at sussex.ac.uk/its/help/staff.

Help with Audio-Visual equipment in General Teaching SpaceWall-mounted instructions are available in every room, along with details of the AV helpline (8022).

To report faults on audio-visual equipment please email gts-faults@its.sussex.ac.uk.

VideoconferencingOur suite - available to staff for University business - is located in Arundel 1E. Enquiries to videoconf@its.sussex.ac.uk.Please send any contributions for the next issue of ITS News to Chris Limb at C.Limb@sussex.ac.uk by the beginning of September 2013. ITS News is normally published three times a year.New services, changes to existing services and announcements of any changes that cannot be publicised in advance in ITS News will be published in Latest News at: sussex.ac.uk/its/news (RSS: sussex.ac.uk/its/news/rss.xml), Twitter at: twitter.com/ITServices and Facebook at facebook.com/ITSSussex.