This issue—

* Clean Access

* Wireless on Campus

* Pesky Caps Lock

* What's Your Favorite?

* Annenberg Study

* Your Privacy and Google

Clean Access

Network access for residential students has been vastly improved with the implementation of Cisco Clean Access. Clean Access helps students keep their computers up to date with software patches and anti virus definitions and is used at over 150 colleges and universities in the US.

For more information on Clean Access, go to:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6128/index.html

To read about how a few other schools have implemented Clean Access, visit:

Davidson College: Back To School Is A Breeze, With Clean Access In Place

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6128/products_case_study0900aecd801ec54b.shtml

Anderson University: Cisco Clean Access Surpasses Expectations at Anderson University

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6128/products_case_study0900aecd801ec542.shtml

Arizona State University: Building A Scalable Foundation For Network Security

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6128/products_case_study0900aecd8021a557.shtml

Wireless on Campus

Want to know where the campus hotspots are? Check out the link below and find out where to connect and what you need to make it happen.

http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/is/Wireless.html

Pesky Caps Lock

(WinXP) We've all done it. You're typing in your password for the third time, getting crankier by the minute because it's not working. It's the same password you've always used. What's the problem? Finally, you look down at the keyboard and notice you've accidently hit the Caps Lock key. If you've done this one too many times for comfort, set up an audible clue to let you know when it happens again.

- Go to the Accessibility Options Control Panel

- Select the Keyboard tab

- Check the box next to "Use ToggleKeys"

Now, whenever you turn on Caps Lock, Num Lock, or Scroll Lock, your computer will sound off with a high-pitched sound, reminiscent of a slightly raspy toy flute. You'll hear a somewhat lower-pitched sound when toggling the key off.

What's Your Favorite?

(Mac) Those of you who are using Apple's latest version of OS X (a.k.a. Tiger) have no doubt noticed the Dashboard icon on the Dock. Dashboard is where all the Widgets live. If you haven't taken the time to explore these mini-apps, you might want to take a closer look. While some Widgets admittedly are of dubious use (unless, you honestly need that cartoon hula girl on your desktop), others have definite value. Need the number of a local business? Try the Phone book Widget. Want to quickly check a definition? Use the Dictionary Widget. Use the right widget and you can check weather conditions anywhere in the world, convert temperatures, weights, or measures, track airline flights, look up vanadium on the periodic table of elements, and more. For information about what widgets can do and where to download new ones, go to:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/dashboard/ and,

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/

Annenberg Study

The Annenberg Public Policy Center released a study earlier this summer titled "Annenberg Study Shows Americans Vulnerable To Exploitation in the Online and Offline Marketplace". The questions asked and the answers received may surprise you. Sixty-six percent of the respondents could not name even 1 of the 3 major credit reporting agencies. Can you?

To test yourself, go to the following website. Under the Test Your Knowledge heading, click the link for "Seventeen Facts American Shopper Need to Know - But Don't" to download a pdf version of the survey. There's also a link to obtain a pdf version of the final report.

http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/

Your Privacy and Google

This Associated Press article raises concerns about how much Google, admirable company that it is, actually knows about us. Google's database retains an enormous amount of data, gathered in numerous ways, making some privacy advocates fear it is "prime target". And those doing the targeting may not be who you think.

Read the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/07/18/google.privacy.ap/index.html

Do you have comments, or questions, about something you've read here? Suggestions for future topics? Let us hear from you! Send your thoughts to technotes@mcdaniel.edu .

This e-letter is brought to you by the Office of Information Technology at McDaniel College .