Earlier this month, six high school students entered entirely new worlds they had created using laptop computers and their imaginations. These juniors and seniors, who studied advanced programming, created their virtual environments in a unique computer class at the Indiana Academy, a residential high school for gifted students on the campus of Ball State University.

Their teacher, Susie Sechrest, taught the basics of virtual reality, including terminology, VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) programming language, and the various professional uses of virtual reality, and technologists from IU's Advanced Visualization Laboratory (AVL) provided guidance and expertise throughout the creative process.

To get things started, the students visited the AVL at the beginning of the spring semester and then had six weeks to program their projects in VRML on a personal computer in a 2D environment. At the end of the semester, AVL staff helped to convert the students' projects to special software that – with the aid of IU's state-of- the-art virtual reality theater -- allowed students to virtually step into the environments they had created.

Students, faculty, and staff at IUB and IUPUI who wirelessly connect their laptops and handheld devices to the Internet will find greater coverage and ease of use once IU’s new next-generation wireless hardware is installed.

Users of handheld devices, such as iPhones, will be able to move seamlessly among wireless access points without losing their connection, just as cell phone users can travel between cellular towers without losing calls. UITS will also greatly expand coverage areas, especially in the Bloomington residence halls.

IU Vice President for IT Brad Wheeler has announced that UITS will begin deploying a new, improved, and much larger wireless network on the two core campuses starting this summer.

Owners and sponsors of web sites hosted by UITS on IU's web servers (e.g. www.indiana.edu, www.iu.edu, www.iub.edu, www.iuk.edu, www.iupui.edu) recently received information from UITS about the transition to new hardware for IU's web accounts. That email outlined steps to take to verify that content they own on IU's web servers will work on the new web server.

The old servers (Veritas and Champion) are being replaced by a new server (Webserve). To make things simple for those who own or sponsor accounts, UITS staff have migrated their pages to the new environment and are asking account owners or sponsors to verify that their web pages are working correctly. Pages are updated nightly on the new hardware to match any changes made to the Veritas or Champion accounts in the mean time.

Security engineers in the University Information Security Office (UISO) at Indiana University were at a loss when a client described a network-connected multifunctional printer that was acting strangely - even printing spam email messages onto paper.

While investigating the printer problem, IU Lead Security Engineer Nate Johnson took a chance and tested the printer for vulnerability to an FTP Bounce Attack, a method used by malicious computer hackers to relay a network scan through another device, essentially covering their tracks online.

Johnson’s hunch paid off, and with the maneuver he discovered a security risk in a widely used family of Canon printers.

Spammers send out millions of phishing emails trying to trick people into divulging passwords, personal information, account numbers, and more.

To help distinguish between spam and official IU communications, keep in mind that UITS will never ask for your passphrase -- in person, over the phone or chat, or via email.

If an email causes you to worry about your IT accounts, or to doubt whether IU is the actual sender, contact the Support Center as soon as possible.

Podcasting is a dynamic way to distribute information and entertainment, and, with the launch of podcast.iu.edu, podcasting in the IU community has a new look and wider audiences.

For faculty, staff, and departments that want to take advantage of new media opportunities, there is a growing need for media and podcasting expertise. New podcasters and those who want to raise the quality level of their existing work take note: UITS Media Design and Production can develop your podcast from beginning to end, providing professional service that will meet your needs.