Welcome to campus for the Fall 2011 academic term. Here is list of several recent significant changes to the CAEN computing environment which may be of interest.

1. Printing in CAEN labs is now an ITS service
2. Color printing supplement added for Fall 2011 term only
3. More CAEN computers coming to Central Campus
4. Google Chrome available on CAEN Windows lab computers
5. New CAEN lab computers
6. New wireless SSID called "MWireless-CAEN"
7. CSE 1620 CAEN computer lab to get carpet before start of Fall term
8. Why New and Transfer Students may have trouble using their password for wireless
9. HELPFUL HINT: CAEN Status on Twitter
10. HELPFUL HINT: CAEN remote lab access provides convenience
11. HELPFUL HINT: Accessing a backup snapshot of your CAEN Windows home directory
12. HELPFUL HINT: Do not leave your laptop unattended

Printing in CAEN labs is now an ITS service

CAEN has transitioned all printing services in CAEN student computer labs to ITS printing services.  ITS printing services currently provides printing in ITS Sites computer labs as well as elsewhere on campus.  We understand this represents a significant change for students. Several factors have motivated this change. First, CAEN received numerous requests last year from students and student organizations who want to access their College of Engineering printing allocation from locations on Central Campus. Second, switching to ITS printing services allows CAEN to focus on other College IT projects, as well as conform with campus directions on better utilizing (and not duplicating) services already available from ITS. We realize there will be some drawbacks to this change, such as the color printing costs and how color impressions are charged. However, we feel that the flexibility students gain, and the overall campus direction toward centralized services, justify the change. Additional information about printing for engineering students can be found at www.engin.umich.edu/caen/printing.

The following important information will help explain how the printing changes work:

• College of Engineering students and other qualified students with CAEN Accounts will receive a supplemental printing allocation of 1100 black & white impressions each term, funded by the College of Engineering (via CAEN), in addition to the regular ITS printing allocation of 400 black & white impressions. Once the 400 black & white ITS allocation is used up, the 1100 black & white supplemental CAEN allocation will automatically kick in. Impressions printed beyond the combined black & white printing allocations will then be charged directly to the student's account by ITS at the current ITS printing rates.
• Students will now have the flexibility to use their printing allocation in all ITS printing locations, as well as CAEN student computer labs and the Duderstadt Center.
• Printing from personal computers to printers in CAEN labs will now be accomplished via the MPrint (http://mprint.umich.edu) service.
• When printing to black & white printers in CAEN labs, there will no longer be the need to swipe an Mcard to release a job; it will print immediately.
• Color printing will remain available in six CAEN labs, and will also be operated by ITS. Any impression printed or copied to one of these ITS color printers will be billed directly to your student account at the ITS color rate of $0.35 per impression, regardless of whether or not the impression contained color (www.itcs.umich.edu/sites/printing/color.php). You cannot utilize any part of your black & white printing allocation to cover the cost of color printing. IMPORTANT: See next section for an important update that affects color printing costs.
• All reports of printer jams, malfunctions, quality problems, etc., should be directed to the ITS Service Center (see http://its.umich.edu/help).

An overview of printing as well as current printing allocations for engineering students can be found at www.engin.umich.edu/caen/printing/overview.html.

Color printing supplement added for Fall 2011 term only

In response to recent student feedback regarding the transition to ITS printing in CAEN labs, the College of Engineering (via CAEN) will provide a temporary color printing supplement to College of Engineering students. A 50 impression color printing supplement will be available to all eligible student CAEN Account holders for the Fall 2011 term. If allocated funds for this color printing supplement are not depleted, another to-be-determined color printing supplement will be funded for the Winter 2012 term. There are no plans to provide any further color printing supplement beyond the Winter 2012 term.

More CAEN computers coming to Central Campus

Look for 12 more CAEN lab computers to arrive on Central Campus by the start of the Fall term. The computers will be located in the School of Education Building (SEB) ITS Sites computer lab. These new CAEN computers are the result of another cooperative arrangement with ITS Sites, where ITS provides the computers and CAEN provides its software image. A similar arrangement has been available since last Winter term in the Angell Hall ITS Sites computer lab. The CAEN computers in SEB are identified with special signage, so that you can distinguish them from the ITS Sites computers. The CAEN web page www.engin.umich.edu/caen/computers/search can help you locate all CAEN computers on campus, including this new lab location on central campus.

Google Chrome available on CAEN Windows lab computers

In response to student feedback, CAEN has installed the Google Chrome web browser on CAEN Windows lab computers. It will not be the default browser, and will have to be launched directly, but bookmark synchronization will function as expected. Google Chrome is listed on the CAEN software listing website at www.engin.umich.edu/caen/software/listing/GoogleChrome.

New CAEN lab computers

CAEN recently purchased new HP Z210 computers to deploy to the CAEN computer labs. These computers are considerably faster than the older ones they replaced. They feature the latest Intel Xeon E3-1230 "Sandy Bridge" processor, with 8 GB RAM, a 500 GB hard disk drive, and an NVIDIA Quadro 600 1.0GB graphics card. So far they have been deployed to CSE 1695 and the Duderstadt Center 3E, 3NE, 3S, and 3W. During Fall term break in October, the remaining computers will be deployed to EPB 224. For future reference, note that the Engineering Programs Building (EPB) is in the middle of an official name change to the Gorguze Family Laboratory (GFL).

New wireless SSID called "MWireless-CAEN"

The "MWireless-CAEN" wireless network provides a way for individuals who are familiar with the ITS "MWireless" network to use the same network configuration in College of Engineering buildings; the SSID is the only difference. Instructions for connecting to this network can be found on the ITS Setting Up MWireless page at www.itcom.itcs.umich.edu/wireless/connect.

CSE 1620 CAEN computer lab to get carpet before start of Fall term

In response to a specific request from the Engineering Undergraduate Student Advisory Board, the CSE 1620 CAEN computer lab will have carpet installed in time for the start of the Fall term. The change should add to the aesthetics and computing atmosphere to make the lab a more comfortable place to work.

Why New and Transfer Students may have trouble using their password for wireless

All U-M students have two passwords associated with their student computing accounts. One is used to authenticate to some campus IT services, such as when logging in to CAEN lab computers, and the other is used with other campus IT services, such as accessing campus wireless networks. Keeping your passwords synchronized helps to eliminate confusion as to which password is used for a particular service. If you are a new student or transfer student, your passwords are likely not synchronized and you may not be able to use some campus services like wireless as a result. To synchronize your passwords, visit https://accounts.itcs.umich.edu/password. More information on this topic is available at www.engin.umich.edu/caen/accounts/passwords.html.

HELPFUL HINT: CAEN Status on Twitter

CAEN established a Twitter feed named "UMcaenstatus" (www.twitter.com/UMcaenstatus) last year. The feed is used to keep followers better informed of planned and unplanned outages, including outage progress and resolution, and also to inform followers of service changes and additions. The Twitter feed is also visible on CAEN's main website. Don't forget that CAEN also maintains a more comprehensive service status website at www.engin.umich.edu/caen/status/outages.

HELPFUL HINT: CAEN remote lab access provides convenience

You might already be familiar with accessing CAEN computers via Virtual Sites. These remotely accessible CAEN lab computers have been around for a few years. They make the CAEN Lab Software Environment for Windows available to you on your personal computer. CAEN Virtual Sites computers are intended to supplement the physical CAEN lab environment, however some graphics-intensive and other software will not work as well. This resource should work from both on- and off-campus locations, and the client software to connect is readily available for Windows, Linux, and Mac computers. More information is available on the CAEN website at www.engin.umich.edu/caen/connect/virtualsites.html. When you connect, remember to select the CAEN Windows pool of remote computers as this is not the default.

HELPFUL HINT: Accessing a backup snapshot of your CAEN Windows Home Directory

Checkpoints are the first place to look to recover a file you may have deleted accidentally from your CAEN online file storage (i.e. your Windows Home Directory) within the last four weeks. A checkpoint is a point-in-time copy (which are online backup snapshots) of the files and directories at a particular location. Hourly, nightly, and weekly checkpoints are available, providing self-service recovery of recently changed or deleted files. If your files were deleted less than four weeks ago, you may be able to recover them immediately yourself by accessing a checkpoint. Instructions for recovering files by accessing a checkpoint can be found at the CAEN website www.engin.umich.edu/caen/storage/backups.

HELPFUL HINT: Do not leave your laptop unattended

Incidents of laptops and personal belongings being stolen occur each and every term. They generally take place when the owner leaves their personal belongings unattended. Do not leave your laptops, other electronics, and personal belongings unattended in a public location, even to take a quick trip to the restroom. Always bring valuables with you if you leave your work area, or use a locking security cable for laptops like the ones sold at U-M Computer Showcase, showcase.itcs.umich.edu/item.php?cat=64&id=34.

Feel free to send me any comments or suggestions you may have.

Mark Giuffrida
Director of CAEN
markg@umich.edu