PDFs in Webmail, wingding gook

Some (not all) pdf attachments to emails in webmail do not want to open. The files try to open as Word docs and they are wingding nonsense. If you have a patron trying to open a PDF and it defaults to Word and is garbled, try this workaround (Thanks Josh!):

Open webmail in Firefox and have the patron log in. Right click on the file and select “Save link as”. When saving the file, change the file type using the drop down from “Word doc” to “All Files”. Open the saved version of the file from the computer. It should open in Adobe Reader without any problems.

Problem also happened to Andrea at home so not restricted to pods.

podland tricks

Hi Everyone, Two new things I recently discovered in Podland.

1. Internet Explorer is having problems with attachments. Today a student worked on a word document in the pods and emailed a copy of the article to himself. He returned to work on this document and discover that IE had compressed(created a zip file) his file and that it could not be opened. I had him open his email in Mozilla and the file open without issue.

2. Some websites are not working with Internet Explorer 8. Blackboard is(was) one of these problem databases. There is also a marketing course website that has issues with IE 8. Sorry, but I can’t remember the course. To get around this, use the compatibility view button. I have attached a file that shows how this button looks.

Joshua Garris

UTS Computer Support over Thanksgiving

UTS Holiday Hours

University Technology Services will observe the University holiday hours during Thanksgiving and will be closed from Wednesday, November 26 at 5:00pm until Monday, December 1 at 8:00am. However, the computer room will operate on a slightly different schedule.

 

ON DUTY:
• Wednesday, November 26: 12am – 11:59pm
• Thursday, November 27: 12am – 8:30am
• Friday, November 28: 8:30am – Resume normal 24/7 schedule

  OFF DUTY:

• Thursday, November 27 at 8:30am – Friday, November 28 at 8:30am

Please contact the UTS Help Desk if there are problems with this schedule prior to the holidays. If there is a problem during “Off-Duty” hours, please contact the USC Police Department at 803-777-4215.

vww

In order to prepare for an upgrade to the University mainframe, University Technology Services has scheduled four four-hour testing periods (see below). During these testing periods, all mainframe systems will be unavailable.

 

Scheduled testing periods are as follows:

 

      *         Saturday, September 20, 8am – 12noon

      *         Sunday, September 21, 1pm – 5pm

      *         Saturday, September 27, 8am – 12noon

      *         Sunday, September 28, 1pm – 5pm

 

During the testing periods, all Mainframe supported systems will be unavailable, including but not limited to, the following:

 

      *         IMS

      *         CMS

      *         OnDemand

      *         Content Manager

      *         VIP

 

 

Submitted by:  Debra Turner  (VWW)

ERIC EBSCO and “Full text from ERIC”

Sharon showed me this trick thank goodness because it came in handy today!  Y’all may know this, but just in case . . . In the new EBSCO version, the “Full text from ERIC” not only takes over the search window, but you’ll be stuck there.

The solution:  click on the down arrow to the right of the arrow buttons and you’ll see past web pages and be able to get back.

Marilee

I’ll contact EBSCO about it.

U3 Smart Drives

Direct USC patrons with documents on a U3 smart drive to the Computer Lab to print out documents.  Lance can help them use the Macs to printout or email documents in Word.  Alma & Lance say the Macs are smart enough to handle this.

VWW

Lexis Nexis problems from pods

Couldn’t get into Lexis Nexis Academic from the pods (tried two different computers). It goes to a logon screen. All is fine from the Reference Desk. Called Alma who said the Medical Library has reported the same thing. She think it may be an IP issue and is working on resolving the problem.

Marilee 3:24 pm, Tuesday

MySource Assignment in BlackBoard

You may get some questions from students using the computers in pods dealing with an assignment using a program called MySource???. This program requires a larger screen resolution 1024 x 768. I changed the settings for my test subject this morning, but you shouldn’t be overly concerned with this. I contacted Lance in the Computer Lab and he said that their machines are set at the higher resolution. Feel free to send them down. If that doesn’t work just come find me.

–Josh

LN access

As of this morning LexisNexis access has been restored to all computers w/in the Library.  So, notify me if you continue to have difficulties accessing it.  I forgot that we have to give new URLs to Systems  to be added to the proxy server.  That has been done as of today and I hope to have remote access restored shortly.

Thanks
–Josh

LexisNexis IP Issue at Pods

Had problems with accessing LN in the pods (included the Computer Lab) on Saturday. All that I tried asked for login information. LN has been contacted and they’re working on the issue. I hope that it will be repaired this weekend, but not sure. I have also sent and email to Joe Pukl asking that he look into the matter on Monday.

–Josh