- The two instructional computing labs operated by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) in the Engineering Gateway building will permanently close at 5 PM on June 15th to accommodate data center expansion.
- UCCSC, the UC system-wide computing support conference will be held August 5-7 at UC Berkeley. Berkeley is currently soliciting presentations for the conference and registration is now open.
- OIT is now providing computing support to the UCI research station at Anza Borrego.
- OIT conducted a test of the ZotAlert system on Thursday, May 17. ZotAlert is part of the campus emergency communications program. More information and instructions to enroll can be found online.
UCI Google Now Offers Google Drive
OIT has enabled the Google Drive service as part of UCI Google Apps.
Google Drive is an optional extension to Google Docs. Google Docs allows on-line (“cloud”) creation, storage, sharing, and collaborative editing of documents through your web browser. Google Drive adds the ability for files and folders on your computer to be backed up “in the cloud,” shared with others, and synchronized/copied on other computers and devices you own.
Here are some of the changes you will experience if you choose to enable Google Drive:
New View
Google Drive now presents your collections as folders, and offers a new “grid” view where your documents appear as thumbprints. You can use your account settings to return to the classic Google Docs view when needed.
More Document Types
Google Drive allows direct display of a wider range of file types, including video, Adobe Photoshop, and many others.
Better Search
Google Drive allows more flexible searches of the content of your documents, including finding text in PDF files.
File History
Google Drive saves all versions of an edited document for up to 30 days, and allows you to designate any version to be kept permanently
Google Drive App
If you wish, you can download and install a Google Drive app onto any supported computer or smart phone. This will allow you to conveniently access the files in your Google Drive account, with a synchronized view from any computer or device. The PC app, for example, creates a virtual folder allowing Windows Explorer functionality, including drag-and-drop, for your Google Drive files.
Google Drive offers 5Gb of free file storage. Native Google Docs documents (created and stored in the cloud) do not count as part of this limit, which applies only to files from your computer which you backup and share via Google Drive.
At present, Google Drive supports PC, Mac, and Android devices, with support for iPhone and iPad coming soon.
If you want to try Google Drive, you can follow the prompts from your UCI Google Docs page, or call the OIT Help Desk for assistance.
In Brief April 2012
- New students who would previously have been issued Webmail accounts are now being issued UCI Google accounts instead.
- OIT plans to discontinue the LifeLine Modem Service on May 1, 2012.
- Faculty and staff continue to receive ever-more sophisticated “phishing” messages. Keeping software such as your OS, Flash, and Acrobat up to date is essential.
In Brief February 2012
- Microsoft has announced the end of support for Windows XP and Office 2003 as of April 8, 2014. Many campus systems are already migrating to Windows 7 and Office 2010.
- Disk quotas for Webmail have been increased. Faculty and staff now have 8Gb (previously 4Gb) of space.
- The OIT Information Security team is working on a redesign of the security web pages. We are interested in getting feedback from various campus groups to ensure our redesign is effective. You are invited to participate in a survey.
Jeff Martin, New Manager for OIT’s Windows Services Group
Jeff Martin has recently joined OIT to lead its Windows Services Group (WSG). His responsibilities include facilitating the consolidation and integration of campus Windows infrastructure, services, and Windows system administrators into the centralized campus Windows enterprise managed by OIT.
Jeff comes to UCI from UC Riverside, where he served for ten years, most recently as Operations Manager for Financial and Business Operations. This was a unit formed in a consolidation process analogous to OIT’s current effort to provide the most efficient use of resources and more consistent IT support to faculty, staff, and students.
Jeff wasn’t actually looking to move to UCI, but was intrigued by the WSG manager job when he saw it posted on a UC mailing list. He decided to come to UCI because he was inspired by the consolidation vision, and the opportunities that became apparent during the interview process.
When not planning Windows services improvements, Jeff enjoys cars and photography. He said UCI provides a wonderful variety of architectural styles for his camera.
The Windows Services Group was created in 2009 to help bring consistency, security, and reliability to a diverse array of Windows installations around campus. Jeff’s immediate responsibilities will be to continue to bring this vision into being, but he says he plans to be at UCI for a long time. He looks forward to helping OIT provide managed, integrated, effective information technology systems and services to faculty, staff, and students. Jeff can be reached at 824-0977 or jeffrym@uci.edu .