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About NACS

Network News (USEnet) Discontinued

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The campus USEnet News server, news.service.uci.edu, will be discontinued after the end of the academic year on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

At present, the service has minimal use and is running with older software and hardware.  External sources of USEnet News have been launched in recent years that provide a variety of quality services.  Campus users still reading news from our server should evaluate and switch to one of those sources or your local ISP’s news feed.

In the past, some classes have created local feeds on the campus news service for discussions. We recommend the EEE Class Mail List system for those needs.

Secure Instant Messaging

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NACS has introduced a new component of our communication and collaboration services: Instant Messaging (IM).

This service allows real-time communication between two or more people.  You can type brief messages back and forth, ask and answer quick questions, share links, and transfer files. In addition to person-to-person communications, it can be used to host a group “chat room”, to assist help desk or reception activities, or for contact between faculty and students.

As this service is designed for and operated at UC Irvine, it has many advantages over commercial IM services:

  • UCInetID Identification — Your instant messaging ID is the same as your campus login: UCInetID@uci.edu. With the UCInetID system you always know with whom you’re speaking; no need to guess or verify whether an instant messaging handle actually belongs to your coworker.
  • Spam-Free — NACS Instant Messaging is not accessible by commercial instant messaging systems. In addition, you must authorize senders before they may send messages to you.
  • Security — All transmissions are encrypted using SSL/TLS.

NACS offers documentation for selected instant messaging clients for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

For additional information and connection instructions, please see http://www.nacs.uci.edu/computing/im/

UCInetIDs for Applicants

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Admissions site for applicants

NACS has expanded the availability of campus network identities this year for the first time to include applicants for admission to the university.

Since applicants now have the ability to officially authenticate to UCInet, units such as the Registrar, Admissions, Financial Aid, and Housing can offer online information and support to potential students without creating their own systems of identification, providing applicants more uniform and convenient access to these resources.

NACS issued over 64,000 UCInetIDs to applicants this year.

Saving Money through Strategic Sourcing

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In the current budgetary climate, faculty and staff should be aware of the opportunities for saving money on academic software and computer equipment that NACS coordinates.

NACS works with representatives from the other UC campuses to leverage the buying power of the multi-campus system to negotiate a variety of discounted software licensing contracts.  Among the research software for which UCI has licensing programs are the mathematics packages Matlab and Mathematica, the statistical packages SAS and SPSS, and GIS software from ESRI.  You can explore UCI’s software licensing agreements online.

UCI also participates in UC’s Microsoft Consolidated Campus Agreement (MCCA) wherein units can purchase annual licenses for Microsoft software such as Windows and Office for all computers owned by the unit.  NACS can help units determine whether this option fits their needs.  Information on this and other options for purchasing Microsoft software is available online.

Finally, UCI has a strategic sourcing agreement with KST Data which provides discounts on the purchase of new desktop and laptop computers.

NACS EG Staff Moving to MSTB (Building #415)

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The NACS staff housed in Engineering Gateway are moving to the Multipurpose Science and Technology Building (MSTB).  Effective Monday, February 2nd, staff will be located on the second floor of the MSTB building, number 415 on the campus map.   The NACS Response Center will be located in MSTB 242.

All telephone numbers will remain the same, as will our ZotCode.  Our mailing address for intra-campus mail will be:

Network and Academic Computing Services
Individual’s name
ZotCode 2225

The NACS instructional computing labs and data center located in Engineering Gateway, and the NACS staff located in University Research Park, will remain in their current locations.