One of the best parts of the winter season is reflecting on the past year and thanking those who have made University IT successful. Our readers are a special part of our department and we extend our gratitude to you for your continued support.
Wishing you peace, happiness and prosperity throughout the new year!
Campus Computing: Faculty and IT
By EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research
Postsecondary instruction in 2017 often involves—and even depends upon—a staggering array of sophisticated technologies and complex systems. The ECAR Study of Faculty and Information Technology, 2017, is now available. Read more.
Network Connection: It's Not Paranoia...
By Philip Baczewski, executive director, University IT
A recent report I saw claims that over 70 percent of internet use worldwide happens on smartphones. By 2019, that figure could rise to 80 percent of all internet access. It goes without saying that, for many of us, a large portion of our lives is centered around our phones. It's our primary method of communication, with the telephone aspect of the device likely subsidiary to texting, email, or social media. Read more.
Research Matters: Linear Mixed Models Revisited
By Jonathan Starkweather, Research and Statistical Support, Research IT Services, UIT
There are a great many ways to do linear (and non-linear) mixed-effects modeling in R. The following article discusses the use of the lme4 package, because it has been developed thoroughly over time and provides reliable, easy to interpret output for mixed-effect models. Read more.
Help Desk FYI: Hardware Discounts
For gift-buying and -giving occasions, remember that discounts for UNT students and employees are available and a lot of software you will use is provided by the university at no additional cost. The University of North Texas has partnered with several manufacturers to provide discounted hardware. Read more.
Cartoon: Humor in IT
Sharon Huang
Taiwan is deservedly one of Asia’s most attractive destinations, with an exciting cityscape, great shopping, fantastic food
and an idyllic countryside, but Sharon
Huang has traveled more than
7,700 miles from her hometown...
Read more.
Dan J. Kim
Superheros who fight crime don't always have wall-climbing abilities, wear a mask
and fly through the air like a speeding bullet. Sometimes they have multiple academic degrees, wear Pantone 355 and 356 and plod through data in the halls of UNT's Business Leadership Building. Read more.
Is your info safe?
Cyber attacks happen "all the time" but the season of giving may be particularly ripe for thieves who want to hack into your online information. What can you do to protect your information? Read more.
News
UIT is on the move again
The University IT team will be packing in December and moving more of its offices to the General Academic Building during the second week of January. The UIT Help Desk, Microcomputer Maintenance Services, the Adaptive Computing and Learning Lab and the Computer-Based Testing Center will remain in Sage Hall. Karen Snyder, senior administrative coordinator, is overseeing the move. Read more.
UNT implements new technology for efficient cluster management
UNT is using groundbreaking technology from Bright Computing, a global leader in cluster and cloud infrastructure automation software, to further its research and to optimize efficiency for researchers working on groundbreaking discoveries in a variety of domains including material science, engineering, chemistry and physics. Read more.
The Section 508 refresh and what it means for higher education
By Martin LaGrow, Senior Academic Consultant, Ellucian
When originally drafted, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 mandated that "all electronic and information technology used by the federal government be accessible to people with disabilities." Over the course of time, both the scope and the specificity of Section 508 have changed through revisions and court interpretations. On Jan.18, 2017, the United States Access Board published its most recent final rule updating requirements for information and communication technology, ICT, covered by Section 508. These requirements are set to go into effect on Jan. 18, 2018. Read more.
NIST seeks comments on proposed cybersecurity framework update
The National Institute of Standards and Technology published its second draft of the proposed update to the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. Public comments on the latest draft of Cybersecurity Framework version 1.1 and the draft Roadmap are due to NIST by 11:59 p.m. on Jan.19, 2018. Read more.