A number of voicemail messages that were sent between Monday, April 21 and Tuesday, April 22 arrived late in users' voicemail boxes.

On Monday, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) attempted to send a broadcast message to all voicemail boxes on the Twin Cities campus. This process uncovered a system software error, corrupting the system database, and delaying the delivery of some messages until early April 23.

Not all voice message accounts in the system were affected by this problem. Subsequent testing after this event did not uncover the problem immediately. After OIT engineers discovered the issue, it was escalated to the highest levels of the vendor's technical support and senior administration. The vendor has worked to resolve the problem for the last two days and all last night.

The issue was resolved on Tuesday night around 9:00, and all remaining messages were delivered at that time. The vendor has identified the cause of this problem and is expected to provide a resolution on 4/23.

OIT apologizes for any inconvenience this has caused. We understand the importance of voice messaging for University business and the critical nature of on-time delivery of messages. If you have further questions, please call 1-HELP on Campus (612-301-4357).

Posted 03:07 PM | Permalink

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is cutting and moving fiber on the West Bank in order to accommodate the construction on the 35W Bridge project. Three cables were scheduled to be affected, but there have been some changes to the scope of this project.

The first cable, which connects the West Bank Office Building (WBOB) and the 511 building, was cut on April 25th at 5:00 PM so that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) could create a new water collection pond. There was a short outage for some services as a result of this cut (for example, BOREAS Net, MnSCU connections), but service was restored ahead of schedule, shortly after midnight.

The second two cables, which feed the WBOB data center and provide network connectivity and phone service to the entire building, were to be lowered five feet because of a change to a 35W off-ramp. This work was originally scheduled for May 2 by Flatiron (a construction contractor for the 35W Bridge project) because of the proximity of our conduit to the installation of a new sewer line. However, because the location for this sewer has now moved and does not conflict with our conduit, Flatiron and MnDOT have determined that OIT is no longer required to move its conduit. Please note that redundant circuits will still be installed in the month of May.

Although the likelihood of this cable becoming damaged as a result of this move was extremely slim, a cut to these cables could have affected a number of applications, including any application that relies on PeopleSoft (such as registration and student records). Therefore, OIT is taking preventative measures to ensure that any potential disaster is averted. The first step in this process was to install a new cable and entrance in WBOB that connects to the rest of the West Bank. After that, OIT began moving links over to this new cable from the at-risk cable in order to add redundancy. OIT has compiled an inventory of the specific links that need to be moved over, and is on track to provide redundancy to the at-risk cable.

Posted 10:06 AM | Permalink

From approximately on April 6th - April 8th, the University of Minnesota experienced intermittent and spotty network latency on the East Bank north of Washington Avenue.

OIT engineers have determined that the problems were caused by a multicast-related hardware malfunction. The symptoms were very slow network connectivity, and in most cases, it would horribly slow down the Windows PC by tying up system resources.

A printer on the East bank was sending out unsolicited service announcements via the Windows Plug and Play mechanism at a very high rate, effectively a flood. The owners of this printer have several of this variety and have engaged their vendor’s technical support to ultimately fix this hardware problem.

Because Plug and Play is a Windows facility, only Windows boxes were affected by this problem. Even though Windows boxes were vulnerable, people who had suitable software Firewalls (such as the Symantec Firewall) were unaffected. It appears at this time that the Windows Firewall that is native to XP Service Pack 2 was unable to stop it.

OIT is working on ways to mitigate this kind of problem in the future. This problem would have been limited by limiting how far Plug and Play were allowed to propagate.

If you have additional questions about this outage, please call (612) 301-4357 (1-HELP on campus).

Posted 04:22 PM | Permalink

Psychology professor Marsha Lovett of Carnegie Mellon University's Learning and Problem Solving Laboratory discusses understanding and improving students' skills for learning. U of M faculty, staff, and students may participate at no charge but must register in advance.

Posted 09:38 AM | Permalink

Hear Judy Perry, research manager of the MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program, discuss "augmented reality"—new strategies in location-based mobile learning games and simulation. U of M faculty, staff, and students may participate at no charge but must register in advance.

Posted 09:34 AM | Permalink

DMC/OIT faculty fellowships provide up to five instructors with $10,000 each to pursue topics of teaching and learning in emerging learning environments. Applicants must be Twin Cities faculty members or academic professionals with primary responsibility for teaching courses. For application instructions, a cover sheet, and more information, see: http://dmc.umn.edu/fellowship.

Posted 09:29 AM | Permalink

Join OIT Video Solutions coordinator Lance Cunningham and DMC/OIT consultants Scott Barnard, Keith Brown, and Kurtis Scaletta for our final spring semester "brown bag" session from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in 65 McNeal Hall (St. Paul). The topic will be Twin Cities campus video tools and services. Bring your colleagues; bring questions; bring a lunch. Beverages and dessert will be provided. For more information, call the DMC at (612) 625-5055, or send e-mail to dmc@umn.edu.

Posted 09:28 AM | Permalink

University faculty, staff, and students are welcome to visit, tour the facility, and see a demo during the Usability Lab Open House from 10:00am to 12:00pm in B26 Walter Library (East Bank). To find out about services, equipment, and user-centered design, go to http://1help.umn.edu/usability/, or contact Usability Services manager Alice de la Cova, (612) 624-9365 or a-dela@umn.edu.

Posted 09:27 AM | Permalink

For those attending MinneWebCon 2008, Usability Services manager Alice de la Cova invites you to stop by their information booth between 11:50am to 1:50pm. For more information on the conference, see: http://www.minnewebcon.umn.edu/. If you're not attending the conference at McNamara Alumni Center/Memorial Hall (East Bank), Usability Services is also holding an open house on April 28. Questions about Usability Services/OIT can be directed to Alice de la Cova, (612) 624-9365 or a-dela@umn.edu.

Posted 09:26 AM | Permalink

This exhibit, open to all interested members of the University community, will feature 11 projects funded by the 2007-08 Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) Grant Program: April 25, 1-3 p.m., President's Room Annex, 333 Coffman Memorial Union. Follow this link for more information about the projects.

Posted 08:51 AM | Permalink

Five faculty fellows from diverse disciplines address opportunities and obstacles students and teachers encounter as they interact in the changing spaces of the classroom. Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 12:00-1:30 p.m., 101 Walter Library, Minneapolis (East Bank). Attend in person or online, get related resources, access recordings, and subscribe to the podcast: click here for more information.

Posted 08:49 AM | Permalink

DMC/OIT consultants Deb Alexander and Scott Barnard discuss instructional uses of 3-D technologies—from immersive environments such as Second Life to teaching tools such as scientific visualization. Show up at one of the following locations at 3:00 p.m.: 402 Walter Library, 65 McNeal Hall, or teleport to Second Life: slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching%203/240/232/25. For more information, see: Educational Technologists Forum or send an e-mail to dmc@umn.edu.

Posted 08:47 AM | Permalink

Video Solutions, Office of Information Technology, represents a new initiative within OIT to consolidate its video resources and services into one unit. Lance Cunningham, Video Solutions coordinator, explains how future developments in video technologies and video support and services will enrich the University community. Read more.

Posted 08:46 AM | Permalink

University of Minnesota local telephone service is changing configuration on Friday, April 11th, as OIT engineers move local calling traffic from third-party vendor SBC Communications to AT&T, due to the acquisition of SBC Communications by AT&T. The service change includes the porting of 40,000 local telephone numbers, as well as T1 moves. The transition begins at 6:00pm, and could take up to 24 hours to complete. Phone service should not be interrupted.

Posted 01:07 PM | Permalink