Sociology Computing Orientation

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SociologyComputingOrientation
Welcome! Please have a seat, giving those have
not yetlogged on to our computers the
opportunity to sit at one. http//sociology.osu.
edu/help/computing/orientation_05.ppt
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Goals

• discuss the purpose of department computing
  resources
• briefly and generally describe what we offer
• touch on computing policies
• help you get started
• all with an emphasis on brevity and generality.

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Who are we?(personally)

• Four full-time staff
• John Crawford, crawford.6
• Matt Moffitt, moffitt.10
• Rob Feldmann, feldmann.16
• Colin Odden, odden.2
• Labsters
• More about Labsters soon.

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What do we do?

• Support department computing
• Set up and maintain..
• Fix things
• Research new resources and methods
• Educate
• For whom?
• Sociology, CJRC, IPR
• Faculty, staff, students

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Are we the only ones doing this?

• Nope, OSUs Office of Information Technology does
  a lot of the same.
• Procure, set up and maintain..
• Fix things
• Research new resources and methods
• Educate

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So, Whynot OIT?
Note OIT (Office of Information Technology) and
OSU are used interchangeably.

• OIT supports computing, so why are we here?
• Physical proximity were close
• Sociology-oriented support
• (one size does not fit all)
• Common culture

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OIT/OSU vs SOC

• Where do we fit in relation to OSU?
• Our computers share the OSU network backbone
• We are the department-level contacts for some
  OSU-computing issues.
• Our equipment is University-owned.
• We can help you navigate some OSU computing
  issues (but not all).

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Who are Labsters?

• Labster is a colloquialism (and term of
  endearment) for graduate and undergraduate
  student employees of the Lab
• report to Colin Odden
• front line of support
• Labsters know how to route requests for
  assistance
• Also work on development projects
• Tags indicate on-duty
• Person at desk is considered primary consultant
• Anyone on duty should be accessible

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enough about us
Resources hardware,software, documentation, Cons
umables such aspaper, ink and toner, time, etc.

• You are entitled to
• Use our software, hardware and other resources
• Receive support, consultation and training
• Share information
• You are not entitled to
• Violate University or department policies
• Break the law
• Otherwise abuse our resources
• Make it difficult for others to work

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Food, Drink,Conversing, Phones, Leaving

• Food and drink are OK
• crumbs and spills ruin our (your) equipment
• green table is a traditional and OK place
• Phones are OK
• please put your ringer on vibrate
• take conversations out in the hallway
• This is not a library
• Please keep conversations as quiet as possible,
  or take them out of the Lab if necessary.
• Feel free to leave for 10-15 minutes
• For anything longer, log out and pack up.

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When you want / need help

• Just ask.
• Ask a Labster first
• Labsters can answer common (and some uncommon)
  questions, perform tasks that keep computers
  running smoothly, and can route more esoteric
  needs to the appropriate full-time staff member.
• Self-serve methods may be faster
• Online documentation
• Paper manuals
• Web searches
• http//8help.osu.edu , http//sociology.osu.edu/he
  lp

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Report problemswhen you find them

• We expect our resources to be generally available
  and it is our responsibility to make and keep
  them functional.
• It is your responsibility to report problems when
  you find them by
• Email the labsters list
• Phone SRL phone 2-1294
• To a labster, in person.

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What to report?

• Where and when
• Your physical location (SRL, Raney, building
  office), and computer ID
• As close to the exact time as possible.
• Emailing from the afflicted computer gives us
  clues.
• What happened?
• Sometimes obvious, sometimes not.
• What were you doing when the problem occurred?
• What were the symptoms?
• Error messages are very helpful, but not always
  diagnostic
• Is this the first time youve seen the problem?

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Accounts

• Sociology
• ini, your initials or close
• Only department resources know about it
• OIT
• lastname.
• Only OSU / OIT resources know about it.

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Passwords

• Start thinking about a good password
• Whats a good password?
• Not easily guessed
• Not so hard that you have to write it down

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Examples of good passwords

• 54321
• abc123
• your best friends name
• your favorite color
• CSFQbzkJMzaESVZa6ZMLEGMD/jDbzyjwxQUkP7K7Bufcr3cs7S
  an8UV7osWbxTUN
• OK, not really those are awful passwords.

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Good Passwords(really!)
http//www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-002.html

• Not based on personal information.
• Not a dictionary word(s) for any language.
• Includes both letters, numbers and special
  characters.
• Uses both UPPERCASE and lowercase letters.
• Not the same password for every account / system.
• Not so obscure / difficult that you have to write
  it down.

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(more about) Good passwords

• Dont trust a computer to store your password.
• e.g. web forms, password managers, etc.
• Pay close attention to where you type it.
• Phishing etc.
• Do not share your password with anyone.
• Ask the SRL / OIT if you need access.
• Change your password often.
• Today!

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Where can you logon to / use a computer?

• With your Sociology account
• Sociology Research Lab PCs
• Department office PCs
• With your OIT account
• OIT public labs
• The SILs a little different

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Printing

• SRL LaserA, LaserB, Phaser8200 for small jobs,
  big jobs and color (respectively).
• Raney Raney LaserJet (for all jobs)
• Locally-connected printers in offices, etc.
• Adobe PDF

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Hands on, Feet wet

• Logging on
• Ctrl-Alt-Del means press the Ctrl, Alt and
  Delete keys together
• Make sure your logon window looks like this
• Click OK after entering your username and
  password
• Whats happening?
• Your profile is copied from a server to the
  computer youre using.
• User settings are applied
• Your desktop is loaded
• Some programs start.

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Applications

• All applications are accessible through the
  Windows Start Menu ( )

• All department computers have a basic allocation
  of software, including Office applications,
  some statistical programs, a web browser, email
  client and other stuff.
• Some computers have software that others dont,
  as a result of computing power, budget and other
  factors.
• The Start Menu is the place to find applications,
  as well as some department-relevant documents.

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Applications (more detailed)

• Software supported includes but is not limited
  to
• Office
• Microsoft Office (access, excel, word,
  powerpoint)
• Wordperfect
• Email
• Eudora
• WWW
• Internet Explorer for browsing
• Mozilla / NVU for editing
• Analysis
• Amos, Eviews, HLM, Limdep, LISREL, N6, NVivo,
  SAS, SPSS, STATA
• Bibliographic
• Procite

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Drives

• Local
• The hard drive(s) and floppy, CD, DVD, and other
  storage media contained within or directly
  plugged into your computer
• Network
• The virtual drives that reside on other
  computers (servers) and are only accessed through
  the network.

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Network Drives

• i The department web site
• m Commonly used datasets
• s shared space
• s\g0\ini\ is your S drive
• x private space
• Others w/ specialized functions

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Changing your password

• Now that youve had time to think about a good
  password,
• While logged on, press Ctrl-Alt-Del
• In the panel that appears, choose Change
  Password
• Type your old password
• Type a new password
• Type the new password again

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On the Virtue of Logging Out

• Assumption that logged in using the computer
• Socially healthy assumption.
• Doesnt require intervention
• Assumption that logged in doesnt mean anything
  in particular
• Short absences might mean loss of computer and /
  or unsaved work.
• We prefer assumption 1
• And hope that you do, too.

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Other Resources(that we provide)

• Equipment and book loan
• http//www.sociology.ohio-state.edu/soclab/loan.ph
  p
• Dataset access
• Presentation kits
• Mobile lab
• WWW space

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Theres more!

• but we probably dont have time to discuss it in
  depth.
• Fortunately, well see you again soon.
• You can direct questions to our labsters list
• labsters_at_lists.sociology.ohio-state.edu
• Accessible through Eudoras Address Book

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Questions?

• Some answers http//sociology.osu.edu/soclab and
  http//sociology.osu.edu/help

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Thank you.