CIS Hosts 27 Community College Teachers for Hands-On Curriculum Training

For the second year, the Lab's Computing Infrastructure Support Department and the Work Force Diversity Office invited local community college teachers to attend a series of presentations and hands-on training sessions in key areas of computing.
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New Features Now Available Through Purchasing Agreement for Micron Computers

The Computing Infrastructure Support (CIS) Department has revised the Basic Ordering Agreement for buying Micron PCs, streamlining the number of models available but adding some popular options, including flat-panel displays and DVD drive.
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Those New Copiers May Also Be Printers, Scanners and Fax Machines

New Kyocera copying machines are popping up around the Lab, the result of a new copier contract with a new vendor, MBA of California. The equipment also provides network printing, scanning, and faxing capabilities (on selected models). This has led to some confusion on how these devices will interact with the Lab's computing infrastructure.
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LBLnet Upgrading Infrastructure for Faster Network Connectivity

Each year at the Lab, the amount of data sent on local computer networks doubles. This pattern has held since the first piece of network cable was installed here 15 years ago. This dramatic growth must be taken into consideration when planning how to meet future Local Area Network (LAN) needs.
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Tip of the Month: New Versions of Downloadable Software Now Clearly Labeled

Thanks to a suggestion from a Computing News reader, the Lab's Computing Infrastructure Support Department is now making it easier to pick out the latest versions of downloadable software from the downloads Web page. A "New" tag has been appended to the end of the title to indicate it's the latest version.

Status Check: New Version of Netscape Browser

The Lab-standard Web browser, Netscape Navigator v. 4.75 is getting a bit long in the tooth. Netscape currently has a version 7 (called release candidate 1) under development. Although this version fixes many of the bugs contained in version 6 (the bugs were bad enough to keep the Lab from adopting 6 as the new standard), there is still one big problem. A bug in v.7 causes problems with the Netscape email client, resulting in the occasional deleting of local mail folders used to store email on your computer. If and when this significant bug is exterminated, v.7 will be further tested for possible adoption as the standard Lab version. Watch Computing News for more information.

PHP Author Rasmus Lerdorf to Speak at August 6 Meeting of Linux Users Group

On August 6th, the LBNL Linux Users Group will have as a guest speaker Rasmus Lerdorf, the original author of the PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) Web scripting language (one of the most widely used and powerful Web programming languages), will be the featured speaker at the next meeting of the Lab's Linux Users Group, to be held at noon Tuesday, August 6, in Perseverance Hall. Lerdorf, who is also a member of the core Apache Web server development team, will be talking primarily about PHP, past, present and future and give a description of what PHP is for the newbies.

All interested employees are invited to attend, but meeting organizers ask that your RSVP through the Linux Users Group Web site.

This Month's Virus Update: Klez Virus Continues to Dominate Virus Attacks

Few surprises concerning the number and type of viruses caught by LBNL's virus wall occurred last month. Once again, the destructive Klez.H virus led all others with 7,129 copies of it being detected and destroyed. Klez.F came in second with 135 instances. On same days, Klez-infected messages constitute up to 95 percent of all viruses intercepted at the Lab.
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SysAdmins - Do You See Auto Negotiation (AN) as Convenient or Confounding?

Most folks who have worked with Fast Ethernet (IEEE 803.3u) have either loved or hated a feature of the IEEE standard known as Auto Negotiation (AN). AN is used when two network elements, such as a computer and a switch, need to try to figure out the speed and duplex capability of each end of the link. Since AN was standardized in 1995, there have been a number of complaints from the user community regarding failures to properly negotiate speed and duplex between link partners. Many users actually disable the feature as a work-around to the perceived failures.
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