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Panther Bytes Blog
Vincent Concel has one foot in the technical world and the other in the world of clinical research. As the director of research technology services for the School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, he supports the cutting-edge technology that is the backbone of modern medical research.
Feels like 6 years since your last summer trip. With the vaccine now available and business and travel restrictions being relaxed, many of us are finally prepping for a real vacation. A little thinking ahead of time can save you a lot of headaches later! While you’re waiting for your plans to launch, take a little time to consider these tech precautions for IT-safe travels.
The only thing standing between a critical computing system and a nefarious hacker is you, a cybersecurity guru. Without your unwavering dedication, the entire system can be breached. The damage can range from data and financial losses to the crippling of an entire U.S. industry. Will you keep us safe?
Last week, I extolled the virtues of Microsoft OneNote, an online note-taking app that can make you the Marie Kondo of online organization. This week, I’m digging deeper with OneNote Class Notebooks for use in teaching and learning.
Thanks to Microsoft OneNote, gone are the days of having random notepapers strewn across your desk, a collection of binders on your shelf, or lugging a notebook to meetings. A OneNote digital notebook saves and syncs all your notes as you work—and is available from any device using the web, desktop, or mobile app.
You’re an instructor whose course involves extensive hands-on work in a computing lab with specially configured machines. Suddenly, a pandemic hits and your class needs to be delivered remotely. How do you teach in a way that enables students to gain meaningful experience and truly learn to apply the concepts?
During the pandemic, social media use has exploded. From Facebook and Twitter, to TikTok and YouTube, it’s many people’s primary source of news, socializing, entertainment, or activism. It can be great! It’s also a goldmine for scammers. Phishing, social engineering, identity theft, and hacking have all moved into your feed.
In the past year, Pitt students have showed tremendous resilience. Now, the Class of 2021 is ready to don their caps and gowns! Between finding a job or preparing to start graduate school, to saying goodbye to college friends and moving into a new place, what happens to the tech services you were using probably isn’t your top concern.
When Jeremy Olin came to Pitt as a computer science major, it seemed only logical to get a job in the Student Computing Labs. It offered flexible hours, and it enabled him to gain experience working with customers with varied levels of computer skills. Olin enjoyed the work because it forced him outside of his computer science bubble.
Remember Zoom bombing? It was all over the news as the pandemic began. Unfortunately, it is still with us, particularly in these fraught times. When your meeting or class is small, it’s easy to keep an eye on who has connected and what they are doing. But in bigger meetings, there are more chances for people to cause havoc. So pay attention to your options when setting up a meeting.
When Max Novelli joined the Rehabilitation and Neural Engineering Lab (RNEL) as a programmer, RNEL’s data was stored on a local storage device sitting in a closet. He took on the role of server and system management to ensure the integrity of their critical research data.
Imagine yourself walking on a path through Schenley Park. The earth is soft beneath your feet. With each step you take, your mind relaxes a little more. In the distance, you see a panther. He is gentle, beckoning you toward him. “You will be become part of my pride, a Panther for life,” Roc tells you. Take a deep breath, as you imagine … graduation.
At Pitt, Microsoft Teams is the preferred videoconferencing solution for meetings, while Zoom is the recommended tool for remote teaching and learning. Each app has been making significant feature enhancements on a fairly regular basis to make them even better.
Following along during a videoconference isn’t always easy. It can be hard to hear people, especially if your audio quality isn’t particularly good. That’s where captioning can help. As of Friday, Feb. 12, Zoom has added a live transcript feature, in addition to generating audio transcripts for recorded meetings and webinars.
In September 2019, there was nearly always a student standing at the Pitt Print stations inside the labs, residence halls, and academic buildings. In offices all around the Pittsburgh campus, the sound of printers was the white noise of a busy department. Heat and the scent of toner emanated from the machines, while documents emerged at a remarkable rate.