Staff Profile



Martin Dart works in the Production Control Group (PCG). He joined Stanford in 1984 and IT Services in 2004.

 

How would you describe your current job responsibilities?

In the PCG our first priority is Incident Management, so we're the cheerful voice that calls you at 3 a.m. when something goes down. We provide helpdesk support for phones, cable TV, DSL, card readers etc..., and emergency Data Center response..

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?

That's easy, the people I work with.

What did you do before you came to Stanford?

I worked as a job contractor, math/science tutor, part of a landscaping crew, and for the State Controller's office, eradicating the Medfly in the 80's.

What do you like to do when you're not at work?

I love hiking, working on my house, and sitting in a coffee shop working crossword puzzles with my wife.

What is your favorite movie, book, song?

Movie is easy, To Kill a Mockingbird...it makes me cry every time. My favorite book is Collapse by Jared Diamond.

Anything else that you'd like to share with us?

Let's see, I grew up on a farm in Nebraska so of course I'm a huge Cornhusker fan. I'm still driving the first car I ever bought. Also, I'm flexible by nature, basically both a dog person and a cat person.

Staff Happenings

Comings and Goings

The following people have joined IT Services. Welcome!

- Anthony Blake Gentner (Installation and Maintenance)

The following people have left Information Technology Services. Please contact their manager if you need to follow up on any open items.

- Norman Kawaguchi (Karen Zack)

its in bits welcomes more detailed employee news submissions from all staff. Please submit to itsinbits-submissions@lists.stanford.edu

Tech Briefings

Tech Briefings

Fridays
2:00–3:30 p.m.

Turing Auditorium

Friday, July 18

Windows Workstation Encryption. Sean Riordan.

Friday, July 25

Stanford Integrated Email and Calendar. Ammy Hill, IT Services, will give an update of the technology behind the Stanford Integrated Email & Calendar. Come see what the new system looks like right out of the box, and bring your questions.

Tech Express

Once a month
12:00–1:00 p.m.

Turing Auditorium

Thursday, July 17

Stanford Integrated Email and Calendar—First Look. Ammy Hill, IT Services, will give a quick demo geared toward day-to-day use of the new Stanford Email and Calendar. There will be a quick tour of the system with plenty of time for questions and answers.

Check the Tech Briefings home page for future sessions and to subscribe to the mailing list. Also see the Tech Express home page for information on upcoming presentations.

Technology Training Courses

Tech Training Courses

IT Professional Development:

Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.5 (Leopard 101). Mon, Aug 11–Wed, Aug 13, 9:00-4:00 each day, $1,800.

The full listing of Current Courses is available on the Tech Training web site.

Upcoming Tech Training classes of interest to IT Services staff:

InDesign Level 1. Tue, July 22, 9:00–4:00, $325.

Thunderbird Mail. Tues, July 22, 1:304:30, FREE.

Photoshop Level 1. Wed, July 23, 9:00–4:00, $325.

Excel 2007 Pivot Tables. Wed, July 23, 9:00-4:00, $325.

Adobe Acrobat: The Basics of Using the Full Version. Wed, July 23, 1:30–4:30, $195.

Project 2007 Level 1. Thurs, July 24, 9:00–4:00, $325.

Web Design Level 2: Making Your Website Work. Thurs, July 24, 1:30–4:30, $195.

Excel 2007 Getting Started with Macros. Fri, July 25, 9:00–4:00, $325.

PowerPoint 2007 Level 1. Mon, July 28, 9:00–4:00, $325.

PHP Workshop (Two-Day Class). Mon, July 28 & Tues, July 29,
9:00–4:00 (both days), $525.

Access 2007 Level 2. Tues, July 29, 9:00–4:00, $325.

Filemaker Pro Level 2. Wed, July 30, 9:00–4:00, $325.

Excel 2007 Level 3.Thurs, July 31, 9:00–4:00, $325.

Photoshop Lite. Thurs, July 31, 1:30–4:30, $195.

Sign up at http://axess.stanford.edu.

Classes with low enrollment may be cancelled one week in advance. More information on courses, registration, and training is available at the Technology Training Services site.

- Nancy Baumann
Technology Training Services

IT Employment Opportunities

There were no new job postings for IT Services this week.

To view the complete listings or to apply for a position, visit the StanfordJobs web site at: jobs.stanford.edu.

There are other open Information Technology positions at Stanford. To see what other opportunities exist on campus, link to the full list of all open IT positions at Stanford.

Quote of the Week

“In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.”

- Paul Harvey

News

A Note From Bill...

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Certainly, I understand that when inspired by this statement, Spiderman wasn’t thinking about computing, but recent events cause me to associate this with workstation and data security. Because of the great computing power with which Stanford entrusts us, we have great responsibility as an organization and as individuals. However, before I set any further context, let me say that if I can deliver only one message in this article, I want it to be: protect Stanford’s information assets—physically secure your computing devices when not in your possession, remove any Restricted Data from those devices, and store Confidential Data (sometimes referred to as Sensitive Data) securely.

It’s difficult to miss the many recent news reports about the theft of data from government agencies, businesses, and academic institutions. As I think most of us are aware, this has, unfortunately, affected Stanford too. While thefts of computing devices represent a monetary loss, the far greater concern is the potential misuse of data stored on those devices. This is a significant risk to the University and individuals when that data includes Restricted or Confidential Data.

Recently, Randy Livingston convened an Information Security Task Force to discuss data security issues and determine policy and best practices for minimizing risk. Topics of discussions include what data should be classified as restricted and confidential, what checks and balances might be implemented to prevent individuals from inappropriately downloading such information to computing devices, and how to better inform the Stanford community of policies and tools for protecting University data. I’ll be sure to update you on the outcomes of these discussions, particularly any changes in related policies.

In the meantime, I’ve asked Shirley Hodges and Computing Resource Consulting (CRC) to immediately begin working with IT Services staff to ensure we have done our due diligence in reducing the possibility of data theft from our computing devices. CRC staff is prepared to help you remove Restricted or Confidential Data from your computing devices and, where appropriate, use existing tools to store Confidential Data in a secure location and/or format (i.e., encrypted). You should also take action to physically secure your computing devices (e.g., laptop cables/locks) whenever they are not with you. (Particularly, do not leave your laptop in an unattended vehicle!) I ask that you work closely with your CRC representative if you have any related questions or concerns, but please remember that it continues to be your responsibility to comply with Stanford data protection policies on the computing devices you use.

As the leader of the University’s central IT unit, I feel a special obligation to ensure that our organization serves as a role model for the rest of the University in protecting Stanford’s computing resources and data. As an organization, we have made great strides through recent computing security projects to help do that, and I ask that you join me in taking this next vital step.

- Bill Clebsch
IT Services

IT Services Sundial Conversion Postponed

We've encountered some unexpected issues with the conversion of data from Sundial to Stanford Calendar. We’re working closely with Zimbra to resolve the problem, but this will cause a delay in our calendar migration of IT Services Sundial data, which was originally scheduled for this coming weekend. We will notify everyone as soon as we've identified a new date for the IT Services calendar migration. The remaining Sundial to Stanford Calendar training sessions will be rescheduled to coincide with the new migration date. We hope this interim delay will result in an easier transition for IT Services staff.

- Ammy Hill
Campus Readiness

Workgroup Integration

MaIS's Workgroup Manager allows Stanford Community members to create and maintain groups of people (and by extension, SUNetIDs). Although these groups convey no privileges in and of themselves, they were expressed in the directory servers and could be used by LDAP-aware systems to authorize users' access to online resources. IT Services configured WebAuth and Shibboleth to take advantage of Workgroups to restrict access to web pages.

The problem was that large chunks of Stanford's computing infrastructure couldn't take advantage of workgroups, and used their own internal authorization infrastructures instead. This meant that to maintain a group used by a variety of services, group owners would have to update membership in multiple places (a workgroup, an AFS group, a mailing list, etc.).

As part of the Workgroup and Organization Provisioning project, IT Services has rolled out a mechanism to use workgroups to populate groups into other services. This allows group owners to maintain membership and group policy in one place (Workgroup Manager), and have the group membership information kept up to date in other systems. As part of the project, we have implemented three integrations: AFS group memberships (also known as PTS groups), mailing list membership, and synchronization with Active Directory Authorization Groups.

At tools.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/workgroup-admin, workgroup owners have the option to create integrations with these services on a per-workgroup basis. The architecture of this system is modular, so additional integrations can be created for other services fairly easily. Please contact Unix Systems if your system could benefit from integration with the Workgroup system. Future plans include improved support for Guest Accounts.

The Workgroup and Organization project spanned both Administrative Systems and IT Services, and thanks go out to Jon Robertson, who was responsible for the implementation, as well as project team members Russ Allbery, Jon Pilat, Ross Wilper, Xinlei Qiu, Kristen Murray, Natalie Wang, and Michael Dave.

- Jon Pilat
Computing Services

IT Services Knits for Kids

For some reason, I start humming carols in July. This year, there’s a good reason for it. For the second year, knitters and crocheters in the Operator Services Center will be knitting and crocheting gifts for the kids at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. We’re inviting any interested IT Services member to join us. The projects are easy, and the results are very satisfying.

We make tiny blankets with coordinating caps for premature infants, using very soft yarns. The caps are sized to fit your fist. The blankets are about 12” to 14” square. Amazing. We also make a variety of knit caps for kids who are being treated for cancer. These can go to children or teens.

When projects are completed, we hand launder them in mild, allergen-free detergent and pack them in ziplock bags with a note signed by the individual who make the item(s). Children and/or parents have the opportunity to select the items of their liking from the stock that we (and other groups and individuals) provide to Packard.

To make the projects more easily doable, we’re assembling kits with yarn and instructions. Yarn and some needles have been donated by Cindi Cabal, Rodney Carter, Christine Moe, and Carolyn Kane. At present, we have plenty of yarn. Our supply of needles is limited, so some volunteer needleworkers may have to supply their own knitting needles or crochet hooks.

If you’d like to participate in this effort, contact Carolyn Kane or stop by to visit and discuss the plans. You can do it, just one stitch at a time. You don't have to be expert, just willing.

- Carolyn Kane
Client Support

About its in bits

A regular summary of IT business, news about personnel, and pointers to other information of interest to IT Services staff. Coordinated, compiled, and published by the Communication Strategy and Standards Team. its in bits is published on the first and third Wednesday of the month.

Submissions are due by Noon on the Friday before the scheduled issue, to itsinbits-submissions@lists.stanford.edu for consideration. its in bits is distributed via email to its-all-staff@lists.stanford.edu and the subscription list itsinbits-subscribers@lists.stanford.edu People outside of IT Services can self-subscribe via mailman.

The next its in bits will be published on Wednesday, August 6, 2008.