The week started off a bit rough with a very short power outage Monday morning. For many, it was bearly noticeable, but it had some repercussions. The worst effects were that the AMS systems had to be reset along some of the wireless routers. But I think everything went smoothly after that.
Here’s what else occurred here this week:
Troubleshooting ‘black screen’ transmission – On Monday Feb.2 there was a seminar presentation that originated from Stockwell going out to Pullman and Island County. Pullman started out seeing only a black screen but eventually saw the presentation. Island County wasn’t so lucky. They had a black screen the entire time. Both sites had full audio, so the problem wasn’t a bridging issue. So this past Tuesday we tried to recreate the problem. All three sites (TFREC, Island Co., and Pullman) were connected through the AMS testing room with me transmitting a powerpoint presentation on a Windows laptop. They had me play around with the settings: presenter view on/off, and the monitor settings switching between “duplicate” and” extended”. We also repeated all of this on a Mac laptop. Below are the final recommendations that resulted from our tests.
If presenters want to use “Presenter View” when using PowerPoint the computer needs to have “Extend” view enabled instead of “Duplicate”. If it is not set to Extend when using “Presenter View” then the other sites will probably see a black screen instead of the content. If a presenter prefers to not use Presenter View then leaving the computer in “Duplicate” mode is fine.
Instructions for changing the computer’s display settings:
For presenters using PC’s:
- Press the Windows Start button (lower left corner of keyboard) and the letter “P”.
- Select “Extend” and press enter on the keyboard.
- Start PowerPoint and click on the “Slide Show” tab at the top.
- Select “Automatic” for “Monitor” and check the box “Use Presenter View”.
For presenters using Macs:
- Go to the Display Settings.
- Go to the “Arrange” tab.
- Uncheck the box “Mirror Displays”.
Alert: another phishing hoax
- I get lots of phishing emails just like the rest of you. But I got one today that is especially troubling. It wouldn’t let me forward to abuse and locked up Outlook. I’ve never had that happen before. This email is pretending to come from “Amazentral” a division of Amazon that says it’s offering free Amazon Prime to anyone with an “EDU” email account. Then it provides a link labeled “Amazentral Website”. Don’t be fooled; do not click on it. Just delete it. I sent abuse@wsu.edu a copy of the source code. So, hopefully, they can get it shut down.
More security patches
- Microsoft, Google, Adobe, and Apple all released updates this week with major security patches to deal with a new round of attacks, this time from North Korean hackers. Please be sure to install updates if you get the pop-up that says updates are available. If you have auto-updates enabled, it should be taken care of for you. If you don’t, double check that all is up to date.
- Campus is also installing security patches to all of their systems, again. Most of these installations should occur after hours, so you probably won’t be affected. (hopefully)