By: Ryan Johnson

Apple released the latest version of its iOS operating system, iOS 15, on September 20. iOS 15 introduces new features for FaceTime calls, tools to reduce distractions, a new notifications experience, added privacy features, complete redesigns for Safari, Weather, and Maps, and more.

Notifications have been redesigned in iOS 15, adding contact photos for people and larger icons for apps. To reduce distraction, a notification summary collects notifications together for delivery at an appropriate time and arranges notifications by priority.

Focus is a new feature that can filter notifications and apps based on what a user wishes to focus on at a certain time. When a user’s Focus is blocking incoming notifications, their status will be displayed to others in Messages. iOS will suggest a Focus for different occasions, such as work hours or winding down for bed, using on-device intelligence, but users can also create a custom Focus. When a Focus is set on one Apple device, it automatically applies to other Apple devices.

Safari features a completely new design. Controls are now easier to reach with one hand and give more focus to a webpage’s content. There is a new, compact tab bar that floats at the bottom of the screen so users can easily swipe between tabs. Tab Groups allow users to save tabs and easily access them at any time across devices. There is also a customizable start page and web extensions for the first time.

To Learn more about all the new features available in iOS 15, please see this article from Apple.

By: Ryan Johnson

I often will be asked: Why are my captions I ordered not showing up in Kaltura?

If the closed captions icon does not appear in your video player, you need to enable closed captions for your video.

To do this, please follow the instructions below:

1. Go to your MyMedia page and click the Edit (pencil) icon to the right of the video title.
2. On the Edit page, click the Captions tab.
3. If there is more than one set of captions for this video, find the one you want to display.
4. In the Actions section, click the Show on Player icon to enable this captions file for the video.NOTE: The tooltip for this icon changes based on the option selected.
5. Click the Back to Media Page link at the top of the screen. The CC icon will now display in the player and the selected captions will appear in the video.

By: Ryan Johnson

Penn State requires newly hired faculty and staff to take the Information Security Training.  However, this training is available to all faculty and staff.

To access and receive credit for the training under Penn State’s Learning Resource Network (LRN), go to “My Training” and select “Information Security Awareness.” If the training does not show up in “My Training,” you can search for training in the LRN search bar in the upper right hand corner of the LRN main page once you’ve logged in.

The training will teach you requirements for safeguarding Penn State’s information, best practices for keeping yourself safe online, and how to spot malicious email messages. If you have any questions on the training or how to access it, please contact security@psu.edu.

Even if you’re not required to take the Information Security Awareness Training, learning how to protect yourself from malicious emails, create a strong account password, and practice CyberSMART habits online can benefit you. Check out the Top Tips below:

1. Bookmark OIS’s website to learn more about information security, including how to protect your information online.
2. As a Penn State community member, it’s important to create a unique password for your Penn State Account and use a different password for each of your other online accounts. When setting your Penn State Account password, provide an external email address that can be used to recover your account. Consider enabling Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for an extra level of security. If you’re a faculty member, staff member, or researcher, you are required to enable 2FA.
3. Email security is vital to the Penn State community, especially with the continual threat of attacks. To protect yourself from potential email attacks, be vigilant by looking for red flags.
4. Social engineering involves tricking people into providing confidential information. Social engineering attacks can be technical, non-technical, or a combination of both. Current examples include phishing, vishing, and piggybacking. New types are being created every day. If you receive a suspicious phone call or email, don’t provide the information–report it to phishing@psu.edu.
5. Mobile security continues to increase in importance given the advances in smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. For ways to protect your mobile device, check out our mobile security page.

By: Ryan Johnson

As faculty and staff begin to return to the office, work in a hybrid situation or continue to be working at home, here are a few technology items to consider:

Returning to the Office

• Before you bring equipment back into the office, take a photo of your setup (cable connections, locations, etc.) to assist with setting up back on campus.
• If you need assistance setting up your workstation when you return, please open a ticket in advance to setup a date/time.
• Check batteries in equipment that was left on campus, replace if needed.
• If you forwarded your desk phone or main office number to another device while working remotely, turn off the call forwarding when you return to campus.
• In the office, software will be updated (zoom, browsers, etc.) if your computer is in the office and signed off every evening. Otherwise, please continue to use Self-Service.
• Penn State Wireless changed during the remote work period. You may need to set up your devices again. Refer to Connecting to Penn State Wirelessfor details.
• Technology may have changed in classrooms and other spaces during the remote period. Schedule time to visit these places before you need them to be sure you are familiar with any new functionality.
• As always, please include your computer name (white label on every machine) in all helpdesk tickets to help expediate a resolution.

Hybrid/Working at Home

• When working remotely, make sure GlobalProtect VPN is up and running. Note: You may need to reauthenticate often if working hybrid.
• Please use Jabber to replace your Work Phone if desired. Recent training and documentation are available on the Staff Site Jabber page.
• Please use Self-Service to update your machine. Note: “Corona” laptops should update some programs automatically and does not have self-service.  Please update programs when prompted.  If you are using your own home machine to work, please keep your software up-to-date manually.
• Printing from home is being worked on by Libraries Strategic Technologies and is a slow process. Please put in a ticket to enable remote printing in your area.
• Reminder – Please reference the Staff Site Working from home web page.
• Please reference the Guidelines for Computer Equipment Provided to Employees for questions on equipment and computer setups allowed for Hybrid and Remote Working.

By: Ryan Johnson

To help you better manage your most important tasks and events, the Outlook calendar now has a new board view where you can organize everything in one place – your calendars, tasks lists, sticky notes, links, goals, and even reminders.

How to Create a board

Think of the board as a visual planner that you can design however you like by adding and moving around items in it.

1. Go to the calendar in Outlook on the web and select the views menu – It could be set to Day, Week, Work week, or Month.
2. Then select Board > New board, give your board a name and then select Create.

Here are few of the items that you can add to your board:

• Calendar: You can add multiple calendar items and see different calendars side by side.
• Task Lists: You can now add your existing task lists from To Do to your board.
• Clock: Keep track of different time zones to stay connected with your family, friends, and colleagues around the world.
• Tips: Learn how to get the most out of the board view.

By: Ryan Johnson

Will you be working remotely and in the office this Fall?

Are you interested in making and receiving phone calls using your Penn State phone number from your computer or mobile device no matter where you work?

Please join me Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 10 – 11 a.m. to learn more on Zoom.

Cisco Jabber allows faculty and staff to bring their Penn State phone number with them when they are away from their office, and even make and receive phone calls on their computers while in the office. The Cisco Jabber application is available for Windows, Mac and mobile devices (iOS/Android) and is available at no additional cost if you already have a Penn State office phone number.

This session will review:

• What is Cisco Jabber and why to use it?
• How Jabber works with a live demonstration
• How to setup to use Jabber

The session will occur at https://psu.zoom.us/my/ultraining and will be recorded.

By: Ryan Johnson

Have you checked out Zoom’s Immersive View yet? Immersive View assembles up to 25 participants into a single virtual “scene,” and it’s one of the simplest ways to create a fun, cohesive, and collaborative virtual space for your meeting or webinar.

To use Immersive View, the host and meeting creator need to have it enabled in your zoom settings at zoom.psu.edu

In addition, you must be running zoom version 5.6.3 or higher.

To learn more about Immersive view, please check out this knowledge article in the Penn State Knowledgebase.

By: Ryan Johnson

Your browser tends to hold onto information, and over time it could cause problems with logging in or bringing up websites. It’s always a good idea to clear out the cache, or browser history, and clear cookies on a regular basis. The drawback to this is that your saved usernames and passwords will be deleted and you’ll need to re-enter them. But on the plus side, your privacy is more secure and your browser will work better.

Library Strategic Technologies has seen several tickets relating to issues logging into various Penn State websites since the new Penn State Sign-in took place on July 7th . If you experience a similar issue, try clearing your browser cookies and cache first before putting in a helpdesk ticket. This resolution seems to fix most issues related to this change.

Please see the instructions below to clear your cookies in cache in most browsers:

https://libraries.psu.edu/about/departments/libraries-strategic-technologies/how-clear-your-web-browsers-cache-and-cookies

By: Ryan Johnson

Two years ago, the University Library Listserv application was retired.

At this time, Libraries Strategic Technologies only maintains the listservs listed on this staff site page:  https://staff.libraries.psu.edu/libraries-strategic-technologies/staff-support/library-listservs  (great page to bookmark on the staff site).

The listservs that are maintained by Strat Tech for the library are hierarchical, meaning that any message sent to a top level list (e.g., UL-University Park,  UL-CCL, etc.) will go to all of the lists below it.

For any changes to these listservs, please feel free to open a Libraries helpdesk ticket.

If your listserv is not on listed on this page you have several options to try to see who manages it.

• First, you can try lists.psu.edu for Penn State’s Listserv management system.
• UMG’s are located at accounts.psu.edu under User Managed Groups.
• Otherwise, email the listserv to determine who manages access or open a ticket with Enterprise IT.  The list may be a distribution list setup in Office 365 and managed my a library employee.

By: Ryan Johnson

Now you can make your most used actions (Mark as read, Delete, Flag, etc,) appear front and center in outlook on the web.

The Easiest way to make changes currently, is simply clicking on the What’s new Section located in your Outlook Toolbar.

Simply click on Try it under the Make Outlook yourOwn window.

The following window will appear:

You can also open Settings -> Mail -> Customize actions in Outlook Settings as well and make adjustments under quick actions.

By: Ryan Johnson

This is a reminder that Cisco AnyConnect VPN (including both ISPtoPSU and LIASVPN) will be decommissioned by the university on June 19 and will no longer function after that date. The Cisco AnyConnect VPN client will also be removed from Libraries computers following the cutoff. Reports are showing that there are still a fair number of regular connections to the Cisco AnyConnect VPN.

Please take the time to migrate to GlobalProtect VPN as soon as possible, if you haven’t done so already. GlobalProtect will be required to access to certain applications and network resources while working remotely, such as WorkFlows and Libraries network shared drives.

By: Ryan Johnson

Google File Stream has been renamed to Google Drive for Desktop.  Google Drive for Desktop is a quick and easy way to access your Penn State Google Drive files from your computer by streaming your files directly from the cloud to your PC.

To download or update Google Drive on a University Libraries PC machine, please use Big Fix Self Service

For home computers or Corona laptops, please use the following URL: https://rebrand.ly/psulibrariesgoogledrive

After installing Google Drive, you will need to login with your Penn State email address.

When complete, a new location in File Explorer will contain your Penn State Google Files

By: Ryan Johnson

Have you ever closed a tab by accident and instantly regretted it? Well there’s an easy keyboard shortcut to reopen tabs that were previously closed. Just click Control + Shift + T (or Command + Shift + T on a Mac) and watch that lost tab reappear!

By: Ryan Johnson

Spring semester is over, and we are slowly transitioning to back to in-office work.  But that doesn’t mean Zoom and its use is going away anytime soon.

Have you been struggling to improve your video and audio in Zoom or Teams or just want to know the best options available?  Want to know how to choose the best lighting, video, and audio equipment to look and sound your best?

If so, please attend my new quick 1/2 hour session next week.

Please see the session details below:

Tuesday, May 25th at 10:00am -10:30am over Zoom

How to Look and Sound Great in Zoom:

• • How to Choose the Best Lighting, Background and Perspective for Zoom sessions.
  • What Hardware(Webcam/Mic) is best for Zoom.
  •  Test your Audio/Video and Internet Connection for Best Performance.

The session is on Zoom at https://psu.zoom.us/my/ultraining and will be recorded.