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The Faculty Resource Center (FRC) has moved (across the hall)! We're now located directly across from the Helpdesk in Gordon Palmer Annex, A204. Our new quarters are much larger and allow us to provide expanded resources and services. We also have a new roommate--the Alabama Supercomputer VisLab. By bringing together these two services under the same roof, we're hoping to make it easier and more convenient for faculty and staff to accomplish their technology-based projects.
The larger space has allowed the FRC to add more computers and the option to use the lab for workshops. We've also been able to add a permanent digital video workstation for filming and editing video to go along with stations for scanning, slide-scanning, and CD-recording. Come visit the FRC and VisLab any time Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. or at other times by appointment. For more information, call the FRC at 348-8372.
CALLUP is a program on UA1VM that was used to store, update, and access the faculty/staff directory information online. Some time ago, that information moved to a PC database with Web access. The CALLUP program is still on UA1VM, but the information file it points to is not current. To find up-to-date directory information, go to the University home page at http://www.ua.edu and select the link to Faculty/Staff Directory (under University Community).
On January 25, 1998, the CALLUP program on UA1VM will be disabled. The command PKG CALLUP (which some users have in their PROFILE file) will not be valid, and CALLUP will simply give a message that it is no longer used. If you have been using CALLUP to access directory information, you should now switch to using the web access and search facility.
Ever realize you don't know how something really basic works on your PC? Have you pondered problems like "how do I make a directory and give it a name" or "how do I see what's on my server" or even "how can I change my screen saver"?
There are some fundamental concepts which apply to most operating systems and networks. However, many times these fundamental concepts are neglected in our race to learn the details of the application programs we work with every day. The Training Group at the Seebeck Computer Center, along with Staff Training and Development, want to offer you a chance to fill in some of these gaps in your knowledge. This semester we have scheduled a number of seminars on some of these fundamental concepts. The first classes will be: a two half-day seminar on Windows 95, which includes functional concepts and file organization; a half-day seminar on Web Browsing; a half-day seminar on Web Page Production; and a half-day seminar on Creative Desktop Publishing.
If you think you may have gaps in your understanding of these fundamental concepts, call Margie Karrh or Teresa Herndon at Staff Training and Development (348-7125) to sign up for one of these classes. To make suggestions for other "Fundamentals" seminars, send e-mail to the Helpdesk at Help.Desk@mail.ua.edu
Question: My family got a new computer with a modem for Christmas. I want my children to be able to surf the Internet. I am a faculty member, and I understand the University provides me with Internet service. How do I get setup?
Answer: The University's recommended service provider is Simple Communications. You may call them at 750-0850 to set up service. Since you are a faculty member, you may set up a regular account with unlimited interactive access for only $13.95 a month. (The same offer is available to all faculty, staff and students.) Simple Communications will give you all the information necessary to set up your computer and your modem, and they will help you if you have trouble. This service will include an e-mail address your family can use and web page space.
The University provides limited (free) access to faculty, staff and students for their own use on University business. To find out about this service, you may call the Helpdesk at 348-2435 (on campus, call UA-HELP). However, this service is for YOUR use, not for your family's use. To set up service for your family, you will need to talk to one of the Internet Service Providers with service in this area. Simple Communications has an agreement with the University to provide service to faculty, staff and students at a VERY reasonable price. If their service does not meet your need, you are free to contract with any other service provider of your choice. The Helpdesk can give you a list of service providers with local service.
NOTE: "Ask SUN" will be a regular feature of the Seebeck User News, giving answers to questions received at the Helpdesk. For more information about any question featured here, or to ask about something which might be answered here, send e-mail to Help.Desk@mail.ua.edu
OK, so you have Netscape or Internet Explorer running on your computer, and you figured out how to start browsing the World Wide Web. Now you want to know how to put your own information on the web, but you think it looks really complicated and you have no idea where to start. Well, take heart, it is very easy to put information on the web and you can start right here.
First, keep in mind that a web page is just a file (or group of files). You put the file on a computer that is running a web server, in a place the server knows how to find, and then you advertise the address of that file. There are many computers on campus running web servers. If you are not sure which one of these to use, start by getting an account on bama.ua.edu, the (UNIX) mail and web server in Seebeck Computer Center. Just take your current ACT card to the Helpdesk in Gordon Palmer Hall and request an account. It's that easy. When your account is set up, it will automatically have a subdirectory called public_html. Any file you put into that subdirectory is a file the web server can find.
Once your account is set up, you are ready to create your first web page. Just about any text file can be a web page. (Be patient, we'll get to pictures later.) In fact, with some web servers, you can just upload a plain DOS text file to your file space, and voilà: a web page. However, most web pages that look like text when your browser displays them actually contain special commands that your browser (e.g. Netscape) reads and follows when it shows you the file. These commands are written in a language called HTML. You could spend days learning HTML, you could read "HTML for Dummies", or you could get a program that produces the HTML commands for you based on how you write the text. One of the simplest to use is MS WORD in Office 97. (Add-ons are available to let earlier versions of WORD do similar things.)
To create a web page using WORD 97, just type in the text as you want it to appear on your web page. Then when you Save the document, select "Save as HTML". For this first test, call the file firstweb.htm when you save it. Then upload the file to your public_html subdirectory, using WS_FTP (for Windows) or Fetch (for MAC) or the ftp program available to you. Now open your browser, and go to the site http://www.bama.ua.edu/~youracct/firstweb.htm putting in your user account name for youracct and the filename as shown. OK, so it doesn't look like you expected and you don't want to use that name, but hey, you're on the web. In the next issue of Seebeck User News we'll talk about file names and types, and your web address.
This is the first in a series of articles on simple web page concepts. Other concepts to be discussed in upcoming issues of SUN will include file naming conventions, different file types, and how to get more information.