SPRING 2016 | ISSUE 2 STUDENT TECHNOLOGY SERVICES In this Issue:

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Online Support with the Tech Help Tab Philo: TV Streaming and DVR Mattel’s 3D Printing Toys Google’s NEW Security Features

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APPLY for a Job with Fordham IT The Fall of Adobe Flash A New Data Storage Method Flexible Screens!

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Fordham IT Proudly Presents THE TECH HELP TAB IMPROVING THE WAY WE GET IT DONE by: STS Media Intern Tim Kelly This semester, Fordham IT is introducing a new method of providing Fordham with technology support; the Tech Help Tab. With this state-of-the-art documenting system, any member of the university community can submit an incident report requesting support and/or service. Previous methods of support (IT Customer Care and RTCs) will continue to be available. However, the Tech Help Tab offers users an up-to-the-minute interface accessible 24/7. If you are unable to contact your RTC or IT Customer Care, you can access the ‘Tech Help’ Tab in your my.fordham portal. After logging in with your AccessIT ID, you can follow the links on the home screen (pictured below) to report an issue. You will be asked to describe your problem or request. Once submitted, the incident report will be reviewed and resolved by one of IT Customer Care’s skilled technicians. If you wish to update your service request or view its status, you can login to the Tech Help Tab at any time and do so. Reading the ‘Notes’ section of the report will inform you of the latest actions taken to resolve your issue. For more information, visit your ‘Tech Help’ Portal Tab.

INTRODUCING PHILO! FREE TV STREAMING & DVR by: RTC Rachel Madigan Fordham IT is pleased to announce its partnership with Philo to bring live TV and DVR to the Fordham community. Philo allows users to watch live TV on many devices; including laptops, tablets, smartphones, and TV sets. Students will be able to use Philo anywhere on campus as long as their device is connected to the University’s wired or wireless network. With a diverse channel lineup, Philo allows students to pause and rewind live TV and store up to 20 hours of DVR space. Philo gives you the flexibility and control needed to stay up to date on your favorite TV shows. By programming your favorites into Philo, you will be able to automatically record new episodes and shows. You can record shows while you’re in class, studying, or sleeping. With Philo, you now have the affordance of watching TV when it’s most convenient for you. Once Philo is released to the community in the upcoming months, you will be able to use it by visiting fordham.philo.com and logging in with your Fordham username and password. For viewing on a mobile device, download the Philo app from Google Play or the App Store.

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ONLINE SECURITY GOOGLE SAFE BROWSING NOW BLOCKS DECEPTIVE DOWNLOAD BUTTONS by: RTC Claire Siegrist Google hates those fake download buttons just as much as its users do. In response to the rise in social engineering attacks, Google will now block websites that use deceptive content and advertisements such as fake download buttons or call-to-action pop-ups. The rollout will take some time as Google identifies which sites are consistent offenders. Google’s Safe Browsing tech will make this blocking possible. You may have seen this before: the large red interstitial that appears when you click a suspicious link. The blocked sites are extending beyond sketchy software installation sites to websites that use deceptive embedded content and ads. While this will increase user safety, it may pose a headache for webmasters who rely on third-party advertisements for revenue. Webmasters can control their own content, but they cannot control content created by third-party inputs. If site visitors are regularly blocked, Google will flag the site and notify the owners to ensure security. You can protect yourself from deceptive social engineering by using Safe Browsing on Chrome and Android. Google has also shared the application with Firefox and Safari to protect as many users as possible. Interested in technology? APPLY for a job with Fordham IT! Applications are now being accepted for IT Team, internships, and hourly positions.

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To apply, visit: fordham.edu/ITJobOpportunities

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MATTEL DESIGNS

3D PRINTING TOYS 3D PRINTERS MADE FOR CHILDREN’S ENJOYMENT by: RTC John Murray Popular toymaker Mattel unveiled a revolutionary new product for the toy industry just before Valentine’s Day: a 3D-printer. By combining this up-and-coming technology with an already-massive market (Mattel reported over $6Bn in revenue in 2014), the company has concocted a recipe for success. The best part? The price; surprisingly, the “ThingMaker” printer is to be sold for only $300. Besides fostering the creativity of children around the world by allowing them to think up their own toys, the ThingMaker will prepare young minds for a world in which the apparent “magic” of 3D-printing will soon be commonplace. Children will be able to design and print their own toys at home using the ThingMaker Design app, to be made available on iOS and Android. The popular consumer technology website TechCrunch hails this app as “key to making Mattel’s 3D printing experience more accessible to a wider audience,” as most households in the U.S. already feature one or more smartphones. An app simple enough for a child to use on an iPhone is a game-changer in the field of 3D-design and printing, which up to now has been plagued with complex design software (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, etc.) that is expensive both financially and in minimum hardware requirements. The name “ThingMaker” is a nod to—nay, a recycling of—Mattel’s previous ThingMaker set which allowed users to heat and inject plastic into molds, leaving them with a newly-formed toy once the plastic had cooled. The old ThingMaker’s release date? 1964.

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Updating our Mobile Interface with

FLEXIBLE SCREENS CHANGING THE WAYS WE USE OUR PHONES by: RTC Christopher Hayduk Researchers from Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab in Kingston, Ontario have successfully developed a smartphone whose screen is able to bend in several directions. Because the phone is able to bend in response to any force, it is essentially unbreakable; therefore, removing fear of dropping the phone. However, the real innovation lies not in the hardware, but in the software. The phone, which uses the Android operating system, is able to respond dynamically to the user’s physical input. For example, if you are reading an EBook, bending the screen will allow you to flip through the pages, just as if you had a physical book in your hands. Adding this extra element of feedback to phones could be revolutionary, as it vastly expands the types of interactions that app creators can enable their users to have. As this technology makes its way into mainstream use, expect to see apps with new and innovative phone interfaces.

ADOBE FLASH PLAYER

A NEW FRONTIER IN DATA STORAGE HOW LASERS ARE CHANGING THE GAME...

THE DEATH OF PLUGINS by: RTC Stephen Rubio If you have used the Internet any time since 2005, you have probably used Adobe Flash Player. The popular web browser plugin was the standard for streaming videos, ads, and animations for nearly a decade. Users could not access videos on YouTube, media features on Facebook, or ads on Google without this previously essential plugin. However, in recent years, the plugin has declined significantly in favor of HTML5’s open video standards. Instead of relying on a plugin developed by a third party, nearly all web browsers are replacing their Flash-based content with HTML5. Flash, despite its usefulness, was a bug-ridden plugin, plagued by poor performance, numerous security vulnerabilities, and frequent, annoying updates. As the plugin’s popularity waned, companies like Google have replaced it with HTML5 on YouTube and blocked it in their browser. Other companies like Amazon, Facebook and Apple are following suit. Apple’s iPhone shipped without Flash compatibility, preventing it from playing a great deal of videos, but this absence eventually helped bring about Flash’s decline. With nearly every major company now favoring HTML5 over Flash, it seems like this onceubiquitous plugin’s days are numbered, and the Internet has now adapted to the more convenient, stable solution of HTML5.

by: RTC Matthew Massaro Researchers at the University of South Hampton have found a way to utilize glass and laser technology as a means of data storage. Using ultra fast, rapid laser pulses, scientists can etch code into 3D portions of glass. The laser’s polarity and intensity differentiates the code so that it can be easily read at a later time. The scientists who discovered this new storage method have mastered the practice by translating famous works (such as the Bible and the Magna Carta) into code and etching them onto glass. The etchings can be stored at room temperature for 13.8 billion years, and can withstand up to 1,000ºC. In the future, using this new technology could make smartphones thinner and quicker, storing up to 360 terabytes. The same could be done to make personal storage devices more portable and dependable. The only thing you would have to worry about is losing it. Furthermore, game consoles and computers could utilize the etchings as drives, which would lead to better processing power. The possible uses for this technology are endless. The glass chips can safely preserve any data in the world for any given amount of time. Image all of the world’s libraries condensed into glass chips that could be plugged into your tablet or mobile device.

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