Update to Google Drive Chat

Over the course of the next day or two, Google will be updating the chat function in Google Drive.  The chat will be changing from the old colored squares to using everyone's Google Profile Picture.  This is part of Google's project to unify all the different chat tools across their products.

New features will include the ability to add people to your Google+ circles without leaving Google Drive, a one-button "Chat with all" button that instantly starts a conversation with everyone in the document.

So be on the look out for the update, it should be a nice change!


Original Post From Google
 

Spam email report 4/5/2013

At approximately 12:00 pm today, the Help Desk began receiving reports of a spam email message being sent to users at PLU, claiming to be from the I&TS Help desk.  A copy of the spam message will be included at the bottom of this post.

As always, I&TS will never request your password; any emails claiming to be from I&TS or from the Help Desk claiming you need to email your password are fraudulent.  If you are ever not sure if a message is legitimate or not, always err on the side of caution, and contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 or e-mail us at helpdesk@plu.edu.  We will be more than glad to help determine if a message is legitimate or not.


If you accidentally responded to one of these messages, please go to http://epass.plu.edu and use the Change Your ePass Password link to change your password immediately.  Please contact the Help Desk if you need assistance updating your password.


---Spam Message---
From: IT Helpdesk <helpdesk@heldesk.edu> <kbrown@eureka.edu>
Date: Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 12:38 PM
Subject: Important! 2013 Webmail Upgrade to Prevent Email Account Deletion
To:


Dear Edu Webmail User,
This message is from IT Help Desk to all our email Users. We are
upgrading to a new email version to help increase the storage megabyte
and are therefore deleting all unused email account as a result of the
non-existence of users as well as updating our university directory
Also be informed of the serious technical difficulty at hand. Our
Webmail Database that records your webmail data and profile has just
been contrasted by a serious circulating internet virus which may make
you lose your contacts. As a result we are upgrading to a new email
version to help increase the storage megabyte and are therefore
deleting all unused email account as a result of the non-existence of
users.
To confirm the your account is currently in use and to integrate the
recent maintenance carried out in e-mail system and also help in
resetting your space in our database and erase the virus circulating
our webmail. Reply back with the information as required below;
Username/Account ID:...
Password:...
Faculty/Department:....
Email:......
Warning! Webmail owner that refuses to update their account by
providing the requested details above after reading this mail will
loose his / her account permanently.
Account Alert Code: X3XX00178SU
Thank you for using our Webmail
IT Help Desk
Computing & Communications
Copyright (c) 2013. All Rights Reserved.
---End Spam Message---

Export Google Docs, Sheets and Slides format files to Office Open XML formats

In September, we added the ability to export Google documents to the newer Microsoft Office formats that rely on open standards (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx). To continue adding new features and innovations to Google Drive and Docs, we’ll be focusing our resources on exporting to these newer open formats rather than the older, proprietary Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt) that were used in Office 97-2003.

As we announced in October, after January 31, 2013, users will not be able to export files to the older Office 97-2003 formats. For users who still use Office 97-2003, we recommend installing the free compatibility plugin from Microsoft, which will allow them to open the modern Office file types.

For more information
http://googleappsupdates.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/docs-export-format-change-delayed-to.html
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3

Email Large Files with Gmail and Google Drive

Ever have trouble sending large files as email attachments? There's now a new tool in the Gmail Compose window allowing you to attach Google Drive files to your email message. You can now insert files up to 10GB into your email message. Since the recipient will access these files from the cloud, they'll have access to the most current version as well.

Please note that this feature is only available with Gmail's new compose experience, so you'll need to opt-in if you haven't already done so.

For more details visit the Google Drive Blog posting, Gmail and Drive - a new way to send files.

Create and Edit Spreadsheets with Google Drive App

With the new Google Drive App for iOS and Android, you can create and edit Google Spreadsheets on your mobile device. Functionality includes font adjustment, column resizing, data sorting, and more. If you're collaborating in real time on a spreadsheet, you'll see other people's edits as they're made.

You can get the Google Drive App from Google Play or the Apple App Store.

For more details, see Google Drive Blog posting Edit spreadsheets on the go with the Drive mobile app.

Spam email reported 11/15/12

A series of spam e-mails were reported to the Help Desk at approximately 8:20 am this morning.  The text of the e-mail reads as follows:

It has come to our notice that most of our email accounts have been opened with unprotected browsers/computers and most Users no longer use their email accounts. This has created room for spams, bulk and unsolicited emails. Our Help Desk want to deactivate all accounts which have been compromised.

To validated and confirm that you are actually the original owner of this account, you are to fill up the short form in the link below and click submit;Update Your E-mail Account. 
[link omitted]

As always, the Help Desk will never solicit your password via e-mail. All changes to your account password should be done through our ePass tools at http://newepass.plu.edu.

If you responded to the e-mail, please take the following steps:

1. Go to http://newepass.plu.edu and use the ePass Account Tools to update your password
2. Log into your e-mail and scroll to the bottom of the page; in the bottom right hand side will be a section regarding Last Account Activity. Beneath this will be the Details link (Screenshot 1); click on this link and it will open a new window. In the new window, please click on the button which reads Sign out all other sessions. (Screenshot 2)
3. If you have used your e-mail password as the password for other accounts (Online Banking, Online Stores, etc.), please change the password on those accounts as well.

If you are ever uncertain as to the validity of an e-mail, please contact the Help Desk at 253-535-7525 or e-mail us at helpdesk@plu.edu.

Screenshot 1
(click to enlarge)

Screenshot 2
(click to enlarge)

New Streamlined Compose Window in Gmail

Google Gmail now offers a new streamlined compose window. When you click the red "Compose" button in Gmail, you'll be prompted to preview the new compose feature.

Click to enlarge

To try it out, click the blue "Try it now" button at the lower left portion of the window. Otherwise, click the "Not now" button.

Should you decide you want to revert back to the old Compose, click the down arrow in the lower right corner of the Compose window and choose "Switch back to old compose" from the menu.

For more details visit: Official Google Enterprise Blog: Introducing the new compose in Gmail

For Gmail Help on this topic, visit Gmail's new compose and reply experience