You can stop by, call, write to us, or visit our Web site to get the answers that you need. The Center for Academic Computing (CAC) offers computing assistance to students, faculty, and staff at Penn State through its User Services division. The Willard Help Desk specializes in the Penn State Access Account, communication software, disk recovery, e-mail software, graphics packages, hardware and software diagnosis, image scanning, Internet clients, microcomputer applications, and virus detection and prevention. The Computer Building Help Desk specializes in the Penn State Access Account, communication software, e-mail software, file transfer, Internet clients, programming languages, text scanning, statistical packages, thesis formatting, visualization and graphics, UNIX, and virus detection and prevention. For more information please see http://cac.psu.edu/consulting on the Web.
How do I check my e-mail while away from Penn State?
You may need to access your e-mail while away from Penn State. Perhaps you want to stay in touch with your friends over the summer or you need to check in with your office while on a business trip. By using the following instructions, you can access your e-mail over the summer or any time you are away from Penn State.
Step 1. Before you leave, remove mail that you may have been storing on the server. Have you signed up for any automatic mailing lists? If you would rather not receive these while away, cancel your subscriptions or put a hold on them. If you leave your subscription services active, and do not check your mail while away, you may have hundreds or even thousands of e-mail messages waiting for you when you return. This may cause problems with software. The "welcome" message you probably received when you signed up should contain instructions.
Step 2. Obtain an Internet connection. Before proceeding, please note that if you decide to use a commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP), you should be aware of restrictions on sending mail. Individuals who use a third-party ISP such as AT&T @Home or America Online must check mail before attempting to send mail out through smtp.psu.edu. Mail that is sent without first successfully checking for new e-mail on the server will be rejected. This means that you must check your mail before sending e-mail every time you make a new dial-up connection via AOL, for example. For @HOME users, you will have to check before sending the first time you use @HOME in a given hour or so. If you check e-mail via @Home every 30 minutes, you will not be affected after the first time you check e-mail in a given session. If this proves to be a problem for you, a solution is to designate a different SMTP host in your mail settings. We recommend that you check with your ISP to obtain the correct settings for their SMTP server. Some ISPs may not permit you to send PSU addressed email via their SMTP server.
Step 3. Set up your e-mail software. Once you have your Internet connection, you need to set up whatever software you're going to use to read your mail. If you don't have Eudora or a dedicated e-mail program available, you can use Netscape Communicator, which has built-in e-mail capabilities.
The following instructions pertain to using Penn State's servers for mail access. If you are using a different service, then ask your local network administrator or customer support representative for configuration instructions.
You need to configure the software with your Penn State Access Account information and Penn State's server information. Then you can simply tell your e-mail software to "check mail." If you use America Online (AOL) as your ISP, you'll need to either forward your mail from your Penn State account to your AOL account or use Eudora, Netscape, or another POP Mail client to check your mail. AOL e-mail software is set up specifically for your AOL mailbox and it can't be set to read e-mail from elsewhere. After you make the connection to AOL, you can launch your e-mail program (Eudora, etc.) and use it normally.
Whichever option you choose should be set up and tested ahead of time, if possible. If you need assistance call the Help Desk at (814) 863-2494 or 863-1035 or send e-mail to helpdesk@psu.edu.
For complete details, please see http://cac.psu.edu/internet/emailaway.html on the Web.
How do I avoid getting spam?
Spamming is the practice of sending unsolicited electronic junk mail or newsgroup postings. Most spam consists of e-mail advertising for a product or service. To cut down on the amount of spam you receive, use discretion when putting your e-mail address on reply cards and other such forms, as this is the main way that the spammers get e-mail addresses. Also, you can use software features, such as Eudora Pro's filters, to automatically trash mail from repeat offenders. To report spam, write to security@psu.edu. For more information, see the Computer, Network & Information Security Office Web site (http://www.psu.edu/dept/NETSEC/).
Are Web Auctions Safe?
The popularity of auction sites like eBay has made it possible to buy everything from antiques to computer equipment at a great deal. However, many deals have gone sour when the expected goods don't measure up to expectations. For a discussion of this issue, see the article "Don't Get Taken at Web Auctions" at http://www.pcworld.com/ontheweb/article/0,1978,10130,00.html on the Web.