• Year 2000 Problem January 3^rd
• METU Internet Connections January 4^th
• The Maintenance of the Routers January 12^th
• FTPSEARCH Search Tool February 2^nd
• A problem about "Newsgroups Service" April 7^th
• Internet Access April 14^th
• Removal of the Problem with the Internet Access April 17^th
• A Problem on the Web Server April 19^th
• Licensed Software Introduction Days April 19^th
• The Problem on the Web Server Has Been Fixed April 20^th
• Internet Days 2000 April 20^th
• The Problem about the "Newsgroups Service" has been fixed April 21^st
• Previous System is being used for Newsgroups Service May 24^th
• ODTÜKENT Local Network June 1^st
• METU Administrative Personnel Discussion List June 1^st
• 822 Modem Lines June 1^st
• SPAM: Porn Site July 18^th
• Information update about Computer Center phone numbers in Year 2000 METU Phone Book August 17^th
• The Installation of SSL Certificate August 21^st
• "5.FİGES Users' Meeting" August 29^th
• WAP Service is Now Available in METU August 30^th
• Maintenance of the Generator September 26^th
• About newsgroups Service September 28^th
• Maintenance of the Database System October 11^th
• Introduction of New METU Web Pages November 3^rd
• Ansys Seminar November 15^th
• Viruses and How to Defend Yourself against Them November 21^st
• Student Usercodes Starting With 'c' or 'b' November 28^th
• Problem in "orca", "narwhal" and "rorqual" Servers December 13^th
• Disc Quota LimitDecember 19^th
• Webmail Service December 20^th
• METU Web Pages Winter Design December 22^nd
• Personal Web Pages December 22^nd

Our efforts to survive Year 2000 problem have been summarized briefly below.
On December 31^st, 1999 , the last backups of our databases have been taken and the last security checks of our systems have been done.
On the night of December 31st, at 24:00 all the systems have been monitored , tests have been made and it is observed that Year 2000 problem was not able to impair our systems.
On January 1^st, 2000 all the services of our center have been checked by the "Y2K Compatability Tests" that were designed on August, 1999, and as a result ,the systems proved to work efficiently without problem.
We consider the efficient and healthy operation of our systems as a serious engagement and we 'll continue to strive to eliminate the inconveniences the year 2000 may bring on our services and we'll strive to improve these services during our pursuit of technological changes of the present and future.

The updated status and the statistics of our wide area connections (TTnet, ULAKNET), which serve to provide the internet connection of our campus backbone, are presented on this web page below,
      http://lines.metu.edu.tr/
You can reach the same address following the "Services" button from main page and "METU Computer Center Services" link.

On January 15^th, 2000 at 09.00 am, our off-campus Internet service will not be available for maximum one hour due to the maintenance of routers. Campuswide networking will continue to operate without interruption.

You can now instantly access "FTPSEARCH" search tool feature from the address below,
      ftp://ftp.metu.edu.tr/
This service has recently been introduced by METU-CC for the purpose of carrying out search on the main FTP server with the following address,
      http://ftpsearch.metu.edu.tr/
This search tool can also be accessed from the "METU Internet Services" page found in the address,
      http://www.metu.edu.tr/METU/IS/

We are unable to continue our "Newsgroups" service due to a disc problem on the News Server. Trying to fix the problem of disorganized information flow, which is a consequence of the disc problem, we have to discontinue the Newsgroups service for a while. The reasons of this delayed announcement are the unexpected impediments we have encountered during the ongoing efforts to fix the problem. We would like to apologize from our users for the troubles they might have gone through and we would like to announce that Newsgroups service will continue to be given again in a week's time. You can follow the newsgroups other than the METU Newsgroups from the following newsgroups server:
      news.ulak.net.tr
For your questions and comments, please send e-mail to
      esenametu.edu.tr

Because of a problem that has been determined to be an external one, several Internet sites cannot be accessed from the METU campus, since yesterday evening. Studies for the solution of the problem have been continuing and the announcement will be made as soon as the problem is removed. A temporary solution is offered below regarding this problem, until it is solved.
You can connect to those Internet addresses that cannot be accessed, by making the necessary proxy settings in your browser, which are stated below.
Proxy server address: http://wwwcache.ulak.net.tr Proxy server port: 1998
Making the proxy settings:
      Netscape 4.x users:
            1) Select "Preferences" from the "Edit" menu.
            2) On the appearing window, select "Proxies" which is one of the sub-options under "Advanced" option, placed at the "Category" part on the left.
            3) Mark the "Manual proxy configuration" option on the right and press on the "View" button.
            4) On the appearing window, enter the information above in the address and port spaces at "HTTP" part and complete the proxy settings by pressing on the OK button.
      Internet Explorer 5.x users:
            1) Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu.
            2) On the appearing window, select "Connections" menu.
            3) Press on the "LAN Settings" button, which is on the right-below side.
            4) On the appearing window, mark the "Use a proxy server" box. Enter the information above in the address and port spaces, and complete the proxy settings by pressing on the OK button.
For your problems and the other browser versions settings, you can send e-mail to hot-linemetu.edu.tr or call 3355 Hot-line phone number.

The external problem with the Internet access, which had started in the late hours of April 13, 2000 and had continued during April 14, 2000, has been removed.
You can use the previous proxy settings in your browsers.
      Proxy address: http://www.metu.edu.tr/proxy.pac
For your problems, you can send e-mail to hot-linemetu.edu.tr or call 3355 Hot-line phone number.

Due to a problem that occurred today (April 19, Wednesday) around 12:30 pm on the web server (www. metu.edu.tr), the web services of the Computer Center have been interrupted. The efforts to eliminate the problem and put the service back to its normal state have been continuing.

The meetings under the title of "Middle East Technical University Licensed Software Introduction Days" is going to be held between May 1^st -5^th, 2000; firstly, to introduce the licensed software currently used within the university to a wider range of the user community; secondly, to bring together the manufacture companies and the members of the Middle East Technical University for the purpose of exploring the latest developments in the software sector.
The days between May 1^st -3^rd, 2000 are reserved for the seminars; and May 4^th-5^th are reserved for software trials which will be an opportunity for users to experiment with the particular software. The seminars will be given in Cultural Convention Center Lounge C and the trials will be done in PC Room of the Mechanical Engineering Dept. at the Computer Center. The schedule of the Software Introduction Days will be announced in the address below after the timing of the sessions are set definitely.
      http://www.cc.metu.edu.tr/services/soft/presentation/
All of the METU members who are curious about the subject are welcome to these days. For detailed information about software, you can see the page
      http://www.cc.metu.edu.tr/services/soft/
and for your questions you can call 210 3358 or send an e-mail to akbanumetu.edu.tr

The problem, which has begun on April 19, 2000 at 12.30 pm disturbing the status of the web service intermittently, has been corrected the same day at 08.00 pm.

Included in the notable activities of Computer Center during Internet Week are the seminars that will be given to students in various primary schools, which are in the scope of "Contribution to Eight-year Basic Education" project. The training seminars will be given between April 16-19, 2000 and will include vital topics such as introducing the concept of Internet, its main principles and functionality.
Seminar Program:

The problem we have announced a while ago about the newsgroup service server has been fixed. The newsgroups can be read and mails can be sent on news.metu.edu.tr server beginning from the first day of the week. New operating principles have caused an incompatibility on the server, and the old articles on the server can only be seen but cannot be accessed. We know that this is an undesirable and troublesme situation for our users. We have been striving to eliminate the effects of this problem but intermittent disruptions of the service might be inescapable. The recent developments about reading newsgroups and sending mails, will be announced to you instantly and we will improve the newsgroup service by the guidance of your questions, comments and suggestions. For your questions and comments, you can send an e-mail to newsnews.metu.edu.tr or contact with Esen Akyapı by calling the phone number: 210 3354

As we have announced it previously, we have had frequent interruptions while running the newsgroups service. Our purpose while making these announcements was to explain that we are continuously striving to eliminate the problems . However, some new and unexpected errors have occurred, and, unfortunately, we have had the recurrence of the interruptions. In the end, we have decided that the best way to run the newsgroups service without these interruptions is to return back to the old system and continue giving the service as soon as possible. This decision is implemented accordingly. The system is running now and the newsgroups service is active. The efforts to renew the old system is continuing in an experimental environment without affecting the currently active service. As soon as all the problems of the new system are done away with, it will be our main responsibility to transform the system to the new one as smoothly as possible with the least possible disturbance on the usage of the newsgroup service by our users. There are some steps to take, lest the newsreader programs (tin, Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger) be affected while the transformation takes place . These steps are:
for tin:
In your home directory within the Unix account, delete the numbers following the names of the newsgroups in the newsrc file.
for for Outlook Express :
Click "Options" in the "Tools" menu, then select "Advanced" and click "Clean Up Now" . Select news.metu.edu.tr in the "Local file(s) for" section of the menu. Then click "Reset" and get out of the pictures one by one.
for for Netscape Messenger:
Have the back-up copies of the names of the newsgroups. Delete the server, add it back again, and subscribe to all of the newsgroups once again.
For all your problems, comments and questions, you can call 210 33 54 (Esen Akyapı) or mail to esenametu.edu.tr

Ongoing efforts for ODTÜKENT Local Network connection have recently been completed. As a result of these efforts, the residences in ODTÜKENT have been connected to campus backbone network and to Internet. Our users who lodge in ODTÜKENT shall go through the steps as indicated on the address below.
      http://www.metu.edu.tr/odtukent-nw.html
An informative meeting will be held at Cultural Convention Center Lounge B at 2.00 p.m. on June 5^th 2000 (Monday) about the subject mentioned above.

To The Attention of Administrative Users;
The Electronic Discussion List odtu-idpmetu.edu.tr is now available for our administrative personnel to provide an opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas via an electronic medium. To post a letter to the list, the address odtu-idpmetu.edu.tr shall be used. Our personnel, who wish to subscribe and send/receive mails via this discussion list, shall post a mail to the address,
      listprocmetu.edu.tr
with a message containing the following,
      subscribe odtu-idp Name Surname
(You shall write your own name and surname in this message where it is indicated as Name Surname)

Our users who still access to Internet through the numbers 210 11 55 and 210 43 00 do not need to change their settings. The information about dial-up networking can be found on the address http://www.cc.metu.edu.tr/services/ol/ppp/. You can ask your related questions to the phone number 210 33 55 or you can mail to hot-linemetu.edu.tr.

 July 18^th 2000 - SPAM: Porn Site

Our users have expressed their complaints to Computer Center about some mail messages with their sender in the "from" field appearing as "nobodymetu.edu.tr". These messages, according to our estimations, have been sent to many users of us and we are thankful to those who took time to inform us about their disturbances.
This "nobodymetu.edu.tr" address gave our users the false impression that the mails were originated in METU. Actually, Internet mail protocols(SMTP) allow users to write any name in "from" field of the messages. For this very reason, the "full header" information of these mails should be examined in order to trace back the route of these messages and find out the source. After these spam mails are examined, it is found out that they reached to our systems from various external sources (some of them were sent from abroad). These messages were not generated in METU. The authorities of these sources have been warned and necessary proceedings have been carried out. Practically, it is impossible to prevent receiving these kind of messages ONCE AND FOR ALL, but by way of restriction it is possible to decrease the amount of spam received. Computer Center intensified its efforts and strives to prevent the delivery of similar messages within the system and takes all the necessary precautions against those delivered. You can send your complaints about spam mail with their full header information to hot-linemetu.edu.tr.

The recent updated information about the phone numbers of Computer Center in METU Phone Book of Year 2000 is indicated below.
Please call these numbers to access Computer Center by phone.

We are going to employ a security system for the Student Affairs Information System Project that has been used within the University for a while. A pilot study has been carried out within the scope of this project and the first program that the new security system is applied to is "Academic Record Sheet (21.0)".
This security system (SSL:Secure Socket Layer) ensures security by encrypting the information that is transferred during Web applications. Some settings should be specified on the computers of the users to be able to use the system. If these settings are not specified, the system will not allow the user to use the system.
To be able to use "Academic Record Sheet (21.0)", the user code, password and identification code should be entered correctly and this information should be submitted by pressing the Submit button. The user must install Security Certificate Program on his/her browser as well. You can find information about the installation on the following address,
      http://www.cc.metu.edu.tr/services/ol/ssl/
or you can find the information by following the links,
      Services/Metu Computer Center Services/Turkce/Servisler/On-Line Dokumantasyon/SSL
For your problems about the new security system, you can call Cengiz Teberoglu.
or you can send an e-mail to the following address,
      registermetu.edu.tr

You can have information about "5.FİGES (Exclusive Distributor for Ansys Software) Users' Meeting" from the following address:
      http://www.figes.com.tr/k_toplantisi

It is now possible to access METU through WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) technology which enables GSM phones to access Internet over a wireless connection. METU WAP Service, which is available on the address wap.metu.edu.tr, introduces general information about our university as the first and foremost step. The only thing the users need to be able to use this feature is to own a WAP-compatible phone/device, which is open to data communication. For your related questions you can call 210 33 55 or you can send an e-mail to hot-linemetu.edu.tr.

The new generator of Computer Center, which is assembled very recently to be able to provide electricity for the computer systems in case the lights go off, will be put into use October 7^th, 2000 at the Computer Center. 20-minute-intervals may affect the whole electricity of the university on Saturday (October,7^th) between the hours 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., due to the endeavors to be able to operate and run the new generator. The following services may be interrupted due to lack of electricity at these intervals:
      access to campus bacbone network
      dial-up network connection
      off-campus network access
      central systems (rorqual, orca, nautilus etc.)
      Web services and other informatics services (ftp,news, student affairs information system etc.)

Our Newsgroups server cannot be fed from outside the campus since September 26th, 2000 (10 a.m.) due to maintenance efforts of ULAKNET on Newsgroups service. We have been informed by ULAKNET that the problem will have been fixed by October 2nd, 2000 (Monday) and the users will be able to access newsgroups outside then. It should be noted that our Local Newsgroups service is running without interruption.

Upkeeping efforts of the database system, which is located on the central servers of the University, will begin this Friday, October 13^th, 6:00 p.m. and will last until Tuesday, October 17^th, 9:00 a.m. Due to these efforts of maintenance, the following services will not be available between the dates specified as above:
      Student Affairs Informamtion System
      Academic CV
      Personnel Office Automation System

METU Computer Center has made extensive research to improve the web pages of METU and developed new services using the latest technologies in line with the comments and suggestions of our users. These efforts have produced remarkable results. The new web pages of METU in English (www.metu.edu.tr) and in Turkish (www.odtu.edu.tr) will be put into service on November 6^th, 2000 Monday. METU Computer Center set about the task of creating new web pages through forming a new content, visual designing, and building the infrastructure, on the second semester of the1999. Two academic studies of graduate level were carried out in cooperation with Graduate School of Informatics and Department of Industrial Design within the structure of Computer Center. Two questionnaires have been formulated during these studies. Evaluation results of these questionnaires and the reports prepared in consequence contributed immensely to the progress of the work. As the academic studies were eventually finalised in April 2000, with the rapid progress derived from that initial effort, the task of creating new pages gained momentum and made continuous progress thereon. The stages of progress can be summarised as below:
      The improvement of the information structure, enrichment of the content, providing a site in Turkish,
      Visual design and content-based tasks,
      Building technical infrastructure
      Development of mechanisms which will promote the communication within the campus and which will provide interactive usage.
      Introduction of new web tools.
The tools created/improved within the scope of the abovementioned tasks are as follows:
      Announcements: When the academic/administrative units would like their announcements to appear on web, this system will enable them to submit their announcements via web, in other words, they will be using the authorised academic/administrative unit codes (ECS-Electronic Communication System) to submit the announcement. The users will, then, be able to view all the announcements on web via various search mechanisms.
      Activities: When the academic/administrative units would like their activity announcements to appear on web, this system will enable them to submit their announcements by using the authorised academic/administrative unit codes (ECS-Electronic Communication System). The users will, then, be able to view all the activity announcements of the units on web via various search mechanisms.
      Site Map: This page is a site guide that displays all the links of subtitles available on METU web site.
      Phonebook: This is an on-line phonebook that contains all the information of METU Phonebook 2000. Users can make various sorts of queries by employing different criteria and they can search all the department and personnel contact information of METU.
      For Prospective Students: This page aims to give overall information about METU to high school students. It is prepared with regard to the information derived from METU Student Booklet, which is a publication of Directorate of Public Relations.
      About TURKEY: This page is constructed in consideration of METU's international perspective. The page guides the users to various web pages about Turkey prepared by a variety of sources.
      Search Engine: This search engine enables the users to make queries among the information available on METU web pages.
      Web Search: The links to most popular search engines are brought together on this page to provide easy access to people who would like to search the web.
      METU in Pictures: A photographic tour on this page enables you to get a glimpse of sights in METU.
      Send Feedback: This is a tool that provides the users with the medium to send their comments and suggestions about METU web pages.
The inquiries and the questionnaires carried out have shown us that the users in or outside METU are coming from very different backgrounds, they have very different preferences and likes, their needs vary greatly and they own very different computer hardware. As the new web pages were being created, we have engaged in intensive labour and have taken great pains to be able to offer a service that would suit the needs of the majority of the users. The user feedback will still be very much appreciated even after the new pages are introduced into service. We believe that the feedback we receive from our users will help a great deal to improve our site according to the needs of both our users and the needs of rapidly changing technology. Your suggestions will help us to improve. Thanks in advance.

Ansys Seminar will be given by the FİGES company between the dates Nov 22nd - 24th, 2000 in the Mechanical Engineering PC Room of the METU Computer Center. Information about the seminar program and seminar topics can be found below. If you would like to participate in the seminar, please register yourself via mail or telephone until November 20th, 2000 Monday evening. Please notify those people around you, if you think they would be interested in the topics and would like to participate in this seminar. It would be greatly appreciated if they contact us via mail or phone.
Location:
      Mechanical Eng. PC Room
Seminar Program:
      November 22^nd, 2000 13:30 - 17:00
      November 23^rd, 2000 09:00 - 17:00
      November 24^th, 2000 09:00 - 17:00
Seminar Topics:
      FEA and ANSYS
      ANSYS Basics
      Stress Analysis
      Preliminary Decisions
      Importing Geometry
      Solid Modeling
      Meshing
      Select Logic
      Loading & Solution
      Postprocessing
      Short Topics
Contact Information: Feride ERDAL - CC Software Administrator
      Tel: 210 3358
      e-posta: ferdalmetu.edu.tr

METU Computer Center owns a campus license of Mc Afee Antivirus software for the protection of the university computers against various types of viruses. Access to the licensed software is limited according to the IP numbers. If you have not activated your ftp access to the ftp.cc.metu.edu.tr server, you should activate it by filling out and submitting the form on the address http://www.metu.edu.tr/cgi-bin/ftp/ftpcc . Below, you can find information about the installation of Mc Afee Antivirus Software, its updates and information about best-known types of viruses.
Installation of Mc Afee Antivirus Software
To begin installation, find the software on the following address
ftp://ftp.cc.metu.edu.tr/pub/Virus_Programs/mcafee
In this directory, copy those files to your computer that are suitable to your operating system. Win9.x users should copy the files under VirusScanv4.5, WinNT and Win2000 users should copy the files under NetShield4.5, Later on, you can start installation by running setup.exe within the files you have copied to you computer. Complete the installation routines step by step. Restart the system after the installation. This step is necessary to activate the antivirus software. Each time you start your computer, the virus program will run automatically. This antivirus program will check every file you received via e-mail.
Mc Afee Antivirus Software Upgrades
Once the installation is completed, the files under the directories that are mentioned below, should be copied to the system in order to install the new upgrades of the antivirus software.
      For Win9.x users; VirusScanv4.5ServicePack1,
      For WinNT or Win2000 users; NetShield4.5Service Pack 1
After copying the files, the files with exe. extensions in these directories should be executed. Finishing the installation enables you to run the latest upgrade of the software. This process should be repeated once or twice a year. After every upgrading operation, the related software can be obtained from the following directory, ftp://ftp.cc.metu.edu.tr/pub/Virus_Programs/mcafee
Mc Afee Antivirus Software Updates
After the installation and upgrade routines of the software are completed, you should insert the DAT files into the system to be able to protect your computer from the very recent viruses. You should select "AutoUpdate" in the "VirusScan Console", which can be found under the program group of "Network Associates". Click "Configure" to arrange the settings for once and enter the address ftp.cc.metu.edu.tr/pub/Virus_Programs/mcafee/Dat/4xx/ to the ftp site on the list. To perform the task automatically, double-click the "AutoUpdate" task in the Console task list, to open the Task Properties dialog box. Click the Schedule tab and enable the checkbox. Specify how often you want the task to run in the Run area. "Weekly "is recommended since Mc Afee generally releases these update files weekly. The system will then, update the virus definition files at weekly intervals.
Newly Detected Viruses
      Navidad
Against the virus Navidad, you should install Mc Afee Antivirus program if you have not installed it yet. If Mc Afee Antivirus program exists on your computer, you should update the program accordingly as mentioned above.

According to our user code system, first letter of the students' username change according to the program they belong to (B.Sc., Ms. or Phd. program) It is observed that this user code system is causing many difficulties and problems with e-mail addresses and registrations of the students leading to great deal of loss of time and energy. In order to solve these problems, some modifications in this user code system will be done. Usernames beginning with the letter "e", which are given to our students at the beginning of their graduate program, will stay the same when the students change their level of study. Accordingly, first letter of usernames beginning with the letter "c" and "b" will be replaced with "e" by December 11, 2000 (17:00 pm). The modification of the usernames will not affect the user passwords, and the files present in the user account will be kept intact. Furthermore, the subscriptions to the lists on the METU list server (listservmetu.edu.tr) will be arranged automatically according to new usernames beginning with the letter "e". Users have to modify their usernames in other mailing lists in which they are members. In order to prevent any kind of inconvenience related to the modification, e-mails received by usernames beginning with "c" or "b" will be automatically directed to new usernames beginning with "e" until February 1st, 2001. E-mails sent to old usernames will be no longer directed to new usernames after February 1st, 2001. Therefore, our users had better properly inform people/organisations they are in communication with, about their new e-mail addresses.

Today, due to a technical failure on our central servers, "orca", "narwhal" and "rorqual" servers were down and our users could not access these servers between 9:00 am and 12:00 am. The problem is fixed by now, however we would like you to accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused during the interruption of the service.

The disc spaces that are allocated to our users on METU Computer Center servers (orca, rorqual, narwhal) are rearranged according to new discs which have been recently added to our servers. As a result, the disc quota limit for the students and personnel is increased to 10 Mbyte and 25 Mbyte respectively.

E-mail service on METU Computer Center servers can be accessible via WEB anymore. To use this service, please enter the following URL address on your WEB browser (like Netscape, Internet Explorer vb.):
      http://webmail.metu.edu.tr

Winter design of new METU web pages, which were offered to service on November 6, 2000, created within the context of "Four Seasons at METU" theme will be available on January 2, 2001.

"Personal Web Pages" service is now available to our users. Users can own a personal web page having the address
http://www.metu.edu.tr/~usercode
with their user codes that are defined on our central servers by following the steps explained in the address http://www.cc.metu.edu.tr/services/ol/web/.