Adobe Contractual License Program Update
The Adobe Contractual License Program (CLP) for the University has been finalised. With immediate effect, user departments can acquire popular Adobe software licenses and CD media at reduced cost through ITSC. User departments can also apply for Adobe Acrobat licenses from ITSC. Please read http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/mcas/hwsw for details. For software not covered by Adobe CLP, user departments should order it directly from Adobe's resellers.

Facilities Upgraded in User Area
At ITSC, we aim at providing high-quality services for our users. To attain this goal, we are constantly upgrading our computers and making improvements in the User Area.

In July, Pentium IV 1GMHz PCs will be introduced to replace the current Pentium200 PCs. In addition, a variety of applications have been installed under Win98 and Chinese Win98 to facilitate your computer work.

Providing high-quality printing services at a lower price is one of our major services. To better equip our users, two new colour printing services have been introduced to the User Areas starting from this June. In the Pi Ch'iu User Area, A3 colour printing service is available at HK$4.5 per page. Also, A4 colour transparency printing service is available in the Wong Foo Yuan User Area.

Due to a high administrative cost and insufficient demand, we have decided to terminate the bonus (HK$4) for a HK$100 deposit effective from August 1, 2001. However, we will continue improving the printing service and providing lower printing service costs to all users.

Details of this upgrade can be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/compenv/userarea

Accessing ResNet Using VPN Technology
Starting from this summer, all ResNet users will use VPN technology to access ResNet. Pre-registration is not required. ResNet users only need to install a VPN program in their computers and authenticate themselves using their Campus-wide E-mail System (Mailserv) account when getting connected. This VPN technology provides additional security and data encryption for the network connection.

The VPN technology is now being gradually implemented in various colleges and will be finished in late July. Please visit http://www.resnet.cuhk.edu.hk for the implementation schedule and operation details.

IT Training Programme for University Staff Members
In July, in addition to the continuing online courses, ITSC will hold eight instructor-based seminars for university staff members. The instructor-based seminars cover techniques on Web Page Authoring, Advanced Features of Office 2000 and Document Exchange.

Web Page Authoring seminars include:
- Web Page Authoring Techniques Using HTML
- Design Simple Web graphics by using Photoshop - introduction
- Web Authoring Using Dreamweaver

Office Applications include:
- PowerPoint 2000 New Features
- Office Skill Essential - Access 2000

Document Exchange seminars include:
- Adobe Acrobat

In the web publishing series, we will introduce how to use Dreamweaver to make a homepage. Dreamweaver, which is one of the most popular HTML editors, is easy to use and more powerful than Nescape Composer and Frontpage. In addition, in the introductory course of Photoshop, we will show you how to use this software to create simple web graphics. Basic techniques of HTML authoring will also be addressed in this series of seminars.

In the Office 2000 series, our trainer will introduce the new features of PowerPoint 2000 and Access 2000. Because of the popularity of using PowerPoint to assist teaching , it is important to know how to effectively prepare PowerPoint slides. This seminar intends to familiarize you with new features which can enhance your skills in using PowerPoint. The Access seminar shows you how to plan and design databases, how to build forms, and how to produce reports to automate your daily work.

The document exchange seminar gives you a chance to learn how to use Abode Acrobat. It supports Portable Document Format (PDF) files which are useful for distributing documents because they guarantee document appearance integrity and protect the source documents from being altered. In this seminar, we will cover how to convert documents and files to PDF files and customize PDF navigation.

In addition, the basic and advanced WebCT 2.1 courses are continuing on-line. You can learn how to use WebCT, an effective teaching tool, at your own pace.

For registration and information, please visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/training .

Certification Programs for University Staff and Students
Microsoft Hong Kong Limited and Infocan Training Limited are now collaborating with the Universities to offer all University students and staff the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP, MCSE) & Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) programs this summer.

Details can be found at http://www.infocan.net/itSkills/Program/MCP_SSP/mcp.htm

A New UNIX-based Machines Tender Available for Reference
A new UNIX-based machines reference tender has recently been completed (Tender No. 01046940) and approved by the Tender Board. The tender covers products ranging from desktop to server machines and is valid until Nov 28 2001. The tender specifies, among other things, the services, warranty, technical support, delivery date and price. Please contact the ITSC Workstation Support Team (2609 8823 or 2609 8832) for more information.

Suspension of Computing Services on Jul 7-8
Because of the ageing of the electrical system in the Central Computer Room (G/F Pi Chiu Building), it is necessary to overhaul and upgrade the electrical system to improve its safety, capacity and availability. Therefore, the electricity supply to the Central Computer Room will be interrupted from 14:00 on 7 July until 24:00 on 8 July for the overhaul and upgrade works of the electrical system.

In order to provide essential computing services to the university community, only critical equipment and computer systems will remain available by using the interim power sources. Below are the suspension periods of various computing services.

a. Suspension periods for the following services are Jul 7 14:00-19:00 and Jul 8 19:00-24:00
- Campus Network Backbone (including ResNet & ClassNet)
- Campus-wide E-mail System (mailserv.cuhk.edu.hk)
- CUHK Web Server (www.cuhk.edu.hk)
- CUHK Proxy Server (proxy.cuhk.edu.hk)
- CUHK News Server (news.cuhk.edu.hk)
- Dialup Services (including VPN service)
- ITSC Electronic HelpDesk (http://helpdesk.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk)
- Online Directory Service (ldap.cuhk.edu.hk)
- Web-based Teaching Service (including WebCT and CUForum)

b. Suspension period for the User Area (1/F Pi Chiu Building) is Jul 7 13:00 - Jul 9 09:30

c. Suspension period for other systems not specified above is Jul 7 14:00 - Jul 8 24:00

For any enquiries, please contact ITSC Electronic HelpDesk at http://helpdesk.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk or e-mail to itsc-help@cuhk.edu.hk