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KJB136's blog

Load Up: Top IT Perks

It takes a lot of PCs, servers, storage, and systems to support the University’s teaching, learning, and research mission. But it’s hard to think of all that technology as a perk. It’s Pitt IT’s job to think about the computing infrastructure that is the backbone of so much that happens on our five campuses. But there are other IT benefits that are provided specifically to you.

Catching Phish: How to Spot Sophisticated Scams

Over the past few weeks, you may have noticed an influx of Pitt IT alerts regarding phishing scams. (If you’re subscribed to IT Alerts, that is.) It seems like online thieves are in overdrive these days: From mid-June to early July, two major schemes directed over 70,000 scam messages at the Pitt community. And these were not your “I am a Nigerian prince, please transfer money to me ASAP” emails.

Innovative Biomedical Research in the Cloud with Microsoft Azure

Researchers in the University of Pittsburgh’s Biomedical Informatics department needed to grant multiple outside researchers access to sensitive biomedical data that would speed treatment to patients in need. With Pitt IT, they collaborated with Microsoft cloud solution architects to deploy a secure research enclave in record time using Microsoft Azure. Now, the University has a blueprint for replicating this secure environment, creating broad, secure access to sensitive data from multiple sources.

Teaching Data Security to Tomorrow’s Professionals

In April, the Office of the Provost announced that 2021-22 will be the Year of Data and Society, encouraging the University community to focus on the importance of data science in our daily lives. One project in particular under the Data and Society umbrella has been underway for quite some time. The School of Computing and Information (SCI) is working to educate the broader Pittsburgh community on the importance of data and how we can keep our data secure … and Pitt Information Technology is an eager participant.

Next Slide, Please

If you’ve attended or lead a training, staff meeting, information session, board meeting, etc., chances are, a PowerPoint presentation was involved. It looks professional and is easy to use, but it’s a passive experience. A presenter just clicks through the slides and people follow along. Now, Microsoft has released PowerPoint Live and integrated it with Teams. It transforms the PowerPoint experience into an interactive, engaging event with real interaction.

To DocuSign or Not to DocuSign

A few good things have come out of spending the last 15 months in our homes. I’ve rediscovered my love of the Bard. And the pandemic spurred everyone into putting their paper-based processes online. Now, I can complete a form, sign it, and submit it … all using my phone from my couch! There are important differences between the many digital signature apps now available, but I’ve found some of Shakespeare’s best quotes to explain why you should use eSignature (DocuSign) at Pitt.

Swaying to a Better Presentation

I recently discovered Microsoft Sway, and I have become a believer. I don’t mean to knock PowerPoint, but PP presentations can be static, stale, and boring. Sways, on the other hand, are dynamic, artistic, and engaging online stories that make me look like I have serious design skills, when I most decidedly do not. Here are a few tips I picked up as I was learning the ropes that can help you get started Swaying.