Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Students Program Robotic Arm





Students in Mr. Garrant's Robotics class demonstrated their ability to successfully program a robotic hand.  In the video above you can see that the robot mimics the actual hand movements of a student using a glove with digital sensors.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Lightning Strikes Bogle


Bogle Hall was struck by a bolt of lightning during a recent spring storm.  The lightning strike damaged a network switch, taking the network offline in that building around 4:00 pm on Friday, April 7th.  To resolve the issue, Sean Lex, Assistant Director of Technology, replaced the switch and brought the building back online an hour later. 

Monday, May 15, 2017

Sophisticated Phishing Attack



sophisticated phishing attack, which extended beyond Blair, recently impacted users on campus.  The attack involved malicious software that generated emails, which looked like shared Google doc links.  In response, the technology office immediately sent out an email on how to avoid spreading the attack, along with directions of the steps to take to protect their accounts.  Technology office staff then blocked the domain and sender from which the emails were coming to stop the spread of the attack on campus.  To learn more on how to protect yourself from phishing attacks, please view the article found at this LINK.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Responding to Netflix Issues




Students and faculty are occasionally frustrated to discover that access to Netflix through the school internet connection stops working.   This most often happens immediately after a school vacation, and is initiated by Netflix's own automated security systems.  The problem is caused by a large number of Netflix accounts being accessed both from multiple countries and then through the single internet connection of the school.  This makes some Netflix accounts appear fraudulent to Netflix's systems.  Blair fully supports the legal use of streaming video content in the campus's residential environment.  The technology team works directly with Netflix to resolve these issues as quickly as possible when they occur. 

Monday, May 1, 2017

Our Technology Office Recycles




Each year, Blair's technology office recycles the outdated and broken electronic equipment that has collected over the school year.  We work with an offsite recycling company to ensure that all data has been electronically wiped from the devices before they leave the school.  We send equipment to be recycled rather than sent to a landfill to reduce waste.