On June 15, access to ESPN.com was denied due to the overwhelming usage of the site which affected network traffic and performance.

On June 16, access to ESPN.com has been restored to the WCMC community. However access to ESPN3.com, which is streaming the FIFA World Cup, will remain inaccessible except in the student dorms.

Please be advised if access to ESPN3.com affects WCMC network's traffic and usage, ITS reserves the right to deny access to ESPN3.com to preserve network performance.

On April 15th Microsoft released Office 2010. ITS is currently in the process of compatibility testing for Office 2010. ITS is diligently working on completing the application certification process to fully support Office 2010. In addition, we are also working on the Microsoft licensing package for WCMC. At this time, we strongly discourage departments from purchasing individual Office 2010 licenses.

This is an update regarding the status of Information Technologies & Services support for Windows 7.

For New Hardware Purchases

If you are planning to purchase new hardware with Windows 7 installed, make sure that the system meets the minimum requirements outlined by Microsoft.

We recommend Dell Optiplex 745, 755, 760, 780 and 790.

The ITS Web Design & Development group recently launched three new web sites for Weill Cornell Medical College:

Music & Medicine
Lead designer: Bernard Boey

ITS has been made aware of a new phishing attempt against WCMC email users. Users should delete emails entitled "To retain your med.cornell.edu Webmail account".

Phishing attempts are a common threat online. While there are tools available to help users automatically identify fraudulent messages, being in the know about ITS policies and procedures is the best way to identify these threats:

The most recent major version of Internet Explorer (IE) available is Internet Explorer 8. Microsoft has announced the End of Life (EOL) for IE 6 to be July 13, 2010. This decision has prompted more and more external sites, including Google, YouTube, and ESPN to drop on-going support for Internet Explorer 6. Upon visiting many of these sites, users may be prompted to upgrade to this latest version.

The department of Information Technologies & Services (ITS) has now completed the compatibility testing for Snow Leopard and supported applications for Mac. We have certified Snow Leopard for most of the applications and is now fully supported by ITS.

On Thursday, October 22, Microsoft will be releasing its new operating system, Windows 7. Windows 7 is intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being fully compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible. Windows 7, much like Windows Vista, comes in three different editions for the end-user: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, and Windows 7 Ultimate.

To: The Weill Cornell Medical College Community

From: Vinay I. Varughese, Senior Director, Information Technologies & Services Department

After an extensive process of user interviews, internal research, and web development, I'm pleased to announce the launch of the new ITS web site and service catalog, available immediately at:

http://weill.cornell.edu/its

Please be aware that paystubs issued on 2/6/09 will not contain quota leave balances, such as accrued vacation, sick, and personal time.

ITS, Finance, and HR are currently undertaking a review of quota leave balances for non-academic employees. To ensure that all utilization in the first two pay cycles is accurate, we will suppress balances from the pay stubs.

Your Time Keeper or Departmental Administrator should be able to answer your questions regarding remaining leave balances.

We appreciate your patience while we undertake this task.