Inside:

Update

Still haven’t switched to your new Mail@umd e-mail account? Well, what are you waiting for? Students can set up their own Mail@umd accounts at any time to start taking advantage of its improved service, which includes 50 MB of storage space, access your e-mail over the Internet using a Web browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape, and virus protection at the server level to prevent virus-infected messages from ever reaching your inbox. More than 8,000 students have already started using their accounts.

You have two options for activating your new Mail@umd e-mail account. You can activate a new account or, if you have old e-mail on WAM or Glue that you’d like to move into your new account, you can activate your new account and migrate your old e-mail files using the tool at www.oit.umd.edu/new. E-mail service on WAM and Glue will be discontinued in the future, however other services will be continued. If you plan to migrate old e-mail files, please read the migration instructions at www.oit.umd.edu/email.

You will need to know your University Directory ID and Password before migrating or activating your new account. You can find out your University Directory ID and Password at www.directory.umd.edu. These will be your login and password for the Mail@umd e-mail system as well. You will be able to access your e-mail on the Web at www.mail.umd.edu.

After you activate your Mail@umd e-mail account, be sure to update your e-mail address in Testudo. The university will use the e-mail address you have listed in Testudo to send any official university communications to you. After you graduate, you will retain your e-mail account for six months.

More information about the Mail@umd e-mail system is available at www.oit.umd.edu/email.

Technology Trendwatch:
Blogging

What do Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, the University of Baltimore Law Library and thousands of regular citizens have in common? The answer is blogging. Blogs—a hybrid of the phrase “Web logs”—are online journals of sorts that can provide news on a broad scale or just the day-to-day musings and occurrences of the average Joe or Jane. From providing pithy political commentary to recording what went on at the bar on a Saturday night, bloggers talk about everything and anything.

“Some people start a blog as an alternative form of journalism, a very democratic way of sharing and commenting on news. Others do it as an outlet for their feelings or so friends and family can stay updated on things going on in the blogger’s life,” said one campus blogger. Other bloggers use their space to discuss their work and keep colleagues informed of their progress.

Meg Cybulski, a University of Maryland sophomore English major, is one person in on the blogging trend: “I don’t have time to set up a ‘real’ Web page, especially since there aren’t many free services that are at all of any quality, so I post the happenings and news in my blog. Several of my friends maintain blogs too. It’s a great way to maintain sanity and let people know what’s up and a super place to give and get comfort and support if needed. I guess I’m just a huge fan of the concept, but that’s the writer in me talking.”

Often, bloggers include links to pictures they’ve taken, sound files they want others to hear, and other blogs they find particularly interesting or cool. There is usually also a place for readers to leave comments for the blogger.There are a variety of Web sites first-time bloggers can use to get started. Our favorites. Check out www.pitas.com, www.livejournal.com, and www.blogspot.com, which are all free. Just remember that what you write could potentially be seen by family, strangers, and friends alike.