by Willie Pritchard, Vice Chancellor and Chief Technology Officer

We are continuing to make progress in a number of technology areas in the district. First, I am happy to report that through the hard work and concerted efforts of our network and telecommunications staff we are bringing new levels of network stability, performance, and reliability to the district. We have been running network and server monitoring software for a number of months that tracks all network devices and servers we maintain. During this period many devices have been up 100% of the time, most devices have been up 99% or more of the time, and no device has shown reliability of less than 93%. We are proud of this accomplishment and hope you noticed this level of reliability.

Second, we are pleased to share with you the results of the Annual Technology Use Survey conducted of all employees in November. Each year for the last three years, ETS has asked for your evaluation of the services and support we provide. We view the results as an important method of feedback on how we're doing in serving you. This year's survey results show us that while we still have room for improvement, we're making considerable progress in satisfying your technology needs. Our goal in ETS is to continuously improve our service.

Recently we took direct steps to stop the flow of viruses and spam into our network by installing a spam and virus filter. This new software, from Barracuda Networks of Cupertino, has already paid for itself in preventing the MyDoom virus from reaching our computers and is working actively to stem the rising tide of spam from your e-mail in box. Check out "MyDoom Was Not Our Doom" to understand how this new software works and how you can help us make it work even better.

The Educational Technology Advisory Committee, otherwise known as ETAC, has begun the process of reviewing and rewriting the district technology strategic plan. The last plan was developed in 2000. Because technology has changed dramatically since then, as has our budget environment, it's time to revisit that plan and create one that is more relevant for current circumstances. Input and contributions from all employees in the district are welcome. For more information on the process take a look at "ETAC Reviewing Technology Strategic Plan".

Some news for Windows users: Recently ETS installed new network domains for your computer. (Some of you may have noticed something different.) If you're curious about what this means for you, take a look at "A Change for Windows Users".

We are implementing a new feature in this issue of News Bytes -- Tech Alerts and Project Status Reports. This feature will provide you with a summary of significant projects we're working on and include late-breaking news about technology. We hope you find this new section of News Bytes helpful. Please let us know what you think by sending email to newsbytes@fhda.edu.

And finally, we continue our tradition of providing you with answers to frequently asked questions; this time the questions are about what that new [BULK] message means in the subject line of your email messages.