The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Mac OSX Operating System

Resolve Startup Problems on a Mac with Disk Utility

Improper shutdown or power interruptions can create file system errors that stunt the start-up process.  This article provides a couple preferred ways to fix these issues on a Mac computer.

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Operating System Security Virus/Malware Windows

Help! I think I have a Virus (Windows)

First it’s important to verify that your computer is infected. The general sign for malicious software is that your computer stopped working as expected. The obvious problem with this is that there are a whole lot of reasons your computer can stop working correctly that are not caused by viruses. For example software updates can often cause unexpected side effects, hardware can stop working, and users can change settings without truly understanding the effect of the change they made. The most general way to determine that you actually have malware is to ask yourself could somebody be making money off of what is happening to my computer. The fact is that almost every piece of malicious software in existence was created with the intent of making money. That being said here are some common signs that your computer may be infected:

Categories
Apps iOS Learning Management Systems Operating System

Digital Education

ibooks_itunesu_ios7-600x300In today’s world, it seems that we have an application for everything. We have apps for managing our schedule, listening to music, and creating and editing video. We have apps for helping us watch what we eat and making sure we get enough exercise. We have apps for entertainment and we have apps for productivity. Within an application market filled to the brim with apps to make our lives easier and more enjoyable, it would just make sense to have an application dedicated to education. As of right now, this market resides as a largely untapped resource. Many of our readers have probably owned an iPhone at one point, and many of these owners have probably noticed an application called “iTunes U”, which they have probably ignored, myself included. iTunes U is Apple’s attempt at an app dedicated to education – populated with courses and integrated with iBooks and the cloud, iTunes U is a work in progress that has the potential to kick start the digital education market, and help revolutionize how we learn in this day and age.

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Apps iOS Software Web

Listen to YouTube on iOS

YouTube has tons of uses – primarily video watching, but often podcasts and music can be found on the great video behemoth. While iOS 7 has plenty of music players, sometimes you want to listen to something you’ve found on YouTube without killing your battery by leaving the screen on. But when you want to listen (and not watch) a video on your iPhone, what do you do?

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Operating System

Cryptocurrencies: Much Coin Wow—Doge Edition—

The Age of Physical Currencies is passing and making way for a new era of digitization. With the development of apps and smart phones, never has it been easier to bank or move money on the go. You can do everything from transferring money to even depositing checks in the palm of your hand. Money is slowly becoming less and less tangible, but the question is how intangible can it really become?

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Library Web

eBooks

The UMass Amherst library is the tallest academic library in the world.  With twenty-six floors, the library has a wide variety of academic and recreational books, as well as online resources available to students, faculty, and staff.  One of these online resources is eBooks.  A wide variety of classic texts and articles are now available as eBooks that community members can access easily on laptops, tablets, and mobile devices.

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Linux Mac OSX Web Windows

Add-Drop Walkthrough

So as the new semester rolls around, as does add-drop period. If you don’t know what this is, it is the time during the first couple of weeks in which you are free to add or drop a class without having to go through the Registrar’s office: it can all be done through Spire!

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Operating System

New to Moodle? An Intro for First-Time Users

Moodle logo

Moodle is a service widely-used across campus, allowing students to submit assignments, access various course material, take online quizzes, view grades, and more.  As a UMass student, you’ll likely be enrolled in at least one class that requires some student-professor interaction through Moodle – and so, getting to know the ropes is pretty important, and will save you some stress when you have that midnight deadline creeping up!

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Operating System

Connecting to UMass

Whether you are a freshman on campus, or someone that just got a new phone and wants to connect to the internet, this guide will show you how to properly connect all your devices to UMASS Wireless.