Summer is Over

Summer was officially over for me last week when the rush of retreats and back to school meetings started. Friday brought the big bash on campus in the form of Blue & Gold Day with hoards of students flooding the parking lots. Students and parents filled the dorms as furniture and luggage was lugged, crammed, and kicked up the stairs into the new little room that will be life for the next year.

In the spirit of back to school, I went looking for an awesome quote or hack to share with you. Instead, I stumbled across 9 websites created for all you students to save $$$money$$$. I am all about coupons and discounts especially when it comes to textbooks. So, here are some money saving tips: http://mashable.com/2012/08/17/textbook-sites/

Look around. Have fun and have a great start to the semester.

Get a Networking Degree

Recently our telecommunications degree was changed to reflect the networking content that we have been teaching for years. The new name, reflected below and hopefully soon above in the header, is information networking and telecommunications (INT). But what does a degree in networking mean? The degree is not social networking. The degree does not teach how to maintain media communication networks--speaker wires, video wiring, or microphone wiring. This degree focuses on the nitty gritty technical details of routing, switching, circuits and multiplexing, as well as, soft skills like leadership, business skills and management skills.

So what in the world do you do with this degree? Many exciting choices exist with a networking degree. Hackers, like Anonymous, have recently made the news with their many exploits. With a networking degree, you could work for a business and try and keep hackers like Anonymous out of your servers and out of your network. You could manage the servers on a network like email, web and DNS. You could manage helpdesk employees. You could manage an enterprise level network including devices like routers, switches, firewalls, intrusion detection and VPNs. The possibilities are almost endless.

The key word mentioned above is management. The degree does not aim to make a network techie but rather a well-rounded person. The degree aims to build a person who knows the technical details but also has the communication and leadership skills to move up into management.

Do you know anyone in IT? Ask them what they do. Interested? Get a degree in networking at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK).

Women in Information Networking & Telecommunications

As a woman myself, I want to encourage other women to join the information networking and telecommunications field. Women often bring a different aspect and a different viewpoint to the job and many leaders in industry find this view refreshing. In my former position as a network manager, I had the ability to empathize with our user base. This was a powerful connection as it allowed me to implement concepts and make the network better and more helpful to the users. I have found a short video of three empowering women in the technology field. Click here to watch a short video on women in technology. Ford is a big advocate for women in the pursuit of degrees in technology. I am an advocate for the same. So, this is to all you ladies, who want an engaging and rewarding career. Come join us in INT.

Finals Week in Networking and Telecommunications

This week is a source of stress for some students. My students have worked hard and put in much effort. The final that I have given is hard. It is not easy. The final is an accumulation of a semester long immersion in switching and routing. On the final, the students have to put together the big picture. How do you configure a small network with multiple switches and one router? How do you make a connection out to another router from your small branch office router? At the end of this semester, I hope that all of my students can, not only, answer these questions with confidence, but, implement, as well. After all, we do hands-on over here in INT. It's real-world stuff. So, come join us! Take a tour of our lab. It's real-world.

It's Official!

It's official. Our program name has changed. For all those avid readers out there, our new name is now Information Networking & Telecommunications (INT). Now to change the page header...

Texas Hold 'Em Tournament

Texas Hold 'Em Tournament on April 25th at 6:00pm (during dead week) at Otto Olsen 131. Come early at 5:00pm if you want training. Bring your friends! Anyone is invited! Prizes include a Kindle, t-shirts, and gift cards. Food provided.

10-Year Plan

10-year plans are important. These plans keep us focused on goals. They help us define who we are in the workplace; who we want to be; and who we could be. Do you have a 10-year plan? You can start thinking about your goals by answering the following questions:
- Do you want to obtain a college degree?
- If so, where do you want to go to school?
- If not, what will you do after high school? Where will you live?
- What are you interested in? What do you want to learn?

How will you make these things happen? How will you achieve your goals?
We are talking about this in class tomorrow. Come join the discussion.

Spring break is here!

Where is everyone going on spring break? Me = home.

IT Jobs are in High Demand!

A recent article by Network World says that CIOs are struggling to find talent particularly in networking, security and technical support. Candidates with knowledge of VoIP, cloud computing and databases are highly sought after. Our Telecom and Network program (Telecom Management) here at UNK is the perfect solution for students looking for an exciting career field. Read more from Network World here...

T-shirts are here!

If you are a fan of our program (I know you are), come get a shirt.

http://www.customink.com/proof_approvals/1064983?token=ff58eb36-5a48-11e1-aa61-54520017e231

The Lair of an IT Person

Every IT person needs their own lair. So, in honor of those lairs, I am linking to a post about the best ever potential super villain hideouts. If I was a super IT villain, I would put in a bid. http://www.cracked.com/article_19678_6-abandoned-places-that-will-make-awesome-supervillain-lairs.html

UNK Telecom on Facebook

We are on Facebook! Like us!

Guest Speaker: Bill Hagestad

Bill came and talked to the ITEC485 class on Cyberwarfare this week. His presentation made some of the students start pondering what small things they could do to help. The Internet is a vast and wonderful resource of information, but its international reach has interesting connotations. To see Bill (http://red-dragonrising.com) in action and discuss this in detail, join our program! #ITEC485 #cyberwarfare #degreeinnetworking

Botnet Software?

According to InfoWorld, a new software package has been developed. For only $2399 plus $125/mo, you can have an entire software suite dedicated to creating malware. The monthly fee includes tech support and access to forums. If this topic fascinates you, come join our discussion!

Layers 5 & 6

Two seemingly unimportant layers were intensely discussed today. Layers 5 & 6 get a lot of flack and some even say that they are unimportant. However, encryption and sessions lie within these layers. In a world of security, encryption is a very important aspect. Encryption is integrated into secure wireless, VPNs, and certificates. Sessions are also an important item to remember especially when pondering timeouts on web sessions like Facebook and Gmail. How does that login stay active? I would say that a session is established and that the sessions ends when the user either presses the logout button, the browser is closed or a inactivity timer fires. #ITEC485 #osimodel #networking #security

Is MegaUpload Guilty?

The discussion today in class centered around whether or not MegaUpload should be found guilty. Jennifer Granick's article from Stanford weighed in the debate. Some felt that MegaUpload should not be found guilty, but did admit that perhaps MegaUpload was lax about taking down illegal content. The discussion then shifted to France vs. Yahoo and the impact that the Internet is having on crossing and entangling different countries laws and regulations. France thinks the Internet is uncivilized. MegaUpload kingpin was indicted. What do you think?

In Fight Over Piracy Bills, New Economy Rises Against Old

Legislation (aka #PIPA and #SOPA) had a large number of bipartisan supporters and very little examination generated a huge grass-roots coalition yesterday. Google protested with a blackout over its logo while Reddit and Wikipedia tooks things one step further by blacking out access to their sites greeting users with a sign-in sheet to protest and send to local legislation. In seminar this semester we have discussed such legislation and the widespread effect such regulation will have on the Internet. Will innovation be stifled? Should the Internet be policed? Join the discussion at UNK!