Vassar Technology Today | Tips for improving Internet communication

Secure e-mail, send on-line faxes, share VSpace files

Matt Leung Assistant Managing Editor

Love them or hate them, computers are a central part of a college student’s life. The following are some tips to help you make the most out of your computing experience at Vassar.

Type in an “s” to secure your e-mail

When you’re sending an e-mail, security is probably the last thing on your mind, but these days, you can’t be too careful. Luckily, there is an easy way to ensure that your e-mail is secure. Once you are logged into Vassar’s webmail from a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, add an “s” after the “http” in the address bar, and hit “enter” to enable HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol over SSL [Secured Socket Layer]). You will see the lock icon appear in your browser to indicate the secured connection. This encrypts the connection between your computer and the webmail server, and thus helps prevent e-mail eavesdropping.

Send faxes over the Internet

While you can fax through the Post Office in Main, it is expensive and requires you to leave the comfort of your dorm room. Fortunately, a bunch of tech geeks have solved this problem. The following websites offer you the ability to send and receive faxes through the Internet—in fact, they’ll even provide you with your own fax number. All faxes can be sent or received through an application that they provide, e-mail, and web interface.

eFax (efax.com)—A free version is available to receive faxes only, with a local number with which they provide you. A paid version, $12.95 per month, is required to send faxes, and they’ll give you a toll—free fax number.

Send2Fax (send2fax.com)—Costs $1.95 per month and 15¢ per page sent or received. Fax encryption to securely send and receive faxes is available at an additional cost.

MyFax (myfax.com)—A $10 monthly fee covers up to 300 pages of sent or received faxes.

Log files with VSpace

In case you weren’t aware, there’s more to VSpace than just allowing you to use the HTTPS to share files with others. You can also track to see if other users viewed the file or not by creating subscriptions.

Next to the file you want to share, click on the “manage” icon. Then click on “subscriptions;” this sets VSpace to notify you via e-mail if another user views, comments, or changes your file, providing that you gave other users the proper permission. Permissions can be set by clicking on the “permissions” icon next to a file. You can also create a ticket to hand out to others to access the file. Create such a ticket by clicking on “tickets,” then “create ticket” after you click on the “manage” icon next to the file.

If for no other reason, you could try these things on your computer once you get bored of checking and rechecking facebook.