Love Your Computer events spread security, technology awareness

Pitt wants you to

Computing Services and Systems… Pitt wants you to

Computing Services and Systems Development’s Love Your Computer events began March 30 and will run until the end of next week. The planners focused the event on safe computing, theft prevention and awareness. This year, CSSD took a number of steps to get more students involved, the program’s director said.

Love Your Computer Week became Love Your Computer two-and-a-half weeks this year. Pitt’s CSSD sponsored the first Love Your Computer Week five years ago.

Jinx Walton, Vice Chancellor and director of CSSD, helped to plan this year’s Love Your Computer event as well as previous ones. She said the department changed the event schedule to last more than one week to accommodate more students’ schedules.

The timing of the event also changed. Usually, CSSD holds the week around Feb. 14. Walton said the massive snow storm in February didn’t interfere with planning. Before the snow struck, CSSD scheduled the event later in the school year to try and get more students to show up, she said.

The change didn’t please all students. Freshman David Hornbeck said he thought the events centered around caring for your summer. He questioned CSSD’s change of date.

“If you mix up the date, people won’t associate with it,” Hornbeck said. “One of the only weeks out of the year that people normally associate with love is Feb. 14.”

CSSD uses student feedback and requests in order to plan the events. Walton said that most of their events, as a result, focus on “safe computing,” which includes engraving laptops, providing LoJack computer security software free for students and virus prevention information.

Laptop engraving helps to identify a computer if stolen. Specialists use a laser or a special pen to mark the computer with a name, address or other design that can make the computer easier to identify for law enforcement, according to Washington University’s computer security website.

Computrace LoJack, the software available through CSSD from Absolute Software, can be activated if a computer is stolen to help locate it. The program reports its location to the software company every 15 minutes when the computer is stolen, according to Absolute Software’s website. The information can then be forwarded on to law enforcement to recover the computer, according to the site.

All of the events this year, except the console gaming party on March 30, center on secure computing.

The next events are Tuesday, which include a session with free laptop engraving and LoJack software in the William Pitt Union, as well as an information session on safe and green computing in Litchfield Towers lobby, according to the website. Both events will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

By spreading out the events, Walton said they hoped to get more students to come. CSSD did not create more events, but spread them out over two-and-a-half weeks.

More than 2,500 students attended last year’s Love Your Computer events, Walton said.

She said the theme for this and most other computing weeks have been safe computing.

This past fall, CSSD held a “computing carnival” with games and information about safe computing. It was enough of a success, Walton said, that they’re planning to hold a bigger one this coming fall, about a month after freshmen get to campus.

CSSD also provides a number of software programs and has a 24-hour help line for students.