Welcome to the University of Helsinki
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Upon entering the University of Helsinki you will be faced with a number
of minor obstacles, one of which is getting computer access. It needn't, however, be a
problem as our task at the IT Department is to smooth out the creases between you and the
computer network. The first thing you'll need to do is to apply for a user account, which
enables you to access our computers. Normally, you will be given an account to our
microcomputer network, but if you are studying computer science you can get a UNIX account
as well. You can access the computers at seven locations: Fabianinkatu, Vallila,
Unioninkatu, Bulevardi, Siltavuori, Kumpula and the Undergraduate Library. Submit your
applications to the User Account Office, which is located at the Fabianinkatu Computer Lab
(Fabianinkatu 24). Alternatively, you can apply for a user account through your
department's office. |
Micro-
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Let us suppose you have already received your microcomputer network
account and found your way to the Fabianinkatu Computer Lab. The humdrum of machinery and
people pervades your senses, your pulse races and you feel your palms starting to sweat,
as you cannot decide which one of all these different types of computers to seat yourself
at. You dig out this magazine and recheck the facts; yes, I could use a Macintosh or one
of the PC workstations. The Macs are situated in the rooms 134 and 116, whereas the PCs
are in the rooms 132 and 133. In addition there are a couple of PCs and a Mac in the
cubicle 112 and they are hooked up to either a scanner or a CD-R. You place yourself at the end of a line of three people waiting to access the computers in the room 132. You hear the girl in front of you talking to her friend in a nervous tone of voice. She is speaking Finnish but you think she is saying that she is afraid to use the Windows NT workstations because she doesn't even know how to log in. She prefers using the older workstations running the 'Network Windows', since that is what she has at home. "Excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhearing you talking about the NT computers and I am in a bit of a hurry, so would you mind if I go ahead of you and access one of them?" The girl blushes and replies: "Sure, they are those computers with a Windows NT sticker glued to their monitors." "Thanks," you reply and take a seat in front of a workstation marked in such a fashion. In an experienced fashion you depress the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys and type in your user name .johndoe.hum.hy, enter the secret password you have been given at the account office and click on OK to log in. You are prompted to change your password and you do so because the lady in the office prepped you to do so when logging in for the first time. The Novell Application Launcher loads up and there are a lot of icons on the right hand side of the window, which represent the different applications at your disposal. You recognize several of the applications: Corel Wordperfect, Netscape Navigator, Adobe Photoshop, MS Office to name a few. You are a bit puzzled with the email setup so you decide to go and ask the helpdesk person in the room 130 to give you a hand. Instead detaching his prosthetic arm he decides to help you in person. "I just got my user account and was wondering how to set up my email." "Uhm-uhm . . . you got a microcomputer network account?" "Yes and I would like to use Pegasus Mail because that's what I'm used to using back home." "OK, then you must redirect your Helsinki-posti mail alias to your LAN server, since Pegasus Mail supports only the POP3 protocol. By default your mail is directed to the MAPPI server, which uses the IMAP protocol. Which faculty are you from?" "The Faculty of Arts," you reply. "So your LAN server is ELO and the easiest way to redirect your mail is to use the web form at https://www-db.helsinki.fi/perl-bin/mappi_tilaus." He launches Netscape and enters the address on the command line. "OK now you will have to enter your username and password into the Login: and Password: fields." You comply and click on the login button. "The form is in Finnish but gist of it is that the mail server is selected from the 'Valitse postikone:' pop-up menu. Having selected the desired computer, you can click on the 'Päivitä/Update' button and the 'Logout' button." You follow suit. "Now all the email sent to john.doe@helsinki.fi will be directed to ELO instead of MAPPI. One thing you should remember, however, is that if you intend to use both the Network Windows and the Windows NT workstations you must use the older version of Pegasus Mail (2.55), since the file format on the newer version (3.01) is incompatible with the older and will corrupt your mail folders when both are used in succession." "OK, thanks a lot. I think can take it from here," you reply and click on the Pegasus Mail 2.55 icon. "Oh, before you go could you tell me how to log in to the computers running Network Windows?," you holler after him. "Sure, after starting the computer type login .username.hum.hy in the K:\LOGIN: prompt, whereafter you are asked to enter your password. The windows will start with the command win." "Thanks again." "No prob." The anecdote above describes a more or less painless transition into our IT
environment. If you are having problems with applying for or setting up your account do
not hesitate to contact the helpdesk. It is their job to help you in most of the computer
related problems. You should remember, however, that they will not do your work for you
;-) |
| I think email is an issue which needs further clarification, since it can
be set up in several different ways. By default, new users get an IMAP-account,
which means that they will be able to read their mail anywhere in the world given that
they have at least WWW access. This is all made possible through the IMP
service, which enables you to read your mail through a web page - pretty much in the same
way as if you were using Hotmail or the like. The address for the IMP web page is http://www.helsinki.fi/mappi. This, however is not
the only way to access the IMAP mailbox, as you can access it with an SSL
capable mail program such as Netscape Messenger. Note that you will have
to set up the mail program before you can access the MAPPI server. In addition to the IMAP
mailbox, new users will be assigned another mail box on their network server. Before using
it, however, you should remember to redirect your incoming mail to it. Furthermore, if you
have a Unix account you will be assigned a third mailbox on the CC
server. |
Dial-Up Networking |
HY-PPP is a remote access service for the students and faculty of Helsinki
University. All you need to have to access the Internet at home is a computer, a modem or
an ISDN adapter, a telephone line (and of course an active user account). There are three
different numbers you can connect to: 731 691 (the main series), 476 735 (older modems),
774 2180 (science students). For specific details on how to set up your connection you
should navigate to http://www.helsinki.fi/atk/yhteydet/ppp/english/
Lari Huttunen |
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