Where can I go for help?

How do I get an email account?

If you would like an account for email only, you can apply for a free account on CalMail, the campus-wide mail server. You can do this yourself by going to the CalMail home page and click on the link to create a new e-mail account. The instructions are easy to follow and the account should become active very quickly. CalMail allows you to use a POP or IMAP mail client such as Apple Mail, Outlook, or Thunderbird to access your mail. They also provide a web-based interface to access your mail while away from your main computer (http://calmail.berkeley.edu/). Note that you cannot login to CalMail with Telnet or FTP applications..

Once you have an account on CalMail, you can use the useful web-based tools at http://calmail.berkeley.edu/ to perform various account tasks (i.e., set up forwarding or vacation messages), to set up mailing lists and change spam filter settings.

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Where can I obtain computer software packages?

For a complete list of software that the campus has a site-license for, go to Software Central. Downloadable software such as the latest Symantec Anti-virus, VPN and library proxies can be downloaded here. Many software packages and licenses for Apple's Operating System can be obtained at Academic prices from The Scholar's Workstation. For faculty and lab staff use UC Berkeley has an agreement with Software House International to purchase inexpensive software licenses for vendors such as Adobe, Microsoft and Filemaker.

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What if I want a UNIX account for more than just email?

There are several options, depending upon your interests.

If you would like to be able to telnet, ftp, and have access to programming tools, you can get an account at the Open Computing Facility, a student-run UNIX cluster that is available to all students, faculty and staff at the university. It is fairly dependable but, being a student-run operation, OCF has a limited budget and is not supported as well as CalMail. Personal homepages are allowed on OCF. For more information about how to get an OCF account, visit their homepage at http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/.

Unfortunately the IST run Socrates Unix server has been decomissioned and is no longer offering research accounts

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How do I create a homepage for my lab or for an MCB course?

The MCB webserver, mcb.berkeley.edu, is available for lab and course homepages. Have your PI or course coordinator contact Matt Paul This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (3-5294) to create an account. Faculty members can also set up course home pages using the bSpace application available through the Educational Technology Center (ETS).

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Where can I create a personal homepage?

The best location for personal homepages is OCF. See http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/ for more information.

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What resources are available for learning to make a web page?

Workstation Support Services offers walk-in classes that include lessons in HTML. See http://facility.berkeley.edu/classes.html for more information. A beginner's guide to HTML can be found here. Microsoft Word can be used to convert existing documents into HTML and can create simple web pages. For easy WYSIWYG web page creation try the free application that is being developed KompoZer. For more complex web pages, we recommend a program such as Adobe Dreamweaver, available from Software House International.

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Do I need to worry about computer viruses?

Yes! All computers connected to the campus network, this includes personal laptops, must abide by the Campus Minimum Security Standards. This includes installing anti-virus software.

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Where can I go for help?

For questions about hardware, software, networking, e-mail, etc., contact MCB Computing Support This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (3-5294).

If you have any questions about the mcb web site contact Matt Paul This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (3-5294).

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