JASON MARSHALL JOHNSON: September 2007 Archives

Well ok, joining a Facebook Group will not let you physically see the world, but it was a good title. I created a Facebook Group entitled Users Who Support Wireless Universal Access at Penn State, or as I like to call it UWSWUAPS (the first section is a palindrome and the other spells aps, how cool is that?). Any way, this group already has 25 members and will hopefully grow to a larger size soon. I know that will be expecting a lot; It is easier to get 6,000 members to join a group about PSU Football tickets than it is to get them fired up about WIFI. Hopefully this will be the beginning of a movement that will give the University further reason to re-evaluate their current wireless system.I have written this before and I will write it again, I have the utmost respect for those who conceptualized the VPN here at PSU, and those who maintain it. It is easy to make a call for action when you aren't the one who has to go and switch out the Cisco 3000 boxes and develop something like UserID authentication into a University-Wide system. That being said, go ahead and check out the group and join up if you would like to support the cause. Don't forget to invite your friends!This link should take you to the group's page once you log in to Facebook.

Well looks like the end of the road has come for my workaround. I was notified today that "services" at penn state have "taken the necessary measures" to stop my workaround from happening. Allow me to state, that this is not the end of my searching for wireless access points at Penn State. Students, Faculty, and Staff should have the ability to use mobile devices that they purchase via the campus wireless.

Looks like those of us who care, are going to have to take a stand for a little more wireless freedom at Penn State. Perhaps we should start a petition, or contact select services at PSU to start voicing our opinions. I will look into some contact information and post it here.

I decided to re-test my working theory about bypassing the VPN and accessing web pages that are housed within the PSU Domain via the VPN Download Page. Here are my findings:

The page that really starts to open things up for you is www.work.psu.edu
Select the top link to Information Technology Services's homepage
Your iPod Touch will allow you to open new windows within the PSU Domain from this window
Try accessing things like CMS (angel) and Elion
ENJOY Surfing within the PSU realm until a better patch/client/workaround/solution comes out.

Here are some very poor screen shots of my Touch Accessing the internet without a VPN.

just want to post that I am blogging from my touch on the psu network sans VPN. Got some screenshots of this, will post them later. This confirms that the blogs at Penn state project can be accessed on campus without a VPN.

Really quickly,

I want to point out that I have experienced the following problem while using my Touch: Using Safari, Screen Flip, and Multi Touch while listening to music will sometimes cause the music to stop playing completely. In other cases, the music will cut out and the Safari Window will close.

I am on the phone with Apple now and will update as soon as possible.

One of my biggest fears about getting an iPod Touch was that I would not be able to use the WIFI on any PSU campus. This is due to Penn State's use of the Cisco Systems VPN Client to authenticate users before they can access the internet. Cisco has not released any updates to support the iPhone and there has been no indication that there will be any change in this in the near future. Presumably, this would leave iPhone and Touch users out in the cold when it comes to Campus WIFI.

Well, good news fellow Penn Staters, I have an answer for getting online using the Touch's Safari browser without the use of the VPN client. I was sitting in Music Building II today and I decided it was high time to attempt to get online with my Touch, despite the obvious obstacle presented by the VPN Client. Now we all know that the ONLY page that is supposed to be accessed without a VPN client on Campus is the VPN download page. I opened up Safari and went to https://work.psu.edu/access/vpn . This worked on the Touch, so I decided to open different pages that were linked to the vpn page. Low and behold, my iPod Touch began to load them.

I decided to try to use items on PSU's Domain, anything with @psu.edu attached to the URL. Here is a list of pages/services that I was able to use on my Touch, without the VPN.

Here is a list of websites that will provide some valuable information for using the iPod Touch.

So as many of you may know, the iPod Touch made its debut about 2 weeks before Apple's posted ship date of September 28th. Some users have reported that they saw the devices in Apple Retail shelves as early as September 12th.

> pictured: an iPhone next to the new iPod Touch

Now I pre-ordered my 16 gigabyte iPod Touch on the 6th of September at 1:07 PM EST from the apple online store thinking that the earliest that Apple Retail Stores would get the devices would be September 25-26. Generally, Apple Retail Stores get new products 2-3 days before they are shipped from the Online Store to consumers. Hearing that the Touch was showing up all over the place I decided to call Apple and ask why it had been released so quickly. I was told that new devices always show up before online shipping and that there was nothing that could be done to bump my ship date up.

"Nothing can be done" didn't sit too well with me, especially if I was going to get the device that I had Pre Ordered 20 days after it hit the market. So I went to Best Buy's Online Store and checked the availability of the 16 gigabyte iPod Touch in the State College Area. I then reserved one in Altoona, cancelled my Apple Store Order, and picked up the Touch after the PSU Buffalo Game.

So far I love the device, more posts will follow on how students can use the Touch and devices like it in their digital lives on and off campus.