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The Holidays brings two of my favorite parts of the year - food, and technology! Gearing up to the holidays can be a bit of a process, and hopefully I can steer you towards a couple ways of elevating you experience and transcending your holiday traditions. Read on if you are in the market for a couple different ways to add technology in to the fold.

 


Cooking Data

By Justin Smith

If you're anything like me, the thought of tossing your laptop in the oven might have crossed your mind a couple times in the past year or two. :) Thankfully, that's not what I mean by "cooking data".

One of my solutions to hack the holidays is the "Meater Plus" thermometer. This wireless wonder leverages a Bluetooth signal to a base-station that enables you to see both the internal temperature of your cook, AND the ambient temperature of your cooking method. Knowing both of those temperatures is invaluable when geeking-out on your big meal!

Once setup, you can use your smart-phone to monitor the temperature of whatever is cooking in the oven and it will even send you a notification when it is time to remove it from the oven.

Check out the various models available over at the Meater Website.

I personally leverage the "Meater Plus" along with my back-yard smoker to get a better idea of the ambient temperature of the smoker, without having to open it up, and loose that valuable humidity that's making my meal, oh so much, better.

Here is the summary of the cooking data from a recent meal I prepared. When utilizing the app, if you tap on the graph, you can also get an precise temperature report.

screen shot of mobile phone application

 

Meater Website

 


How to Change Your User Profile in Colleague Self Service

by  Lisa Sawyer

How to Change Your User Profile in Colleague Self Service

Did you know you can change some of your personal information yourself in Self Service?  You can add or edit the following:

  • Home (Legal/Permanent) and Mailing Addresses
  • Personal Email Address (“Internet” Type)
  • Home and Cell Phone Numbers

 

In order to do this, you will first need to login to Self Service through either My Canyons by selecting the Self Service tile or going directly to https://selfservice.canyons.edu/Student/Account/Login.

 

Once you are in Self Service, click on your User ID on the top right and select the User Profile menu.  Here you can add or edit your information.

Colleague Self Service Welcome Page

Colleague Self Service Profile Settings

 


New Year, New SSO for Zoom!

by Sally Rowland

In order to improve security,  effective January 3rd, we will be migrating from allowing sign on to Zoom via email to only allowing signon with your CanyonsID. 

Follow these steps to login to Zoom on your office computer.

Step 1: Select SSO as the sign in method on the login screen

  Screen shot of zoom login window  

 

Step 2: Enter “canyonsonline” as the company domain

  Screen shot of zoom login window.  

 

Step 3: Enter your CanyonsID credentials and select Login

  Screen shot of zoom login window.  

 

Step 4: Enjoy Zoom!

 


picture frames

December to Remember

by Sally Rowland

Struggling with a phone full of photos and memories but never print or display them because you just can't think of an easy way?  What better time to do so than when hosting a holiday meal! For a meaningful guest experience, download your favorite photos of yourself with each family member, friend, or guest attending and use a small digital picture frame as a place card to mark their seat at your holiday table.  Digital picture frames have become increasingly more affordable and multifunctional.  This frame can be used as a keychain for guests long after the meals ends to treasure the photos you selected with them for years to come!

 


Danger Lurking in USB

by Michael Gunther

Imagine driving into work and as you are walking to your office, you notice a USB stick lying on the ground.

  usb-drive on the ground usb drive on the ground

You might be tempted to try to return the device to its owner by plugging it into your computer and looking for some identifying information.  Don't do this!  This is a routine attack vector hackers use to lure employees of organizations into inserting malware infected devices into their computers.  Once the device is inserted, the malware automatically runs and gives the hacker control of the employee's computer.  You should never insert unfamiliar USB devices into your computer.  Instead, turn these devices into the Help Desk and report where you found the device.  Help Desk staff can safely examine the device and attempt to return it to its rightful owner.

Also be aware that "free", public USB charging stations at airports and coffee shops pose significant risks as well. 

  a person holding a cell phone, plugging it into a public charging station  

 

Because mobile devices tend to use the same cables and ports for charging as they do for transferring data, there is significant concern that hackers could steal data from or upload malware to your mobile devices.  "You might have seen a public USB charging station at an airport or shopping center. But be warned, a free charge could end up draining your bank account," says Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Luke Sisak in November 2020.

In general, its best to avoid inserting any unfamiliar devices into your computer and avoid connecting your mobile devices to any unfamiliar USB ports.  Use your own charging adapters or battery bank to avoid using public USB ports.