February 2013 - ISG-news - lists.phys.ethz.ch

[ISG News] Notes on warranty (Garantie vs. Gewährleistung)
by Christian Herzog 19 Feb '13

19 Feb '13

ISG News has posted a new item, 'Notes on warranty (Garantie vs. Gewährleistung)' This post might help to clarify some questions related to the warranty conditions of new hardware. It is the result of internal inquiries we performed in reply to customer requests. Skip if you're not interested. Switzerland, like other European countries, knows two forms of liability a vendor has to/can offer to clients of its hardware products: Gewährleistung and Garantie. Gewährleistung is mandated by law and covers basic liability if a piece of hardware fails. In Switzerland, Gewährleistung was just extended from 12 to 24 months on Jan 1st, 2013. This means that for the first two years, any defect whose cause was already present at the time of purchase has to be covered by the vendor. As you can probably guess, the part in italic can be the crucial one. Garantie is a voluntary service offered by most, but not all vendors. Its conditions can be pretty freely chosen by the vendor, unlike Gewährleistung where the terms are given by law. Garantie can cover a wider range of defects and it can also be a service you have to pay for. Now how does this matter to you? Let's take a current real life example: you'd like to buy a new Apple MacBook Pro 13". Right now, you have a number of interesting options: Neptun: CHF 1305.-, 2 years of Gewährleistung (by law), 3 years of Apple Garantie (price of Apple Care included) Dataquest: CHF 1240.-, 2 years of Gewährleistung (by law), 2 years of Dataquest Garantie. Additionally, you can pay CHF 99.- for a third year of Dataquest Garantie. Apple EDU Store: CHF 1268.-, 2 years of Gewährleistung (by law), 1 year of Apple Garantie. Additionally, you can pay CHF 210.- for another 2 years of Apple Garantie. IDES offers the same to ETH employees for CHF 195.- It's hard to tell if the conditions of the additional Garantie are really more accommodating than those of the mandatory Gewährleistung. Wear parts like the battery for example are typically covered by neither. Harddisks on the other hand (most common failing part in a laptop) should be covered by both. In the end the best option will also depend on your usage pattern and the expected life time of your device. Regardless of the type of warranty you have, you should always report any problem you'd like to get fixed as soon as possible. Sources: Apple warranty conditions Computer World article You may view the latest post at https://nic.phys.ethz.ch/news/2013/02/19/notes-on-warranty-garantie-vs-gewa… You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are posted. Best regards, Christian Herzog daduke(a)phys.ethz.ch

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[ISG News] ISG Helpdesk Service Interruption - Reprise
by Christian Herzog 12 Feb '13

12 Feb '13

ISG News has posted a new item, 'ISG Helpdesk Service Interruption - Reprise' Apparently this time they mean it: On Thursday, February 14, ETH facility services will conduct extensive power network tests in the HPT building, where ISG (and hence the helpdesk) is located. Power will be gone for ~ 2 hours starting around 13:30. During this time we will not be able to answer the helpdesk phone or work on your tickets. We'll post an update when power is back. You may view the latest post at https://nic.phys.ethz.ch/news/2013/02/12/isg-helpdesk-service-interruption-… You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are posted. Best regards, Christian Herzog daduke(a)phys.ethz.ch

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[ISG News] The End of TWIG Webmail
by Christian Herzog 05 Feb '13

05 Feb '13

ISG News has posted a new item, 'The End of TWIG Webmail' For the last 4.5 years, our customers could choose from two webmail solutions: Roundcube and TWIG. With the introduction of Roundcube we announced the eventual removal of the old TWIG service which hasn't been updated in years and poses a serious risk in terms of security and spam distribution. Now the time has come to finally turn it off. All remaining TWIG users: please switch to Roundcube, TWIG will be disabled tomorrow, February 5, 2013. You may view the latest post at https://nic.phys.ethz.ch/news/2013/02/05/the-end-of-twig-webmail/ You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are posted. Best regards, Christian Herzog daduke(a)phys.ethz.ch

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[ISG News] Filemaker Upgrade 11 -> 12 (Server and Clients)
by Christian Herzog 04 Feb '13

04 Feb '13

ISG News has posted a new item, 'Filemaker Upgrade 11 -> 12 (Server and Clients)' Usually Filemaker upgrades are pretty seamless as newer clients can deal with older server versions. This time however the Filemaker company decided to implement major changes into their FM12 upgrade that require a new database format. This means that FM12 server can't talk to FM11 clients and vice versa. Hence we have to upgrade both server and client in one go. This migration will take place on Monday, February 11, starting at 17:00. This upgrade will affect you if you either: a) use remote databases from fm.phys.ethz.ch, b) use one of our managed workstations on which the client will be upgraded, or c) both. Actually, case c) will be the easiest as after the migration things should just work again on FM12. In case of a) you'll have to make sure that you upgrade your local FM11 client before you can continue using our remote databases (see this howto). For b): if you're on a managed workstation, you'll find the new FM12 client on Tuesday morning. If you're working with local databases (not from fm.phys.ethz.ch), you'll have to upgrade those databases to the FM12 format. FM12 will do this for you automatically when you open FM11 databases for the first time. The server migration itself will probably take one hour during which time the remote databases on fm.phys.ethz.ch will NOT be available. The clients will be installed during the night Monday -> Tuesday. If you need access on your managed workstation on Monday evening after ~18:00, please let us know so that we can upgrade the client on your machine earlier. You may view the latest post at https://nic.phys.ethz.ch/news/2013/02/04/filemaker-upgrade-11-12-server-and… You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are posted. Best regards, Christian Herzog daduke(a)phys.ethz.ch

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