so i went to ftp.ncsu.edu and it isn't at all obvious what to do from here

11/27/2005 2:12:41 AM

and....

you really need a FTP program like WS or Bulletproof....

11/27/2005 3:35:13 AM

oh can you not just access it from that site? all it does is bring up a page that looked like a text document, and i don't see how to login or anything like that....so much for doing hw i guess

11/27/2005 3:39:36 AM

in IE, after going to ftp.ncsu.edu, go to File > Login As and log in with you unity id and password

11/27/2005 4:41:25 AM

...its simpler to just go to
ftp://unityid@ftp.ncsu.edu

SmartFTP is a decent ftp program, but IE works alright

11/27/2005 2:22:19 PM

Umm, if it's actually saved to your desktop on a Windows lab machine, it won't be in the space you can access via ftp (your AFS filespace, the K: drive on Windows boxes). The desktop is in a separate filespace (the M: drive, I think?) which cannot be accessed from outside the university. That's one of the reasons they don't recommend you store things there.

If the file is in your AFS space/K: drive, it can be accessed via FTP. *However* FTP is insecure; it transmits your unity password in plain text. This is a Bad Thing; even if you don't care if someone can access the data in your unity space, they could use your account for other illegal purposes and you could be held responsible. Instead of FTP, you should use a secure protocol such as SCP or SFTP. For more information, and to get programs that you can use to securely access your space, check out: http://www.eos.ncsu.edu/remoteaccess/scp.html

11/27/2005 11:50:14 PM

Quote :

"FTP is insecure; it transmits your unity password in plain text. This is a Bad Thing; even if you don't care if someone can access the data in your unity space, they could use your account for other illegal purposes and you could be held responsible."

Listen to this man

11/27/2005 11:53:34 PM

are there really people sitting there trying to get people's unity info from ftp?

11/28/2005 12:02:03 AM

^ It's a good way to get free TWW aliases.

11/28/2005 12:38:57 AM

^there are other ways

Quote :

"they could use your account for other illegal purposes and you could be held responsible. Instead of FTP, you should use a secure protocol such as SCP or SFTP. For more information, and to get programs that you can use to securely access your space, check out:"

at work, i can't install programs. the USB drives are all disabled (no clue why...trying to get the tech folks to answer that), and i have a couple of work files i'd like to work on when i'm not there, as well as a couple of times while i was at work that i needed something i'd saved on my unity space.
the whole gmail thing is getting old, so FTPing like this is my only option for accessing said files.


[Edited on November 28, 2005 at 3:15 PM. Reason : coherence]

11/28/2005 3:13:46 PM

If you can't install programs at work, you are kind of screwed. You could talk to your tech folks and see if they'd be willing to install SCP or SFTP for you though. Mention "security" to a tech person and most of the competent ones will be willing to at least consider the idea.

If USB/flash drives are completely disabled, they probably wanted to prevent people from booting off them and went a step too far. A lot of newer computers have a "no boot" option under USB in the BIOS that allows the drives to be read, but not bootable. If that's not the case, they may have decided to turn it off completely in the BIOS to prevent booting. A bit extreme, but...

11/28/2005 4:58:58 PM

Quote :

"at work, i can't install programs"

WinSCP doesn't require "installing". It is a single file. If you can save it to your desktop or a temp directory, you can use it and not send your username, password, or files in the clear.

http://www.eos.ncsu.edu/remoteaccess/winscp.html

To be completely honest, not many people are going to try and steal your unity password while you are using FTP. Its not really likely.

But lets think about what you can get to using that username and password. There is all the university stuff, like getting your classes dropped, sharing your homework online and getting you up for cheating, or stuff like that. You can also usually tell what banking, online shopping sites people have gone to. If you have the web browser's on the lab machines save your passwords, you can just copy all that shit and buy stuff on amazon.

Is any of that likely? No. But if you get your shit stolen or messed with, the University isn't gonna get your back.

11/28/2005 8:17:11 PM