Category: Students

  • Phishing isn’t just email … SMISHING!?

    Smishing is a type of social engineering that targets mobile devices (image from https://www.threatcop.com/)

    Please be vigilant in how and where you share your personal information. There are nefarious actors at work on the web and they will do their best to try and trick you into getting access to your money and more personal information.

    The current wave of smishing is concerning. There are systems out there that focus on finding a name associated with an organization and a mobile phone so that they can text you to try to fool you into revealing more information that will compromise your secure services (banking, amazon, netflix, insurance, etc.).

    If they can find the name of a co-worker or some other person associated with you they will use that name to make their attack seem like a request from a friend or colleague … or even a boss.

    Like anything else that seems a bit “off” just delete and move on. Don’t give it second thought … definitely don’t click or respond to anything that gives you pause.

    Below is some helpful information pulled from a web page hosted by Norton, a leading cyber security services firm:

    Smishing attack warning signs

    Use these smishing attack warning signs to know whether a smishing text made its way onto your mobile device.

    Suspicious phone numbers

    Smishing texts may come from phone numbers that don’t look normal at first glance. They may stray from the typical 10-digit layout or a series of the same number. If you see this type of number accompanied by a suspicious-looking message, don’t respond and delete the text immediately.

    Smishing protection tip: Never respond to suspicious text messages.

    Links and files from unknown numbers

    Smishing texts are almost always paired with links to fake websites capable of recording your sensitive information. That’s why if you come across one, never click it. And in the event you do click one, look out for signs of an unsafe site, such as no “http” in the URL or small differences that you’re not used to seeing. 

    Smishing protection tip: Avoid clicking on suspicious links and files.

    Urgent requests

    Most phishing emails and text messages feature urgent requests to frighten the receiver. But any legitimate company will give their customers ample notice about pressing issues. Delete these messages, and if you’re still concerned after the fact, contact the company directly. 

    Smishing protection tip: Never cooperate with urgent requests sent via text.

    Money requests

    Like urgent requests, you should delete text messages asking you to wire or transfer money over the internet. The likelihood that these are hackers disguised to try and steal your funds is extremely high. 

    Smishing protection tip: Never comply with urgent requests for money via text.

    Prize notifications

    The thought of winning a prize is exciting to anyone, but the chances of winning a sweepstakes you haven’t entered is incredibly low. If you receive messages about prizes you won from an unfamiliar contest, avoid clicking on any links attached and delete the text.

    Smishing protection tip: Avoid clicking on suspicious links and files.

    (taken from https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-emerging-threats-smishing.html# on 8/12/2022)

  • Pepperdine’s App!

    Pepperdine’s App

    Experience Pepperdine from Your Mobile Device

    Available for free download on the App Store and Google Play, the Pepperdine mobile app is a go-to resource for all students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of Pepperdine. Gain instant access to Courses, the campus shuttle tracker, dining menus, library hours, a stunning Pepperdine Magazine mobile experience, the Virtual Campus Map, and more.

    Click for more information or to get to the download links

  • Tech Advisory Group

    Want to have an inside view of the tech at Caruso Law? Help guide the development of services and more?

    Join our Tech Advisory Group…

    TAG you’re IT!

    Please send a note to [email protected] and indicate which program you are in (JD, LLM, MLS, etc.), your expected graduation year and include a brief description of what interests you in tech and any background information that may be relevant. No experience with tech is required!

  • Turning Off Private Browsing MAC

    When using Pepperdine’s Wifi network, make sure to turn off private browsing MAC for the best experience.

    Instructions for iOS Apple

    Android

    For Android devices find Wi-Fi in your settings. It will be under a tab called “Connections” or “Networks.” Once you find Wi-Fi, tap on it.

    To the right of ‘pepperdine’ there should be a symbol of a gear. Select it.

    Next, you will want to select “MAC address type.” You may have to scroll down to find it.

    There should be a small pop-up that gives you a few options. Press “Phone MAC.”

    Jump to Android

    Apple

    For, the process is followed in a similar way. Open settings and find “Wi-Fi.”

    Find ‘pepperdine’ in your list, and tap the ‘i’ symbol to the right of it.

    Simply scroll down until you find “Private Wi-fi Address.”

    Finally, make sure it is off.

  • Running out of Room?

    Space really is the final frontier... isn’t it?

    Clearing out space on your computer’s main storage (hard drive) volume doesn’t need to be scary or difficult.

    Most uses of your computer require significant “free” space on the hard drive. When you try to do something that requires some free space, you may run into some errors or worse, you may be blocked from using that software all together.

    Here are a couple of sites that may provide you with some help in removing some of the extraneous contents of your computer’s hard drive.

    For Windows Users: https://www.maketecheasier.com/recover-free-space-windows-c-drive/

    For Mac Users: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206996

  • Westlaw: Drafting Assistant

    To add a Table of Authorities to your Appellate Brief, it is recommended that you use Westlaw’s Draft Assistant tool. The tool will insert a TOA by picking up cases and numbering in your brief. Of course, you also have the option to insert a TOA manually, and you can learn those instructions through the Harnish Law Library’s Word Formatting Page

    1. Log in to lawschool.thomasreuters.com
    2. In the top tab that indicates “Westlaw, TWEN…” click the drop-down arrow. Then click Drafting Assistant Essential.

    3. You will be able to upload a word document. Upload your COMPLETED appellate brief. If it is not fully completed, the numbering and cases will be incorrect.

    4. After uploading your brief, choose “TOA Builder” from the left-hand tool column.

    5. Under the TOA builder you will have the option to add a citation range, and then to “run” the TOA builder.

    6. Once the process has run, and you have selected where your TOA should be placed, select “Finish” and save your new document.

    7. With your new appellate brief, carefully go through your citations and cases to ensure that the TOA builder assigned pages correctly. Also, check to make sure that spaces between periods are correct based on the local classroom rules you received for double- or single-spaces after periods. The TOA builder will not fix spacing automatically.

    Note: If there’s an issue with the Word document that is downloaded from the TOA builder, then you can simply copy and paste the TOA itself into the version of the document the partners have been working on. 

    If you have any questions about the information in this article, please feel free to contact Information Services at [email protected] or (310) 506-7425.

  • View Your Unofficial Transcript

    Your unofficial transcript details cumulative credits and classes taken at Pepperdine, as well as credits from different programs and grades for each class. Some job or post-grad applications even require this document. Please follow the steps below to learn how to access your unofficial transcript.

    1. Go to wavenet.pepperdine.edu and log in using your Pepperdine credentials.
    2. Next, click on Academics in the left column.

    3. Then click on View Unofficial Transcripts.

    4. A dialogue box will appear, prompting you to click on the link. This will allow you to view your transcript, and email a copy to your school email.

    If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about the content covered in this article, please feel free to contact Information Services at [email protected] or (310) 506-7425.

  • Set Up Automatic Zoom Recording in Courses

    The automatic recording feature, found in the setting for your Zoom meetings, is the preferred method for lecture capture at Caruso School of Law.

    Follow the instructions below to set up automatic recordings for your Zoom meetings.

    1. Navigate to  zoom.pepperdine.edu and then log in to your account. Click on Meetings in the left-hand column. Either click on a previously scheduled meeting to alter it to include automatic recording or if you are creating one from scratch, click Schedule Meeting.

    2. Ensure all of the information for the meeting is filled in, then scroll down to the Meeting Options section. Select Automatically Record and In the Cloud.

    Please remember to make that change for all occurrences of the meeting, which is automatic if your meetings are automatically recurring.

    3. Click Save and you are good to go!

    Notes

    • If you would like to come on to Zoom a few minutes before class begins, simply Pause the recording once you enter class and resume when class begins.
    • Unpaused, the recording will continue until it is manually paused or stopped, or you end class, even if you run over scheduled time.

    If you require any technology assistance, please feel free to reach out to Technology Services at (310) 506-6417 or [email protected] 

  • iClicker: Access Exit Poll

    These instructions will allow you to access an exit poll to give feedback at the end of a class through iClicker.

    1. Log into iclicker.com
    2. Click on your course.

    3. Click on the bell at the top right corner.

    4. Click on the session date you want to provide feedback for.

    5. Provide feedback, then click submit.

    IF YOU NEED ANY TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO INFORMATION SERVICES AT (310) 506-7425 OR [email protected]. GOOD LUCK!

  • Use iClicker as a Study Tool

    These instructions will help you use the iClicker app as a study tool for your courses. Please view the instructions below to take advantage of this helpful function in iClicker!

    These study guides are customized by you, the student. Learn below how to locate the study tools section in iClicker, and then how to upload your own content to the study tools so you can begin reviewing.

    Locating the Study Tools in iClicker

    1. Log in to iclicker.com as a Student. If you do not have an account yet or need instructions for logging in, please read this article.
    2. Click into the class you wish to study for. For example, I could click into the “Evidence” course listed below if I wanted to study for that class.

    3. There is a “study tools” button in the top toolbar. Click on it to enter your study section.

    4. You may see that you have no content to review here, if you have not flagged questions. See the below instructions to learn how to flag questions.


    Flag Questions for Study Tools

    1. From the top toolbar in your selected course, select “Class History.” Then click on a poll, which will open up the questions that were asked in that poll.

    2. You may flag questions that you would like to review here, and the flagged questions will appear in the study tools bar.

    3. Now, when you click on the Study Tools button, you will see any questions you flagged. You will now have the ability to use flashcards and practice tests for the questions.

    IF YOU NEED ANY TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO INFORMATION SERVICES AT (310) 506-7425 OR [email protected]. GOOD LUCK!

  • Turn on Zoom Transcripts

    To turn on Zoom transcripts for your Cloud recordings, please view the instructions below.

    1. Log in to zoom.pepperdine.edu (or click this link)

    Click the Sign In button, which will take you to the SSO page. 

    Then, navigate to the far left panel and choose the “In Meeting (Advanced)” tab to open the settings options.

    2. Select All of the Options Below

    Ensure that you click all of the boxes, namely:
    1. Allow use of caption API Token to integrate with 3rd-party Closed Captioning services,
    2. Allow live trascription service to transcribe meeting automatically, and
    3. Allow viewing of full transcript in the in-meeting side panel.

    Also ensure that both the Closed Captioning and Save Captions tabs at the far right are turned on, as shown below.

    During the live recording session, you should now also have the option to “enable live transcripts”, which will insert live, automatically generated closed captions during your class.

    3. Do a test Zoom Pro recording

    Finally, do a test Zoom Pro recording in Courses to see if the transcripts show up in the Cloud Recording.

    You should ideally see the transcript available on the side of the document once the recording is finished uploading.

    If you require any technology assistance, please feel free to reach out to Technology Services at (310) 506-6417 or [email protected] 

  • Adobe Acrobat Pro and Editing PDFs

    We are often asked about a reduced cost or free license for Acrobat Pro for students, faculty and staff.

    If you are using a Pepperdine University-owned computer, chances are it already has Acrobat Pro installed according to the University’s site license with Adobe.

    If you are not using such a computer (note that the Law Library lab computers and the CDO student computers have Acrobat Pro installed), and you need/want to edit PDFs, you will need to find/install your own PDF editor.

    Pepperdine University does not have special pricing for Acrobat Pro for use on a personally-owned computer.

    HOWEVER, there is a regular Adobe educational discount that students, faculty, and staff would qualify for. That product is significantly reduced from their regular pricing. 
    You can link to the educational pricing for Adobe Acrobat here:  https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/pricing/students.html

    Note that Adobe has made their entire Creative Cloud product very attractively priced when compared with the price for just Acrobat alone. For just a few dollars more a month you can have access to many more premium products from Adobe. If that isn’t interesting to you… then you will probably want to investigate other solutions…

    You should also note that most word processors and other software will output in PDF format.  Granted, that won’t help much when you want to edit or modify PDFs but there are alternatives to Acrobat Pro that may be helpful to you and will be much cheaper.

    There is a free service from Adobe called Acrobat online where you must create an account with Adobe to use their “free” software.  We have not tested this but it appears that they will use your Adobe account information to market paid services to you: https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/pdf-editor.html

    Finally, you may find some success in online guides/websites that review PDF editors. As an example, Toms Guide is a pretty well established site that we refer to now and then.  They have a guide to PDF editors that may be helpful to you if you don’t want to pay for the Acrobat Pro subscription or sign up for Adobe marketing with their “free” offering: https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-pdf-editors

    Finally, if you have a Mac, you will find that the built-in product “Preview” is a great tool for annotating your PDFs if that is all you need to do.

    Free and discounted software for students: https://lawtech.pepperdine.edu/free-and-discounted-software-for-students/

  • Editing Zoom Transcripts

    You can learn how to create transcripts in Zoom in our Turn on Zoom Transcripts page. After these transcripts have been created, they can be edited and updated. Please see these instructions on how to edit transcripts.

    Sign in to zoom.pepperdine.edu

    Go to zoom.pepperdine.edu then click “Sign In.” You will be directed to Pepperdine’s CAS, where you can log in using your Pepperdine credentials.

    Click Recordings

    On the left-hand navigation menu, click “recordings.” Click the name of the recording you would like to edit. You will see a list of recording files.

    To edit the name of the recording, click the pencil icon next to the name, which will allow you to type in a new name.

    Click the “play” icon on the recording.

    Click the “play” icon in the middle of the recording. This will open up the recording in a diagnostics screen, where you may edit phrases.

    Edit your Transcript

    There should be a running transcript bar on the side of your video. You can hover over a phrase with your mouse and click edit, allowing you to change the wording of the written transcript.

    On the video itself, you can click the “scissors” icon to clip sections of the video.

    Note that editing will not affect the original recording, but when students download a recording it will be the full-length version.

    To edit, once you have clicked the “scissors” icon shown above, click on the arrows on either end of the video playback range to move them closer or further away. When you click save, the blue section will be set as the new payback range.

    IF YOU NEED ANY TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO INFORMATION SERVICES AT (310) 506-7425 OR [email protected]. GOOD LUCK!

  • Finding Law Course Emails in Gmail

    Each law course has its own unique email address. To find the email linked to your course, please follow the instructions below.

    1. Start a New Message in Gmail

    To search for an email address, log in to your Pepperdine email server, and then start a new message. In the by line, you will be able to search for an email already in the server.

    2. Type in Law number and Course Number

    In the to line, type in the law number and course number, and it will auto-populate. For example, typing “law181.01” should generate the email address attached to that course. Make sure you take note of the current semester, and choose the correct semester in the email address.

    IF YOU NEED ANY TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO INFORMATION SERVICES AT (310) 506-7425 OR [email protected]. GOOD LUCK!

  • Students with Issues Accessing Zoom Through Courses

    You may have issues accessing Zoom through Courses, and receive an error page (shown below). If this is the case, follow the instructions on this page to fix the problem.

    1. Clear Your Browser Cache

    First, you will need to clear browsing data and history. See this post for instructions.

    2. Update Chrome

    Ensure that your Chrome browser has been updated so that it can run the necessary programs. See this page for instructions.

    3. Activate Zoom

    Next, activate your Zoom account by following these instructions.

    4. Reboot Your Computer

    After following steps 1-3, reboot your computer to refresh all pages and save your work.

    5. Try Courses Again

    Now, go ahead and try accessing Zoom from the Courses page again. If you still have issues accessing, please contact the IS desk using the information below.

    IF YOU NEED ANY TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO INFORMATION SERVICES AT (310) 506-7425 OR [email protected]. GOOD LUCK!

  • First Floor Guide

  • Tablets in Law School? Not So Much.

    While the tablet revolution is changing the way many people think about computing and has turned upside down many aspects of how companies deliver services, these changes have not fully made it into the law school experience.

    It’s true that with a keyboard, a tablet can be a great tool for typing, even outlining in a law school class but a tablet still is not a system that is supported for computer-based examinations here at Caruso Law.

    At Caruso Law, students are not required to use a computer for exams but we do encourage it and you will find that we use the same system that the California Bar Exam uses (as well as many other state jurisdictions).

    The iPad, Android Tablets, and any other tablet-based systems are strongly discouraged for law students as a primary computing platform.

    It is our intention to guide law students toward the best possible computing experience during their time in law school. As a law student you have a significant challenge in front of you (law school).  Because of the intense nature of the law school experience you should have the best computer suited for your needs.  This is not to say that you should not own a tablet at all, rather feel free to add a tablet to your stable of tools that includes a reliable laptop.

    When taking notes in class, preparing outlines for study, drafting documents, and especially when taking exams, law students should have a reliable laptop computer. Tablet systems have come a long way but are not supported for the administration of exams at Pepperdine University School of Law.

    Law students are strongly encouraged to acquire and maintain a reliable laptop computer while in law school.  Use of a tablet system (iOS, Android, Windows RT on an MS Surface (cheap but ancient and not supported anywhere anymore)) is strongly discouraged and is not supported for exam administrations.

  • Just Tap! Print/Copy with your ID Card

    If you need to print or copy using the public access copiers at Pepperdine University, just tap your University ID card on the designated area on the printer to log-in and start printing.

    For a video demonstration, click here!

    For more information on printing and copy services, click here!

  • Print Credit for Students at Caruso School of Law

    On the first day of each term students enrolled at Caruso Law will receive $30 of non-refundable, non-transferable print/copy credit to be used through the University’s copy/print system called PaperCut.

    PaperCut manages the copy and print functions of the Sharp Multi-function printer/copiers.

    Note that the credit provided by the Caruso School of Law each term does not carry forward if a balance remains at the end of the term.  The first day of a term is the first day of classes. The last day of a term is the day before the start of the next term (first day of classes for Fall, Spring, Summer).

    New students will not receive credit until the first day of classes.

    The credit provided by the Caruso School of Law can only be used for copy or print jobs.  This credit cannot be used at the cafeteria for food purchases.

    When the credit applied to a student’s PaperCut account is exhausted before the end of the term, further copier or print use must be covered by funds provided by the student in their Waves Cash Global account.  If a student has funds in that account, there is no need for any action to be taken as the system will automatically charge the copy or print usage against the available funds on deposit in that account.  If there are no funds in a student’s Waves Cash Global account, funds must be added to make copies or print.

    The Sharp Multi-function printer/copiers are located at all of the Pepperdine University Southern California campuses in student-accessible areas including the Pepperdine libraries.

  • Safari and Courses Zoom Pro

    You may receive the message shown in the screenshot below in Safari. To resolve this issue so that you will not receive this message, and will not be re-directed to Chrome, please follow the steps below.

    1. Navigate to Safari and click the Safari tab in the top left of your screen. Click Preferences.

    2. Click the “Privacy” tab, and then make sure the following options are unchecked. 

    IF YOU NEED ANY TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO INFORMATION SERVICES AT (310) 506-7425 OR [email protected]. GOOD LUCK!