At this time a year ago, students left Duke with few ways to access their e-mail accounts from afar. But the University has since witnessed an explosion in web-based e-mail programs, making summer--and all--e-mail much easier.
The new sites range from the Office of Information Technology's official www.mail.duke.edu to the Duke University Linux Users Group's www.dulug.duke.edu.
But one unofficial service that has received the most attention--and traffic--is www.MyDuke.com.
"[It's] great," said senior Stefan Negritoiu, who runs the site. "I'm just trying to take things to the next level. [Originally, it was designed] to give students access to e-mail, but we're trying to turn it into an electronic services thing."
Negritoiu launched the site last September, just before OIT's web site went public. Since then, increased volume has forced him to constantly upgrade the server, originally located in his dormitory room.
This summer, the site has been receiving about 200,000 hits per day from 2,500 different log-in users. "I was surprised, thinking it would be useful for off-campus, but a lot of people are using this as their main e-mail client," Negritoiu said. "Some people log in 20 to 30 times a day."
Last month, Negritoiu changed the look of MyDuke.com, adding a number of new features, including a textbook exchange, local weather, an address book and a "digital dashboard" that lets people know how many new messages they have. This summer, he hopes to add a document storage feature and a calendar.
But some authorities and users have worried about the security of unofficial sites. While MyDuke.com's encryption technology that protects users' passwords and mail is standard, users must trust Negritoiu not to misuse their passwords.
"We cannot guarantee the security of MyDuke.com," said Christopher Cramer, OIT's security officer. "I have no way of personally securing what he's doing with their passwords. It's theoretically possible that he could be storing [them]. He says he's not, so that's great. But I cannot guarantee that for anyone.... So students using MyDuke.com are really doing so at their own risk."
Negritoiu, who even gets messages from confused users asking to cancel their ACPUB accounts, acknowledged this possibility. "I'm just as secure [as OIT]. Yes, definitely the only concern that we have is a trust concern."
Cramer added that he may design a badge for sites, such as MyDuke.com, which he has examined and determined to be secure.
But many people are willing to disregard security risks in favor of a site some say is more user-friendly. MyDuke.com receives nearly as many hits each day as OIT's official mail site.
Negritoiu said that because he built his site from the bottom up, he can add features and tweak his site much better than OIT, pointing to such simple features as being able to view newest mail at the top of the screen, as opposed to the bottom.
Michael Bacon, an OIT system administrator, agreed that he would prefer a more efficient system. "It's massive, one of the fastest machines we have in the building," Bacon said. "We do run into some problems, because of the way our mail is set up. It doesn't access the mail servers as efficiently as we'd like to."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.