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New Issue of eNewsletter (Feb 2025) Released

The February 2025 issue of the eNewsletter has been released. Check it out now.  

(For staff) New reasoning models released for use on PolyU Gen AI App

To: All Staff From: Information Technology Services Office Date: 20 February 2025 Subject: New reasoning models released for use on PolyU Gen AI App Dear Colleagues The following reasoning models will be available on the PolyU Gen AI App on 21 February 2025. These reasoning models will analyze the problem put forth and break down complex tasks into logical steps via a chain of thought before responding to user asks. Simply state the problem to solve directly, and the reasoning model will analyze it deeply on its own.   Open AI released the O1-Preview reasoning model on 12 September 2024. The O1-Preview is designed to spend more time thinking before responding. These models can reason through complex tasks and solve harder problems than previous models in science, coding, and math. Using the O1-Preview model will consume your monthly credit entitlement. The text token usage fee is 6 times that of GPT-4o for both input and output, plus the consumption of internal chain of thought tokens. The O1-Preview model response does not show its internal chain of thoughts and will take longer turnaround to provide the final answer. For further details, please refer to o1-preview model introduction.   OpenAI released the O1-Mini reasoning model on 12 September 2024. The O1-Mini is 80% cheaper than the OpenAI O1-Preview. The O1-Mini excels in STEM, especially math and coding — nearly matching the performance of OpenAI O1 on evaluation benchmarks such as AIME and Codeforces. Simply state the STEM problem you would like to solve, and let the O1-Mini work out the solution. Using the O1-Preview model will consume your monthly credit entitlement. The text token usage fee is 20 times that of GPT-4o mini for both input and output, plus the consumption of internal chain of thought tokens. The O1-Mini model response does not show its internal chain of thoughts and will take longer turnaround to provide the final answer. For further details, please refer to o1-mini model introduction.     DeepSeek R1 DeepSeek AI released the DeepSeek-R1 reasoning model on 20 January 2025. The DeepSeek-R1 is a 671B Mixture of Experts (MoE) open-sourced model with 37B active parameters, trained via large-scale reinforcement learning (RL). The DeepSeek-R1 achieves performance comparable to OpenAI-o1 across math, coding, and reasoning tasks. To provide an early user experience, PolyU staff and students can access the DeepSeek R1 model hosted on Microsoft Azure AI Foundry, as well as Alibaba Cloud, via the PolyU Gen AI App.   DeepSeek R1 (Azure AI Foundry) Using the DeepSeek R1 hosted on Azure AI Foundry will consume your monthly credit entitlement. A usage fee of 1.35 credits per 1,000 tokens for input and 5.40 credits per 1,000 tokens for output, plus the consumption of chain of thought tokens, will be applied.   DeepSeek R1 (Alibaba Cloud) Using the DeepSeek R1 model hosted on Alibaba Cloud will consume your monthly credit entitlement. A usage fee of 0.55 credits per 1,000 tokens for input and 2.20 credits per 1,000 tokens for output, plus the consumption of chain of thought tokens, will be applied. Simply state the problem you wish to solve, and let DeepSeek-R1 analyze it before reverting you with its chain of thought and answer. For further details, please refer to DeepSeek R1 model introduction.   If you have any inquiries, please contact IT HelpCentre (Tel: 2766 5900, WhatsApp / WeChat: 6577 9669) or reach out to us via the IT Online ServiceDesk. Information Technology Services Office

(For students) New reasoning models released for use on PolyU Gen AI App

To: All Students From: Information Technology Services Office Date: 20 February 2025 Subject: New reasoning models released for use on PolyU Gen AI App Dear Students The following reasoning models will be available on the PolyU Gen AI App on 21 February 2025. These reasoning models will analyze the problem put forth and break down complex tasks into logical steps via a chain of thought before responding to user asks. Simply state the problem to solve directly, and the reasoning model will analyze it deeply on its own.   Open AI released the O1-Preview reasoning model on 12 September 2024. The O1-Preview is designed to spend more time thinking before responding. These models can reason through complex tasks and solve harder problems than previous models in science, coding, and math. Using the O1-Preview model will consume your monthly credit entitlement. The text token usage fee is 6 times that of GPT-4o for both input and output, plus the consumption of internal chain of thought tokens. The O1-Preview model response does not show its internal chain of thoughts and will take longer turnaround to provide the final answer. For further details, please refer to o1-preview model introduction.   OpenAI released the O1-Mini reasoning model on 12 September 2024. The O1-Mini is 80% cheaper than the OpenAI O1-Preview. The O1-Mini excels in STEM, especially math and coding — nearly matching the performance of OpenAI O1 on evaluation benchmarks such as AIME and Codeforces. Simply state the STEM problem you would like to solve, and let the O1-Mini work out the solution. Using the O1-Preview model will consume your monthly credit entitlement. The text token usage fee is 20 times that of GPT-4o mini for both input and output, plus the consumption of internal chain of thought tokens. The O1-Mini model response does not show its internal chain of thoughts and will take longer turnaround to provide the final answer. For further details, please refer to o1-mini model introduction.     DeepSeek R1 DeepSeek AI released the DeepSeek-R1 reasoning model on 20 January 2025. The DeepSeek-R1 is a 671B Mixture of Experts (MoE) open-sourced model with 37B active parameters, trained via large-scale reinforcement learning (RL). The DeepSeek-R1 achieves performance comparable to OpenAI-o1 across math, coding, and reasoning tasks. To provide an early user experience, PolyU staff and students can access the DeepSeek R1 model hosted on Microsoft Azure AI Foundry, as well as Alibaba Cloud, via the PolyU Gen AI App.   DeepSeek R1 (Azure AI Foundry) Using the DeepSeek R1 hosted on Azure AI Foundry will consume your monthly credit entitlement. A usage fee of 1.35 credits per 1,000 tokens for input and 5.40 credits per 1,000 tokens for output, plus the consumption of chain of thought tokens, will be applied.   DeepSeek R1 (Alibaba Cloud) Using the DeepSeek R1 model hosted on Alibaba Cloud will consume your monthly credit entitlement. A usage fee of 0.55 credits per 1,000 tokens for input and 2.20 credits per 1,000 tokens for output, plus the consumption of chain of thought tokens, will be applied. Simply state the problem you wish to solve, and let DeepSeek-R1 analyze it before reverting you with its chain of thought and answer. For further details, please refer to DeepSeek R1 model introduction.   If you have any inquiries, please contact IT HelpCentre (Tel: 2766 5900, WhatsApp / WeChat: 6577 9669) or reach out to us via the IT Online ServiceDesk. Information Technology Services Office

New Issue of eNewsletter (Jan 2025) Released

The January 2025 issue of the eNewsletter has been released. Check it out now.  

New Issue of eNewsletter (Dec 2024) Released

The December 2024 issue of the eNewsletter has been released. Check it out now.  

(All staff) Accessing vAdmin services remotely using MFA VPN

To: Colleagues From: Information Technology Services Office             Date: 19 September 2024        Subject: Accessing vAdmin services remotely using MFA VPN     Dear Colleagues   In view of the heightening cyber security threats, it is imperative that we continually review and reinforce our security measures to mitigate potential cyber risks to PolyU.  Therefore, effective from 2 October 2024, the use of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) VPN will be mandatory for all remote access to the vAdmin services from outside the PolyU campus network.   For detailed instructions on how to use MFA VPN, please refer to the PolyU Staff VPN service user operation guide.   Please note that if you are accessing the vAdmin services from within the PolyU campus network, you may continue to follow the current practice of direct access without the need for MFA VPN.     Thank you for your understanding and attention.     For further information, please contact IT HelpCentre via the following channels: ITS Hotline: 2766 5900                          ITS WhatsApp/ WeChat: 6577 9669                          Check your case progress: IT Online ServiceDesk                                          Information Technology Services Office         

(All staff) Using facial identity to access campus main entrance

To: All Staff From: Information Technology Services Office             Date: 24 December 2024        Subject: Using facial identity to access campus main entrance     Dear Colleagues   Effective from 1 January 2025, besides using a student ID card or the time-based QR code from the PolyULife Student Mobile App, students can present their face to the facial detection device at the entrances of Block L, P, A and D for campus access.      To use your facial identity, you need to pre-register your facial image at the facial identity registration kiosk located at the podium level of Block R and Block VA with your student ID card. Please ensure you check your Connect email account and re-confirm your facial identity registration in the email sent to you to complete the registration process.      The use of facial identity to gain access to campus is optional and only applicable to PolyU students with a valid student ID card.   Your facial image captured at the self-service kiosk will be converted into machine-readable strings (vectorized format) to match against the facial identity captured by the facial detection device. The captured facial identity in vectorized format will solely be used to facilitate access and will be removed from the system once the student ID card becomes invalid.   For privacy and security considerations, no facial image in direct readable formats will be kept or retained on the facial identity registration system or any entrance facial detection device.   The reliability of the facial detection device depends on ambient lighting, your facial posture as captured by the device’s camera, as well as other factors affecting the detection process, such as wearing a new pair of glasses, a new hairstyle, or wearing a face mask.   As a contingency, students should bring along an alternative form of identification when entering campus: your student ID card, or your personal smartphone with the PolyULife Student Mobile App installed to use the time-based QR code You can cancel your previously registered facial identity or re-register your facial image via the PolyU facial identity registration kiosk located at the podium level of Block R and Block VA.     Should you need further information on using facial identity to gain access to the campus, please contact IT HelpCentre (Tel: 2766 5900, WhatsApp / WeChat: 6577 9669) or reach out to us via the IT Online ServiceDesk.       Information Technology Services Office       

(All students) Using facial identity to access campus main entrance

To: All Students   From: Information Technology Services Office             Date: 24 December 2024        Subject: Using facial identity to access campus main entrance     Dear Students   Effective from 1 January 2025, besides using a student ID card or the time-based QR code from the PolyULife Student Mobile App, students can present their face to the facial detection device at the entrances of Block L, P, A and D for campus access.      To use your facial identity, you need to pre-register your facial image at the facial identity registration kiosk located at the podium level of Block R and Block VA with your student ID card. Please ensure you check your Connect email account and re-confirm your facial identity registration in the email sent to you to complete the registration process.      The use of facial identity to gain access to campus is optional and only applicable to PolyU students with a valid student ID card.   Your facial image captured at the self-service kiosk will be converted into machine-readable strings (vectorized format) to match against the facial identity captured by the facial detection device. The captured facial identity in vectorized format will solely be used to facilitate access and will be removed from the system once the student ID card becomes invalid.   For privacy and security considerations, no facial image in direct readable formats will be kept or retained on the facial identity registration system or any entrance facial detection device.   The reliability of the facial detection device depends on ambient lighting, your facial posture as captured by the device’s camera, as well as other factors affecting the detection process, such as wearing a new pair of glasses, a new hairstyle, or wearing a face mask.   As a contingency, students should bring along an alternative form of identification when entering campus: your student ID card, or your personal smartphone with the PolyULife Student Mobile App installed to use the time-based QR code You can cancel your previously registered facial identity or re-register your facial image via the PolyU facial identity registration kiosk located at the podium level of Block R and Block VA.     Should you need further information on using facial identity to gain access to the campus, please contact IT HelpCentre (Tel: 2766 5900, WhatsApp / WeChat: 6577 9669) or reach out to us via the IT Online ServiceDesk.       Information Technology Services Office       

(All staff) Update of PolyU VPN Client Program

To: Staff who use the VPN service for remote access to the campus network From: Information Technology Services Office             Date: 4 December 2024        Subject: Update of PolyU VPN Client Program     Dear Colleagues,   We would like to inform you about an important update to the GlobalProtect client program. This update aims to enhance both the performance and security of our VPN service.   Starting on 5 December 2024, when you connect to the PolyU VPN using the GlobalProtect client on your device, the system will automatically check if a version update of the program is required.  If the update is needed, you will see the following pop-up message:       Please click the "Yes" button to proceed with the update.  The update process will then be carried out automatically and typically takes about three minutes to complete.  For detailed upgrade instructions, please refer to the GlobalProtect VPN Client Upgrade Guide.   Please Note: To ensure smooth access to the VPN service, please update the GlobalProtect client program at your earliest convenience, and no later than 31 December 2024. If you plan to travel outside Hong Kong with your device, it is recommended that you connect to the VPN and initiate the GlobalProtect client program update before your departure to ensure a smooth update process.     Thank you for your cooperation. Should you need further information, please contact IT HelpCentre (Tel: 2766 5900, WhatsApp / WeChat: 6577 9669) or reach out to us via the IT Online ServiceDesk.                                   Information Technology Services Office

New Issue of eNewsletter (Nov 2024) Released

The November 2024 issue of the eNewsletter has been released. Check it out now.