General Information |
General Information |
The INSS09 will be held at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois. Some sessions will also be held at the School hotel, the Pheasant Run Resort and Spa, located in St. Charles, Illinois, about 8 miles (12.87km) from the Fermilab site.
Fermilab is located approximately 35 miles (56.35km) west of Chicago, on 6,800 acres of former Midwest farm land. The weather during the summer months can be very hot and humid with rain in the evenings. There is very limited public transportation in the area surrounding Fermilab, so a rental car or the use of the free shuttle-bus service between Pheasant Run Resort and Fermilab is necessary.
Students will be housed in shared or single rooms in the Pheasant Run Resort and Spa. Shuttle bus transportation will be provided by the School from Pheasant Run each morning and at the end of the day when sessions end at Fermilab. Some afternoon sessions will be held at Pheasant Run, and on those days, the shuttle buses will transport students back to Pheasant Run in the afternoon. The shuttle-bus service will be provided from and to Pheasant Run only. If you decide to stay at some other hotel in the area, you will be responsible for providing your own transportation.
Pheasant Run Resort was selected as the location for housing students because it has a variety of recreational facilities available for use by guests, i.e., indoor/outdoor swimming pool (two outdoor pools, two indoor pools), tennis and basketball courts, a fitness center, three lounges (bars), a spa, a variety of restaurants, a video arcade, a golf course, Zanie's Comedy Club, and a theater with award-winning productions from one of Chicago's foremost theater companies. Some of these facilities are available at additional cost, but many of them are free. In addition, the Resort is located within walking distance of reasonably priced restaurants and shops so that students will have the opportunity to get away from the hotel during their free time. The Resort also offers a free shuttle (advance notice required) that will transport guests anywhere within 5 miles of the Resort.
Wireless and hard wired network connections are available at hot spots throughout the Resort, in sleeping rooms, and in the meeting rooms. This wireless and hard wired service is free throughout the Resort.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Resort and includes rooms with two double beds and rooms with a single bed. This block is reserved from the night of July 5th through the night of July 16th. If you plan to arrive earlier or stay on after the School ends, you will be responsible for paying for the entire cost of the room. Requests for rooms in advance of the July 5th arrival and after the July 16th departure date will be based on availability only.
A shared room with a separate bed costs $58.83 per person per night. This amount includes the 11% room tax. A single room (one person in one bed) or a double room (two people in one bed) costs $117.66 per night, including the 11% room tax. All hotel reservations must be made through the Conference Office at Fermilab. If you wish to share a room with a specific person, each of you should indicate that request on your Registration Form. Please keep in mind that you and your roommate must arrive and depart on the same dates or one of you will be responsible for paying the entire cost of the room when it is occupied by only one of you. The on-line Registration Form provides a place at which to make your hotel reservations.
As indicated on the Registration Form, a confirmation of reservation will be sent to you approximately one month before the school. At that time, you will be required to contact the hotel direct with your credit card information in order to confirm and hold your reservation. A guarantee equal to one night's lodging plus the 11% tax is required to guarantee your reservation. This payment must be made by major credit card and will be charged to your card at the time of booking. This deposit will be applied toward your last night's lodging upon check-in. If you do not have a credit card, please contact the Fermilab Conference Office for assistance.
As mentioned above, shuttle-bus service will be provided for students from the Pheasant Run Resort to Fermilab and return on a daily basis. Transportation to and from Chicago O'Hare and Midway airports to the Resort is available by limousine, rental car, or taxi. There is no bus service or public transportation from O'Hare International Airport or Midway Airport to the Resort and taxi service is very costly.
All of the usual rental companies (Hertz, Avis, Budget, National, etc.) are located at the airports. For the best price, we recommend Ace Rent-a-Car at O'Hare Airport, telephone 1-800-243-3443 or 1-847-297-3350, as their prices are competitive and include the cost of insurance. Go to:
http://www.acerentacar.com/landing/lp_ordo01.aspx
for further information and reservations.
The Resort has a special contracted rate for their guests with A-1 Limousine. A-1 Limousine offers both shared car and private car rates to the Resort.
To / From O'Hare Airport
Shared service (willing to share with other passengers at our discretion)
1 passenger = $45 plus gratuity
2 passengers = $53 plus gratuity (which is the 1 passenger rate plus $8)
3 passengers = $61 plus gratuity (45+8+8)
Private service (not willing to share)
1-3 passengers = $65 plus gratuity
4 passengers = $75 plus gratuity
To / From Midway Airport
Shared service (willing to share with other passengers at our discretion)
1 passenger = $61 plus gratuity
2 passengers = $69 plus gratuity (which is the 1 passenger rate plus $8)
3 passengers = $77 plus gratuity (61+8+8)
Private service (not willing to share)
1-3 passengers = $81 plus gratuity
4 passengers = $91 plus gratuity
All the rates for the trips quoted above are one way rates that include all taxes and tolls, everything except a gratuity for your driver. A standard gratuity is 15% of the total cost.
If the pickup is between 11:00PM and 4:30AM an additional $10.00 off peak hours surcharge will be added.
Limousine Reservations:
Limousine reservations may be made with A-1 Limousine on-line at: http://a1limousine.hudsonltd.net/res or by telephone at 630-833-3788. A credit card will be required to hold your reservation.
Limousine Arrival Instructions:
Please follow these instructions when arriving at O'Hare Airport:
Whether you checked luggage or not, please proceed to the baggage claim level.
Once
you have all your luggage, go to any public pay phone on that level
and call
1-800-354-5849 (it's toll-free - no change required).
Press option 1 to speak with an O'Hare dispatcher. Please
understand that this 800 number is a local number and only works in
the Chicago land area. It will not work from out of state or even
from an out of state cell phones calling while in this area. If
calling from an out-of-area cell phone please dial 630-833-3788 and
press option 3.
Our O'Hare dispatcher will ask for your last name and/or confirmation number.
Please have this information ready before you call.
The dispatcher will then tell you what door to go out. To help you find your vehicle, you will be given a description of it along with its license plate number. Please understand that O'Hare regulations require livery vehicles to remain in a holding lot until we have heard from the passenger, so it may take anywhere from 12-15 minutes for the car to reach you. However, if you are taking a shared ride, the vehicle may already be in the terminal picking up other passengers, so pickup would be immediate. For this reason, it is important that you are absolutely ready to leave the airport when you call the 800 number and speak with the O'Hare dispatcher.
When your limousine arrives, please be sure to verify the description of the car and license plate number to make sure you have an A-1 Limousine so that you will be charged the rate quoted.
Please follow these instructions when arriving at Midway Airport:
Whether you checked luggage or not, please proceed to the baggage claim level.
Once
you have all your luggage, go to any public pay phone on that level
and call 1-800-354-5849 (it's toll-free - no change is
required).
Press option 2 to speak with a Midway dispatcher.
Please understand that this 800 number is a local number and only
works in the Chicago land area. It will not work from out of state
or even from an out of state cell phones calling while in this area.
If calling from an out-of-area cell phone, please call 630-833-3788
and press option 4.
Our Midway dispatcher will ask for your last name and/or confirmation number. Please have this information ready before you call.
The dispatcher will then tell you what door to go out. To help you find your vehicle, you will be given a description of it along with its license plate number. Please understand that Midway regulations require livery vehicles to remain in a holding lot until we have heard from the passenger, so it may take anywhere from 7-10 minutes for the car to reach you. However, if you are taking a shared ride, the vehicle may already be in the terminal picking up other passengers, so pickup would be immediate. For this reason, it is important that you are absolutely ready to leave the airport when you call the 800 number and talk to the Midway dispatcher.
When your limousine arrives, please be sure to verify the description of the car and license plate number to make sure you have an A-1 Limousine so that you will be charged the rate quoted.
For general information regarding visas and whether or not you need one, please go to:
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/visas/Traveling_to_US.html
In addition, special instructions provided by our International Services Office follow below.
The Fermilab International Services Office has compiled information at http://wdrs.fnal.gov/users/business.html on how to apply for a B-1 visa, and at http://wdrs.fnal.gov/users/attending.html on the assistance the International Services Office will provide to event attendees.
If anyone has questions not addressed in the above web pages, they can contact the Fermilab International Services Office at visaoffice@fnal.gov.
Anyone conducting work at the Laboratory or using the Laboratory's computing resources that require Internet access must register his or her system's hardware address. To find such, go to URL: http://www-dcn.fnal.gov/DCG-Docs/mac/ selecting the appropriate O/S.
Visitor computers brought on site may apply for a temporary DHCP address by connecting to the Fermilab network (SSID=fgz) using either a wired (Ethernet) or wireless) connection. Note that the system will automatically detect fgz if configured to do so.
After filling out and submitting the Temporary DHCP Address web form, the system will be scanned and must demonstrate the same level of computer security required for all Lab machines. The easiest way to ensure a machine is secure, is to run an O/S update and/or Software update containing current security patches and virus signatures.
There are available Network 'Pix' lines (outside fnal.gov domain) located in the Email Center and in the HelpDesk office allowing individuals to connect to the network and download and install critically deemed patches from a vendor or university. This connection will not have internal access to the Fermilab network but will have access to the Internet.
Note that only those critical vulnerabilities identified on the following web page will cause a system to be denied a temporary address:
http://security.fnal.gov/CriticalVuln/index.html
Machines with non-critical vulnerabilities (anything not on the above list) will be granted a temporary address and you will receive e-mail notification with instructions describing how to remediate the problem.
Temporary Registration:
Users of unregistered computers will need to open a web browser and visit any URL to bring up the DHCP registration form. The form asks for some basic contact information and should take only about a minute to fill out. The registration process is described at:
http://computing.fnal.gov/security/registration_dhcp.html
If the system will be at Fermilab for longer than a few days, it must also be registered in the MISCOMP database, as temporary registration will only be allowed for a few days per visit. Permanent registration is accomplished as described below, and should become effective within one to two business days.
Permanent Registration:
To apply for permanent registration, complete the form at:
https://miscomp.fnal.gov/misnet/cgi/nwsvc.pl
The system name, its IP address (if a permanent assignment has already been made), its built-in hardware address (the so-called 'MAC Address'), its location, and the name, e-mail address, and phone number of the individual responsible for this machine are all required. (Computers with multiple network interfaces must register all of the built-in addresses. See http://www-dcn.fnal.gov/DCG-Docs/mac/ for more information about determining a computer's built-in MAC address).
To see if your system is already registered, go to:
http://appora.fnal.gov/misnet/systemName.html and enter its node name into the 'Any System(s) by Name' query box. To change information on an already registered machine, go to: https://miscomp.fnal.gov/misnet/cgi/nwsvc.pl.
If you need help determining whether the systems you use are registered, contact your General Computer Security Coordinator (GCSC). There is a list of GCSCs at:
http://computing.fnal.gov/security/#contacts
Wireless (802.11b/g) network connectivity is possible in most of Wilson Hall and in the Village User's Center. Your computer will need to obtain an IP address via the Laboratory's DHCP service. Please be aware, however, of the restrictions for obtaining IP addresses via DHCP. Although all computers must be registered in order to use the Fermilab network, visitors to the Lab may obtain temporary network access.
This temporary registration expires at midnight each day. The maximum number of days one may login using the temporary registration web page is (9) nine days.
To access the temporary registration form, simply start your web browser and request any web address. Fill in the required identification information. Your computer will then be scanned briefly for vulnerabilities, and an IP address assigned.
You will either need to reboot your computer, or restart your computer's networking, in order to use the assigned IP address.
If your wireless driver does not successfully connect to the Fermilab 802.11b/g network, try the following configuration settings:
SSID, also known as 'Network Name', 'Service Area', 'ESSID', 'WLAN Service Name':
· Try the keywords 'ANY' or 'any' for auto-detect
· Use the keyword 'fgz' (not 'FGZ')
Preamble mode: Long Tx preamble
Tx mode: 11 MB ('Automatic' will work on some cards, else hardcode to 11 Mb)
DHCP: Enabled
WEP / Encryption: Disabled
WEP Key: WEP is disabled
Radio Channel: Leave blank or set to 'auto'
Most common reasons for being blocked
Unix/Linux/MAC users typically get blocked because of an unauthenticated ssh connection. Native ssh and telnet connections are not allowed. One must use 'kerberized' ssh or telnet to connect to a Fermilab system.
Also, systems must not allow unauthenticated ssh connections to their systems. Typically, MACs come configured with 'Remote Access' checked under the Sharing folder. Other services such as ftp, etc. should also not be selected.
For those systems that have installed ssh, there may be an ssh_config file or an sshd_config file. Contained therein, is a line commented out containing PasswordAuthentication yes. The word 'yes' needs to be changed to 'no' (minus the quotes.
At startup, to prevent ssh processes from executing, enter the command -
/chkconfig 'level 0123456 sshd off
To stop ssh from running, enter the command '
/etc/init.d/sshd stop
Note, to enter the above commands, one must be logged in as root.
If you're running a Windows system and get blocked, either your system's O/S and/or MS Office does not have the latest critically deemed patches, or attempts were made to connect to another system using a non-kerberized connection. Your local system Administrator or Helpdesk Staff member can assist you with how to establish a secure connection to another system complying with Fermilab's Computer Security Policy.
What to do if you have been blocked
If it's been determined that you have been blocked because of a computer security violation indicated from being assigned a 169.xx.xx.xx address or receive email indicating such, you will have to remediate the event by following the web link contained in the email sent you. You may also seek assistance from a member of the Helpdesk Staff.
The HelpDesk Office is located on the ground floor of Wilson Hall in the Email Center. You may also call (630) 840-2345 or send email to helpdesk@fnal.gov for assistance. Office hours are Monday ' Friday 8am until 4:30pm.
There are several social events planned throughout the School and students will have the weekend free to explore Chicago or other suburban areas. The social events include a welcome reception on the arrival day, July 6, and three dinners scheduled at various intervals during the School. However, the cost of most meals will be the responsibility of each student. Breakfasts in the Fermilab Café are reasonably priced as are the lunches served in the Café.
There will be daily dinner breaks during evening sessions, allowing students to eat in the Resort or at less expensive restaurants surrounding the Resort.
