SSCC Web and Linux Server Outage Saturday Evening
The SSCC web server and all Linux servers (Hal, Kite, Falcon, and the Condor flock) will be unavailable this Saturday evening from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. so that we can move the Linux file system to new hardware. SSCC e-mail will not be affected during the downtime but you will not be able to use Squirrelmail or Pine (on Linux). Winstat will be available, but to log in you'll need to go directly to https://wi.ssc.wisc.edu. SoE members can still access the Winstat servers from the SoE web page (http://ssc.education.wisc.edu).
Invitation to SSCC Computer Orientation
SSCC staff will be offering a hands-on computer orientation on Wednesday, August 27, from 10:00-11:30 a.m. in SSCC's PC classroom in Sewell Social Science 3218 for new members arriving this Fall. We want to extend an invitation to any SSCC member who might also like to attend. Maybe you've been a member for a while, but haven't used your account much, or maybe you arrived mid-year and didn't get a one-on-one orientation. Whatever the reason, you are welcome to attend. Please e-mail Ann Lewis (atlewis@wisc.edu) if you plan to attend so we have enough materials for everyone.
New Sociology graduate students have already received their invitations, but if you know of other new arrivals -- post docs, faculty, staff, visitors -- please extend them an invitation.
Reserving Computer Classroom for Fall Semester Courses
Now is the time to get a jump on reserving the 3218 classroom or mobile lab for your fall semester class before your spot gets taken by someone else. Reservations are filling very quickly. Contact Ann Lewis (atlewis@wisc.edu) to reserve. Ann's office is in the 4226 office suite and her phone number is 2-0862. Visit www.ssc.wisc.edu/sscc/instruction/ for more information about the 3218 classroom and the mobile lab.
Even if you do not need to reserve the classroom or lab, you can arrange for your students to have access to SSCC's drop in labs (3218 and 4218 Social Science) for doing their homework. Ann can help you with this as well.
Doug Hemken (dehemken@wisc.edu), statistical computing specialist for SSCC, is available to help students with homework and class projects. You can also arrange for Doug to come to your class and provide instruction on statistical software. Doug's office is in the 4226 office suite and his phone number is 2-4327.
Change to Procedures for New SSCC Accounts
As physical location becomes less and less relevant to computing in general and SSCC services in particular, it's become more of a challenge to make sure that new SSCC members get a basic understanding of how their account works. As a result we will now require that all new accounts be "activated" using a tool on our web site (in the past activation has been optional). This involves two changes:
- New accounts must be requested online. We will no longer use paper forms.
- New SSCC members will not be given a starting password. Instead they'll get a unique activation code which they'll use to start the activation process. The activation process includes choosing the password they'll use to log in to SSCC services.
The account activation process is very brief, and includes basics like choosing a password, setting security questions and reading SSCC email. We feel strongly that all new members will benefit from going through this process. It is also more secure than simply sending new members a starting password.
Note that this does not apply to SOE accounts. SOE members who wish to use SSCC services should speak with their local SOE tech support contact in order to have their SOE account set up for the SSCC.
Tip: The Most Useful Software You Don't Know You Have
The SSCC makes a tremendous amount of software available to you; so much that it can be easy to miss some really handy tools. Here are a few you may not be aware of:
- Stat/Transfer (converts statistical data sets from one format to another)
- SmartDraw (diagram program)
- Adobe Illustrator (drawing program)
- Dreamweaver (web page editor)
- ProCite (bibliographical program)
- Scientific Word (version of MS Word focused on scientific papers)
- Many, many statistical programs of all kinds
To see where these programs are installed or to get a complete list of SSCC software visit our software page.
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