Default Linux Permissions to Change January 16th

The previously-announced changes to default Linux permissions will go into effect Wednesday, January 16. They will be implemented during a 3:00-9:00 a.m. downtime.

The goal of these changes is to make it so that by default new files in private directories are private and new files in project directories are shared with other members of the project. Only those who use Linux or files stored on the Linux file system will be affected at all, and for the rest these defaults are what most people want. But if you have a special permissions scheme, please review the details of the changes we will be making and contact the consultant if you haven't already.

Linux Project Directories to be Available as V: Drive

At the same time we will create the new Windows network drive, V:, which gives access to all the Linux project directories. It will no longer be necessary for users to map a drive to a Linux project directory before they can use it. Existing mappings will continue to work, but the new V: drive will be the preferred method of getting to these directories. Just remember that if you currently have something else mapped to V:, you'll need to remap it to a different letter. Instructions for mapping a network drive can be found in our publication Mapping a Drive to a Network Share.

The V: drive will also be added during the Wednesday, January 16, 3:00-9:00 a.m. downtime. You may need to log off and log back on before you will see the V: drive.

SSCC Spring Training

The SSCC's spring training schedule is now available. Several classes begin this month, including Introduction to SPSS, Creating a Web Page, and Making and Using Web Forms with PHP, so register early before they fill. The old standards are all there, like Introduction to Stata, but also the less standard like Introduction to R Programming, Introduction to Mata, and Delving Deeper in NVivo. All SSCC classes require registration. For details and to register please visit our training web page.

Introduction to R Programming Workshop beginning February 15

CDE's Statistical Core will be offering an Introduction to R Programming workshop on February 15, 22, 29, and March 7 from 10:30-12:00. William Whipple Neely from the UW Statistics Department will be teaching the workshop. R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It is available for a wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS. SSCC has R installed on both our Winstat servers and Linux servers (including Condor). Visit R's web site for more information.

This workshop will be tailored to applications in demographical research, but should be useful to anyone interested in R. Please visit our training web page to register. Seats are limited so if the class fills up CDE members will receive priority.

Reserving Computer Classroom for Spring Semester Courses

It's still not too late to reserve the 3218 classroom or mobile lab for your spring semester class but 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.

We also have special software in the classroom that allows you to control or interact with your students' computers. Contact Doug if you'd like to learn more about this.

SPSS 16 Available for Licensed Windows Users

SPSS 16.0.1 is now available for licensed SPSS Windows users. If you would like us to upgrade your copy of SPSS, please send your request to the consultant.