NEWS

SSCC's Spring Training Schedule

SSCC's Spring training schedule is now available on SSCC's training web pages. We start off with 20 hours of SAS training next week. So far, you can register for SAS, Stata, Wordpress, Linux, and Use Your Mac like a Pro. You may also register for a new session on using Google Apps for Higher Education, a suite of web-based software for collaboration. SPSS and R training dates have not been set yet. We hope to have all training opportunities posted later next week.

UW students may also register for Matlab and Nvivo training that DoIT is offering in our PC classroom. (We plan to offer Nvivo training open to all SSCC members later in the semester.) Remember that all SSCC training sessions require preregistration.

Time to Reserve Computer Classroom for Spring Semester Courses

It's time to reserve the 3218 classroom or mobile lab for your spring semester class. Use our web form to make your request(s). Reservations are filled on a first-come-first-served basis. Contact Caitlin Tefft (ctefft@ssc.wisc.edu) if you have questions. Caitlin's office is in the 4226 office suite and her phone number is 2-0862.  Visit our Instructional Support at the SSCC web page 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) and Winstat (available from anywhere with an Internet connection) for doing their homework. Caitlin 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 have a document camera to use in class rooms where the screen covers the blackboard. We also have special software in the classroom that allows you to control or interact with your students' computers. Contact Caitlin if you'd like to learn more about either of these.

Mice Available to Good Homes

If you have an old ball mouse or a mouse without a middle scrolling wheel that you'd like to trade up for a newer optical mouse for your work computer, bring it to our help desk office in 4226 Social Sciences and we'll swap. Supplies are limited. One per person, please.

Tip: Is Your SAS Code Running Slower on Winstat?

In version 9.3 of SAS, the default form of output changed from text (“Listing” output in SAS jargon) to HTML.  Additionally, ODS graphics is now on by default, where previously it was off. This has its advantages but it also slows down execution time. If you aren't interested in the graphics and want to go back to the old defaults in order to speed up execution time, take a look at our knowledge base article, Managing Output in SAS 9.3 and Above.

Tip: Help Our Spam Filter Learn

You can help improve SSCC's spam filtering program, SpamAssassin, by moving any misclassified messages into two special folders. Move any spam that appears in your inbox into the folder called "not legit." Move any legitimate mail you find in your spam folder into the folder called "not spam." Every night SpamAssassin examines these folders and corrects its database of words frequently used in spam messages. Messages in not legit are then deleted, and messages in not spam are returned to your inbox.

In the long run, if everyone puts their unfiltered spam in their not legit folder rather than just deleting it, SpamAssassin will get better at identifying spam. However, please don't expect immediate results. Just because you put a message in not legit does not mean SpamAssassin will be able to identify messages that are "just like it" as spam with 100% accuracy.