SSCC's Fall Training Schedule
SSCC's Fall training schedule is underway. We have several offerings over the next few weeks including Introduction to SAS Data Steps, Introduction to Mata (Stata's matrix programming language), Producing Publication-quality Tables and Graphs in SAS, A Hands-On Introduction to NVivo, Delving Deeper into NVivo; Your Questions and Problems, Introduction to SAS Arrays, Introduction to SAS Macros, Introduction to SQL using SAS, and Visualizing Spatially Referenced Data with ArcGIS. In addition, Tom Durkin is offering a few library workshops - RSS and Alerts and Managing Your Citations with RefWorks. Visit SSCC's training web pages to view course descriptions and to register. Remember that all SSCC training sessions require preregistration.
Matlab Now Available on the Condor Flock
We are pleased to announce that Matlab is now available on the SSCC's Condor flock. Condor is the ideal place for running long jobs or a large numbers of jobs, and we think this will be very helpful to our Matlab users.
To submit a Matlab job to Condor, log into Kite and type:
condor_matlab program.m program.log
where program.m should be replaced by the name of the Matlab program you want to run, and program.log should be replaced by the name of the file where you want to store the output. Please limit yourself to no more than six jobs at a time unless the jobs are fairly short and enough servers are currently available to run them.
For more information about Condor see An Introduction to Condor or visit with the consultant.
Default Linux Terminal Program Used by X-Win32 Changed
X-Win32 has been changed on Winstat and in the labs to use the GNOME terminal rather than xterm by default, and other SSCC Linux users may want to consider switching to it as well. GNOME is similar to SecureCRT in that it has more features and is easier to customize than xterm. However, it does not require running a separate program. Just start X-Win32 and use one of the sessions provided.
If you already have X-Win32 installed on your PC you can easily set it to use GNOME as well. Connecting to SSCC Linux Computers using X-Win32 has instructions. We think most Linux users will prefer GNOME to xterm or SecureCRT, but there's no need to change if you're happy with your current arrangements.
WinBUGS and OpenBUGS Installed
WinBUGS has been installed on the Winstats and OpenBUGS on Linux. Both programs are products of the BUGS (Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling) project which is concerned with flexible software for the Bayesian analysis of complex statistical models using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. You can also call WinBUGS from within the R program on the Winstats using R2Winbugs. Although these programs fall into SSCC's unsupported category, there is a lot of useful information at the BUGS web site.
Problems Connecting to Linux ~/Aux Directories from Windows
Since moving /aux directories to people's home directories (~/Aux), members have been reporting that they can no longer write to their ~/Aux directory from Windows (via SAMBA). It turns out that "Aux" is a reserved file name in Windows. Fortunately, the work-around is easy -- log on to Linux and rename your ~/Aux directory. If you need help with this, please contact the consultant.
Tip: Use the Wired Network in the Sewell Social Sciences Building
Wireless networking is now available throughout the building and is very convenient for laptops, but keep in mind that the wired network has several advantages:
- It gives you access to network drives and printers (without having to log in to Winstat)
- It is faster
- It never "times out" and requires you to log in again
- It is more secure
Remember that the DoIT wireless network is not encrypted and in theory others could intercept your network traffic. We suggest you use VPN whenever you use the wireless network.
To have your laptop configured to use the building's wired network, please bring it to the consulting office in 4226. We'll also check it for viruses and spyware and make sure Windows and your antivirus software are up to date. This will take several hours, but we consider it time well-spent to prevent future problems. If you bring your laptop in in the morning it will most likely be ready by the end of the day.
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