This is the June, 2000 newsletter of the ITC Research Computing Support Group. If you have any questions or concerns on the information presented here please contact the ITC Research Computing Support Group via email to res-consult@virginia.edu, or at the Research Computing Support Center, 244 Wilson Hall, 243-8800. The Research Computing Support Center is open 9AM-5PM, Monday through Friday.
ITC has recently upgraded the technical computing software Maple to Maple 6 on the Unix systems that ITC supports (RS/6000, SUN, SGI, and Linux) and it will be available in the public PC labs for the Fall 2000 semester. Maple 6 can be purchased ($10 check or IDT) for the Windows and Macintosh operating systems by faculty and staff (including students working for the University) from the Research Computing Support Center in Wilson Hall, Rm. 244.
The most significant new features and enhancements of Maple 6 include
Further information about the Maple software package, including tutorial information, can be accessed from the Research Computing Support homepage at the URL,
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/maple.html
Copies of the Maple Manuals will be available for reference at the Research Computing Support Center in Room 244 of Wilson Hall. The manuals can also be ordered through the Bookstore. General questions concerning the use of Maple can be addressed to res-consult@virginia.edu.
ITC is soliciting input into a possible change in our LISREL/PRELIS licensing.
ITC has traditionally provided access to LISREL via its RS6000 cluster blue.unix. However, LISREL usage on that Unix system has declined in recent years. The makers of LISREL also provide a Windows based version of LISREL. We believe that the Windows version of LISREL provides superior graphical capabilities as well as an easier to use interface than the Unix based version.
The creators of LISREL have recently made economically favorable changes to the Windows licensing agreement. ITC is considering phasing out our UNIX license for LISREL and moving to a Windows licensing agreement. We are considering a plan to limit LISREL use to 3 (of the 16) nodes of the blue.unix cluster beginning in mid July 2000. Based on usage of LISREL on the UNIX nodes in the upcoming year, ITC may drop its UNIX LISREL license beginning July 2001. However, ITC will begin licensing LISREL for use on ITC lab and classroom machines. This license would provide LISREL access (limited to a maximum of 5 simultaneous users) in all ITC public labs and classrooms. Users wanting a copy of LISREL for their own machine would purchase a LISREL license (at a cost of approx 100$ per license).
Please let us know your thoughts and concerns regarding this possible change in LISREL licensing (contact Dawn Adelsberger-Mangan at dma9w@virginia.edu or 982-4711). Would you be likely to purchase your own LISREL license if ITC moves to the above described licensing scheme?
ITC will make a final licensing decision using the opinions and information gleaned from current LISREL users and the University community. ITC will provide updated information on LISREL licensing via email and via our ITC Research Computing Support Newsletters:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/news/
If you would like additional information on the Windows version of LISREL please review the information at:
http://www.ssicentral.com/lisrel/mainlis.htm
The above location also provides a link where you can download a demo copy of the LISREL software for testing.
The Research Computing Group of ITC invites you to a BrownBag lunch to discuss SAS 8. The BrownBag will be held at 12 noon in 244 Wilson Hall (the site of the Research Computing Support Center) on 21 June 2000.
Please join us - bring your lunch and we'll supply the drinks and cookies.
If you are planning on attending please let us know by emailing dawn@virginia.edu or by calling the Research Center at 243-8800 (Mon-Fri 9AM to 5PM).
ITC Announces the upgrade of the Nedit Editor to version 5.1.1 on its IRIX, Solaris and RS6000 platfroms (nedit is found in the /contrib/bin area). NEdit is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) style text editor for programs and plain-text files. Users of Macintosh and MS Windows based text editors will find NEdit a familiar and comfortable environment. NEdit provides all of the standard menu, dialog, editing, and mouse support, as well as all of the standard shortcuts to which the users of modern GUI based environments are accustomed.
For more information on the Nedit editor see:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/nedit.html
The Small Hall Unix Workstation Computer Lab in 102 Small Hall will be closed from 4:30 PM until 9:00 PM on Friday, June 16 for carpet cleaning.
The Sun and SGI Unix workstations will remain up and available. No running jobs should be affected by this closing. No one will be permitted to remain in, or enter the facility, during this time period.
The University of Virginia has purchased a site license for the Norton Anti-Virus line of software from Symantec Corporation. This site license replaces the previous contract UVa had for Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit and Virex. Although our contract for Dr. Solomon's and Virex is in effect through January 31, 2001, Network Associates has discontinued updating the virus definitions for Dr. Solomon's, making it less effective against new viruses.
Norton Anti-Virus may be installed on all UVa-owned computers, as well as personally-owned computers used by UVa faculty, staff and students in the home or residence halls. Like Dr. Solomon's and Virex, Norton A/V is free to all UVa computing users (ITC bears the cost of the licensing).
Norton Anti-Virus is available for download now for Windows 95/98/2000/NT and Apple Macintosh computers from Software Central on ITCWeb at:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/central
Then click on the link for your operating system
If you will be away from Charlottesville for some or all of the summer, but would still like to access your U.Va. account to read e-mail, there are a number of ways you can do this. Please visit ITCWeb at the following link for details:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/stuserv/leaveu/summer-access.html