ITC Research Computing Support Newsletter - January, 2002

This is the January, 2002 newsletter of the ITC Research Computing Support Group. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the information presented here please contact the ITC Research Computing Support Group via e-mail to res-consult@virginia.edu, or at the Research Computing Support Center, (RCSC) 244 Wilson Hall, 243-8800. The RCSC is open 9AM-5PM, Monday through Friday.

The Academic Computing Health Sciences (ACHS) News can be found at: http://www.med.virginia.edu/achs/news/

Contents

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Spring Brown Bag Series

Join the members of the ITC Research Computing Support Group for our Spring 2002 Brownbag Series. Each Brownbag will be held at 12 noon at the Research Computing Support Center (244 Wilson Hall), usually on the third Wednesday of the month. Bring your lunch, we'll supply the drinks and cookies.

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SPSS and SAS Workshops

We will be teaching our usual introductory workshop on SAS and SPSS. Pre-registration is required, but there is NO fee for taking the workshop. Please e-mail itc-enroll@virginia.edu to sign up. There is a "no-show" fee charged for enrolling but not showing up and not cancelling your registration in advance.

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Immediate Opening for Statistical Computing Consultant

The ITC Research Computing Support Center is now accepting applications for a statistical computing consultant. The position will start as soon as a suitable candidate is found. It is expected that the student hired will work at least through the remainder of the 2001-2002 academic year, preferably longer. ITC runs a wide variety of statistical software programs across a wide spectrum of computer platforms.

To qualify for the position you must have a broad working knowledge of at least one of the primary statistical software packages supported by us (SPSS, SAS, S-Plus) and have some experience with the other packages. Knowledge of how to use MINITAB, Amos, or LISREL would be advantageous. In addition, you should be experienced using at least two of the computers systems below:
  1. Unix System (IBM, Sun, SGI; e.g. blue.unix, etc).
  2. IBM-PC or compatible microcomputer.
  3. Apple Macintosh
An applicant must be a graduate student with experience in statistical analysis with computer packages. S/he must possess the maturity and social skills needed to work closely with a variety of computer users, ranging from undergraduates to senior faculty and from novice to experienced users and the computer skills to work on a variety of computers and software programs.

The statistical computing consultant is responsible for helping users successfully run their statistical software programs and understand the output generated. The consultant also assists in teaching the statistical software workshops that we offer each semester.

The position offers a research or quantitatively oriented graduate student exposure to a wide variety of statistical analysis and a broad assortment of research projects from many departments in the University and extensive experience using computers for data analysis.

Graduate students interested in applying for the position should fill out an application available at the website: http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/news/studapp.html

Alternatively, you can pick up an application form at the Research Computing Support Center in Wilson 244 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

If you have any questions or concerns about the position you can contact Tim Tolson by telephone at 243-6592 or electronic mail to TTolson@Virginia.EDU

Applications will be accepted until the positions is filled. Apply as soon as possible. We would like the persons to start as soon as possible.

The University of Virginia is an EOE/AA employer.

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SAS 8.2 for Linux is Available

In addition to current availability for the RS/6000 and Sun machines, the statistical software, SAS version 8.2 is now available for linux for departmental machines mounting sas from the ITC Unix server jeeves.itc.virginia.edu. Specific questions about the linux version as well general questions concerning as the use of SAS should be directed to res-consult@virginia.edu

If you are faculty, staff, or a student of the University, and you have an office in Charlottesville where you work at least twice a week, you may now obtain the site-licensed copy of SAS 8.2 for Linux for home or office use. However, it may only be used while you are employed, or are a registered student, at UVA. You can get a copy of SAS 8.2 for Linux from the Research Computing Support Center, 244 Wilson Hall, 243-8800. The Research Computing Support Center is open 9AM-5PM, Monday through Friday. Learn more about system requirements or visit our SAS Help page for more information about SAS at UVA.

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Mathematica 4.1 Available for Mac OS X

Installation CDs for Mathematica 4.1 to run on Mac OS X are now available for distribution from the Research Computing Support Center in Wilson Hall 244. This version of Mathematica for the Mac offers users significant speed gains and vastly improved stability compared to running Mathematica on earlier Macintosh operating systems. Further information on Mathematica for Mac OS X can be found at the following URL: http://www.wolfram.com/news/mformacosx.html

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Geographical Information Systems (GIS) at UVa

Any mention of GIS causes most people to think "maps." While a map is usually a critical component of a particular GIS application, the real power of GIS lies in its capability to integrate the spatial component with other layers of data which in turn makes information more accessible and easier to understand.

GIS software provides methods for visualizing, analyzing and displaying spatial data. In practice, the collection of data used in GIS derives from a rich diversity of sources, and the spatial component stands as the unifying feature of GIS.

GIS is applied in numerous environments ranging from epidemiology to pipeline networks to homeland security. A good sampling of GIS applications may be found by browsing through ESRI's map gallery at http://www.esri.com/mapmuseum/index.html

ArcView is desktop Geographic Information Systems software available for faculty, staff and students in the Windows environment. The University has a site license for both ArcView 3.2 and 8.1 for use by students, faculty and staff. In order to use the software, users must obtain the ArcView software as well as a license file. The software is available on CD-ROM from the Research Computing Support Center in Wilson Hall, Room 244 (243-8800).

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Hummingbird's Connectivity Security Pack 7.1

The Hummingbird Connectivity Security Pack allows users of Hummingbird's Host-access products such as Exceed and Host Explorer to use secure shell (ssh) connectivity. This version of the Security Pack works with versions 7.0 and 7.1 of the Host-access products. However, 7.0 product users will need a patch. For more information and to download the Security Pack, go to our Software Licensing webpage.

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New Version of WinZip, Version 8.1 is now available

This is the full version of WinZip, which allows for .zip file self-extracting executable creation as well as extraction without that pesky upgrade window. It is site licensed for use ONLY on UVa-owned computers on-grounds. For use on a home and/or personal computer, you must get a copy from the WinZip website at: www.winzip.com
To download the U.Va. site licensed version of WinZip 8.1 go to our Software Licensing webpage

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Reduction in ITC-provided Dial-up Services
Effective January 31, 2002

In an effort to deal with mandated state budget cuts, ITC will discontinue low-speed dial-up modem services, effective January 31, 2002. This service is based on old technology with the vast majority (88 percent) of connections having a top speed of 14.4 kbps. The other 12 percent operate at 28.8 kbps. The numbers being discontinued are:
982-5084 30 Min Dial-up lines 14.4 kbps
243-7673 60 Min / Unlimited 14.4 kbps
963-4625 15 Min Dial-up lines 28.8 kbps

Don't forget - if you have these numbers stored in your dial-up configurations, you'll need to delete them because calls to these numbers will fail beginning January 31.

ITC is directing its limited resources to services for which there are no viable alternatives or commercial providers. We strongly encourage all users to consider moving to an Internet Service Provider for dial-up services at this time. The University has a special agreement with Cornerstone Networks to offer several highly competitive packages. Please see
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/netsys/dialin_ethernet_services/dialup_cstone.html
 for information about this contract. Offerings include 50 hours per month for $9.95, 100 hours per month for $11.95, and unlimited access for $14.95. For persons interested in higher-speed connections, more information is available at
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/csd/dsl/home.html

We are presently evaluating longer-range budget options for the 2002-2003 year and, based on our current projections, we anticipate having to discontinue our remaining 56 kbps dial-up services at the end of May 2002.
Questions regarding this change should be directed to itc-news@virginia.edu.
Originally posted 1/7/2002 at www.itc.virginia.edu/pubs/announcements/items/itc-modem.html

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Home Directory Service, Windows XP & 2000

The upgrade to the Home Directory Service (HDS) filers upgraded the authentication process so that Windows XP systems can now connect to the Home Directory Service. As a side effect of that fix, Windows 2000 systems which have not had any service packs (either Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2; see below) installed can no longer connect to the Home Directory service.

Windows XP users can now install and use the Home Directory Login utility to connect. See ITC's Windows XP dialup instructions for additional dialup configuration settings that are required to use Home Directory via Windows XP dialup connections.
ITC Windows XP dialup settings are at:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/pc/winxp/dialup/

The initial release of Windows 2000 had a bug in its implementation of clear text authentication with Unicode character set. This bug was fixed by Service Pack 1. Previous releases of the HDS filer software accepted both the formats of the authentication requests from Windows 2000, but this HDS filer update has now disabled acceptance of the original Windows 2000 format. If Service Pack 1 is installed on your machine, you should be able to log in to the Home Directory Service.

If you have not installed Service Pack 1, Service Pack 2 is available and is stable. Service Pack 2 provides the latest updates including fixes in the following areas: application compatibility, operating system reliability, security, and setup. Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 includes the updates contained in Windows 2000 Service Pack 1. Service Pack 2 for Windows 2000 is available from Microsoft by going to
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
If Service Pack 2 is installed on your machine, you should be able to log in to the Home Directory Service.

Originally posted 1/11/02 and then updated 1/15/02 at www.itc.virginia.edu/pubs/alerts/downtimes/itc-xphds.html

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