ITC Research Computing Support Newsletter - March 2002

This is the March 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 to 5PM, Monday through Friday.

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 is 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. The notes from previous Brownbag talks are available on ITCWeb at www.itc.virginia.edu/research/talks/

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High Performance Computing Conference, March 21 in McLean

Learn about the trends and key issues in high-performance computing in the 21st century from industry leaders and successful users. This one-day event will focus on the technical and management aspects of supercomputing to help you achieve real-world organizational objectives. A half-day focusing on topics and information of particular interest to managers and executives will be followed by a half-day of technical sessions.
This event will be held beginning at 7:30 AM on Thursday, March 21 at the Hilton Hotel, Tyson's Corner, McLean VA. There is no charge for this event, but space is limited, so register today! For details on this one day high performance computing conference and registration go to: http://www.sgievent.com/HPCU/
or call 800-958-4554. You can register for "Morning Executive Presentations", "Afternoon Technical Workshops", or the full day.
HPC UNIVERSITY is sponsored by Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI), HPCwire, and RAYTHEON.

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ArcGIS 8.1.2 Products are Available

ESRI's current releases of ArcGIS 8.1.2 (ArcView 8.1.2, ArcEditor 8.1.2, ArcInfo 8.1.2, and ArcSDE 8.1.2) are now available on CD from the Research Computing Support Center in Room 244 Wilson Hall.

ArcGIS 8.1.2 is a service release of ArcGIS 8.1. It contains performance improvements, maintenance fixes, and adds support for Windows XP (Home Edition and Professional). Some of the improvements in ArcGIS 8.1.2 include TIFF performance improvements, ArcSDE query optimizations, additional projections, and Euro Dollar symbol support.

ArcGIS 8.1.2 is a complete install that includes all the improvements of ArcGIS 8.1 Service Pack 1 (SP1). As a result, you do not have to install ArcGIS 8.1 SP1 before installing ArcGIS 8.1.2.

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Minitab 13.32 Downloadable Update

This MINITAB update replaces files shipped with the English-language version of MINITAB 13.1, 13.2, and 13.3x for Windows. This update also includes all other MINITAB 13 updates that were formerly available on the MINITAB maintenance website.

In addition to a number of corrections and cosmetic updates, MINITAB Release 13.32 includes a new probability distribution, the Triangular Distribution, available from the menu commands Calc > Random Data > Triangular and Calc > Probability Distributions > Triangular. This distribution is useful when you have three types of information -- minimum value, maximum value, most likely value -- about a random value such as cycle time. These three parameters define the triangular distribution. The density of this distribution is in the shape of a triangle.

You can obtain detailed information and download this update from http://www.minitab.com/support/maintenance/index.htm

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Free LISREL Tutorial Available

Those of you who teach Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) or want to learn more about it and encourage your students to use the free student edition of LISREL from the Scientific Software International (SSI) website will be interested in an introductory tutorial on the use of the LISREL student edition also available from the SSI website. This tutorial, Getting Started with the Student Edition of LISREL 8.51, has been produced by Dr. Gerhard Mels, who is responsible for LISREL technical support at SSI. You can download the document as well as the free student edition of Lisrel 8.51 from http://www.ssicentral.com/other/entry.htm

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MaplePrimes - ScientificConstants

MaplePrimes is a controlled-access Web site from Waterloo Maple that provides exclusive content to customers and end-users. U.Va. faculty and staff are eligible to access the MaplePrimes web site. Interested individuals should e-mail res-consult@Virginia.EDU to obtain an Authorization Code to gain access for the first visit. Once the user has entered the site, an individual account is created, complete with personal UserID and Password.

Never again must you consult reference books or the Web to perform scientific computations. With a single Maple command, you can access the basic chemical properties of any element or isotope.

The ScientificConstants package includes properties to all of the elements of the Periodic table and supports numerous physical constants that occur in fields such as chemistry and physics.

Gain instant access to the values, symbols, uncertainty and units of over 13,000 physical constants including Planck constant, Newtonian constant of gravitation, magnetic flux quantum, conductance quantum, speed of light in a vacuum, nuclear magneton and many more. If Maple 7's database of constants doesn't suffice for your application, you can easily extend it or change it.

To install the ScientificConstants package, follow the instructions for your operating system. Note: Maple 7 must be installed prior to the installation of the ScientificConstants package. Maple 7 is available for faculty staff and students who are employed by the University from the Research Computing Support Center.

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