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November 2006 |
Matlab Now Available on HALWe've transferred several Matlab licenses from KITE to HAL, which is typically less busy. This makes it ideal for running big jobs. However, HAL does not have the toolboxes available that KITE does. When our Matlab license comes up for renewal we'll be able to make further changes, and we'll seek the input of Matlab users in deciding what needs to be installed where. Matlab has also been upgraded to the latest version on both servers. Citation Management Software WorkshopRefWorks is a web-based citation management tool similar to ProCite and EndNote. In this workshop on Thursday, October 9th, Tom Durkin, from the Social Science Reference Library, will demonstrate how to set up an account, import and add citations to your personal lists, and then print out a formatted bibliography. If you are currently working on a paper or are curious about different citation management applications, RefWorks may be the right system for you. RefWorks, ProCite and EndNote are all excellent products, but RefWorks offers certain special benefits that the latter two do not offer: Refworks is web-based, so your personal account and collected citations are accessible from any computer connected to the Internet. This feature also makes it easy to collaborate on projects and share lists of citations if you choose to do so. Furthermore, RefWorks has been fully licensed by UW-Madison and is therefore completely free to use by faculty, students, and staff. Visit SSCC's training web pages to register for Thursday's workshop. SSCC's Fall Training ScheduleSSCC's Fall training schedule is winding down. Check out our remaining offerings on SSCC's training web pages. In addition to the RefWorks workshop mentioned in the article above, this month we have "An Introduction to SAS Arrays", " An Introduction to SAS Macros", "Introduction to SQL using SAS", and "Visualizing Spatially Referenced Data with ArcGIS." Remember that all SSCC training sessions require preregistration. The Fight against SpamIf you're like many other SSCC members, you have noticed a recent surge in spam. It may give you some comfort to know that you are not alone. A recent article published by SecurityFocus reports that people all over the world have noticed a surge in spam over the last two months -- some places reporting a 450% increase. In the past, spammers used servers to send out their messages. Now that this technique has been largely stymied, spammers use large networks of compromised PCs, known as bot nets, and this is what accounts for the recent surge in spam. Luckily, there are new tools available that effectively defend against bot nets. SSCC plans to implement one of these tools (called GreetPause) between semesters. Later, if need be, we'll implement another tool called greylisting. A detailed announcement will be sent out in December. Monday we will implement a Spamassassin add-on that can identify words like body-parts, prescription drug names, stock, investor, etc. and mark the message as spam. Many spammers are now disguising their advertisements in images and hopefully this add-on will help keep these messages out of your inbox. Good News for Eudora Die-HardsThe makers of Eudora and Thunderbird e-mail programs announced last month that future versions of Eudora will be based upon the same technology platform as the open source Mozilla Thunderbird email program. Future versions of Eudora will be free and open source, while retaining Eudora's uniquely rich feature set and productivity enhancements. The expected release should occur in the first quarter of 2007. Welcome Andy Kraus to SSCC's StaffPlease welcome Andy Kraus to SSCC's staff. Andy has joined SSCC's PC support team and will also be doing some web programming. Andy replaced Brian De Smet, who left SSML shortly after the SSML/SSCC merge this past summer. Andy's office is in the PC support suite in 3224. Please stop by and welcome him next time you're in the area. |