======================= SSCC News, August, 1999 ======================= Inside this issue... VMS (EAGLE) Phase Out Deadlines Approaching Welcome the Department of Political Science to the SSCC Reduction in SSCC Dial-in Services GAUSS Software Moving from GUY to PCs in 7413 User Room Introduction to UNIX Training Sessions A New Email Program for Travelers! ------------------------------------------- VMS (EAGLE) Phase Out Deadlines Approaching ------------------------------------------- VMS (EAGLE) is being Phased Out in 1999. Keep these important dates in mind: o August 24: E-mail services no longer available. Before this deadline you need to transfer your mail to UNIX and either learn a UNIX mailer or (preferably) learn a PC mailer. Schedule an appointment with Consultant to make this transfer. o October 31: Commercial software no longer available (SAS and SPSS system files must be transferred to UNIX in portable format or files will no longer be readable). Schedule an appointment with Nancy McDermott if you need assistance with this transfer. o December 30: VMS Operating System no longer available. Make sure all the VMS files you want to keep are transferred to your UNIX account, your space on SSCC's Microsoft network (U: drive), or a local drive on your PC. Schedule an appointment with Consultant if you need assistance with this transfer. ------------------------------------------------------- Welcome the Department of Political Science to the SSCC ------------------------------------------------------- The Department of Political Science has joined the SSCC effective August 1. This department has over 100 faculty, staff, and graduate students. Political Science's primary needs include using SSCC's mail server, PC support and other consulting assistance, and training. Political Science will not be using any of SSCC's UNIX or WinCenter computers for research computing. ---------------------------------- Reduction in SSCC Dial-in Services ---------------------------------- The SSCC now has two small dial-in modem pools. This is an announcement of reduction in those services. One modem pool consists of 6 phone lines and slow modems for telnet-only access to the Co-op's VMS and UNIX timeshare machines such as Eagle and Guy. This is the service provided at the 263-1655 number. DoIT's huge, fast modem pool is superior to our 263-1655 service in almost every way. Admittedly there are times when DoIT's modems are apparently all busy, but these times are now exceptional. The quality and sheer scale of DoIT's service have increased enormously since the first of the year. To save the cost of our phone lines and because we cannot afford to upgrade those lines and modems to the speed that users now expect, the 6-line 263-1655 modem pool will be eliminated on December 30, 1999 along with VMS. Information about how to use DoIT's modem pool is available at http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/wiscworld/modems.htm The SSCC's other modem pool is the RAS dial-in service accessed through the 262-2144 number. This service gives the user a network login to the Co-op's PRIMO NT domain. We are reducing the number of lines available in this pool from 8 to 4. Since more than four users are seldom, if ever, connected at one time to this modem pool, we feel that this cost-saving measure will not result in inconvenience to current users. This reduction will be effective immediately. The four remaining lines are all connected to 33.6k modems. The SSCC will not be able to afford to upgrade these lines to 56k service. A 56k upgrade requires not only new modems but an expensive transition to digital phone service. Users can achieve a fast connection to the PRIMO domain through DoIT's modem pool. See the instructions in documents 5-13, 5-14, and 5-15 at http://ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Pubs/Main/pc.htm ------------------------------------------------------- GAUSS Software Moving from GUY to PCs in 7413 User Room ------------------------------------------------------- GAUSS 3.2.38 is now available on the three PCs in the 7413 user room. In addition to the main GAUSS system, we also purchased the following GAUSS add-on applications: Maximum Likelihood (Version 4.0.34/5) Constrained Maximum Likelihood (Version 1.0.41) Time Series (Version 3.1.13/5/6) CurveFit (Version 3.1.10) Optimization (Version 3.1.10) Constrained Optimization (Version 2.0.6) Nonlinear Equations (Version 3.1.5) GAUSS will be removed from UNIX (GUY) on August 31, 1999. -------------------------------------- Introduction to UNIX Training Sessions -------------------------------------- As a part of SSCC's new graduate student orientation, we will be offering several two-hour hands-on Introduction to UNIX sessions over the next several weeks. Any SSCC member can sign up for one of the sessions as room allows. Send mail to mcdermot to sign up for one of the sessions below: Day, Date Class Time Room ========= =================================== ============= ==== Thu, 8/19 Introduction to Unix/Wincenter/Pine 1:00 - 3:00 2470 Mon, 8/30 Introduction to Unix/Wincenter/Pine 10:00 - 12:00 2470 Mon, 8/30 Introduction to Unix/Wincenter/Pine 1:30 - 3:30 2470 Thu, 9/2 Unix/Wincenter/Pine (slow paced) 1:00 - 4:00 2470 ---------------------------------- A New Email Program for Travelers! ---------------------------------- The SSCC now supports a web email client for the use of members who are traveling and require access to their everyday email folders. The program, called "Mailspinner", could be used in the office or at home as well, but it is, inevitably, a little slower than non-web email programs and lacks a few of the features that power users expect, notably, features related to address books and address aliases. Mailspinner is available to you from any computer in the world that is connected to the Internet and runs a web browser. Just go to either of the two URL's below and click on the link "Webmail via Mailspinner". Enter your UNIX username and password; i.e., the ones you normally use for all email on our systems except VMS mail. http://webmail.ssc.wisc.edu or http://webmail.polisci.wisc.edu Mailspinner is an IMAP client. Configured correctly, it will automatically recognize the folders you normally use with your Eudora, Pine, Netscape, or Outlook Express IMAP client programs. If you still access a POP server, either ours or DoIT's, your folders are on your private PCs and are not accessible to Mailspinner. For more information about Mailspinner please refer to the SSCC's How-To #24 at https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/Sscc/Pubs/Howto/24.pdf For further details about usage and configuration please contact consultant. We will also schedule an hour's class about Mailspinner for the fall semester. DoIT is in the process of announcing a web-based IMAP mail client of its own. We are not familiar with the details of DoIT's service yet, but we know that DoIT will charge for email storage and that you will not be able to access the IMAP folders you have already established on the SSCC's mail server.