NEWS

Invitation to SSCC Computer Orientation

SSCC staff will be offering a hands-on computer orientation on Thursday, September 1 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. in Social Science 4308 for new members arriving this Fall. We want to extend an invitation to any SSCC member who might also like to attend. Maybe you've been a member for a while, but haven't used your account much, or maybe you arrived mid-year and didn't get a one-on-one orientation. Whatever the reason, you are welcome to attend. Please e-mail Nancy McDermott (mcdermot@ssc.wisc.edu) if you plan to attend so we have enough materials for everyone.

New Sociology graduate students have already received their invitations, but if you know of other new arrivals -- post docs, faculty, staff, visitors -- please extend them an invitation.


Password Changes via the Web

We've created a new web page that allows you to change your SSCC passwords. This page will take care of changing both your Windows and Linux passwords with a single click.

Remember we've also introduced a variety of other web tools over the summer, including pages to view your printing totals, enable SpamAssassin email filtering, forward your SSCC email to a different address, check the size of your email, and set a "vacation" message. A full list of the SSCC's web tools can be found at https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/sscc/webapps.htm.


2470 Computer Lab to be Refurnished

The 2470 computer lab will be refurnished this month. The new furniture will provide a suitable space for Sociology's mobile laptop lab. We will also be adding wireless access for SSCC members who would like a nice quiet place to work. The 2470 printer and three of the Winterms will remain. The remaining Winterms will be placed in the 4218 computer lab.

SSCC members interested in using the mobile lab in 2470 or in any other classroom in the Social Science building should contact the Social Science Micro Lab (3218 Social Science, 2-0862) for more information and scheduling.


SSCC Secure Data Facility Expanding

We have outgrown the space in our Secure Data Facility in the inner room in 2470. On August 10th, we will move the facility to 2404. At the same time, we will also open an identical room across the hall in 2403.

These rooms provide a secure environment for SSCC researchers to access sensitive data. Each room contains a single stand-alone PC with a removable hard drive for storing restricted data. (We purchased 10 removable drives so each room can accommodate up to five projects.) Installed software includes SAS, SPSS, STATA, and MatLab. In order to gain access, we'll need copies of your approved restricted data agreement and the written authorization from the appropriate UW Institutional Review Board. Please contact Nancy McDermott (mcdermot@ssc.wisc.edu, 4325 Social Sciences, (608) 262-3206) if you are interested in using SSCC's Sensitive Data Facility.


Terminal Server Upgrade

All terminal servers (Wincenter1/2/3 and Winstat1/2/3) will be upgraded to Windows Server 2003 and Citrix Metaframe Presentation Server 4.0 on Monday, August 8. Many applications will be updated including SPSS 13.0 and Adobe Acrobat 7.0. Mozilla Firefox (web browser) and Mozilla Thunderbird (email client) are two new applications available on all the servers. The terminal server upgrade will be a crucial step in migrating our Windows server platform to Windows Server 2003.

Wincenter3 and Winstat1 will be the first systems brought online on Monday. Wincenter1/2 and Winstat2/3 will become available later in the morning with all servers available by noon. Logging into the new servers should be seamless, but if you encounter any problems please notify the consultant.

In addition, Winstat1 will receive a hardware upgrade by moving to a new Dell server with dual 2.80GHz Xeon processors and 4GB of RAM making it comparable to Winstat2/3. Look for an enhanced web interface for terminal server access in the coming weeks. This should be particularly useful for remote users and those who need to occasionally run applications that only exist on the terminal servers.