Why do you read SAS blogs? Do you come solely for the technical tips? Do you follow your favorite blogger and ignore the rest? Or maybe you just read the posts that relate to your industry or your current business challenge.

I've heard from some of you that you try to read every post, but that can be hard. With more than 30 SAS blogs, it's easy to overlook some of the best posts over the course of a year.

In case you missed them, here are our top ten posts for 2015, based on total number of pageviews. The list includes a great range of topics, from spilled nail polish to machine learning. 

1. The spiral of splatter 

   What do you do when your daughter spills black nail polish all over the walls of the bathroom? You turn it into a statistics lesson!

2. 5 reasons young and old writers need the SAS writing reviser add-on for Google Docs

   You may work primarily with numbers, but writing is a crucial skill in almost every job function. Learn how this free tool from SAS Curriculum Pathways can help improve the clarity and variety in your communications.

3. The final post

   In December, the SAS family lost a favorite colleague who taught many of us about loyalty, friendship and accessibility. Blog posts from Willie the Seeing Eye Dog were reader favorites, and this goodbye note received more comments than any post I can remember.

4. Top 10 global trends that will impact hospitality in 2015

   Now's a good time to look back and see if these January 2015 predictions from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research came true. From politics to millennials,  how many industry trends are still important this year?

5. How to split one data set into many 

   SAS programmers are often asked to break large data sets into smaller ones. In this post, Chris Hemedinger describes an easy way to do that and debates the merits of doing so.

6. Disaster relief efforts show promise of analytics and seemingly unrelated data sources

   How can global trade data inform disaster relief? By helping victims and aid workers locate materials and rebuild faster. Read this post to find out what other data sources can be used to aid in humanitarian efforts.

7. Using LIBNAME XLSX to read and write Excel files

   The SAS Dummy introduces the newest way to read and write Excel data in SAS, and readers respond enthusiastically with many questions.

8. How to perform a fuzzy match using SAS functions

   There's nothing fuzzy about this post, which explains quite clearly how to find multiple variations of the same variable in a data set, like three different versions of the same name or address. Be sure to read the comments for more modern uses of fuzzy matching.

9. Using parameters in SAS Visual Analytics

   What is a parameter? And how can you use parameters to design interactive reports with prompt controls? Teri Patsilaras explains this new feature and demonstrates how to use it.

10. Is machine learning trending with economists?

    Machine learning techniques have become increasingly popular with computer scientists. And now, says Kenneth Sanford, economists are embracing the value of these methods too.

If you had a favorite post that isn't listed here, let us know, and maybe we'll create a separate list of hand-picked favorites from our commenters.