Tech
In a production environment, where dozens of SAS programs are run in sequence, often monthly or quarterly, and where logs can span thousands of lines, it’s easy to overlook the small stuff that can cause data hangovers. Recognize any of these? A temporary data set finds its way into subsequent
Now this is the way you sports fans should be thinking of using SAS! Of course there are no real specifics here, but you guys are pretty smart. Here's an older story about using SAS for sports, and I'm sure you've all seen Money Ball by now. Today's series entrant is
Howdy. This is Andrew T. (Andy) Kuligowski, the SAS Global Forum 2012 Conference Chair. I’ve been using SAS® for more than 20 years – OK, a LOT more than 20 – and attended my first SAS Global Forum (then called SUGI, SAS Users Groups International) in Dallas, Texas back in
One great element of SAS’ Analytics2011 conference (not a SAS Users Group conference, but a great place for SAS users to find information about using SAS) is how it gives students a platform to showcase their work in analytics. Every year, hundreds of posters are submitted outlining innovative applications and research
Writing is usually very easy for me - I close the door and concentrate on the task at hand. But today, my mind is wandering. Maybe it's the changing season (it's fall in the US) that makes me think of all of the SAS users who might be reading my posts:
“I really wish someone had shown me this function in SAS sooner, because it’s saved me a ton of time and effort,” said Brandi Rhoads as she opened her presentation at the Western Users of SAS Software (WUSS) conference in San Francisco.
I've been very fortunate to meet a lot of SAS users during my scant 3 year tour at SAS. I've met them while attending SAS Global Forum 2009, 2010, and 2011; NESUG 2009, 2010 and 2011; and SESUG 2010. Of course, like you, I want to go to all of the
In my Friday series about innovation, I've decided to include some personal stories of unusual and unique uses of SAS. Once a month or so, I'll swap out the Post-it Notes for a profile of someone who has used SAS in an innovative way to solve a problem or, like
If you've been to a SAS Forum, US SAS Regional or local SAS event, you know that it is impossible to see and hear everything that is on your list. Imagine how disappointed your SAS colleagues are who are sitting at home. They would love to hear about what you
~Contributed by Paul Gorrell and Warren Stinson, Conference Co-Chairs There were 384 attendees from 23 states and 6 countries gathered at the Holiday Inn By The Bay in Portland, Maine for three days to present, discuss, code, blog and tweet, using both familiar and new ways to share SAS expertise. There
With data standards rising in every industry, there’s a high demand for analysts and an unfortunate shortage of analytic talent. Many organizations are turning to student internships as a low-cost way to hire support, train potential new employees and provide real-world experience for students.
The premise of the modern portfolio theory (MPT), proposed by Harry Markowitz in 1952, is diversity. Murphy Choy says that means you should “never put all of your eggs in the same basket.” According to Choy, the theory was never meant to be used with complex investment products because they
Ready for some fun facts? These tidbits were all shared during the Western Users of SAS Software (WUSS) conference held in San Francisco this week: 1. How many million dollars did a simple Excel spreadsheet error cost TransAlta? Answer: $24 million 2. What percentage of mobile phone users older
There are days that I could use code like this to make two of myself. No, that would never work; then I would be bored with so much time on my hands! In this new series, called Friday's Innovation Inspiration, we'll take a look at Post-It Notes from the 2011 Innovation Walls. SAS users filled
At the Western Users of SAS Software (WUSS)conference this morning, I witnessed my first Super Demo, taught by SAS’ own Andy Ravenna covering the major improvements to the latest version of SAS® Enterprise Guide®. The coolest new new features: Mouse over tooltip – gives you help right in the program editor
~Contributed by Melissa Perez, SAS Customer Loyalty~ Making sure our customers have a great experience with SAS is the goal of the US Customer Loyalty team. SAS has a wealth of resources available to our customers and the loyalty team is a dedicated resource to provide support and act as
The Western Users of SAS Software (WUSS) have the best acronym ever, and they're putting on an amazing conference in San Francisco this week. The conference kicked off today with conference chairs Kathryn Valdes and Ginger Carey’s announcement that the Pacific Northwest Users Group is merging with WUSS next year, adding
The road to becoming a SAS Rock Star often starts at SAS Global Forum. Start making your mark by sharing how you use SAS at the 2012 SAS Global Forum, to be held in sunny Orlando, FL, from April 22 to 25. Submissions are being considered in the technology
SAS experts are gearing up to share knowledge, expertise and insights at SAS Global Forum 2012 In the last two months alone, we have launched SAS 9.3, created a think tank on healthcare analytics, hired a Chief Medical Officer, released a new version of Curriculum Pathways and offered flashcards for
Chris Hemedinger, author of the SAS Dummy blog, read last week's Innovation Inspiration post and was reminded of a couple of cool things he'd seen SAS users do. He also told me of one of his most recent rock star moments. (In all fairness to Hemedinger, he didn't call his
Users groups and users group events are a great way to get the most from the software that you use every day: learn new coding and analysis techniques, gain efficiencies and productivity, and meet other SAS users. The final months of 2011 will fly by. Don’t let them escape without
In 1979, my ninth-grade teachers named me "Most Likely to Replace Rona Barrett" on TV's Good Morning America. Although the prediction never came to pass, it did at least stoke my enthusiasm for "conversation" and my passion for "sharing." So, yeah, I can be a real talker sometimes. Up for some spirited, banal chit-chat? Give me a call! Delighted by the meandering
Most SUG presentations are written in PowerPoint – they may even be written in Word first, and then fancied up a bit in PowerPoint – but they are rarely written in SAS. But Louise Hadden, from Abt Associates Inc, had a need to produce a lot of PDF presentations. She
I used to get an email with a joke in it every Friday from my former boss, he called it Friday's Funnies. Some were really funny. Some - not so much. Well, I've decided to start my own Friday treat - a new series - called Friday's Innovation Inspiration. I'll be using
The Obama Administration and subprime lenders agree on one thing: Borrowers with bad credit lack the clout - both financial and political - to rebuild their lives without help from somebody ... somewhere. Where they disagree - royally - is over how. The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of
With a combined 62 years of experience using SAS and JMP, consultants Kirk Paul Lafler and Charles Edwin Shipp have authored countless papers, articles, books - even puzzles - about analytics. Over the years, they've pretty much seen the world more than a few times during their travels to international,
More than 175 users attended the recent one-day conferences sponsored by the Pacific Northwest SAS Users Group (PNWSUG). Conference chairs Sara Beck and Mark Thompson, supported by the PNWSUG Executive Committee, created another great learning experience for SAS users in Seattle (Sept 19) and Portland (Sept 21). However, change is
Student’s schedules are packed with activities these days but taking time out to attend a conference is always a great addition to any semester. For students who use SAS and want to attend a SAS Users Group conference, here are some tips to help you get the most out of
Are you planning to attend WUSS 2011 or are you a data miner who will you be in the San Francisco Bay area on Saturday, October 15 and looking for an "Unusually," "Uninteresting" data mining Unconference? An unconference is an event where users suggest topics, get together and discuss them in
Metadata is data about data. For the purposes of his NESUG 2011 presentation, Frank DiIorio defined metadata more precisely as data about data and data that describes workflow objects and processes. DiIorio wrote his paper because organizations are challenged more and more today to do more with less. Metadata can
