Monitoring for event patterns
David Loshin's latest blog post: "Monitoring for Event Patterns."
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Santa's information dashboard
'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the world ... dot-matrix printers were humming as Santa's naughty/nice list was unfurled... Can you imagine what it must have been like years ago when Santa had to maintain his naughty/nice list by hand, with a feather quill pen?!? Or even these
5 keys to building a successful enterprise social network
Knowledge is a key ingredient of organizational success, regardless of industry, type, or size of the organization. Many tend to think of knowledge flow management within the context of IT, as that's where most of the tools used to foster knowledge sharing within a company are based. But social media
How to make better data-based decisions
Many companies are stressing the use of analytics and have a desire to make data-based decisions. But what kind of training should one take to enhance their abilities to meet this broad objective? Certainly some advanced training on statistical techniques would be helpful. But understanding how to manage a project
Getting ready to be a better company
Joyce Norris-Montanari declares this the perfect time to prepare your data for 2013. See what her plans entail.
Sorting out your panelled graphs (part 1)
The SGPANEL procedure is used to create panelled graphics based on classification variables. The panelled cells are generated starting from either the top left (the default) or the bottom left of the panel, controllable by the START option. Currently, the ordering of the cells is determined by two criteria: 1.
Spreading joy and access to information around the globe
Unlike a certain man in a red suit who, single-handedly, delivers presents around the world, SAS Publications relies on a network of people and partnerships to bring you the information you need; wherever you live! Whether you’re in Bangkok, Brussels, or Boston, access to the product documentation is easily accessible
A fractal Christmas tree in SAS
In my previous post, I described how to implement an iterated function system (IFS) in the SAS/IML language to draw fractals. I used the famous Barnsley fern example to illustrate the technique. At the end of the article I issued a challenge: can you construct an IFS whose fractal attractor
SAS author's tip: Sending ODS output to your printer
This week's SAS tip is from Lauren Haworth, Cynthia Zender, and Michele Burlew's book Output Delivery System: The Basics and Beyond. This mega book is packed with multiple examples that can help all levels of SAS users. If you're using ODS, take a look at these previously featured tips from the book:
Your iron play is not as good as you think it is, and other false assumptions
Analytics can uncover insights that compel us to view the world in new ways. An avid golfer friend of mine used analytics to improve his golf game—turning all of his pre-conceived notions about his strengths and weaknesses upside-down. All golfers like to tell tall tales, not unlike fishermen, but Tom
What's in a name – landmarks on the software landscape
In today’s fast paced marketing software industry, sorting through terms and naming conventions can be quite a confusing task. Often times – in an attempt to “differentiate” themselves from other vendors – software companies and solution providers invent new names and terms, which can easily result in confusion. Naming a
Analytics key to law enforcement gold standard
Police Departments across the country are under constant scrutiny by elected officials, the media and the public to reduce crime, control costs, engage the public, always be accessible and, most important, always be courteous and professional. Police departments that demonstrate excellence in these areas can achieve accreditation by The Commission
Iterated function systems and Barnsley's fern in SAS
Fractals. If you grew up in the 1980s or '90s and were interested in math and computers, chances are you played with computer generation of fractals. Who knows how many hours of computer time was spent computing Mandelbrot sets and Julia sets to ever-increasing resolutions? When I was a kid,
5 features SMBs want from data visualization
To read more ongoing tips and insights for small and midsize businesses, follow our SAS4SMB blog series or visit SAS for Small and MidSize Business. Data underpins the operations and strategic decisions of every business. Yet these days, data is generated faster than it can be digested, making it challenging
It’s war… Stat Wars!
There’s a new video series launching in the SAS Education department unlike anything that’s ever been done before. It’s called Stat Wars. Here’s how it works… two SAS instructors go head-to-head and battle it out over a statistics challenge. (So far no injuries have been reported.) It’s educational and engaging,
Naomi's Graph Makeover Contest
Naomi Robbins has posted a contest, part 1 of which is to submit alternative representations for the following graph: Clearly, usage of two pie charts to represent the share of the B2B and B2C referrals will invite many responses. To create the graph, I took the data shown in the Pie Charts themselves, so we are using percent
SAS author's tip: Creating permanent data sets
This week's SAS tip is from Phil Mason and his ever-popular book In the Know...SAS Tips and Techniques From Around the Globe, Second Edition. In a review, SAS user Ian Whitlock said "Phil Mason is the grand master in the art of the SAS software tip." It was definitely difficult picking just one excerpt to
Hold the flip phone! Outdated data solutions in disaster recovery, planning
Several years ago my mom, bless her heart, bought a cell phone. Now, my mom is not what one would call “tech-savvy”. She has had the same car forever, same furniture for 25 years (well, she did get it reupholstered), even the same pots and pans that came as wedding
Saluting those who serve
Keeping the peace is a hard job. Since it's December 7—Pearl Harbor Day—I'd like to thank the men and women who've served in the U.S. Armed Forces, past or present. Military veterans pay a huge price to protect America. Some lose their lives. Some come home with broken limbs or
6 bestselling books at 4 fabulous conferences
Many new books topped the charts at NESUG, SESUG, SCSUG, and Analytics 2012. Did any of your go-to SAS books make the lists? If you’re curious, take a look at our previously featured post What SAS users are reading this fall: early book buzz to view bestselling titles at these
Five Recommendations to help in recruiting analytical talent
As rain settles in over the green fields of England, I’ve been reading the Times Higher Education (THE) periodical. It’s always a lively read, as it invariably takes the part of untenured junior lecturers in any dispute. It is also very well researched and informed. This week’s THE edition has
Fun SAS graphs for the holidays
While I'm waiting for the next "data intense" event to show up in the news (so I can blog some SAS graphs about it), I thought I'd share a few fun SAS graphs in the spirit of the holiday season! Please don't hold me to too high of graphical "best practices"
Remove or keep: Which is faster?
In a recent article on efficient simulation from a truncated distribution, I wrote some SAS/IML code that used the LOC function to find and exclude observations that satisfy some criterion. Some readers came up with an alternative algorithm that uses the REMOVE function instead of subscripts. I remarked in a
Seven ways for marketers to respond to big data, from Brian Solis
Apparently the “big” in “big data” is only going to get bigger. And it turns out that organizations have not prioritized big data as much as they perhaps should because too many of them aren’t effectively leveraging customer data across channels. Both of those are positions held by the Altimeter
“Any fool can make a rule …
… and any fool will mind it”. ~ Henry David Thoreau. The EPA was in my neighborhood several weeks ago testing well water - never a good sign. It was determined that the subdivision just north and upstream of us had once been the site of a farm contaminated by
Understanding sequences of events
Read David Loshin's latest blog post: Understanding Sequences of Events.
Anatomy of a spam comment
This is the cross-post of a funny and informative post written for an internal SAS blog by my colleague and blogger extraordinare Chris Hemedinger. For those of you not familiar with "spam," it's a scourge of electronic media that shows up in blog comments among other places - placed with the intention of gaining better
Deer in the the headlights? Not with analytics.
I live in the South, but was raised by Midwestern Catholics from rural Minnesota. Think Jeff Foxworthy meets Fargo. A few of the great things that I have learned about folks in the South is their incredible politeness even when they are really saying, "Wow, what in the world are
Employee misclassification: Will the last employee please turn off the lights?
Independent contractor. Two very simple words that have a dramatic impact on businesses, workers, and government programs. While most people have a basic understanding of the term, they often have very little understanding of the laws governing it, which vary significantly program by program and state by state. This has