Making the sas.servers script look pretty
This blog post provides the steps for applying color and an easy-to-read layout to make the sas.servers script look cute and even fun!
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PSD2: Understanding the new payments regulation in Europe
The revised EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2) has been a focal point for the financial services industry over the last couple of years and its adoption is set to revolutionise the payment ecosystem in Europe. New entrants, innovative technologies and increased regulation are already posing major challenges to traditional banks
SAS Viya sharing credentials for database access
SAS Viya deployments use credentials for accessing databases and other third-party products that require authentication. In this blog post, I will look at how this sharing of credentials is implemented in SAS Environment Manager. In SAS Viya, domains are used to store the: Credentials required to access external data sources. Identities
10 Things I'm Learning
Next week I will be facing two major milestones in my life. I turn 55 ...and the next day I take my only son to college. These simultaneous occurrences have led me to some soul searching. At times like this I often turn to my favorite authors/speakers for insight and
Mapping out the next robot invasion!
Robots - everyone has probably been fascinated by the idea of robots at one time or another. From the early science fiction robots (such as Klaatu's robot Gort) to the mid-1980s movie robots (like Johnny 5), they have been portrayed in many different ways in fiction. These days, with the
Load Data into SAS Viya via REST API
In this blog post I am going to cover the example of importing data into SAS Viya using Cloud Analytic Services (CAS) actions via REST API. For example, you may want to import data into a CASLib via REST API. This means you can perform an import of data outside
At the end of the day, it’s all about analytics-driven forecasting
Analytics-driven forecasting means more than measuring trend and seasonality. It includes all categories of methods (e.g. exponential smoothing, dynamic regression, ARIMA, ARIMA(X), unobserved component models, and more), including artificial intelligence, but not necessarily deep learning algorithms. That said, deep learning algorithms like neural networks can also be used for demand forecasting,
Which of my factors are important?
This question has been asked repeatedly for decades by anyone facing a new system. That system might be a new product, a new piece of equipment, a new process, or anything really that is new and not well understood. Ultimately, you might need to change this system but first you
Positive Mind. Positive Vibes. Positive Life.
How to “Mind your Mind” and Improve your Well-being This morning you woke up, started your day and, whether you realized it or not, you said some things to yourself. You may have said, Today is going to be great… I am going to succeed… I look good! or perhaps
Jedi SAS Tips - Favorite Resources for SAS Programmers
I frequently get asked about my favorite book on a particular topic, how to find free SAS learning materials online, how to get help with SAS issues, etc. So I thought I'd share it with you here! Last updated 2/25/2020 Getting Started Resources New to SAS? Here's your SAS Starter
Use a bar chart to visualize pairwise correlations
Visualizing the correlations between variables often provides insight into the relationships between variables. I've previously written about how to use a heat map to visualize a correlation matrix in SAS/IML, and Chris Hemedinger showed how to use Base SAS to visualize correlations between variables. Recently a SAS programmer asked how
Graphs with long category values
A few days ago, I posted an article on displaying first N bars from a data set. This is useful when the data is sorted by descending response, and only the first few values are significant. There were a few interesting comments, including one that was regarding the treatment of
Tracking floods and droughts in Jordan Lake, NC
If you know me, you probably know that I spend a lot of time on the water. I like speed paddling (dragon boat, outrigger canoe, surfski, and racing SUP), and I also have a big pontoon boat at Jordan Lake where I try to go fishing at least once a
Helping military veterans transition to civilian life, pursue analytics careers
Veterans transitioning back to civilian life face a number of challenges, many of which involve working in a non-military environment. The Honor Foundation helps Navy SEALs and other current and transitioning members of the U.S. Special Operations community enter civilian life. Last week, a group of former special operators visited several
CAS data modeling for performance
The Cloud Analytic Server (CAS for short) is SAS’ latest high-performance, scalable, in-memory analytic data server. In this post, I’d like to discuss the CAS physical data model, i.e.what features CAS offers for data storage, and how to use them to maximize performance in CAS (and consequently SAS Visual Analytics
Advanced ODS: Controlling precisely what output is displayed
PROC SGPLOT displays titles inside the graph. If you want to display a title inside the graph and a different title outside the graph, you can use the ODS LAYOUT or the GTL. The ODS LAYOUT gives you precise control over your output and enables you to display multiple graphs and tables in each page.
Analytics holds the key to optimizing oilfield assets
In an increasingly complicated operating environment, the global oil and gas industry struggles to optimize their asset portfolio. Producers combat severe challenges inherent to aging facilities in the context of pricing volatility. Change is the new constant, as the cyclical nature of the oil and gas industry means that producers
How do I know what data is available?
Phil Simon shares his thoughts on this simple yet often-overlooked question.
How far are you from North Korea?
With North Korea's growing missile capabilities in the news lately, I thought it would be interesting to create a map showing how far (or close) they are from other parts of the world. I first did a few searches on the Web, to see what maps are already out there.
What is rank correlation?
When someone refers to the correlation between two variables, they are probably referring to the Pearson correlation, which is the standard statistic that is taught in elementary statistics courses. Elementary courses do not usually mention that there are other measures of correlation. Why would anyone want a different estimate of
Education Analytics: How SAS is used in education
Recently, I interviewed three SAS customers to understand firsthand how each is using data visualization and analytics in education. In this education analytics series of blog posts, I’ll take you on a journey to learn how each of these customers are turning their data into insights to be a more
Tips and Tricks: Show first N bars
Often we have a graph with many bars (or categories) on the x or y axis. These categories may be sorted by descending response such as frequency of a % value. An example with simulated data is shown below. title 'Actual Values by Name'; proc sgplot data=bars2 noborder; vbar name /
Battling the government budget crisis with analytics
The State of Illinois faces an unprecedented budget crisis, with more than $15 billion in unpaid bills. While experts will argue over the exact causes of states' financial struggles, many are pointing to the problem of state leaders avoiding long-term budgetary problems for short-term fixes. Illinois is not alone in
So, 27 US states are farther north than Canada, eh?
With all the recent talk about some people wanting to move from the US to Canada, I got to wondering how cold, and how far north Canada is. And after a few Google searches, I was surprised to learn that 27 US states are actually farther north than the southernmost point
3 steps to prepare your data for accurate predictive models in SAS Enterprise Miner
In this post I describe the important tasks of data preparation, exploration and binning.These three steps enable you to know your data well and build accurate predictive models. First you need to clean your data. Cleaning includes eliminating variables which have uneven spread across the target variable. I give an
Machine learning best practices: Autotune models to avoid local minimum breakdowns
This is the fifth post in my series of machine learning best practices. Hyperparameters are the algorithm options one "turns and tunes" when building a learning model. Hyperparameters cannot be learned using that algorithm. So, these parameters need to be assigned before training of the model. A lot of manual
Basic ODS Graphics: What is wrong with my SG annotation data set?
SG annotation is a powerful technique for adding text, lines, arrows, shapes, and images to graphs. This post provides a macro that can help you when you make a mistake in writing the annotations.
Them Strong Bones: Latest Updates for Keeping Your Hip Bone Connected to Your Thigh Bone
In spite of years of research and recommendations on bone health, we still have considerably high rates of osteopenia and osteoporosis in the US. That leads us to believe we haven’t yet uncovered all we need to know about protecting our bones. But, thanks to new research we’re learning new
Robust principal component analysis in SAS
Recently, I was asked whether SAS can perform a principal component analysis (PCA) that is robust to the presence of outliers in the data. A PCA requires a data matrix, an estimate for the center of the data, and an estimate for the variance/covariance of the variables. Classically, these estimates
My TV Hiatus (kind of)
Take a minute to think of all the television programs you have watched throughout your lifetime. For me? Arthur, The Rugrats, Doug, Full House, Family Matters, Clarissa Explains It All, The Jeffersons, The Golden Girls, Pete and Pete, The OC, Laguna Beach, The Office, Scrubs, Scandal, The Real Housewives of fill in