This morning I logged onto my e-mail at 6:45 AM to learn that SAS was ranked as the No. 3 Best Company to Work For. No. 3 is not as high as No. 1. But it's very, very close. Perhaps even barely distinguishable, in the larger scheme of things. I
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![Uncovering the hidden parts of the SAS log](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/files/2012/01/sasnews.png)
Before there was CNN or FOX News, people used to get their news from SAS. At least, that's how I imagine that people kept themselves informed. What else can explain the existence of the NEWS= system option, which helps SAS admins to surface the must-know information to the SAS community?
![Pitfalls of the LAG function](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/files/2017/02/ProgrammingTips-3.png)
In the immortal words of Britney Spears: Oops! I did it again. At least, I'm afraid that I did. I think I might have helped a SAS student with a homework assignment, or perhaps provided an answer in preparation for a SAS certification exam. Or maybe it was a legitimate
Lots of the visitors to this blog arrive here by way of Google search (welcome!). Thanks to search engines and a few well placed keywords, the same older posts (let's call them "timeless topics") seem to attract the most traffic from year to year. I hope that the searchers find
![A SAS options viewer for SAS Enterprise Guide](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/files/2011/12/optionsViewer.png)
On the heels of the release of the popular SAS macro variable viewer from last month, I'm providing another custom task that I hope will prove just as useful. This one is a SAS options viewer, similar in concept to the OPTIONS window in SAS display manager. You can download
![What's the difference between 0 and -0?](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/files/2011/12/neg0.png)
My daughter's math lessons this year have included the concept of negative numbers (that is, numbers that are less than zero, not numbers that have a bad attitude). She has used number lines such as this one to help her while she completes her homework: Notice that in this number
![Too many pies can be hard to digest](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/files/2011/12/rankchart.png)
On his SAS and R blog, Ken K. recently posted an example of a visualization technique called "small multiples". In this exercise, Ken shows the programming technique for replicating a particular series of pie charts in R as well as in SAS. It's a useful exercise to learn from, but
![Computer Science is not just for basement dwellers](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/files/2011/12/tiscrnbut.gif)
When I was a teenager in the 1980s I purchased my first computer: a TI-99/4A. (Wow, TI's version numbers are more confusing than ours!) I had several friends who had other brands of computers, including the TRS-80 (affectionately known as the "trash 80") and the Commodore 64. Despite our divisions
![Just-in-time data prep in SAS Enterprise Guide](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/files/2011/11/taskfilter.png)
On this blog, I've delivered a few tips about using SAS formats to stratify your data values "in place" without having to actually change your data. The most recent example addressed date and datetime variables. My previous examples included simple SAS programs that you can run in SAS display manager
![Take SAS program editor abbreviations to the next level](https://blogs.sas.com/content/sasdummy/files/2011/11/addabbrevmenu.png)
Rick posted a tip today about using abbreviations in the SAS program editor window (often referred to as the "enhanced editor"). Defining abbreviations is a great way to save keystrokes and re-use "templates" of code that you've squirreled away. (One of Rick's readers also picked up on the tip, and