HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.lawsch-l
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 15:18:19 -0500
From:         mjferzig@MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU
Subject:      Re: LSAT prep software

Scott Murray writes...

>I'll be taking the LSAT next month and I'm thinking about buying a software
>tutorial. Does anyone have experience with any of these software programs?
>Are they any better than using a traditional prep book?
>
>Can someone recommend a particular package? I would like to find something
>that explanes HOW to approach the problems, rather than merely presenting
>questions.

Scott-
I feel the same way about computer tutorials that I do about prep classes.
They are a way to force yourself to practice by saying "I've spent the
money, I'd better get something out of it." I used LSDAS's three-book set.
I found that to be an excellent investment. For $28, you get the three
books, one for each type of questions, with A lot of help in how to do the
problems, a diagnostic test, and an actual old LSAT so you can practice. I
used those,logic games from old issues of Games Magazine and some Baron's
books - all at a total cost of about $50 including the subscription that I
would've had anyway. I won't give out my score since I don't think anyone
cares, but it was good, and got me in here. If you feel you need the
computer stuff, by all means go ahead, but it isn't going to be much better
than diligence with the books. However, if you're going to lose sleep
because you haven't exhausted all the possibilities for study, then by all
means, buy software and ease your mind. And if someone gives it to you free
- by all means - try it! I think Macintosh makes one - try your local
computer store. Good luck! And remember, it can't be as bad as you'll think
it'll be...Feel free to write if you need any advice....

Marsha


Marsha J. Ferziger
University of Chicago School of Law
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
From: DMCOLES@NUACVM.ACNS.NWU.EDU
Subject: GIS survey
Organization: Northwestern University
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 15:13:29 GMT

I am forwarding this message for Herb Somers.  Please respond
to him and not to me.  Thanks!   Denise
--------------------------------------------
 
     Here at Northwestern University we are investigating the
possibility of creating a learning laboratory exclusively dedicated
to the multidisciplinary use of Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) in an academic library setting. In order to effectively plan
for such a project, we would be very interested in hearing from
libraries and individuals who would be willing to share their
experiences in offering such services to library patrons.
Specifically, we would be interested in learning:
 
1.   Presently, how many and what type of workstations are you
     utilizing to provide GIS capability?
 
2.   What type of GIS software have you selected?
 
 
3.   What departments on campus have been involved in developing
     and maintaining GIS services? Can you describe the
     Library's role in the establishment and maintenance of such a
     service, particularly with regard to staffing.
 
 
4.   Who are the primary users of the system (faculty, students,
     from what disciplines)? Do you find that users use the system:
 
     a.   on an on-going basis?
 
     b.   from time-to-time
 
     c.   for one-time projects?
 
 
5.   What have been the expectations from users and to what extent
     have those expectations been met?
 
 
6.   What have been the greatest challenges to establishing and
     maintaining such a service and how have they been overcome?
 
 
7.   In you were to do it over again, what would you do
     differently?
 
     Thank you for your assistance with this project. I hope the
survey is not too foreboding. Please respond directly to me and if
there is interest among other readers of this list, I will be glad
to summarize my findings.
 
Sincerely,
 
Herb Somers
Head, Government Publications and Map Department
Northwestern University Library
Evanston IL, 60208-2300
VOICE: (708)-491-2899  E-MAIL: SOMERS@NUACVM.bitnet
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.xtropy-l,alt.cyberpunk,alt.zines
From: whitaker@eternity.demon.co.uk (Russell Earl Whitaker)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Mon, 11 Jan 1993 09:33:28 GMT
Reply-To:     CNUSC operator <PUPITRE@FRMOP11.BITNET>
From:         CNUSC operator <PUPITRE@FRMOP11.BITNET>
Subject:      Computer shutdown/link failure
Comments: To: NAD-F@FRMOP11.BITNET

network will be down for rscs test on frmop11
then11/01/93 from 12h00 to 13h00                          .
Sorry for any inconveniences.

CNUSC Operator
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Envelope-to: linkfail@bitnic.BITNET
X-VMS-To: IN%"linkfail@bitnic"
X-VMS-Cc: PAYNE
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Mon, 4 Jan 1993 09:45:00 EST
Reply-To:     John Payne <PAYNE@ITHACA.BITNET>
From:         John Payne <PAYNE@ITHACA.BITNET>
Subject:      Ithaca College Down Time

Hello-

All nodes at Ithaca College will be unavailable Wed Jan 6 through Sun Jan 11,
due to hardware and software maintenance.  This includes ITHACA and ITHACAOA,
along with nodes gatewayed to the ITHACA.EDU domain.

-John

John Payne
Academic Systems Coordinator            payne@ithaca.bitnet
Academic Computing Services             payne@ithaca.edu
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Organization: Office of University Computing
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Tue, 12 Jan 1993 12:46:14 EST
Reply-To:     Nick Laflamme <NLAFLAMM@IRISHVMA.BITNET>
From:         Nick Laflamme <NLAFLAMM@IRISHVMA.BITNET>
Subject:      IRISHVMA mail fiasco
Comments: To: Joel Lehmann <LEHMANN@VALPO.BITNET>,
          Ron Thielen <SYSRONT@UCHIMVS1.BITNET>

Due to a MAILER misconfiguration error on my part and a resulting loop,
mail via vma.cc.nd.edu between 17:20 EST Monday, 1/11/93 and 08:00 EST
Tuesday, 1/12/93 was delayed.  I've attempted to resume mail delivery
using RFC822 addresses, but in some cases, especially list mail whose
To:  fields refer to the list, not the recipients, this will have to be
a manual activity which may yet prove hopeless.

LISTSERV@IRISHVMA usually serves Notre Dame (IRISH*, *.nd.edu),
Valparaiso University (VALPO) and the University of Chicago (UCHI*,
*.chicago.edu?).

I'm pretty sure mail with descriptive RFC822 "To:" fields will get
there eventually.  As for the rest, sorry....

Nick

* NLAFLAMM@IRISHVMA.BITNET
* Dominique.P.Laflamme.1@nd.edu
*
* interesting phone numbers, effective 12/28/92:
*
* Nick's office:  (219) 631-8271      FAX:                (219) 631-8201
* IBM modem pool: (219) 634-2422      Network modem pool: (219) 634-2462
* Rathskellar pizza: (219) 256-0707 (no change)
* Chris's Ice Cream: disconnected since Sept, 1987 :-(
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 10:11:21 GMT
Reply-To:     UCDOPR@IRLEARN.UCD.IE
From:         UCDOPR@IRLEARN.UCD.IE
Subject:      Downtime
Comments: To: hearn change-l <linkfail@IRLEARN.UCD.IE>

The UCD Router FRAN will be unavailable on Saturday, 09/01/1993.

Affected: All HEA sites will loose their connections to UCD.

Actions:  To facilitate a software upgrade.

Time to fix: 30 minutes ie. from 11:00-11:30 GMT.

Signed:      University College Dublin Operations.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 09:52:11 GMT
Reply-To:     UCDOPR@IRLEARN.UCD.IE
From:         UCDOPR@IRLEARN.UCD.IE
Subject:      Downtime
Comments: To: hea-ops@cs.tcd.ie

The UCD Router FRAN will be unavailable on Saturday, 09/01/93.

Affected: Connections to UCD and the Internet will be lost.

Actions:  To facilitate a software upgrade.

Time to fix: 30 minutes ie. from 11:00-11:30 GMT.

Signed:      University College Dublin Operations,
             06/01/1993 at 10:05 GMT.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Organization: William Rainey Harper College; Palatine, IL  60067
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Sat, 9 Jan 1993 21:07:23 CST
Reply-To:     Bob Brown <BBROWN@HARPERVM.BITNET>
From:         Bob Brown <BBROWN@HARPERVM.BITNET>
Subject:      harpervm down 1/9-1/10 dasd upgrade

HARPERVM will be down from some time saturday night (1/9) till
sunday afternoon (1/10) for a dasd upgrade.

We are an end node.

-boB

----------------------------------------------------------------------
BBROWN@HARPERVM.BITNET     ####  ####    Bob Brown
Harper Community College   ##  ##  ##    Systems Programmer
Palatine IL USA            ####  ####    "...Boink"
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Tue, 5 Jan 1993 15:41:03 +0100
Reply-To:     EARNIE@DB0FUB11.BITNET
From:         EARNIE@DB0FUB11.BITNET
Subject:      DB0* nodes unavailable
Comments: To: Berliner EARN-Knoten <EARN-BLN@DB0TUI11.BITNET>

Due to a PTT-line error which hit us immediately before christmas,
DB0WRZ11 and all subsequent nodes (DB0*) were unavailable from

Sun, 92/12/27 until Tue, 93/01/05.

No Spool files are all recovered.

Sorry for any inconveniences,
-Wolfram Fassbender (DB0WRZ11)
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Original_To:  @LINKFAIL_NAMES
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Tue, 5 Jan 1993 10:29:00 EDT
Reply-To:     Lee Schultz <LSCHULTZ@WOOSTER.BITNET>
From:         Lee Schultz <LSCHULTZ@WOOSTER.BITNET>
Subject:      Limited availability, Jan 7/8, node WOOSTER

 The College of Wooster (WOOSTER) will have limited Bitnet access,
Thursday, January 7, 1993 and Friday, January 8, 1992.

 Full backups for the start of the upcoming school semester and other system
events will take place at that time.

 We should be able to receive messages and files, but not be sending any
messages or files during most of the period. However, there will be some
periods (probably Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm) when we will be completely off the
net.

 Please note that WOOSTER is an end node.

 Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.


We are close to bringing our new VAX 4000-500 on-line. We SHOULD be doing
final testing of the system within the next two weeks.

When we finally bring the 4000-500 on-line, and the 750's go away, remote
sites should not see any change to e-mail addresses or the IP number of
ACS.WOOSTER.EDU (username@WOOSTER for BITnet addresses,
username@acs.WOOSTER.edu for Internet addresses and 140.103.29.3 for the IP
address of ACS.WOOSTER.EDU).

When we are ready to make the final conversion to the 4000-500, it may be
necessary for us to be off the net for 24-48 hours. Arrangements for final
testing will be made with our adjacent node (at Ohio State).

*****************************************************************************
Lee Schultz
Assistant Director, Systems and Networking                   (216) 263 - 2242
Academic Computing Services, College of Wooster     LSCHULTZ @ WOOSTER.bitnet
Wooster, Ohio  44691  USA                          LSCHULTZ @ acs.WOOSTER.edu
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Mon, 11 Jan 1993 09:31:11 GMT
Reply-To:     CNUSC operator <PUPITRE@FRMOP11.BITNET>
From:         CNUSC operator <PUPITRE@FRMOP11.BITNET>
Subject:      Computer shutdown/link failure
Comments: To: NAD-F@FRMOP11.BITNET

 FRMOP11 and FRMOP22
will be down the 11/01/93 from 12:00 to 13:00 (local time).
network will be down for rscs test on frmop11
the 11/01/93 from 12h00 to 13h00 (local time)
Sorry for any inconveniences.

CNUSC Operator
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Organization: The American University
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 15:34:06 EST
Reply-To:     Jim McIntosh <JIM@AMERICAN.EDU>
From:         Jim McIntosh <JIM@AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject:      AUVM.american.edu Downtime
Comments: To: Mark Bandak <MARK@MONTCOLA.BITNET>,
          "James R. Fisher" <JFISHER@USGSRESV.BITNET>,
          Tracy Holt <HOLT@GMUVAX.BITNET>, Byron Tyer <TYER@UDCVM.BITNET>,
          "Hakeem P. Fahm" <FAHM@UDCVM.BITNET>,
          Carl Whitman <WHITMAN@WRLCVM.BITNET>,
          Valdis Kletnieks <VALDIS@VTVM1.BITNET>,
          Wash_DC Relay Mailing List <DCRLY-L@american.edu>,
          AUVM Mailing List Owners <LSOWN-L@AUVM.BITNET>

The downtime announced yesterday has been changed. The AU VM/ESA machine
will be down from 6 pm on Saturday, January 9th, to 6 am on Sunday,
January, 10th.

AUVM.american.edu servers:  ListServ, NetNews and Relay.

BitNet nodes affected:      AUVM, GMUVAX, MONTCOLA, MONTCOLB, MONTCOLC,
                            USGSRESV, WRLCVM.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 11:10:11 GMT
Reply-To:     CNUSC operator <PUPITRE@FRMOP11.BITNET>
From:         CNUSC operator <PUPITRE@FRMOP11.BITNET>
Subject:      Computer shutdown/link failure
Comments: To: NAD-F@FRMOP11.BITNET

Network will be down for rscs test on FRMOP11
the 07/01/93 from 14:30 to 15:30 (local time).
Sorry for any inconveniences.

CNUSC Operator
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 13:11:43 MET
Reply-To:     Ulrich Giese <U001213@HNYKUN11.URC.KUN.NL>
From:         Ulrich Giese <U001213@HNYKUN11.URC.KUN.NL>
Subject:      HEARN down : Jan. 12 8:00--9:30
Comments: To: pits@princeton.edu
Comments: cc: netmaster@surfnet.nl

The HEARN system will be down for hardware-upgrade next Tuesday
Jan. 12 from 8:00 am until approx. 9:00 am local time.

-ulrich-
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 11:35:46 EST
Reply-To:     Larry Snodgrass <SNODGRAS@BITNIC.BITNET>
From:         Larry Snodgrass <SNODGRAS@BITNIC.BITNET>
Subject:      BITNIC down Thursday 7 Jan

BITNIC will be down for about an hour beginning Thursday 7 January
at 7:30 PM for UPS maintenance.

Larry
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Tue, 5 Jan 1993 15:01:24 +01
Reply-To:     Daniele Bovio <HI@SEARN.BITNET>
From:         Daniele Bovio <HI@SEARN.BITNET>
Subject:      FRMOP11 outage 12h30-??
Comments: To: pits@princeton.edu

REASON: PROBLEM IN RESTARTING GCS AFTER MODIFICATIONS.

AFFECTED NODE(S):  ALL FRENCH EARN NODES

AFFECTED INTERNATIONAL LINE(S): PUNFSV2 AND ALL THE EARN2 CORE SITES

COMMENTS: IBM AND CNUSC SYSPROG ARE WORKING ON THE PROBLEM.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Organization: The American University
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Tue, 5 Jan 1993 16:21:28 EST
Reply-To:     Jim McIntosh <JIM@AMERICAN.EDU>
From:         Jim McIntosh <JIM@AMERICAN.EDU>
Subject:      AUVM.american.edu Downtime
Comments: To: Mark Bandak <MARK@MONTCOLA.BITNET>,
          "James R. Fisher" <JFISHER@USGSRESV.BITNET>,
          Tracy Holt <HOLT@GMUVAX.BITNET>, Byron Tyer <TYER@UDCVM.BITNET>,
          "Hakeem P. Fahm" <FAHM@UDCVM.BITNET>,
          Carl Whitman <WHITMAN@WRLCVM.BITNET>,
          Valdis Kletnieks <VALDIS@VTVM1.BITNET>,
          Wash_DC Relay Mailing List <DCRLY-L@american.edu>,
          AUVM Mailing List Owners <LSOWN-L@AUVM.BITNET>

The American University's ES/3090-150S is  scheduled for a CPU and memory
upgrade this Saturday, January 9, 1993, between  8 am and 8 pm. It is our
expectation that  the system will will  be up prior  to 8 pm, but  we are
reserving this whole block of time in case there are problems.

During this time our VM/ESA CMS system will be unavailable. Services here
include ListServ, NetNews (including the Usenet/BitNet gateway) and
Relay. Affected BitNet nodes are: AUVM, GMUVAX, MONTCOLA, MONTCOLB,
MONTCOLC, USGSRESV and WRLCVM.

Jim McIntosh (jim@american.edu)
The American University
Washington DC 20016-8019 USA
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
X-Acknowledge-To: <RAF@PURCCVM>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Tue, 5 Jan 1993 16:02:28 EST
Reply-To:     Raffie B Tordil <RAF@PURCCVM.BITNET>
From:         Raffie B Tordil <RAF@PURCCVM.BITNET>
Subject:      PURCCVM down 5pm 1/9 to 12noon 1/10

PURCCVM will be down from 5pm EST January 9 until Noon EST January 10
for a DASD swap. This will affect BITNET traffic to and from most
Indiana nodes.

Affected nodes include:
BSUVAX1  INDIANA  INDYSTTI IPFWRVAX IUAZURE  IUGATE   IUROSE   WABASH
BUTLERU  INDST    INDYUNIX IPFWVM   IUBACS   IUGOLD   IVY
DEPAUW   INDSVAX1 INDYVAX  IU       IUBUS    IUIS     PURLIB1
EARLHAM  INDYCMS  IPFW     IUAMBER  IUBVM    IUJADE   RHIT
IND      INDYMED  IPFWCVAX IUAQUA   IUCF     IUPUCS   TAYLORU

Services affected:
LISTSERV@PURCCVM, RELAY@PURCCVM, and access to the purdue.edu domain.

Raffie Tordil

= Raffie Tordil           | Purdue University Computing Center
= raf@PURCCVM.BITNET      | VM Systems Programmer/VM Ass't Postmaster
= raf@expert.cc.purdue.edu| Purdue Relay Master Operator
= (317) 49-41787 x 212    | 1408 Math Sci;West Lafayette IN 47907-1408
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.linkfail
Date:         Tue, 5 Jan 1993 16:06:17 GMT
Reply-To:     CNUSC operator <PUPITRE@FRMOP11.BITNET>
From:         CNUSC operator <PUPITRE@FRMOP11.BITNET>
Subject:      Computer shutdown/link failure
Comments: To: NAD-F@FRMOP11.BITNET

Due to system maintenance, file transfert from FRMOP11 will be down Tuesday
January 5th from 20h to 24h.
Sorry for any inconveniences.

CNUSC Operator
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 15:18:13 EST
From: <BRW@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.stat-l
Subject: Time Series List??

Is anyone aware of a list/group devoted to time series analysis--ARIMA, transfe
r functions, VARs, etc.?  If so, where is it and how do I subscribe.  If not, i
s there any interest in starting one?  I haven't the foggiest idea about how to
 go about this since I am a net semi-virgin.  Any assistance will be appreciate
d.

Thanks, Barry.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Organization:  School of Public Health, University of Minnesota
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.stat-l
Date:         Mon, 11 Jan 1993 08:03:38 -0800
Reply-To:     Jim Goes <goes@chimera.sph.umn.edu>
From:         Jim Goes <goes@CHIMERA.SPH.UMN.EDU>
Subject:      Re: WHERE AND HOW TO GOPHER

> I have, on several occasions, seen the reference to the
> use of GOPHER to search for archived statistical
> materials.  I shall be pleased if someone can kindly show
> me WHERE and HOW to gopher my way into archived
> statistical "goodies", particularly relating to
> biostatistics.  If you can be of help, please kindly reply
> directly to me.


Gophers are propagating throughout the world, as rodents are wont to
do.  Gopher is a network protocol and tool for information access and
retrieval, developed by our whiz kids here in Gopherville (aka Univ.
of Minnesota).  Most gophers converse with each other through various
internet tunnels, and so usually, if you have access to one gopher,
you can easily access most others.


You need three things to tango with Gophers.

        1)  Network access to the internet, either through direct
            connection or through SLIP/modem access

        2)  A gopher to access.  You may have one at McGill already,

            or you can access most any gopher on the net if you have

            an internet address.

        3)  Gopher client software.  Equivalent to a short course in
            gopherese.  Available by anonymous ftp from

            "boombox.micro.umn.edu", or on a server archive near you.
            Gopher clients are available for a wide variety of
            platforms.
--
*********************************************************************
Jim Goes                        + InterNet: goes@chimera.sph.umn.edu
Health Management & Policy      +            (NeXTmail welcome!)
School of Public Health         + Phone:    (612) 624-3118
University of Minnesota         + FAX:      (612) 624-3972
*********************************************************************
When I hear "family values," I reach for my revolver.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.stat-l
Date:         Mon, 11 Jan 1993 15:09:35 SST
From:         COFLUNKC@NUSVM.BITNET
Subject:      WHERE AND HOW TO GOPHER

Hi,

I have, on several occasions, seen the reference to the use of
GOPHER to search for archived statistical materials.  I shall be
pleased if someone can kindly show me WHERE and HOW to gopher my
way into archived statistical "goodies", particularly relating
to biostatistics.  If you can be of help, please kindly reply
directly to me.

Many thanks.


K C Lun

---------------------------------------------------------------------
EMAIL FROM:

K C LUN, PH.D.                    TEL:     (65) 772 4299
DEPT OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE        FAX:     (65) 779 1489
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL      E-MAIL:  COFLUNKC@NUSVM.BITNET
LOWER KENT RIDGE ROAD
SINGAPORE 0511

"TO KNOW THE WAY AHEAD, ASK SOMEONE COMING BACK".
                                           CONFUCIUS (551-479 BC)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Acknowledge-to:    XIC@NIHCU.BITNET
X-Acknowledge-to:  XIC@NIHCU.BITNET
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.stat-l
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 10:56:54 EST
From:         XIC@NIHCU.BITNET
Subject: Re: Matrix Problem

This is a follow-up to the Matrix Problem of Just Jensen and
the response by Randy Tobias.  If C = Inverse(A), then I = AC.
Multiplying A by C in block form gives an upper right block
matrix of A11*C12 + A12*C22 = 0 matrix.  The only assumption
needed is that A is invertible.  Pre- and post-multiplying by
Inverse(A11) and Inverse(C22) respectively (if they exist, and
they will if A is positive definite) gives Just Jensen's
formula.

One brief comment on another subject:  The Washington
Statistical Society lectures in the early 1980's on the
accuracy of statistical packages referred to by Philip
Gallagher were, I believe, given by Jim Carpenter of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and David Morganstein of Westat.

Michael P. Cohen
National Center for Education Statistics
Washington, DC 20208-5654
Bitnet:  XIC@NIHCU    Internet:  XIC@CU.NIH.GOV
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.stat-l
Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 1993 01:47:02 HST
From:         Daniel Blaine <DANIEL@UHUNIX.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: calculators and computers: precision

> Dave Arday is interested in comparing the precision of his
> calculator and computer. Phil Miller mentioned 69! as the
> biggest factorial that the PC will handle. This, by less than
> a coincidence, is the limit of what my Sharp EL-506H and my Tandy
> (submerged on the desk, no doubt, at the moment) will handle.
> 69!/68! is correctly evaluated by them both as being 69. 70!
> simply produces an error. But Fisher's exact test is a good case
> in point: even with frequencies less than 69, the calculation
> will overflow if you multiply out the top of the line and then
> the bottom, before dividing. Anyone who has done this test by hand
> will know that a little factor finding often reduces the calculation
> to the very manageable.

        "Ditto" for the "CASIO fx-300A" (Scientific Calculator).

Daniel Blaine                           University of Hawaii at Manoa
daniel@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu                    daniel@uhunix.bitnet