So, whilst I'm distracted from my other work, I can't resist sharing the huge chuckle I had when I saw Waynette Tubbs's latest edition of her SASonality series. It was titled "Phil Holland is another SAS Rock Star!" For those of us that know Phil and count him as a friend there are many positive accolades we could offer, but Rock Star is not one that would have come to my mind.
However, having ribbed Phil about the headline, the joke was on me because Phil pointed out that he had actually been lead singer of a pop group in 1971. Kick-back party at SAS Global Forum 2012 maybe?...
Anyway, joking aside, Phil is deserving of Waynette's article, not just for his SAS Global Forum efforts, but for all his good work in publishing VIEWS News every quarter for the last [goodness knows how many] years. Rock on Phil!
Monday, 21 March 2011
NOTE: Relief for my Book Shelves
Quite apart from the nostalgia factor (not insignificant), this development allows me to dispose of those huge great printed copies of proceedings from those conferences I attended so many years ago - SUGI 18 in 1993 being my first. Ah, the memories of lugging a heavy suitcase back home after a conference!
Whilst the SAS product has changed hugely over the intervening years, many of the papers still hold valuable tips for use of the Base programming language and macros.
I'm looking forward to this year's conference, but my progress through my workload has been slowed whilst I reminisce over the old proceedings. Bah!
P.S. If you'd like to offer a good home to my proceedings (1993, 95 and 96 I believe), post a comment. First come, first served. But you have to be prepared to pick them up from me in London. I'm not bringing them to Las Vegas in my luggage!!
Monday, 14 February 2011
NOTE: Enterprise Guide Custom Tasks - More Information
Chris Hemedinger recently highlighted a raft of new information about Enterprise Guide Custom Add-In Tasks on the SAS support web site. The page provides some example add-in tasks, documentation, and compatibility information for various release of Enterprise Guide. It's a valuable one-stop-shop for anybody interested in writing add-ins.
Monday, 24 January 2011
NOTE: Booked and Ready for SGF (SAS Global Forum)
My SAS Global Forum (SGF) paper proposal has been accepted by the conference organisers and is scheduled for 5:40pm on Wednesday April 6th. You can see further details in the conference agenda builder (warning: big page, slow to load).
My paper is entitled SAS Software Development with the V-Model. Given the nature of the Coder's Corner stream in which I am presenting, I'll be focusing on coding techniques for the testing phase.
If you're not already planning to attend SGF I suggest you visit the conference web site and see what an opportunity you're passing-up. Reduced rates for early registration end February 28th, so you have a few weeks remaining in which to convience your budget holder of the great training benefits of SGF.
If you are coming to SGF, please be sure to find me and say "hi" (I might even stand you a beer!). Best of all, come along to my paper and stay and have a chat afterwards.
You can follow some of the pre-event activity on the SGF blog. Last year's Twitter hashtag was #sgf10 but this year's takes a slightly different format and is #sasgf11. The change in format follows recognition that protection of the SAS brand means it should not be subsumed into an abbreviation, hence SAS staff do not use the abbreviation SGF! It's all explained in Steve Benfield's blog post from June last year.
My hotel and flight are booked too. I hope the food on my Virgin flight isn't the same as Oli Beale's - eloquently described (and photographed) in his letter of complaint to Sir Richard Branson!
My paper is entitled SAS Software Development with the V-Model. Given the nature of the Coder's Corner stream in which I am presenting, I'll be focusing on coding techniques for the testing phase.
If you're not already planning to attend SGF I suggest you visit the conference web site and see what an opportunity you're passing-up. Reduced rates for early registration end February 28th, so you have a few weeks remaining in which to convience your budget holder of the great training benefits of SGF.
If you are coming to SGF, please be sure to find me and say "hi" (I might even stand you a beer!). Best of all, come along to my paper and stay and have a chat afterwards.
You can follow some of the pre-event activity on the SGF blog. Last year's Twitter hashtag was #sgf10 but this year's takes a slightly different format and is #sasgf11. The change in format follows recognition that protection of the SAS brand means it should not be subsumed into an abbreviation, hence SAS staff do not use the abbreviation SGF! It's all explained in Steve Benfield's blog post from June last year.
My hotel and flight are booked too. I hope the food on my Virgin flight isn't the same as Oli Beale's - eloquently described (and photographed) in his letter of complaint to Sir Richard Branson!
NOTE: SAS Success
For the second year in a row, SAS has been judged as Best Company To Work For by Fortune. In fact it's the 14th year in a row that SAS has been included in Fortune's top 100 companies to work for.
If you are a SAS employee you'll be pleased; but if you're a SAS customer then you know that you're being served by happy, motivated staff - that's got to feel good too!
And (in celebration?), Jim Goodnight has a Facebook page for us all to enjoy. It's a neat way to keep up-to-date with some of the inner thoughts and workings at SAS HQ.
If you are a SAS employee you'll be pleased; but if you're a SAS customer then you know that you're being served by happy, motivated staff - that's got to feel good too!
And (in celebration?), Jim Goodnight has a Facebook page for us all to enjoy. It's a neat way to keep up-to-date with some of the inner thoughts and workings at SAS HQ.
Monday, 10 January 2011
NOTE: Using the ANY and ALL Operators in PROC SQL
Let me put my cards on the table before we start: I had never heard of the ANY and ALL operators in PROC SQL before I spotted David Shannon's tweet this evening. The ANY and ALL operators are PROC SQL operators which can be used to compare the result of a query expression against either ANY or ALL of the results returned from another query. Read the Amadeus tips entry to discover the details! It was an eye-opener for me.
Amadeus are one of the UK's leading SAS consultancies (alongside RTSL!), and David is Amadeus's Technical Director. The UK SAS consultancy business is a small world, so I've known David for many years. However, despite knowing David quite well, I was surprised and amused (in equal measure) to see that he is contemplating the infamous Land's End to John O'Groats journey (LEJOG - a 1,000+ mile journey from the most extreme southwestward tip of Britain in Cornwall in England to the most extreme northeastern tip in Scotland) in a 1970's British sports car, without using major roads. The man is off his trolley! You can follow David's planning and trip on his blog.
My wife completed LEJOG on a pedal bike in 10 days last year. Let's see if the best of the British motor industry of the 70's can get there faster... Both journeys were / will be in aid of good charities...
Amadeus are one of the UK's leading SAS consultancies (alongside RTSL!), and David is Amadeus's Technical Director. The UK SAS consultancy business is a small world, so I've known David for many years. However, despite knowing David quite well, I was surprised and amused (in equal measure) to see that he is contemplating the infamous Land's End to John O'Groats journey (LEJOG - a 1,000+ mile journey from the most extreme southwestward tip of Britain in Cornwall in England to the most extreme northeastern tip in Scotland) in a 1970's British sports car, without using major roads. The man is off his trolley! You can follow David's planning and trip on his blog.
My wife completed LEJOG on a pedal bike in 10 days last year. Let's see if the best of the British motor industry of the 70's can get there faster... Both journeys were / will be in aid of good charities...
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