----------------------------Original message---------------------------- [log in to unmask] Jun 12 14:50:44 1995 : Mon, 12 Jun 1995 14:15:23 -0400 (EDT) : Richard Robinson <[log in to unmask]> : invite The Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) has developed a new data cross-tabulation engine under the CIESIN Ulysses system. We invite you to test this new software. The Ulysses cross-tabulation engine currently processes data from the 1% U.S. Census Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) from 1980 and 1990, and delivers frequency counts, means of items, percentages and standard deviations. All processes are run in the CIESIN computing cluster, so the only technical requirement is that the user be able establish a telnet connection to CIESIN. Access to the Ulysses cross-tabulation engine is available by public login. telnet infoserver.ciesin.org (160.39.8.201) login: ulysses Immediately after login, you will be prompted to enter your terminal type. Either press 'enter' if the terminal type identified by Ulysses is correct, or type in your terminal type (e.g. vt100, xterm, etc.). Next, you will be shown a disclaimer and conditions of use screen. You'll be asked to read the conditions of use, and prompted to enter your email address to signify that you agree to the conditions of use. You will find online help available on all screens as you develop query statements in Ulysses. The PUMS data dictionary is also online. We will be putting the various code lists from from Appendix I online as soon as possible. If you would like to download a copy of the PUMS data dictionaries, they are available in ftp.ciesin.org:/pub/census/usa/pums/dd; if you would like a preliminary manual for the cross-tabulation engine, it is available as a postscript file in ftp.ciesin.org:/pub/data/ulysses. If you need hard copy of the manual, let us know. As we move to the Ulysses cross tabulation engine, we will be phasing out our earlier PUMS data exploration software, Explore. Effective immediately, Explore will run on two processors rather than eight, as had been the configuration. Performance will be slowed considerably, but Explore will be accessible for the immediate future. Access will be through public login. Contact CIESIN User Services for details. We would appreciate your comments on your experience with the new Ulysses package. As you exit the system, you'll be invited to send comments. Please do. And, if you have questions, please contact the CIESIN User Service office at [log in to unmask], or by phone at (517)797-2727 from 8a.m-5p.m. EDT, Monday-Friday. Future developments include work in progress to provide access to earlier PUMS datasets through the Ulysses cross tabulation engine; and a companion extraction engine is in development. Finally, we have a special request of those of you who have used data or applications from CIESIN in the past. If your work using CIESIN-disseminated data or CIESIN applications ended up in publication, kindly message us at [log in to unmask] and pass along the citation (and if it's not too inconvenient, a copy of the article). Our NASA patrons are curious about how our data and applications are being used (and so are we!). This will also help us to plan the course of future developments. We hope you'll find the Ulysses cross-tabulation engine to be useful. Thanks in advance for being a tire kicker. Best regards, Rich Robinson CIESIN User Service [log in to unmask]