Park Avenue Applications

Applications: There'll be no tech support on how to use a piece of software.

  • Microsoft Word XP: Wordprocessor. This version allows you to produce HTML documents. It has an Equation Editor. The templates have been protected so you may get an error message such as "Can't write/save the template".
  • MS Excel XP: Spreadsheet. It can also do primitive regressions!
  • MS Draw XP: This has a lot of improved drawing features over the Office 97 version. It can draw pretty graphs (eg, PPF, indifference curves, etc.). It can only be called from another Windows application (eg, Word). So, say, if you want to invoke it from inside Word to draw a graph, Click on Insert, then Object, then choose Drawing. There is also an icon for it on the toolbar.
  • MS Powerpoint XP: This Presentation program is hungry for disc space.
  • SSH: This program provides both secure terminal access to remote systems and secure file tranfer. If you do not need a graphical Unix session, SSH is often quicker. It is also the only way to transfer files to or from the Emilies. You must start an SSH session to an Emily to use Exceed (see below).
  • Exceed: this is an X-Windows client that allows you to log on to an Emily in the metrics lab. So, if you want to run Matlab or TSP, use this to log on to an Emily and do it. Do not create personal profiles for system access, as they are not private. Due to increased security requirements you will have to run Exceed in 'passive mode' and start applications from an SSH console window. This is the same mechanism that would be used for external connections. How to tunnel passive-mode Exceed over SSH.
  • Explorer: Windows explorer, a file management tool.
  • Mozilla Firefox: You should only use it to surf the net. Bookmarks created by you will be saved to your T: drive. The use of Internet Explorer for general browsing is deprecated for security reasons.
  • Acrobat: Adobe Acrobat (version 5.0) can be used to produce Portable Document Files (PDF), and to view and print PDF files. Use the Distiller printer driver to produce PostScript from a Windows application, and the Distiller application to produce PDF files. Acrobat is the PDF reader, printer, and editor.
  • Ghostview and Ghostscript. These applications allow you to view and print PostScript files. Please check that the Ghostview 'Media' setting is 'Letter', and use the 'mswinpr2' printer driver. Note: Many PostScript and PDF files from Europe use the A4 paper size. The local printer will try and use the manual feed tray for A4, which isn't recommended.
  • Symantec Corporate Edition virus scan and firewall software is used to provide system security. This is not a guarantee of protection. Please use discretion when obtaining files from other people, and particularly when receiving unsolicited material by email. You are required to use and maintain anti-virus and firewall software on personal machines connecting to the campus network. The University license covers current students, staff, and faculty.
    The Administrators will remove infected or quarantined files without appeal.
  • The Windows edition of Stata is available as a shared resource. The current version is Intercooled Stata 9. We also have the older Intercooled Stata 7 available. Both these programs are licensed for 10 concurrent users. The EML has Stata licenses.
  • A scanner is attached to Econ130. We suggest using the Full Acrobat program for scanning to PDF, and Microsoft Office Tools - Scanning for importing text or images. Text can be recognised and exported to Word. If you want numeric data in Excel, import to Word first, then transfer to Excel.

  • Burning data CDs or DVDs. The Park Avenue machines have CD/DVD recorders. The software for writing data backups is Roxio.

    The Field Office machines can also write CDs and DVDs. The software for writing data backups is Sonic.

    Use good quality media.

    Copyright materials. Only use the optical drives to write backups of your data.

  • The Windows file server also holds a few other tools and packages not mentioned above.

    • Gretl - Gnu Regression, Econometrics, and Time Series Library under \\econ182\gretl
    • EMF to EPS - Converts Windows Metafiles to Encapsulated Postcript (useful for LaTeX).

    These items are either partially supported or unsupported.

The Econometric Laboratory Unix machines support a number of useful applications in addition to the statistical packages. The EMACS editor has a LaTeX mode, and the graphical LyX front-end to LaTeX is also available. A full range of programming tools (AWK, C, C++, PERL, Python, etc.) are installed.

If you want to set up your personal computer to access graphical applications on an Emily (such as SAS or XStata), look at this article Economics Exceed configuration on the Department web server. Exceed should be configured in 'passive' mode, which is the default. The X application will appear as floating windows on your local desktop.

If you encounter any problems with your use of Park Avenue, send email to econ@lscr.ls.berkeley.edu. Do not send messages to the Econometrics Laboratory (i.e., do not send messages to trouble, manager, consult, or postmaster as you would if you encountered problems with one of the Suns).