• Locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager in the registry.
• If it contains FileRenameOperations or PendingFileRenameOperations, delete this key, and retry the SAS installation.
• Always make a backup of your registry before making changes
  
  

Sure enough this worked.  I didn't even bother rebooting the machine at all, I simply deleted the registry key and continued with the installation.

I really like the setup of the Planet page because at a glance you can see what a few of the other SAS users out there are working on or playing with.  Nice work SASCommunity.org!

Traditional resumes are almost dead.  Nowadays it seems you need that extra flare to get your foot in the door.  My recommendation would the same as Waynette prescribes but with a twist:

1: Be visible to the community by going to conferences, seminars, user group meetings and the like.

2: Be visible by participating online through outlets such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Blogging or just participating by posting content on SAScommunity.org or writing SAS papers.

3 (the Twist): Have a place on the web that you can call your own.  Whether it is a blog or VisualCV, let it be this personal HQ be a portal where you collect, share, or link to your thoughts, experiences, and deliverables (i.e. SAS papers, code snippets, research papers). 

In this day and age I'd argue there is no excuse for NOT maintaining an online presence. In fact, I'd argue that if a future employer can't find you on the internet, they would think you don't exist...

Good courses leave one feeling familiar with the material.  Great courses leave one feeling comfortable with the material.  The best courses will leave the student feeling comfortable and empowered with the material.  This SAS course did just that. 

I remember the first time I opened Enterprise Miner.  It was overwhelming to see the amount of options available.  My thoughts were "What did I get myself into??".  But after taking the course I'm suddenly like an 8 year old boy on Christmas Eve that can't wait to open his presents - I can't wait for Monday to get into the office and fire up Enterprise Miner!

I'd attribute the empowerment to the meaningful class discussions, the Teacher sharing real-life examples, and the in-class demonstrations which:

• Helped provide a deeper understanding of Text-Mining concepts, how to expore data, and what to expect when exploring my own data
• Fired my imagination for new ways of using my organizations data
• Made me realizing we have sources of information that were not previously considered as analyzable information. 

Terry is an excellent teacher and if you ever have the chance to take a course he is teaching - do it.  I don't think you'll regret it because the course notes, although wonderfully detailed and easy to understand, does not replace a good Teacher like Terry to expedite your learning.

One other item I'd like to address is in regards to the Tech side of the course.  Thank you SAS tech gurus!  Being provided with the ability to remotely log into a workspace with all of the couse notes, data, and software is a tremondous help.  It was very professionally done and worked wonderfully. 

SAS courses are worth every penny.

Given the following Data:

data test;
input var1 var2 var3;
datalines;
. 2 .
. 2 1
0 2 1
0 2 1
1 2 1
1 2 1
1 3 1
3 3 5
3 3 5
3 3 5
3 4 5
3 4 5
5 4 5
;
run;

Solution #1: Proc Tabulate (http://support.sas.com/techsup/technote/ts278.html)

data dummy;
input var1 var2 var3;
cards;
0 0 0
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4 4
5 5 5
;
run;

proc format;
value var_fmt
0="N/A"
1="Very Poor"
2="Poor"
3="Average"
4="Good"
5="Very Good"
;
run;
quit;

data joined;
set test(in=is_valid) dummy;
if is_valid then valid=1;
run;

%macro doit;
%DO I=1 %TO 3;
proc tabulate data=joined format=8.;
class var&I;
var valid;
tables var&I, valid=' '*n=' '
/ rts=22 misstext='0';

title 'Title Here';
format var&I var_fmt.;
label var&I="Var&I Label Here";
run;
%END;
%mend;

%doit;

Solution #2: Proc Summary + Proc Freq Combo (http://groups.google.ca/group/comp.soft-sys.sas/browse_thread/thread/eba82d9c5c37bb71?hl=en)

proc format;
value var_fmt
.="Missing"
0="N/A"
1="Very Poor"
2="Poor"
3="Average"
4="Good"
5="Very Good"
;
run;
quit;

proc summary nway completetypes missing;
class var1--var3 / preloadfmt;
format var1--var3 var_fmt.;
output out=count(drop=_type_);
run;

proc freq data=count;
tables var1--var3 / list nocum;
format var1--var3 var_fmt.;
weight _freq_ / zeros;
run;

Code snippet here.

Yesiree, good as new!

In my opinion, they are complete idiots.  Jim Davis' blog post about Fraudsters got me thinking about the missed opportunity to collect data from illegal activities.  If the Music Industry weren't so busy being crybaby's about losing money, they'd realise they can probably make more money with letting people download music illegally, or listening to music online for free.

For example, I am currently listening to Tragically Hip for free on the Tragically Hip website.  There is the option to create a user account.  Imagine collecting socio-demographic information in the signup form and linking it to artist preferences right down to specific songs.  By datamining people's playlists, you can really target future sales of service or merchandise to specific groups of people. 

If the Music Industry created one big-ass website where anyone could listen to any song, they could do amazing things.  They would be able to forecast the next big artist with a greater degree of accuracy.  A music artist could improve a songs ability to be on the #1 top hit list because the data says people prefer a certain speed of song.  Perhaps their is a relationship between artist voice type and music genre such that a certain type of voice for a certain type of song means the artist is 30% less popular?  Perhaps kids between the ages of 11 and 15 like songs with deeper bass drums? 

Now, imagine when visitors are on the website listening to Rap Artist XYZ.  They see they can click on a link to purchase the same sweatshirt the artist is wearing on the album cover.  The Music Industry now has deeper relationships with other product lines.  Need I say anymore about the endless possibilities?

Add to this the ability to track music preference changes over time?  It's a gold mine, baby.

It's not about selling a song at one point in time.  It's about the Music Industry being a part of your life for a longer term.  They become a part of your daily activity, not something playing in the background.

The trick is to understand that the money is not in the song itself.  The money comes from what you offer around the song.

My work recently invested in SAS' Text Mining product.  It is an additional component to Enterprise Miner (i.e. you need Enterprise Miner to run Text Miner).  Let me tell you, it ain't cheap - but for good reason - it is very powerful and sophisticated software.  Since we've been doing Text-Mining-ish analysis for many years now, we can really use this software.

So we bought it, installed it, and now I need to learn how to use it!  Here are my options for learning SAS Text-Miner:

1. Buy some books about Enterprise Miner and Text Mining.  The one's I picked up include:
   a) Introduction to Data Mining Using SAS Enterprise Miner
   b) Mining Textual Data Using SAS Text Miner for SAS 9 Course Notes
   c) Getting Started with SAS 9.1 Text Miner
   While I have the aptitude to sit down with a book and learn the software, it is always valuable to see it hands on from the experts.
2. E-Training.  The options are:
   a) Enterprise Miner e-training
   b) Enterprise Miner live-training
   There is no Text Mining online training.  If there was, I'd be signing up for it.
3. Take a course.  There is a 2-day classroom training for Mining Textual Data Using SAS Text Miner for SAS 9.  However, we can't justify flying out-of-country.  The course is offered in Canada, but only in Toronto, ON and Vancouver, BC.  Sady, flying out-of-province is somewhat restricted, so I probably can't go to these.  It would be much nicer if the course was also offered in Edmonton or Calgary.
4. We did talk to the SAS rep in Edmonton and they did look at different options for training.  I think they even looked into flying someone out from SAS, but because there wasn't enough interest from other Text-Miner clients, I guess it's not a worthwhile option.  That's understandable.

So, I feel a little ripped off because we payed for this expensive software and then the company sort of leaves you hanging to figure things out on your own.

And don't get me started about how painfully annoying the Text Mining installation was.  There needs to be more clear instructions for how to install it.  The instructions we did get seemed like an afterthought. But we did eventually figure it out.

While I'd like to see more options in Calgary/Edmonton for classroom training, I understand that it depends on the number of clients that could/would attend.  But there are 2 ways I think SAS can improve their Text-Mining offering.  First, have clear and extremely detailed instructions on installing Enterprise/Text Miner.  Second, offer Live Web Training and/or E-training. 

*Update: Although I posted this a couple hours ago, I'd like to say one more thing.  SAS tends to be a very progressive company.  So I am sure that someday soon they will have videoconferencing capabilities in their classrooms.  I see no reason why a public course being tought in California should be limited to residents of California or nearby.  Anyone should be able to pay a fee and tap in to the class via the internet.

Food insensitivities are delayed food allergies.  This means when I eat certain things, it doesn't affect me for hours or even days later.  After a somewhat expensive blood test, it revealed I have 37 food sensitivities.  While my doctor and I are watching my thyroid hormone levels, I am on a strict diet for the next 2 to 3 months, after which I can slowly re-introduce most of the foods back into my diet. 

Food sensitivies, if left unchecked, can turn into full-blown food allergies, so I am taking this diet pretty seriously.

Here is a small list of foods I have to avoid for the summer:

• cow's milk
• wheat
• barley
• baker's and brewer's yeast
• rye
• corn
• rice
• tapioca
• sugar cane

As you can see, this is a lot of stuff.  Not only that, but many products contain derivatives of these foods.  For example, I was happy to find Soy Chedder Cheese, but not so happy to see Corn Starch as one of the ingredients.  Annoyingly, there are many products I can almost have, but it will contain a corn derivative (like dextrose, maltodextrine or Xanthan gum (which may or may not come from corn)) or sugar cane. 

I've been learning lots about health and food and decided I'll  be starting a new journal on this blog about food sensitivities.  I've also found a number of recipes which I'll share.  Maybe it will help others who find themselves in a similar situation.