An OpenSSH software for Windows 7 / Vista

Here is an OpenSSH software I personally found useful and working well under Windows 7 / Vista.  It is copSSH.

Besides it is free and open source, it is still actively maintained.  It works well with the UAC (user account control setting) of Windows 7 / Vista.  And it does not clash with Rtools.exe.  

MikTeX 2.8 and WinEdt 5.6

The current WinEdt needs some adjustment to work with MikTeX 2.8. The developer of WinEdt has a post here to show how to do this. I tried to follow his instruction. But it still took me some times to figure out which file I need to make the change. Basically, we need to alter the "menu.dat." The file is located in:

Windows XP

C:\Program Files\WinEdt Team\WinEdt\Config\MikTeX\menu.dat

Windows Vista & Windows 7

C:\Program Files (x86)\WinEdt Team\WinEdt\Config\MikTeX\menu.dat

Then follow the post:

Run('mo.exe')

should be modified to

Run('mo_admin.exe')

The same with package manager. Replace

Run('mpm.exe')

with

Run('mpm_mfc_admin.exe')

And the update in 2.8 should be defined (in one line) as:

Run(|%$('TeX-Root');\miktex\bin\internal\copystart_admin.exe "%$('TeX-Root');\miktex\bin\internal\miktex-update_admin.exe"|);

In Windows Vista or Windows 7, if we want to refresh the TeX system, I found that running the following commands in the "Command Prompt" (Run as administrator) works better:

initexmf -u --admin

updmap -u --admin

That is running initexmf and updmap. in the administrative mode. These changes are going to be adopted in the next version of WinEdt. In the meantime, we just have to change these manually.

法國行(二) Rennes 迷路記之屋漏偏逢連夜雨

大學時的法國行，就唯獨法國西北方我沒去過，所以出發前，我google map看了好幾次，也從台灣帶了旅行指南，但是就因為supper shuttle來得太早，我匆忙下就忘了旅行指南，這也就註定了計畫趕不上變化的開始。

飛機到了法國戴高樂機場，法國的海關檢查真是迅速，一分鐘我就通關了，領了行李，我就按計畫找TGV高鐵前往Rennes。個性小心的我，在這個交通轉換時間，安排了四個多小時的空檔，我可以慢慢的去尋找十多年前還未存在的機場TGV車站，然後慢慢去了解月台在那，把玩一台又一台的車票販費機，記清所有的動線，為回程做準備。

當TGV入站時，我的回憶漸漸回來了，TGV裡餐車貴的誇張的三明治更是令我記憶深刻，我大概清醒不到半小時，就一路睡到了Rennes，下車時真正的緊張來了。

我找尋去會場的地鐵站，當然第一件事就是買票，我記得出發前，書上說法國近年來信用卡全面改成晶片卡，許多車票販賣機都不收非晶片信用卡了，所以買票一定要現金，然後我發現機器不收紙鈔，偏偏我又四處找不到人工售票處，四處張望無助的我，被一個法國老婦人看見，她遞了張票給我說，一小時次內有效(她說的是法文)，我收下的當時，心情是無限的感動，法國人真有人情味。

到了會場周圍的地鐵站，接下來是要轉公車，初來乍到Rennes，我憑著男人自豪的方向感，跳上了公車，然後在車上不停張望著，直到車子到了終站，我仍然看不到我要下車的站名，終於發現我坐錯方向了，我用英文試圖與車掌先生溝通，這時問題來了，十幾年過去了，法國平民仍然不是很會（或不願意）跟我說英文，於是我說英文，他說法文，我的無助感又回來了，我勉強用我以前所學的法文問會場那間Agrocampus Ouest大學在那，他仍然是用法文噫噫嗚嗚的回答我，我彷彿了解他要我繼續坐著，車子到站會跟我說...

公車把我放在一個很野外的地方，我半信半疑的走在路上，路的兩頭，一邊是繁華的街景，一邊是荒涼的街景，由於一天下來很順，我決不定朝最不可能的荒涼地方前進，幸好走沒多久，就看到了大會的指標，就在我覺得我轉運的同時，此時竟然落下傾盆大雨，雖然馬上打起預備的小傘，我仍是半濕的到了會場報到。領了報到文件及宿舍鑰匙，我狼狽到進了宿舍，望著乍晴的天空，喘了口氣，期待接下來法國的生活！

這篇似乎打長了，總之抵達法國的第一天，充滿了不順。

Our office becomes a Service Counter?

This semester, I moved down to the office in the 9th floor. I shared the office with Matt. We like to open the office door so that the air circulation is better. But our office seems to be the only one on the 9th floor that remains open most of the time. If you wonder why others don't open the door, here is the reason: people walk in and ask you questions unrelated to your expertise. Here are some questions that have been asked frequently:

1. Where is the restroom? (Come on! Our office is right next to the restroom.)

2. Can I borrow your staple? (Well, we haven't seen our staple for a long time, and yet, they found one in our office)

3. Where is the room for the Stats Seminar? (Hum, if you see me sitting in my office, the chance that I know where the seminar is is very low. But ok, I guess it is always room 903).

4. Can I submit the homework here? (Okay, I guess you did not know who your TA is)

Today, there is a new one which I think can be ranked the most hilarious one.

"Do you know where can I get some free A4 papers?"

I am very nice. So I always respond to those who walk in with questions. So I redirect the student who needed A4 paper to the library.

法國行(一)：計畫永遠趕不上變化

從法國回來都二個多禮拜了，我再不寫寫心得可能就寫不出來了。先來個一小段，希望這次不要無疾而終！

會動念想去法國，除了剛好有個useR的學術會議在那舉行，我可以堂而皇之的、師出有名的去之外，就是因為十幾年前跟陳學長自助旅行那段回憶。為了那次的法國行，我學了半年的法文，我們足跡幾乎踏遍法國及周圍國家，但是總覺得回憶就像我的法文一樣，逐漸逝去。那是沒有數位相機的年代，網際網路也不發達，我到現在還是記不起來陳學長是怎麼計畫地帶我到處跑。

所以這次我自己計畫，從機票、火車票、旅店及景點，都賴著網際網路的發達，在出發前就計畫好了，不過我到是花了我半個月的時間，在四處比價的情況下，才確定了行程，一個人旅行唯一的優點就是你的計畫你負責，不用擔心失敗的計畫拖累他人（謎之聲：言不由衷啊！）

總的來說，這次唯一的敗筆就是行李太多了，可能是過度準備的結果！然而行李的因素，也考量在我交通移動計畫內，所以大體上我的計畫是順利的，因為我的行程裡唯一確定的只有交通時間，剩下的都是自由的，這是有違處女座計畫詳細的個性。當然這是因為人是會改變的，會學習的，多年自助旅行的經驗告訴我，計畫趕不上變化，沒有計畫的旅行，才有刺激。

所以第一個變化就發生在出發前，Supper Shuttle提早半小時來接我去機場，匆忙出門，我從台灣買來的法國旅行指南忘在家裡...

預告：下一篇，Rennes迷路記！

My mi presentation at the useR! 2009

I have been to many conferences. Most of them are of Political Science. The common feature of these conferences is that the audience size is always small. If you get 10 audiences in your panel, your must be a big name.

My presentation at the useR! 2009 was an exception. I had the biggest audience ever. I guess that there were at least over 60 people in the room. Had I known this, I should have prepared a better talk to introduce our mi package. I did not control time well. So I have no time to go through real examples. Nonetheless, here is the link to the paper in case you were among one of the 60 people who might want to know more details about our mi package.

To close this entry, as a political scientist, I would like to answer why there were so many people in my panel with three points. Yes, three points, as most political scientists would do when they answer questions:

1. Big names. I am no big name. But the conference program did list Andy and Jennifer's name on it because they are coauthors. So I think people came for their fame. In fact, many people did ask if Andy and Jennifer were in the conference. Yes, this must be the major reason.

2. People want to know more about mi. The existing mi packages are really disappointing. So they would like to know the alternative. If this was the case, please do read our paper. I explain things better there.

3. My panel was the first panel in the first day. We have 450 attenders. And each time slot has 6 panels. So the number was about right. Each panel on the same time must be flooded with the same number of people.

useR! 2009 conference, Rennes, France

Since my last attendance of the useR conference in Vienna, Austria, I have always wanted to go back. However, the high registration fee was always the factor that chills me off.

This year, I am taking advantage of my last year as the student (the registration fee is cheaper) and the sponsorship of my two bosses, Andy and Jennifer, I went to the useR! 2009 conference. This year, the conference was held in Rennes, France. The location is another attraction for me to attend the conference.

I must said this. This is so far the best conference I have ever attended. Here are the reasons:

1. The food was good. But mostly I was talking about the conference dinner. They served very good wines. We had a feast of French food.



2. The presentations were very informative and educational. Personally speaking, I felt that there were two major theme of the conference. One is the advancement and improvement of the R computing speed and power. Parallel computing became a hot issue since the R user have began to notice about the insufficiency of R with this respect. Secondly, Using R as a tool in graphical presentation of the data. Some talks were about the choice of color scheme (HCL is better than RBG) and some were introduction of new R graphic packages (e.g., ggplot2).

3. The attendance rate of the audience was high. I think part of the reason was that we all were stocked in a small town in Rennes. Nothing really more interesting than R was there in the city. But having said this, maybe it is also true that most of the attenders are R geeks. They like R more than anything else.

Overall, the conference was very coherent and very informative. Although we did not have the best hardware (the conference building were surprisingly crude, see the picture below), we had a nice, calmly environment that made us all focus on the discussion of R.

@ Agrocampus Ouest, Rennes, France

This is the last day of the useR conference. In the coffee break time, I am surfing on the web to plan my trip to Paris.

It was 12 years ago since my last visit in France. The feeling is weird. And the keyboard of the computer lab in the Agrocampus Ouest University is also weird. The position of the keys is quite different than those of the US standard one.

So far, this is the best conference I have ever attended. One word for the trip so far? "Comfortable".