It's time to say goodby to MyBLIS - the portal that is now used by around 140 customers at the lab. It is based on outdated and unsupported technology and a number of the features that made it attractive when it was introduced are no longer working.
It did offer some features that might be missed - but we have some suggestions for most of them:
- Bookmarks
- Common links for Lab services
- Work Queues
- Single Sign on
Bookmarks
Bookmarks are an important component of any browser experience. They provide an easy way to get back to a web site of interest. However, bookmarks are traditionally stored in a file on your computer - use another computer and you can't access them. myblis had the capability of storing bookmarks on a Lab server. There are a number of alternatives that can be considered.
Both Firefox and Chrome browsers provide alternatives.
- Firefox Sync - "Take your bookmarks, tabs and personal information with you"
- With Chrome's sign-in feature, "you no longer need to fret about your bookmarks or apps being "stuck" on one computer."
Another option is to use Google bookmarks.
We also want to note that Firefox and Safari both have interesting new features when you open a new tab - images of the web sites you last visited appear - and can be used to quickly go back to one of them.
Common Links for Lab services
The A-Z index on the labs home page remains as one of the best places to locate a link to a service you need. Over time this is likely to be supplemented with a web page that provides some of the same categories and links available through myblis. In the meantime, use this page.
Work Queues
One of the nice features in myblis (while it was working) concerned work queues. If you missed an email relating to approval of a procurement action or approval for employees LETs time was still pending, the work queue feature made it easy to catch up. We do not have an alternative to this feature.
Single Sign On
When myblis was first developed, it was thought we would integrate a single sign on capability along with it. For various reasons, it did not survive as our solution. Since then, we have implemented it with a new technology - those of you who access any of the Google Applications, Taleo, and the commons wiki's already take advantage of it - with many more applications planned in the next year.
As you (hopefully) know, IT Division is a big proponent of the importance of researchers choosing the productivity tools they feel most comfortable with. We've actually fought pretty hard against some folks to try to convince them what we think is true: the benefits of standardization are meager, and are far outweighed by the productivity gains of letting our community make informed choices about the tools they want and how to allocate their resources. So, it's time for our irregular check in on laptop trends.
Why Laptops: Because our data on desktops isn't as easy to parse. Desktops get used for a lot of different things (attached to scientific equipment, lab data collectors, parts of experiments, etc). Laptops, we think, are generally a better proxy to understand what end users are using as their go to computer platform.
Chart 1: Count of Laptops Currently in Use (in property database) in Scientific Divisions by Year of Purchase
|
|
|
|
Apple |
Windows/Linux |
2006 |
120 |
165 |
2007 |
167 |
226 |
2008 |
278 |
265 |
2009 |
302 |
304 |
2010 |
365 |
360 |
2011 |
380 |
305 |
2012 |
104 |
96 |
Chart 2: Count of Laptops Currently in Use (in property database) in All Divisions by Year of Purchase
|
|
|
|
Apple |
Windows/Linux |
2006 |
175 |
282 |
2007 |
200 |
328 |
2008 |
334 |
358 |
2009 |
357 |
446 |
2010 |
397 |
485 |
2011 |
449 |
463 |
2012 |
122 |
110 |
Chart 3: Laptops in Use (in property database) by Division 
Chart 4: Laptops in Use by Division - Just for 2011-2012 
Conclusion: We remain nicely heterogenous. The trend towards OSX in the laptop space is decelerating, but continuing. All but one scientific division remain decidedly mixed in their platform choices.
Most computers at LBL are bought in the last three months of the year, so the numbers for FY12 are not yet representative. We'll recap at the end of the FY.
LBNL is a pretty big place. If you're an employee who hasn't been around forever, you've probably wandered past buildings and wondered what kind of cool science goes on in there. And if you're a member of the community, outside of tours and websites, you might just get glimpses of buildings and wonder about them.
We're getting ready to change that.
IT, Facilities, and Public Affairs are working with a company that provides highly detailed interactive maps to college campuses that are filled with interesting information. We hope to have this project completed by late Fall 2012.
The project will come in phases, with a new 3-d color campus map replacing our existing static campus map, followed by layering of many kinds of content about what goes on in our buildings, what divisions are where, and more.
Of course, it's mobile enabled, and you'll be able to download this map as an app or use it as a web app on your mobile device - and you'll be able to see your current location on the map while you're here at the lab.
Over time, we'll continue to add more content to the map.
When we get our first renderings, I'll post again.
I'm really excited about a new map for the lab that helps tell the story of the great work that goes on here, as well as helping you find your way around.
-as
ps - to get a sense for what these maps look like, check out the recently completed map of Sweet Briar College http://www.sbc.edu/map/
The IT Division is offering a series of Excel training courses over the next six months for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users. In addition, we will also offer a special advanced session titled "Excel for Science" based on feedback we received from our recent LabTech event. To register for the course go to: https://hris.lbl.gov/self_service/training
The schedule and course descriptions are listed below:
Course Title |
Course Outline |
Date |
Time |
|---|---|---|---|
BEGINNER |
|
|
|
Excel Essentials & Intro to Formulas & Functions (Module 1) |
Introduction to the Excel 2010 interface, the ribbon, the backstage view & the quick access toolbar, zooming in and out of a worksheet, navigating and selecting cells, keyboard shortcuts, entering and editing data, deleting/replacing cell data, performing simple calculations, saving the workbook file, checking compatibility with older versions of Excel, overview of the formulas ribbon, building basic formulas, using simple functions, copying formulas/functions with the autofill command, using relative and absolute cell references in calculations. |
June 13, & |
8:00am-12:00pm |
Formatting Spreadsheet Design, Page Setup & Printing (Module 2) |
Inserting rows & columns, moving & copying data, using autofill to complete a series of values, introduction to worksheet themes, formatting worksheet data/using cell styles, using excel templates/creating custom templates, managing worksheets - inserting, deleting, renaming, move/copy, grouping worksheets, freezing or splitting panes, creating custom views, spell checking your worksheets, setting print options through page setup, using the page layout view, printing your worksheet. |
June 13 & October 24 |
1:00pm-5:00pm |
INTERMEDIATE |
|
|
|
List/Table Essentials & Charting |
Overview of list design, formatting lists as tables, single and multi-level sorting, removing duplicates from a list or table, filtering records in a list or table, search by filter, inserting automatic subtotals in a list, inserting data charts, formatting and editing chart elements, adding/removing data from a chart, creating custom chart templates, printing charts, changing table and chart formatting through themes, inserting sparkline. |
August 8 & November 7 |
8:00am-12:00pm |
Importing Data, Pivot Tables, Protecting & Linking Data |
Importing data from other sources, overview of exporting options, creating a database query, creating pivot tables from lists or tables, filtering pivot tables, using the slicer tool within a pivot table, working with pivot charts, applying data validation rules, applying built in conditional formatting, creating custom conditional formats, inserting & editing comments, linking data, cell, sheet, and file protection. |
August 8 & November 7 |
1:00pm-5:00pm |
ADVANCED |
|
|
|
Creating Advanced Functions |
Creating and applying names in a worksheet, using the IF function, introduction to nesting functions, using the formula auditing tools, using the LOOKUP functions, using SUMIF(S), COUNTIF(S), AVERAGEIF(S) functions, using the IFERROR function, other useful functions (Database, Text and Date Functions - time permitting) |
October 10 & November 14 |
8:00am-12:00pm |
Using the "What If" Analysis Tools & Recording Macros |
Using the consolidate data commands, using the goal seek and solver tools, creating data tables, using the scenario manager, adding the developer tab to the ribbon, recording and running macros, editing macros with the visual basic editor, creating buttons to run macros (quick access toolbar & worksheet buttons), microsoft skydrive overview, customizing the ribbon. |
October 10 & November 14 |
1:00pm-5:00pm |
SPECIAL |
|
|
|
Excel for Science |
Database Management & Pivot Tables: list design, sorting and filtering, subtotals, pivot tables, advanced functions in pivot tables, data validation, LOOKUP functions, database functions; |
September 26 & December 12 |
8:00am-5:00pm |
*Please note some of the classes may not appear in Employee Self Service due to the date range made available in the HRIS training schedule.
|
|---|
Matlab Seminar: June 12 |
The IT Division is hosting two seminars from Mathworks on Tuesday June 12 in the Bldg 50 Auditorium. You can register with Mathworks using this link which helps us plan for the event (or just show up).
10am - Noon
Session 1: Data Analysis and Visualization with MATLAB
During this technical presentation, we will introduce specific examples to demonstrate how to acquire, analyze and visualize data through mathematical, statistical and engineering functions that support common engineering operations. We will also provide an overview of the MATLAB technical computing environment, including desktop tools for editing and debugging code, publishing your work, surface fitting, and creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
Highlights include:
- Importing data and images into MATLAB
- Performing statistical analysis and curve fitting
- Automating analysis via MATLAB code generation
- Developing algorithms and applications
- Building GUIs and generating reports
- Creating standalone executables
2pm - 4pm
Session 2: Parallel and GPU Computing with MATLAB
In this session you will learn how to solve computationally and data-intensive problems using multicore processors, GPUs, and computer clusters. We will introduce you to high-level programming constructs that allow you to parallelize MATLAB applications and run them on multiple processors. We will show you how to overcome the memory limits of your desktop computer by distributing your data on a large scale computing resource, such as a cluster. We will also demonstrate how to take advantage of GPUs to speed up computations without low-level programming.
Highlights include:
- Toolboxes with built-in support for parallel computing
- Creating parallel applications to speed up independent tasks
- Scaling up to computer clusters, grid environments or clouds
- Employing GPUs to speed up your computations
