HOW TO CHECK stat.harvard.edu THROUGH WEBMAIL
Go to http://www.stat.harvard.edu/webmail.
How to forward your stat.harvard.edu email to a new address:
Method 1: terminal.
Open a terminal window.
Enter: ssh yourusername@stat.harvard.edu (the home server). You will now be prompted for your password.
You should be in your main directory. To see files, type ls . To see all files, type ls -a .
Open a text editor to change/create the file .forward . I recommend simply typing xemacs .forward.
Enter your preferred email address on one line.
Save and close (with keyboard, type Ctrl-X Ctrl-S to save, or C-X C-C to exit and prompt a save.)
Log out (type logout).
Done!
Method 2: Secure FTP Log in to your stat account. Copy .forward to your computer. Edit it in the same way. Send the file back.
How to configure XEmacs for ESS:
Using ESS within XEmacs is hideously useful. It gives you syntax highlighting, smart tabbing, and easy parenthesis placement. We highly recommend you use this if at all possible.
First, install XEmacs on your computer. Download from here and follow the directions.
ESS should be downloaded from within XEmacs itself (through “install packages” in the Tools menu.)
To enable its use quite easily, open XEmacs, select the Options menu, and select Edit Init File. This will create the .xemacs directory in your system - you can’t do it from Windows directly.
Add the line
(require ‘ess-site)
Then you must enable your system to locate R in the path. Go to Control Panel, System; select the Advanced tab and press “Environment variables”. One of those should be “Path”; edit the entry and append the location of Rterm.exe on your hard drive.
(On this computer, for example, the location is C:\Program Files\R\rw2001\bin .)
For more options, try the init.el file found at this location.
Done! (Hopefully.) For more thorough instruction, the original XEmacs help file is here.
How to set up your computer to print to a department printer:
In order to do this, you’ll need to add statprint and/or statprint3 as a network printer, like so:
Where can I get a good set of resources for R?
The R home page at www.r-project.org has lots of documentation. (More later.)
How do I write and install my own R packages?
Department alumnus Gopi Goswami prepared an excellent summary for his C-C++-R course in the summer of 2005; check out the main site here.
How can I use Harvard-based server systems at home?
The Harvard-MIT Data Center provides the following utility for Virtual Network Connections, which emulates a Linux desktop on a Windows machine. The software and a connection guide can be found here. We’ll go over this in more detail later, but those familiar with Linux and available software should feel comfortable right away.
How to get new software on the Stat Dept. Windows machines
Talk to Steve Finch (finch@stat) and he’ll accommodate you.
How to complain about a problem with the Stat Dept. machines
Write to stathelp@fas.harvard.edu and cc Steve as well.
Where are some samples to help me learn LaTeX?
Go to Jim’s website here, and see Mark Irwin’s lecture notes here as well.