ß - Frequently Asked Questions

  Web Pages

  Q: How do I print ß-Webpages from my Browser? I always seem to get just the navigation bar...
  A: Click on the right side of the webpage (this is actually a separate frame from the navigation bar on the left) and then print. You can also use the no-frames version of the webpage.

  Q: The navigation bar on the left seems to be cut off at the bottom. What can I do?
  A: Make your browser window bigger or use the no-frames version of the webpage.

  Q: Who designed the ß-Webpage? Who is maintaining it?
  A: The webpage was designed by Bettina Speckmann and Holger Hoos. It is maintained by a number of people, coordinated by Holger Hoos.

  Q: If I need to maintain the ß-Webpage, who can change the permissions so I can modify the web pages?
  A: Sean Godel can add you to the beta-www user group.


  Lab Access and Use of Facilities

  Q: How do I get a key to Room X560? Who can get a key?
  A: All members of the lab can get an electronic key for Room X560, the ß-Lab. Non-members can get keys under certain conditions; these cases are decided on a case-by-case basis by the faculty members of the lab. To get an electronic key, you need to fill out an Access Control Form which is available from Holger H. Hoos, Anne Condon, or Moyra Ditchfield. The form needs to be signed by Holger or Anne and be returned to Moyra who will then issue the key. If you already have an electronic key, the same procedure is followed to activate your key for access to the ß-Lab.

  Q: How do I get a computing account for the lab? Who can use the lab machines?
  A: All members of the ß-Lab can get access to the lab machines, including remote login as well as physical access to the worstations in the lab. Non-members can get computing access under certain conditions; these cases are decided on a case-by-case basis by the faculty members of the lab. If you already have a (non-undergrad) computing account with the Computer Science Department, to enabled this account for the ß-Lab machines you need to send an informal request to Holger H. Hoos or Anne Condon. If you don't have an account with the CS Department, or if you only have an undergrad account, you need to fill out an Computing Account Form (which can be obtained from Moyra Ditchfield or Carlin Phillips) . The form needs to be signed by one of the ß-Lab faculty members and submitted to Carlin Phillips who will set up the account and contact you about further details.

  Q: I'm having trouble with the lab machines. Whom can I ask for help?
  A: If there are other, possibly more experienced users in the lab, it is usually a good idea to ask them for advice/help. For more general problems, you should also check out the departmental FAQ. If the problem cannot be resolved this way, you should contact Luc Dierckx, the technical staff contact person for our lab. Luc will either help you directly or forward your problem to another member of the technical staff. Another option, especially worth considering for problems that are not specific to the lab machines, is to send a request to the Department Help Desk (help@cs.ubc.ca)

  Q: What is Beta Grid Cluster? Why should I use Beta Grid Cluster to run my compute intensive job on the ß-Lab machines? How do I use Beta Grid Cluster?
  A:  Grid Cluster based on Sun N1 Grid Engine 6.0 is a commercial software system for load balancing and load distribution. Simply speaking, it helps us to utilise our computational resources (particularly CPU cycles) more efficiently. By running your compute-intensive jobs via the Cluster Grid you increase the chances of your job completing faster than by running it manually on any given machine, at the same time you help us all use our computational resources with maximal efficiency. The Cluster Grid also offers some protection in the case where the machine your job is running on goes down before the job is completed. The basic functionality of the Cluster Grid is quite easy to learn and to use. For more information, please check out our local Cluster Grid page.

  Lab Membership

  Q: How do I become a member of the ß-Lab? Who can become a member?
  A: Students, Postdoctoral Fellow, and Research Associates normally become ß-Lab members when they start working on a project with or under the supervision of one of the ß-Lab faculty members. For faculty members (from the Computer Science Department or other departments) there are different levels of membership (see next question). Faculty members interested in joining the ß-Lab should contact one of the ß-Lab faculty members (see People Section of our website).

  Q: What do the different levels of faculty membership mean?
  A: There are three levels of faculty membership: full members, associate members, and adjunct members.

Full Members are responsible for running the lab and coordinating its activities. They are responsible for funding maintainance and upgrades of the lab infrastructure and officially represent the interests of the lab within the faculty of the department. Full members have unrestricted access to all ß-Lab facilities and can grant access to their students and guests. Full member status is restricted to faculty members of the UBC Department of Computer Science.

Associate Members participate in running the lab and coordinating its activities. They contribute towards funding maintainance and upgrades of the lab infrastructure, but have a reduced financial obligation compared to full members. Thus, associate member status can accomodate faculty members who also have committments towards other labs or groups in the department. Associate members have unrestricted access to all ß-Lab facilities. They can obtain access for their students after getting consent from the other lab members.

Adjunct Members participate in the activities of the lab, such as the theory seminar or the bioinformatics reading group, and are involved in ß-Lab projects on an ongoing basis. They are not expected to contribute towards funding maintainance and upgrades of the lab infrastructure and have no financial obligations towards the lab. Adjunct members have access to ß-Lab facilities in the context of joint projects and can obtain access for their students who are involved in such projects after getting consent from the other lab members.


  Miscellaneous

  Q: How can I find out about events and activities in the ß-Lab?
  A: Visit the News Section of our website, and/or check out our Courses and Seminar page. Consider joining the ß- E-Mail List or one of the more specialised e-mail lists (see next question). Finally, you can just chat with members of the ß-Lab and/or try to pick up some gossip from anyone else :-).

  Q: What are the ß - E-mail Lists? How do I subscribe to these lists?
  A: At the moment, there are three ß - E-mail Lists: beta-lab@cs.ubc.ca, beta-students@cs.ubc.ca, and beta-faculty@cs.ubc.ca. By posting to the first one you reach all members of the lab. The second of these contains all student members of the lab, and the third one all faculty members. All lists are un-moderated, but subscription is by approval only. To subscribe to beta-students, send an e-mail to majordomo@cs.ubc.ca with the text subscribe beta-students (the procedure for the faculty list is analogous). Students and faculty should not join the beta-lab list directly, since beta-students and beta-faculty are automatically treated as subsets of beta-lab. You can unsubscribe from these lists at any time by sending an e-mail to majordomo@cs.ubc.ca with the text unsubscribe beta-students (or unsubscribe beta-faculty). There are also specialised e-mail lists for distinct groups within the ß-Lab, such as the Theory E-Mail List (theory@cs.ubc.ca) or the Bioinformatics E-Mail List (bioinformatics@cs.ubc.ca). The procedure for joining these is analogous to the one described above. Before posting to any of these lists, consider whether your posting will be of potential interest to all (or at least a majority of) the people it will reach. Follow the standard netiquette and keep in mind that talking to people directly can often be more effective than posting to an e-mail list.