docs: def var(inlist):
      """
  Returns the variance of the values in the passed list using N-1
  for the denominator (i.e., for estimating population variance).
  
  Usage:   lvar(inlist)
  """
      n = len(inlist)
      mn = mean(inlist)
      deviations = [0] * len(inlist)
      for i in range(len(inlist)):
          deviations[i] = inlist[i] - mn
      return ss(deviations) / float(n - 1)