docs: def samplevar(inlist):
      """
  Returns the variance of the values in the passed list using
  N for the denominator (i.e., DESCRIBES the sample variance only).
  
  Usage:   lsamplevar(inlist)
  """
      n = len(inlist)
      mn = mean(inlist)
      deviations = []
      for item in inlist:
          deviations.append(item - mn)
      return ss(deviations) / float(n)