On a new Android phone, the first thing that I do is root it and install Titanium Backup.

Then there are a few other apps that I must have, though the specifics aren't as important as the functionality:

VNC client: I like Jump (which was a Amazon Free App of the Day a while back) because it has ssh integrated. It's a pain using middle and right mouse buttons, though, and it doesn't use public key authorization for ssh (though I think the iPhone version does).

Terminal: I like KBox (http://kevinboone.net/kbox2.html) so that I can write and use some scripts.

SSH Client: I think I use SSH Droid.

Hacker Keyboard: Having a keyboard with both numbers and symbols active at the same time as letters is really nice, even if it does use up half the screen.

The point is that it should have noticed that upgrading the software on the iPad would require an updated iTunes, which was incompatible with the system. The problem would have been avoided if iTunes had insisted on upgrading iTunes before upgrading the iPad.

Snow Leopard is particularly important for many users because it was the last release to support Rosetta. Anyone who still needs PowerPC apps can't upgrade.

My wife still uses Apple Works, so upgrading won't work for her.

Also, Apple has been known to push upgrades that break things without warning, so upgrading is often a last resort. For example, we were running 10.5, and iTunes asked if we wanted to update our iPad to the lastest release. After doing so, it said we had to upgrade iTunes. But we couldn't upgrade iTunes because that required 10.6. There went our ability to sync the iPad.

There have been lots of articles about employee performance reviews and the "stack rank" system. Pretty much everything that has been learned about employee performance reviews can apply to students, particularly in higher education.

Companies like to use performance reviews when adjusting compensation, and they also like to have a system that encourages employee development (or at least retention and advancement of the better employees, and hopefully helping other employees become "better" employees). Perhaps we can learn something from the corporate world.

I've heard others suggest using class rank. That's fine if all professors are grading at the same level, but they're not. I think that was part of the point of the original article.

Of course, there are other aspects of the system that can be adjusted, too. Perhaps you force professors to give out lower grades, or come up with a system that voids the advantage of a professor who consistently gives higher grades. But then don't report the grades on transcripts. Just report that a given student was in the top 10%, 25%, 50%, or passed (say, one level overall and another for in-major courses).

There are lots of solutions.

This doesn't work with Slashdot. At least if you put in a https, it redirects, so they have it set up; they just don't use it. You would think that a technology site would be up on current technology.

I ignore the nagwall limits by loading the links in a private browsing window. This is mostly for articles where someone posted a link, not for regular reading.

I think the bear was healthy, but the real problem was that the dogs are a bit spoiled.

What's wrong with you?

Sure, mammoths are tasty, but my dogs won't even touch sabertooth meat. That stuff is nasty.

Seriously.

In general, herbivores are tasty. Carnivores and omnivores? No way. A friend of mine in Alaska had to kill the neighborhood grizzly bear, and, indeed, even his dogs wouldn't eat the meet. They ended up having to bury it (though I suppose burning would have worked, too).

Google it.

I found several for the Galaxy S3 (which I have). I'm sure they have them for others.

One that I found had horrible reviews on Amazon, but there were others available, so hopefully there's at least one good one. (This is an obvious market opportunity for Blackberry, along with selling their email service as an app.)

On thing to consider is getting a Bluetooth keyboard. You can also use a regular USB keyboard with most any smart phone with a USB OTG cable. Of course, carrying around a separate keyboard may not be convenient depending on how you use the device. I would think someone probably makes a small Bluetooth keyboard designed to be carried with a phone.

Hmmm. Maybe I should Google that? Hey, what do you know? You can get a Bluetooth keyboard that is designed to attach to your smart phone, sliding out just like a built-in keyboard would.

I haven't used one, but with a number of options available, this is likely the best route to go. You might want a small one that you carry with you, and a full-sized one that you keep at home or work for more extensive use.

We only have panels on a small part of our roof, because, as I pointed out, our house wasn't designed with solar in mind. Likewise, putting in a geothermal system would be much cheaper when done with new construction.

I did point out that I'm in Massachusetts, which is not a prime solar location. I just wish we could keep Daylight Savings Time year round so that we could generate more power. :)

I'm not saying that it's practical or cost effective now. I am saying that it is practical and cost effective when put in with new construction and financed as part of a 30-year mortgage. On average, the increase in mortgage payment is more than offset by the reduction in utility bills.

That's ridiculous. I live in Massachusetts, and we have a solar array that generates roughly half our annual electricity needs. If our house were oriented with solar in mind when it was constructed, we could easily generate enough for all our needs and our driving needs.

Granted, that doesn't take into account our use of natural gas for heating, but if we had a geothermal system, it would.

The problem is that solar power is not a factor when houses are designed.

Well, it appears that I was wrong. My information came from a book on children's health that we were reading. I don't have it handy, or I would give the citation and quote the passage.

I do believe that the book is correct in that a normal fever (up to 105) without other complications won't hurt you. That pretty much agrees with the references you cited. The book also stated that a "fever" above 105 is generally caused by external overheating, not the body itself, which is contradicted by the citations. However, all sources seem to agree that temperatures above 105 are a problem.

Also, back to the context of the article, the flu should not cause a fever that is medically dangerous, so lowering the fever and allowing the disease to spread further is a lose-lose proposition. That said, I dispute that people, for the most part, are taking medications to lower the fever, but instead to treat other symptoms (with the fever lowering being a side-effect) so that they can go to work. Going to work when you're going to spread a disease is a bad idea.

Of course, when they get the vaccine right for the flu strain, only people who want to get the flu have to worry about it.

Thanks for fixing that for me. Yes, there are plenty of disorders and diseases that involve a misbehaving immune system to the point where it can kill you. A normal fever response, however, isn't one of those.

Fevers don't kill people. The immune system isn't that self-destructive. The fear of fevers is a holdover from pandemics like polio where diseases associated with high fevers could kill or cause brain damage. The fever wasn't what caused the problems, but people didn't know better.