Yup, you'll appreciate having room for growth built into the system. Unobtrusive raceways (many can be worked right into the molding either above or at ground level) allows you to upgrade or update your wiring and cable options. Make sure you're not overloading circuits while you're at it. Even some more recent builds are shockingly undersupplied for power needs. Getting a licensed electrician whenever you mess with your wiring is only smart, too. Your house is a big investment. Do it right!

If your guests bring their own tech, make sure you have robust internet access that's easy for them to use. One room in our house remained a frustrating slow spot so we ran a wired connection to the router for that desktop PC. Otherwise, we can offer good Wifi. I keep cards with guest access info so new visitors can add themselves to the network.

You're so right. There's nothing touch-typing-friendly about a screen-based keyboard. It can be fun, but you can't have your eyes on one part of the room while you take down text or transcription at 80+ wpm. Virtual keyboards are useless for high-speed or even medium-speed touch-typing tasks.

What's the problem with using a tablet in multiple ways and even mostly not for reading? Are these people in trouble for not reading enough on their tablets? I doubt it!

An e-ink device is marvelous for people who do a lot of reading in digitized texts but few are set-up for real multipurpose use. A tablet can be easily used for a lot of different functions: reading may be advertised as a primary role for some of these such as the Kindle Fire, but it's hardly the only or even the best role. So why are people surprised that others are using tablets as multifunctional devices? It's rather like being surprised that you'll code, surf, compose and goof-off on the same personal computer.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pick up my ereader and get back to some real work. . . .

If your company does a lot of working with contractors or independent entities, chances are that they have policies in place to support people who aren't using institutional systems. Check and see if there's a contractor policy already in place that covers this and if any other employee has opted for this freedom.

After a couple of years of frustration with super-crappy work machines, I checked with my employer (a university). Was there anything for which I needed their hardware or software to access? The answer was no. I don't do financials, I access institutional data at only one step above the general public (Read-Only, limited access) or through portals that are already designed to work off-site.

So I cut the cord and don't use a work-provided machine for anything. It's occasionally annoying (as when my HD died and I had to deal with that on my own) but in so many other ways, intensely liberating. I watch colleagues wrestle with clunky "hardened" laptops or the large Powerbooks they get if they're not stuck with a low-spec desktop. I attend meetings with all of my documentation and data-crunching done on a netbook or ereader that's customized to my workflow. Plus, because I have consulting and contract work outside my full-time job (with employer's full knowledge and consent), my tech is even partially deductible at tax time.

If you can't use your own or can't afford to at this point, talk with IT about the acceptable policy for occasional private use and software add-ons they'd approve. At least you'll know you'll be in their good graces when you're on the road for them and would like to surf to /.

Read through the OP before summarizing somewhat sloppily, please! The publisher that's initiating this is John Wiley which is based in Hoboken, not named after Hoboken. Wiley is a major publishing house that most academics and many others will recognize. This move might remind you of Elsevier's role in the recently-pulled Research Works Act.

Yup, if they do get into AC and don't want to deal with an off-campus email, that's too bad. There's not that much that I care about that comes via university email but the dean's office will be the losers if they can't reach me to schedule a committee meeting!

I registered with them and, every year that I get paid, I funnel the money to a copyfighting cause. Check out OpenMedia.ca for one such great option! Plus I write them regular letters as a member, haranguing the board and denouncing their policies.

Registered or not, they're still collecting money 'on my behalf' that only goes to fill their warchest. AC levies a fee on every bit of media that they can count being loaned, copied and read in schools and on campuses, caring not who's the author until you register with them and force them to cough up a share of the funds.

They're collecting money based off of my writing, your writing, everyone's writing: Canadians and other citizens! They'll pay out if you register, though and I figure that hurts them at least a little bit which works to our advantage.

Via Ariel Katz, UofT Students and Faculty Demand Suspending the Access Copyright Agreement

I'm on faculty at a different Canadian university. So far, we've cut no deal with Access Copyright yet and I hope we stay strong. You can bet that I'm asking our union to keep an eye on the situation as it relates to the privacy rights of students and faculty!

Ironically, I benefit financially from Access Copyright, having registered as an author with them years ago when a colleague pointed out they were collecting money on my behalf, whether or not I made my claim against them. I'd much rather take a few hundred dollars out of their pockets to pass onto a copyfighting cause each year!

If my university does cave to Access Copyright, I'll cease using my university email. It'll be annoying to switch away from an address I've used for twenty years, but better than seeming to acquiesce to further indignities. I suspect that we'll see more and more academics exploring that option if Toronto and Western are setting a trend.

You didn't have majors in medieval universities. You had the seven liberal arts (the trivium and the quadrivium) which underlay a church-centred curriculum. Think of it as the ultimate gen-ed degree! By the sixteenth century, you had clearly defined professorships in specific fields such as mathematics (think of the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge held by Isaac Newton). To study engineering, say, you didn't go to universities in the eighteenth century - they simply didn't teach a curriculum that covered such topics. Nineteenth century universities is where real specialization took hold to create the idea of majoring in a specific study or another.

Of course, you'd only know this if you studied history. I mean really studied history to learn how to find information as well as usefully analyze that data. For this, you have to go beyond glib and flawed recall. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

This is plagiarism both by my university's definition and the one that's included in my syllabus.

This kind of activity is also why I don't allow free-choice essays and require students to submit work in progress during the term as they "workshop" major projects. It's all about deterring plagiarism and trying to get the students to, you know!, actually complete the course requirements. Crazy ideas.

Had one of our old family PCs die a few months ago and needed to replace the machine (for school use) very quickly. There was little choice in desktop models at local retailers and most of these machines were priced at or above comparably equipped laptops. I'm used to being able to buy a decently-equipped tower cheaply. Those days seem to be gone, at least for the big-box and mall stores.

There, instead of the wall of towers and monitors you saw a few years ago, you'll see laptops, netbooks and monitors. My choice was pretty simple for this replacement machine, especially since I couldn't wait for parts to come in the mail. We now have a shiny new laptop in the house and one more empty desk!