In Canada it's used at the university level only, as far as I know.

Well.. I'll repeat a comment I wrote elsewhere. Dawson College is a CEGEP, which in the Quebec education system, serves as both an intermediary between high school and university and as a trade school. Computer Science, at the CEGEP level, _is_ a trade school. He wouldn't have the requirements necessary to enter Computer Science at the university level (for that he would have to go into Science in CEGEP).

Now, bearing in mind Dawson is not a university but a trade school, and that in Montreal they're known for not being very.. rigorous or competent (which I can't judge, but people will scoff and go "oh, so.. you're studying liberal arts/communications?..."), it's not altogether surprising. I know of no computer science program in university (at least in Montreal) that is a trade school.

Also should not read "university". It's a college, which is not a university in Quebec, and in his case akin to trade school/tech college (he wouldn't meet prerequisites for university CompSci, but can find a job).

Minor correction: Dawson is not a university, it's a college. In Quebec, it's the step before university, but since he was studying computer science it was akin to a trade school. He would be lacking the prerequisites with that program to go into computer science at the university level, except at ETS in Montreal.

I have a Blackberry for work, and while I'm underwhelmed by the software, the presence of a physical keyboard is amazing. As an e-mailing/texting device, it's so much better than a touchscreen, coming from someone who has a personal iPhone and a Nexus 7 (the latter has amazing error correction on the keyboard and Swype is a pleasure to use, but I still prefer the physical keys for speed).

As soon as RIM loses its physical keyboard, they will lose their appeal to me, unfortunately, regardless of improvements in software.

Impossible? No. Harder? Yes.

Attack the problem from both fronts. Help nutcases become not-nutcases, and make it harder to find effective weapons.

Both.

Down when it should be (0.01, 0.02, 0.06, 0.07) and up when it should be (0.03, 0.04, 0.08, 0.09).

I find it dishonest to only look at the problem from one side. Yes, clearly, he had a mental problem. Fixing the mental problems would prevent these tragedies from happening, and clearly we should strive to give more help to people that need it. So far there are no links between violence and video games. I personally believe there aren't any, but I'm not opposed to studies on the subject, because I think they will prove that there aren't any links.

There is another side of the equation, though, and it's that he had easy access to a tool that could let him kill people efficiently. Yes, yes, I know, he could have stolen guns, built bombs, used a baseball bat, whatever. The thing is.. all of these require more effort, and I _want_ them to require more effort. You have a higher chance of being tracked if you start buying ingredients for explosives in large amounts. You have a higher chance of being tracked if you need to steal or do something illegal to get a gun. The tracking might infringe on your rights, but you know what? It's already in place. It would be harder to plan something on this scale without legal guns. As for other means of killing people? You can kill less people in the same amount of time if you're using a baseball bat. How many people died in that Chinese incident?

What we want is not an avatar or seeing a human (or non-human) face. First off, why SL? Why would I care about a "game" that allows me in no way to work? (Great for cybersex, I hear, though?)

Secondly, "face to face" is for communication. You can express yourself through body language. If you have a problem, you can point to a computer screen or a piece of paper and go "here, that's my problem". If your colleague has a question, he doesn't have to type it out. Guess what? He doesn't even have to dial your phone number, or start a Webex/GoToMeeting session. You're both _there_. No lost time due to setting up online meetings, no message lost through lack of body language, no technical issues with your internet derping, nothing. It just works.

Also, a lot of work requires cooperating with your team. Yea if you're just supporting an IT infrastructure and taking in support tickets and fixing them, maybe not. But for a lot of professions? I want and need to see the people I'm working with, because it's a lot more effective.

See? Your answer is exactly what a lot of people reply on Android forums. I assure you, it's a problem, it's not just me. It does connect fine to some networks, but all devices except my Nexus 7 connect fine to my network.

Top 5 links for "obtaining IP address android" on Google:
I currently have 2 devices (my Nexus 7 and SGS2) N7 has JB running and SGS2 recently upgraded to ICS. BOTH have the same stupid obtaining IP address problem.

This is a common problem in android.

There are some problems highlighted in android os, but android WiFi obtaining IP address problem is consider as one of the major problem in android operating system.

The issue that I was facing was a Wifi issue: a bug that renders the phone incapable of connecting to a specific wireless network!

system/etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks needs to have permissions fixed to "execute" by "user" "group" and "others" by using your favorite file explorer
this will fix your "obtaining ip address loop" without having to ever use static ip address
or at least it did mine.

When people have a genuine problem, and Google doesn't provide support but users do, interspersed with "it's your router, stupid", it just irks me. The hardware is fine, the software is mostly fine, but things like that don't contribute to a good overall user experience. :(

So uh. I guess because I have a high UID and am about to say something bad about Android/Nexus 7 will get me downmodded or denied as a shill (unless, because I say "X will get me downmodded", I get upmodded. Hopefully the two cancel.).

I bought the Nexus 7, ordered straight from Google. Unfortunately, it wasn't love at first sight, despite the glowing reviews online. I'll spare you the small gripes like a box jacket that's so tight it's hard to remove (as compared to the Apple experience) or the fact it shipped with 32% battery only, which wasn't enough for it to install OS updates (really, 10h of expected battery life at 100%, you're telling me 3 hours isn't enough to install updates?).

So, first thing first, I turn it on, and immediately it asked me to connect to the internet, before showing a desktop. Don't you want to get my username? I plan on using you as a glorified e-reader, there's a reason I didn't want to link my Google account on check-out. Unfortunately, no can do, it wants your Google account, and proceeds to link your entire Google history to your tablet. Okay, fine, as a Google device, I shouldn't be surprised... except as a fighter of software freedom and such, I had hoped _not_ to be forced to do that. It's also unfortunate I was in a public place and it couldn't load the splash page for the guest hotspot; I had to ask someone to log me in via WPA to another network.

Either way. So far so good, bright screen, pretty snappy response, I like. I go back home in the evening, try to connect to my WiFi.. bam, won't work. Constant loop of "Obtaining IP address". I google it, guess what, it seems to be a relatively common problem with Android 4.0+. The workaround is to use a static IP instead of DHCP; fine, I can do that, but I keep thinking "thank God I didn't buy this for anyone else." Some other forums mention rooting the device and changing permissions for some system files or what not. You know what? This is a _device_. I want it to _work_. Google offers no official help (I did contact them via support, that was 3 weeks ago. No replies. Oh, and try finding the "contact us" page for "problems with your device". It's really fun.). Also, the unofficial help forums are filled with "it's your WiFi, stupid" as replies to other users. You know what? No. My network never had any problems with any other devices, and from the other users posting a similar experience out there, it's definitely an Android/device problem.

So now I'm used static IP at home, which is okay since I own the network. I hope I never have that problem at a public hotspot. Oh, and it also means that when my Nexus 7 comes back from sleep, it cannot connect to the internet. I have to put it into Airplane mode and back, and then it refreshes and works. I don't know why, don't want to investigate why, but I know that fixes it. And don't get me started on some software stupidity, like why Google Books only works with books you got from Google Play. Really? Why? I just want to read goddamn ePUBs/MOBIs and I need to download a 3rd party app for that?

So, no, that thing is not "omg schweeeeet Android experience!" On the plus side, it has amazing keyboard recognition/correction, worlds ahead of iOS, but the "user feel" isn't as... nice. It's like this wool sweater your mom made you wear with nothing underneath. It's big, it's fluffy, it keeps you warm and you want to love it... but damn, it's itchy.

The last thing I'd want, as someone that uses a calculator, is a freaking touchscreen. I'm sorry, touchscreens are fine if you want a variety of buttons that can change dynamically, but in terms of pure user experience and input accuracy for something like a calculator, I much prefer my plastic buttons.

I don't disagree, but don't you see how that's the same problem as Windows?

1. Buy brand new Windows PC
2. Reinstall fresh OS
No crapware!

Mind you, installing a fresh Windows is easier for a non-techie than "root your device", which is pretty scary to most non tech-inclined people. Hence, if your Android device comes with crapware, it might be worse than Windows.

Random anecdote: In my last year of university, I attended an information/recruitment session by EA. It was right before the Xbox360/PS3 launched, and I asked "with the increase in power in our computers/consoles, for example the Cell processors in the PS3, what do you see yourself working on? Better physics, new gameplay?"

The answer? "Well uhm.. yes, definitely improvements in terms of, uhm, physics. Like, we can have a lot better hair, much more realistic..."

Guess who never applied to EA. :)

I used to consider myself a gamer, and loved RPGs. I could easily spend 60+ hours on a single game, did endless grinding in Diablo, tried to finish all quests in RPGs, whatever. I had stopped gaming but somewhat recently tried getting back to "real" gaming (read, not just a one-hour DotA but actually a more-or-less current game). I started Dragon's Age: Origins on a whim, as many people only had good things to say about it and Steam sales make those games affordable. It was brilliant, like Neverwinter Night/Baldur's Gate without the annoyances and still good storytelling, a true step-up compared to the already wonderful games of old.

Two years after I started, I'm sad to say... I never completed it. I play casually, once in a while, for an hour or two. That's fine if I play a FPS or a skill-based casual game (okay, you get owned by kids that are 16 and play daily, but I don't care), but for DA:O I found myself going "... crap what was I doing again?" In the end, I just couldn't remember what I really had to do, and couldn't muster the motivation to really get into it. Casual gaming got the better of me, and I can only suppose I'm not the only one in that situation. It would explain the craptastic completion rates (though I understand those are _achievements_, not completing the game). Sure, you paid for it, but if you don't find it fun anymore, why bother?