that's only if you can tie your CFO to his desktop system... like a lot of companies out there, i'm sure that most C-level personnel have received laptops(that they have admin rights to) and smartphones, and most likely have non-standard diskimages. asking a C-level to sign in via VPN to his VDI so he can twiddle some excel spreadsheet over the late night/weekend/holiday/vacation is going to have low traction.

since you're a school, maybe focus VDI deploys in the admin/bursar/registration departments where security of personnel and student records(grades, addresses, SSN, etc) have a greater need for security.

blender has a very steep learning curve, similar to it's commercial counterparts like maya, modo, lightwave, to name a few. yes the UI has some failings, but if you've seen the UI for other 3D apps, it's not too far from the competition... eventually you'll get the hang of where most of what you needs is located, you can always refer to a book such as this as a desk reference. as an aside, i think that several 3d apps have a tendency to violate current UI conventions due to their lineage in X11 unix apps when UI standardization was in it's infancy... this includes blender(NaN), maya(alias) and lightwave(toast). the question is could 3d modelling/rendering/composition apps really follow current UI standards?

i sympathize with you, when i started using blender, i found it confusing and frustrating as a modeling tool, so i switched to wings3d, which seemed more intuitive. once i felt more comfortable with modelling in wings, i started importing my models into blender and working with the blender tools for tweaking/refining and final image composition. i became comfortable and competent with the tools in blender, but still prefer wings for modelling.

there's nothing wrong with using multiple tools to accomplish a job.
2d print artists use multiple apps all the time (photoshop, illustrator, indesign), no single app can offer all the necessary tools.
similarly, 3d artists might prefer to use multiple tools to modelling, composition, and rendering(wings,blender, yafray perhaps)...

as far as undo/redo, these are prolly the first keyboard shortcuts you should be learning.

and another thing...
before anyone spouts off about how you can do anything in inkscape/scribus/gimp that you can in creative suite...
you can't.
not if your doing any serious advertising/marketing work.

these programs are a good start, but they are a ways off from competing with adobes creative suite.
maybe in a couple of years, but not today.

i've worked in the graphic art/advertising IT for the last 15 years, and i've seen my share of unnecessary attempts to eliminate a particular platform that always seem to bite people in the ass...

eliminating the mac for windows seems to be a favorite cost reduction exercise, but this usually ends up failing due several reasons:
1) fonts - font name mapping for postscript type 1&3 and truetype fonts have always been different between windows and mac. many creative departments collect hundreds(adobe font collection alone around 3000) means extra work to rework creative files created on a windows version of adobe illustrator/indesign for output. this can equate to additional charges spent at the printer/color separator/publication. opentype should eliminate this issue, but in the meantime, there are thousands of legacy fonts that designer will be reticent to stop using...

2) initial cost - macs have always had a higher initial cost, but over a three year life span, i've seen fewer macs replaced in the same time period than windows systems(system boards, PS, pci cards, etc). and if you stage your system refreshes(refresh 33% you your systems every year) older macs get rolled down from the heaviest power users(retouchers, motion graphics, 3d) to layout artists, and eventually to utility systems. you'll be migrating systems more frequently, but using a software deploy system like casper or filewave can simplify this tremendously.

3) talent - creative talent prefer working on macs, and more importantly the talented ones are very efficient on the mac platform. consistency of keyboard shortcuts between various applications and OS, interapplication communication to allow intelligent drag-and-drop between apps, the mac is still better at this than windows, and hence, mac artists tend to be more efficient then their windows counterparts. i've never been in a creative/studio/production environment(save for 3d) where the bulk of the work isn't done on the mac. for these folks, it a punishment when they "have" to work in windows.

don't fuck with the creative/mac department.

sales will always be kings when it comes to having their way (with management) about staying with the windows platform in order to use the latest and greatest new sales forecasting tools, performance analysis, PIM's etc. don't even bother fighting this battle, you'll lose and make enemies. if you take away their toys, they'll probably buy their own replacements(laptops, software ,whatever) and end up expensing it somehow.

don't fuck with the sales department.

basically, don't fuck with anyone who is in any revenue stream role. non-revenue generating IT guys will typically lose these battles.

focus on areas that you have control without affecting end user productivity. you don't want to manage an exchange server? there are hosted exchange services that could do it cheaper than you could. have you considered a hosted sharepoint service for document sharing and collaborative work? ... all without purchasing hardware and software(and hiring dedicated personnel). trying to reduce purchases of hardware and software? work with your vendors to get favorable pricing by making them a partner. good vendors are more likely to offer better pricing to return customers, versus non-repeat i'm-looking-for-the-cheapest-price customers. i've also found in the past that when working with a CFO whose interest was to keep capex spending at a minimum, leasing equipment with a dollar buyout agreement at lease termination always won out over outright purchasing, even though the end result was the same. and when it comes time to get rid of old equipment, donate it to a charity, and get a tax break by keeping track of its book value and letting the accountant work their magic.

this is first question that i've seen that is on the right track!

as the article states, the company that is using the IQ test is using it as a primary screening test before moving to other test which include skill tests. unfortunately IQ test results doesn't measure intelligence as much as it does measure the ability to take/pass a test. true intelligence, creative problem solving, innovative solutions, and the ability to work under stress can't be measured in a test, it can only be determined in the field over a period of time.

outsourcing IT to china is attractive because of the high number of motivated chinese competing for a small pool of jobs means the ability to pick the cream of the crop(and pay low wages), however chinese culture does not necessarily stimulate those things that are important to develop innovative mental growth: individuality, self importance, creativity expression... these are very western ideals, and it's very likely that the hiring of US workers by an IT offshore company is multi-faceted: native english speaker for call escalation, cultural and language exchange for chinese workers, and the access to out of the box thinking(culturally a very american thing).

i second the suggestion to use anything that uses/manipulates XMP, but would also suggest broadening the scope to include IPTC, DC, and EXIF.

a simple search for xmp on google should yield plenty of hits for commercial, freeware/shareware and OSS to suite your needs.

don't make fun of chuck norris' fanny pack or he'll kick your ass!

fanny pack is totally the way to go(wife calls it my man-purse, so what...):
wallet
house keys
car keys
work keycard badges
canon SD1000
LED flash
leatherman wave
extra bits for leatherman
cell phone and bluetooth headset
butterfly knife
multiple pens
spare change(parking meters)
business cards
signal mirror

If you must bring technology(computer) i would suggest that you buy a netbook, more portable that traditional lappy, and less worries if it's damaged/stolen. Don't forget to buy an adapter from a suitcase/luggage store, they're pretty cheap, unless you buy one at the airport. If you gorget to buy an adapter state-side, most hotels will have them for rent or courtesy loans. Try to do visit/participate in very Londonesque tourist activities, i.e. riding the tube, eating fish and chips, riding a double decker, ordering a pint, taking picts of the beefeaters, walking across london bridge, etc. take lots of photos and post them on flickr/picasa.

re-use and older system.

sure, it lacks the sexiness of the shivaplug/microclient/terrastation/etc, but you would get much more value for a similar cost by re-using slightly older technology. more than likely you'll have a faster CPU capable of heavy lifting, the choice of boot media (cdrom, floppy, CF, usb, HDD), the ablity to install you favorite distro, and hardware expansion won't be as difficult as it will with these compact systems.

TCO includes service and repair, not just initial purchase and operating expenses. how easy is it to purchase a replacement PS of a shivaplug? how quickly can you get that replacement component shipped to you?

build an ulgy box, and hide it in your closet/basement/attic.

great idea for extending the life of a couple of aging apple tech. get a B&W g3 and turn it into a print server, maybe even configuring hot folders for dropping pdf/PS files for printing.

i'm looking to put a linux box in front of my 4MV to act as a print server/RIP for postscript and PDF files via GS.

the marking engine in the older laser printers still seem to be sharper than the LED printers, especially the lasers which are true gas lasers, not diod lasers. slower, hotter, and less energy efficient, but cleaner, crisper and more reproduction accurate.