Damn it. Didn't realize I wasn't logged-in.

Clippy would've made the baker's dozen list.

I think this has been severely underemphasized and is missing a dynamic. There are compelling arguments to evaluate whether social justice is doing more harm than good. http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/dec/03/ideology-of-victimhood-hampers-those-at-the-bottom/

I think this extends to many Microsoft technologies. I predict that some years from now programmers/maintainers of the Microsoft development ecosystem will be the COBOL programmers of the 21st century.

The problems with Common Core are manifold, from the (lack of) primary research behind it, to the squishiness of the outcomes. Here's a nice quote: "even if they said 3 X 4 was 11, if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer, really in words and oral explanations and they showed it in a picture but they just got the final number wrong; we’re really more focusing on the how and the why." (Fuzzy Math)

Since 1970 we've more than doubled per-pupil spending on primary and secondary students in real dollars (National Center for Education Statistics) with little to show in academic improvement. <sarcasm>But hey! We've found the problem! What we need to do is yoke all 50 states to a common set of education standards! That'll help!</sarcasm>

I abhor the intelligent design crap that some states try to shove into primary and secondary school curricula. However, all the power to them as long as I'm free to influence the math- and science-rich curriculum I want established in my state. I find it more repugnant that the Federal government sees fit to bribe states to adopt a one-size-fits-all model.

In the fall of 1982 I saw a pre-release version of Return of the Jedi. Our high school had some connections to Lucas. An announcement was made that the front office had tickets available to a LucasFilm prescreening of "Twice Upon a Time" (I still have the large blue tickets saved away somewhere). They had booked a large theater in San Francisco for the screening. At showtime a person walked out and regretfully informed the full house that Twice Upon a Time wasn't to be shown, so instead they brought Return of the Jedi (wild cheers erupted).

Some of the special effects weren't finished, and some scenes had only rough editing. I remember several of the scenes were trimmed down quite drastically in the release version. The dance scene in Jabba's palace was really, really (really!) long. At the end of the movie we were all given a questionnaire to fill out on how we felt about various scenes.

All in all, a very cool experience for someone who grew up during the original releases of episodes 4 through 6.

That's the best way to tell

I think the best sci-fi, alien landscape, puzzle-solver mystery game I've ever played is Gnome 3

What's that? Some new fangled waana-be OS that's going to topple Linux?

Los Angeles, August 12, 2082
On Tuesday, a public hearing on shutting down the Los Angeles International Airport was again disrupted by conservationists. This is the second public hearing the LAX Airport Authority has held to consider repurposing the airport property into a nature preserve. Decreasing numbers of passengers and reduced tarmac requirements for liftoff for vessels such as the Boeing 998 Starduster have obviated the need for a traditional airport. In an attempt to stop the meeting, several conservationists handcuffed themselves to the podium. With signs and chants, the conservationists expressed their dismay at shutting down the fragile ecosystem of the rare legless lizard found only at LAX. "Every change the [LAX Airport] Authority makes to the airfield threatens to overturn the delicate balance of nature our legless comrades rely on." inveighed Charles Slatun, the group's putative leader. "We protested quite vocally when airlines began installing sound-dampeners on engines landing at the airport. But now, LAX as a nature preserve? This disregard for extant species must stop!" For months conservationists have been seen acting as informal greeters inside LAX as well as offering free taxi rides to the airport in an effort to convince the public that preserving LAX in its current form is in their best interest.

Well there's your solution right there. If you don't have a drone handy, just hire Sean Connery to chase 'em around with his umbrella. He is no longer acting so he's probably looking for a post-retirement gig.

NO! That should be "Which begs the question..."
How are we supposed to mock your incorrect use of the phrase if you don't even use it!

You might be able to succeed by disguising his schooling in terms him schooling you. Pick some topic which the guy needs to know (that you already know) and say (for example), "Bob, I'm having trouble understanding outer joins. I found this reference page on the Web but am still confused. Could we get together next Tuesday and maybe you could help me figure it out?". Providing lead time ("next Tuesday") gives him time to figure it out. Asking him for help strokes his ego and motivates him to learn the stuff so he can be helpful to you. There are variants on the theme. Pick some code from your project (or from the Web) that he can help you "understand".

Regarding version control, see if you can find some smallish standalone side-project which is relevant to your job. Express enthusiasm for working with Bob on it. Start it in version control. Do things like sit at his desk with him and say, "Let me show you what I've done". Then pull out a cheat sheet and scan it for how to check out your code, discover an error (or add a comment), then make a show of referring to the cheat sheet for how to commit your change. When you're done showing him your code then "forget" your cheat sheet, leave it on his desk. He'll need it because while you showed him your code you asked him if he could add XYZ to your code.

Code reviews. Have him participate in several reviews of others' code. If he's resistant to even that explain that because of his experience his insight is valued. Once in a review he's an equal participant in debating the merits of various blocks of code. The cordial, social aspect of debating the finer nuances of coding could be enough to warm him to the idea of submitting his own code to a review. Otherwise, when the time comes to review his code motivate it in terms of everyone learning from the code of an experienced engineer.

You get the idea. Be creative in finding ways that he can "help" you.

All that said, the parent is definitely correct. It really is management's job to set expectations including "learn this new technology". If management is amenable to "fixing" the old guy, but is just oblivious, then bring it to their attention, complete with telling management, "I don't want to hurt his feelings, but he can't do XYZ and it's taking time and energy away from the rest of the team for us to work around his limitations."

Lamp shades that clamp on to the bulb itself?

Whew! I started to panic when I first read the headline as "You Don't 'Own' Your Own Games". That was quite the scare. OK, what's the next story?