Being indirectly involved with a Canadian health region and its workers I can say that the first three paragraphs of your post describes the situation here also. Not only for doctors but also for nurses. I'm curious if you see the same situation you describe applied to the nursing staff also.

Also take a look at its sister magazine Servo http://www.servomagazine.com/ .

More on the PC side but Linux based is Linux Format http://linuxformat.co.uk/ . It's about the only decent computer magazine that I have found that still has coding articles in it. I wish there was a Windows base magazine similar to Linux Format but unfortunately it seems publishers think only lusers use Windows and not coders.

"Lumpy": I see you have also met our mosquitoes.

I see your basic point but I mostly disagree for you. If you were simply to strap the device on for a few minutes or hours and play with it then I would agree completely with your assessment. However, if the subject were to continue to wear the device day after day for a longer period of time (weeks?) then would there be a point where the subject is essentially no longer aware of the device but still aware of the sensory information. In other words the "prosthetic" may be come one with the person. The article seems to allude to this happening. At the point were this happens I would say that the device could be considered a new sense.

Sure the device is using an established channel for transmitting its information but the information itself is not related to the channel being used (sense of touch in this case). At what point would the brain rewire itself to essentially consider the new input (a compass in this case) a new sense and direct wire it (sense to reaction) rather then simply translate a "touch" in a certain spot to mean "North." What would be even more interesting is the affects of removing the device after (if) the brain accepted it and used it as a new sense. What sort of "loss" or disorientation would the person experience.

With a hand held compass or a dash mounted GPS I would argue that you are not designating continuous attention to it and therefore it continues to be an external reference. Much like looking at your TV everyday would not make you feel like the TV is part of you and the information coming in is processed as a sense. With a strapped on device or some similar prosthetic continually providing input I would think that your brain would continually process the information (read as 'pay attention to it') and therefore eventually internalize the device. Of course the counter argument to this is the bulge of my wallet poking me in the backside as I sit at my desk all day. To my knowledge my wallet has not become a part of my personae yet (if that is the right word).

[I'm posting this anyway but wtf is up with the removing empty lines in POT postings in the preview???]

At the University of Saskatchewan if depends on which part of campus and department you are talking about. For general campus computing Windows is the most prevalent. Having said that:

1. Can you bring a Windows, Mac, or Linux laptop onto campus and expect wired/wireless net access and support... Yes. Although the wired access is more rare but more departments are supporting "laptop stations" in labs sporting wired connections.

2. Is all of the software available for all three platforms and for personal installation... Of course not. This depends on the vendor and also on the licensing. The department of Computer Science, as an example, does have a MSDNAA license to give students access to MS software used. Where possible they use OSS that works on all three platforms. Where not possible due to licensing, etc. students can remotely access the software through a Windows and Linux clusters (if Apple would get around to releasing a decent clustering technology, i.e. terminal services like, there would be one of those also).

3. Can you use most campus services such as printing, VPN, etc. with your laptop (regardless of OS)... This depends on where and which department but generally most are supported as possible.

4. Will potential students on tour get blank stairs about Linux and Mac questions... likely.

I would suggest the following:
1. Contact the campus IT help desk and ask your specific questions. Most of the tour guides are volunteer students and may or may not have the answers you need or that represent all of campus.
2. Contact the department (specifically the IT staff) that your daughter is thinking of joining (Engineering, Ag, Commerce, Math, Comp Sci, Nursing, etc.) for her major. Ask your questions about Linux support. Note that sometimes the college that hosts the department in question may have a different IT support staff (Ex: Department of Computer Science has its own IT staff and so does the College of Arts & Science that the department is part of).

Good luck.

Regarding the circuits per room... although for general lighting and plugins there is not a requirement it is highly recommended that no room has all of the lights and plugs on the same circuit. Having all on the same circuit makes it difficult to work in the room... you turn off the electricity to work on the lighting and you have nowhere to plug in tolls, or you want to work on the plugs but have no light.

Another factor that has recently affected the number of circuits per room is Arc Fault breaker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc-fault_circuit_interrupter) requirements for bedroom plugs. With these, typically you put the plugs on the circuit with the AFCI and the lights on a separate circuit.

Regarding the GP's questions: In Canada you are allowed up to 12 devices (plugs or lighting fixtures) per branch circuit (15A 14 gauge as DarkOx pointed out). Typically you only see two phases run into a house with most branch circuits running on one phase or the others (ones that are 110-120 V). I think this is the same in the US.

Brings a new meaning to the saying "if you build it, they will come!"

Sorry, someone had to say it. Besides I had to do something while waiting for the compile to be done...oops, gotta go!

I absolutely agree. Halloween is great and so far as I'm concerned it is the one holiday that society can feel free to commercialize the hell out of it.

We dress up the front yard every year also. To date it has been things like a grave yard and spooky lighting. As of a couple of years ago my two oldest were getting to the point where going out trick-or-treating was not appropriate for them so the started "helping out" in the yard on Halloween night. They typically dress up as a ghoul or zombie in a head to toe costume including gloves, etc. so nothing gives them straight away. Then they either crouch down somewhere or lay out on the lawn amongst leaves and stuff, generally trying to look like a bought Halloween decoration. The object of course is to scare the hell out of kids (and parents) who walk by. They usually wait until the kids get their candy at the door and then sit up, groan loudly, shudder, or reach out as the group goes by on the way out of the yard. The kids (and parents) then proceed to break their legs attempting to run down the block.

We have always gotten a good response and my boys are sensitive to wee ones (even to the point of removing masks and taking candy out to those who won't come into the yard).

This year I have added a fake fire with a spit and skeleton torso along with a smoke machine to the setup. Should be fun!