Most degrees have a year or more of generic coursework. And some microbiology might mean a few math and science classes. That could be as much as a third of the required courses have already been completed. So a two year sprint with summers might be enough. It would be brutal as there are no soft subject classes to dilute the STEM. My personal advice is always to get the degree. Most of it is of little use, but dipping your toes in a bunch of different areas is invaluable. And many managers/HR only want to hire folks with fancy pieces of paper. If you only want some STEM, then why not a hybrid approach? Technical writers often have a minor in a STEM field, but not the whole degree. That might be something you can pick up in just a year.

Why not just bad mouth them. If they get a reputation for poor service, then so be it. This shouldn't be anyone's first approach, but if you've tried for over a year and they're not living up to your expectations, then they squandered more than one chance to do better.

The only thing that made me think of Ender's Game was the word "preteen". Using video games to train/recruit soldiers always makes me think of The Last Starfighter.

It looks like someone at DARPA just couldn't turn down the chance to be the next Centauri.

I think all 6 stars of Friends were pulling in $1M/episode at the end of its run. What was once outrageous is now common place. I guess that is progress of sorts.

Sure. The content streaming from Netflix has been requested by Verizion customers. They've paid for access to the internet, which includes Netflix. They are the ones being throttled. Basically Verizon is trying to double dip here - get money from regular customers plus shaking down more from content providers. If Verizon really cannot handle the flood of Netflix content, shouldn't they raise the cost to the consumers to build out the Verizon network?

You might be. I certainly am. I fondly remember the movie but didn't think the spin-off TV series was all that good.

Aid the enemy? He's French. Doesn't that make him the enemy?

Not really. If the code was in for 2 weeks before being found to have a corner case bug, a "look here first" indicator is not bad. Especially so if the person fixing the bug is not the same person who made the original change.

Bah. I have no sympathy for HP. I've never worked at HP, but I've been at plenty of places where most/all of the corporate history was lost. It is unpleasant, but you get over it. If this is an especially critical position, then HP should have used golden handcuffs to keep a few key people in place. If your employer treats you well, you usually stay put. If you are worried that you're going to get the axe, you jump ship. This is a basic truth, and if HP's management spent more time focused on its employees and less on the shareholders they would know this. Management should keep employees from having a conflict of interest. Yes, it might cost more in the short run, but it avoids situations like this. Too many people in management focus exclusively on the business side of things, and forget that people are involved. Unfortunately this is not unikque to HP.