Oracle initially took offense at TomorrowNow using manuals and patches downloaded legally on behalf of TomorrowNow clients. Oracle essentially said "You, as third-party support, cannot use the access purchased by your customer for your customer - they have to log in and download and then hand it off to the TomorrowNow engineers" Some of the customers contracting with TomorrowNow had lost their media and not patched for awhile, to catch up on patching they needed the media. Oracle charges rapacious prices to replace media, upwards of $32K! I'm betting TomorrowNow used legally downloaded media to support customers who no longer had access to support for Siebel just to be nice guys. It is possible to negotiate the price of replacement media with Oracle but it requires weeks of effort and the use of nasty language towards their 'customer service' reps. I still have psychological scarring from my go round and I 'won' a reduced cost.

Besides drawing/paint programs and gcompris (all good suggestions)( just bookmarking HubbleSite and some of the other sites with astronomy pictures would be good entertainment. 4 isn't too young for a very basic, cheap digital camera either so how adding it and a basic photo edit program to go with the netbook? If it's pure fun and games my daughter loved the Sims when she was a tad older than 4.

Oracle nickles and dimes their customers after the initial sale, sounds like the same is done internally. I bet that many of those who left will be sued, or the organizations they join will be sued - that's also standard Oracle playbook.

I see no direct mention of test driven development here. This speeds up development ultimately by reducing errors. BTW - I've seen paired programming work best as an 'apprenticeship' for newly hatched academic programmers or an experienced one learning a new language or framework from another who's already adept.

Get some MacGyver on it.... http://www.rpi-polymath.com/ducttape/RFIDWallet.php ITgrrrl

If each person in a relationship has one thing that they get to manage and have final decision power on than it is easier to collaborate or compromise on everything else. Money is another place where power tripping can make problems. It helps if couples agree on a dollar threshold for expenditures that need no joint review. I've been married near 25 years to another smart person and the above covenants have worked really well.

Hey, maybe Rome is bringing back limbo like they are indulgences http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1881152,00.html?iid=perma_share

WWTFSMD? What would the Flying Spaghetti Monster do?