My kid had back surgery last summer and the neuromonitoring folks didn't send a bill until December. They had not billed the insurance correctly, and their $7500+ bill was covered- once we straightened that out, there was still one remaining charge for about $38. I said I would be glad to pay if they could explain why this wasn;t covered under insurance or my deductible; it turns out it was denied as an overcharge by my insurance company, so no one had to pay it, and they fixed it- but it took several annoying phone calls and speaking with several folks to get it done. I figure every time someone is a pain in the arse to these folks, they will eventually fix the problem.

I can tell you I've had more frustration just installing software over the years, let alone using poorly designed software or games. I'm not sure it's ever led to actual violence, but I have contemplated just hitting the stupid thing with a hammer on more than one occasion. The same level of frustration is induced trying to teach a relative about the difference between a wifi signal and an ISP; Trying to help non-tech people choose a new computer and weigh options, etc. So far, I have yet to go postal.

The issue in our school district is that text book replacement has historically been on a ten year cycle(!) and that new ebooks or texts with ebook components aren't always ready when the text book purchasing cycle comes up, leaving school between a rock and a hard place in making both tech and text purchasing decisions at the moment. Add in tight school budgets, and you have a lot of short term decisions made in what should be a longer term strategic investment.

I agree with this- I avoid Office and simply use Google Docs- auto backups, sharable, available from any computer. When I need to do anything "fancy" I use Pages, because it's got much better graphic design templates and formats to work with for certain reports, etc. The complication of Office has led me to avoid it except when absolutely necessary altogether and switch to online options instead.

Mitch Joel (six Pixels of Separation blog) had a great post on this. We've known folks in social media who have been leveraging their networks and bulk sales to help boost their book onto the list or manipulate Amazon rankings for years now. Once you are on the list, the trick is to stay on, but the list helps increase sales and make the next book deal even more likely... So every incentive is in place to try to get your whole network to work in concert, write reviews, and otherwise promote your latest tome. However, because it works with the sheeple, it will continue to be manipulated until the metrics for selection and addition change.

I've sent my son to ID Tech Camps- he's learned a bit of C++ and to build ipod and iphone apps. They have classes at different levels, and the instructors are actual geeks who do this stuff for a living during the rest of the year, so I felt it was worth it, and he wants to go back again this summer, so.... he'll have a pastier complexion than his friends at other summer camps, but he's also happier.

There's this thing as well: http://www.amazon.com/SurfShelf-Treadmill-Desk-Laptop-Holder/dp/B001M04RBK/ref=pd_rhf_cr_p_img_2 a little shelf you can attach to your treadmill. I'm giving it a go, since the hack we tried on our at-home (used gym) treadmill- a piece of MDF across the handles- worked ok, but if I sped up too much, the MDF started to move around, risking disaster. Vibrations and a laptop shooting out into a wall at 6-10 MPH seems like a bad idea, but keeping my ipad handy to do email, etc. while also doing couch to 5 K seems like a better idea.