You just need to become a scientist. That's what seems to have happened. In science, where you're measuring the real world, you're by definition on the boundary of analog and digital. Engineering simply seems to have ceded that branch to us. Engineering is digital. Science is analog.

Maybe it's too hard for engineers?

Wait. Is this saying there's going to be a growing market for robots who can wear badges and be programmed to do things management wants while the rest of us do actual work? Oh, baby, this could be a goldmine!

Remember, every solution is an opportunity to create a new problem.

It's hard to say for a school library, but my local library has done a very nice job re-inventing itself.
Here are some of the aspects that seem to work well for us.

- Public meeting space
- Multiple levels of programming (senior, teen, ...)
- A maker space area with production and 3D printing capabilities
- Quasi day-care areas
- Social areas with coffee/snacks
- Multi-generational events
- Invited speakers on special topics
- Continuing education classes

Actually, it's possible that school libraries could just become cooperatives with
some other local resource such as a university or local library, or that the school
becomes a resource for other than just school children.

I think it's easy to overreact on this one.

"... 6 of 28 who are known to reject evolution ..."

The breakdown of the 15 districts puts 9 of them in the major metropolitan areas
and 6 of them in the more rural areas. Coincidence? These are also not high profile
jobs, so they can get skewed by the overzealous as candidates or voters.

The majority of Texans are not stupid, and even if they have their own private reservations,
they know that the science of evolution is a basis for a large fraction of the modern economy.

The sad thing is that this bulk purchase holds more sway nationally than it should.

Setting prices is one way to do it, but they could also just offer the difference to the book dealers, i.e. subsidies. If you want the diversity, that's fine, but you don't _have_ to rig the marketplace to do that. It's also better because the benefit of diverse bookstores doesn't accrue only to the bookstore. Other local businesses benefit, so there's no reason not to share the burden through a tax/subsidy. You don't even have to make it governmental. You could just use a cooperative.

1 - The cop is being an asshole. "At a red light, you're still driving, according to the law. ..." is a loophole to give a ticket outside the spirit of the law.

2 - Laws against texting while driving are inherently stupid. Texting, cell phones, etc. are a normal part of human life at this point. They're no different from talking to the person in the car with you. The problem is that they are not producing cars that are safe to text in or use a cellphone in, ... There are a lot of heads up technologies and driving aids which should be standard in all new vehicles; but they aren't. These laws are just trying to place the blame for poorly designed vehicles onto their operators. They do this because it's cheap and easy, not because it's right. Any lawsuits about texting deaths or damage should be sent straight to the car manufacturer.