While I agree with you on most things in your post, she didn't have a sticker like you describe, she had a photo of graffiti on her camera. Try reading the article, you might her reason for having the photo and what she told security about it.

Generally the people doing the work don't get to go to conferences, their bosses go as junket opportunities. Is your conference someplace warm? Is it near any tourist attractions? These are keys to greater attendance. Also how is your buzzword count in your promotional materials? In any case good luck with your conference and I hope it goes well for you.

Only if you aren't motivated. If I am sick and see 50 on the pavement I will go out and get it, even if I am feverish and throwing up at both ends of the journey. That's a money towards computer parts! :)

Check out Sarcasma, a sarcastic take on just that question. :) http://www.sarcasma.net/sarcasma_002.htm

Dual 2.4 Ghz Intel processor, 4 GB RAM, 250 Gig HD, 13" screen, would have been cheaper if I bought the RAM someplace else but I was in a hurry. Runs OSX, XP, Vista without trouble. Cranks through photo, audio and video editing nicely. For me since I own and support both Windows and Mac computers it is a good deal. I have never actually met a $2800 laptop of any brand. But maybe that's because I buy actual, not hypothetical computers. :)

and a hawaiian shirt to work. I wonder if they will let me put some beach sounds on the server room stereo. :)

No need to apologize, I admire your attitude and wish you nothing but good fortune with it. :) I am simply more cautious, from past experiences I know that all it takes is to have one person jump to a wrong conclusion and you are labeled a pedophile, even if you did nothing, even if the police agree you did nothing, you are still tarred with that brush, permanently. My outlook is also influenced by the fact that I know such charges stay in your police record, even if nothing comes of them. I am friends with police and county prosecutors, it gives you a new view of how much is kept on record in your encounters with law enforcement. :) For me it is simply not worth the risk, I do not have the money for a good legal defense and I work for a public institution, just being accused, not even charged but accused could cost me my job. So I am risk averse on this topic. :)

My apologies but being a male and staying away from children in public places it is not about being "frightened." It is about avoiding the risk of being charged as a pedophile or questioned by the police as to your interactions with the child. Especially if you are, in my case, middle aged, overweight and single. The women I date know me better, but people are conditioned to assume sexual predator and it is possible they will take their anger/discomfort about loosing track of a child and anything else bugging them out on you. Once you are accused of this, even if you are never charged, it is impossible to entirely escape. I watched this happen to men I respected in the 80's, 90's and the early 2000's. They were helpful and not predators, but that didn't stop the accusations. At least the whole "recovered memory" fad has mostly died out. If I see a child in distress I do not approach, I look for a woman, staff member or call someone. It is not because I am "frightened" it is because I have seen what happens when people jump to conclusions. Once you are tarred with that brush, guilty or not you never escape it. I was nicer and less cautious when I was younger, but I have learned better in the last 20 years.

Ah, the good old days of Notes 5. The switch was made around 2000, I started working IT for UNL about April 2001 and they were still bringing people over. At UNL students, with some exceptions, have bigred.unl.edu accounts for campus mail, staff and faculty are given Lotus Notes accounts. Other schools in the UN system have moved everyone including students over.

I e-mailed the Lotus Notes team about the poor spelling, we will see how it takes them to fix it. :)