Just a change in scale form what I've experienced the last 11 years I've had kids in the public schools. Every year it's been a mandate: buy this specific binder, this specific protractor, but this specific calculator (child fails 20% of grade if you supply them with a better one), etc. The leap from a $60 calculator to a $900 laptop isn't that big for a bureaucracy like most school districts.

at what point did Rush Limbaugh die? I totally missed that one!

needs to take advantage of the situation and send this girl a lifetime supply of Jolly Ranchers - or even better, send every household in Orchard, TX a free bag of candy. What will definitely turn into a PR nightmare for the district can be a PR coup for the candymaker!

Steel wool actually works because as the rat tries to chew through the steel wool, it fills it's stomach with little shards of steel and will crawl away to die in peace. Copper wool actually works better for this type of scenario as:
1) It is less flammable
2) It doesn't rust as badly
3) Copper is also a potent rodent poison, it will more likely kill the rats before they can gnaw through.

Typical Slashdotter - didn't even read the link he posted... From the FAQ:

How do I obtain the Fog Creek Copilot source code under the GPL? The client software used in Fog Creek Copilot is built off of a VNC core. VNC is protected under the General Public License (GPL). You may obtain a copy of the Fog Creek Copilot service for Windows source code from https://www.copilot.com/copilot_helper_src.zip, and a copy of the Mac source code from https://www.copilot.com/copilot_mac_src.zip. top