this seems oddly reminiscent of the stupid "birther" arguments. The man said he approved the bill; do we really need to question if he approved it? When he signs a bill in the white house, he uses a bunch of different pens -- the start-and-stop nature of the process, the difference in inks and tips, all would wreak havoc for the cryptanalysis's (can't believe that word is in spell check) too. Should we question that? No one actually looks over his shoulder -- maybe he isn't signing HIS name? Maybe he already signed a copy that will be produced "for the record"?

My experience is that the people who eat lunch together also ending up doing a lot of business. When the supervisor is part of the "lunch bunch", lots of information gets passed, input given, decisions made. I've seen/heard of places where things like who gets to go to conferences is decided at lunch and guess who ends up getting picked? That's right. One of the "lunch bunch". Lunch turns into mandatory fun in a lot of places.

My complaint is that it requires a relatively up-to-date video card. I have some older P4 HT machines that won't run it. I always liked Ubuntu because it worked on so many systems. I'd see people posting with systems running on P3s. That's not going to be possible any more. I'll stay with 10.04 (LTS), so I'll be cool for another couple of years. But beyond that, I have to buy new computers if I want to stay with Ubuntu. I don't see 11.04 as a positive move.

Back in the 1980s, a popular toy was the Furby. The fun part was that you could "teach" it to talk. It listened and then parroted back what it heard. A dad, who worked in a classified area, was given one as a present by one of his children. He put it on his desk at work. As time went by, the stupid thing "learned" from discussions and phone calls and repeated what it had learned at an inopportune time -- when the boss was walking by. Shortly thereafter, a directive cam out banning Furbies from classified areas. At least that's how the story goes.

.... a kick-ass sound system (doesn't make any difference what's in the workspace if you can't hear the tunes).

Richard Stallworth selects the names

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition -- Monty Python

Consider using System76. They sell a broad range of computers and the only OS they use is Ubuntu. I bought a netbook from them and have loved it. Their service before and after the sale is fantastic. Check out their forum at: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=341. Their site is: http://www.system76.com./

Just for the record, career military people move more frequently that you would think -- about every three years on average. And you do have the option of moving up the chain if you wish. The people to watch out for are the senior managers who are hired as civilians; some of those ass-hats don't move for 30 years. That's when you're really stuck.

I spent 25 years in the Air Force; ended up with a great career. Worked for some outstanding people; a few bozos. Competency was rewarded with responsibility. Lived in some nifty places (you'd be surprised how nice Turkey is) and some not-so-great (Greenland comes to mind). Survived the first gulf war. Retired at 42 and moved into a second career. Love getting a retirement check every month equal to half of what I'm making as a teacher. Agree not everyone can do it, or wants to, but let's not jump to conclusions about the new command. Waiting until you can get the right team members on board is an asset not a problem. I bet there are more than a few bosses who would love to be able to hold out for just the right person. And I can count on one hand the number of times I was given an unrealistic deadline.

Actually, some of us our English majors. I have a BS and MS in English Education and the MS includes a concentration on Educational Technology. Don't leave us English folk out just because ...

what's wrong with OpenOffice.org? Withe the exception of Impress, it does everything I did in MS Office and much easier than the 2007/2010 versions. NO RIBBON!

And just remember, "There's no fighting in the war room!" - Dr. Strangelove

Not necessarily true. In the State of Indiana, students pay for their books. It's a set fee for the little ones, but one you get to high school it all depends on the course you are taking. A standard English textbook costs $60. We use the same text book for seven years, so that $60 is pro-rated. The only time the full cost of the book is a factor is when a book is lost. Students on half-price/free lunch are exempt from the book fees.

I can't believe a PC with XP and open source software (OOo would be the biggee) wouldn't be cheaper that a Macbook. Macbooks would be the computer of choice in the Graphic Arts stuff; but the majority of the rest of the world is PC. Mac's are used by 6.6% of all computer users (http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/article.php/3704431/OS-Horse-Race-Windows-vs-Mac-vs-Linux.htm) The TCO for a PC is lower, again, especially if OOS forms the background of your software package. Since they're training teachers anyway, training for a PC would be no more effort. I'm a teacher, and I've seen this in my district. Apple was big player in educational computing way back when. The school's infrastructure grew up around Apple. Now they feel they can't make a change.