CarolynM

Oh come on, programmers aren't special. (I know, I am one). Clothes are communication. You dress to a minimal standard to show respect for others, and to communicate "seriousness". Sometimes, you have to spell the standard out out. I have worked with people who wear torn or worn out t-shirts and similarly worn out shorts. It turns off some potential employees and customers who catch a glimpse of them - fair or not.

Sure, it's a little silly to insist on suits for someone crawling on the floor (I still remember in incident with a skirt, an awkward cable, and a customer tour coming in at the wrong moment). But if you work in an industry where it's the standard, how hard is it to leave a jacket and tie at work in case of meetings? Really...

The metro crash may also exemplify an ATO system with a single point of failure, or poor maintenance, or poor training, or many other things. I am disappointed that no articles I've read about this crash have discussed the actual systems beyond them containing track circuits.

I did hear Dijkstra speak while I was in undergrad, on some graph algorithms. That was a win.

In every course I've ever TA-ed or even taken, a corrupted paper or code submission is considered the problem of the sender, and thus late. Last term, the penalty for one student who, I think through an honest mistake, submitted a corrupted file, was -50%.

Microserfs - they start as employees and create a startup.

You need to examine your school and students before you start making real plans. Online or e-books are great, but if you're looking at $20 per student for the line item you mentioned. You may need to spend a lot more on infrastructure to make online books work.

How many families have computers at home? What kind of computers? How about internet access. Do they have enough computer resources so each child has a computer for textbooks access a large part of the evening? What kind of support would the school be willing to provide, say if someone had a computer failure at home, or difficulty using the specific book? Pay close attention to any disadvantaged families, children in foster care or living in shelters, etc. How would you make this work for them?

How are the existing textbooks used? Do students read them or do homework on long bus rides to and from school? Do they attend homework or tutoring programs at different sites? Do students do homework at school during breaks? Are there enough computers available for "peak demand?"

How about in-classroom access, discussing literature in English class, or looking up material during labs? How many computers do you need in each classroom for this sort of use? Would a small number of in-class paper books be enough?

I love e-books, but I also worry about the unintended consequences for some students.