In the 80's I was altering prewritten games in BASIC on the TRS-80 as well as the Apple ii.

We were given working, proofread code on paper, initially, then a starting program with the desired alterations and what the effects should be, then a starting program and the desired effects and we had to alter the code ourselves.

There were dozens of games that were used. I am sure copies of these old workbooks and examples are available somewhere online. It would be a good stepping off point for making something nicer in modern languages.

Coax is horrible and near worthless as it is mostly non-recyclable plastics, foil and plated aluminum - no solid copper. My scrap yard will take it, but will not pay for it even if I bring in over 100 pounds of the stuff. I dug out 10 different phone and TV coax runs from my lawn a few years ago, pulling out every possible piece of wire just to be told I wasted my time. It was at least satisfying to tie the cable to the truck hitch and slowly drive pulling the cable out of the ground!

Abandon in place is best if it is not in the way. Remove easily removed sections that are drilled through walls and floors fully exposed, but hidden stuff just leave alone. External wall piercings are best filled with exterior caulk after removing the wire. Next best is cut the wire to the closest anchor point and leave it in the wall so a later installer can easily locate the hole and reuse the hole when replacing the wire.

TV aerial antenna to hide in the attic, or put onto a pole outside, since you may want local channels, and will need some type of connection so reusing the coax for this application is fairly easy.

Fab up a J-pole (or large dipole if that is what your receiver requires) for radio from some copper plumbing parts, or from some leftover coax. I get amazing reception with my J-pole with almost every valid frequency having a clear station on my radio. Not bad for some plumbing parts and a bit of wire. I made a J-pole from a piece of network cable before the plumbing parts and it was not nearly as good as 1/2 inch pipe, but was a superior antenna compared to the original stock antenna.

Phil

So the computer produces a list of possible diagnosis. This list I understand is called a "differential diagnosis" and may have as few as 2 or 3 items or as many as several hundred.

I would expect that this diagnosis list, as well as a management plan, to be then put in the hands of a human. After a series of tests I would expect the AI to be consulted again if necessary.

In today's world and probably the near future, say the next decade, I doubt that medicine will become "autodoc" "robotic physician" the holographic "Doctor" or some "magic cryokit" There will be a human with a powerful tool to aid in diagnosis of the patient.

Now, what will happen in 50 years, that is to be seen.

Phil

I am working my way through Terry Prachet's Diskworld series. It has been quite some time since I read most of them.

If you want some fun the "Don't tell my parents I am a super villain" series by Richard Roberts is a quick funny series more directed towards middle school and high school age readers.

$50 dollar knife by Wayne Goddard since ....well... Making knives

Adding in some classic literature such as Moby Dick (Herman Melville) and Jules Verne 20000 leagues under the sea and Journey to the center of the earth (both the counterfeit and translation) many of which are free on Kindle I have been reading quite a bit lately.

Phil

Frequently I get sensational fluff. OOO Wow! - not all that helpful unless it is a "show off" type thread.

Frequently I get a person who won't answer anything ask for more information then let others follow up. - Sometimes this actually qualifies as very helpful, but mostly not so much.

Some sites I frequent are more about hands on things like building model airplanes (RC and CL) so I'll get a a vast number of often CONTRADICTORY means to achieve the same goal. This can be very hard to filter out the signal from the noise because different ways are not necessarily wrong ways but mutually exclusive sometimes.

5 unhelpful to 1 good response is very good I would say. If that is instead 5 flame bait to 1 serious then that is pretty crappy response. I expect less than 1 in 10 potential flame bait responses or I generally try to go elsewhere as I don't need abuse while online.

Phil

I am going to guess that you are having a roll-off shed delivered. They are rather popular in my area (Central Ohio). It is IMPOSSIBLE to over insulate these units. Reflective mylar against the exterior and fiberglass batts with drywall or wood sheeting on the inside is common. Don't forget to insulate underneath AND install a rodent proof barrier to the ground. Consider dropping the ceiling slightly and aim for R49.

Install at least 2 windows so you can capitalize on natural ventilation when weather is permitting.

While wood heat is a possible choice, as is propane, I would recommend a split system heat pump if the budget can handle it. It is cheaper to heat with a heat pump than with propane, and backup heat can be installed such as a small propane ventless heater that can run on a 100# bottle. If natural gas is available then that might change things.

Don't under size power 100A minimum in a LARGE panel. Consider larger service if possible, heat and ac are 4 positions (2 x 220 circuits), plenty of outlets will also mean a 10 position panel might not be enough. Overhead lighting, look at your options. Fluorescent is still cheap, but there is much nicer.

Now you should be ready for normal office design advice in this building.

Phil

I have WIRED landlines in my house, not just cordless. Next to my bed and in the kitchen. I have the cell phone. I have the battery packs, chargers, and all that.

Pager, no. Never again.

The wired phones were installed the day after the cell phone was dead, and the cordless phone too. A concerned coworker ended up showing up with the cops at 3am...

As previously mentioned
fencing lessons (or any martial art really)
slide rule, but get something nicer than a "student" model

Add in Arduino or some other microcontroller that has a practical interface. Get the development kit.

Model aviation is a blast. Free flight, control line, remote control, drones, rocketry, they are all good and I recommend all of them. I find control line most satisfying, but have flown all of these. I fly RC about as much as control line. I currently do not do rockets but this will probably change again.

(Remember that balsa can be glued really well with common school glue, just an annoyingly long drying time, with performance equal to expensive stinky glues.)

Applied ballistics are pretty fun. A small trebuchet set up to launch tennis balls, or golf balls, can make for many afternoons of fun. Back up with martial arts, firearms, air rifles, and archery also provide quite a bit of satisfaction.

Sit down and design a project - THEN GO DO IT TOGETHER. Time is probably the most valuable gift you can give your child, so whatever you choose to get, make it something you can both participate in.

Phil

My address is off by more than 1/4 mile in gps, google maps, google earth, and mapquest. Truly awful.

Getting regular deliveries is sometimes a problem especially since I am on a road named with a SOUTH at the end and the same road exists in my zipcode as a NORTH! My house number exists on the north too, although there is no structure there.

Now a computer is going to get this right? I am slightly skeptical.

Phil

I know an old mainframe tech who would "clip a resistor" to "upgrade" a system from one clock speed to a faster speed. This was also in the days when 1K of RAM was a rather sizable card.

Now if you have a HiTech Flash 4 RC radio, an early computer radio in 72mhz, one can "upgrade" to a Flash 5 by adding a couple switches, and jumping certain pads on the board. The firmware is already loaded.

Phil

For an apartment you are somewhat limited. Wall hangings made of heavy fabric are helpful. You can add inexpensive moving blankets behind the decorative layer to aid in sound control.

For your own house added insulation is really effective. Insulate the exterior walls, blown in is pretty effective.

If you really need quiet ripping out the interior walls and putting in isolation walls with fiberglass or cotton batting will be much much more effective, both as insulation and soundproofing. You only need to treat the exterior wall although doing select interior walls will provide added privacy as well.

Replace your old windows with high quality high R value, multi pane windows properly installed.

Become friends with the dog and the neighbors. Yappy dogs yap less at people they know.

Phil

I don't have much need for color, and not much need for printing at all. Typically I print about 10 pages a month. With an inkjet printer I would have a cartridge last one or two months, so 10-20 pages, then the cartridge would be dry. Dried out dry. This was on two different printers, an HP (horrid) and a Cannon.

I bought a Brother laser printer and have been on the same toner cartridge for over a year. OK, the refills are expensive, nearly $100. The ink cartridges were almost $60, because it would not let one just replace the BLACK... I still see it as having saved the cost of the printer over buying ink every month!

When I need color, which is for presentations, I have them professionally printed. I have yet to spend $60 on a stack of color printouts for a single presentation.

Naturally your mileage may vary much more than mine has.

A smartphone and a blue tooth keyboard is fully capable of what you ask, as long as the videos and websites are capable. The headache will be on your end with supporting several different word processors, as the better ones are not free, and there are several respectable free choices including Google Docs.

So what does this offer? The middle class American child already has a smartphone, or their parents do. Pretty high power devices are also available as the "low end" option, and older devices are capable so a castoff or hand-me-down phone that is in good shape will do the job quite well (yes, batteries need replaced about every 2 years). All smart phones have wifi access without having phone service turned on. This means that they can use wifi at the coffee shop or use data on their parents' devices for the actual submission.

Bluetooth keyboards start at about $25.
A prepaid smartphone is about $50 for the device.
Yes, this operates on the assumption that the student has access to a good smartphone (with or without service), and can get wifi access via local businesses.

Try this before you expect your students to use it, they will expect you to support them technically.

There will be no burial. There will be no funeral. It will not die, but instead will remain on life support due to games.

Car camping? Sure! RV? No problem! Live-aboard size boat? Why not?

Engine+battery means near unlimited power. If you are within range of cellular then a cellular booster on the roof (not cheap) will get you pretty good range. Basically makes 1 unreliable bar into a usable signal.

Not cheap at $600 for a Shakespeare cellular booster, but not any more than any other nice piece of technology. Less expensive than a nice laptop or tablet. Check Westmarine.com

Going a little farther with the RV or boat? HAM it up with your radio license. Packet radio is real, and useful. I have only information handed to me from others who use it, there is a lot of information available.

Hiking? Well Ham Radio sets are now quite portable. There are portable handsets that weigh less than a pound capable of packet radio.

Hiking in an area with cell signal? There are a lot of these kind of areas around. Pack some lightweight Lipo batteries, such as from model aircraft, and a power converter to USB, available for about $10. (check Hobby King USB charging adapter)

With old cell phones external high gain antennas were a real thing. Aiming a nice directional antenna at a tower on the horizon (5-10 mile away) would make a phone go from no signal to full signal as long as the aim was held. I am unsure if this type of thing exists for modern phones.

Don't discount modem over satellite phone. Yea, I wouldn't want to go there either.

So having to walk with equipment for making these calls and having internet access? I wouldn't want to though it can be done. Camping with a car, boat or RV, not a problem

Phil