They're flying above dozens (or hundreds) of circular fields, each with central pivot irrigation. Maybe they're doing a little crop-growth research.

Hear! Hear!!

What about using a Mac and using its underlying BSD-based operating system?

My 7-year-old Prius tracks my movements in tunnels, inside a garage with no GPS, etc. It indicates my changing heading and position as I back out of a parking space, etc.

The new version of the Nexus 7 gets my enthusiastic vote for the uninitiated. It's also great for ebook reading and displaying a photo collection. And only $229.

Agreed. Digital devices talking to digital devices, that's hardly the real world. To observe and interact with the real world you need sensors and motors and actuators, and more, and this requires analog and power electronics. This is where the rubber meets the road. Understanding this scene requires a good oscilloscope to see what's really happening. It's in effect our eyes, otherwise we are blind. Even for completely digital devices there are analog issues. You wanna know what's really going on with your 5-volt USB power source? Is it current limiting, rapidly on and off? What's the start-up transient, does it sag and drop out just as the processor is trying to run its program? What's the safety margin for proper operation?

I'm a big fan of the Casio fx-300 series. These days I'm using the fx-300MS, purchased at Staples, etc., for $10. http://www.staples.com/Casio-FX-300MS-Plus-Scientific-Calculator/product_403857 It's fine for scientific and engineering calculations, and although I'd prefer a programmable calculator, those aren't allowed for exams, and therefore aren't widely sold in stores. I have enough of the fx-300s around so there's always one at hand wherever I am, at home, at work, or at the bench. They must also be good enough for my scientific friends as well, because often when I'm in someone else's lab I see one lying around, and think I forgot and left my own there, only to discover, no, it's not mine.

Your father would like to stay in his industry, which means learning the new scene of cable modems, routers and access points, and etc., that the ISPs are providing now. But he might have trouble quickly getting a similar job working for one of these companies, because they'll suspect his outdated skill set. So he may have trouble learning customer service for these new technologies on the job. I suggest he sign up for one or more of these services at home, and start by delving into the innards of the equipment supplied. For example, Verizon FiOS creates a cable signal from their big wall-mounted interface box, and sends that to a cable modem. In my case they provided a third-party box from ActionTec; a combination cable-modem, router and wi-fi access point. This product has a detailed manual available on the web, and they provide all the information, so you can manage it yourself and change settings, etc. (In fact, their software is GPL open source!) So he can learn by experimenting, and update the experience and knowledge parts of his resume accordingly. Hah, he might be able to get consulting jobs helping companies change over to the new approach.

We need at least 1200 vertical pixels, this was readily available 10 years ago, but now is hard to find. We really should be getting much more, rather than much less, so we can read portrait mode documents, etc.

A 3D printer requires making 3D models, which can require considerable take time and skill to create. The printers are also very slow and good for only very small objects in a reasonable time frame. As an alternate, I suggest you consider a laser cutter. These act as "printers" for 2D vector files, which are easy to create in drawing programs like Corel. The user's complex shapes cut from plastic by the machine can be glued together to make many interesting and fascinating art projects. The laser cutter is fast enough so many people can use it what seems to be nearly the same time. You can get a good one for $10 to $15k. An Epilog Legend Mini 24 ( http://www.epiloglaser.com/legend_mini24.htm ) would be a good choice. We bought one two years ago at the Institute and it became an instant hit, busy all the time, with everyone using it.

"Sort by --> Threaded" -- Thunderbird has this feature, and it works correctly if you send yourself a copy of all outgoing email.

Agreed! Mistakes this large are the fault of the organization making the mistake.

But that means it can't make a quick emergency landing immediately after takeoff.

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