Even hardened nerds are often over-challenged by the less than intuitive field of statistics. Besides the theory, you need to know how to use the software that converts all the theory into a practical application.

The little boy behind me was really excited about his first airplane trip. When the plane started to take off, he gave a very loud countdown to “blast off!” It was refreshing to hear that much enthusiasm, particularly because air travel has become a “magic elevator” for me. The doors close in one location and open in another, but I have little excitement in the journey, only the destination.

In our September issue, I wrote about mentors – specifically, how someone could find one.

My town has one cable company. One or two other options exist for high-speed Internet service – some (but not all) locations support DSL through the phone provider.

Linux usage and adoption poised for further growth.

Additional paper from Ibrahim Haddad added to the foundation's collection.

• IBM Announces Blade Center HX5
• InfiniteGraph Launches Free Program for Technology Startups
• Pliant Introduces New SSDs
• Harris Launches BeOn Push-to-Talk
• Texas Instruments Announces Power Line Development Kit and Software Library

Midwives battling bureaucracy, parties fighting against the general public’s lack of interest, and users needing to synchronize their data – here are three open source tools that attempt to solve the problems of the world.