DS has used the one linked below and liked it. Very convenient but may or may not be enough padding for everyone: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LF3FQE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Food science would be nice too.

There are a number of ways to respond to this. First, maybe we haven’t! There is one school of thought which posits that free-will is an illusion. Second, quantum physics doesn’t hold that physics is strictly deterministic. However, I don’t know that randomness at the sub-atomic level has been shown to scale up. Third, there is a theory that free-will could be some kind of emergent property. For example, water has properties that that neither hydrogen nor oxygen alone have, and a brain has properties (free-will) that its components do not have.

The e-reader and email reminder ideas are good. Also, for books with plastic covers, you can put a sticky or removable painters tape and write down when the book is due. I find that helps me, anyway.

Oh --- I thought maybe his problem with it was that it would't be profitable enough. What is he planning on doing with the business degree?

Well, he could always start out as a mechanic and then eventually run his own business.

I assume he has a LinkedIn account? As a PP said, I believe networking is still very big despite the rise of the Internet. Of course, I would exploit the Internet as much as possible, but he should be contacting everyone he is comfortable with about getting a job even if they don't work in Florida because they may know someone who does.

Yes, repeating back is an "active listening" technique; however, you are supposed to paraphrase what the person said, not just repeat back exactly. If I did that, it would be prefaced with "is this what you mean" or "I heard you say...".

So, tell me, do you carve the chess pieces out of cheese? :tongue_smilie:

Wine! (Gee -- I hope nobody notices that this is my answer to everything.)

Yes, I'd lean toward marble or wood. I'm sure you can find some nice-looking wood sets if your budget is tight.

One issue with some glass sets is that the pieces are hard to see.

Is this for a fixed location or would you be taking it places? The latter might suggest a magnetic set. Otherwise, I've always been partial to marble, but don't actually have such a set now.

When I first read the puzzle, it reminded me something I worked on as a kid but goes around the internet from time to time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_Puzzle Be warned! This one is a bit more difficult than this birth date problem.

Well, dark chocolate is practically a heath food! :D