Ellison also noted that a paper option was important because many students in adult education classes lack the skills needed to take a computer-based test and that it will take time to beef up the courses to add that training.
Organizers also added an additional computer test for the semifinals, imposed time limits on computer-based spelling and vocabulary tests and added a rule that resulted in automatic elimination for any participant who misspelled a word on stage in the second or third rounds.
When a large Southern California water system wanted to probe the vulnerabilities of its computer networks, it hired Los Angeles-based hacker Marc Maiffret to test them.