While the shelf of donated books gathered dust, the computers gathered knots of students, dressed in blue and white uniforms.
The result of all this is an extraordinary flourish of new businesses or almost-new business, often no more than a few people with laptop computers gathered together in buzzy tech hubs.
On a leafy side street in north Tehran, three floors of desks and computers gather dust behind a padlocked gate.
The three, who conducted their survey one June morning, were in a program in which volunteers wielding hand-held computers gather data about street-level problems.
The intelligence agencies argued that privacy considerations should only kick in near the end of the process when a human analyst sees the information, and not in the initial stages when computers gather and filter data.
Others continued to move downstairs, but did so in a more relaxed way, waiting for elevators instead of tackling the stairs and taking the time to turn off computers, gather purses and briefcases, or use the bathroom.
Eventually, Ms. Slatkin, Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Deutch agreed to allow one security officer to review all the computer files gathered from Mr. Deutch's home.
Security experts hired by The Times to detect and block the computer attacks gathered digital evidence that Chinese hackers, using methods that some consultants have associated with the Chinese military in the past, breached The Times's network.
Early this month, Mr. Gates, now the world's wealthiest person, and 300 other alumni of the early personal computer industry gathered for a lavish dinner party in San Jose, Calif., to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the I.B.M. PC.
Eventually, Ms. Slatkin reached an agreement with Mr. Calder in which one security officer would be allowed to review all the computer files gathered from Mr. Deutch's home.
