#I was searching committee assignments for homework and ran into this

[arancar-no-6]

I feel like it’s important to inform everyone that right now there’s a bill moving through congress to police the content of Palestinian educational material so as to not promote hate or violence. Against Israel.

Full bill under cut

118th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3266

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

November 2, 2023

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

AN ACT

To require the Secretary of State to submit annual reports reviewing the curriculum used by the Palestinian Authority, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act”.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) In 2016 and 2017, the Palestinian Authority published modified curricula for school-aged children in grades 1 through 11.

(2) Textbooks used by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Gaza include graphics portraying violence against Israeli soldiers, positive portrayals of individuals who have committed attacks against citizens of Israel, and references to Palestinian efforts to target the “Zionists”.

(3) PA textbooks are used at schools sponsored by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) because UNRWA schools use the textbooks of the host government.

(4) On April 26, 2018, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report that found the following:

(A) Textbooks in PA schools feature inaccurate and misleading maps of the region and include militaristic, adversarial imagery and content that incite hatred.

(B) The Department of State raised with Palestinian officials the objectionable content in textbooks, including a specific math problem using the number of Palestinian casualties in the First and Second Intifadas.

(C) The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in its review of the textbooks, identified content not aligned with United Nations values, the majority of which content related to neutrality or bias issues, including issues related to maps and references to Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that the Palestinian Authority has not sufficiently eliminated content and passages encouraging violence or intolerance toward other countries or ethnic groups from the curriculum used in their schools.

SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED.

(a) In General.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for two years in accordance with subsection (c), the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report reviewing curriculum, including textbooks, leaflets, pamphlets, magazines, and other instructional materials, used in schools in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority or located in Gaza and controlled by any other entity. Each such report shall include the following:

(1) A determination of whether there is content or passages encouraging violence or intolerance toward other countries or ethnic groups in such curriculum, and a detailed explanation of the reasons for reaching such determination.

(2) An assessment of the steps the Palestinian Authority is taking to reform such curriculum at schools to conform with standards of peace and tolerance in the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (adopted November 16, 1995).

(3) A determination whether United States foreign assistance is used, directly or indirectly, to fund the dissemination of such curriculum by the Palestinian Authority.

(4) A detailed report on how United States assistance is being used to address curriculum that encourages violence or intolerance toward other nations or ethnic groups.

(5) A detailed report about United States diplomatic efforts in the preceding five years to encourage peace and tolerance in Palestinian education.

(6) If any diplomatic efforts referred to in paragraph (5) were stopped by the Secretary of State, the reasons for such stoppages.

(b) Public Availability.—The Secretary of State shall post on a publicly available website of the Department of State each report required under subsection (a).

(c) Subsequent Deadlines.—Each report required by subsection (a), other than the first such report, shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date on which a new school year begins for schools controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

Passed the House of Representatives November 1, 2023.

Attest: kevin f. mccumber,

Clerk.

[yuusa]

𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝟐𝟏

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟐𝟔𝟑𝟖

𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝟐𝟏:

“Eeeh?! (Y/n)-kun is sick today?” Tohru gasped while Yuki nodded. 

“It seems as if she stayed out too late yesterday night.” Yuki sighed, how clumsy could you simply get by staying out until late dark without a jacket? 

You were a bit overconfident when you decided to stay late at night with Machi to watch a Mogeta movie. You had been out shopping for the entire day and by the end of it, you both spotted a movie theater that was still open. Everything wasn't planned out perfectly, but that was just how Machi liked it to be, something that was spurts of interest rather than an organized meeting. Although Machi insisted that you go home to sleep for school, you told her that it was fine and that Machi looked really excited when she saw the poster for Mogeta. She felt guilty when you began to sneeze and shiver once you had left the movie theaters. Could you really say you regretted it when Machi's eyes sparkled? You would be a fool to take the road home. 

Yuki sighed, this was the explanation you gave to him. You were apologizing profusely for having Yuki carry around your committee work but he simply dismissed it off, telling you that it was fine and he would be visiting your home later to deliver your homework. 

“T-That’s terrible! I-I can bring over food for her!” Tohru suggested, bringing up different types of food she could make to help you recover faster. 

Yuki shook his head, “it’s okay Honda-san, I’m going over to her house to give her the homework assignments. You should stay home, I don’t think (L/n)-san would want you to get sick either.”

“O-Oh! You’re right! Then, tell (Y/n)-kun that I hope she gets well!” 

He smiled before stacking your paperwork on top of his. He only needed to sit through one school day and he would be able to see you after. 

You sneezed and wiped your nose with a tissue, throwing it across the room and narrowly missing the trashcan by a few centimeters. You opened your small container of hand sanitizer and wiped it across your skin, the cold feeling spreading across your warm body as you laid back down in bed. 

This day sucked. 

You groaned as your eyes slowly fluttered shut, the need to sleep was beginning to take over your body. Your head was throbbing with pain as if someone was knocking on your head like a door, or a wood chipper bird piercing through a tree trunk. Before you could drift off completely you heard the sound of your doorbell ringing.

'Who could be at my house at this time?' You thought, completely forgetting the fact that you were actually supposed to have a guest over. You yawned and stood up from your bed, wobbling slightly as you walked towards the door, your hands touching the wall for support. You opened the door and cracked your eyes open slightly, seeing Yuki in front of your house with stacks of papers. 

‘Her apartment. . . It smells even more like (L/n)-san!’ He thought, seeing your body sway side to side as you tried to rub your sleepiness away from your eyes. 

You internally cried on the inside at the number of work he carried in his arms but opened the door for him to come inside, “. . . Good morning. . .” 

Yuki nervously chuckled as he took off his shoes, “it’s already the afternoon (L/n)-san, why don’t you go back to bed?” 

“. . . Lazy.” 

“You’re lazy?” 

You slowly nodded as you zombie-walked over to your table and slammed your head down, the throbbing pain of the impact was nothing compared to the unbearable heat and sickness you felt. The cold feeling of the wood soothed your stinging and burning forehead as Yuki quickly ran over to your side, almost tripping on some of the loose items on the floor. 

“A-Ah are you okay?!” You gave Yuki no response as you quietly laid your head on the table, feeling tired yet hungry. 

Yuki could hear your stomach growl loudly from the other side of the room, “did you eat anything today?” He asked. 

You shook your head no, your forehead rubbing against the wooden material as you continued to lay your head there. Yuki smiled before opening your fridge, noticing that there wasn’t much other than vegetables and leftover chicken. He sweatdropped at the realization that he would have to cook something for you. Perhaps he should have taken up Tohru’s offer of having her cook for you, but he shook his head. It was already too late to call over Tohru for something as small as this. 

“Are you okay with eating porridge (L/n)-san?” You pressed your cheek against the table, your eyes watching as Yuki searched through your cabinets for a pot. Although your room was messy, you actually kept your kitchen quite clean and tidy. 

“. . . Okay.” You replied, your eyes slowly closing and opening every few seconds as you tried to stay awake. 

He wrapped your apron around his body, tying a knot behind his back to secure the material. Yuki nervously began to cut the vegetables as you stared at him from a distance. He certainly wasn’t the best at cooking and it was making him feel anxious when you are staring at him, but he reminds himself that you might be dozing off in your half-asleep form. He heard you shuffle in your seat as you moved your arm to rest underneath your head, serving as a pillow while you waited for Yuki to be done. He smiled at you before returning to finish the porridge. 

Although he has been at your house for quite some time, it still surprises him to see that you have nothing on your apartment walls. There were no photographs, no sticky notes, there was simply nothing hung up on the walls. You didn’t have any photos for your contacts either. He wonders if you ever took a photo of yourself that you actually kept. 

He pressed his lips together as he covers the lid of the pot for the rest of the food to finish cooking. He turned around to face you, you had already fallen asleep while waiting for him. He carefully walked over to you to brush away the strands that were covering your face, revealing your peacefully sleeping form. He could hear you mumble something in your sleep but it was too quiet for him to catch with his ears. 

He noticed that on your desk was a sheet of paper on top of all of your stacked books as well as the two erasers that looked newly bought. He peered over the top of the desk to see that it was the drawing he and you created when you first sat together for lunch. He reached out to pick up the paper with his pale fingers, admiring the pencil strokes and memories that were carved into thin sheets of a former tree. The image was well preserved, the strokes were not smudged and it looked the same as when you first drew it. The rat leaning up against the eagle on the trees as they peacefully slept together, his side of the drawing was messy compared to yours but you still kept it there either way. There weren’t many creases in the paper other than the one that was on the left side. He pressed his fingertips against the paper, staring at it while you slept on the table. 

There was a lot that he didn't know about you. 

You had no family background, no photographs in your house, nothing on your phone aside from the basic apps that were preinstalled. There was nothing about you that connected you to anyone else. You were a solo animal striving for something you couldn't see. You depended on only yourself. You had no one to pull you up from this darkness.

He wonders how the eagle would take away his burdens. Was it truly possible to rid someone else of their problems when you couldn't help yourself? The kindness Tohru showed him made him realize that perhaps there is a light in this world, her smile makes his day much brighter than it was before. However, your presence was an enigma, you made him feel as if there truly was someone else in the world who understood the same pain he felt. He doesn't understand why he feels this way to you but he does anyway.  

He wants to rid you of your pain as well. 

He moves up from his position, leaving the paper on top of your books to finish the porridge that finished cooking. He tasted it with the small saucer that was stacked neatly on your counter. It tasted slightly bland to him but it was the best he could do at this moment, he wasn't the best cook in the world but he wouldn't consider him to be the worst either. Yuki quietly sets up the food in front of you before hesitatingly shaking you awake. 

"(L/n)-san, wake up, it's time for you to eat." You groaned and slowly opened your eyes again to see Yuki in front of you. 

You could smell the porridge and you began to rub your eyes, your vision adjusting to the scene. A small, cute yawn came out of your mouth as you picked up the spoon and stared at the food. Some of the pieces of vegetables were cut unevenly and strange, the porridge itself didn't look too bad though. You took a spoonful of the porridge and began eating it, your mind still tired. Yuki thought that your lack of silence meant that it didn't taste good, which made him feel slightly concerned on the inside. 

”Does it taste okay. . .?” He asked, nervously fidgeting with the edges of his clothes as he watched you continue eating. 

”. . . Mmhm. . . I can’t taste anything.” You frowned as you stared at the food in confusion. You held the spoon upside down to your tongue, still trying to figure out if you were actually tasting the food or the spoon. There wasn't much flavor and some parts of it were undercooked but it wasn't completely bad. Even in your tired, half-asleep form, you still knew that Yuki had put a lot of effort into making you something despite having the chance to just order take out. 

”Is that you telling me that my cooking sucks or it’s because you’re sick?” He sweatdropped. 

You hummed, ”. . . Both?" Yuki felt a comedic arrow stab at his heart, this was hard coming from one of the top students in Home Economics. 

You picked up another spoonful of the porridge and brought it to your lips for another bite, "But. . . Sohma-san made it for me so. . . It still special to me.” 

His cheeks began to feel hot as he watched you continue eating it. He knew he wasn’t the best, it was undercooked and messy, it didn’t even taste that good, it was imperfect and yet. . .  it still was enough for you. You ate it as if it was the best meal that someone had presented to you, your smile still on your face as you were halfway finished with the food. You had this strange effect on him that neither of you even realized. 

You were starting to feel tired after eating, your stomach feeling satisfied as you set the spoon down and leaned back, feeling the plush material of your comforter on your back as you began to feel sleepy. Yuki stifled his laughter at the sight of you so tired. 

“(L/n)-san, you should get up so you can lay down in bed.” He shuffled over to your side and brushed back your hair, wiping at the stray pieces of rice that stuck to the edges of your lips with his handkerchief, “come on.” 

“. . . Okay.”

You hummed before slowly crawling into bed, listening to his soft voice as you dropped your head onto the pillows. Yuki pressed the back of his hand to your forehead, your temperature was slowly rising and he was beginning to worry. One moment he turned around to look back at the kitchen for a nearby towel, you had already fallen back asleep despite eating just minutes earlier. He sighed before quickly walking to the counter and running a towel underwater, he squeezed the remaining water out of it. He folded it into a rectangle before placing it on your forehead. 

You must have been really tired from yesterday, he thought. If you were this sleepy when you got sick, he couldn’t imagine how you would last the entire day without eating or taking proper care of yourself.

”You shouldn’t have gone out so late without a jacket.” He scolded pressing his cold fingers against your hot cheeks. 

”. . . Sorry. . .” You apologized weakly like a small child.

”It’s okay, wear a jacket next time.” Yuki rubbed the top of your head as you hummed. 

His cheeks still felt warm as he watched you fall asleep for what seems like the third or fourth time already. He turned to look down at his phone, seeing that it was starting to get late. As much as he knows that he should go home, it doesn’t extinguish his worry about you. 

What if you fell off of your bed? Or what if your temperature got worse? What if you need help getting water for your throat? There was too much that was worrying Yuki that he was starting to internally panic at the different things that may go wrong. He sighed before standing up to get a drink of water, but your hand reached out to grab onto his. He yelped as he felt you tug on him with enough force to bring his face closer to him. 

'Was she always this strong?' He thought, his face beginning to burn a hot color as he felt your warm breath against his lips. Instead of waking up, you stayed unmoving in your bed, still asleep as you held onto him. He fears that you may give him a heart attack, or worse he would transform back into his rat form. He quickly pulled his face away from you, but your hand was the only thing keeping him from completely separating himself from you. 

“. . . Don’t. . . Leave me.” You mumbled, stirring in your sleep as you held onto his hand, “. . . Please stay.” 

His eyes widened as you intertwined your fingers with his, bringing it close to you. He slowly caressed your cheek with his fingers, watching as your eyes began to drip with small strings of tears. You flinched in response, the flow of water continuing to flow down your cheeks and onto the tips of his pale fingers. 

“. . . Stay. Please. . . Don’t leave.”

He gave you a small, saddened smile, “I’m not leaving (L/n)-san.” He leaned his head on the blankets that covered your stomach, watching as your breathing began to slow down, your body relaxing slightly as he felt your fingertips rub against his palm. 

How many times have you cried in your sleep? How many times have you been left behind? Did you cry like this when you slept at his house? He wants to know. He wants to know so desperately to cure the ache in his heart. You sniffled as he continued to wipe away at your tears. What sort of pain have you been through? How badly broken was your heart that you had to hide everything away? 

Will you ever tell him?

He felt his eyes close as he began to drift off into sleep, the warmth of your cheeks still brushing against his skin. His phone may have rung and buzzed several times, but neither of you paid attention to the noise. There was only one thing the two of you did feel. 

It was the presence of someone else by your side as you were at your most vulnerable.

[spooky-ghostwriter]

Dressed to Kill - Bonus Mini-Chapter

This is a little extra Dressed to Kill story. It technically takes place a few months/years before the main story, but I think it works best right here after Chapter 14.

It doesn’t really affect the plot at all, so feel free to skip it or read it at any point during your Dressed to Kill adventure. Is reading an adventure? I dunno. 

This is why I don’t post pre-story comments. Thanks for reading!

This was a normal sight.

Elizabeth Tanner sat on one side of the family room. She was at her desk, going over untold amounts of paperwork. Whether it was from a client or the family finances, only Elizabeth could tell. Whatever the case, she had a content look on her face as if she was completely at ease and in her element.

Takehiko Takenaka sat at the opposite site, equally hard at work. He held Shiba Kariki, the family katana, on his lap and ran over its blade with a cloth covered in some sort of powder. The sword already shone like a mirror, but it was a daily tradition of Takehiko's.

The only one not content in their activities was Tsukiko, sitting at a table with four subjects' worth of textbooks scattered across its surface. Her foot bounced anxiously as she scribbled answers to her homework questions.

This was a normal sight for the Tanner household, at least.

"How do you spell 'committee'?" Tsukiko asked no one in particular.

"Two Ms, Ts, and Es," Elizabeth piped up.

"Good good," Tsukiko said, not breaking her writing stride. Finally, she closed textbook three of four. "Yesterday's civics assignment done! Time for history."

Tsukiko reorganized her workspace over a sound she couldn't confirm nor deny was her mother's forehead smacking her desk.

"I need to write one page about a family heirloom..." Tsukiko thought aloud. "Aw, dammit, front and back? That's just two pages!"

"Due when?" Elizabeth asked dully.

"Uh... doesn't say," Tsukiko lied. "So, Dad! I'm sure Shiba Kariki has some awesome history, right? Want to tell me all about it in exactly two pages' worth of detail?"

Takehiko gave Tsukiko a confused glance.

"I'm positive I've told you the story of Shiba Kariki before," he said. "Dozens of times, probably."

"Well..."

"She wasn't paying attention any of those times," Elizabeth said. "You need to make sure there isn't a TV or smartphone in front of her, you know."

"Hey!"

"Or a magic prop," Elizabeth amended.

"Thank you," Tsukiko replied, staining the floor with sarcasm.

"Well, if you're actually going to listen this time, I don't mind telling you the story again," said Takehiko. "Ready?"

Tsukiko raised a pencil to her paper. "Ready!"

"Our story begins in the mid Sengoku period," said Takehiko. "The early 1500s, to be exact."

"That's not very exact."

"Shush. There was a man named Takenaka Takeshi, a soldier of the Hosokawa clan. He was one of the greatest swordsmen of the time. It's said that only those who learned the sword with him or under him would have been able to strike him even once before falling. With that kind of talent, the deputy-shogun Hosokawa Kanrei took notice of him, and recruited him into a special group of soldiers."

"Hosokawa... didn't you say that Takeshi already fought for the Hosokawa guys?"

"Yes, well, there was an inter-clan battle over who would lead the family after Hosokawa Masamoto, Kanrei's father, was assassinated. Basically, Takeshi went from fighting for the Hosokawa family in general to fighting for Kanrei personally."

"Got it," Tsukiko muttered, finishing writing her sentence. "So where does Shiba Kariki come in?"

"Be patient, come on. Now, the special group of soldiers was called... something that doesn't translate very well, don't worry about it. The key thing was that there were only about a dozen members in this group, and they were not only the greatest fighters of their time, but also the greatest blacksmiths.

"Hosokawa Kanrei believed that the only way for a soldier to achieve their fullest potential was to forge their own sword. Someone who knew their body perfectly would be able to create a sword with the perfect weight, balance, length, width, et cetera. It would be a sword that perfectly matches them, and no one else.

"Now, Kanrei recruited Takeshi into the group under the belief that Takeshi had forged the sword he fought with. After all, in Kanrei's eyes, no one could have fought at Takeshi's level with an imperfect sword. However, Kanrei was wrong. Takeshi didn't make the sword he fought with, and in fact, he didn't know a thing about smithing at all. He was just that good, with some generic sword he'd purchased or earned or something."

"And that generic sword is Shiba Kariki?"

"No!" Takehiko said, almost sounding insulted. "After Takeshi told Kanrei the truth, Kanrei's soldiers taught Takeshi how to make a sword. With a dozen of the best smiths in the world, Takeshi learned everything he needed to know. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was never able to create the perfect sword for himself. Kanrei, obsessed with having his soldiers achieve perfection, sent Takeshi out to find something that would inspire him.

"Takeshi wandered for some time – weeks to years, depending on whether you ask my father or grandfather – looking for inspiration. While searching, he instead found love.

"The woman's name was Chiyoko," said Takehiko. "She was a beautiful, intelligent, kind-hearted woman. Now there was a section of the story here about how Takeshi wooed her, but I don't remember how it goes. Something to do with cherry blossoms, I think.

"Anyway, Chiyoko was unfortunately a sickly woman. With Takeshi's influence and the Hosokawa clan's wealth, countless doctors tried to discover a cure for whatever disease she had, but it was hopeless. Chiyoko could not be cured.

"Regardless, Chiyoko and Takeshi married. Going back to the blacksmithing part of the story, Takeshi thought for sure he'd found his perfect inspiration, but even with Chiyoko in his mind, he wasn't able to forge the perfect sword."

"Did he forge some metal statues of Chiyoko, then?"

"Actually, a couple. I think your aunt has one."

"Oh, I was – I was kidding, but okay..."

"Anyway, back to the story. Takeshi and Chiyoko were a happy couple, but there was one fear lingering in their minds – could Chiyoko handle childbirth, and would the child have the same disease that Chiyoko had? Sadly, the answer to the former was almost certainly no. But regardless, Chiyoko became pregnant."

"Oh god, are you going to turn this story into the birds and the bees talk?"

"If you keep interrupting me, I will."

Tsukiko clapped a hand over her mouth and silently gestured for Takehiko to continue.

"During the later stages of Chiyoko's pregnancy, she knew instinctively she wouldn't be able to survive childbirth. She had led a life of no regrets, but now she had one – that she couldn't watch over her child after he was born. I mean, obviously she didn't know it was a 'he' at the time, but now we do, so I'll keep saying 'he'.

"This was the inspiration that Takeshi needed. He and Chiyoko worked together to forge a perfect sword – one that would hold Chiyoko's spirit after she died. On the eve of a great battle, Chiyoko delivered her child, and as expected, she died during labour. But the sword was complete, and with Chiyoko's spirit inside it, Takeshi went off to war.

"That sword is Shiba Kariki," said Takehiko, looking into his own reflection in the blade. "It was properly christened after the battle, but it's said that Chiyoko protects the Takenaka family from within the blade. There has never been a member of the Takenaka family who took the sword out to battle and did not return."

Takehiko looked at his wife and daughter, gauging their reactions to the story.

"Couldn't Chiyoko and Takeshi have just... not had kids?" Tsukiko asked.

"That's what I said," Elizabeth added.

Takehiko frowned, returning silently to polishing the sword.

Of course, he thought. There hasn't been a member of the Takenaka family who's needed Chiyoko's protection for a few generations. And in fact, I'm technically the last Takenaka that there is.

Takehiko gave a glance towards Tsukiko as she scribbled some more of her history assignment, arguing with herself over the proper spelling of a few Japanese words.

I hope that Tsukiko will never need your protection either, Chiyoko. But if she does...

With his polishing routine complete, Takehiko sheathed the sword.

I hope you'll protect her as well.

[evnoweb]

Will there be a wake?

I found this story particularly interesting this morning.

In 2018, Windows died at home and nobody cared

My first thought was this quote attributed to Mark Twain.

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mark_twain_141773

There are many angles on this thing had my mind racing.

I’ve long been a user of Windows on the desktop.  It was the platform of choice for my school district(s).  As such, I always had a computer at my fingertips courtesy of my employer.  Of course, it wasn’t Windows as we know and love it.  Controls were put on the operating system so that you couldn’t customize it or install your own software.  Your typical educational environment.

So, I suspect like many teachers, I bought my own for use at home.  Over the course of a career, it added up to quite a number of computers.  And like most technology (particularly with Windows computers), they got slower over time and the technology vastly improved from year to year.  In my mind, all of this made it important to continually upgrade.  I recall even suggesting to an Member of Parliament once that a teacher who purchases a computer for use at home should have it made tax deductible.  The challenge was proving that it wasn’t a family computer, I was told.

As a Computer Science teacher without a textbook, I would have to come up with activities and assignments on my own.  Despite my grumbling, it was actually a fun activity.  I would also write my own solutions to every problem so that I got a sense of how long it takes to solve and also to make sure that there wasn’t a topic that hadn’t been taught that was required for a solution.  At times, it seemed like I was doing homework for six courses every night.

In the middle of all this, there came a real significant shift from Imperative to Object-Oriented Programming.  It’s not the sort of thing that you learn by reading a book.  Having a home computer was such a big asset.  I don’t know how I could have survived otherwise.

But, given my current use of computers, I don’t have the same needs.  Like so many, my digital life revolves around a good browser.  Over a year ago, I decided to solve another problem I had – an iPad that has become just about completely unusable.  Even when it was usable, it was terribly slow.  So, I went out in search of a Chromebook that ran Android apps.  This was to be my new tablet.

I wish that I could report that it was success from first powerup but I’d be lying if I said it was.  Out of the box, the Chromebook didn’t support Android.  So, my first step was to get it so that it would work.  That meant installing the Beta of Chrome OS.  From there I was off.

In theory.

It wasn’t that the applications didn’t work.  They did.  Sometimes in a size that would be suitable for a phone.  Other times, it would go full screen.  Sometimes I could even decide!  By flipping back the screen, it became a touch enable device with a very high resolution.  The biggest issue for me was a 13 inch screen that seemed too big.

Meanwhile, back on the Chrome OS side of things, I was stuck with a traditional desktop mindset.  I felt like a fish out of the water not having a program for everything.  If you’ve ever seen my Windows computers, you know that I’m a hoarder of software.  So many programs; so much functionality; so much duplication…

I was starting to really wonder whether I’d made the right decision or not.

The turning point for me came at the CSTA Conference in Baltimore last summer.  I decide that, if I was going to do this, I was going to prove to myself that I could either do it or not do it.  Normally, when I go to conferences – and particularly computer science conferences – I take at least two computers with me.  And a tablet.  This time around, it was just me and my Chromebook.  What about applications?  I’d already been on the path to the light and had local applications like OneNote installed so I’d be good without wifi.  Pleasantly, McNamara Terminal at DTW had free wifi.  What was I worried about?

How about on the plane?  I don’t tend to do much work on the plane but the bluetooth connected to my headset and played some tunes for the flight.

At the conference, there was wifi everywhere and everything that I needed to do was easily accessible.  All my conference notes, the committee planning sheets, my volunteer schedule – all nicely available.  Playing with a Micro:bit in a session?  No problem.  There was only one thing I couldn’t do and that was to participate in a Java workshop.  It wasn’t the end of the world because I was also proctoring it.  I returned home convinced that I had made the right decision.

Things only got better from that point on.  Oh, I still fire up my old Windows laptop but it’s usually just to access some files that I’ve got stored there and to allow it to update itself.  The updates always seem to come at the wrong time, unlike the Chromebook that just wants to reboot itself when a new version of the OS arrives.

So, back to the article.  Windows died at home?  Perhaps dying is a little harsh.  There are still a number of legacy computer things that I’m more comfortable with on a Windows computer that keeps me coming back.  But, if I was to just start out now, I’d be quite comfortable doing just about everything I need to on this Chromebook.

It’s come a long way in such a short period of time.  Will it mark a death in the way computers are used at home?

Will there be a wake? published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse