When I was at school I wasted vast amounts of time being forced to write stuff out in draft form and then re-write it neatly. Fortunately now we have computers that allow editing. This is progress - I can write a report and edit it without endless copying out by hand.

Kids should have access to computers. Not all families can afford them. By giving all the students the same computers it is easier for the teacher to teach without getting bogged down in technical differences, and allows the school to administer and manage them.

Chromebooks don't support Java, or Silverlight for that matter, in the browser. There are of course web games, but the school will have their internet connection censored to block those out anyway. The students can't install much on those machines, and in fact I think they can be locked down so that no apps can be installed at all.

It's hardly surprising that schools would prefer laptops with keyboards, since students are expected to do a lot of writing. Chromebooks make sense because they are cheap, virus-proof and don't run Windows games.

I tried ergonomic keyboards but found that because I never learned to type formally, using the right fingers for each key, I was constantly reaching over to the other side because that's just how I normally type.

It's the sort of thing where you really want to get a cheap one and try it before spending serious money on something like this. In the end I found that just getting a laptop style keyboard (and MS one as it happens, but Lenovo ones are good too) made far more difference. Clicky keys are really nice but they are not the best if you have arthritis or RSI or just want something low impact.

The same argument could be made about any kind of employment law. Rely on it and the directors will persecute you. In reality they tend not to though, because they know that if they do they are just in for more pain.

What you describe is sexual discrimination. While men and women can have differing dress codes (to stay within social norms) the code must not favour one or the other gender overall. If women are given significantly more freedom then you have a case you could take up with your boss, and if that doesn't get you anywhere you can go to tribunal.

After consistently screwing China out of collaboration for decades I can't see that happening. They are building their own space station because you wouldn't let them co-operate on the ISS.

Some older drives can use the ATA password for encryption, which is presumably what you are describing. The implementation varies. Some drives store the key in plaintext where it can easily be sniffed as it travels over the the HDD's internal bus. The biggest issue though is that in most cases only laptops support the ATA password feature, with virtually no desktop BIOS implementing it.

This new standard defines how the key is to be stored securely and integrates much better with software like BitLocker. As well as being far more secure than the old ATA password method this allows companies to manage their keys. If the user forgets their password they don't lose access to the entire machine, IT can reset it. The password can be changed without wiping the drive. Hibernation and sleep support is much better too.

The old Intel encryption uses the ATA password, but they have been a bit vague on the details so it isn't know how well it works or how secure it is.

Realistically most people have to trust a commercial company at some point. Even if you switch from Windows to Linux, you still need a CPU and motherboard with BIOS code on it. Even the SSD's firmware could subvert you.

The encryption used here is good enough for most purposes. Sure, the NSA could probably break it, but they probably won't want to. Aside from the time and money it takes, it would reveal their capabilities. The good news is that this kind of encryption has been shown to keep the cops and other low level abusers out quite effectively.

Since there is only a 1-2% performance hit from using this kind of hardware encryption it should become ubiquitous. Hopefully in a few years Windows 9 will prompt you to encrypt your drive at the same time you set up your user account when first booting a new computer.

C# is great for small projects. You can slap together a GUI very quickly, or throw together a CLI app that doesn't need to waste time re-inventing the wheel or handling mundane stuff.

I mainly write firmware in C, but on the desktop C# is a better choice for many applications.

American politicians keep saying "they hate our freedom". No, we hate your war on freedom, and your utter contempt for it. You have become worse than the monster you were trying to defend against.

I do sometimes wonder if they know they are the bad guys, or if they have yet to come to that realization.