The UK government should follow the example of the London Council and upgrade to Chromebooks and Chromeboxes. London Council Dumping Windows For Chromebooks To Save £400,000

There is no requirement to carry identity cards in the UK or the US. Ration cards were used as a national identity card during the second world war. My grandfather committed an act of civil disobedience when he was stopped for speeding after the war. He refused to show his ration card because the war was over. His act of civil disobedience was debated in parliament and is one of the reasons why there are no national identity cards in the UK. British Identity Cards: Arguments For and Against their Retention and Use 1945-1952 Doesn't mention my grandfather but does provide a good overview of the postwar debate about national identity cards.

Proofreading fail ... This poll means nothing unless you assume that your are only productive when you are at work.

This poll means nothing unless you assume that are only productive when you are at work.

I am more productive when I work from home. If I'm at the office I'm most productive in the morning. I work in a cube farm and I'm easily distracted by noise. I like to start work at 06:30 so I can put in a few hours before the office becomes too noisy.

You could set up hands on troubleshooting exercises that focus on issues that the students are likely to encounter in real life. This could include troubleshooting a network connection when "the internet is broken." This could also include troubleshooting a printer that won't print. You could start with the basic questions such as: "Is the cable plugged in at both ends." You could form teams where the problem is the same but the root cause of the problem is different. This type of troubleshooting will teach the students how to fix the problems that they might encounter while using computers.

I'd also consider adding a disassembled laptop, phone and tablet. You can then relate the components of the disassembled desktops to the components of the disassembled devices.

I've often wonder why Barnes & Noble decided to develop their own eReader hardware. Borders took a different path and sold the Kobo. Borders didn't survive for other reasons but I thought it was a smart move to avoid going head to head with Amazon for eReader sales.

I had a Nook Simple Touch which was gathering dust. I gave the Nook to a friend and bought a Kobo Aura HD. I like the Kobo hardware. I also like supporting my local independent bookstore when I buy books for my Kobo. Wireless syncing can be slow if the wireless signal quality is poor. I use a USB cable to charge the Kobo from my MacBook. I always sync when I charge the Kobo. The Kobo does have a social media tie ins to Facebook that I haven't used the social media features because I don't use Facebook. The one thing that I miss about the Nook Simple Touch is the rubberized back. The back of the Kobo Aura HD doesn't provide as much traction as the Nook Simple Touch. I recommend the Kobo Aura HD sleep cover because it makes the Kobo easier to hold.

I start with my local independent bookstore. Then I try my local independent used bookstore. If I can't find what I want at either store then I will order books from Alibris. I tend to use Alibris when I want to buy a book that hasn't been released in the US. This is why I can read Iain Banks and Jo Nesbo before the US release date.

I bought a Kobo last weekend. I mostly use Mac OS and Windows. Kobo doesn't have a version of Kobo Desktop for Linux but a quick Google search suggest that the Kobo can be used with Linux. Now I have a project for this weekend ....

I haven't found anything online that matches the experience of browsing shelves of paper books. I use the web to order books from my local independent bookstore. I use the web to request books from the public library. I always spend time browsing the shelves when I pick up books the bookstore or the library. I often find books by authors that I would never read if I couldn't browse the shelves.

I switched from a Nook to a Kobo to support my local independent bookstore. The bookstore receives a cut of every book that I buy from Kobo.

Slashdot isn't supposed to be a site for breaking news. Slashdot is supposed to be a site with news for nerds and stuff that matters. If you look at the date line on the AP and Reuters stories you will see that Snowden was well on his way to Moscow before the news broke. I saw the news on the BBC site and jumped to Slashdot to see if the news was posted here. I saw that this article was in the queue. I was about to send an email to report the updates when I refreshed the page and the article had been published. A tip of the hat to hazeii and samzenpus for posting this new so quickly.

The BBC and the New York Times also have articles reporting the Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong on a flight to Moscow.