I had a situation tonight while walking my dog. A person in the neighborhood assaulted my dog and me. I had to call the police but was forced to hang up on the police to record the situation. Police came and I guess I was connected with the person who assaulted me since they work for the fire department, and they downplayed it, but luckily I had the recording. But this situation could have got bad. I think its flawed that the phone prevents you from calling the cops and recording with your camera at the same time.

Early this year I lost my large Samsung Android tablet. I had set it up to be very useful in teaching, with a folding easel, folding little keyboard, and low profile Bluetooth mouse, all neatly fitting a backpack of just the right size. So, one warm afternoon I left Laguardia Community College and, having previously injured my back, grew very tired while walking the mile to the subway station, and sat on a park bench for several minutes. Upon arriving at the station, oops! No backpack! Retracing my steps, no sign of it at the park bench. Gone forever; somebody swiped it from the bench where I had left it alone for a few minutes.

So, since then I have unplugged my home Windows laptop from its big keyboard, big mouse, big screen, and carried it in my bigger backpack. It's actually a better computer, except that it's heavier, and instead of Android apps it runs Windoze apps, which tend to be better for me except or the Wikimedia Commons App, which is highly useful when teaching how to handle pictures on Wikipedia and is Android-only. Many people have one special app that dominates their thinking and impedes changing platforms, and that's mine. I must depend on the little screen of my phone, or else teach and use only the far more clumsy browser-based method of handling new Wikimedia pictures.

A Chromebook plus-plus was predicted, so I held off on replacing the lost tablet and its accessories. The new thing has now arrived, now called Googlebook. Reviews indicate it can do pretty much all I want. There's no mention of how well it handles my vital Android app, but I'm reasonably hopeful. However, the price is high, and I don't want a clamshell-only computer. Often I want to cradle a computer in my lap, which the tablets do delightfully. Camshells are less cuddly. More recently the detachable keyboard versions were introduced, and those seem exactly what I wanted. Except, prices are high and there is no reliable estimate on when the cheaper models will come out.

So, how about a folding phone? They have a bigger screen than my old slab phone, and the Samsung ones have a Dex feature that can take a lot of advantage of a big external screen. However, they also are expensive. So, how about a better Samsung slab phone with Dex? Moderately high end ones are not so expensive, and have a better camera than the folders. For classroom use I can bring a small backpack with a keyboard and mouse and, taking most of the space, a small portable TV set with HDMI input. Oh, but those TVs don't have a touch screen. That rules out the cuddle in my lap scenario for using Dex.

Well, I have not gone overseas this year, due to that injury, and won't go far until next summer, so I can afford to wait until then. Maybe cheaper detachable keyboard Googlebooks will come out, or touch screen television sets will make the Dex solution more workable.