society category archive

Techdirt doesn’t get the Children’s Machine (aka the $100 laptop)

I’ve been reading Techdirt for a few months and usually find the entries there to be thoughtful and insightful, but I wouldn’t use those words to describe this post about the Children’s Machine. The post and many of the comments make me sad.

If you’re not familiar with it, you can read about the Children’s Machine at Wikipedia and at the One Laptop per Child homepage. The goal is to make a rugged laptop, suitable for use in remote environments, and to get the cost down in the $100 per laptop range. OLPC is a charitable organization and is raising money to manufacture and give these laptops to poor children.

One line of disagreement in the Techdirt post and …

Kids Against Hunger (Feeding Children International)

It’s Thanksgiving and by chance I’ve been presented with an apropos topic to write about: Hunger. I can even tie it to free software, more or less, but it’s really about feeding people.

First, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s a great time to get together with friends and family and enjoy a great meal, with very little associated pressure. (In most cases.) Like many people, I’m fortunate to have a four day weekend, and I like that the big day is first so that you can just decompose for the next few days. Er, I meant: “decompress.” You won’t find me shopping on Black Friday, so that becomes just a day to relax. Thanksgiving day itself is mostly relaxing, but it can be a lot …