Assorted Afflatuses

For the developing world, aid and debt forgiveness are good. But empowerment and education are great. Nicolas Negroponte's one laptop per child, or "OLPC," initiative has the potential to change the world, despite the various setbacks and budget overruns, by empowering children in the developing world through technology and the power of the Internet.

It has been possible to donate an XO laptop computer, for $200, or help fund the project's development and deployment through one-off donations for quite a while. Now, however, people can participate in the OLPC project's new "give 1 get 1" program. For $400, purchasers receive an XO laptop of their own and provide the funds to give a child one of the XO laptops too. While the XO has less processing power than my iPhone, it is still a pretty neat computer. It uses so little power that the battery can be charged by hand-crank: something very important for those people without access to electricity and rather novel for those of us who do.

Check out the OLPC project at laptop.org.