http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLPC_XO-1

Neat laptop for the price.

Criticism

Third generation prototypeThough generally well received at early stages, the project has been criticized on several fronts.

Design

On November 10, 2005, Lee Felsenstein criticized the centralized, top-down, “imperialistic” design and distribution of the OLPC. Felsenstein, currently of the Fonly Institute, draws upon his previous experience with distributed collaboration and open source hardware in the Homebrew Computer Club.

Porn browsing/Censorship

On July 20, 2007, Reuters reported on a minor scandal when the News Agency of Nigeria claimed that several units seen by its reporters had been used to navigate pornographic websites. In response, the OLPC program laid out filtering options.

Environmental concerns

The project has received criticism due to possible environmental and health impacts of hazardous materials found in computers. Many nations and organizations are working towards the development of “Green Electronics” (e.g. European Union with Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive). While any project on this scale will have environmental impact, OLPC has asserted that it is aiming to use as many environmentally friendly materials as it can; that the laptop and all OLPC-supplied accessories will be fully compliant with the EU's Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS); and that the laptop will use an order of magnitude less power than the typical consumer laptops available as of 2007, minimizing the environmental burden of power generation. It is one of eight computers to receive EPEAT's Gold rating for environmental performance.

Effective use of money

At the UN conference in Tunisia, several African officials, most notably Marthe Dansokho of Cameroon and Mohammed Diop of Mali, were suspicious of the motives of the project and claimed that the project was using an overly American mindset that presented solutions not applicable to specifically African problems. Dansokho said the project demonstrated misplaced priorities, stating that clean water and schools were more important for African women, who, he stated, would not have time to use the computers to research new crops to grow. Diop specifically attacked the project as an attempt to exploit the governments of poor nations by making them pay for hundreds of millions of machines. Additionally, the price of $188/unit does not include the cost of setup, maintenance, training of teachers, or Internet access. Countries adopting the XO-1 must budget for these costs as well.

One criticism has been that the money for purchasing laptops could be more favorably spent on libraries and schools. John Wood, founder of Room to Read, emphasizes affordability and scalability over high-tech solutions. While in favor of the One Laptop per Child initiative for providing education to children in the developing world at a cheaper rate, he has pointed out that a $2,000 library can serve 400 children, costing just $5 a child to bring access to a wide range of books in the local languages (such as Khmer or Nepali) and English; also, a $10,000 school can serve 400–500 children ($20–$25 a child). According to Wood, these are more appropriate solutions for education in the dense forests of Vietnam or rural Cambodia.

Price - HRD India

The Ministry of Human Resource Development of India has rejected Nicholas Negroponte's offer of $100 laptops for schoolchildren. The Ministry has stated plans to make laptops at $10 for schoolchildren. Two designs submitted to the ministry from a final year engineering student of Vellore Institute of Technology and a researcher from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore reportedly describe a laptop that could be produced for "$47 per laptop" for even small volumes. No technical specifications or development timelines have been released.

How about clanism? One might mistake this for herd mentality where one speaks for all. A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. Even if actual lineage patterns are unknown, clan members may nonetheless recognize a founding member or apical ancestor. As kinship based bonds can be merely symbolical in nature some clans share a "stipulated" common ancestor, which is a symbol of the clan's unity. When this ancestor is not human, this is referred to as animallian totem. Generally speaking, kinship differs from biological relation, as it also involves adoption, marriage, and fictive genealogical ties. Clans can be most easily described as sub-groups of tribes and usually constitute groups of 7,000 to 10,000 people. Some clans are patrilineal, meaning its members are related through the male line; for example, the clans of Armenia. Others are matrilineal; its members are related through the female line. Still other clans are bilateral, consisting of all the descendants of the apical ancestor through both the male and female lines; the clans of Scotland are one example. Whether a clan is patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral depends on the kinship rules and norms of their society.

In different cultures and situations a clan may mean the same thing as other kin-based groups such as tribes and bands. Often, the distinguishing factor is that a clan is a smaller part of a larger society such as a tribe, a chiefdom, or a state. Examples include Irish, Scottish, Chinese, and Japanese clans, which exist as kin groups within their respective nations. Note, however, that tribes and bands can also be components of larger societies. Arab tribes are small groups within Arab society, and Ojibwa bands are smaller parts of the Ojibwa tribe. In some cases multiple tribes recognized the same clans, such as the bear and fox clans of the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes.

Apart from these different traditions of kinship, further conceptual confusion arises from colloquial usages of the term. In post-Soviet countries for example it is quite common to speak of clans referring to informal networks within the economic and political sphere. This usage reflects the assumption that their members act towards each other in a particularly close and mutually supportive way approximating the solidarity among kinsmen. However, the Norse clans, the ätter, can not be translated with tribe or band, and consequently they are often translated with house or line.

Polish clans differ from most others in being a collection of families bearing the same coat of arms, as opposed to actually claiming a common descent. This is discussed under the topic of Polish Heraldry.

Clans in Indigenous societies are likely to be exogamous, meaning that their members cannot marry one another. In some societies, clans may have an official leader such as a chieftain or patriarch; in others, leadership positions may have to be achieved, or people may merely say 'elders' make decisions.

More recently a clan in South London called the TRV clan has been formed by two people called JTFA and Nemo. Their real names are Josh and Nimesh. It is an exclusive club for people just from Trivandrum, a city in the state of Kerala in India. Anyone who wants to join must have proof that they are from Trivandrum.

Clans by country
Albanian Fis clans of the country's northern highlands.
Armenian Tohm clans of Armenian nobility.
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Chechen Teip and Tukkhum tribal organization
Chinese clan, family name and consort clans
Chinese (Hong Kong) five Great Han Chinese Punti clans: Tang, Hau, Pang, Man, Liu
German clann or Sippe
Iranian clans
Irish clanns and septs (also: Chiefs of the Name)[2]
Indian/Pakistani/Nepalese Rajput clans
Indian - Maratha, Dhangar
Indian/Pakistani Jat clans
Japanese clans
Korean clans and names
Manchu clans and names
Polish clans
Scandinavian Norse clans
Scottish clans
Serbian clans
Somali clans
Ugandan ganda clans], [soga clans],[acholi clans]
Grey clan
Indian clan Rolan rajasthani clan:rolan
Kenyan Kalenjin clans], [Kipsigis clans],[Nandi clans],[Tugen],[Keiyo]rajasthani clan:Rolan the lik

I don't think clans are new but I didn't know that clanism is worldwide. Some clans have negative influence and some have postive influence.

The Day Of The New Sun

I will deal with the past and become a new person.
I will try to right the wrongs or atleast in my version.
The day will come when the guilt will fall from me.
And I will know a new freedom and a new serenity.
I will seek to understand and less to be understood.
Because I am a living tree and not a piece of wood.
I can't forget the past but can choose not to live it.
I don't have to be doomed; I can be spiritually fit.
I can walk with the free men with my head up high.
Because in my world there is a new sun in the sky.

"Why don't I just step out and slip into something more spectacular?"

"This isn't the most outrageous of my wardrobe but it is the most expensive. Wanna know why? It's the buttons. They're real diamonds, but I couldn't come out here in just the diamonds!"

Yes, I thought the greed was shown by the for profit companies. I couldn't help but think of Liberace's quote, "You can only drive one cadillac at a time."

The dream of cheap computers in the hands of millions of poor children is becoming a reality, though not exactly as its proponents imagined. For-profit competitors snatched the idea and have run with it.

In 2005, Nicholas Negroponte unveiled an idea for bridging the technology divide between rich nations and the developing world. It was captivating in its utter simplicity: Design a $100 laptop and, within four years, get it into the hands of up to 150 million of the world's poorest schoolchildren.

World leaders and corporate benefactors jumped in to support the nonprofit project, called One Laptop Per Child. Negroponte, a professor on leave from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hopscotched the world collecting pledges from developing nations to buy the laptops in bulk.

But nearly three years later, only about 2,000 students in pilot programs have received computers from the One Laptop project.

An order from Uruguay for 100,000 machines appears to be the only solid deal to date with a country, although Negroponte says he's on the verge of sealing an order from Peru for 250,000. The first mass-production run, which began this month in China, is for 300,000 laptops, tens of thousands of which are slated to go to U.S. consumers.

Negroponte's goal of 150 million users by the end of 2008 looks unattainable.

His ambitious plan has been derailed, in part, by the power of his idea.

For-profit companies threatened by the projected $100 price tag set off at a sprint to develop their own dirt-cheap machines, plunging Negroponte into unexpected competition against well-known brands such as Intel (INTC, news, msgs) and Microsoft's (MSFT, news, msgs) Windows operating system. (Microsoft owns and publishes MSN Money.)

Organizers of a project to bring computers to students in the world's poorest nations turn to first-world consumers for help. The pitch: Buy two, keep one.

After 2½ years of relentless organizing, product development and evangelizing, the so-called $100 laptop is ready to go into production in October.

At a time like this, you'd think that übertechnology visionary Nicholas Negroponte and his team at the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization would be stockpiling champagne for a blowout celebration. Far from it.

Though the notebook computer for schoolchildren in underdeveloped nations is just about ready for prime time, the goal of distributing tens of millions of the cute green-and-white machines still seems a far-off dream. The reasons: The computers, now called XO Laptops, will cost about $188 each to produce initially, nearly twice the original estimate, and, so far, not a single government has written a check.

That's why OLPC last week announced a money-raising gambit called "Give 1 Get 1." Originally, the organization had no set plans to sell or distribute the computers in the United States. Now it hopes to capitalize on widespread interest from American gadget fans to raise enough money to pay for shipments of XO Laptops to four countries that are among the poorest of the poor: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti and Rwanda.

Under Give 1 Get 1, which will run for two weeks starting Nov. 12, U.S. customers will be able to pay $399 to buy two laptops: one for themselves and one to be shipped to a child in one of those four countries. About half of the purchase price will be tax-deductible.

Also, starting today, people can simply "give" a laptop by making a $200 donation. Those who'd like to participate can sign up for e-mail alerts on the Web site XOgiving.org. The machines, which are being built in Taiwan, will begin shipping to U.S. customers in January or February.

Help from a billionaire
Though the highly quotable Negroponte has been a master at getting publicity for OLPC, this effort is mostly about cash.

"It has become important for us to raise money this way," he says. "I have met with about 30 heads of state. They're all enthusiastic. But there's a huge gulf between a head of state shaking your hand and a minister making a bank transfer."

Negroponte won't predict how many laptops might be sold through Give 1 Get 1, but factory capacity presents no limitations: Quanta Computer in Taiwan can produce 1 million XO Laptops a month, if need be.

Interviewed during a stop in Europe, Negroponte conceded that the difficulties of his task sometimes discourage him. "You wake up some mornings feeling that way, but then I think about all the good people who are helping us and supporting us," he says.

Negroponte hopes that by subsidizing the purchase of computers in the four countries, OLPC will prompt other countries to make their own investments.

On the bright side, he says, Peru and Uruguay seem to be on the verge of placing orders. Elsewhere, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú has pledged to buy and donate 250,000 XO Laptops for Mexico's children.

There are more than a dozen pilot programs in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Thailand and elsewhere. In Brazil, where five such trials are under way, the government is deciding whether to adopt a program to distribute computers to students for free, and if it does, whether to buy XO Laptops.

The early results are promising, says Juliano Bittencourt, a university researcher who coordinates the pilot program at the Luciana de Abreu School in Pôrto Alegre, a major city near Brazil's southern tip.

Since March, 251 of the school's 298 students have received laptops donated by OLPC, well on the way toward the goal of supplying one laptop per child. More than 20 teachers who also received machines have been busy revising their curricula to make the computers integral tools for education. Students, for instance, are working in teams with the computers to conduct research and make presentations on topics of their own choosing.

The pilot programs are essential for identifying the glitches that are bound to arise when computers are deployed in strapped schools. Setting up and paying for Internet access can be a challenge. Bittencourt and his research colleagues have been giving OLPC feedback on the hardware and software so its techies can make improvements.

Winning over educators
Also, because there are few electrical outlets in the Pôrto Alegre school, they jury-rigged a system for powering and charging the computers using a web of cheap power strips. The XO Laptops are designed to consume very little electricity.

"If we bought traditional laptops, we'd have to replace all of the electrical wires in the school, and that would make it impossible to make this work," says Bittencourt.

For use at home and where power is not available, the group says, the XO can be hand powered. It will come with at least two of three options: a crank, a pedal or a pull-cord. It is also possible that children could have a second battery for group charging at school while they are using their laptop in class.

Though there has been much praise for OLPC, the project has its critics, too.

"I think the problem of getting orders is showing that the brilliant idea of getting governments to buy in huge volumes is a flawed strategy," says Wayan Vota, the editor of OLPC News, a Web site that tracks the project closely.

Vota supports OLPC's goals, but in addition to selling the idea to high-level government officials, he favors a process of winning over educators closer to the front lines and enlisting them in gradually rolling out the laptops to schools.

Vota and other observers also say Negroponte and his colleagues are sometimes too doctrinaire in their belief that the best way to use computers in education is to hand them to children and let them figure out what they want to do with them.

Negroponte says that's an unfair criticism.

When he approaches governments, he says, he lays out two options. The first is the idea of putting the machines in the children's hands and letting them take them home at night, where they'll learn by experimenting. A second option, which he calls the "Trojan Horse," is employing the laptops as electronic books that the teachers and administrators can use to deliver their already-existing curricula.

"This is less disturbing to the educational establishment," he says.

Competition from a startup
When Negroponte launched his project, he hoped to quickly get the cost per laptop below $100. Instead, he found that the cost of buying and assembling the 800 parts that go into each machine was nearly double. However, as production volumes rise, he expects to reduce the current $188 cost by about 40% with each passing year. If he's right, he may yet succeed in bringing the laptop down to the $100 mark.

Another challenge he faces is competition from commercial computer makers.

For instance, NComputing of Redwood Shores, Calif., sells a system that includes a single PC that connects with up to seven simple computer terminals for a price of $142 per student. The startup has had some successes in rural schools in the United States and in some emerging nations.

"I'm concerned that programs depending on charity will never meet the real needs of children in developing countries," says Ncomputing's CEO, Stephen Dukker. He says his products "provide low-cost access to the complete PC experience while also providing the profits necessary to support an entire value chain of support and services."

And so, with alternatives to chose from, countries are taking their time to evaluate their options. Despite the bumpy start, OLPC initiative has plenty of support from powerful technology companies, including Google (GOOG, news, msgs), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, news, msgs), eBay (EBAY, news, msgs), Intel (INTC, news, msgs) and News Corp. (NWS, news, msgs).

AMD chief Hector Ruiz, who was the first industry leader to pledge support to Negroponte, remains confident that demand for the machines will take off eventually. "Unfortunately, it gets caught up in a bureaucratic mess," he says.

AMD, which provides the processors for the machines, has already benefited from collaborating with OLPC to help design a device that's inexpensive, rugged and extremely energy-efficient. Based on that work, the company plans by the year-end to release a processor designed specifically for personal computers in emerging markets. If that product sells well, at least AMD will have cause for celebration.

This article was reported and written by Steve Hamm for BusinessWeek.

Things a workaholic might say.

This is my social life.
I am at home.
Go out? Why?
How much does dating pay?
Can I count the date as a business expense?
Do I have to take off work for the date?

Went to the local computer repair shop where the guy sold me the motherboard and other various parts. I told him that I wanted to know if he had any Linux. The next word he said was Ubuntu. I said yes. Saw through the question running though his head through his raised eyebrow, "Should I try to sell him XP or give him a copy of Ubuntu?" Said it had been a while since he had saw me. He said he had a copy. Tried to open it up on his computer. Then went on about XP. Finally seen he wasn't going to sell me XP. Told me the copy he had was for Mac but come back to tomorrow about the same time and he would give me a copy for the PC. I wonder what he will try to sell me after he gives me the free copy of Linux.

winMd5Sum mixmatch

We want to be poets of our life — first of all in the smallest most everyday matters. Friedrich Nietzche

I think that is beautiful.

We are always in our own company. Friedrich Nietzche

Makes sense to me.

Not gave up, yet. I am an Aquarius and a Rebel. The challenge alone wouldn't let me give up. Having a problem burning the ISO. Got Nero for burning CDS and DVDS. Got a CD burner and a DVD burner with blank CDS and blank DVDS that are burnerable. got the XP warning that I have 26 days before I have to register. Had to change from ME to XP because of the problem earlier mentioned. Found out that XP is copyrighted prevented. Got an 80 gig hard drive. BIOS is set to CD bootable. Don't have Ubuntu on CD.

Oh ok, I think I get it now. I don't like conflict. That helps me now. I think I will look for a relationship without conflict.

Love Relationship Issues

Relationships are an essential part of life. From the day your are born and throughout life, you form relationships with your family, friends, and significant others. It is important to maintain healthy relationships through open communication and respect for the other person.

In a healthy love relationship, each partner enjoys both safety and passion. Shared values, goals, and lifestyle preferences are the core of the relationship. Sharing these things creates a sense of mutual respect. Trust and security are also keys to a healthy relationship.


How to Begin a Healthy Relationship:

The first step in initiating a relationship is to find out what you want from the relationship. Love, happiness, respect, commitment, and fulfillment may all be possibilities of what you need and want from a relationship.

Know what you want.

Use effective communication skills.

Be aware of how unresolved childhood and family issues can affect your role in a relationship.

Work through conflict; do not become discouraged by it.

Make agreements about your relationship. You should agree to:

Be honest with one another.

Discuss your feelings openly; do not hide them.

Talk openly about sex if it becomes an issue.

Confront any issues that are bothering you right away.

You should also make agreements on any other issues that you feel are important.


Vital Components for Maintaining a Healthy Relationship:

Communication. Honest communication is the foundation of a healthy relationship. Communication involves sharing your thoughts, opinions, and emotions honestly and openly with your partner.

Expectations. You expect certain things of your partner; in turn your partner has certain expectations of you. The key to expectations is making them realistic. When expectations are realistic, they are more likely to be met leaving both partners satisfied and happy.

Gratification. There are two types of gratification--physical (safety, sensual, and sexual) and emotional (love, caring, and affection). In a healthy relationship, both partners are honest about what their needs are, and both partners are willing and able to meet the other partner's needs on a long-term basis.

Influence. Influence deals with who leads and is in control. Healthy relationships thrive on each partner's ability to work together and compromise when conflicts arise. Neither partner feels the need to dominate; instead, each person supports the other's strengths and knows that the conflict will be resolved to meet the needs of both people.

Trust. Rational trust is supported by the fact that your partner is trustworthy and you feel confident and safe with his or her honesty, character, ability, and strength. To develop this trust you must communicate openly about who you are and what is important to you. As the relationship progresses so should the trust between you and your partner.

Boundaries and Sociability. Each partner has a need to be autonomous and keep a sense of self otherwise he or she will become consumed by the relationship. Boundaries establish where one person begins and the other person ends. Me, you, and us need to be defined as separate entities. This also holds true for the social aspect of building relationships and making friends. There need to be boundaries for your friends, my friends, and our friends, to create a balanced social network.


Stages of a Relationship*:

Every relationship goes through an endless cycle of stages that either strengthen or end the relationship.

Attraction. You are attracted to a person for some reason and want to know more about them.

The "first date." This stage involves asking that person to a movie, out for coffee, or a lunch date. This step takes the most courage and can be the most rewarding.

The "testing" stage. During this stage the two of you will spend a lot of time together and begin disclosing more personal information about yourselves to each other. This stage is a test because it determines whether you progress to the next level, decide to remain friends, or end the relationship completely.

Conflict. Conflict is a constant part of life and it is also a major part of relationships. Conflict is another test of the relationship. It can end in one of two ways.

If the two of you overcome the conflict, it strengthens the relationship and brings you closer together. You now realize that you can work through tough times and you become more trusting of the other person. Or…

The conflict does not get resolved, and the relationship reaches a plateau or ends completely.

This cycle is valid for every relationship whether it is with a friend, family member, teacher, or love interest. Each stage is repeated and the relationship is continually tested. If a positive outcome is reached, the relationship is continually strengthened by each conflict.

A relationship should leave you and your partner with feelings of contentment, self-worth, and fulfillment. If this is not the case, you and your partner should seek help through counseling or therapy in order to sort through the conflicts before they become irreparable.

A healthy relationship requires constant work and nurturing. Like a plant, if it is not constantly looked after, it will die. Relationships take time, energy, and effort, but in the end the benefits of a successful relationship outweighs the costs.

I have been studying this term 'unresolved issues' because I was told from a prior relationship that we had them.

Well lately I have found out that my sense of humor is my most treasured asset. It is the only thing that keeps me sane.

Barbie doll or Trekker convention.

Oh, I know what you mean. I couldn't sleep a wink last night. Had to chase call lights the whole shift last night and at opposite ends of the hall. One light goes out on one end and just as soon as I get out of the room another one lights up at the other end of the hall. Wanted to tell them, "Let's get it together people there is only one of me." You know I only thought I knew what being embarrassment meant until they gave me this new aide in training was. Showing a female aide how to do pericare on an old lady that is younger than my daughter and they God doesn't has a sense of humor. You know at one time I used to be shy but lately with all I have been through I wonder any more.

Good morning. The sun also rises.

Dear Diary,
It feels so freaking awesome not to be freaking new kid on the block any more. It is so freaking wonderful that they have found the new kid to pickk on and not me any more. I know it is just a pink cloud I am riding but I am going to enjoy it as long as I can. Thank you, God for giving me the twenty year old helper that hasn't got her license, yet. You sure are cool. So nice to hear someone bytch about the stuff I have been for over a year. But enough with the irony. How about one that isn't married or has a boyfriend or is crazy about only liking women? Was so cool to hear one resident say I was a good aide after being constantly on my case for a year. Listening to her running the freaking new kid like she did me, oh, that was just like music to my ears. What was really cool when the nurse said to me that talking to me was like talking to a wall. Hey, I can relate.