One laptop per child

It isn't always just pop culture minutiae and pure frivolity here at Slightly Worn Around the Edges. Every now and then we like to take our slightly worn edges and highlight a good cause, particularly those that are accessible via the interweb. I recently looked up what was happening with the $100 Laptop since it seems to have dropped out of the news and it led me to the One Laptop per Child Foundation:

The mission of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) movement is to ensure that all school-aged children in the developing world are able to engage effectively with their own personal laptop, networked to the world, so that they, their families and their communities can openly learn and learn about learning.

Now, the "$100 Laptop" has turned out be just be a number designed to garner attention the to the cause (much like Wilt Chamberlain's boast that he bedded 10,000 women... but also totally different). Unfortunately that number also generated a bit of a backlash and the new number appears to be $200, which is still not a lot of money when you think about it. They used to offer a give one-get one program where you could buy one for yourself if you also bought one for a child in the developing world (so, $200), but now it is $200 to buy one for a child in need and it doesn't sound like you can buy one for yourself. The give one-get one program ended December 31, 2007. Still, a very worthy and interesting cause. Check it out.