[TriLUG] One Laptop Per Child

[Shawn Hood]

Friends,

With the holidays within sight once again, it is difficult not to be
reminded of those less fortunate.  Regardless of faith, I believe we are all
reminded of our obligation to humanity around this time of year.  There
exist countless ways to help those less fortunate.  Food drives and Angel
Trees are all noble means to ends of a fed family and a happy child.  These
are fantastic ways to ensure immediate return.  What if this week you could
make a charitable investment that would reap immeasurable return for
generations to come?  With the increasingly connected global community, we
are now enabled to participate like never before in entrepreneurial
philanthropsim--the vehicle of goodwill that seeks to ensure maximum
long-term return for humanity on investment.

I present to you the One Laptop Per Child project.  I'm sure many of you
have heard of it.  It is a special time for the project.  The masses have
been incapable of purchasing one of these unique, Linux-powered computers.
That is not so for the next week, through the Give One Get One program.

I know that many of you have your own families and that this time of year is
especially financially trying.  Even if you are unable to contribute to
OLPC, you can still be of immense help.  Do not forget the viral nature of
the internet.  Send this message to others!

It is irrefutable that there exists a symbiotic relationship between people
and information.  Availability of information is the catalyst and fuel for a
society of upward mobility.  It is of immense importance that we enable
those who are presently the least capable to effect change at home.  The
global community is far too intelligent to not engineer a way to enable all
of our children with this information.  If we enable the future generation
of third-world countries we will undoubtedly be enabling a generation of
engineers, physicians, immunologists, and philanothropists--all of whom will
undoubtedly for improvement of living conditions at home.

Imagine:
-More efficient farming and thus reduced hunger because of agricultural
education.
-The spread of truth about religious extremism.
-The propogation of accurate information on disease.  More people are dying
of AIDS in Africa than are being born.  There is a five-fold difference in
purchasing power in non-malarious countries.
-Teaching people how to create vaccines instead of providing them at great
expense.
-The spread of information about government, including democracy.
-Effective dialog concering birth control among people of all faiths

I made this list in two minutes.  Imagine what anyone could come up with
given a day.  I cannot possibly fathom a gift of similar exponential return.

You and I are allowed to take advantage of a very exciting opportunity
through the Give One Get One program.  Until November 26, for $399 (200 of
which is tax-deductible), you can purchase an wireless-enabled laptop for an
underprivileged child and receive one of your own.  To boot, you receive one
year of T-Mobile Hot Spot (Starbucks, Borders) access free.  This nearly
pays for itself if you are an existing paying T-Mobile subscriber.

I urge you to visit < http://www.laptopgiving.org >.  Everything you want to
know, including technical specs, are available.  If you make the decision to
make this incredible investment, please let me know!  I would love to know
of others who concur that this is likely the most innovative and all-around
best goodwill effort in some time.

For those of you who are interested in the laptop and may consider a
donation later,  I'll let you know as soon as I get mine in!


Shawn Hood