…You said that in your capacity as director of Geekcorps. One of Geekcorps’ technology partners is the “Intel Emerging Markets Group”. You may remember one of Intel’s products for emerging markets…. the Classmate PC, which runs Windows. You might say that’s “the same software… enjoyed by Americans,” though I would dispute the word “enjoyed”.

And sure enough, if you go to the geekcorps site, you will see Wayan’s name right there as “Geekcorps Director.” Look at the partners page and you will see this:

Geekcorps has partnered with Intel Emerging Markets Group in Intel’s “Discover the PC” initiative focused on delivering products and technologies that are specifically designed to meet the unique needs of people in emerging markets.

So does Intel fund that site? Maybe not. But certainly one of the main posters on the site, who uses a classic model of “agree, and then disagree by playing fast and loose with facts and rhetoric” model of posting has what appears to be a close connection with one company who feel that they have a lot to lose if we succeed. That’s something that should have been clearly disclosed on the “About OLPC News” link. At worst, it’s a pretty crappy move on the part of a major corporation. At best, it sure feels like Astroturfing.

So a conspiracy? Probably not. But it sure feels like one.

I think we’re going to move as fast as possible to get the right software onto the machine so we can include a video conferencing activity.  How cool would it be to be able to video conference from a laptop that only costs around $100 or so?  We’re pretty close to making that a reality.

The clips include This is Hot, Billy’s Browser, Daredevil and Web for All. Great job, guys!

The Hat Rack

I want to echo Bryan’s comment about the way that he deals with images on his phone. Since I’ve started using mugshot and flickr and my phone together, the way that I use my phone has changed. It’s fun to use the camera. Before I would just take a picture and it would just sit there unused. Sure, I could txt it to someone else and maybe they could see it on their tiny little screens too but more often than not it lost its meaning.

I’ve encouraged my friends to start adding their flickr accounts to mugshot and now when they take pictures, I get a little popup that lets me see what they have uploaded and a chance to go see it. Also, I can comment on the images from the chat link on the bubble. It’s a great time. I feel suddenly connected to other people via their phones and online personalities. Sounds corny, but something has shifted for me. When Havoc talked about a “live social online experience” back at the Red Hat Summit it didn’t have the kind of impact actually using it on a day to day basis brings.

Also, I have to put this in here.

DEAR MUGSHOT TEAM,

PLEASE PUT TOGETHER A MAC CLIENT.  IT'S REALLY NEEDED TO SO
I CAN TALK TO ALL MY NON-GEEK FRIENDS.

LOVE,
CHRIS