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Groklaw has a go at it.
Low-cost laptop group lands in Australia
,----[ Quote ]
| Based in Sydney, the OLPC Australia board will also co-ordinate efforts to
| bring the organisation's low-cost XO laptops - designed for needy children
| aged six to 11 - into other Pacific territories such as Papua New Guinea.
|
| About 600,000 units have been sold around the world to countries including
| Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, and even to the US city of Birmingham in Alabama.
| Pilot programs have also run in countries such as Nepal, Thailand, Nigeria,
| Rwanda, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Mongolia and Haiti.
`----
http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/lowcost-laptop-group-lands-in-australia/2008/05/06/1209839632113.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
http://tinyurl.com/3cuudj
With Microsoft Windows, these can get children "sort of addicted" *and* spied
on.
Flash on iPhone: Video Dream or Privacy Nightmare?
,----[ Quote ]
| The Flash plugin is installed on almost every browser on every computer on
| the internet, and not only does it provides a cookie system all its own, it
| provides a way to tie Flash cookies back into browser cookies.
|
| So, what’s the big deal? If old fashioned browsers are already storing
| cookies, what’s the difference if Flash does it as well?
`----
http://phonedifferent.com/2008/03/flash_redux_their_plugin_your.html
More malicious antifeatures from Apple and Adobe.
What are privacy settings in Flash? (PJ: Yoo hoo! Mr. Negroponte!]
,----[ Quote ]
| It's important to understand that even though this settings panel is part of
| Adobe Flash Player, the audio and video will be used by an application
| created by a third party. Adobe assumes no responsibility for third-party
| privacy policies, actions of third-party companies in capturing audio or
| video on your computer, or such companies' use of such data or information.
| What happens if I select Allow?
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/newsitems.php
Gnash on the other hand will improve quickly with Adobe's latest bold move:
Meet The Hardy Heron: What's New in Ubuntu 8.04
,----[ Quote ]
| Rob traveled to Cambridge from Colorado, in order to make sure Gnash fit
| right in Ubuntu's 8.04 plans. According to Rob, "Ubuntu was the first
| GNU/Linux distribution to ship Gnash, and although Gnash runs on dozens of
| other distributions, it usually runs best on Ubuntu."
|
| Gnash is a GPL'd SWF movie player as a GPL alternative to Adobe's Flash
| player. Gnash works as a browser plugin for Firefox, Mozilla, and Konqueror
| or a stand-alone program. The first official Gnash beta was released on March
| 29, 2008. According to Savoye, "Gnash supports many SWF v7 features and
| ActionScript 2 classes with growing support for SWF v8 and v9. Now all we
| need to do is increase our funding so we can get as close to 100% compatible
| as possible in a reasonable amount of time."
|
| Rob's life as a traveling developer reads like an excerpt from Jack
| Kerouac's "On The Road." He recently wrote to me from FISL in Brazil - Fórum
| Internacional de Software Livre – where he was giving a talk on Gnash. (The
| International Free Software Forum attracts more than 7,400 attendees.) Now
| that Ubuntu 8.04 has shipped, the next version is being planned at the UDS in
| Prague. Rob will be there too!
`----
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2008/05/06/meet-the-hardy-heron-whats-new-in-ubuntu-804.html?CMP=OTC-0O724Z062301&ATT=Meet+The+Hardy+Heron+What+s+New+in+Ubuntu+8+04
Recent:
Can we rescue OLPC from Windows?
,----[ Quote ]
| Proprietary software keeps users divided and helpless. Its functioning is
| secret, so it is incompatible with the spirit of learning. Teaching children
| to use a proprietary (non-free) system such as Windows does not make the
| world a better place, because it puts them under the power of the system's
| developer -- perhaps permanently. You might as well introduce the children to
| an addictive drug. If the XO turns out to be a platform for spreading the use
| of proprietary software, its overall effect on the world will be negative.
`----
http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/can-we-rescue-olpc-from-windows/blogentry_view
Related:
Intel: doing the dirty on OLPC
,----[ Quote ]
| Intel’s agreement with the OLPC Foundation included a ‘non disparagement’
| clause, under which Intel and One Laptop promised not to criticize each
| other, according to Nicholas Negroponte in the latest article in the Wall
| Street Journal.
|
| Still Intel tactics have violated that repeatedly to kill OLPC efforts in
| Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan, India, China and Intel is also still trying to pull
| those tactics in Mexico, Brazil.
| This is simply disgracefull of Intel, scandalous.
|
| But Negroponte has signed an agreement saying that he is not allowed to
| criticize Intel, so he is not allowed to talk about these shameless tactics
| even though Intel is the one violating the agreement.
|
| So only independant voices on the Internet can get those messages of truth
| out about Intels tactics.
|
| In Nigeria, Intel came and donated 3000 laptops to counter OLPC efforts, then
| sells 17 thousand Classmates to Nigeria at a loss.
|
| Then Microsoft corrupted Nigerian officials with 400 thousand dollars to
| install Windows XP on those instead of Mandriva Linux.
`----
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/14124
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