Changes

1. The ''New York Times'' reported on a FailFaire gathering last month "over drinks and finger food", where MobileActive, "a network of people and organizations trying to improve the lives of the poor through technology", presented a prize for the worst ICT for Development project. The prize was an OLPC XO laptop, "a program that MobileActive members regard as the emblem of the failure of technology to achieve change for the better." ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'' subsequently picked up on the article: "One Laptop Per Child was recently laid off some staff members [SIC] after falling far short of its goal of providing inexpensive laptop computers to tens of millions of children in the developing world."

1. The ''New York Times'' reported on a FailFaire gathering last month "over drinks and finger food", where MobileActive, "a network of people and organizations trying to improve the lives of the poor through technology", presented a prize for the worst ICT for Development project. The prize was an OLPC XO laptop, "a program that MobileActive members regard as the emblem of the failure of technology to achieve change for the better." ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'' subsequently picked up on the article: "One Laptop Per Child was recently laid off some staff members [SIC] after falling far short of its goal of providing inexpensive laptop computers to tens of millions of children in the developing world."

I asked Katrin Verclas, a founder of MobileActive, for the evidence that OLPC was a failure and she said "OLPC was not discussed or presented at the FailFaire." It seems she has no evidence and yet she is sufficiently tone-deaf to be unconcerned that her using the XO as an emblem of failure might be damaging to the effots of the thousands of people trying to help the millions of children who are using the XO and Sugar. I would expect better from the ''New York Times'', the ''Chronicle of Philanthropy'', and from an organization that purports to shed some light on what works/doesn't work in development. I recommended that Verclas read ''Aristotle and and Aardvark go to Washington'' as she might learn a few more techniques for character assassination from Cathcart and Klein.

I asked Katrin Verclas, a founder of MobileActive, for the evidence that OLPC was a failure and she said "OLPC was not discussed or presented at the FailFaire." It seems she has no evidence and yet she is sufficiently tone-deaf to be unconcerned that her using the XO as an emblem of failure might be damaging to the efforts of the thousands of people trying to help the millions of children who are using the XO and Sugar. I would expect better from the ''New York Times'', the ''Chronicle of Philanthropy'', and from an organization that purports to shed some light on what works/doesn't work in development. I recommended that Verclas read ''Aristotle and and Aardvark go to Washington'' as she might learn a few more techniques for character assassination from Cathcart and Klein.

2. On a positive note, I've archived a short exchange on the #sugar channel on irc.freenode.net.

2. On a positive note, I've archived a short exchange on the #sugar channel on irc.freenode.net.