OLPC Adoption and Production Delays

The One Laptop per Child foundation has received the first official order for the "$100 laptop". The order has been placed by the government of Uruguay.

The South American country has bought 100,000 of the machines for schoolchildren aged six to 12. A further 300,000 may be purchased to provide a machine for every child in the country by 2009.

The order will be a boost for the OLPC organisation behind the project which has admitted difficulties getting concrete orders.

Last week OLPC said that a production delay will cause a shortage of computers available in the United States and Canada as part of a holiday-giving program. The group expected to produce 100,000 laptops this year.

Apple Sends 3rd Grader Cease And Desist Letter

Apple Sends 3rd Grader Cease And Desist Letter. >>Oops.<<

Microsoft buys into Facebook - 1.6% for $240M

That's a whole lotta gifts.

The 1.6% stake in Facebook values the hugely popular social networking site at $15bn.

Facebook spurned an offer from Microsoft's rival Google, which was also keen to invest the site. Microsoft will also sell internet ads for Facebook outside the United States as part of the deal that took several weeks of negotiating.

Microsoft already provides banner advertising and links on the US site.

Mark Zuckerberg started the online social networking site in his Harvard University dorm room less than four years ago.

Neal sends an update on California Fires

Waffle House Fight.

Kid Rock has been arrested in Atlanta in connection with a fight at a Waffle House. Rock and five members of his entourage were each taken into custody on a misdemeanor charge of simple battery. Police say the 36-year-old rapper/rocker stopped by a restaurant in the early hours of Sunday after his band's Atlanta show that night, and a male customer recognized a female in Rock's entourage. Words were exchanged, and a fight ensued.

Mitch Joel on the Web and Online Communities

This is an interesting video from Yahoo! about online communities and the future of the web.

Bad News for English Football

It's a tough day for English football fans, as hopes of reaching Euro 2008 hang by a thread. Russia today came from behind to win in Moscow by a score of 2-1. This means that if Russia defeat Israel and Andorra, then England will be out of Euro 2008.

Rooney was sadly once again the villain when after 69 minutes he hauled down Zurianov to concede a penalty; even though the initial offence took place outside the area.

Torture and Disaster in Iraq and America

There was an excellent op-ed piece by Frank Rich about the Iraq War yesterday in the New York Times. A tragic "state of the nation" review. Definitely worth a read if you get a chance.

Radiohead gives "pay what you want" option to fans.

The times, they are a changin'

Many readers of this blog will of course be aware that indie band Radiohead have offered their new album 'In Rainbows' on pay-what-you want terms for download.

Are they creating a new music industry business model?

As a one-time big-spending retail customer who is now buying from iTunes and direct from the musicians, I'm in favour of this new model. My "active" music collection is already in mp3 format and to be quite honest I find very few albums -- like Radiohead's "OK Computer"i, Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" -- for which I need high quality sound. So why do I need to pay retail for a product format that doesn't add any value?

Here's my next question -- do we need to have "albums" at all any more? Is the "mp3 and media on request" model going to get us to a small 1-4 high quality track release from artists? Even my favourite artists don't often fill the entire album with gold.

Ottawa diocese backs gay blessing

The Ottawa diocese of the Anglican Church in Canada has voted for the blessing of same-sex relationships in church.

The vote, by a wide majority, sets back efforts to stem the disintegration of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Ottawa diocese was the first in Canada to consider the issue of gay blessing since June.

UN Climate panel win Nobel prize

Al Gore and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee cited 'their efforts to build up and disseminate knowledge about man-made climate change'.

Mr Gore said he was 'deeply honoured'.

Rhys Cashin Plays some Footie

Skeletor wins in Web 2.0

From Penny Arcade... I probably find this too funny.

Firefox Coming To Your Phone

Get ready to throw out that WAP browser on your mobile phone (if you haven’t already).

The iPhone, with its fully-functioning Safari browser, showed us that mobile browsing need not be a compromise. Now, the folks at Mozilla are working on a mobile version of Firefox.

Bees scare off elephants

The buzz of angry bees could provide some relief for African villagers whose crop fields are regularly pillaged by hungry elephants.

Oxford University researchers found that elephants would quickly vacate a spot after hearing recordings of bees.

The insects are able to inflict painful stings inside the animals' trunks, and it is thought that elephants have learned to avoid them. The research is reported in the scientific journal Current Biology.

Sputnik launched 50 years ago today.

The Sputnik program was a series of unmanned space missions launched by the Soviet Union in late 1957 to demonstrate the viability of artificial satellites for exploring the upper atmosphere as part of the International Geophysical Year. It included Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit earth.

The surprise launch of Sputnik 1 shocked the United States, which responded with a number of early satellite launches, including Explorer I, Project SCORE, and Courier 1B. The Sputnik crisis also led to the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA and NASA, and to major increases in U.S. government spending on scientific research and education.

Sputnik did much to change what was then science fiction into science reality. Wernher von Braun used Arthur C. Clarke's 1952 book, The Exploration of Space, to convince President Kennedy that it was possible to go to the Moon.

PCF Marathon run coming up

I'm starting to get worried about my preparedness for my upcoming run at the Toronto Marathon. Since joining Nexient my workouts have been far fewer -- limited mostly to a couple sessions a week with Humberto (sometimes) and yoga classes.

Sabretooth had surprising weak bite

The sabretooth tiger may have looked a fearsome sight with its massive canines but its reputation takes something of a knock with a new piece of research.

Scientists who have studied the extinct creature's skull in detail say it had a relatively weak bite compared with a modern lion.

>> I knew it.