Group to produce $100 laptops for third-world countries

From the Associated Press: Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT Media Lab, has started a new project, attempting to build laptops that cost $100 in parts, for use by millions of children in third-world countries. The computers would come not only with built-in WiFi access, but also a hand crank for using in villages that lack electricity.

It reminds me of a question I've asked here before: What are you doing with your old computers? That ten-year-old Dell collecting dust in your basement may no longer be powerful enough to run Doom 3 - but believe me, it's more than powerful enough for a local kid to type his homework assignments, check his email, and visit 95 percent of all websites in existence. If like me you are alarmed by the growing class divide between those in this country who have access to information and those who don't, I urge you to get out that old computer and donate it to a local charity, one that reformats these computers and hands them out to families who need them. Your help can and does make a profound difference.