Thanks to Yahoo! news, I learned today that there is a nation of Niue: "Tiny nation of Niue gets laptop for every child". Niue is composed of a whopping 1444 persons and occupies 260 sq km, making it "one of world's largest coral islands" (CIA Factbook). What language do they speak in Niue? Why, they speak Niue, of course (aka Niuean, "Niuefekai").
Ethnologue Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Tongic.
As for the laptops, I'm a fan of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative. I especially like two features of the XO green boxes they've designed. Each computer automatically links to any other around it, making a sort of mini-web. Plus, you can get a hand crank to manually power the little guy. God! I wich my laptop had one of those!
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9 comments:
I got one in Jan.
They're great, as long as you know that they're made for kids in developing countries (small, not very powerful, Linux based, cute, etc).
***Fixed link**
"I got one in Jan."
Cool. Are your programming anything on it? If yes, what language? I met a guy here in Buffalo doing some Python scripting on one a few weeks ago.
Pippy (the intro program to Python) is easy to work with, as you start out doing things like basic math (remember that it's aimed for children).
I have no skills as a programmer or even a tekkie, so I spend most of my time trying to learn the ins-n-outs of Linux.
I generally have both, little time and little patience to learn everything there is to learn with this thing.
I assume a child would be more inquisitive and vigilant then I.
Well, in the very least, you have enough inquisitiveness to roll up your sleeves and start tinkering and I respect that.
By a weird coincidence the captcha for this entry for me was "ntldr" (a now somewhat outdated computer program used by Windows.)
Cool. I just found this blog and added it to my bookmarks as an RSS feed.
The laptops are supposed to be up here in schools in Maine, USA but I havent come across them yet. THeyre not publically available though, afaik. However, I have seen a sign on a computer shop that says "Laptops Starting at $99." So maybe they opened them up to the public. Temaharay, if youre still here, how did you buy yours? Your post doesnt really explain. Are they sold in normal stores where you live?
Hey stopped clock,
OLPC had a "give one, get one" sale where they sold the XO to you only if you bought a second for a child in a developing nation.
They're having another sale on November
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/150642/amazon_to_sell_olpc_xo_laptops_from_november.html
:D
Yeah! I live in Niue, actually. They gave me a laptop too! And for proof it wasa Linux one. I was stoked and my parents were too! They were sick of me asking "Can I have a laptop?" over and over.
Nvjds, congratulations! You should start a blog, seriously! If you do, let me know and I'll link to you.
I'd love to hear about the Niue language and culture. Go global!
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