Reality check redux.

First, let me note that there are only a few things I like better than a debate where I have time to compose a reply. I’m terrible on the fly, but given time I can be pretty good in a clinch. So thank you to Christopher for continuing this discussion on OLPC. And let me be up front, as I failed to do in my previous response, that I am not a member of the OLPC team, and don’t mean to act as a spokesperson. Fortunately I can depend on other informed parties to chime in if I get something wrong. Christopher writes:

My only real concerns with the OLPC are non-technical: what would be the format of this machine? What I mean is, as a typical laptop, even one running Linux, this will be useless to all but a fraction of the children. If, however, it is preloaded with easy to use tools for literacy, robust multi-language support, and a plethora of worthwhile content, then it excites me far more.

Since Chris hasn’t had time to visit the OLPC wiki and get one of the qemu images running for inspection, let me say that this is exactly how the laptop systems are set up. Although they have a Linux foundation, what kids see is a very easy interface that breaks a lot of preconceived notions and is simultaneously intuitive and powerful. This is a tool designed for children, not to inculcate them into any particular future “operating system as religion.” Of course, if you believe (as I do) that free software is just an expression of human freedom in terms of the computerized toolspace, it’s fair to assume that the hackability of the platform will inevitably lead down that road. More on the content issue:

Since the networking features will often be very limited, these would be heavily reliant on whatever content is preloaded. But the notion of content – who chooses this? It concerns me to imagine the propaganda these systems might contain. Will kids be (eventually) reading Adam Smith or Karl Marx? How about both?

It’s important to note that the laptop is a means for creating content — it is not for propagandizing kids. Although the laptops presumably have the ability to join more conventional managed wireless networks, you won’t find those networks in the places where these laptops are going. As I understand it, the focus is on ad-hoc networking, where the machines communicate with each other over a reasonable distance such as a classroom or cluster of dwellings. This allows children and teachers to interact in new and exciting ways, again using the technology as a means, not an end. If the teacher wants to teach Smith, Marx, or Bob, the laptop is not built to interfere, but to encourage. In all fairness, however, Christopher isn’t the only person who’s questioned the idea of content on the system. (I haven’t seen a response yet by OLPC folks on this issue, but would welcome it.)

If I felt this was a misguided attempt to “force open” societies, I wouldn’t think as much of it, because I don’t think tools can perform that function — people do. I think the natural tendency of society, like information, is to free itself regardless of the disruption that behavior causes. But certainly a mind that has learned to solve problems imaginatively and consider itself an author of its own destiny is the primer for that particular social engine. And when a tool has the ability to expose young minds to very fundamental concepts of collaboration, community, and teamwork, that’s a big step toward the concepts of equality and freedom. So in that sense, I think OLPC is disruptive/subversive, but in a way that’s too subtle to be threatening.

Maybe that’s a lot of armchair philosophizing and pipe dreaming, but if “the real key lies in the doing,” as Christopher says, then OLPC has that key within its grasp as far as I can tell.

Reality check.

On the other hand, Christopher, here’s a few things John C. Dvorak misses in his ill-informed screed against the OLPC laptop. I note he didn’t have any qualms about running ahead with his article, which doesn’t seem to be a time-sensitive issue piece, having not talked to MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte or, apparently, anyone else connected with the project.

The same problem with government interference — which Dvorak doesn’t refute, of course — exists with food as it does with more mainstream computer systems. Yes, for $100 you could feed a village — if you could get $100 worth of food past government bureaucrats (on both sides of the delivery route) and clashing warlords. In the metaphorical sense, instead of giving out fish to governments, OLPC is giving out “learn to fish” manuals directly to people (chlidren).

Because the systems have very little value to people with the ready cash to pay for them — why buy a slow laptop with no hard disk for $100 when you can get a workable, more functionally complete one for $300 through a normal retail outlet? — there is no incentive for anyone to divert or seize them. They are at once as worthless and as priceless as a well-used set of the world’s greatest books.

Dvorak is also under the impression that the point is to put “high tech” in kids’ hands. The tech is not the point; it’s a means to an end. This is a tool for connectivity and learning, which is why it can still be useful at what most people in prosperous nations would consider an insufficient level of performance. The OLPC machines are, in educational terms, a rough equivalent to teaching villages how to build infrastructure (remember that Peace Corps commercial with the water pump?); in this case, it’s educating children so they can become contributors to, and thus beneficiaries of, the global information economy.

Linux — in particular, Fedora — has been stripped, adapted, and polished, outfitted with an eye only toward educational possibilities for children. I notice that Dvorak didn’t go to the trouble to mention Microsoft’s silly attempt in cahoots with Intel to push $400 laptops on the same developing nations, with zero emphasis on furthering the educational process for children. If it’s ridiculous to put millions of $100 laptops directly in the hands of children, how ludicrous is to put millions of $400 laptops directly in the hands of third-world governments?

I’m not saying the OLPC plan is perfect, but I do think it’s a valiant attempt to save at least part of the world by thinking outside the box. To paraphrase a friend of mine, how many geniuses do you think we never hear about because they grow up in a place where they can’t make an impact? The OLPC machine is a means to cultivate genius and knowledge wherever it lies — not by forcing children to learn how to run a computer the same way everyone else does, but by making a tool they can use and adapt to trade information and form healthy ideas of cooperation and community.

Today: sneezy with increasing coughiness.

Poor Evie is feeling a little under the weather today. Thankfully she had a flu shot last month, and she has no fever or other signs of anything serious, so it’s probably just a little change-of-weather cold. I did find this on her door when I went up to her room this afternoon:

Note especially the tears of unhappiness, not depicting reality — Evie spent most of the morning happily playing with her brother and croaking orders at him like a pint-sized Lauren Bacall. Doth the artist not bare her pitiful, miserable soul?

FredLUG takes off (again)!

Last night was a reconsitution of the Fredericksburg (VA) Linux Users Group, and it was small but successful. We had a nice variety of interesting (and interested) folks there, with specialties such as investigation and forensics and Asterisk and PBX. There were several other folks who sent apologies and will probably be at the next meeting in December. (I was pleased to see a lot of Fedora awareness — a lot of folks using it!)

I prepared a short slide deck just summarizing what we know at this point and where we should be heading. Mainly, we want to get the word out that this LUG is back in business and to gather up a solid membership. We have a great talent pool in this area, since many tech folks have migrated our way to avoid the unbelievable cost of living closer to D.C. We’ll surely be able to find lots of interest through the normal venues such as computer stores and other community and user groups.

Our mailing list will be hopping for the next few days as we get some initial ideas in play. Hopefully folks will use the opportunity to get involved and make this LUG the excellent group I know it can be.

Gadget.

Doing my part to boost the number of women in technical fields… The other night, my daughter picked up a book of assembly programming I had laying on an endtable for later perusal, and started reading it. I don’t think she understood much of it, but I honestly can’t be sure. At age 5-1/2 and in kindergarten, she’s already reading sizeable novels on a Grade 3-5 level. And don’t get me started on her reading standardized test scores.

She said to me, “Daddy, when I grow up, I want to be a Linux just like you.” OK, so she hasn’t quite grasped that concept yet, but you have to admit, her heart’s in the right place. She loves using Fedora, and knows how to log in, use a keyboard and mouse, run Firefox (at a small number of pre-approved sites under watchful supervision), and use TuxPaint. She often starts up OpenOffice.org Writer to type words and simple math statements (she already knows some multiplication too).

Evie has also found her latest infatuation, my new iPod Shuffle:

Pretty soon she should be ready to try some very simple Python. Interestingly, here’s a little craft that Evie and her brother made with their babysitter while Eleya and I were out at a parent-teacher conference last week. She had them name things they for which they were thankful, and then they helped make feathers to stick on the turkey tail:

Note especially a few of the attachments: “Red Hat guy,” “Penguins.” Now that warms the cockles of a FOSS daddy’s heart!

Ignoring the little voice.

Sorry, BoingBoing, I call bullsh*t (follow this link for a better report, albeit one that misses the point). The solution in this case is simple — contact the account holder directly to confirm the amount of the check. If you receive a check that far exceeds your asking price for an auction, you know something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Call it conscience, spidey-sense, whatever, but to go ahead and try and cash a check to which your inner voice tells you, loud and clear, you’re not entitled is plain stupid.

A similar scam happened to me once in an eBay auction, where I paid a ridiculously low price for an item I wanted (in this case, a 10-DVD Oliver Stone movie collection). The seller reneged, saying there had been some nebulous problem in shipping. The seller said he would return my money, and throw in a little bit extra for my time and trouble.

A couple weeks later, I was beginning to think I should contact the eBay fraud squad, but I received a check in the mail. The problems? 1. It was from a completely different person than the seller. 2. The amount of the check far exceeded the cost of the auction I’d won. 3. Down in the corner “comment” section, the check said “Nintendo GameCube,” and a Yahoo! auction number.

Hmm.

I looked at Yahoo, and sure enough, there was an auction I’d never seen before, with my address listed for the winner to send money. I immediately called the woman listed on the face of the check and explained the situation. She was very nice, and I voided the check with her on the phone, and sent a photocopy to her along with contact information in case she needed to reach me.

I also contacted the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, but I bet you can guess exactly how far that got me. The one saving grace was that, for some odd reason, the seller had conducted the auction through an escrow house, and they refunded my money after I contacted their customer service with a minimum of fuss.

Had I cashed the woman’s check, I would have been guilty of fraud. I realized this only later, but not realizing it didn’t affect my decision making.

So the point of this story, I suppose, could be, nyah-nyah, I’m a lot smarter than Matthew Shinnick. More importantly, though, it’s that I did the right thing, and it would have been easy for him to do so. Matthew, you should have known better. Did you really believe in your heart that this scam made sense, and that you somehow deserved an extra $1400 for shipping a $600 set of bicycles? No, I suspect Matthew was one of many people who think it’s OK if you get away with it. Unfortunately, he was in way over his (apparently empty) head.

None of this, of course, changes the fact that Bank of America sucks, but this case is probably not a good bellwether for that discussion.

On the road again.

Out in Salt Lake City this week, I have a chance to catch up with some friends from work, many of whom I haven’t seen — gosh, in years. I get to bang on some Linux related stuff all day, such as writing some Python code. I use “code” very loosely here since I doubt most of my fu^H^Hhackery would pass muster for knowledgeable programmers. It has been fun, and I need the practice in any case.

I had a not-so-fun trip out, between United’s horrible flight tracking system and the uncomfortable planes. I had to rush out of the house on Monday morning because United “helpfully” informed me that my flight was delayed and that I might miss my connection. The standby was quite a bit earlier so I had to book it out of the house at top speed just to make that flight. (Unfortunately this made me forget to stuff a couple Fedora goodies in my bag for some long-time boosters. But hey, that’s what interoffice mail is for, right?)

When I got there, they told me bad news and good news — bad news, the flight was sold out and I was going to have to cool my heels at the airport for two extra hours. The good news was that my original flight was only showing up 10 minutes late, so my connection would be no problem. (In their defense, that did actually end up being correct.)

The weather in SLC has been unseasonably warm, about 65-70 F (20-22 C? estimating in my head), which has meant a lot of nice morning and evening walks. I miss my family, but I’m not getting home until late Thursday night. Fortunately I have the day off Friday, so it will be nice to unwind and relax into a three-day weekend.

Remember, remember.

No, not because of Guy Fawkes, about whom I was well aware long before V for Vendetta, but because it’s our wedding anniversary. Eleven years later and she’s still the one against whom I measure all others. You’re the greatest, E!

Since Sunday is a terrible night for an outing, we went out Friday night to a great sushi bar and steakhouse, where we found that yes, it’s possible to get great sushi in town. Great service and good food; the octopus especially was extremely tasty.

We hunted down dessert downtown at the marvelous Cafe New Orleans, which has obviously overcome the problems it had several years ago (different management?). I had the bourbon pecan pie and SuperWife the vanilla cheesecake with chocolate crumb crust, both yummy, and since they were very lightly attended when we got there, the server made us a fresh pot of coffee which was fresh-ground and delicious. We tried the bar upstairs, hoping it had moved as upscale as the downstairs restaurant, but no luck there. Perhaps the upscale crowd hadn’t made it downtown by 9:30.

In any case, a wonderful respite from the kids. We love ‘em to death but it’s nice to get a break.

Truth marches on.

True commitment to FOSS is unfakeable; anything less is unthinkable.