Sweet charity; You'll feel good, they'll feel good and the mall won't miss you one bit Final Edition

• Published in: Calgary herald
• Main Author: Chris Bowerman, Shelley Arnusch, Jacquie Moore, Jaelyn Molyneux, Danae Thompson
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Calgary, Alta Postmedia Network Inc 14.12.2007
• ISSN: 0828-1815

Getting my vote as the greatest invention in human history--just ahead of the Foreman Grill and Labradoodles--is the XO laptop. Developed for the non-profit One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation, the XO is an ultra-functional, low-cost computer intended to empower "two billion educationally underserved" kids in developing countries. Okay, so it takes two minutes to start up, there's only 1 Gbyte of storage and it can't run Mac/Windows apps. It's still a technological marvel--compact and rugged, the XO was designed specifically for hot, humid, dirty, remote places. It has mesh networking (program sharing via one-click connection to other laptops in the area) and built-in programs (a word processor, Web browser, PDF textbook reader, etc.). Fanless, its silent operation is powered by low-heat, lithium ferro-phosphate batteries, which provide four times the charging power of a regular laptop; a pull cord, solar panel and hand crank can charge the battery for 12 hours. With built-in Wi-Fi antenna, microphone, camera, speakers, game controller, split trackpad (which doubles as a writing tablet), headphone and mic jacks, USB and SD memory ports, the only thing the XO doesn't do is grill meat or hump your leg.