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Venezuela Purchases a Million Intel Classmates
An anonymous reader submits news of the million-laptop order from Venezuela of Intel's version of the kid-friendly laptop. The computers are produced in Portugal. "The machines, rebranded 'Magellan,' will also come with Linux pre-installed as opposed to Windows XP. This order alone is 50% bigger than the entire OLPC project has managed to sell worldwide."
But despite the quotemarks, this is NOT in TFA. No mention of Linux, or the name "Magellan". Hopefully the anonymous submitter didn't just make it up, it would be nice the source was cited. We all know how carefully Slashdot is in vetting its articles, after all, so I'm sure it's all verifiable.
And guess who is to blame for OLPC failing to gain much traction? http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4472654.ece Yes, Intel mostly. Can't allow there to be so many AMD chips out there...
Even though TFA doesn't mention it, it's true that the computer being sold is called Magellan. It's basically a rename of Intel Classmate, with 1/3 of it being produced in Portugal. It was launched a few days ago over here (Portugal). The computer is being given (almost free) to kids in the 5th grade, and sold to the public for ~285 euros. Imo, it's just sad to see what I believe is a waste of public funds! First, the government is pouring cash into Intel's pocket for a sub-product, when it could've allied itself with the OLPC. Second, they think that by throwing fishing sticks at people, they'll learn how to fish. The computers will most likely be used for IM (MSN), social network (hi5) and warez. As for this deal with Venezuela, Chavez and Socrates (portuguese prime minister) are having some deals, and this is just another one. Portugal also has a huge community in Venezuela (around 1 million iirc).
"The Bell Curve"? Are you fucking kidding me? Where do you get your reading list, the Josef Mengele Book Club?
Godwin's law in action: if you can't beat 'em, call them fascists.
The Bell Curve is still widely regarded as the definitive tome on an unpopular but valid scientific pursuit. Why are you trying to censor science for your personal preferences of what you think reality should be? What are you afraid of?
It's the new Scopes trial: can you accept thinkers like Pinker or Herrnstein/Murray, or must we find some way to shut science out of the debate?
Anti-Globalism, Traditionalism, and FreeBSD.
I'm not sure what country you are hailing from but it is IUD. Intra-uterine device.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
> The machines, rebranded 'Magellan,' will also come with Linux
I tracked down an attribution - with pictures of the device
"This is effectively a second-generation Classmate PC, and integrates a Celeron ULV part and uses Linux, although down the line it is expected to migrate to a fully Atom-based system with a "lighter version of Windows" (whatever that is)."
The Portuguese have also bought 500,000 of the same devices.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
As someone who has relatives in Venezuela, and who has been there before and after the Chavez regime. He is hardly a good leader. Crowd control with rubber bullets and Cuban interregators for those who choose to protest, again that makes a good leader? I was born in the US but have lived in several south american countries. I hold citizen ship in Colombia and Panama due to family ties. Venezuela is much worse for the wear than it was 10 years ago. Chavez funds Farc in Colombia, and as someone who has been on his knees, assault rifle at his head, explaing why he spoke spanish with an american accent, I cannot say anything good about the man, or his peers. Colombia is taking a stand against the guerillas, they are bringing themselves up, and Chavez does not want to have his people see prosperity in democracy when it is right next door. Go to both countries, and tell who is better off.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
I am portuguese. My daughter already has one of this, since she goes to the school where our prime-minister "delivered" the first computers. I would like to say this: I am _very_ impressed by this tiny thing. Granted, Caixa Magica distro sucks big time (its an ugly, unpolished piece of crap). Granted, the only option is in fact to use XP with it. But the XP installation comes loaded with educational apps, and defaults to an "alternative" desktop suited for small kids (lots of colour, a wizard and all).
But, the computer isn't ugly, isn't heavy, and in reality is assembled in Portugal. It has a reasonable spec for the cost - including webcam, 30Gb HDD, 1024x600 display (rather nice actually, very readable), wi-fi, cable net and 2 USB 2.0 ports. I am very glad that my daughter has one (even though it will cost me 50 â).
As far as Caixa Magica, well I guess one could wipe it from the disk and replace it with (insert favorite distro). I know I will.
I think this is a visionary move. Sure, too bad about the operating system. Who cares? My daughter has been using my Ubuntu laptop since she was 4, and she is able to jump between both operating systems with ease - she actually doesn't care what OS is in the machine. I told her "look, this one is linux, and that one is windows, so some things are different, you may need some help finding your way around". Her reply was "don't worry dad, if I have any trouble I will ask for your help".
Still hasn't.
I think he sounds stark raving mad. I had no idea national leaders could be like that
You must not have seen a national leader before. Most of them are like that.
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