Richard Technology Class

HOMEWORK SESSION 6: RICHARD V.

For The Good Of The Children

The XO Initiative is an innovative means to give developing nations an opportunity to introduce, train, and give confidence to their children population about technology and the computer. The XO-1, also known as the “$100 Laptop” is inexpensive and convenient means for children to be given to very important things: access to technology, access to knowledge, and access to explore and express themselves outside of the confines of their poverty and disadvantaged backgrounds. Access to a new world and a new perspective on life is a compassionate humanistic endeavor and a potential living reality that is for the good of the children.
Moreover, some additional benefits of the XO Initiative include the following reasons. First, the children would be able to own the laptop themselves. Ownership is a source of pride and responsibility for the children. These children live in very poor conditions and ownership of a piece of technology can give encouragement and motivation to the kids to advance in their education and career endeavors. Secondly, the hardware and software is designed for elementary school ages from 6-12 which means that very young kids can learn to use the laptop. This implies that the laptop is very user friendly and can be learned by children who have not had extensive exposure to technology. Thirdly, the laptop has wireless connection which would allow the children access to Internet at school. The Internet can be an invaluable tool for the children to advance in their education, open up avenues of information and knowledge, and gain experience in using the Internet to see the world with a completely different set of lens than the ones that they are living in. Fourthly, a competency in utilizing the computer and the Internet could lead to potential job opportunities besides unemployment or the low-collar jobs which many of these impoverished children are destined to experience and accept. Fifthly, a working knowledge of using the computer could open up opportunities for higher education for these children.
Indeed, the laptop is well designed. It is constructed to be low powered and rugged, using flash memory instead of a hard drive. It comes installed with 802.11s wireless mesh network to enable students to share Internet access from one connection. The laptops run on Linux operating system and the Sugar user interface. However, recently in May 2008, Microsoft signed on with the XO Initiative and will make Windows XP available for an additional cost of $10 per laptop. The XO Initiative is an advantageous program and invaluable tool to advance the education, resources, and technological access for poor and developing children all over the world. The revolution in technology for the future is computers and no child should be left behind in the dark ages.






HOMEWORK SESSION 7: RICHARD V.

Favorite Website

There are several websites that I truly enjoy visiting. However, due to time constraints, I am unable to visit multiple websites during the short time I can surf for leisure on the Internet. What I am looking for, therefore, is a website that can enable me to do more than one thing, a multi-functional website. I like www.google.com a lot and it is my most favorite search engines. However, one of my overall favorite website is www.yahoo.com.
First, I go there for email, a convenient feature on the main page. Yahoo’s email system is very efficient for me. It provides all the basic features of email. I do not need any bells or whistles. It does not have the featured contacts on the left side that www.gmail.com has so when I am doing email, I feel a sense of privacy that all of my email acquaintances do not know when I am online since Gmail allows your contacts to chat with you inside the email when they see you are “on.” Often, I simply do not have time to chat inside Gmail and feel uncomfortable telling a friend I cannot talk and have to go. Yahoo’s email is probably less sophisticated and high tech, but somehow I like it this way. I also like yahoo’s attachment features to attach documents better than Gmail. Gmail’s attachment feature has multiple features and views to download that seem to complicate the endeavor to simply email a document.
Secondly, one of the things I enjoy the most on the Yahoo main page is the breaking news it offers. There is the “Featured News” section that I almost always look at. Then there is the regular “News” section, the “World News” section, and the “Local News” section. I probably read the local news the least since I am less interested about the local news. I like to read the news when I have time, although this summer I have not had much of an opportunity to do so because of my schedule. I especially like any news related to health or medical issues. Thirdly, I use like to use Yahoo’s map feature. I can get the map and directions from the starting destination to the final destination very easily. I prefer Yahoo’s mapping option to MapQuest. Again, the ability to simply go to the left column and get the directions to anywhere I need to go as well as visit my email and read the news are great features for me. Finally, Yahoo has a strong search engine capability which I utilize to find a myriad of answers to and research for endeavors regarding school, work, and personal interests. Overall, the Yahoo website helps me to consolidate my time and enables me to access several Internet surfing features that I need to in a short period of time.