Sic Transit Gloria Laptopi

If you're only going to read one thing about OLPC this week then it should be Ivan Krstić's 'last OLPC-related essay for the foreseeable future'. This is definitely a well-recommended read for a good insight into some of the ongoing discussions and their background. A job well done Ivan!

This is why I love where I live...

So picture this: I came home at around 9 p.m. after a long and productive day at work and a nice but too short coffee meetup with a friend of mine. Two of my neighbors (one from the United States, one from Russia) were sitting on the porch behind the house and less than a minute after I sat down the question of whether anyone was up for a drink arose. Needless to say everyone was thirsty so for the next 3 hours we enjoyed a great mixture of homemade fruit juice and cheap vodka (thanks B.). All while talking about life, goals in life, sacrifices we make in our lives, discussing the differences between the educational systems in Europe, the USA and Russia before having a heated argument about statistics, their meaning and interpretations. Needless to say a good night was had by all!

And now while I'm walking down to the kitchen to grab some water, one of my new housemates - a guy from France who moved in last week but who I only met yesterday evening as I really hadn't been home before - looks at my AFS (the organization with which I went to Peru in 2000-2001) t-shirt and asks me whether I've participated in one of their programs. As it turns out he spent a year in New Jersey from 1998 to 1999.

It's evenings like this that show why I love where I live... :-)