Design of $100 laptop for world's kids unveiled
\nCAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The $100 laptop computers that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers want to get into the hands of the world's children would be durable, flexible and self-reliant.\nThe machines' AC adapter would double as a carrying strap, and a hand crank would power them when there's no electricity. They'd be foldable like traditional notebook PCs, and carried like slim lunchboxes.\nFor outdoor reading, their display would be able to shift from full color to glare-resistant black and white.\nAnd surrounding it all, the laptops would have a rubber casing that closes tightly, because "they have to be absolutely indestructible," said Nicholas Negroponte, the MIT Media Lab leader who offered an update on the project Wednesday.\nNegroponte hatched the $100 laptop idea after seeing children in a Cambodian village benefit from having notebook computers at school that they could also tote home to use on their own.\nWithin a year, Negroponte expects his nonprofit, One Laptop Per Child, to get 5 million to 15 million of the machines in production, when children in Brazil, China, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa are due to begin getting them.\nAmong the key specs: A 500-megahertz processor (that was fast in the 1990s but slow by today's standards), flash memory instead of a hard drive and -- to save on software costs -- use of the Linux operating system instead of Windows.\nA prototype isn't expected to be shown until November.\n
Wal-Mart workers form group to air complaints
\nTAMPA, Fla. -- It's not a union, but some Wal-Mart workers say it might be the next best thing.\nSearching for a voice in their work lives, employees of some central Florida Wal-Mart stores have formed a workers group to collectively air complaints about what they claim is shoddy treatment by the retail giant.\nAbout 250 employees and former employees from 40 central Florida stores have joined the fledgling Wal-Mart Workers Association, spurred by what they say is a reduction of hours and schedule changes recently that may jeopardize health care benefits for some. Organizers say the word-of-mouth campaign is attracting 15 to 20 new members every week.\nThe members say they hope their efforts will persuade the company to listen to its people and make some changes.\nThe world's largest and most profitable retailer has heard the employees' complaints before. Stores around the United States have been accused of everything from paying lousy wages and locking workers in overnight to discriminating against women, while foiling attempts by labor groups such as the United Food and Commercial Workers Union to organize workers.
