I heard about One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) last week and it's doing good in quite an interesting tech-saavy way. This organisation aims to have one laptop per child:
To create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.People can help out by paying for a laptop, being a translator, providing tech support to kids/adults, or even helping to develop software (games, tools, programs)! Very cool : )
It also seems that people can help by testing the laptops to make sure they run ok before they're given away (someone had mentioned it to us). There's workshops in Wellington doing this, so it must be quite widespread round the world?
Ok, it starts! We're now officially on the look out for the cutest coolest kids as models for our Plunket t-shirt collection 2009.
You can find more info about the search at our Models section. Applications can be done online or posted via snail mail, and close 19 December 2008.
Please let your friends know if you think they'd be keen and their kids have got what it takes : )
The thought did pass through my mind briefly that it would be fun to get my toddler involved - but that wouldn't be fair for you out there! And her daddy wants her out of the business spotlight and as anonymous as possible. So, ok, alright, she has every right to privacy at the age of 16 months! : )
The mailout we did overnight announcing the newsflash is also the first time we're using a proper high-tech mailing program too so hopefully more of you will get our emails successfully. (Aha! they had better do as I stayed up all night trying to figure it out & get everything set up!)
Our email address has already started to be blacklisted by Xtra NZ and Yahoo because we used to send our news email updates individually (would you believe it?). They don't like it!
So, a little reminder that if you like getting emails from us (including order confirmations!), please add us to your email address book in your email program or Gmail/Hotmail/Yahoo etc. In theory, the emails will then get through (or so they tell me!).
Found out about this great way of supporting a cause using mobile phone technology - texts/SMSs - and all homegrown here in Wellington, New Zealand!
A group of young entrepreneurs is using mobile phone technology to address world poverty issues.Click here to read more....or just go check out their website at www.schmalltxt.com
The win-win situation sees mobile users receiving promotional text messages, relevant to their fields of interest, in exchange for ‘credit’, that can either be used to top-up their mobile phone account or support World Vision education projects.
It’s part of a service called SchmallTxt, provided by Small Change Enterprises. Five Wellington College students established the business, as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), with a good deal of initiative and a heart for the poor.
The tech-savvy students understood that many traditional advertising mediums, such as flyers and print ads, are rarely read by young people. By using mobile phone text messages as an advertising medium and tailoring the messages they send, advertisers receive a better response rate.
With the incentive of ten cents credit from each message received to use as airtime or as a donation to World Vision’s education projects, new customers have not been difficult to come by. Happily, one third of new customers have chosen to donate their credit to World Vision.