Each time I see/hear Nicholas Negroponte or see OLPC project in action (last episode of Entourage) – I feel existed about this amazing project.

Here are few things that you (yes – you!) as a developer can do in order to help this great effort:

• Buy one. Ahh… buy at least 2 – so you could give one for a child and save her life and the other so you could develop software and test it for real.
• Become a translator – OLPC currently deploys in 19 local languages, and the OLPC translation community is working on over 90 more.
• Provide support – Sometimes kids and adults need a little extra help with their laptop. They want to know how to install a new program, or fix a problem. We have a very dedicated team of volunteers that assist users with problems. Not much technical experience is necessary.
• Develop software – New games and programs are always needed. If you would like to help develop software for the XO, see the Developer’s Resources.

Here is a very good/short video that explain the mission.

He is America’s first ever appointed CTO, Aneesh Paul Chopra.

What the ‘chief’ CTO of the USA has to say on this role, focus and life:

Few points I’ve took:

• “… If Google, Microsoft and other can use the cloud – why the government can NOT do so?”
• “…I’ve try to search information in our government site… I could find nothing. Then Google came with their enterprise search solutions…”

It would be interesting to see how much gov2.0 he could push forward and open.

1. Are you getting an extra 40% discretionary effort from your People — a critical competitive edge?
2. Can you state your Strategy in a sentence — and is it a viable strategy driving revenue that utilizes your inside advantage?
3. Are you spending too much time and getting too little results from your Execution habits i.e. are your profits three times industry average with little effort?
4. Is your business generating loads of Cash to fuel your growth and fund opportunities?

Each leader in a start up company (and/or big company) should answer these questions and if you don’t like the answers – it’s time to take some decisions.