technology - "computers"

alphadogg points out a story about 11-year-old Jon Penn, who took over control of a 60-computer school network in Alabama after the old administrator suddenly left. Penn provides technical support, selects software, and teaches his classmates about computers. From NetworkWorld: 'The first thing Jon found as he leapt into the role of network manager was that he had to map out the network to find out what was on it. He bought some tools for this at CompUSA and realized there was an ungodly amount of computer viruses and spam, so he pressed the school to invest in filtering and antivirus protection. 'These computers are so old they don't support all antivirus programs,' Penn says. The school took advantage of a microsoft effort called Fresh Start that offers free software upgrades for schools with donated computers, switching from windows 98 to Windows 2000.' of this story at Slashdot.

It's a conundrum that the best and brightest of the tech industry haven't yet solved: how to get computers to the 'next billion' customers in developing countries. The highest-profile effort to date, One laptop Per Child, has run into a series of setbacks.