High Security for $100 Laptop
The One Laptop Per Child project, which proposes to give every child in the developing world a computer of his own, dazzled fans with the unveiling of its little green "$100 laptop" in November 2005. Now it's impressing hard-bitten security geeks with a plan to lock down the hundreds of millions of educational machines against spyware and computer intruders.
The laptop, officially called the XO, includes a swiveling LCD screen that can switch between low-resolution color and higher-resolution black-and-white. It also has a camera and microphone that enable clear video calls, three USB ports, 128 MB of RAM, 512 MB of flash storage, built-in Wi-Fi with extraordinary range, a long-lasting battery rechargeable by a cord or car battery, and a custom, Linux-based operating system that prefers tags to a traditional file system. Every full-grown geek who sees the 7.5-inch screen asks how they can buy one.
