[linux-elitists] NYLXS Press Release on the OLPC Project

[Modus Operandi]

In the immortal words of James Morris <jmorris@namei.org>:
> What I wouldn't give for a Lombardi's pizza right now.  Is it the water, 
> the coal-fired oven, the attitude ?  It's simply impossible to replicate 
> anywhere else.  Same with bagels.  They tried shipping New York water to 
> Boston to see if it was actually the water -- turns out it wasn't, alone, 
> at least.
> 
> Similarly, you can have all of the elements of a press release: the ideas, 
> the framing and the emotional hooks.  But if you don't have a coal fired 
> oven AND the right water, AND the cockroach eggs in the flour, AND, well, 
> an actual pizza chef, it might not turn out exactly like a real press 
> release.

  The pizza is over here:

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/24/olpc_windows_bender/

  I can't fault Ruben's enthusiasm. He clearly feels passionate about
  this issue. Unfortunately, his press release includes material which is 
  irrelevant at best and detracts from his message. In particular, I would 
  caution against using Ayaan Hirsi-Ali's passage on the sexual excitement 
  of trashy romance novels to explain the OLPC project's goals of bringing 
  literacy to youngsters in impoverished nations. It sounds a bit unsavory.
  
  I mean, sexual literacy is important, but it is somewhat orthogonal to
  the goals of the OLPC project. If you sent that press release to the 
  mainstream media, they'd probably find a way to twist it around:
  "Microsoft Endorses Pedophile Operating System" or something. This is
  fine, if your goal is to have OLPC smeared on Fox News.

  Ruben: the first three paragraphs are good. It's OK to mention the
  effect that the printing press had on the development of mathematics, 
  but don't get bogged down in the details. (The link is there, if people
  want to read a tangentially related article.) Paraphrase that in a few
  seconds, and then move on and wrap it up. The whole point is about
  proprietary software reinforcing notions of opaque creativity, whereas
  the original XO / Sugar laptop OS was open to the core. Don't stray
  too far from that center or you'll lose your audience.

  Finally, keep it short.

  Ciao.

-- 
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Mon Apr 28 13:31:03 EDT 2008
The Moon is Waning Crescent (49% of Full)