Today was ease out day before the start of my vacation tomorrow. Possessed by the spirit of Martha, I gave out candy canes at my team lunch and at the management meeting.

But the highlight of the day was Dr. John Maeda's visit. Besides getting a lab update and talking about business, John pulled out the OLPC Children's Machine XO (a.k.a the $100 Laptop) that was recently given to him. I had a couple minutes with it as it was passed around the conference table. It's actually heavier than the mockups I've held before. The dual mode screen was lacking in contrast, but perhaps the device was in a power-saving mode. I managed to take a few closeup photos. It's really only been a few months since we had the wooden model in our offices--quite an achievement to today's working device.

After work, we retrieved our holiday girl from daycare. She's pictured here holding the program guide from her class field trip to the White House. No, Dubya wasn't home.

- mike lee - washington, dc