Whatever you think about Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child from the policy and practicality perspectives, you can't help but applaud what the project is doing on the technical side. The new issue of Technology Review has a fascinating article on the computer, and its innovative and envelope-pushing technology.

Some of the elements that excite me include the capacity to pool a number of the laptops to create a VoIP phone system; the high-resolution LED-illuminated screen able accurately to replicate the delicate curves of language scripts which require it, such as Arabic; and the alternative power sources under development for it. Take a look.

I sense the law of unintended consequences at work here; Negroponte may not achieve what he has set out to do - that is in the hands of a lot of external actors, but he may well set off another revolution in the computer industry.

In its excellent “Have Your Say” section of the site, BBC News recently wrapped up an open debate on the prospects of Africa’s enterprising youth and the obstacles that may prevent them from realizing their full creative and productive potential. The primarily African respondents had some fascinating insights, and aside from the few that criticized a lack of initiative on the part of young people in the region, most hammered at governmental issues including corruption, bureaucratic hassles and a lack of social programs.

One Zambian contributor had this to say:

An important event is coming up for investors interested in the booming, capital-hungry markets of India, China, South Africa and other emerging economies: The Emerging Markets Private Equity Association is hosting its annual forum in London November 30th through December 1st.

We’ve discussed the World Bank’s Doing Business report previously on this blog, and now the WB has made it so you can continue the conversation on their website. Check here for a link to the Doing Business discussion forum, open to thoughts and analysis from the general public.

There is plenty of good conversation fodder here- for one, the report finds, unsurprisingly, that the least amount of reforms were made by governments in the areas of labor laws and that 85% of reforms happen in the first 15 months of a new government. No big shock that business reforms are highly political, and that voters might take issue with their government making it easier for them to be fired or paid a low wage.