Story by
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten
Founder & board member, TNWBoris is a serial entrepreneur who founded not only TNW, but also V3 Redirect Services (sold), HubHop Wireless Internet Provider (sold), and Boris is a serial entrepreneur who founded not only TNW, but also V3 Redirect Services (sold), HubHop Wireless Internet Provider (sold), and pr.co. Boris is very active on Twitter as @Boris and Instagram: @Boris.
A few months ago, during ROFLcon 08, an uncorporation called breadpig got together with OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) and persuaded almost every speaker to sign a brand new OLPC. Then they put the item on eBay and promised to donate 100% of the profits from the auction to OLPC.
As you might know the OLPC foundation aims to put these cute little green laptops in the hands of children all across the developing world. The list of people who signed the laptop is impressive:
Jay Maynard, Tron Guy, Kyle Macdonald, Paperclip to House Guy, Martin Grondin, LOLCat Bible, Ryan North, Dinosaur Comics, The Brothers Chaps, Homestar Runner, Ryan and Arija, LOLSecretz, Stephen Granades, LOLTrek, David Lloyd, OCRemix, Randall Munroe, Xkcd, Adam Lindsay, LOLCode, Drew Curtis, Fark.com, Rob, Kris, Matt, and Dave, Cyanide and Happiness/Explosm.net , Matt Harding, Where the Hell is Matt?, moot, 4chan , Ian Spector, Chuck Norris Facts , Joe Mathlete, Marmaduke Explained, Brad Neely, Creased Comics and Super Deluxe, “Cheezburger,” I Can Haz Cheezburger, Matt Haughey, MetaFilter, Joe Peacock, Mentally Incontinent, Justine Ezarik, iJustine/300-page iPhone Bill, Leeroy Jenkins, Andy Ochiltree, JibJab , Christian Lander, Stuff White People Like, Alex Tew, The Million Dollar Homepage, Brooke Brodack , The Firefox.
I bid a few hundred dollars during the auction and then forgot about the whole thing. Until it turned out I actually won! Today the laptop finally arrived and now I am the proud owner of a piece of internet history.
Here is a video by Scott Beale from LaughingSquid (who also signed the XO Laptop) showing the whole signing process:
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