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BOGOTA, Colombia--Like many cities in Latin America, Bogota is a study in contrasts.

At the fanciest hotels, you can find an iPod dock waiting for you in your room. At the tony R cafe, in the wealthy northern part of the city, the waiters take orders for cappuccinos with iPaq handhelds. A Sony Style store features flat-screen TVs up to 52 inches, provided you don't mind plunking down 13 million pesos (about $7,150).

But you don't have to go far to see a different side of the city. When I headed just a few blocks south of … Read more

MIAMI--In the basement of a Catholic church, a woman loudly shouts the word "three," and a chorus of seniors repeats the word several times as part of their regular English lessons. A few yards a way, a small flea market features a display of clothes and other items. But next door to the flea market is the crown jewel of the Gesu Senior Center: its computer lab.

What began last year with only a couple computers in a corner, now consists of two enclosed rooms packed with PCs. This past Friday, about thirty Spanish-speaking seniors learned how to … Read more

BOGOTA, Colombia---In the time it took me to fly here from Miami, Microsoft's patience wore out.

As you may have read by now, the company went public Saturday with a letter to Yahoo's board imposing a three-week deadline. Come to the table and negotiate a deal or prepare for a proxy fight.

Of course, this letter didn't come out in the hour and a half I was sitting on the tarmac in Miami, but rather just after the plane took off for the three and a half hour flight. Luckily, my cell phone had Internet access from … Read more

MIAMI--In two separate speeches on Friday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates made the case that businesses need to see serving the poor as part of their mission and that governments need to see private businesses as potential partners.

One of the big topics for both audiences was the notion of microfinance--improving the access to credit and banking to the poor.

"The idea of how they create loans for the poorest is part of it," he said at the Government Leaders Forum. But although today microfinance has focused on loans, there is more to it. "We need to get … Read more

MIAMI--I'm not in Latin America yet, but I've certainly gotten greater exposure to the region in the last 24 hours than I had in the 33 years prior.

Since I arrived here last night, I have met with local leaders, a former government minister, top nongovernmental leaders, and students. I've had the opportunity to hear speeches from Microsoft officials, a Brazilian mayor, and an Argentinian senator. It's all part of a Microsoft conference of Latin American politicians and non-governmental agency executives known as the Government Leaders Forum.

Among the people I caught up with were these Brazilian techies … Read more

MIAMI--You've heard of extreme makeovers and then home makeovers. Get ready for school makeovers.

Microsoft and DirecTV announced a partnership on Thursday that will see the two companies, among other things, revamping schools in Miami and Latin America and then documenting their progress in a TV show.

The effort, dubbed Piedra, Papel y Tijera (Rock, Paper and Scissors), will see a number of schools and educational centers in Latin America outfitted with the latest technology. DirecTV will film the transitions and air the documentaries throughout Latin America on channel 999. Although the focus is on Latin America, Microsoft and … Read more

Over the next two weeks, I'll be traveling to Miami and Latin America to look at both the power and limits of computing. In Miami, at Microsoft's Government Leaders Forum, I'll get to hear from politicians and technologists about the role they envision for computing in emerging markets. I'll travel to a local senior center, hear from Bill Gates, and try to hear firsthand from those working throughout Latin America to broaden access to technology.

In Brazil, I'll be seeing a country that is the world's fifth-largest PC market. It is a country with … Read more

Until a few months after Hurricane Katrina flattened it, the little Mississippi hamlet of Pearlington had never been graced with a nice, big welcome sign.

But that was before, as Pearlington was being completely ignored by every official relief agency in the Gulf region, a bunch of strangers, all of them Burning Man attendees who had formed a group called Burners without Borders, suddenly descended to help.

This was no ragtag group of 10 or 20 hopeless do-gooders showing up without a plan. This was more than 150 people, toting heavy equipment, supplies of food and water, years of experience … Read more

Wednesday has been announced by the French organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) as the first Online Free Expression Day. In recognition of its announcement, the group has initiated a 24-hour online protest going on now in nine virtual countries that have been labeled Internet enemies by the international press organization.

I stopped by the protest earlier Wednesday morning and found the demonstration to be similar to what I expected when I wrote about the event Tuesday. My primary concern with the protest was that it would be relegated to a dark corner on the Internet, and that does indeed seem to be the case (though the demonstration does provide a means to automatically e-mail friends about the event).… Read more