Says here in Computerworld that the OLPC folks are working on a cow-powered laptop. They’re going to put the cows on treadmills or Stairmasters or something and make them produce electricity. As you can see in the photo at right, the lazy ass cows are definitely not digging this idea. Money quote: “We plan to drive a dynamo (taken from an old Fiat) through a system of belts and pulleys using cows/cattle,” wrote OLPC’s Arjun Sarwal. … The goal is to develop a low-cost energy source that can be used in Indian villages. Working in a village close to Mumbai, Sarwal said the group considered using solar energy but sunlight near Mumbai was not “consistently strong.” There was not enough wind or running water nearby to use these as sources of power, and the cost of running a gas-powered motor was too high. “But the village had an abundance of cattle that were being used in the fields. So we decided to design something around that.”

Is this a hoax? Some prank pulled by one of these idiotic fake blogs? If not, will PETA step in to protest? Will Negroponte get into trouble for turning cows into slave laborers for his mad science project? And please, no jokes about the whole OLPC project being run on bullshit. Too easy. Bokay? Much love to Kevin for the tip. Namaste.