RESOURCES FOR COLONIZATION:
I played the "Settlers of Catan" game. One interesting aspect was that you had to collect enough resources to build roads (technology) and establish settlements (colonization). So, if you were to colonize something, you need enough resources to do so.

CASHING IN RESOURCES:
Another thing was that in the game if you had 4 cards of any resource, you had the option of trading them in for 1 card of another resource (cashing them in to the dealer/"god", not another player). So, I could trade my 4 cards of grain for 1 card of ore. In our World Simulation, maybe we can trade a certain amount of resources for Hard Power cards? Or vice versa?

HARD POWER SUB-CATEOGRIES:
Wolf's break-down of different types of power and Lynndee's idea of natural disasters got me thinking of the post-effects of war disasters. Specifically Nuclear War. I've been to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki and am familiar with the drastic effects of this technology.

So, what if the "Hard Power" had some break downs on types of power. And then certain kinds of Hard Power have prolonged effects. For example, if you use "Nuclear Hard Power" of "Chemical Hard Power", then you have high numbers on the cards, plus you have the effects of diseases (coryclem84's idea).

CIVIL STRIFE:
What if some countries had certain levels of Civil Strife. So, they would be unstable coutries where the goals fo the coutry could drastically change (threat from within). This could be regulated with rolling dice at certain times (ie- before every decision, every 5 minutes, etc.). So, take like 3 dice with an outcome of 18 total, and then your country had a 35% possibility of being overrun by a coup; so if you roll 13 or more, your country is now reformed under new rules.

Along with cheitman's mention of slaves, maybe your possibility of civil unrest increases when you take on slaves (or controversial methods); so it becomes closer to 50/50.

Also,

MORAL FACTOR:
Also, just wanted to add, that we could also have a "moral factor" to measure scrupulousness. So, whenever a country decided to make certain decisions that are controversial (like war, genocide, etc.), they have to pass their moral factor rating to do it. So, like a boyscout might be 22/24 (so would have to roll the dice to get 22-24 in order to kill someone), versus Hitler who would be more like 2/24. This would prevent peopel from committing genocide on a whim. Maybe they could re-roll after a period of time?

This argues that both the olpc and the mobile phone are good solutions; not just one.

Cellphone versus the OLPC again.

I think this is one of the frist articles in 2005 of the olpc.  It talks of MIT unveiling it and has some pictures of the prototype which is different from today's version.

Antoehr article on novatium versus olpc.

Novatium's website; the competition of olpc.

Good article on the olpc competition of Novatium.

Good article on the olpc competition of Novatium.

Small article on phone vs olpc.  But good replies and mention of India's Novatium as a competition to OLPC.

Some comparisons of using cellphones instead of the OLPC.

Bill gates joins in the discussion of using cellphones versus laptops.

Another article on Intel vs. OLPC.  Nice cartoon drawing.

Articl eon the debate of Intel versus OLPC.

A Forum discussion on the Intel ClassmatePC versus the OLPC.

OLPC NEWs.  Although I think it's more of a link gathering site for OLPC rather than anything official.

OLPC News Blog.

Interview wit Intel's Principal Architect Frank Welch about the Classmate PC (Intel).

Pepper Pad on CBS News The Saturday Early Show.

A look at the PepperPad and quick look at the OLPC at CES.  The PepperPad can be a replacement for the OLPC.

Intel Classmate PC pilot at Govt. Junior Secondary School in Jabi-Abuja, Nigeria.  This is the competition on the OLPC.