31 January 2006

TED's got the look

Tedtable I could lose my blogging privileges for this, but I felt like someone had to point out TED's Headquarters brightening up the pages of this week's New York Magazine. Being that the one-year mark has long since past, it seems our "global new-media migrant" has finally found a home in NYC...

31 January 2006

Einstein and Mozart

Many of you have no doubt read Godel Escher Bach, the brilliant and entertaining treatise by Douglas Hofstadter, drawing connections between the work of the legendary mathematician, artist and musician. In today's New York Times, a compelling — though admittedly less sweeping — essay by Arthur I. Miller explores the connections between Einstein and Mozart.

Einstein, Miller explains, was deeply inspired by Mozart's music, and sensed an affinity between their work. Mozart's music "was so pure that it seemed to have been ever-present in the universe, waiting to be discovered by the master," Einstein once said. And he held similar views of his own work in physics, which revealed the "pre-established harmony" of the cosmos.

The link between physics and music may seem abstract at first. But TED has always been about making — and encouraging — such non-obvious connections. With any luck, Lisa Randall will draw such inspiration from the extraordinary musicians in Monterey next month ...

27 January 2006

TED Guest Bloggers: David Hornik, Diego Rodriguez

As many of you have noticed, there are some new voices on the TEDBlog. Over the months to come, Chris and I will share this space with guest bloggers from the TED community, whose perspective and style we think you'll enjoy. Starting us off is David Hornik, a contributor since December, who brought you such delightful finds as Don't Put the Octopus in with your Sharks, and The Proper Way to Fold A Shirt — as well as more analytical entries. David is a partner with August Capital, and founder of VentureBlog. With his broad interests and boundless energy, he also may win the award for Most Prolific Source of Ted Speaker Ideas.

Our newest guest blogger, Diego Rodriguez, joined us this week with If Sundance had a long tail, and a promise of more posts to come. Diego spends his days at IDEO and also teaches at Stanford's d.school. Like many of you, we're fans of his blog metacool, and his column for BusinessWeek Online.

Welcome, David and Diego! We're so glad to have you —

26 January 2006

Photoshop Fraud: It isn't just for tabloids anymore

Fake At TEDGlobal, UK artist Alison Jackson raised eyebrows with her brilliant faked celebrity photographs — the Queen in bed with her corgis, Diana and Dodi with a baby they never had — pictures so disturbingly realistic they could fool fans and family alike. Jackson's images are manipulated the old-fashioned way (they're staged with celebrity doubles) but they raised again that digital-era question: In the age of Photoshop, can you believe your eyes?

The issue goes beyond the tabloids. Following last month's revelation that Korean researcher Dr. Hwang Woo Suk faked evidence of cloning human stem cells, scientific journals are also standing guard against digitally manipulated images. In fact, The Journal of Cell Biology has put in place a systematic method of analyzing digital files, so they can smoke out traces of Photoshop forgery. This New York Times piece examines the methods of manipulation (Can't clone cells? Just use the "clone stamp" tool!) and the fancy footwork needed to detect the deception.

25 January 2006

The Sound Of Movies

Birdy To continue on the movie-themed posts, I have always been enthralled by the powerful impact of sound and music in film. While a student at Stanford I took a great class entitled "The Physics of Music" which would have more appropriately been entitled "Really Cool Field Trips in Music." We visited Dolby Labs, Meyer Sound, the local Imax Theater, but the raison d'etre for taking the class was the trip to Skywalker Ranch to hear Ben Burtt speak. Ben Burtt is a 4 time Academy Award winner for sound design (Star Wars, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). He is the guy who created the light saber sound by smashing on the guy wire of an antenna tower. He created the bleeps of R2D2, the ambient noises of the Cantina, the breathing of Dearth Vader, and any other sound you heard in every one of the Star Wars movies.

As I sat in the temple of movie sound -- the main theater in Skywalker Ranch -- the thing that truly brought home for me the power of well-utilized sound and music in film was a simple demonstration Burtt did for us. He played a short scene from Star Wars, first with all the sound and music in place, then stripped away the score, and then the sound effects, finally leaving just the footage with the raw sound captured at filming. The difference was startling. Each sound element added a powerful set of cues that helped drive the emotion and overall impact of the scene.

Since that lecture I have often times found myself listening to a movie as much as I watch it. I was reminded of that incredible college experience last year at TED when James Horner spoke. As Horner deconstructed the famous scene from Titanic for which he won an Academy Award, I could hear Ben Burtt stressing the same things about emotion and emphasis. With any luck I will get a chance this year at TED to talk with Peter Gabriel about his incredible score to the film Birdy and see what further insights he has to share.

24 January 2006

If Sundance had a long tail

When it comes to indie films, there's Sundance, and then there's channel101.

Thumb_001387_1 Billing itself as "The Unavoidable Future of Entertainment," channel101 is an example of what happens when the long tail meets a disruptive business model. Given that "good enough" video can be created these days for a few thousand bucks, anyone can make a decent film, post it to the web, and then watch as real humans vote to move it up the long tail, or slide it off the right side into oblivion. It's a glorious way to run quick experiments which provide real feedback as to what works and what doesn't. Think of it as a on-the-market sandbox for prototyping new approaches to storytelling. As the 101 site says:

Channel 101 is where the rubber meets the road. The deadlines are unreasonable, the time limit is impossible, the pay is non existent and the judgment is blunt... Channel 101 is where you learn three things: How to fail, how to succeed, and finally, how there is no difference between the two.

As any Sundance veteran knows, there's some gold in them there hills. A clear winner is Yacht Rock, which weaves together Van Halen and Michael Jackson in ways you never imagined (or wanted to imagine). Could the creators of Yacht Rock have made their way through a more traditional path to market as exemplified by Sundance? Perhaps. But as I listen to the amazing array of speakers next month in Monterey, I'll keep asking myself "Where could we go,and what would we come up with, if we channel101-ed this thing?"

24 January 2006

Your Own Private Sundance

Gopher So a trip to Park City wasn't in the cards this year? No need to feel left out in the cold. You can watch your own private Sundance as the festival unfolds in Utah. For the first time, 50 shorts are available online (courtesy of Adobe and Flash video), with new premieres daily. As always, the range of entries thrills, from the exuberant energy of Gopher Broke (Perfect for a 4-minute coffee-break) to the erotic melancholy of You Turned Your Back and Held My Hand (not recommended for cubicle viewing).The must-see short? Robin's First Date, a brilliant bite-size comedy in which Batman muscles in on the Boy Wonder's night out.

23 January 2006

And the award for Best Headline goes to ...

... Wired News. For We're Pigs in Space, Too, an article on the 9,000+ pieces of junk littering the atmosphere, thanks largely to the U.S. and Russian space programs.

(Didn't live in the U.S. in the 70s? That's a Muppet Show reference. See: Recurring Skits)

19 January 2006

TED2007: Icons. Geniuses. Mavericks.

This evening we unveiled the theme for next year's TED, and we're viewing it internally as our most ambitious so far.

The p Marilyn ast few TEDs have eac Einstein Vangogh h had a broad content theme:"The Pursuit of Happiness", "Inspired by Nature", "The Future We Will Create."

TED2007 will be different. Instead of a subject-matter theme, we are simply going to put on stage FIFTY REMARKABLE PEOPLE... ...and let them share whatever it is they are passionate about.

This, of course, is what TED has always been about. Bring together extraordinary people from every area of thought, work and culture, and lo and behold, astonishing connections are made, excitement and inspiration follow.

You can read more about the vision here... and we just opened Main Hall registration (which I guess is likely to sell out within a month based on what happened last year).

The line-up coming together is awesome, but not yet complete. If you have access to someone who fits at least two of the theme's labels, please email kelly@ted.com. (Er, offering to channel dead people doesn't count.) Everyone whose suggestion is accepted becomes an official TED Hero...

TED2007 will be in Monterey from March 7-10, 2007 and costs $4400, same as this year.

19 January 2006

Designing a living machine

Craigventersmall At TED2005 and TEDGlobal, genomics pioneer Craig Venter mentioned — casually, as always — his desire to create a fully synthetic lifeform, preferably one that will serve society's greater needs. Venter's work is singularly ambitious, but he's not the only one with his eyes on that prize. The idea of designing living machines (albeit ones on a very small scale) has captured the imagination of scientists worldwide. "We want to do for biology what Intel does for electronics," Harvard professor George Church told The New York Times this week. "We want to design and manufacture complicated biological circuitry."

It's still early days, but there have been successes. By stringing together specific chunks of DNA, "synthetic biologists" (as they're now called) have engineered bacteria to perform simple tasks, like changing color or illuminating under certain circumstances. The aspirations, of course, are far greater: from helping human cells self-police against cancer to creating a microbe that produces hydrogen for use as fuel. And that's just phase one. For a more complete briefing, the Times piece (Custom-Made Microbes at Your Service) offers an excellent overview. You can expect much more at TED2006 ...

18 January 2006

"Hey, friend, can I try out that watch?"

Unintended consequences dept:

Is this new anti-malaria watch an incredibly cool idea...

-- or a dangerous new way of spreading HIV?

18 January 2006

Jill! Susheela! Rachelle! On stage in New York

Susheelajillrachelle_1

Some of the most memorable moments at any given TED come from the hand-picked performers, who often make us feel we've unearthed a rare gem. We had that rush of discovery all over again when we learned three powerful chanteuses of TEDs past will appear next week at New York's Joe's Pub. On Monday, Susheela Raman (center), whose hypnotic voice and Indian-infused sound astounded at TEDGlobal; on Thursday, Rachelle Garniez (right) whose accordian-based, retro-jazz story songs drew us in at TED2004; and with shows Wednesday and Thursday, Jill Sobule (left), the irresistible belle of the ball at several TEDs running. Perhaps we'll see you there ...

17 January 2006

A "Slow Design" movement?

Newyorker At TEDGlobal, Carl Honore explained the motivation behind his book, In Praise of Slowness: While reading his son a "One-Minute Bedtime Story," he suddenly saw the lunacy in his speed-obsessed life, and set out to explore the alternative: a worldwide slow movement that offered a different approach to eating, living, and being with each other.

Those of you who design (And redesign. And redesign.) for a living may appreciate, then, this essay that brings Honore's concepts even closer to home. Writing in the influential blog, Design Observer, Pentagram Design partner Michael Bierut makes the case for Slow Design, using The New Yorker as a strong case in point. The New Yorker, he notes, first added a Table of Contents in 1969. Photographs were introduced in 1992. Today's covers are virtually indistinguishable from those published 80 years ago. (In fact, the very first cover, shown here, has been reprinted on nearly every anniversary issue since.) The magazine's resistance to trends in publication design is nothing short of radical. As Bierut wrily notes: "Designers are used to lecturing timid clients that change requires bravery. But after a certain point — 80 years? — not changing begins to seem like the bravest thing of all."

16 January 2006

Martin Luther King's Iconic speech

Martinlutherking

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. ... I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1963

A fine day to watch again this extraordinary 10-minute speech.

12 January 2006

Google Earth Released for the Mac

Googleearth At long last, Google Earth — which has been demoed at several TEDs in different contexts — has been released for the Mac. TEDsters got an early glimpse of Google Earth at TED2002 when Dan Dubno gave a fly-through of its previous incarnation, Keyhole. And Domus editor Stefano Boeri used Google Earth to explore the future of architecture at TEDGlobal. The PC version has been available (in beta) since May. Now, finally, Mac-using TEDsters can share the eery exhileration of zooming in from outer space to the corner store.

11 January 2006

Noah Feldman on politics and presidential power

Noah_feldman At TED2003, NYU Professor Noah Feldman was fresh off the publication of his first book, After Jihad: America and the struggle for Islamic democracy. Like so many TED speakers before him, he adapted his talk on the fly to better suit the occasion, and delivered a fascinating speech describing religion as a kind of technology — one that can be adapted and evolved over time (and in different markets) to meet changing needs.

In the years since, Feldman has written widely (and insightfully) on both the intersection of religion and politics (his latest book: Divided by God: America's church-state problem) and constitutional law. His latest essay, Who Can Check the President?, appeared in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine. As usual, it's well worth the read. But we're still waiting for a piece based on that TED talk ...

10 January 2006

Flickr: Museum of the future?

Popscience Although photo-sharing sites like Flickr are best known for, well, photo sharing, media mavens are increasingly using them to archive all manners of print media, from book and album covers to oil paintings and collage. Today's find (via BoingBoing): This delightful collection of mid-century science magazines, found at a flea market and shared on Flickr.

This unassuming little exhibit is a good reference point for the larger trend: With its simple interface and effective archiving tools (in the form of tags and clusters, albums and slideshows), Flickr is well on its way to being a -- if not the -- museum of the future.

09 January 2006

Video Games and the Evolution of Microprocessors

I've just returned from this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. CES is a veritable festival of microprocessors. There were 28 football fields worth of microprocessor-driven gadgets. As exciting as it was to see thousands upon thousands of high definition televisions, the biggest crowds formed around Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360.

I suspect there's no better way to appreciate the incredible advancement in microprocessors over the last 25 or so years than to compare the video game consoles of yesterday and today.

In 1977, the Atari 2600 was the state-of-the-art video game machine. It had such exciting games as Asteroids (which you can play on this blog by clicking on the Asteroids image above), Pong, Centipede, Missile Command, etc. This holiday season, I bought my kids an Atari Flashback 2 -- for $30 I was able to buy the complete console and the 40 best games from the Atari 2600, all built into a single machine.

As nostalgic as it was for me to play Missile Command, I was absolutely astonished at how primitive the graphics, game play and sound were. In stark contrast, the sound, graphics and game play demonstrated at CES on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were mind blowing. Video game consoles are now able to produce images on the fly that only a few years ago took animation render farms hours to create.

Video game pundit and game developer extraordinaire David Perry will be speaking at TED2006. He's been developing games for the last two decades and has taken full advantage of the increasing power of video game consoles. A quick look at screen shots from games from the Atari 2600 (Combat) and Perry's latest game for the PlayStation 2 (The Matrix: Path of Neo) and you can more fully appreciate the incredible evolution of the microprocessor over the last quarter century. I look forward to hearing where Perry thinks it's all heading next.

Atari2600

Ps2

05 January 2006

The Year of Thinking Dangerously

Each year, EDGE founder John Brockman poses a question to members of the so-called Third Culture. Last year's question (What is it you believe but cannot prove?) was translated into an utterly delightful book. This year, Brockman ups the intellectual ante, asking, "What is your dangerous idea?" The provocative answers promise a lively year ahead ...

Steven Pinker (TED03, 04): Groups of people may differ genetically in their average talents and temperaments
Clay Shirky (TEDGlobal): Free will is going away. Time to redesign society to take that into account.
Helen Fisher (TED06): Antidepressants (such as Prozac and many others) can jeopardize feelings of romantic love. If patterns of human love subtlely change, all sorts of social and political atrocities can escalate
Kevin Kelly (TED05): More anonymity is good.
Jared Diamond (TED03): Tribal peoples often damage their environments and make war.
Richard Dawkins (TED03, TEDGlobal): Retribution as a moral principle is incompatible with a scientific view of human behaviour.
Irene Pepperburg (TED05): The differences between humans and nonhumans are quantitative, not qualitative
Sir Martin Rees (TEDGlobal): Science may be running out of control

TEDBlog January 2006 Archive

31 January 2006

31 January 2006

27 January 2006

26 January 2006

25 January 2006

24 January 2006

24 January 2006

23 January 2006

19 January 2006

19 January 2006

18 January 2006

18 January 2006

17 January 2006

16 January 2006

12 January 2006

11 January 2006

10 January 2006

09 January 2006

05 January 2006

Join us on Pangea Day, May 10, 2008

Quick links

Blogs We Watch

TED Bloggers

Archives

What we blog about

Recent Comments