31 October 2006
2007 TEDPrize winners announced
The 2007 TEDPrize winners were announced last night in San Francisco. We're thrilled to introduce these three iconic individuals: an award-winning photojournalist, a ground-breaking biologist, and one of the world's most famous humanitarians ....
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31 October 2006
2005 TEDPrize winner Bono on TEDTalks
Rock star and activist Bono accepts the 2005 TEDPrize with a riveting talk about our moral obligation (and economic incentive) to help lift Africa out of poverty. He unveils his TEDPrize wishes by challenging the TED community to help build a social movement of more than one million American activists for Africa; to tell people one billion times about the ONE campaign; and to connect every hospital, health clinic, and school in one African country, Ethiopia, to the Internet. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 28:37)
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31 October 2006
2005 TEDPrize winner Ed Burtynsky on TEDTalks
Photographer Ed Burtynsky accepts the 2005 TEDPrize, and presents a stunning slideshow of his work, which explores human impact on the natural world in eerily beautiful large-scale landscapes. He also unveils his three wishes: To use his artwork to encourage a worldwide conversation about the planet; to launch a ground-breaking competition that motivates kids to invent new ideas in sustainable living; and to create a IMAX movie of his work. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 35:10)
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31 October 2006
2005 TEDPrize winner Robert FIschell on TEDTalks
Medical inventor Robert Fischell accepts the 2005 TEDPrize, and unveils his three wishes: To finalize the design on an invention to treat migraine headaches without drugs; to discover new cures for brain disorders; and to create a Brain Trust to rethink our approach to medical liability. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 27:35)
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27 October 2006
Stew's "Passing Strange" Premiers
Courtesy of TEDster Bill Bragin, I had the good fortune to attend the premier of Stew's show Passing Strange at Berkeley Rep earlier this week. Bill is the Director of Joe's Pub, the influential music venue associated with The Public Theater in New York. Not only is Bill credited with building Joe's Pub into the powerhouse that it has become, but he is also credited with seeing theatrical possibilities within Stew's music. Through a collaboration between The Public and Berkeley Rep (and the assistance of Stanford and Sundance), Stew has managed to unleash a show that is unconstrained by theatrical expectations. Passing Strange has evolved into a wonderfully energetic and compelling experience. If it is possible to be simultaneously ironic and sentimental, then Stew is the king of the art form. The show has received fantastic reviews and is playing through December 3rd, so if you live in the Bay Area don't miss it. And if you live in the New York area, stay tuned -- Passing Strange is coming your way next.
26 October 2006
Arctic explorer Ben Saunders on TEDTalks
Arctic explorer Ben Saunders recounts his harrowing solo journey to the North Pole, complete with gorgeous images, amusing anecdotes and previously unseen video footage from the Pole. At 26, Saunders became the youngest person ever to ski solo to the North Pole, updating his blog daily during the trek. He's now planning the next journey, SOUTH, an unprecedented, roundtrip expedition across Antarctica and back. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 18:48)
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26 October 2006
Spaceship designer Burt Rutan on TEDTalks
In this passionate talk, legendary spacecraft designer Burt Rutan lambasts the U.S government-funded space program for stagnating ("Houston, we have a problem."), and calls for space entrepreneurs to pick up where NASA left off. Rutan won the $10M Ansari X-Prize for SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded craft to enter space twice in a 2-week period. He's now collaborating with Virgin Galactic to build the first rocket-ship designed for space tourism. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 20:16)
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23 October 2006
The Venice Project: 507 channels and somethin' on
After disrupting music distribution with file-sharing system Kazaa, and upsetting telecommunications with Voice-over-IP service Skype, TEDGLOBAL speaker Niklas Zennström and his accomplice Janus Friis have now set their sights on television. Their project is code-named "Venice". Little is known so far, but given their history, it's likely to be based on peer-to-peer distribution technology. Their austere homepage (where you can apply to become a beta tester) says they want to
combine the best things about television with the social power of the Internet - a project that gives viewers, advertisers and content owners more choice, control and creativity than ever before.
On his blog, Friis added recently a few more details:
It’s simple, really — we are trying to bring together the best of TV with the best of the Internet. We think TV is one of the most powerful, engaging mass medias of all time. People love TV, but they also hate TV. They love the (sometimes…) amazing storytelling, the richness, the quality itself. But they hate the linearness, the lack of choice, the lack of basic things like being able to search. And wholly missing is everything that we are now accustomed to from the Internet: tagging, recommendations, choice, and so on… TV is 507 channels and nothing on and we want to help change that!
Om Malik asked him a few additional questions, and Friis added that they will be using the same core technology on which Skype is built (which means that they're likely to use some of the users' CPU and bandwidth to make the system work). He added:
Like Skype, The Venice Project is simple - you download and you get free television. It is near television quality, and it needs about one megabit per second. [The business model will be] ad-based, close to the television model. We will do revenue share with the content providers.
So, to summarize: streaming peer-to-peer television; free to the user (just download the client software); ad-supported (with ad targeting); revenue-shares with content providers; time-shifted; searchable; with "social TV" features (tagging, recommendations, etc); potentially infinite number of channels.
Assuming that they can get the technology to work, the key portion will be striking deals with content providers (Many of these have tested the waters recently with downloads on iTunes and others. So it won't be surprising if they jump on board). I haven't seen anything about user-generated content, but presumably that will be part of the model, too.
(Cross-posted on LunchOverIP)
18 October 2006
Free-press champion Sasa Vucinic on TEDTalks
Sasa Vucinic, a former editor for Belgrade radio station B92, founded the Prague-based Media Development Loan Fund, which applies venture-capital principles to finance sustainable media companies in nations emerging from repressive regimes. In this quietly persuasive talk, Vucinic explores the power of a free press to reinvigorate struggling democracies, and proposes his vision (since realized) to sell "free press bonds," publicly traded securities that mobilize private investment to support independent media. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 18:46)
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Bonds to fund a free press? You heard it first at TED ...
18 October 2006
U.N. Secretary-General candidate Ashraf Ghani on TEDTalks
Ashraf Ghani is the former Finance Minister of Afghanistan, and a candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as Secretary General of the United Nations. He's an expert on the economics of developing nations and post-conflict reconstruction. This passionate presentation includes a 10-minute talk, emphasizing the necessity of both economic investment and design ingenuity to rebuild broken states, followed by a 10-minute conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson on the future of Afghanistan. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 19:24)
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Related TEDTalks articles:
Who will be the next U.N. Secretary-General? (28 September 2006)
Two TEDsters in the race to succeed Kofi Annan (20 September 2006)
17 October 2006
Charles Leadbeater's "We Think" to comment on
British author and TEDGLOBAL speaker Charles Leadbeater has just released a first draft of his upcoming book for anyone to read and comment on. It's called "We Think: Why mass creativity is the next big thing". I'm generally skeptical of "next big thing-isms", but Charles is an insightful analyst of the socioeconomic evolution. He has coined the concept of "Pro-Am" to describe those pursuing activities as amateurs (often unpaid) but setting the same standards as professionals, and has been very influential in shaping our understanding of the developments of the last decade.
With "We Think" he tries to go beyond that and describe how the increasing involvement of "large groups of committed and knowledgeable amateurs, working without pay, are creating highly collaborative forms of organization which operate with little hierarchy and bureaucracy and yet mobilize resources of a scale to match the biggest corporations in the world" and analyze what that means for the future of society and businesses. "Thank to low-cost technology, many more consumers can become producers at least some of the time (...) The next big thing will be us, our power to share and develop ideas without having to rely on formal organizations".
In a nutshell, the book is about the impending conflict between what Charles calls "collaborative mass innovation" and the hierarchical, formal, rigid organizations (corporate and others).
Charles is asking for comments, remarks and suggestions, so that "we think" won't only be the title of the book, but also the method by which it was written. The finalized version is scheduled for publication mid next year. The draft is printable in full, and after reading today the first two chapters I definitely recommend it. Will blog more about it when I'm done reading.
13 October 2006
Grameen Bank founder wins Nobel Prize (watch related TEDTalk)
Our warmest congratulations go out to Grameen Bank and its founder Muhammed Yunus, honored today with the Nobel Peace Prize. "Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty," wrote Nobel Committee director Ole Danbolt Mjoes, recognizing the importance of micro-finance pioneer Grameen Bank. "Microcredit is one such means."
Grameen Bank has been top of mind here, as this week's TEDTalks focused on new approaches to fighting poverty, and featured Iqbal Quadir, who co-founded Grameen Bank spin-off Grameen Phone. Grameen Bank was a pioneer in micro-finance, and has transformed the lives of millions in Bangladesh, through small loans, provided without any collaterol or security, mainly to illiterate women, to support small business ventures. The model has been widely (and successful) implemented in other communities worldwide. And Grameen Phone later applied a similar model to mobile phone services.
Watch Iqbal Quadir on TEDTalks.
11 October 2006
Rocket Racing League: Nascar in the sky
Fifteen months after disseminating hints at TEDGLOBAL in Oxford, XPrize's Peter Diamandis and his posse are getting ready to annouce their plans for the first Rocket Racing League (RRL) races.
The RRL is a racing competition akin to Nascar, with cars replaced by rocket-powered aircrafts called X-Racers that will zip around a virtual track in the sky at speeds of more than 300 miles per hour (the image is an artist's rendering). Five miles around, the three-dimensional track would exist only on the pilot's head-mounted displays (which are called Augmented Reality System) and on the spectators' GPS devices. The pilots would race several laps
before landing for refueling (pit-stop) and then taking off again. The
competition may be made more difficult by obstacles such as inflatable
pylons or balloons - or lights and lasers during nighttime races.
The first official RRL race will take place in 2007, at a date and location that will be disclosed next week during the XPrize Cup, a large space fair and exposition held in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where the League is headquartered. "We expect up to 8 pilots to participate, all flying at first the same model of X-Racer", says Mike D'Angelo, the VP of Technology for the RRL.
In Las Cruces the Mark-1 X-Racer will be on display - that's the development prototype of the rocket craft. Besides the competition and the fun (and the business - revenue is projected at US$150 million a year by 2010), Diamandis and co-founder Granger Whitelaw expect the RRL to act as an accelerator of technology developments in the areas of propulsion and spacecraft design.
(Cross-posted on LunchOverIP)
10 October 2006
Jacqueline Novogratz on TEDTalks: "How can we help Africans do this for themselves?"
Jacqueline Novogratz is the charismatic founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit that takes a business-like approach to improving the lives of the poor. In this talk, she applauds the world's heightened interest in Africa, but argues persuasively for a new approach to foreign aid: "The question isn't 'how do we fix this?' The question is 'How can we help Africans to do this for themselves?'" (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 13:38)
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10 October 2006
Iqbal Quadir on TEDTalks: The impact one cell phone can make on a village...
Iqbal Quadir is co-founder of GrameenPhone, an innovative wireless company offering services to poor rural villages in Bangladesh. In this talk, he explains the triple impact of cell phone service in rural areas (connecting the village to the world, creating business opportunities, and generating over time a culture of entrepreneurship.) He also relates his personal "A-ha moment," when he understood that "connectivity is productivity." (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 16:37)
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09 October 2006
SearchMash: Google's other search site
TED partner Google is newly operating a separate search site: SearchMash.
It was unveiled a few days ago, has a very simple homepage (no ads) and
produces roughly the same results as the main Google search. But it
also displays the top three relevant images, and has a few Ajax features that let
you for example click the URL of a search result to get a menu of
options, drag the results to re-order them (paving the way to a possible
collective refinement of the search), or view more results without
having to move to another page. SearchMash has attracted both criticism and praise, but it's clearly mostly a playground for
developers to test new ideas using Google tools and technologies in different ways. The creation of this new, separate, un-branded sandbox reveals - despite the "chaos by design" recently eulogized by Fortune - that Google's main page has become a very delicate object, which doesn't allow for experimentation anymore.
On another note, Google is rumored to be considering a purchase of video-sharing site YouTube.
05 October 2006
For the Collection: Best American Non-Required Reading
When the Best American books make their annual appearance each fall, it's normally Best American Science and Nature Writing
But the big winner this year is Best American Non-Required Reading
But the single Best American Reason to Buy this Book just may be the utterly charming introduction by Simpsons creator (and longtime TEDizen) Matt Groening. It's a love letter to reading, really, and it made us love him even more.
05 October 2006
Talking about comics with Matt Groening (NYC)
We took note last fall, when Masters of American Comics opened in Los Angeles. The exhibit's traveled now to New York, and is accompanied -- like so many things in this city -- with a lecture series. Comic Conversations opens next week with one of our superheroes: Simpsons creator (and long-time TEDizen) Matt Groening, along with cartoonist Gary Panter, whose work is featured in the exhibit. Tuesday Oct. 10th at 8PM. Event details | Order tickets
04 October 2006
TEDTalks is Hiring: Media Production Assistant
The TEDTalks Team is expanding and we're approaching the TED Community first.
We're looking for a FULLTIME MEDIA PRODUCTION ASSISTANT skilled in the following areas:
• Web & blog savvy: experienced with blogs and the web, able to troubleshoot HTML, update RSS feeds, manage and organize media assets.
• Fluency/Familiarity with: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Image Ready, Illustrator, InDesign), optimizing images for the web.
• Skilled with: Final Cut Pro and working knowledge of video editing.
• Familiarity with: basic principles of video encoding and compression (Cleaner, Compressor, Flash).
• Experience with graphic design and video editing / motion graphics A PLUS.
Ideal candidate is creative, collaborative, curious and multi-faceted.
This job is based out of our New York (Tribeca) office. Salary will be based on experience.
Email us at jobs (at) ted (dot) com. Include "Media Production Assistant" in the subject. Be sure to tell us about your favorite TEDTalk...
Note: This posting will be removed when the position is filled.
04 October 2006
Aubrey de Grey on TEDTalks: Aging is "an engineering problem"
Aubrey de Grey, British biogerontologist and founder of SENS, controversially claims to have created a roadmap to defeat biological aging. In this talk, he argues that aging — like other diseases — can be cured, and that humans can live for centuries, if only we approach the aging process as "an engineering problem." (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 23:31)
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Related TEDBlog articles:
Investing in the long-term (19 Sept 2006)
The Jury's still out on Aubrey de Grey's Anti-aging claims (12 July 2006)
Aubrey de Grey: Scientist or Dreamer? (19 June 2006)
04 October 2006
Eva Vertes on TEDTalks: Is cancer caused by the body's own repair system?
Eva Vertes is a Princeton student recognized as a teenager for her research on Alzheimer's, and now embarking on a career focused on new ways of thinking about cancer. In this talk, she explains her theory that stem cells -- seeking to initiate repairs in the body -- may actually be the root of cancer. So cancer may, in fact, be the body's own repair system gone awry. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 19:34)
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Eva Vertes told us first: Stem cells may cause brain cancer
03 October 2006
Jill Sobule & Julia Sweeney: An evening of songs and stories
Last spring, I gushed about the magic that was made when Jill Sobule and Julia Sweeney shared a stage for the first time. The two met at TED2006, confessed to being long-time fans of each other's work, and resolved to collaborate on a show. The result was an uncategorizable delight, mixing stories and song. If you missed out the first time around, you have another shot: They'll perform together October 10th & 11th at LA's Largo, and October 23rd at Joe's Pub in New York. TED will definitely be in the house ...
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