Entries from TED Blog tagged with 'TEDTalks'
18 November 2009
Jim Fallon on CBS' Criminal Minds tonight!
Via the TEDActive Blog:
At last year's Palm Springs experience, neuroscientist Jim Fallon gave a chilling talk on the biology of psychopathic killers. Tonight he will appear in an episode of the popular CBS series Criminal Minds, playing himself and addressing the potential for genetic tragedy in chronically war-torn areas of the world. The episode, "Outfoxed," airs at 9 pm EST.
If you haven't yet seen his talk, it's definitely worth a look:
16 July 2009
Over 1,000 translations of TEDTalks
As of today, TEDTalks have been translated over 1,000 times, with more than twice that many translations in progress. The TED Open Translation Project has seen great success since its launch in May, recruiting almost 1,500 new volunteer translators and constantly adding new languages. Thanks to the efforts of translators around the world, TEDTalks can now be viewed in over 50 languages.
Today, we'd like to highlight the voices of our dedicated volunteer translators. Here are a few excerpts from their emails to us:
For me, TED is a inspirational tool which fuels me with new ideas and inspiration. I wanted to share all the inspiration and thoughts with the world in my native language. I used to write inspirational posts in Tamil in my blog too. By translating TED talks, I can enable my native people get to know all these great ideas and it is an idea worth spreading, I reckon. -- Tharique
I KNOW that TED is the media support of the 21st century. The contents of your segments are essential for humankind to progress towards peace. It is vital for humankind growth of consciousness and it is aligned with my vision of the world I wish to live in. Allowing more people to have access to your programs makes me an active element to build a better world, a better humankind, a better life. -- Aline
Under my perspective, Brazil suffers from a great lack of knowledge sources in its educational system. I believe that translating TED will provide a new teaching and research tool that might inspire a educational revolution around the country. Bold thinking, I know, but if there is something that I learned from TED Talks is that you can't be afraid to aim high. -- Henrique
I believe that access to knowledge is important. Some TED talks have changed my perspective on social and environmental issues, and I hope to help spread the word in Romania as well. I truly believe TED can have an influence in what the world will look like tomorrow, and I am willing to help as much as I can. -- Carmen
Ideas are the most valuable things we have, and I think that making them accessible to as many people as possible is very important. -- Martin
An enormous thank you to all the translators who have contributed and continue to contribute, driven only by their passion for spreading ideas.
To see their hard work in action, watch Hans Rosling's talk on the best stats you've ever seen, our most translated talk to date. To become a volunteer translator, visit the Open Translation Project homepage.
15 July 2009
Go behind the scenes of a TEDTalk
It's our third anniversary of posting TEDTalks free to the world! We started in June 2006 with our first six talks -- including Sir Ken Robinson, Al Gore, Majora Carter ... Three years and 486 talks later, we hope you'll enjoy this mini-documentary, "Behind the TEDTalk." It stars TED Curator Chris Anderson and the TED team, and a roster of speakers you love: Elizabeth Gilbert, Hans Rosling, Seth Godin and more, in a 6-minute look behind the scenes:
Download the "Behind the TEDTalk" documentary:
+ Zipped MP4
+ Unzipped MP4
+ Unzipped high-def (480p)
Our thanks to the m ss ng p eces team, and to the speakers, thinkers and doers whose interviews tell this story.
13 May 2009
TED's Open Translation Project brings subtitles in 40+ languages to TED.com
We here at TED are thrilled to announce this news!
NEW YORK, May 13, 2009 — The acclaimed 18-minute talks available free on the TED website will now be accessible beyond the English-speaking world, through the TED Open Translation Project (www.ted.com/translation), which launches today, generously sponsored by Nokia.
A year in the making, the project offers video subtitles, time-coded transcripts and the ability for volunteers worldwide to translate any talk into any language. The project launches with 300 translations in 40 languages; more than 200 volunteer translators have already contributed.
Download the Open Translation Project press release as a PDF >>
"TED’s mission is to spread good thinking globally, and so it’s high time we began reaching out to the 4.5 billion people on the planet who don't speak English," says TED Curator Chris Anderson. “We’re excited to be using a bottom-up, open-source approach that will in time allow all our talks to be translated into all the world’s languages. A web-empowered revolution in global education is under way. We’re not far from the day when anyone on Earth can directly access the world’s great teachers speaking to them in their own language. How cool is that?"
Each of the 400+ talks on TED.com will now offer:
+ Subtitles, in English and many additional languages (several videos carry up to 25 languages at launch)
+ A time-coded, interactive transcript, in multiple languages, which lets you click on any phrase and jump straight to that point in the video. This makes the entire content of the video indexable on search engines
+ Translated headlines and video descriptions, which appear when a new language is selected
+ Language-specific URLs which play the chosen subtitles by default
The TED Open Translation Project is one of the most comprehensive attempts by a major media platform to subtitle and index online video content. It’s also a groundbreaking effort in the public, professional use of volunteer translation.
“Volunteer translation will be increasingly important for anyone trying to reach a global audience,” says June Cohen, Executive Producer of TED Media. “It’s the only feasible way to reach all the world’s languages. Crowd-sourced translation creates communities of volunteers who are passionate about producing great work, accountable for the accuracy of their translations, and invested in evolving the system itself. It turns users into true participants, helping to spread ideas.”
Crowd-sourced translations in all the world's languages
To launch the Open Translation Project, a handful of talks were professionally translated into 20 languages. But all translations going forward will be provided by volunteers. In fact, volunteer translators have already contributed more than 200 published translations to the project (with 450 more in development). These volunteers range from well-organized groups working together in their own language, to lone translators working individually and matched by TED with others.
To support this program, TED and technology partner dotSUB have developed a set of tools that allow participants around the world to translate their favorite talks into their own language. This approach is scalable, and -- importantly -- allows speakers of less-dominant languages an equal opportunity to spread ideas within their communities.
This open-source approach mimics the successful strategies of products like Wikipedia, Linux and Mozilla, which have proven the power -– and ultimate reliability –- of open solutions. Crowd-sourced translation has already been proven effective on a handful of sites worldwide, including Wikipedia and the Global Voices blog at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
To ensure quality translations, TED established a set of guidelines and systems to help translators deliver the best work possible. To begin with, a professionally generated (and speaker-approved) English transcript is provided for each talk, so that all translations are based on the same source document. TED then requires every translation to be reviewed by a second fluent speaker before it's published; both translator and reviewer are credited by name on the site. TED controls the final "publish" button (nothing is "automatically" published), and there are feedback mechanisms for ongoing community input and improvement after publication.
At launch, TED’s Open Translation Project will include more than 300 translations, in more than 40 languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kirghiz, Korean, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese. Our translators hail from cities from Beijing to Buenos Aires; Tehran to Tel Aviv; Espoo, Finland, to Barranquilla, Colombia.
Accurate, searchable, interactive transcripts for every TEDTalk
Each of the 400+ TED talks now has a time-coded, interactive transcript, in English and all available languages. Using this interactive transcript, a user can select any phrase and have the video play from the point where that phrase is spoken. The transcripts will be fully indexable by search engines -- in all languages -- exposing previously inaccessible content within the talks themselves. For example, someone searching on Google for “green roof” will ultimately find the moment in architect William McDonough's talk when he discusses Ford's River Rouge plant, and also the moment in Majora Carter's talk when she speaks of her green roof project in the South Bronx.
Questions about the project? Write to subtitles@ted.com or read the FAQ.
30 April 2009
Find the TEDTalks in the Time 100
Some familiar TED faces appear in the new Time 100 list, listing the world's most influential people. As always with this great list, look for short, punchy profiles by some well-matched writers and subjects: Bill James on Nate Silver; Bill Gates on Jeff Bezos; Ashton Kutcher on the Twitter Guys ... If you want to dig a little deeper on 10 of these fascinating people, check out their TEDTalks, all linked below:
TEDTalks from the Time 100's "Builders & Titans" list: The Twitter Guys ... Indian software executive and visionary Nandan Nilekani (he spoke at TED2009; watch for his TEDTalk online very soon) ... and Zipcar visionary Robin Chase.
TEDTalks from the Time 100's "Artists & Entertainers" list: architect partners Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio ... the astonishing young conductor and El Sistema prodigy Gustavo Dudamel
TEDTalks from the Time 100's "Heroes & Icons" list: pastor Rick Warren ... Amazon head Jeff Bezos
TEDTalks from the Time 100's "Scientists & Thinkers" list: energy expert Amory Lovins ... Dan Barber ... Shai Agassi ... Nate Silver
30 April 2009
Final day to vote for TED.com to win some Webbies
It's the final day to vote for TED.com and Pangea Day in the Webby People's Voice Awards. TED has been nominated in 3 categories for 2009. TED.com is in the running for Best Use of Video or Moving Image and Podcasts. And a 2008 TED Prize project, Pangea Day, is nominated in the Movie and Film category. Pangea Day is the progeny of TED Prize and Razorfish Inc., maintaining a site alive with amazing short films, documentaries and performances.
In 2008, TED won 3 Webby Awards. Let's keep our fingers crossed for another clean sweep ...
29 April 2009
Find TED on reddit.TV, launching today!
If you're as addicted to reddit as we are here -- visit the brand-new reddit.TV to channel-surf through reddit's Best of the Web video, or browse by category: Music, Geek, Sports ...
And you'll see a nice red button that will bring up the hottest TED videos on reddit at the moment. We're thrilled to be partnering with reddit for the launch of this great new video toy.
15 April 2009
TED nominated for 3 Webby Awards!
The Webbies are here again and TED has been nominated in 3 categories for 2009. TED.com is in the running for Best Use of Video or Moving Image and Podcasts. The third nomination is for Pangea Day in the Movie and Film category. Pangea Day is the progeny of TED Prize and Razorfish Inc., maintaining a site alive with amazing short films, documentaries and performances.
In 2008, TED was nominated for and won 3 Webby Awards. Let's keep our fingers crossed for another clean sweep.
14 April 2009
WordPress.com now supports TED embeds
Thanks to user requests and some kind engineers, we're thrilled to report that TED's embeddable video player now works with WordPress.com.
You can embed TEDTalks following the instructions at the support site:
Visit TED and locate the talk you would like to embed in your blog.
Click on the red "Share" button at the bottom of the player window.
Copy the "Link to this talk" URL or the video's ID number from the overlay window. Use that in one of the following shortcodes:
[ted id=http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/319]
or
[ted id=319]
Publish the post or page.
11 March 2009
It's our 400th TEDTalk today
For those keeping score, Aimee Mullins' funny and astonishing TEDTalk this morning marks our 400th TEDTalk.
I asked followers of the TEDtalks Twitter stream to name some sleeper hits from the archives -- talks they didn't think they would like but did. Here are a few replies -- which may send you looking for your own favorite sleepers:
@ghostpressbed Where have the bees gone? by Dennis vanEngelsdorp was my 'sleeper' hit. There are about 2 dozen that I can watch on repeat all day
@LaneEllen ... the talk on Fungi. I was amazed - but really had no interest when it started.
@AdrianEvans has to be Benjamin Zander on music and passion, not really one for the music stuff but this got me good
Name your favorite sleepers, either by commenting here if you can, or sending an email to contact@ted.com.
05 March 2009
Michael Montes on the TEDTalks ringtone
Michael Montes is the composer who created the TEDTalks opening themes (now available as ringtones). We're curious about what it's like to have one's music being experienced through a phone.
Who or what inspired you in creating the TEDTalks theme?
TED itself inspired me greatly. I tried to put the feelings that I retained from being at the conference into the music, the emotions that surround the idea of grappling with global modernity. This brought me to a compositional place of energy, complexity and anticipation.
Is this the first ringtone you've created? How do you feel about it?
I have created others for advertisers. But this is most special to me because it's for TED, and for the enormous worldwide audience that the TEDTalks have reached.
What makes a great ringtone?
In this case, the music was meant to communicate that something very compelling is coming, and that it's not about passive viewing, it's a real call to action. Transfers nicely to an arriving phone call. Also, I hope it will start conversations with bystanders who recognize the theme and with those who don't.
What ringtones are on your phone?
Standard iPhone. But now I've switched!
Do you think this ringtone could be likened to a poem?
If the poem was being read by someone with a megaphone in front of an excited crowd, then yes.
What's on your music playlist these days?
Peruvian folk songs, cellist Erik Friedlander, Toru Takemitsu, the soundtrack to the original Planet of the Apes by Jerry Goldsmith, lots more ...
What are you reading?
Reading and rereading John Berger's books. Very inspiring for me. He mixes art with politics. Right up my alley. Hold Everything Dear, Here Is Where We Meet, Pig Earth, Photocopies, etc.
09 February 2009
Unveiling: TED's plans for subtitles, transcripts, translations
Last week at TED2009, we unveiled the next phase of TED.com, which will bring TEDTalks beyond the English-speaking world. The new features -- slated to launch next month -- will bring subtitles and interactive transcripts to all the talks, and will allow anyone, anywhere, to translate any talk into any language.
Rather than simply translate talks into a handful of major languages, we're developing an open, crowd-sourced solution that puts translation tools in the hands of users. This approach is scalable, and -- importantly -- allows speakers of less-dominant languages an equal opportunity to spread ideas within their communities and in their native tongues.
To seed the site, a number of talks will be professionally translated into a few dozen languages -- including Pashto, Persian, Swahili, Hausa, Thai, Tamil ... From there, we'll tap into the energy and skills of TED viewers worldwide to help us translate the talks. Note: It must be said that this open approach to translation is new, unproven and not entirely easy to implement! But we believe in the power of open-source solutions, and have confidence that the community of passionate TED users worldwide will help us move this program forward.
Along with subtitles, we'll also provide interactive transcripts for each talk, which allow you to select any sentence in the talk, and be taken directly to the appropriate moment in the video. The transcripts will be fully indexable by search engines, revealing previously inaccessible content within the talks themselves. For example, someone searching on Google for "green roof" would find the moment in architect William McDonough's talk when he discusses Ford's River Rouge plant, and also the moment in Majora Carter's talk when she spoke of her green roof project in the South Bronx.
If you're interested in joining our budding community of translators, we'd love to hear from you at subtitles@ted.com. TED translators won't be paid for their translation work (just as TED speakers aren't paid to present), but they will be credited by name on TED.com and also receive some other perks.
We're so thrilled by the possibility presented by these new features, and grateful to our sponsor, Nokia, for underwriting the translation program and amplifying our efforts to spread ideas.
05 February 2009
How I'm going to change the world now: Bill Gates on TED.com
Bill Gates hopes to solve some of the world's biggest problems using a new kind of philanthropy. In a passionate and, yes, funny 18 minutes, he asks us to consider two big questions and how we might answer them. (Recorded February 2008 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 20:17.)
Watch Bill Gates' talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 370+ TEDTalks -- including more talks on the new philanthropy.
Read Bill Gates' annual letter >>
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26 January 2009
Goal: Watch every video on the TED site
Ms Alex, a blogger from Leeds, UK, has set an ambitious program of 101 goals for the next 21 months. And Number 32 is: Watch every video on the TED site. In an update, Alex shares the master spreadsheet of talks watched so far, with opinions and ratings. Go, Ms Alex, go!
22 January 2009
TED archive tapes arrive in New York
Exciting news -- 35 boxes of TED archive tapes just arrived in our New York office. We'll be digitizing this footage, re-watching it, and turning it into TEDTalks. We're thrilled to be able to bring you more talks from the legendary early days of TED.
See more archive unboxing photos on flickr >>
Posted via email from tedblog's posterous
27 November 2008
Sneak preview: Next month on TED.com
We're not posting a new TEDTalk today or tomorrow -- it's Thanksgiving Day in the United States. But here are some talks we're excited to post in December:
Next week: Richard Preston on the giant trees
You might know Richard Preston from his groundbreaking reportage on disease, like The Hot Zone and his new collection, Panic in Level 4 (which has been passed around the TED office with the warning, "Don't read the last chapter while eating"). But here he talks about an equally awe-inspiring topic: the giant trees of the Pacific Northwest US. Springing from a seed smaller than a dime, they become among the largest organisms on the planet, and we know very little about them.
Week of December 9: Eva Zeisel on a long life in design
Video editor Marla Mitchnick writes: "This is a total gem of a talk. Zeisel is a real grande-dame of design, and a very dry wit. She was imprisoned in Russia during Stalin's day, for 16 months, her work is stunning and ground-breaking and elegant, and she has a hilarious story about her first 'job' (as a woman working in an industrial pottery in Budapest around 1925) where -- on her very first day -- the guys left her a 'surprise' ..."
Week of December 16: Dan Gilbert with more surprising thoughts on happiness
Dan Gilbert is a perennial TEDTalks favorite. In this talks from TEDGlobal 2005 at Oxford, he shares more amazing, hilarious tales from the frontiers of happiness research.
Week of Dec. 23: Jennifer 8. Lee on American Chinese food
If you've seen Jennifer 8. Lee's byline in the New York Times, you'll know what to expect here: a sparkling, funny and well-researched talk on the dishes that Americans think of as Chinese food. Who was the real General Tso? Lee goes to China to find out.
20 October 2008
Week Two of the TEDTalks re-upload
Starting last week, we've been updating all 300+ TEDTalks with freshly encoded video. We anticipate it will take another week or so to refresh everything on the site. Our deepest thanks to the many people who've volunteered to help screen the new talks.
RSS users: Please note that, although most of our RSS feeds are working fine, some Google Reader feeds are picking up all the archive talks as we re-upload them, sometimes multiple times. We're working on a workaround for this -- but in the meantime, if you see a long list of TEDTalks come into your Google Reader all at the same time, in alphabetical order, you can safely ignore them -- or scan the list for talks you might have missed.
Also this week, we're testing our brand-new video player. (You can preview the player in Virginia Postrel's blog entry, below.) More news on this soon.
If you'd like to help screen the new video, drop me a note with the subject line "TED video." We'll assign you a few talks to watch, and ask for your feedback via a short form.
And if you're watching any TEDTalk and notice a glitch, use our form to let us know.
Thanks for all your help and feedback during this push!
25 August 2008
TED is hiring a new video editor
TED.com is looking for an experienced Final Cut Studio editor to work in our Manhattan offices for 3 months. Details below:
FILM + VIDEO EDITOR, TEDTalks
SoHo-based media company seeks an experienced Final Cut Studio editor to fill a 3-month contract position in-house.
Since TEDTalks launched two summers ago, the videos in this critically acclaimed series have been viewed more than 60 million times, demonstrating that an unknown speaker with a powerful idea can reach -- and move -- a global audience. Speakers include architects, physicists, rock stars, authors, anthropologists, evangelists, atheists, inventors, and more, all with great ideas worth spreading.
Watch the Top 10 most popular TEDTalks here >>
The ideal candidate should demonstrate meticulous attention to detail and a diverse professional editing background, including a working familiarity with narrative, documentary, live concert/performance, and animation.
Creative problem-solving and time management skills are a must.
Experience with any or all of the following is preferred: ProTools, Soundtrack, Color, Photoshop, Illustrator, AfterEffects, Shake, Motion, Magic Bullet, and XSAN.
Familiarity with basic sound design, as well as graphic and motion-graphic design, also a plus.
Must be fluent in Final Cut Studio -- for web and broadcast.
Must share our passion for TEDTalks and the art of spreading great ideas through well-edited video.
Interviews the first week of September 2008. (We realize many editors are working to meet the upcoming Sundance deadline, if so, please let us know your availability when you apply.)
Resumes accepted via email ONLY. Please, no phone calls. Please include links to your reel. Email edit at ted dot com
27 June 2008
TEDTalks turn 2!
Two years ago today, TED.com posted its first six TEDTalks. It was a radical notion to share these powerful talks and ideas with the world -- but it looks like it was the right notion. This week, TEDTalks notched its 50 millionth view, and we moved to a daily publishing schedule to keep up with the demand for more great talks, performances and conversations.
Celebrate with us by suggesting your favorite TEDTalks over the past two years. Count down the Top 10 TEDTalks in a special Theme page, where you can discuss the talks and suggest your own hidden gems from the archive.
Watch the first six TEDTalks, posted two years ago today:
Al Gore on 15 ways to avert a climate crisis
David Pogue says "Simplicity sells"
Majora Carter's tale of greening the ghetto
Ken Robinson asks, Do schools kill creativity?
Tony Robbins talks about why we do what we do
Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen
26 June 2008
Counting down the Top 10 TEDTalks
With 50 million views since we debuted online two years ago, TED talks have become a powerful cultural force.
To celebrate this milestone, we're releasing a never-before-seen list: the Top 10 TED talks of all time, as of June 2008.
With speakers like neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor and global health expert Hans Rosling, the list proves one of the compelling ideas behind TEDTalks: that an unknown speaker with a powerful idea can reach -- and move -- a global audience. Links to all 10 talks are found below -- or browse through our Top 10 TED Talks Theme. Even if you've seen all the talks, the highlights video is darn fun.
Download the Top 10 TED Talks highlights video:
Video to iTunes (MP4)
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Hi-def video (480p)
Embed this video: Use this code to run the video on your own site:
Download the Top 10 TED Talks highlights video:
Video to iTunes (MP4)
Video to desktop (Zipped MP4)
Hi-def video (480p)
Top 10 TED Talks of all time
1. Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight
2. Jeff Han: Touchscreen demo foreshadows the iPhone
3. David Gallo: Underwater astonishments
4. Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo
5. Arthur Benjamin: Lightning calculation and other "Mathemagic"
6. Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
7. Hans Rosling: The best stats you've ever seen
8. Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do, and how we can do it better
9. Al Gore: 15 ways to avert a climate crisis
10. Johnny Lee: Creating tech marvels out of a $40 Wii Remote
21 June 2008
TED.com will be offline for maintenance tonight
TED.com will be offline for a few hours for maintenance tonight, starting at about 2 a.m. Eastern time. To find TEDTalks while we're offline, try these sources:
+ Check out the free, open-source TED Miro player, with seven channels of TEDTalks. You can download the TED Miro player here, for Mac and for Windows.
+ Find TEDTalks on YouTube
11 March 2008
Opening the TED archive (beginning with Negroponte, circa 1984)
Today we're throwing open the door to our back archive, beginning with Nicholas Negroponte's talk from TED 1. Yes, TED 1. 1984.
TED founder Richard Saul Wurman had the foresight to record every conference he held. And I can't tell you what a thrill it was to see the full archive for the first time: Richard had transferred all the original (Beta) tapes to DV; nearly all the talks -- hundreds of them -- were still intact. What a treasure trove!
Some of the footage requires restoration; and of course, the quality on the earliest talks isn't what it is now. Still, what a thrill! To watch Frank Gehry's talk from 1990, before the buildings he's known for had been built ... when he was still defending his work. Or to watch Nicholas Negroponte in 1984, before the MIT Media Lab had a proper home, before anyone was uttering the word "convergence."
Negroponte's talk -- which hasn't been seen for 24 years -- was particularly meaningful for me to watch. Speaking for a full two hours (the famous 18-minute rule didn't evolve till later), he waxed prophetic on our computer-mediated future, strongly foreshadowing CD-ROMs, websites, service kiosks, voice-recognition technology, computer-generated animation, the touchscreen interface of the iPhone, and his own One Laptop per Child project. Though the technologies he referenced are largely defunct (optical discs, etc.), the concepts are shockingly relevant.
The other shock in Negroponte's talk -- for me anyway -- was to realize just how advanced his team's work was at MIT in the '80s, and how unaware we were of it elsewhere. Watching Negroponte's talk put my own career in context: I worked on a few prominent projects in the early '90s (one of the earliest multimedia magazines in '91; HotWired.com in '94), and many of us were shockingly unfamiliar with the early work that had been done at MIT. But then, we had few ways of learning about it. We didn't have the web in the '80s and early '90s; we didn't even have Wired magazine yet. No wonder the world needed TED.
And now, for those of us who didn't get to attend those early, formative years -- and even for those of you who did -- we're bring the TED archives alive. Today, we're releasing Negroponte's first TEDTalk, from 1984 (actually, we're releasing 25 minutes of key excerpts; the full two-hour talk will ultimately be made available for download, but must be restored in places). Later in the week, we'll release Frank Gehry's 1990 talk. And over time, look for more of the legendary talks that made TED what it was -- and is: from Benoit Mandelbrot to Billy Graham, Herbie Hancock to Kai Krause. We hope you're looking forward to it as much as we are!
18 November 2007
Talks from partner conferences on TED.com
Ever since we started putting TEDTalks online in July 2006, all of the talks and performances on TED.com -- more than 160 so far -- were recorded at a TED event: at our annual gathering in Monterey; at TEDGlobal in Oxford, UK, and Arusha, Tanzania; or during one of our TED Salons.
Now we join some very good company in a new phase of global idea sharing. Starting soon, we will begin releasing selected talks recorded at other conferences around the world. We are particularly happy that four important conferences have partnered with us to share ideas through TED.com. They are:
+ the DLD (Digital Life Design) conference (January, Munich, Germany)
+ the LIFT Conference (February, Geneva, Switzerland)
+ the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship (March, Oxford, UK)
+ the Picnic conference (September, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
These are very diverse gatherings, attracting diverse audiences. Yet they all have at their core the same intention: They bring together bright minds to share ideas and ignite action. They take place in Europe, but are globally minded. We're proud to be partnering with them. Watch for the upcoming talks by Indian self-education theorist Sugata Mitra, "continuous partial attention" guru Linda Stone and Google.org's director Larry Brilliant -- with more to follow in the coming months.
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24 July 2007
"TEDGlobal was a seminal moment for Africa ..."
Next week on TED.com, we'll premiere the first talks from the TEDGlobal 2007 conference, held in Arusha, Tanzania, this June. Several bloggers from the conference will be posting here over the coming week.
TEDGlobal 2007 Fellow Juliana Rotich has been keeping the influential blog Afromusing for two and a half years, writing and interviewing about such issues as green energy, technology and many other topics around Kenya and the African continent. She also contributes to AfriGadget and is working on a forum for renewable-energy information exchange.
As the videos from TEDGlobal are released, I'd like to share a few thoughts on what I felt as a TED Fellow, an African and blogger; what this conference meant to me and other Fellows that I have been conversing with since this historic conference ended.
TEDGlobal was a seminal moment for Africa. It opened our eyes and minds to the ideas, people and technology shaping a continent. Glimpses of history from the segment "Looking Back to Look Forward," the present innovation in "Emergent Design" and "Tales of Invention," to the future in the segment "Ideas Worth Spreading." It felt like a precursor to a Wired Nextfest of sorts -- Africa edition, a "jumping-off point."
It was an out-of-the-box experience: boxes of tribe, nationality, continent and yes, even boxes of race. Chris Anderson and Emeka Okafor on stage reminded me of Seinfeld's black-and-white cookie. It was also about conversations between different minds from different continents, backgrounds and specialties. To have been in a forum where views and ideas about Africa are discussed with fervor, passion and engagement was ground-breaking, inspiring, enlightening and fantastic.
As an African, one might think that we would already know about the content presented at TEDGlobal 2007, but many of us could not have imagined the breadth and talent in Technology, Entertainment and Design coming from Africa. There was even a metaphorically poignant moment when the president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, removed his suit jacket and got comfortable to address the TEDGlobal audience. It was a moment that seemed to signal a peeling away of old ideas, seeing new ways to tackle Africa's challenges. Inasmuch as our minds were opened up to the potential of the African continent, on looking back I am reminded that the themes at TEDGlobal are indeed ... Global. As you watch the talks and see the ideas being shared, think of the universal questions that bind us all together.
For the African fellows like me, to have a video by a fellow African who looks like me, comes from the same continent, showing what they have done to change Africa ... It touches my mind and resolutely affirms a belief that perhaps was in the back of my mind, but today has been brought to the fore of my consciousness. The belief that Africa's next chapter is being written with innovative, entertaining and creative ideas that will shape a bright future. As we watch, engage in the conversations, and spread the ideas coming out of TEDGlobal, I am reminded that we are in one sandbox of a planet. We might as well learn and help each other. The African voices you will see and hear will have an idea, a message, a story that I hope will also touch you. Cheers TED, and thank you.
Watch for the premiere of the first talks from TEDGlobal, next week on TED.com.
22 July 2007
TED's Emeka Okafor on the conversation after TEDGlobal
As Program Director for TEDGlobal2007, Emeka Okafor worked with TED Curator Chris Anderson and the TED team to assemble a list of speakers that spoke to the heart of the new Africa -- the "cheetah generation" of inventors and investors, policymakers and bloggers, who are bringing new energy to the continent. We spoke to Emeka -- who's an entrepreneur and multiple blogger himself -- about life since TEDGlobal:
First -- have you recovered?
Yes, it's been a blissful recovery to see the continued strength of post-conference conversations.
Have you been reading the coverage of the conference since it ended? What do you think about the difference between the mainstream press coverage and the blog coverage?
The MSM press completely missed the zeitgeist that the conference tapped into. I wonder, did they go to a different conference? My thinking is that they proved to be one of the key reservoirs of preconceived thinking about the continent.
The blogosphere conversely provided everything that one would expect from the MSM and much much more. We tend to forget that not a single TEDTalk from TEDGlobal has been released yet -- it seems as if a good portion have. The blogs have excelled themselves in reportage, analysis, opinions, post-TEDGlobal initiative/project planning, etc.
What are some of the plans you've heard about that are inspired by TEDGlobal?
+ The AfricanLoft blog is hosting a carnival that is infused with TEDGlobal ideas.
+ Afrigadget has a proposal for "A strategy for supporting innovative entrepreneurs in Africa"
+ Jen Brea asks "there are tons of people out there doing projects who would like to know how to do them better? Or differently? What kind of forum could be created for brainstorming, critiquing, and improving upon existing ideas and models?"
+ Tunji Lardner, TED Fellow and founder of WangoNet, is looking at "unlocking products from various research institutes in Nigeria, we intend to scientifically bundle them and them market them."
... and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
In the week to come, watch for more news from TEDGlobal's continuing conversation, and guest posts from conference bloggers.
Premiering Wednesday, August 1: The first TEDTalks from TEDGlobal2007!
21 July 2007
Kevin Kelly: Technology as a teenager
Developing the ideas he laid out in his 2005 talk at TED -- where he asked, "What does technology want?" -- Kevin Kelly posts a fascinating essay in the latest edition of Edge.org. He suggests that we can think of technology as another kingdom of life -- call it the technium. And that, like all other life, it grows.
He says,
I tend to think of the technium like a child of humanity. Our job will be to train the technium, to imbue it with certain principles because, at a certain level and at a certain age, it will basically become much more autonomous than it is now. It will leave us like a teenager who goes on to live alone: although he or she will continue to interact with us and will always be part of us, we have to let it go.
To succeed in this, though, he warns:
We need to have a deep sense of our values, what we stand for. In a deep irony, the more technology advances, the less sure we are of who we are and what we stand for as a species and as individuals.
Watch Kevin Kelly's TEDTalk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, and join a wide-ranging discussion.
03 July 2007
Dan Dennett on dangerous memes, on TED.com
Here's one of those talks that can change your view of the world forever. Starting with the deceptively simple story of an ant, Dan Dennett unleashes a dazzling sequence of ideas, making a powerful case for the existence of "memes" -- a term coined by Richard Dawkins for mental concepts that are literally alive and capable of spreading from brain to brain.
On the way, look out for:
• a powerful one-sentence secret of happiness
• a compelling insight into terrorists' motivation
• a chilling view of Islam
And just when you think you know where the talk's heading, it dramatically shifts direction and questions some of western culture's fundamental assumptions.
This. Is. Unmissable. (Recorded February 2002 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 15:39) Read more about Dan Dennett on TED.com.
Watch this talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
29 June 2007
Welcome TED.com's 10,000th member
This week marks the one-year anniversary of TEDTalks -- a year ago this Wednesday, our first five talks went live on TED.com. Since that time, more than 5 million people have seen a TEDTalk, either via TED.com, on this blog, through our video partners such as Google Video and YouTube -- or through re-posting on another blog. Truly, these are ideas worth spreading.
And today, we're set to welcome our 10,000th TED.com member. As of this minute, we're at user number 9,996, and probably within the next hour, someone will be the 10,000th person to join our free online community of people who want to learn and share new ideas. Welcome all!
10 June 2007
The whole world is watching TEDGlobal bloggers
TEDGlobal 2007 has been largely reported and disseminated via blog. Which is not surprising, when you consider the sheer number of African and world bloggers who attended -- and how powerful their blogs have been in sharing ideas of the new Africa.
For those following the conference from home, it's clear that the blog coverage of TEDGlobal has the power to provoke emotion, passion and the desire to make change.
Ethan Zuckerman -- in a post-TED post that is a must-read for anyone thinking about Africa -- reports:
I got an IM from a friend in the States today who told me she’d found the ideas expressed at TED - which she followed through the blogs - inspiring, filling her with hope. I hope that reaction is widespread. ...
Home viewer beninmwangi makes the point on his MySpace blog:
... if you have not already guessed it, I am truly inspired, but as a blogger what inspires me the most is how the bloggers in attendance have taken the stage from the usual suspects -- the conventional media.
The African Uptimist writes:
Jennifer Brea ... made my day with her post "Writing a new story about Africa," in which she invites the reader to "imagine four days where you only use the good words to talk about Africa: words of forward motion, words of change...[four days of hearing] from the mouths of people who are out there living it, building it, succeeding (and quite possibly getting very rich) in Africa." I think it is safe to say that TED Global Conference 2007 was special in that it marked a turning point towards the 're-branding' of Africa.
Other blogs, including smallSHIFT, nobaddays and Magaidi, also shared their excitement over the ideas coming out of the conference via bloggers such as Ethan Zuckerman, Erik Hersman of AfriGadget and White African, and David McQueen (who notes "Well my blog has never been so popular. I must go away some more and write like nuts"). You can see the full list of bloggers here.
Thank you to BijanBlog for a nice compliment on our coverage here at the TEDBlog -- and for pointing out the connection between TEDGlobal's blog coverage and the Bob Thurman talk we posted this week on TED.com:
A few days ago, TEDBlog posted an earlier video of Bob Thurman's talk (taken on 12/06) about ... an all-connected world:
"When we can know everything, we can see how everything is interconnected -- and we can begin to feel compassion for every living being."
Wow.
16 April 2007
New TED.com and TED's June Cohen featured in today's New York Times
Today's New York Times carries an article by E-Commerce reporter Bob Tedeschi about the new TED.com:
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
June Cohen, director of TED Media, said putting conference presentations on the Internet helped increase exposure.
By BOB TEDESCHI
Published: April 16, 2007
THOSE who don’t have $6,000 or enough prominent connections to get into a TED conference can take heart. The price of admission just went to zero, provided you can settle for a more remote experience.
The TED organization (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design) runs an invitation-only conference in Monterey, Calif., every year for movers and shakers in business and nonprofit circles.
Yesterday, TED introduced a Web site that offers about 100 of its TED Talks, the polished 20-minute presentations for which the conference is renowned.
The new site will generate more advertising revenue for TED, but more important, conference leaders said, it will expose TED’s content to millions of people who would otherwise never attend the event.
In so doing, TED is at the vanguard of a trend in the conference industry, where organizers have begun to exploit assets that in years past evaporated as soon as speakers left the stage.
“I’m so struck by it anytime I’m at a great event,” said June Cohen, director of media for TED, a nonprofit business based in New York. “That was so wonderful, but now it’s gone. It’s a shame they’re not captured and preserved.”
Ms. Cohen said TED’s organizers began posting last June a handful of free videos from past conferences on TED.com, with “fairly aggressive goals for how I thought they’d do. But we blew past those pretty quickly.” By January, the number of TED Talks on the site had grown to 44, and they had been viewed more than three million times.
Article continues after the jump...
16 April 2007
The New TED.com launches today Monday April 16th
This morning we are proud to announce the debut of our brand-new TED website. The site has been completely redesigned to focus on our award-winning TEDTalks, video and audio recordings of great presentations from TED Conferences by speakers including Malcolm Gladwell, Jane Goodall, Julia Sweeney, Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett Bono, Bill Clinton, Jeff Bezos, Stefan Sagmeister, Eve Ensler, Nicholas Negroponte, Peter Gabriel, Al Gore, Tony Robbins, Anna Deavere-Smith, Hans Rosling, Jeff Han and 90+ others, including 30 talks never available to the public until today.
Please check out the new user interface, listen to, watch or download new talks and create your own profile on our member profile pages. It's all free. And if you like what you see, tell your friends via email or via your blog. If you have critiques, issues, feedback or suggestions, please contact us.
June Cohen, Director of TED Media led an incredible team of people including TED's Jason Wishnow, Director of Film and Video and the incredibly talented Emily McManus, Marla Mitchnick and Michael Glass; and the web design firm Method.
We are grateful to BMW, who returns as our inagural sponsor of the new TED.com, bringing a message about its vision of a world powered by hydrogen.
The complete TED.com announcement press release after the jump...
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