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Gallery: The second half of TED2013, in comic form

Shirin Samimi-Moore — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:47:24 +0000

Denise Herzing works to understand the language of dolphins, with the hopes that we may one day be able to communicate with them. Here’s her talk from session 8.

A TED Talk is generally an auditory experience. But Fever Picture, a collective of graphic mavens who translate the ideas expressed at conferences into graphic form, have changed that. Earlier this week, they thrilled us with their comic versions of the first half of TED2013. Here, their renderings of the second half of the conference.

Also during Session 8, linguist John McWhorter shares why the language of texting may be evidence of advanced intelligence, not (as we so often think) the decline of society.

Ajit Narayanan works to help autistic children communicate through the creation of his app, Free Speech. This uplifting talk was from Session 8.

In Session 9, Rose George says it’s time to end the taboo over excrement, and start “talking shit.” So many are without basic sanitation, which leads to disease, and the potential to harness the gas that poop gives off is exponential.

James Lyne, also in Session 9, shares the secret lives of cyber criminals — and what you can do to protect yourself against them.

Anas Aremayaw Anas is an undercover journalist. In Session 9, he gave a peek at how he exposes corruption and uncovers injustice.

In Session 10, Hyeonseo Lee talks about her escape from North Korea and her goal to help North Korean refugees.

Peter Gabriel, Diana Reiss, Neil Gershenfeld and Vint Cerf discuss the prospects of an interspecies internet during Session 10.

Eleanor Longden gave an incredible talk in Session 10, detailing how she came to terms with the voices in her head.

Joshua Prager told the moving story of a car crash that changed him forever, and his search for the man responsible.

Daniel Reisel shares his experience training the brains of psychopaths at Session 11.

In session 12, Dan Pallotta delivered a powerhouse talk asking us to think about more than a charity’s overhead when judging its worth.

Sit back and relax: A look at the social spaces at TED2013

Shirin Samimi-Moore — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:00:20 +0000

Behind the scenes, the attendees of TED2013 were abuzz — discussing the latest talk, enjoying a coffee, expanding on fresh ideas or just getting comfortable and enjoying downtime. Here, we’ve compiled some shots of the diverse spaces set up for the TEDsters to learn, interact and relax.

Target’s social space, A Mind for Design, was an ode to brainwaves. With projected brainwaves on the wall, plus couches crafted to look like them, this quickly became a favorite hang-out area at TED2013 to stop and … think.

Attendees enjoy a lunch in The Sanctuary, one of the outdoor social spaces at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.

In the Imaginarium social space, attendees could play with scenes from the upcoming Syfy series “Defiance.”

A look at aviation design, courtesy of Delta.

Speaker Rodney Brooks of Rethink Robotics introduced us to Baxter on the stage, and then let people interact with him.

Attendees excitedly watch a session inside the Imaginarium.

A tableau in the Workspring meeting spaces, which offered a retreat for anyone with important things to discuss. Or just a deep love of office supplies.

The view from the TEDx Action Lab, another popular viewing lounge.

The Park, sponsored by the Tiffany and Co. Foundation, was a great place to sit in the sun, amid greenery.

TED-Ed set up a booth, with the help of Kohl’s Cares, where anyone could flip a lesson.

An attendee plays with The TED Machine, a spin-board containing the name of each speaker.

Jet lag—be gone. Delta offered any weary travelers a Photon Shower.

The color-soaked experience inside the shower.

TED Fellow Louisa Preston hangs out in the Global Village social space.

Another view of the brainwave-shaped couches at Target’s A Mind for Design lounge.

Across from the couches, conference-goers flexed their mental muscles at the Brainscope challenge. Taking the challenge here: TED founder Richard Saul Wurman!

A viewing room for one, inside a shipping container.

The Creators Project Wall formed a backdrop of bright photography.

Perhaps the best laptop decal we saw at TED2013.

Gallery: TED2013 so far, in comic form

Shirin Samimi-Moore — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:54:49 +0000

Former governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, was a pioneer for clean energy job policies in her state. In session 1 of TED2013, she makes the case for the private sector to invest in clean energy, rather than waiting for the government to step in.

Fever Picture is a collective of scribes and graphic facilitators who translate the words said in conferences into comic form. With this graphic method of note-taking, they’ve illustrated several talks given so far at TED2013, highlighting main points through speech bubbles and quotes. Here, we’ve gathered some of these illustrations from their Facebook page.

And stay tuned to TED.com, as we’ll be posting many of these great talks in the upcoming weeks. Make sure you don’t miss a thing and sign up for our daily email, delivering each day’s new talk to your inbox »

Also in Session 1, Erik Brynjolfsson explains the future of technology saying that, contrary to popular belief, we haven’t flat-lined and that there is much room for growth.

Saskia Sassen discussed the dynamism of cities in Session 2, showing the potential within them to transform technology and culture.

When artist Phil Hansen developed permanent nerve damage in his hand, he was devastated. Until he was inspired to “embrace the shake,” and work within his physical limitations to the benefit of his creativity. A great talk from Session 2.

Sebastião Salgado is a photojournalist who shoots his native Brazil and the deteriorating landscape with the hopes of rebuilding the rainforest. This Fever Picture includes many of Salgado’s works.

Edith Widder discovered a new method to find underwater giant squids, and in this talk from Session 2, she describes how.

Just 13 years old, Richard Turere is a passionate inventor who created “lion lights” — lights that frighten lions away from his father’s cattle. He shared during session 3.

In Session 4, musician Amanda Palmer delivered a powerful idea—instead of trying to make people pay for music, let them pay for music.

Larry Lessig’s powerhouse talk from Session 4 had a simple message: We need a government that works. He says it’s all of our job to make this happen.

Stewart Brand is the man behind the “long now.” In Session 5 he shared a fascinating idea: could we de-extinct a species?

In session 6, Kate Stone played turntables, err, a piece of cardboard.

When Jack Andraka was 15, he didn’t know what a pancreas was. Now, he may just have invented a cheap, easy early detection test for pancreatic cancer. He spoke in Session 6.

Renegade gardener Ron Finley asked us to “get gansta with your shovels” and plant food, during Session 7.

See many more of these great images, from the second half of TED2013 >>

Gallery: Scenes from the start of TED2013

Kate Torgovnick — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 20:15:35 +0000

The day has finally arrived. TED2013, “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered,” kicked off today with attendees pouring into the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in California. At 1:15pm, the conference officially started with two sessions of talks from the TED Fellows, young innovators from across the globe with exciting work to share. And tonight, there’s a special session called “Inside TED,” where we reveal the inner workings of our office and the exciting directions TED plans to go from here.

In this gallery, find images from the first day of TED2013, taken by James Duncan Davidson, Michael Brands and Ryan Lash.

A social space at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, just waiting to be filled with attendees.

Over the weekend, speaker Yu “Jordy” Fu set up her sculpture of cut paper—called “Cloud”—in the entrance to TED2013.

Now, the sculpture is beautifully lit.

Self-assembling toys from TED Fellow Skylar Tibbitts, who’ll be debuting a new technology in TED University session 1.

Over the weekend, staff sets up Target’s social space called “A Mind for Design” — an ode to brainwaves.

The lounge, now fully assembled, has already become a favorite break spot for conference-goers.

Setting up for TED2013: Backstage photos

James Duncan Davidson — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 18:57:21 +0000

Backstage setup starts on the TED2013 stage in Long Beach.

A monumental amount of effort goes into setting up for TED. This year’s iteration in Long Beach is no different. Construction of our stage started on Wednesday, and it wasn’t long before the entire Long Beach Performing Arts Center was full of the buzz of technicians, workers and artists getting ready for next week.

Artist and TED2013 speaker Jordy Fu (center, in green jacket) works on the installation of her cut-paper piece “Cloud” (2013) for the lobby of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Above her hangs Gabriel Dawe’s “Plexus C2,” installed for TED2012 and now part of the permanent collection at the LBPAC.

Hanging speaker signs in the lobby at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.

Reflections of the TED2013 speakers in the windows of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center

Photos: James Duncan Davidson (photos 1 and 3); Ryan Lash (photos 2 and 4)

8 views of Tirana, Albania — with its bright, multicolored buildings

Kate Torgovnick — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:17:23 +0000

A view of a street in Tirana, where the buildings have been splashed with color— for a political purpose. Photo: Merlin and Rebecca

Edi Rama — the mayor of Tirana, Albania, for 11 years — was an artist before a politician.

“I still paint. I love the joy that color can give to our lives and to our communities,” says Rama in today’s talk, filmed at TEDxThessaloniki. Edi Rama: Take back your city with paint“I try to bring something of the artist in me to my politics.”

Tirana, Albania’s capital city, was downtrodden when Rama took office. The city budget was squandered, corruption was rampant and crime was the norm. But Rama had an idea to raise the spirits of his town — he painted a grey building a bright orange.

As Rama set out to have more of the city painted in loud colors and bold designs, he met resistance from other countries in the European Union. He was asked to opt for more neutral colors.

“I told them no. Compromise in colors is grey,” explains Rama. “When colors came out everywhere, a mood of change started transforming the spirit of the people … People started to drop less litter in the streets. They started to pay taxes. They started to feel something they’d forgotten … Beauty was giving people a feeling of being protected. This was not a misplaced feeling — crime did fall.”

To hear more about the radical transformation of Tirana, and about Rama’s thoughts on how politicians are not all the same and can bring hope to people through seemingly small actions, watch his moving talk. And here, see just some of the buildings in Tirana that got the color treatment.

The first building in Tirana to get splashed with paint. Here is the before and after comparison. Photo: Edi Rama

The before and after of an apartment building. Photo: Edi Rama

Yet another gorgeously multicolored building. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr

Rama says, “As a result of the project, international artists turned whole living blocks in central Tirana into unique works of contemporary art. “ Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr

An undulating rainbow on the side of a building. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr

This building gets the block treatment. Photo: David Dufresne/Flickr

A building gets the blues. Photo: Merlin and Rebecca

Gallery: iO Tillett Wright examines the 50+ shades of gay

tedblogguest — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:19:40 +0000

Venus – New York. Venus is one of my favorite characters in the “grey” movement. She doesn’t confine herself within any labeled sexuality, but she is loud and proud of everything that she is. Venus is a well known DJ and party promoter, and she’s made a name for herself within the hip hop world, which she is helping evolve into a more accepting place.

iO Tillett Wright remembers the moment she decided to start living as a boy — age 6 when the kids at school barked at her that girls weren’t allowed to play basketball. As a teenager and adult, Tillett Wright went on to fall in love with a woman, and then to fall in love with a man.

iO Tillett Wright: Fifty shades of gay

As she reveals in today’s bold talk, while marriage was far from her mind in 2008 when California’s Proposition 8 sparked a national debate over gay marriage, the conversation still struck her like a punch.

“I was shocked by the fact that America, a country with such a tarnished civil rights record, could be repeating its mistakes so blatantly,” says Tillett Wright. “This powerful awareness rolled over me that I was a minority. In my own home country based on one facet of my character, I was legally and indisputably a second-class citizen … I was plagued by the question: how could anyone vote to strip the rights of the vast variety of the people that I knew? … Had these people consciously met a victim of their discrimination? Did they know who they were voting against?”

Tillett Wright had an idea: could she photographically introduce people against the idea of gay marriage to the vast number of people in the United State who consider themselves somewhere along the LBGTQ spectrum? She embarked on a series of photographs called Self-Evident Truths. The first two weeks of shooting in New York City were funded by the Human Rights Campaign, and the first 300 portraits spawned a video that quickly went viral. The project only exploded from there.

Now, Tillett Wright has set out to shoot 10,000 portraits for Self Evident Truths. So far, with the help of everyday donors, she has photographed about 2,000 people.

To hear more about Tillett Wright’s fascinating childhood, and about her hopes and dream for Self Evident Truth, watch her powerful talk. And in this gallery, Tillett Wright shares some of her favorite images from Self Evident Truths — along with the back story.

Jodi – Wichita Falls, Texas. Jodi’s family disowned her when they found out she was gay. She struck me as such a normal, average American girl — she works as an Abercrombie model at the mall, and was in her third year of college — but when a friend outed her, her religious parents kicked her out of the house, took her photos of the wall, quit paying her tuition, and started telling people her brother was an only child. Jodi suffers from arthritis, but her parents had her removed from their insurance despite that. It was such a powerful revelation for me, to understand the power that religion has within people — that it could drive them to legally divorce their own child.

Brian – New Orleans, Louisiana. When Brian showed up to the shoot, it was this big discussion about which one of the assistants was going to have to go and see if he actually knew what he was being photographed for, because he looked like such a straight manly man. But on his release form he put down “100% GAY”, and we all had to eat our stereotypes. Brian fell in love in high school, and lived with his partner for 20 years in Texas, until they broke up, about a year before this photo was taken. He had taken everything he owned and moved to New Orleans to start a new life, and was working at Mardi Gras zone. When he talked about his former lover his eyes would well up, and he referred to him as his “true love”. Brian taught me so much about how stereotypes of gay men as effeminate are a bunch of naive hogwash.

Alyss – Little Rock, Arkansas. Alyss, who identifies herself as pansexual, is the descendant of a long line of Pentecostal ministers, from a tiny little town in Arkansas. When she put on her MySpace that she thought she was bisexual, her mother grabbed her by the forehead and started praying over her in tongues. Alyss was told that she was no longer her parents’ daughter, and wasn’t welcome in their house anymore, and eventually, because she couldn’t stand being away from her family, she went back into the closet. Alyss was one of the most vibrant characters we met on our Southern tour.

Reverend Jill – Knoxville, Tennessee. Reverend Jill came to the Knoxville shoot with her long-time partner. They pulled me aside and told me how important it was that people know you can have a strong relationship with God, and still be gay. I thought that took tremendous courage, not only to be openly gay in a state like Tennessee, but to take on the religious battle as well. I had a lot of respect for them.

Chip – Atlanta, Georgia. Chip is a scientist and a skater. Again, when he started filling out his form, I almost wanted to double check that he knew what he was there for. It turns out he had gotten in touch with us weeks before, hoping we’d come and shoot in Atlanta. Chip was the only skateboarder who had ever come to be photographed, which kicked off a really interesting discussion about homophobia within the macho world of skateboarding, and how we could all help to reduce it.

Shannon & Willow – Denver, Colorado. Shannon came to the shoot with what I believe was her partner, and their two children, one of whom was in the arms of her biological father. The three adults had figured out a way to maintain a really healthy relationship with each other, and the kids were ecstatic, beautiful children. People come all the time asking to be photographed with the things that they are most proud of in their lives, so it makes me extremely happy when people bring their beautiful children and show that other than straight parents can do a damn good job too.

Carrie – Athens, Georgia. Carrie waited in a long line of people to be photographed in Athens, with long brown hair and glasses. We took a few photos and then she stopped me and asked if she should take her wig off. As soon as I saw her head, and what she was inclined to hide, I told her I thought she looked so powerful and beautiful without her wig. Instantly she straightened, planted her feet and came into her own skin. It was such a testament to the act of standing proud of who you are, be it about sexuality, or otherwise, and I’m really happy to have been able to see that in her.

Jamison – Dallas, Texas. Jamison truly just smacked me in the face with my own stereotypes about people. Before meeting him, and many like him, I had some preconceived, narrow view of what gay people looked like, (especially men) — even if it was a broad view by most standards. Jamison, a big, statuesque trucker from Texas taught me that I don’t know s*** from Christmas — other than straight people come in every shape and size possible. Jamison was a marker of growth for me.

Lauren – Knoxville, Tennessee. Lauren was so excited to participate in Self Evident Truths. A basketball player at the University of Tennessee, she sat on a curb for several hours during our first shooting day, and brought several of her teammates to be shot as well on the second. I gave a lecture at the school on the last day, and Lauren was there with an entire row of friends. After we left, we got an email from her saying that she had spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to contribute to society, and maybe it had to do with a public persona. Via the project she realized her contribution could have to do with her pride in her true self. She was so proud of coming into her own. Sadly, a few weeks later, we got an email from someone in the UT athletics department, telling us to take down all the images of their players.