Wherefore Raspberry Pi?: Eben Upton at TEDGlobal 2013Fifteen months ago, a small device called Raspberry Pi was put on the market. Despite the glut of gleaming, do-everything devices available today, this credit-card sized, £25, Linux-run computer with nothing but a microprocessor, 512MB RAM, some ports and an SD card slot has sold more than 1 mllion pieces since its launch. What’s it […]
Tech Impact: The speakers in session 11 at TEDGlobal 2013Technology is such an integral part of everyday life, it can be hard to remember how far we’ve come — and how fast. This session at TEDGlobal 2013 introduces a cadre of technological innovators who are helping to change the world yet further–and thinking about the implications of technology on society at large. Here are […]
Want to see real innovation? Check out Africa: Toby Shapshak at TEDGlobal 2013The publisher and editor of the South African edition of Stuff magazine, Toby Shapshak is here to challenge our perceptions of his home continent. First, he asks us, who bought a pay-as-you-go SIM card on arriving in Edinburgh? Hands wave. “You’re using African technology,” he says proudly. “‘Pay-as-you-go’ was an idea pioneered in Africa by Vodacom […]
Forces of Change: The speakers in session 9 of TEDGlobal 2013In George Ayittey’s classic TED Talk from 2007, he describes two factions in Africa toggling for control — the “hippo generation,” the ruling elites riddled with corruption and inaction, and the “cheetah generation,” the fast-moving entrepreneurial leaders with the ability to create change. This session — guest hosted by TED Fellows Adrian Hong (who works […]
Tim Exile remixes the Papandreou protest with classical guitar and beatsTim Exile is at TEDGlobal this week, collecting noise. You see, he’s a UK-based electronic music producer and is putting together a few tracks based on sounds in and around the conference. On Tuesday, he went outside the theater to record the protesters rallying against George Papandreou’s politics. Then, mixing their chants with the words from Papandreou’s […]
Nature revealed: Biodiversity in 3D: Greg Asner at TEDGlobal 2013Greg Asner closes Session 2 of TEDGlobal 2013, “Those Flying Things,” with a very different vision of the Earth. We spend a lot of time, money and resources conserving nature, yet, as Asner points out, we know absurdly little about it. Which is why, in an effort to advance our knowledge about biodiversity, he founded […]
The space between photo and video: Blaise Agüera y Arcas at TEDGlobal 2013On a tablet, Blaise Agüera y Arcas takes us on a walk through Edinburgh Castle, less than a mile from the TEDGlobal 2013 theater. With a swipe of his finger, we fly through the 15th-century castle — people and objects dissolving as we go — as if we were in a scene from a movie orchestrated by […]
Conservation drones in the field: Lian Pin Koh at TEDGlobal 2013At TEDGlobal 2013 environmental systems researcher Lian Pin Koh presents a new and unexpectedly benign use for drones: nature conservation. Nepal has natural landscapes that are beautiful — and in danger. But wildlife conservation is costly, and time- and labor-consuming. Behold: Conservation drones, a new tool being used in Nepal to combat wildlife crime. These […]
Those Flying Things: The speakers in Session 2 at TEDGlobal 2013When it comes to drones, a lot of ideas float in the ether. Technologists see potential for flying machines to help us in all sorts of unexpected ways, governments take measures that seem hard and fixed, and meanwhile the media oversimplifies and dramatizes the issue. The conversation on drones is ever changing — especially with […]
TED Global newsmakers: Raspberry Pi goes to spaceA raspberry has now gone where no raspberry has (presumably) gone before. The photo of the Earth’s curvature above was not taken with an expensive camera aboard a rocket. No, it was taken using a Raspberry Pi — the $25 single-board computer — and a Raspberry Pi camera, a new low-cost peripheral that started shipping […]
A library revolution, started in part by Jane McGonigal’s TED TalkLibraries are generally where you go to check out books; not where you go if you want to write one. This is an old assumption that Librii — a concept for a community-based, digitally-enhanced series of libraries in the developing world — would like to flip on its head. TED speaker Jane McGonigal has given […]
Only connect!: Fellows Friday with Erik Hersman, on the rise of his go-anywhere modem BRCKFive years ago, the non-profit tech company Ushahidi exploited existing technology to create a powerful platform that allowed users to crowdsource crisis information sent over SMS. Now the Kenyan company is set to do the same with the BRCK, a wireless, rugged, battery-powered modem ready for any environment. As the BRCK’s Kickstarter campaign gathers steam, Ushahidi […]
Our thoughts on using Google Glass so far, plus videos that show what it can doIn today’s talk, Sergey Brin of Google shares the idea that motivated the development of Google Glass: that while smartphones inherently take us away from experiencing the real world, there could be a device that allows for a digitally-mediated experience within it. As Google heads into day three of its I/O developer conference in San […]
21 everyday objects you can hack, from a bacon sandwich to a pencil to your catMaKey MaKey — the kit that encourages you to rig a banana piano or control a video game with pencil-etchings — was one of the most successful projects on Kickstarter in 2012. The project raised 2, 272% of its goal in 30 days, bringing in a cool half million from excited makers. Today’s TED Talk […]
Urinalysis: There’s now an app for thatIt may not be glamorous, but it’s true – each year, urinary tract infections lead to more than 9 million doctor visits in the United States alone. But the infection can now be tested for through an iPhone app — uChek — developed by TEDFellow Myshkin Ingawale. This app could also be an effective tool […]
