Ushahidi — a crisis-tracking tool with roots in TEDGlobal 2007 — has been awarded a $200,000 grant for development from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Ushahidi mapping tool was developed by Erik Hersman, Ory Okolloh and Juliana Rotich, who’d met as TED Fellows at the 2007 TEDGlobal conference in Arusha, Tanzania, […]
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 […]
Alex Tabarrok is co-author of hit economics blog Marginal Revolution. At TED2009, he talked about how a lesson from 1929 teaches us that ideas trump economic crises. The TED Blog interviewed Tabarrok over the phone to find out what else makes him optimistic about the future of economic development: What do you say to the […]
We’re on to our second week of picking our favorite comments from the pile, and it already seems to be getting harder. Your voices are many, and your quips are witty. Here are the long deliberated choices: On Shai Agassi’s TEDTalk: A bold plan for mass adoption of electric cars: Brilliant. Persuasive. Visionary. I’m not […]
Shai Agassi has a record of accomplishing huge tasks in record time — from completing his college degree by 18 to founding several successful software companies before 30. In recent years, he has shifted his intense focus to the global problem of climate change. He discusses his blow-by-blow plan to propagate the electric car in […]
TEDIndia’s Lakshmi Pratury will be interviewing two TED speakers next week in the Bay Area: + March 30, 2009, hear TED2009 speaker Nandan Nilekani, the founder of Infosys and the author of Imagining India, at the Crowne Plaza Cabana in Palo Alto, 6:30-8pm. Tickets: $15 members, $25 nonmembers. Premium tickets (includes reception, book and priority […]
Architecture for Humanity wants your ideas and designs for the classrooms of the future. Their 2009 Open Architecture Challenge invites students, teachers and architects to submit their designs for classrooms in the places that need them most. You don’t have to be a licensed architect, just submit the best possible plans and they’ll find you […]
To say that Richard Pyle is a multifaceted personality is an understatement. He is a world-renowned diver, evolutionary biologist, dive technology pioneer, database developer and author. But all his talents have grown to facilitate one love — fish. His 2004 TEDTalk shows how he pushes the boundaries of diving in his endeavor to document new species. In […]
And here’s the much-discussed Q&A between Bill Gates and TED’s Chris Anderson, which follows Gates’ brand-new TEDTalk. Listen for the answers to more big questions: http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf Download the Q&A here: Bill Gates + Chris Anderson Q&A (Standard MP4) Bill Gates + Chris Anderson Q&A (Hi-Res MP4) Bill Gates + Chris Anderson Q&A (Zipped MP4) Read […]
Ethan Zuckerman is at it again, and those prolific postings we promised you are live and waiting for your eager eyes. Here’s an excerpt: “Seth Godin is a marketer who wants to change the world. Specifically, he’d like everyone – Saul, you, and me – to start movements to change the world. And Seth thinks […]
TEDGlobal 2009, to be held in Oxford, UK, is titled “The Substance of Things Not Seen,” and will feature more than 40 remarkable speakers presenting over the course of four days, from July 21-24, 2009. “TEDGlobal is TED’s twin conference, with the same focus on identifying novel voices and bringing to the stage inspired ideas, […]
At the LIFT Conference, in Geneva, Sugata Mitra discusses his “Hole in the Wall” project in India, which proved that kids, without education or instruction, can figure out how to use a PC on their own — and then teach other kids. Given this, he asks, what else can children teach themselves? (Recorded January 2007 […]
The “happiest man in the world,” Matthieu Ricard balances his Buddhist contemplation of happiness (watch his TEDTalk on the habits of happiness) with an active life as a humanitarian in the Himalayas. Learn more about his projects — and get involved — at the new website for his Karuna-Shechen foundation. Karuna-Shechen brings medical help and […]
Anthropologist Wade Davis muses on the worldwide web of belief and ritual that makes us human. He shares breathtaking photos and stories of the Elder Brothers, a group of Sierra Nevada Indians whose spiritual practice holds the world in balance. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 19:12.) Watch Wade Davis’s talk on TED.com, […]
If you’ve seen Wade Davis’s unforgettable 2004 TED Talk — where he evokes the magic of the world’s cultural diversity, and speaks so eloquently about the alarming rate with which cultures and languages are dying — then you might find this photo as heart-stopping as I did. It’s so surreal, I thought at first it […]
Pangea Day bloggers are on the ground at the 6 live broadcast locations around the world, and reports are starting to come in. Reporting from Rio de Janeiro, Saralena and Claire write, We just touched down after an overnight journey from New York City — and are completely struck by the beauty of the city. […]