“I think I speak for all writers, when I say that I am delighted by marketing efforts of any sort.” — Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell, commenting in The Guardian on film-style trailers for books, being released online by publishers to build demand for new titles
Re-watching Majora Carter reminded me of another project committed to green spaces in the inner city; Guerrilla Gardening, people who go and garden in neglected public spaces, without permission but with generosity and humour. They find abandoned, unregarded bits of urban environment, sneak in at night and do some planting, some maintenance and eventually some […]
(From The Guardian)
Aubrey de Grey‘s claims that aging can be defeated, which he voiced at TEDGLOBAL last year and at TED2006, "exist in a kind of antechamber of science, where they wait (possibly in vain) for independent verification". While they "don’t compel the assent of many knowledgeable scientists", they’re also "not demonstrably wrong". That’s the overall (in)conclusion […]
From Wired‘s July issue: A charming Q + A with 2006 TEDPrize winner Larry Brilliant, recently appointed Director of the $1B Google Foundation. Along with solving some of the world’s biggest problems, Brilliant cites another ambitious goal: changing the famous Google mantra ‘Don’t be evil’ to "Do something really, really, really good."
Today we add another voice to the TEDBlog: TEDster Russell Davies, who begins his TEDBlogging career with a post incorporating not one, but two past TED speakers (Edward Tufte and Hans Rosling), linking them to not one but two current events (Tufte’s new book, Rosling’s TEDTalk). Impressive. We’re great fans of Russell’s own blog, russelldavies.com, […]
Edward Tufte is deeply suspicious of presentation software. Hans Rosling makes it sing. And they’re both right. In the wrong hands PowerPoint can bore you, mislead you or far, far worse. In the right ones it can inform and illuminate. Mr Tufte (a TED veteran) makes his case and tells us much more in his […]
In the words of Swiss technophilosopher René Berger, "It’s becoming impossible not to visit with Google daily". But when you do, what do you visit exactly? In other words: what does a search engine really look like? It actually looks like this: This picture of Google’s new server farm in The Dalles, Oregon was published […]
Just got back from a screening of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” an entertaining documentary – opening this week in NY and LA – chronicling the remarkable story of the little car that couldn’t: the GM EV1. I had the privilege of visiting the film crew on location, in the summer of 2004, mere days […]
I admit it: When I first saw the reviews for Phaidon Design Classics, I was hoping this authoritative 3-volume set would turn out to be over-rated. I live in New York, I have a book-buying problem, and I just don’t have the room for yet another “essential” reference. But it looks like I’ll be clearing […]
Some of the best-loved TV ads can hold their own as short films, with compelling characters, surprising twists, emotional resonance … and maybe a mariachi band. For example: Pac-Man Puppet Show, an exceedingly endearing ad, which may well be the sweetest spot we highlighted at TED2006. Created for Gametap by Mullen (Wenham, MA), and filmed […]
Starting this week, we add a new pen to our TEDBlog team: Bruno Giussani, who kicked off his tenure yesterday with a piece on rogue gerontologist Aubrey deGrey. Bruno left us all in awe with his nearly minute-by-minute coverage of TED2006, and was producer of last year’s TEDGlobal in Oxford, UK. Based in Switzerland, he […]
Yes, it is true that Chris Bliss does not have a McCarthur Genius Award like TED alumni Michael Moschen. Nor is he as funny as TED mainstays, the Raspyni Brothers. But Bliss did warm up for Michael Jackson on the "Victory Tour" and he can juggle a mean routine to the Golden Slumbers Medley. Check […]
There’s been a lot of talk in TED HQ lately about The Show. That is, Ze Frank’s show. The one he writes, films and posts each weekday, as a result of a New Year’s resolution. (Many of you will remember Ze’s resolutions from TED2005). With this new daily format, Ze’s really hit his stride. But […]
Could someone with the proper scientific credentials please stand up and tell us whether Aubrey de Grey’s claim that we can defeat aging has any credibility? That’s the challenge put forth by the MIT Technology Review last summer – and a few people did stand up. The dispute is not resolved yet, but the controversy […]
Could digitized analog be the new black? From Pixar’s incredible Zoetrope to the time-lapse interstitial films we saw between sessions at TED 2006, capturing analog events on digital media suddenly seems a lot more interesting and compelling than slick computer graphics or a carefully manicured piece of Photoshop wizardry. I think it has something to […]