Patricia Ryans; Don't Insist On English!

Patricia Ryans has been teaching English in the middle east for decades. In her time as a teacher she has learned as well. In this talk she says that it is good that the world has a global language (English) but there are consequences that must be recognized.


An example of where Patricia Ryans message is being heard

Franklin Matters

Her speech translated into 32 different languages!

Dot Sub

The entire script of Ryans talk

Code Spanish

Tom Chatfield - 7 Ways Games Reward The Brain

Tom Chatfield

"7 ways games reward the brain"

In this talk, Tom Chatfield starts with talking about the rise in popularity in video games that create a virtual world, such as "Second Life" and "World of Warcraft". This is accented by the fact he brings up that 8 billion dollars worldwide are spent on virtual items that only exist in these games. He then goes into how game designers make the games engaging by taking tasks, such as collecting 15 of something, and manipulating them so they prove to be not too easy and not too frustrating. This is done by adjusting probability of items appearing by how far the player is in the game, adding additional items to keep the gamer engaged, and so on. Chatfield then lists seven ways that games engage their players; experience bars measuring progress, multiple long and short-term goals, rewards for effort, rapid and frequent feedback, an element of uncertainty, windows of enhanced attention, and interactions with other people. He then goes on to say that many fields in the world, such as business and education, could fix some of the problems they have by integrating some of these ways that video games engage their players.

I got a lot out of this talk. I am a huge game player myself, and agree with him on how these games can be very engaging. And I also think a lot of real-world fields could learn from video games on how to be more engaging. As a specific example, I have found computer technology classes that were completely based on lecture to be very difficult to learn from, as they lost my attention fast. I feel I get more out of a class when I'm able to explore the subject hands-on. It's much more engaging than listening to a lecture. I think people could definitely learn something from how reward systems in games work.

Amazon listing for Tom Chatfield's book

A description of a book by Chatfield about how gaming is becoming pervasive in many other areas of media and life.

Tom Chatfield's blog

The official blog of Tom Chatfield, with entries on various topics including speculation on gaming and technology.

The Education Arcade

An organization exploring games that make learning engaging.

David Merrill demos Siftables

Siftables: David Merrill

This TEDTalk features an innovative idea from MIT Media labs and Sifteo called Siftables. This demo is presented by David Merrill co-founder of Sifteo.



Siftables are an educational, fun and interactive device. Siftables are basically small cubes each with its own LED screen, that when stacked, shaken, flipped or rotated will interact with any other Siftable touching it. The Siftables interact with each other via wireless signal and can communicate on all sides.

From an educational stand point these tiny cubes can teach the user different educational subjects such as math, reading and colors and design. As well, you can even connect the Siftables to a TV and go through an interactive story or even create your own by removing and adding Siftables into the mix.



Links Related to TEDTalk on Siftables:

- IGN: Is Sifteo the Future of Gaming?

This link talks about the applied gaming aspects of the Siftables and how it could change the way people play games.

- ArsTechnica: Exploring Siftables: the blocks that play back

This article goes over David Merrills talk at TED and also tells a bit more about the technical aspects of the device.

- Engadget: MIT's Siftables let you juggle your data... for real

This article talks about the development of the Siftable in the MIT LABS. Again goes into technical features of the device. However this link provides a video from the MIT labs instead of the TED talk about the Siftables.

Tim Berners-Lee on the Next Web

Linked Data -Tim Berners-Lee

Summary:

The internet can go beyond links to documents. It can be filled with links to data. Linked data is the next step in web evolution, and that is explained and demanded by Tim.

I really enjoyed the speech. It was inspiring in a way. His explanation of the data linking itself could have been better if he spent more time on it, but that was not his main goal. His main goal was to have people understand that there will be so many opportunities opened up with this next step in the internet. The most impressive thing to me was the fact that everyone would be a contributor to the vast pool of data, even in the smallest, simplest amounts.

Tim Berners-Lee

Short Bio on Tim, as well as articles, talks, etc.

Network Designer Tim Berners-Lee - Time

Time Magazine Article talking about the internet, how things have changed, and what role Tim played in it.

Web Creator Tim Berners-Lee: Internet Access Is A Human Right

A Huffington Post article where Berners-Lee basically says access to the internet is essential for anyone in the modern world.

Clay Shirky: How cognitive surplus will change the world

Clay Shirky: How cognitive surplus will change the world


Clay Shirky looks at "cognitive surplus" -- the shared, online work we do with our spare brain cycles. While we're busy editing Wikipedia, posting to Ushahidi (and yes, making LOLcats), we're building a better, more cooperative world.

I wasn’t aware of the term cognitive surplus before watching this and I find it fascinating. I do find it interesting that we as humans are always finding ways to create and contribute to our world weather or not we are getting paid for it.

Clay Shirky on institutions vs. collaboration
shows how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles and fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning.

Cognitive Surplus: eh what?
a blog about Shirkys book cognitive surplus by Shona Ghosh.

Cognitive Surplus
a blog about Shirkys book cognitive surplus by Jonah Lehrer.

Steven Levitt Analyzes Crack Economics

Steven Levitt

"Steven Levitt Analyzes Crack Economics"

In this talk, Steven Levitt discusses what he found out when an associate of his did research with a crack-dealing street gang. He begins with the history of the crack epidemic starting in the early '80s. Crack was a drug that generated a lot of revenue due to its unique high, and a stereotype has emerged of crack dealing being lucrative and making people rich. Levitt then shows that the hierarchy of a gang is similar to a chain of McDonalds. The area leader can make hundreds of thousands of dollars, while a dealer on the lowest level (known as a foot soldier) only makes an average of 3.50 per hour. Unlike a McDonalds, dealers on the lowest level don't get promoted to higher levels, and the gang leaders stay as the gang leaders, leaving no room for other dealers to rise. Levitt also points out that crack dealing has a seven percent probability of dying rate per each year a dealer is in a gang. Levitt then concludes his talk by comparing and contrasting some scholarly economic theories with some of the observations the gang members made about their economics, all in colorful street language; for example, taking financial losses is more frowned upon than in legitimate business, as the dealer doesn't want to look "weak as shit".

I was really impressed with this talk. I have had experiences with drug dealers in the past, and I noticed most of them brag about making money more than they can actually flaunt the money they made. In the talk, Levitt mentions about how the drug leaders can manipulate future gang members by leasing the fancy cars they drive instead of being able to own them; drug dealers are often extremely manipulative, who can convince others they can make a lot of money, when they really intend to make sure they never get bigger than them. This is a good wake-up call for anyone who thinks joining a gang and selling drugs is lucrative; it's not.

Freakonomics website

An official site for Steven Levitt's book Freakonomics, which is about using economic theories unconventionally to explain real-world problems and events.

Steven Levitt Wikipedia page

The Wikipedia page about Steven Levitt, summarizing his life and career, including his statistical analyzing of crime in America.

Gangs or Us article, "Crips, Bloods, and Crack"

A brief history of the rise of crack cocaine in the early '80s and the wars between the competing Bloods and Crips gangs.

Nathan Myhrvold: Could This Laser Zap Malaria?

Could This Laser Zap Malaria? Nathan Myhrvold



This TED talk started with Nathan showing a container for vaccines that his company invented that can preserve a vaccine for up to six months without power instead of the typical 4 hours like the current ones do.

The talk then shifted to Malaria and how it spreads by mosquitoes. He showed another invention that has the ability to zap a mosquito out of the sky with a laser. This laser can listen to the wing beat of a mosquito and determine if it is male or female. The device will only kill the females as they are the ones that carry the Malaria virus. However, the TED demo didn't show the laser killing any mosquitoes. It only showed how the laser targeting system worked. At the end of the talk, Nathan did show a video which showed the laser blowing the mosquitoes out of the sky.

The most significant thing that I learned from the video was how many people die from Malaria. One child in Africa dies every 43 seconds from Malaria.

Intellectual Ventures
Nathan Myhrvold is the Founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures.

New York Times Article
The Mosquito laser was featured in an article on the New York Times.

The Art and Science of Cooking.
Nathan Myhrvold has also helped write a cookbook: The Art and Science of Cooking.