Tuesday, April 19, 2011
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.
The official blog of Tom Chatfield, with entries on various topics including speculation on gaming and technology.
An organization exploring games that make learning engaging.
David Merrill demos Siftables
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
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.
An official site for Steven Levitt's book Freakonomics, which is about using economic theories unconventionally to explain real-world problems and events.
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?
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.
Bono's calls action for Africa - a Global Emergency.
What Bono basically talks about in this video, is how technology has closed the gap between dreaming and doing. Bono would like to see them same obstoblics, constraints been overcome in the political world. Barriers been overturned in Africa like barriers been overturned in the Digital World. Bono talks about Africa, Human Rights, Aids in Africa, Famine, hunger and how nothing is done about it and change is needed. It's a global emergency.
I totally agree with Bono, so much has happened to the people of Africa for far to long and yet the world is slow to act. We seat back and watch but our governments do little or nothing to rid the people of those countries from hunger, famine, aids and dictators. Who will stop at nothing to keep themselves in power. Maybe if Africa had a wealth of oil, it would be all so different.
Three interesting links associated with Bono:
A song released worldwide "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984, to raise funds and money for famine relief in Ethiopia Africa which Bono sang on.
Amnesty International is a world wide organization that works to protect human rights worldwide. A blog link to another of Bono's messages.
Brief Description of Link: Live Aid, rock concerts that were held, throughout the world in 1985 to help raise money for famine stricken Africa. Organized by another famous Irish man, Sir Bob Geldof.
Before Avatar...a curious boy - James Cameron
James Cameron as a boy was always fascinated with science fiction, always imagining what it'd be like to explore outer space, hence why he would make the movies he is known for doing. Throughout his career in film making, he realized he then wanted to explore the deep blue seas of earth and witness things he could never imagine himself. Realizing later on throughout his life that he had finally made one round loop of always imagining what it'd be like to explore new worlds, to actually doing it.
I enjoyed James Cameron's ted talk about doing the things throughout his career he would only imagine and draw and write about. Being able to respect the process of doing the task, challenging yourself to do better, imagination which helps manifest a reality. I like that he advices never to limit yourself, because other people will do that for you, and to take risks. "Whatever it is, failure is an option, fear is not."
James Cameron: Director
James Cameron's small bio of his career in film to developing new technologies like the 3-D Fusion Camera System.
James Cameron Bio
This is another more in-depth bio of James Cameron and his background, early career, his films and his life.
James Cameron and 3D
James Cameron predicts about the use of 3D movies and camera will be dominant within the next 5 years.
Mike Rowe Celebrates dirty Jobs
Celebrates dirty jobs
http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_rowe_celebrates_dirty_jobs.html
Filmed Dec 2008 – Posted Mar 2009
Mike talks about a moment of “Parapatia and Anagnorisis”. Parapatia is the discoveries that lead to sudden realization and Angorisis ignorance to knowledge. How he had a moment of this on his show and how he lived in ignorance to what he was taught to think than to how he should think.
I loved the talk, but I love anything Mike Rowe. It was fun to listen to and informational about how we need to change the way we look at the big picture in life. Just because we are told to believe something one way doesn’t always mean it’s the right way. Also he hit a big one for me in trade school decline over the years as technology takes hold. Are we becoming more technical or are we becoming lazier in my generation? Like Mike said “what about the good ol’ days and the stuff of grandparents.”
Three links associated with the individual or talk with the following information of each
Name of Link:
Discovery Channel
URL of link:
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/bio/bio.html
Brief Description of Link:
Gives the low down on Mike and all the jobs he has had on the way to Dirty Jobs. Also gives a brief summary and a link to Mike’s personal website he created to bring awareness to skilled labor, hard work and the steadily declining enrollment in technical collages and trade schools. He launched this site on Labor Day 2008.
Image credits DCC and copy write 2011 Discovery Communications, LLC. (Discovery channel.com)
Name of Link:
mikeroweWORKS
URL of link:
http://www.mikeroweworks.com/
Brief Description of Link:
“For decades, we have put a premium on a four year degree, and told an entire generation that Trade Schools and Skilled Labor are “alternatives” to “higher education”. That attitude is warping expectations, wrecking opportunities and destroying our country.” Mike Rowe
Amazing website! Mike has everything from politics to the scouts on his site, trying to bring jobs to the American worker and the awareness to these jobs. I see it the other way around, trying to bring American jobs to the worker. Mike has some great quotes that really make you think about where our country is today.
Name of Link:
IMDb The Internet Movie Database
URL of link:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1192046
Brief Description of Link:
Link has birth statistics and links to video clips of what mike has done. Good page for finding related links to Mike Rowe.
Roger Ebert: "Remaking my Voice"
A few years ago, Film Critic Roger Ebert was
stricken with a terrible bout of Cancer that could
have ultimately killed him had his jaw not been removed.
This came as a blow to Ebert, since he was a self described
motor mouth all his life. The talk was how the Internet and the
digital age has granted him the ability to speak
and communicate as never before.
Mr. Ebert goes into detail about how our digital age has given men like him
the opportunity to not be trapped in their own mind like so many
have been before we gained the ability to text, Skype, Twitter, and Facebook.
There are many foolish and ignorant people who believe the internet is pulling
us apart day by day. But Ebert says that he could not possibly exist without it.
Links:
Ebert's Twitter Page- He is most active here, when not reviewing new films.
His Page on the Chicago Sun-Times Page- He is still actively reviewing films, which you can read here.
His new show "Ebert Presents At The Movies"- He is the producer and often contributes one of his own reviews to the show.
Hans Rosling Shows the Best Stats You've Ever Seen
Volunteer Firefighter
Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic genius of babies
How and when do children learn best.
Fascinating. "Your Baby Can Read" is a hoax. Only through direct human interaction will babies learn to read and speak. This has been a question some of my friends have wondered about.
UofW Biography
Background information on speaker
Cracking the Speach Code: Language and the infant Brain
Lecture given on the subject
Infant Science
2005 Seattle Times magazine article about the findings
Chris Bangle, great cars are Art
Chris Bangle gives his philosophy on car design as an art form. The talk discusses that the only way for someone to create anything grate is if they truly love what they are doing. using a team to generate ideas about design needs trust.
BMW automobiles
http://www.bmw.com/
This site has a total inventory of all BMW car designs from before during and after Chris Bangles tenure as the Chief of Design at BMW
Chris Bangle Associates
http://chrisbangleassociates.com/
A deeper look into the artwork and car designs created by him and his team.
InnovationManagement
http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2011/04/14/chris-bangle-on-innovation/
This site gives an overview of Chris Bangle's career after he became the Chief Designer at BMW from the early 1990s to his leaving BMW in 2009 to forum his own design association.
Innovating to Zero - Bill Gates
Dean Kamen Previews a New Prosthetic Arm
Dean_Kamen_Previews_a_New_Prosthetic_Arm
In this talk, Mr. Kamen talks about a new prosthetic arm for America's soldiers after 1,600 of the returning troops had returned missing limbs. The task is to create a prosthetic limb that is capable of picking up on nerve impulses and moving accordingly.
After watching the Amber Case Cyborg Anthropology video here, I was searching for more talks that are somewhat related. I felt that prosthetic arms fit quite well in this topic. I feel that the use of these arms will be quite significant in the future. The video of the limb was extremely impressive.
Below are three links to articles related to Mr. Kamen:
Dean Kamen is the founder of Deka Research and development.
Kamen is also the founder of FIRST, an organization with the intention of inspiring today's youth to get involved with technology.
Wikipedia article of Dean Kamen, most known for the invention of the Segway.
Rob Dunbar on discovering Ancient Climates in Oceans and Ice
Ted MacCready Nature vs. Humans
Ted MacCready
Nature vs. Humans filmed Feb 1998 posted Oct. 2008
http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_maccready_on_nature_vs_humans.html
I thought this talk was great, Paul really had some amazing information on the population growth and the effects we have on the earth. It is truly an eye opener when you listen to him talk about the percentages of natural animals other than livestock and pets. We as humans are 97% of the population with are pets and livestock, when natural animals are only 3%. The population of people when this talk was filmed was only at 25%, which is a huge increase. Paul is working on the creation of small surveillance planes and small aircraft that uses natural resource such as wind, solar and human power, also small batteries. Paul MacCready is known for the Gossamer Condor that he built back in the 70’s. It is a light weight plane that flew by man power its self. It was the first plane of its kind to fly the figure eight course. Paul MacCready believes we need to ‘do more with less with technology and nature in balance”.
Here is a great quote by Paul
“Over billions of years, on a unique sphere, chance has painted a thin covering of life—complex, improbable, wonderful, and fragile.
Suddenly we humans, (a recently arrived species no longer subject to the checks and balances inherent in nature), have grown in population, technology and intelligence to a position of terrible power: we now wield the paintbrush.”
Name of Link:
Wired.com
URL of link:
http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/08/0823gossamer-condor-human-powered-flight/
Brief Description:
Tells about the history of the Gossamer Condor that Paul MacCready built and who flew it for what. Has blogs on the bottom of the page from people who wanted to comment, But don’t know for sure if the info is accurate.
Name of Link:
Academy of Achievement
URL of link:
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/mac0gal-1
Brief Description of Link:
I like this link because it has a nice bit of information about the things Paul achieved in his life. This link has it all. Under the picture of Paul you can go to his profile, biography, interview, and photo gallery.
I trust the information on this page because it was copy righted by the American Academy of Achievements from 1996-2011 and sponsored by The Katherine B. Reynolds Foundation.
Name of Link:
EV WORLD the future in motion
URL of link:
http://www.evworld.com/article.afm?stroyid=1052
Brief Description of Link:
EV WORLD copy righted 1998-2011 EVWorld.com Inc. reissued an interview with Paul MacCready in memory of his life and great achievements. It’s nice to ho see an interview this long and in depth to be able to see what and why he was inspired by.
There is spot on the bottom of the interview where u can “explore content”, you click on the word or words that catch your interest from the article and it takes you to a page with a list of websites that involve that particular object. Such as the “electric superbike”.
Eythor Bende, Demos Human Exoskeletons.
http://berkeleybionics.com/
Eythor demos 2 exoskeletons on stage at TED.
seeing a person that was fully functioned being able to walk with little aid is amazing.
Military Exoskeleton Soldier
http://www.tacticalwarfightergear.com/tacticalgear/catalog/soldier_exoskeleton.php
this link leads to the military side of the exoskeleton.
Cyberdyne
http://www.cyberdyne.jp/english/index.html
Company's front page this company is the japanese leader in powered exoskeletons a video of the japanese exoskeleton mentioned that the finished product would be primarily sold to the japan's NHC for use in hospitals.
Iron Man Suits, for Real?
http://blogs.discovery.com/good_idea/2008/05/iron-man-suits.html
an article fallowing the DARPA funded research for a powered exoskeleton and the japanese research for medical applications of this new technology.
Amber Case: We are all cyborgs now
Technology is evolving us, says Amber Case, as we become a screen-staring, button-clicking new version of homo sapiens. We now rely on "external brains" (cell phones and computers) to communicate, remember, even live out secondary lives. But will these machines ultimately connect or conquer us? Case offers surprising insight into our cyborg selves.
I thought the part about techno social worm holes was fascinating. Basically it’s about how people aren’t physically transporting themselves but are mentally transporting themselves through technology. connecting at an instant. Its something I think about on occasion how it is so easy to contact other people now compared to our not so distant past and how we are so connected with technology now that it is almost vital for us to live.
cyborganthropology.com
website dedicated to cyborg anthropology
TedWomen: Amber Case on Cyborg Anthropology
an interview with Amber Case
Cyborg anthropologist Amber Case, the Technoccult interview
an interview with Amber Case
I,Cyborg
Article in Portland Mercury
Cynthia Breazeal: The Rise of Personal Robots
Cynthia Breazeal and her team at MIT are building and training robots to interact with people. In this TED talk, she shows a variety of different robots being developed and how they can be used as an important new scientific tool.
Some of the different types of robots featured were a robot diet coach, an interactive robot video game for kids, and a robotic attachment to a cellphone that lets the users communicate hand gestures.
My favorite robot featured was Leonard. It was particularly interesting to see how he reacted to something he was unfamiliar with, a cookie monster puppet. His reaction when he is told that Cookie Monster is bad and scary and wants to take all of Leonard's cookies is awesome.
The most significant thing that I learned from the talk is that people seem to react very positively toward social robots. In the case of the robot diet coach the people interacting with the robot had much better results than the group using a simple computer program. One of the reasons for this is that people trusted the robot more.
Cynthia Breazeal's Website
Dr. Cynthia Breazeal's Website with information about her research and the robots she and her students have developed.
MIT Media Lab: Personal Robots Group
This is the website for the Personal Robots Group at MIT. Here you can see all the different robots that are being developed by them as well as other information about the group.
NOVA scienceNOW: Social Robots
A clip from NOVA on PBS about Social Robots. This video shows several different social robots that are being developed, highlighting how realistic they are becoming. This is a must see!
Watch the full episode. See more NOVA scienceNOW.
Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian Revolution
This is a man that saw the potential of the communication age and used it to its full extent. The Facebook page entitled "We Are All Khaled Said" that Wael Ghonim created helped to inspire a revolution in Egypt that toppled the government. His speech in this tedtalks reveals why the information age will eventually spell the end of dictatorships and tyrants world wide.
Having helped spark the Revolution in Egypt, Ghonim continues to promote the future of Egypt.
Ghonim Still Active in Egyptian Politics
Ghonim emotionally says that he is not a hero.
Interviews With Ghonim
A brief overview who Ghonim is and what he has done.