NICE POST FROM ETHAN ZUCKERMAN

If you guys haven't checked out the other blogs from TED, I would suggest you do. Ethan Zuckerman has a great post addressing some issues that are coming up about TED in the blogisphere (smugness, exclusiveness, etc.) I think he's onto something with his post. The only thing I will add is to agree that like Tom and Ethan I am not a star, or rich and furthermore most of the people – the vast majority of people – I know at TED are not either. We all have exactly two things in common: we love ideas and we're lucky enough to attend.

BEN ZANDER PROVIDES THE DEFINITIVE TED MOMENT

Every year there is a TED moment. We all talk about it. It might be something grand like Bill Stone announcing his plan to put a gas-station in space or simple like learning how to tie your shoes properly. This year it was singing in German with Benjamin Zander. Here's a taste of Zander's brilliance. This is nowhere near as electrifying as the TED experience so stay tuned to TED.com for his talk. Also posted is a vlog from Tom, who I met at the beach party after TED. He sums it up nicely.

LOOK FOR MORE THIS WEEK

The three of us got caught up in the wonder of the last two days. There is a lot to blog about, but frankly we didn't want to split our attention from TED and now we're all in transit. I will be posting quite a bit next week, and I think Dave and Todd will as well. Cheers fuckers.

Don

MUSHROOMS AND CROWS

What an incredible session. Paul Stamets completely re-arranged my thinking about some of our biggest environmental problem (his site). Joshua Klein a self-described technology hacker, hacks crows. Changing their behavior and opening up new possibilities in human animal interface.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

Good news:
Life expectancy is increasing 5 hours every day.

Bad news:
Age-related chronic illness is the next global epidemic.

YET ANOTHER REASON I LOVE THE YEARLY TED CONFERENCE.

Meeting my heroes.

FROM THE DEVELOPERS OF GUITAR HERO

Hyperscore.

Music software that lets anyone compose music. The first music software program
designed to teach students and adults how to compose music simply by drawing
lines on the screen.

SOME PEOPLE FEAR CLOWNS.

Me?

Jugglers.

Oh, and puppets.

I'm just saying.

"SOUND BITES"

Language is a parasite that we've adapted to... Susan Blackmore, noted meme memer

There's nothing to make an English man shit faster than a picture of George Washington... Doris Kearns Goodwin, quoting Abraham Lincoln

All evil starts with 15 volts... Stanley Zimbardo, on the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment

To be a hero, you need to learn to be a deviant... Stanley Zimbardo

Al Queda does not have a return address.... Irwin Redlener, on the ability to ever actually find or contain the terrorist group

Don't look at it... Irwin Redlener, on what to do if a nuclear bomb goes off near you

I was just told I got a D- in Genocide, how do I get it up to a C?... Samantha Power, on how politicians are now trying to upgrade their genocide policies

Fear is a bad advisor... Samantha Power

Advertising is the price companies pay to be unoriginal... Yves Behar, quoting someone whose name escapes me

If it isn't beautiful, it doesn't belong on your face... Yves Behar, on the reason behind the new Jawbone©

It's no longer about putting skins on technology... Yves Behar, on designing from within

If anyone asks why you're carrying around a condom, just say you like the design... Yves Behar

The secret is letting dead people do the work for you... Robert J. Lang, on modern origami

I.Q. test say you become brain surgeon! So study lots!... Amy Tan, on misguided advice

By imagining, I find particles of truth... Amy Tan

When I saw Al Gore in the audience, I said my boyfriend's back and there's gonna be trouble... Tom Reilly

Music is the best way to restore speech and memory in people who have had strokes and suffer from Alzheimers... Tod Machover

AND NOW A COMMERCIAL BREAK...

TED always shows a couple of their favorite commercials from around the world.
Typically they serve as, well, commercial breaks between the various talks.

First up was the Sony Bravia commercial that Frank Budgen helmed to the Stones
"she comes in colors everywhere": wonderful to see this on a high definition 20 foot screen!

And a spot that I hadn't seen before for Dove called Onslaught. Which can be done better
justice by watching it on youtube versus me trying to describe it here: a powerful commercial
from the folks who brought you Evolution.

The last line is fantastic: talk to your daughtr before the fashion industry does. wow.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaH4y6ZjSfE

NO BUBBLE BREAKER THIS WEEK!

For those who know me,
this fact is hard to believe
but actually true.

A POWERFUL CONFERENCE GENERATES A POWERFUL RESPONSE.

" Across the street from TED this year in Monterey, California will be a competing conference called BIL.

BIL stands for Beauty. Ingenious. Learning. It is described as an

open self organizing, emergent,and anarchic science and technology conference.

Nobody is in charge.

If you want to come, just show up.

If you have an idea to spread, start talking.

If someone is saying something interesting, stop and listen.

BIL is too kind hearted to say so, but the implication is that TED is part of the problem it means to solve. TED is top down, centralized, hierarchical, elite driven, celebrity centered, and, at $6000 a ticket, really expensive. "

Click here for details.

EBOO PATEL HAS A GREAT IDEA

Eboo Patel author of "Acts of Faith" has started the Inter Faith Youth Core. It is a place where kids of different faiths participate in humanitarian projects together.

MUSICAL GUEST

Tonight during the TED Prize session Vusi Mahlasela will be performing. We had the pleasure of seeing him at TED Africa. If you need anymore reason to watch the TED Prize ceremony live, here's the video from Tanzania.

WORLDWIDE TELESCOPE TALK FROM YESTERDAY ALREADY AVAILABLE ONLINE

But I can't get it to embed. Watch it here.

TOILET PAPER MEME

According to Susan Blackmore, it has circled the globe.

From a hostel outhouse in rural Nepal to a room at the Clift,
you'll find this meaningless but persistent courtesy fold
pretty much everywhere.

DEAN ORNISH ON 7 HEALTHY THINGS

He gave a 3 minute talk on 7 things that
are good for you:

chocolate
tea
stress reduction
blueberries
alcohol (in moderation)
cannabinoids
and...
damn, can't remember,
too many blueberries i guess

AS YOU READ THE REVIEW ABOUT THE SUSAN BLACKMORE SPEECH, I WANT YOU TO KEEP THIS STAT IN MIND....

"From essentially zero, we've passed a watershed of more than 3.3 billion active cellphones on a planet of some 6.6 billion humans in about 26 years. This is the fastest global diffusion of any technology in human history -- faster even than the polio vaccine."

Click here for the full story.

THIS WILL ONLY MAKE SENSE TO THE PEOPLE CURRENTLY WATCHING TED IN EITHER ASPEN OR MONTEREY.

But whoever's been telling Jill Sobule she has something to prove, they need to stop it. Before I straighten them out.

YOU'VE GOT BACON IN MY CHOCOLATE

Awesome. Many different varieties.
This would be the bacon and chocolate nougat skewer.
Once again, awesome.

SUSAN BLACKMORE JUST BLEW MY MIND

Chris introduced Susan Blackmore as a person who can completely re-orient your thinking on something. Let me just say that the only more re-orienting thing to happen today was when the very erudite and proper Doris Kearns Goodwin dropped the S word.

Here's a few points that blew my mind:
1. Memes are replicating information with variation and in that way they are acting like genes. In other words, memes are fighting for selection in the same way genetic mutations do. So the first replicator was genes. The second replicator is memes

2. Memes are responsible for our big brains because our species are very good replicators. Susan referenced and earlier talk by Louise Leakey who said that four or five branches of our species didn't make it. Susan postulated that memes may have been the big difference.

3. Memes co-evolve with us.

4. Most other species are not good replicators.

5. Temes are the next replicator. Temes are technology driven replicators. "Welcome to the Matrix."

The next session is starting in a second. So that's all for now. Go get her book "The Meme Machine."

WHAT?!!?? CHRIS ANDERSON IS A COMMUNIST?

Oh wait - wrong Chris Anderson.

ROBIN WILLIAMS SPONTANEOUS STAND UP

The BBC hosted a moderated discussion on the role of media and how it shapes peoples awareness and they were having some technical difficulties getting the program up and running. There was a lot of Brit Speak as they were trying to problem solve and a gentlemen in the back of the hall was riffing on the situation and doing some well amplified and humorous Brit Speak of his own. It turned out to be Robin Williams who was then ushered to the stage and was, well, pretty damn funny for a good twenty minutes while they sorted things out. Most definitely the accidental highlight of the discussion. Hopefully he'll come back and take the stage again. At least Chris Anderson asked if he would consider and I have the feeling we'll see him again.

GOOGLE MAPS FOR THE UNIVERSE

Apologies to Microsoft for the headline, but it's a convenient way to describe their very cool Worldwide Telescope project.

Check it here: http://worldwidetelescope.org/

The demo was jaw-dropping. Another big hit for Miocrosoft to follow Photosynth. We were told it will be live this spring (soon). In the meantime check out the videos. The question is, will it work on mac? Probably not.

SOME OTHER BLOGS TO HELP YOU KEEP UP ON THE DETAILS FROM TED - AS THEY HAPPEN.

Blogs covering TED.

HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF TED 2008 - DAY ONE.

By the way, the first session? Probably the best first session of TED I've ever attended.

Click here for day one details.

MAKE SURE TO WATCH THE TED PRIZE SIMULCAST -- LIVE!!

Click here for details.

TED UNIVERSITY

What a day. It started off this morning with a couple hours of TED University; sort of a mini fringe TED with a number of unique speakers giving talks that are 12 minutes long. 

David Burk spoke of the Torajans of Sulawasi and their culture of Death. The culture not only has a deep respect & fascination with Death but believes that life itself is really a long prelude to the glory and wonder of death. Funerals last for days and are more like parties with slaughtered Buffalo acting as the currency to pay for these celebrations. 

The recently deceased body of a relative (or relatives) will occupy the back room of a traditional house for an average of four years. Not four days mind you, four years, as the family literally raises buffalo money to send their loved ones off to nirvana: 4 buffalo and you are assured a place in heaven, hence the four years. Someone asked how they dealt with the inevitable odor of decomposition and David said they are unable to smell such an odor after performing a symbolic ritual with a long bamboo tube which is used to suck out the smell and then thrown out the window. He said the symbolic ritual was unhelpful in regards to himself.

The predominant greeting to visitors is, of course, "Do you want to see a dead body?"

FINDING ENLIGHTENMENT BY HAVING A STROKE

Quote of the day for me: "How many brain scientists have the opportunity to study their own brains from the inside out?"

Jill Bolte Taylor gave a downright spiritual talk about moving through her brain, from hemisphere to hemisphere while having a stroke. A beautiful talk and she brought a real brain.

WADE DAVIS IS A STUD/COKE FIEND

Many of you who have attended TED Tuesday for awhile are familiar with Wade Davis' other two talks. Today's talk was as inspiring as ever and we got a follow up on a culture Wade first talked about in 2003, the Elder Brothers. Since we last saw him he ran a remarkable race through the mountains with them. He described the race as a marathon that starts at 11,500 ft drops down to the base of the mountain rises back up to 15,000 feet. It takes hours and Wade attributed his success in finishing it (the only outsider to ever do so) to chewing handfuls of coca leaves. Gives a new spin on performance enhancing drugs. I'll say it again: Wade Davis has the most interesting job ever.

Here's his first talk from 2003. One of my all time favorites.

OK....TED 2008...IT'S ON BABY.

Sessions are just starting.

I'm like a kid at Christmas.

Game........................on.

THE LAST WALTZ IN MONTEREY

Design by the amazing Todd Derksen.