I went to TED a few weeks ago, in particular the Global version held in Oxford England.
My first cut of a few choice speakers from the conference goes something like this…
Dr Eric Sanderson talked about a wonderful project called Manahatta which explored Manhattan before it was covered in buildings and colonists. Crazy deep exploration with a nice presentation that included turning on and off tons of layers of a GIS system to talk about flora and fauna, computer simulations and cross sections of before and after views from particular locations, and a taste of what Manhattan could look like in the future. The film from the talk isn’t up yet, but the Manahatta site has tons of info and there is a nice book available as well. Do take a look.
Imogen Heap pretty much owned the audience with her virtuosity. Note: this isn’t a film from TED because they haven’t posted it yet, but it’s a good example of what she did live at the conference. So is this. Those of you that are musically inclined might recognize that voice from Frou Frou.
“She reminds me a lot of early David Byrne and Lori Anderson just from a pure joy of experimentation and musical exploration standpoint.
Bjarke Ingels from BIG, an architectural firm out of Denmark, spoke on the last day of TEDGlobal and was completely inspirational. Their work is wonderful and worth exploring. Hard site to navigate though so watch for the TED film when it comes out.
Which reminds me that I just finished a pretty good book about the romantic age of scientific exploration called The Age of Wonder. Its a good read if you’re a science geek, but can be a bit tedious at times if you’re not into poetry.
Maybe related in some way is the notion that grit is a good indicator of success.
Ok, on with the top five…
—————Top Five—————-
1. This is the most advanced and well done video projection projects I’ve ever seen. I’m impressed. Watch it all the way through. Although some effects are just pushing things a bit too far and break the illusion others are stunning examples of how we can fool the eye with light and shadow.
2. Gotta respect the detailed walk-through of how bad the experience is.
3. The Fantastic Mr. Fox… looks like a very different kind of Wes Anderson film.
5. Touchable holographics… Watch it all the way through, very curious.
————-The Rest——————
Dave Eggers has a new book out, and its a quick, deep dive into life during and after Katrina for one man and his family. Zeitoun did not have an easy time. True Story, sometimes shocking, sometimes it just gets you mad. Ultimately perseverance, and the belief that America can be better than we sometimes are wins over idiocy.
Random music video about randomness…
stochasticity
Hummingbird warriors… or be afraid.
Lego Arcade (I always loved dig dug)…
The men of MAYA swear by these…
100 years of design manifestos…
This could be interesting, The Lovely Bones.
Infoporn du jour.
How people spend their time.