Categories: 2008

TED 2008's dead, baby. TED's dead

Posted by: Helen Walters on March 03

TED rounded off with a party at the aquarium and then, the following morning, presentations from economist Paul Collier, former Vice President Al Gore and Africa activist, Bob Geldof. All...

TED: Day three was off the chain

Posted by: Helen Walters on March 01

I think I just fell prey to TED, so excuse me if this post sounds a little less than objective. I was talking to a few TED veterans earlier today,...

Thomas Krens leaves the Guggenheim... but was at TED

Posted by: Helen Walters on March 01

I confess I've been in something of a TED bubble so I missed the news that Thomas Krens stepped down from the directorship of the Guggenheim. Certainly, he made no...

TED: Brian Cox of CERN

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 29

Mini big bangs are coming! Mini big bangs are coming! This morning, a really charming talk from the British scientist, Brian Cox, who in a really poetic and self-effacing way...

TED: Tod Machover from MIT

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 29

The most extraordinary presentation. Truly. Tod Machover describes himself as a composer, inventor and educator and he just blew the socks off the entire TED crowd. He works at MIT...

TED: John Knoll of Industrial Light and Magic

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 29

Morning session just ended. "How do we create?" featured John Knoll, visual effects chief at Industrial Light and Magic (and the creator of PhotoShop, which was originally launched at...

Richard Saul Wurman back at TED

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 29

Cathartic moment on stage as TED's originator, the larger-than-life Richard (Ricky) Saul Wurman took to the stage to make peace with current curator, Chris Anderson, who bought the conference off...

TED Prize winners

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 29

The three TED Prize winners are given $100,000 -- and a wish. The idea is that the extensive TED community throng together in order to make that wish come true....

Technology failing at TED

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 29

Those of you commenting incredulously on a) the price of the ticket and b) the fact that technology seems to have been breaking down won't be pleased to hear that...

Coke is... Water

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 28

There are hosted lunches each day at TED, and today I went to one hosted/sponsored by Coke, which has been teaming up with various NGOs to work on bringing water...

Craig Venter and the fourth generation of designer fuels

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 28

Just had a brief chat with genetic scientist, Craig Venter, after his presentation at this morning’s TED session, entitled What Is Life? He laid down a challenge: “I don’t want...

Sergey Brin's love of the phrase "and whatnot"

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 28

Last night's BBC World Debate on the state of contemporary media was interesting and surreal in about equal measure. After technical problems forced presenter Matt Frei to halt proceedings before...

First tears at TED...

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 28

In my curtain raiser for the conference, I jokingly wondered which of the speakers might choke up this year. It was a close run thing. Given that I watched events...

Driving the BMW Hydrogen 7

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 28

Today I got a chance to have a spin in the BMW Hydrogen 7. It’s one of only 20 of the hydrogen-powered cars in the world, so I was a...

Aubrey de Grey: How to be a Successful Heretic

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 27

This morning saw TED University, which is essentially a ton of presentations by people who haven't been invited to go on stage. There were a ton of sponsored activities, too...

Tapping Into TED

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 27

Picture the scene: Google co-founder Sergey Brin sitting with Watergate whistleblower Carl Bernstein, Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert, Ugandan journalist Andrew Mwenda and Queen Noor of Jordan. What sounds like the...

The best possible start...

Posted by: Helen Walters on February 26

Just arrived in Monterey for the TED conference. I was advised to fly into San Francisco and then drive down Highway 1, and I am an obedient soul, so I...

A ticket to TED can be yours....... for $33,536

Posted by: Helen Walters on January 25

I just found out I'm going to be attending this year's TED conference, which is very exciting news indeed (most looking forward to seeing/hearing geneticist, Craig Venter, historian, Doris Kearns...