TED 2008

Last year the Executive Director of my AOL workgroup, an inspiring man in his own right, turned me and my coworkers on to the annual TED talks. TED is an acronym for "Technology, Entertainment and Design. The talks are extraordinary, heady stuff. Last year there was plenty said about saving the planet, as well as presentations that ranged from helping to catalog all life on earth to basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar discussing art!

This year's TED talks include a very inspiring and funny presention by J.J. Abrams on the topic of "The Mystery Box." It is a breakdown of why he creates (think Alias, Lost and Cloverfield). Incidently, he spoke at last year's conference as well, though about what I don't recall. (It may not have been discussed in the meeting.) If you'd like to see for yourself, videos of his and many other remarkable talks are available online for free.

Before you dismiss TED as too lofty or academic, watch 2 minutes of any of the funny, inspiring or jaw-dropping video clips. It will get you talking, thinking, laughing. There's a great clip of Dr. Roy Gould's World Wide Telescope project that I found fascinating.

I caught up with TED 2008 thanks to one of my favorite websites: Boing Boing. There are folks liveblogging from the TED talks as I type. If you are interested in getting up-to-the-minute updates about maverick and genius thinkers (or just cool gadgets!) check out the Boing Boing blog.

TED2008: The Day in Quotes
"Before the Web, there was just one guy running around saying 'I KNOW!'" ~ Robin Williams, ad-libbing, after taking the stage during a technical problem in the BBC World Debate

Tomorrow, the TED Prize session will be broadcast live at 5pm PST. The winners of the TED Prize get $100,000 and are granted a wish to change the world. You can watch the prize session here: Link