The 2008 TED prize winners have just been announced. As usual they are stunning individuals with global minds and big ideas! Check out the winner through the TED video above or here. I can’t wait to hear their dream announcements in March.

TED 2008 winners:
- Neil Turok: physics
- Dave Eggers: writer and activist
- Karen Armstrong: religion

I’ve returned from the mind-numbing inspiring PopTech Conference still a bit jittery from the collective curious minds at this year’s awesome gathering. This year’s theme “The Human Impact” was way more than I expected covering everything from politics, waste, medicine, minds, communities, art, science, music, and everything else in between. The speakers filled the opera house with passion, greatness, huge questions, and ideas that sparked the hundreds attending and thousands watching online.

PopTech also launched a new extension to their conference called the “Pop!Tech Accelerator” facilitating world changing projects starting off with “Masiluleke“which is a groundbreaking software tool for HIV/AIDS patients throughout Africa. The idea of “Accelerator” is to leverage the community of PopTech attendees with their network to create world changing projects.

As usual, I’ll point my fingers to ninja blogger Ethan Zukerman who sat in the dungeon simulcast room next to me zipping his feisty fingers onto his furious laptop for the complete detailed recap, but I’™ll post more on my experience, a bit on the speakers, lots of pictures, and my journey up to beautiful Camden Maine. I’m not sure when all the footage will be archived and available for viewing, but they’ll eventually appear on their PopCasts Streams which I’d suggest catching up to.

My recap after the jump, otherwise, Poptech 2008, a definite must go to!

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Thought of the week: You can’t innovate without risk.

- Very Geeky web2.0 Checklist T-Shirt
- The Subjectivity of Wine
- A Coal Miner taking bath
- What is fake crab meat? Surimi!
- Urban Camouflages. via nytimes
- The power of Obama’s face!
- Katana vs Bullet video. Who wins?

Here’s another great TEDtalk by Vilayanur Ramachandran on the brain, phantom limbs, synestesia, and how vision plays a critical role in all our minds.

“In a wide-ranging talk, Vilayanur Ramachandran explores how brain damage can reveal the connection between the internal structures of the brain and the corresponding functions of the mind. He talks about phantom limb pain, synesthesia (when people hear color or smell sounds), and the Capgras delusion, when brain-damaged people believe their closest friends and family have been replaced with imposters.”

Many friends ask me why am I so scientific about design, or why do I dissect every element possible before concluding to a final design direction (interaction, experience, and industrial design). Usually I just say there is no other choice, but such videos as the above explain it all. There is reason for everything and that’s the exciting part. I can stop and say I just like a design, but to figure out why someone likes, hates, or experiences a design differently is the good stuff. Everyone has a different experience growing up hence in my world there is no such thing as an exact definition but only dynamic definitions. This goes for words, colors, emotions, scents, ideas, cultures, objects, people, etc.

Anyways, I won’t dive into this argument too long because there is no wrong or right… just an opinion. I’ll admit I wasn’t always like this, but I’ll list a few videos over the years that have that made me dive deeper into the “design thinking” world. Hearing from non-designers is key in our future. We are a hybrid society of designers. If you inspire only from designers, you’ll just become the same… so diversify and become the hybrid that we all are.

Seth Godin (video)(gel video)- Marketing, Purple Cow, Marketers are Liars.
Malcolm Gladwell (video)- Sociology, Blink, Tipping point
Steven Levitt (video)- Economics, Freakonomics
Steven Pinker (video)- Psychologist
Dan Gilbert (video)- Psychologist, Stumbling Happiness
Juan Enriquez (video)- Economics
Barry Schwartz (video)- Psychologist, Paradox of Choice
Erin Mckean (video)- Lexicographer
William McDonough (video) – Architect/sustainability, Cradle to Cradle
Al Gore (video)- Climate Crisis
Hans Rosling (video)(blog)- International Health
Chris Anderson (video)- The Long Tail
Chris Jordan- (video)(treehugger post) Photography/Consumerism

So many to name, but this is a good list to start some disrupting.

Sweet goodness! What a great idea. Manufacturing Beer bottles to convert to brick structures for later use. This reminds me of the POM bottles that can be used as regular glass cups for home use. Why can’t this come back to reality! The amount of bottles tossed each year is absurd. Makes me want to ask photographer Chris Jordan to make a visual map of it for his “Running Numbers” series! (Did ya know in the USA alone we go through 106,000 aluminum cans every 30 seconds! It’s absurd!) There’s also the “66 Beer Bottle= a cheap solar water heater” direction.

“Upcycling is a 21st century term, coined by Cradle to Cradle authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart, but the idea of turning waste into useful products came to life brilliantly in 1963 with the Heineken WOBO (world bottle). Envisioned by beer brewer Alfred Heineken and designed by Dutch architect John Habraken, the “brick that holds beer” was ahead of its ecodesign time, letting beer lovers and builders alike drink and design all in one sitting.

Mr. Heineken’s idea came after a visit to the Caribbean where he saw two problems: beaches littered with bottles and a lack of affordable building materials. The WOBO became his vision to solve both the recycling and housing challenges that he had witnessed on the islands.”

I want I want!!! It’s like buying Lego’s with your beer bottle as an adult! or you can just reuse what you have laying around much like the students at Western Washington University.(their show is in Seattle today, Nov 10th, 5-7pm)

via inhabitat

One of the most inspirational lectures from TED2007 is finally out for sharing!!! Stanford Professor Larry Lessig give his take on digital copyright and how laws are strangling creativity. (his books here)

“Larry Lessig gets TEDsters to their feet, whooping and whistling, following this elegant presentation of “three stories and an argument.” The Net’s most adored lawyer brings together John Philip Sousa, celestial copyrights, and the “ASCAP cartel” to build a case for creative freedom. He pins down the key shortcomings of our dusty, pre-digital intellectual property laws, and reveals how bad laws beget bad code. Then, in an homage to cutting-edge artistry, he throws in some of the most hilarious remixes you’ve ever seen.”

Afterwards, watch some of my favorites from TED2006 here.

Note of week: “Mystery is more important than knowledge.” JJ Abrahms. This might apply to all shakes in life but sometimes it’s just better not to know, in life or in TV shows.

- Smart Strips, Power strips that actually stop using power when appliances are turned off.
- A new Plug In hybrid designed by BMW and Aston-Martin Designers. Will this compete with the Tesla and Aptera?.
- Houses with a view! Breathtaking!
- Sketches for games. Very cool! via NotCot.
- A visual interface comparison over time: Google vs Yahoo.
- FOUND magazine. A magazine made up if things found… usually odd notes. good stuff.
- Device Charger Holder. A cute useful stand for your phone and plug.
- Targets NYC Grand Central Holographic Fall Fashion Show (Nov 6,7)

Hmmm…here’s a pretty interesting theory by Neal Adams about the earth expanding! Does this mean the once solid earth is expanding and getting more hollow? Give this video documentary a watch (10 mins)

“Design is a big part of the sustainability problems in the world. Design has been focused on creating meaningless (often), disposable (though not responsibly so), trend-laden fashion items—all design. Graphic design is particularly bad, though paper materials, at least, have a huge potential to fix this problem.”
Presentation given at IDSA Connection Congress, San Francisco 2007

Very interesting! Check out the PDF presentation and watch out for his upcoming book “Design is the Problem“.

via nathan.com
Design is the Problem PDF Presentation.

Clemson Clay Nest , 2005

Very cool! I’ve always been a fan of art/architecture created using natural resources in their raw format. Reminds me of one of my all time favorite artist Andy Goldsworthy (books/Wiki) who makes some incredible art using natural resources.

Buy the book “Natural Architecture” here (Due out November 2007)

(DesignBoom has more page excerpts)

I just experienced one of the most unbelievable meals at Oleana in Cambridge MA run by chef and owner Ann Sortun who also has a book “Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean“. Rustic, warming, vibrant, calming, and damn tasty down to the minuscule details. Chef Sortun’s creations are inspired from her travels and experiences from France, Spain, Italy, and Turkey for an Arabic-Mediterranean intersection of surprising flavors along with their superb personal staff in a very charming space!

Oleana is located in a quiet residential street side in Inman square with an outdoor porch space many have raved about though my first experience was inside. At first I expected an overly lavish pristine space based on all the reviews and consistency in most high end restaurants in Boston which I personally do not like as much, but Oleana’s was my exact cup of tea. Very casual, a humble friendly staff, and a tiled warming environment in a comfy space as if walking into a village side restaurant bustling full of conversations during a sunset somewhere far away from all the chaos most of us are use to.

The staff initiated the Oleana experience, servicing a few tables while greeting customers with smiles and stories while never seeming to be rushed allowing me to pester them with curious questions about their ingredients and unique flavor combinations (I’ll blame my questions on the cheerful bottle of wine). The menu changes often and the wine list is as diverse as their dishes. Plates were fantastic while the attention to details in sauces, blends, and accents on the sides delighted me the most. I’d usually keep finds like this a secret, but the experience was wonderful and one surely to share with others. I’ll post a pictures of the dishes I tried after the jump. If your in the area, seeking a sensational meal and experience, I say go to Oleana!

More Oleana dish pics at BostonChefs.com

Oleana website

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Woa, bang, boom, yikes, aha! That about sums up my experience at Gadgetoff 2007. What a mind torching adventure with a surplus of surprises, ear wrenching explosions, curious minds, and a safari into a wonderful world of gadgets we all love to geek about! Everything from flame throwing bbq’s, rocket bikes, robotics on wheels, and hybrid cars roamed every corner while gaming devices, weird toys, numbing food items, interactive screens, musical instruments, and hot air balloons filled up the rest of this landscape of greatness with people from all ages and disciplines.

Gadgetoff’s spontaneous flow of events kept you on your feet, jumping from boats, to buildings, into a rustic railroad house, and a cool science museum while somehow getting us all to sit calmly in an auditorium for several intellectually stimulating lectures. We were a geek fest storming the town in fashion with electronics in every pocket, Segways leading the crowd, and individuals rifling with excitement on anything cool and usually out of the ordinary.

I’ll post a few pictures on my adventure after the jump with notes, otherwise, hit up Gadgetoff.com, their blog, or a bunch of their YouTube Videos thanks to Michael (co-founder)

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