“C.J. Huff is the superintendent of Joplin, Mo., schools who led his district of thousand of employees and students through the recovery effort that followed the infamous Joplin tornado. “We had children in the rubble…and there is no worse feeling in the world,” he said about the moments after the storm. “I can tell you, at this time in my life, I had 7,747 kids that I was responsible for, and I could only account for my two children.”
“Boxer Claressa Shields, age 17, clawed her way out of hardscrabble Flint Michigan to win the first ever Olympic gold medal for women’s middleweight boxing. She has won 31 fights — and lost only one. “That fight made me work so much harder when I got back to the gym, even though I cried and I was sad. It made me hungrier.””
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
For those unfamiliar with SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), you must read and dig into this crazy Act that can and will pretty much screw up any freedom and innovation like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Reddit, etc if it happens. Please sign up to petition against it HERE. Learn more about it from the video above from Chris Hayes.
Olafur Grimsson: Iceland Bounces Back from PopTech on Vimeo.
“The President of Iceland describes how his country encountered social and democratic upheaval after the economic crisis of 2008. Over the last three years, by combining wide-scale systemic inquiry into governance and judicial systems as well as a long-standing investment in clean energy and technology, Iceland has been able to bounce back with a remarkable economic vitality.”
One of my favorite talks from his years poptech 2010:
“From crayfish hairs to monkey neurons, Radiolab host and producer Jad Abumrad shares examples of how sound has been used to make scientific strides. Along the way, he explains how audio can convey failure or express error.”
Closing speaker at this years Poptech 2010: David Eagleman on Possibilianism. Pretty awesome talk!
“Neuroscientist and best-selling author David Eagleman introduces the concept of Possibilianism, a new philosophy that simultaneously embraces a scientific toolbox while exploring new, unconsidered uncertainties about the world around us.”
One of the fun session at Poptech2010 was OK GO playing Return with Hand Bells. Watch it above.
I’m off to PopTech 2010 for the rest of the week where the theme is “BRILLIANT ACCIDENTS, NECESSARY FAILURES, AND IMPROBABLE BREAKTHROUGHS”. As usual, poptech will be live streaming all of the talks online for free here! Watch the feed, follow some of my tweets, or let me know if your at PopTech and want to meetup!
The talk our buddy Dan Ariely gave at Poptech2009 is finally up. Watch it here, and be sure to pick up Dans books Predictably Irrational or his new book The Upside of Irrationality.
I’ve been incredibly busy helping organize the TEDxCambridge event occurring May 16th at the MIT Stata Center. The theme “How do you eat” is based off of this year TED prize winner Jamie Oliver in regards to Food and education. If you are in Boston May 16th, apply to get an invite and let me know. We can only invite 300 attendees and registration will close soon. You can learn more on tedxcambridge.com
Also, if you are in a position to sponsor any food, funding, or gifts for the event, please contact me asap. (now! =) ).
We will have 2 break sessions followed by an evening event in eating, drinking, and idea sharing!
Lots of awesome speakers in the line up!
– Wylie Dufresne: WD 50
– Chandler Burr: Times Scent critic
– Dan Ariely: Behavioral Economist
– Richard Chisolm: Filmmaker
– John Gertsen: Mixologist
– many more!
update: Photos on flickr, via eddric(350),Tino(40), JB (60), millie(16)
Intro to PopTech from PopTech on Vimeo.
I’m off to Poptech 2009: America Reimagined for the rest of the week. Follow their PopTech hub for live updates and I’m hoping like in previous years the live broadcast of all the speakers. It’ll be a chilly one this year, but I’ll be back with some updates, posts, and goodies like before.
update: Ah, yes, they are streaming it as usual here.