TEDXSeattle

Revised 17 April

Using word pictures like “the pig’s blood of technology,” award-winning science fiction author Greg Bear urged the TEDxSeattle audience to be mindful of our increasingly public and digitally-archived lives. “The web that knows who you are … do you want it to?” he asked.

Bear’s works include Mariposa, Quantico, City At The End Of Time, Eon, Blood Music, The Forge of God, and Darwin’s Radio. He often tackles issues pertaining to contemporary society in his work, and the issue he focused on today is privacy.

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Twitter, Facebook, and other Internet technologies are great tools for building community. But what about one of the earliest communication tools of all: music? Martha Gonzalez speaks about forming connections through participatory music– and how music is relevant even in the era of Web 2.0.

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Gaetano Borriello is the Noe Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, as well as an adjunct faculty in the Information School and the Department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering. Much of his research focuses on technology’s applications to public health. His current project, the Open Data Kit, works to develop a suite of open-source mobile tools for community health workers in East Africa. Read the rest of this entry »

What is the future of storytelling– the epitome of the narrative process? Is ChatRoulette the future?

If you are a gamer, chances are you are familiar with Elan Lee‘s work. Elan is a pioneer in his field, one of the individuals responsible for the Alternate Reality Game genre. His work challenges the conventional notion of entertainment, and is shaping the future of gaming.

Elan has been telling stories for a decade: he stresses that if we take one thing from today’s presentation, it’s “as storytelling evolves, those who cling on to what’s comfortable and cling to history and force their audiences and force audiences to consume stories in ways that are outdated, they will always fail.” Read the rest of this entry »

“The World needs so very much to know that we are different not in order to be separate, but different in order to be those who compliment one another” –Desmond Tutu

Scott Macklin is an educator and award-winning documentary film-maker whose work bridges communities. Scott also serves on the advisory board of the Head Start Center for Inclusion and on the board of the South African NGO Saving our Schools and Community (SOSAC). He believes in the power of social media as a tool for learning and social justice. Read the rest of this entry »