TED Talk: Hans Rosling

Hans Rosling challenges common perceptions we have about the developing world by presenting data in new ways.

He transforms boring statistics into a dynamic race - showing how different countries, represented as bubbles on a chart, dance around each other to the top.

Gapminder.org shows how it's done, and allows users to interact with the data and even upload their own.

Rosling focuses on the state of the world since the 1960s, when international organizations started keeping good records of various statistics in countries all over the world. He shows how despite the devastations of the war, Vietnam worked it's way to having the same life expectancy and family size as the U.S. by 2003.

We tend to underestimate the tremendous changes happening in the developing world. The gap between rich and poor is not widening, but shrinking, he claims - and he shows this graphically.

Sure, the richest 20% of the population produce 74% of the world's income. Most people are in the middle, and this middle class generates 24% of the world economy. I believe this statistic is influencing a new model of how to help developing countries - not by simply just giving them aid but by harnessing their spending power.

Rosling is not just trying to put a positive spin on world progress, but hopes that his tools can help people make better decisions about how to help countries in need. People talk about "solutions in Africa," but he uses his graphics to show how Africans are all over the spectrum in terms of income and life expectancy. You have to break the data down to tailor the solutions to the specific needs of a country or even community.

"Improvement of the world must be highly contextualized," he says.

We have the data - we're just not using it. The reason? It's hiding down in the databases. It's difficult to access, and people think it's boring.

We need design tools to get people interacting with it.

"What we really need is a search function, to copy data, search it, and to get it out into the world."

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has a solution for Rosling in his own TED talk - the next version of the web, called the Semantic Web.

TED Talks

I've decided to watch one TED talk each day and write about. I'm going to start chronologically, using this spreadsheet from a blog post on Boing Boing:

Al Gore on averting climate crisis - 6/26/2006

He gave this talk as his environmental activism was starting to grow - around the time his film "An Inconvienent Truth" was coming out.

He strikes a humorous tone, letting the audience in on how awful it feels to go from having motorcades and flying on Air Force II to sitting at a chain restaurant in the middle of Tennessee hearing someone in the next booth over whisper "he's come down a long way, hasn't he?"

The theme of the talk is "what can you do?" I appreciated the fact that he said he updates the talk every time he gets it with new data and information. But I was a little perplexed by the chart he showed next.

Gore flashed a diagram of some recent data he got comparing the average global temperature in January 2006 - 39.0 degrees Farenheit - to the historical average - which is 31.0 degrees.

This is a shocking data point - but is it useful? It was an unusually warm January for the globe. Does this mean every January from here on out will be 8 degrees higher? Most climate scientists predict a few degrees average global temperature rise over the next decades.

So, what can you do to reduce fossil fuel emissions?

"Efficiency in end-use electricity and all energy is the low hanging fruit," he said.

How could anyone disagree with the goals of making things more efficient and reducing pollution? I remember hearing about some anti-Earth day movement last year. People were so fed up with leftist environmentalism and Earth Day as the ultimate expression of it, that they wanted to create their own holiday where they left all the lights on and kept their Humvees running. It is a supreme failure of communication when people like that are so disgusted and feel so oppressed by the environmental movement that they have an instinct to rebel against it.

As Gore said, energy efficiency is "not a cost, it's a profit." Obviously! But somehow it's not obvious to people - they want the freedom that comes with using resources as much as they want.

Other tips from Gore:

-reduce energy use in home

-green electricity

-hybrid/light rail

-green consumerism

-live a carbon neutral life

(It's easier than you think)

Katie Peek wrote an article on the carbon footprint calculators Gore suggests people use.

He also wants you to make your business carbon neutral.

But I can't help but wonder about his own carbon footprint. I imagine it's gone down significantly since he stepped down from the vice presidency - no more private jet, no more extraneous motorcade cars.

I wonder how many residences and offices he has, and what the carbon footprints are of them. No matter how green they all are, it seems like the best solution would be to simply reduce the number of resources - homes, offices, and vehicles, that he has.

Al Gore's carbon footprint, whatever it is, doesn't invalidate all of his work on raising awareness about climate change.

Finally, probably the most important issue around climate change is the branding of it - which Gore was wildly successful at.

Ultimately, he says, it shouldn't be a political issue.

We are one!

Rally For The Future? New York Tech Meetup

NY Tech Meet UP – February 2^nd

Haft Auditorium, Fashion Institute of Technology

A Bizaare and Slightly Awkward End To An Otherwise Fairly Interesting Evening

Last week the New York Tech Meetup hosted a “Rally for the Future.” The main purpose was to unite technological savvy with do-goodery in hopes of changing the world.

There were mixed results.

With almost 700 attendees paying $20 each to attend, they raised $14,000 dollars for the Haiti relief effort. Some of the presentations were thought provoking and inspiring, while others were disorganized and confusing.

The strangest twist to the evening was a surprise appearance from the Reverend Billy and the Church of “Life After Shopping.” They serenaded the audience of gadget geeks with anti-consumerist gospel belting.

“Democracy is not for sale!

(No, no it’s not)

The neighborhood is not for sale!

(No, no it’s not)

Imagination is not for sale!

(No, no it’s not)

I’ve got justice in my feet!

I’m burning with justice!
Justice!”

It wasn’t entirely clear if there was real spirituality emanating from Reverend Billy and his choir, or if they were making fun of religion – or even the audience itself.

See for yourself - Check out the video:

Other Presenters:

Majora Carter talked about why planting trees can change the world. Seeing a connection between parks and prosperity, she started with a green project in the South Bronx and spread her green gospel around the country. From the technology community she hoped to find people to help develop software systems to help urban planners incorporate the social impact of greenways (or lack of) into their models. She wants to use technology to green the ghettos and save America!

Paul White wants to change the world through alternative transportation. Putting people on bikes and getting them to ride buses will help them feel like they are more a part of the community. He even cited the latest happiness research (whatever that means) as reason to spend more time talking to your neighbors.

He observed that a lot of the techies – people who have skills in high demand and could live anywhere they wanted - moved to New York seeking the sense of community that comes from an urban environment. He’s hoping to get them involved in his alternative transportation movement.

Ben Berkowitz of SeeClickFix gave one of the more coherent and focused talks of the evening.

The idea is very simple – to create an easy way to report public works problems to the proper officials with your cell phone. So if you walk past a wall with graffiti on it, you can stop, take a picture with your phone, and text it to the proper officials. This is one of the more genius ideas I’ve heard recently, and they’re making it happen. They launched a mobile application this month.

He does have a beef with New York City, though. NYC 311 has yet to get an email address.

Tony Bacigalupo of New Work City (nwcny.com) told the audience we’d all be working in a Laundromat in ten years. He proceeded to present a series of doctored photographs with ever more ridiculous places we might work in the future – day care centers, in Central Park, or anywhere with a WiFi connection. Also, you will be working with “cool people” within walking distance from your home.

In short, the office is going to be everywhere. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Connor and Aaron from UMass - Amherst gave us a civics lesson, invoking the spirit of a rally by getting the audience to yell “Freedom!”

Their purpose wasn’t entirely clear. Like many speakers of the night, they spewed inspirational yet extremely vague utterances like “We have to build a future where we have priorities that matter to us.” After reminding us of some of our constitutional rights, they unveiled their concept of a “Localocracy,” which seems to be a website devoted to the freedom to petition. The website doesn’t appear to be live.

Clay Shirky, who is a social media guru, talked about how we’re all at the center of the universe and there is some sort of power in that to harness. It’s because of the social networks associated with your universe, I guess. He seemed frustrated about the problem of managing the massive amounts of data created by online social networks. Has he even heard of the Semantic Web?

In my view, any discussion of data management over the Internet MUST involve an awareness of the Semantic Web.

“Expose data first,” he insisted, and ask questions later. This is exactly what Tim Berners-Lee said in a TED talk last year.

Ernest Tollinger of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority made a brief appearance, and declared their commitment to sharing data with the tech community – giving “new visibility to challenges and opportunities facing the MTA.” I thought that was cool. From the tech community they hope to engage people who can help others navigate New York.

Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of the Acumen Fund transitioned the audience to a global perspective by talking about entrepreneurialism in developing countries.

“My dream is to see basic goods and services accessible to every human on the planet.“ She wants to do that by seeing citizens of developing countries as customers rather than charity cases.

She got to talk for a long time, which made me wonder if her company was a major sponsor for the evening.

David Nassar & Jason Leibman of The Alliance of Youth Movements gave various examples of how they’ve changed the world – going to Iraq to sell Internet as entrepreneurs, helping create a manual on how to fight back against violence. The AYM is using technology to bring people together to change the world.

Jose Antonio Vargas, Technology and Innovations editor of the Huffington Post shared his personal story of a rise from poverty by embracing technology – and thinks it’s crucial to bring technology to kids who couldn’t otherwise afford it.

Rachael Stern of Ground Report touted the power of citizen journalism.

“For the past 1,000 years, we’ve trusted self-appointed authorities to tell us the news,” read her first slide.

Which makes me wonder – has anything really changed?

Oddly, her talk gave me more confidence in the future of professional journalism, rather than less. While citizen journalism plays an important role in getting news out quickly - intelligent, fresh, and well-edited perspective will always be in high demand.

The role of journalists today hasn’t really changed that much. We still have to sort through an enormous amount of information and determine what is worth passing along. The only change from the past 1,000 years is the amount of data we have to sort through.

“Then the people formerly known as the audience began documenting the news themselves, and telling each other,” she said, quoting Jay Rosen/Cody Brown.

But authorities still emerge from this audience – like Jay Rosen and Cody Brown themselves! So how is this revolutionary? People still want their information distilled through authorities, self-appointed or not. I think anyone who wants to become a journalist qualifies as a self-appointed authority. In the age of self-publishing, you don’t have to go to school to do that. But the best conveyors and distillers will still rise to the top.

Jay Parkinson talked about how to make healthcare more pleasant.

Was this the most ambitious goal of the entire evening?

He pointed out an interesting fact:

“Heavy users” make up 10% of the population and use 80% of our healthcare, i.e. 2.5 trillion dollars a year.

The future? Privatized health care with fancy buildings and robot doctors. Sounds nice for those who can afford it!

The Final Talk completely lost me.

Didn’t catch the guy’s name. The head of Drapio?

Everything he said was very abstract – like “huge multivariate problems need to leverage monocultures.”

Oh, there was also vague: “New realities need a new approach.”

Be it abstract or vague – he claimed the solutions would come from the New York Tech Meet Up Group!

Hooray for technology!

Skeptical of Skeptics

I'm a pretty regular listener to The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe podcast. Hosted by Yale Medical School professor Steven Novella, it is a solid source for science news. The show is loosely associated with The Skeptics' Society, whose mission is "to serve as an educational tool for those seeking clarification and viewpoints on controversial ideas and claims." The SGU podcast seeks to debunk the claims of anti-vaccinators, UFO abductees, acupuncturists, and anyone or anything they deem unscientific. Occasionally, however, the tone they strike when criticizing non-skeptics leaves me skeptical.

Maybe I'm just spoiled because I'm surrounded by critical thinkers who don't need me to explain to them why evolution is a solid theory, why getting vaccinated is important, or that seances don't really channel dead people. While I understand the need to educate the masses about the need for vaccines, I'm not at all bothered by people who believe in ghosts, or UFOs, or alternative medicine. I'm not even bothered by people who don't believe in evolution, as long as they aren't biologists or biology teachers.

Mostly, I am skeptical of crusades. The minute you stop listening and start preaching is the moment you cease to be a skeptic. To be a true skeptic, you must be open to the possibility that you are wrong. If you are going to preach, you have to choose your battles carefully. If someone feels better after seeing an acupuncturist, is it harming anyone? Do people that claim to have been abducted by aliens really pose a threat to society?

Skeptics, for the most part, have their heart in the right place. But they must recognize that the best way to change someone's mind is to first understand what's in their mind - and you can't do that without understanding their belief system. Instead of focusing on why others are wrong, skeptics should explore where these incorrect beliefs come from, and then try to have a dialogue with those they disagree with instead of preaching to them.

I Got Semanticized At The New York Semantic Web Meet-Up

I first heard of The Semantic Web about a month ago in Mountain View, California at the Computer History Museum. I met someone named Joseph Pally, an inventor and entrepreneur with a company called Z-Cubes. He told me that the web is evolving to become more and more intelligent, and that some day it will achieve a level of knowledge called wisdom. This reminded me of the "Oracle" character in the movie Code 46; an omniscient machine that knows better than humans what is best for them.

It turns out the Semantic Web is not all science fiction. Back in New York City, I found a Meet-Up Group of Semantic Web enthusiasts. I got "semanticized" at one of their meetings last night near Manhattan's Madison Square Park.

Berliner turned New Yorker Marco Neumann has successfully semanticized almost 1200 members since he started the group in 2005. More than "just another Technology Meet-Up," he seeks to bring together people who have problems that could be solved by Semantic Web technology.

The types of problems that the Semantic Web can solve relate to how information is connected.

Practical RDF in a Publishing Environment - Barbara McGlamery:

When speaker Barbara McGlamery, an ontologist, worked at Time, Inc., her specific problem was how to connect content from every story they published. The Semantic Web helped her to answer one of society's most important questions: Who has Brad Pitt been in a relationship with? This is a surprisingly difficult question for a machine to understand, and through semantic technology web developers are actively exploring the best way to represent this question so a computer can process it.

RDA and the Open Metadata Registry - John Phipps:

Humanity has been struggling with how best to organize information since ancient times. More recently, we've relied on the card catalog system to keep human knowledge ordered. Today, the card catalog has been replaced by the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). John Phipps of MetaData Management described his efforts to bring all of the world's databases together to make them more freely accessible with the Semantic Web. This task faces both technical and political challenges as all of the organizations, or "silos," as Phipps calls them, struggle to communicate and agree on a standard.

Fellow NYU student Kate Ray is making a documentary about the Semantic Web. Check out her blog.

The Singularity Summit

Computers that think for themselves, humans achieving immortality, and nanorobots made from DNA? Last weekend nothing was too futuristic for The Singularity Summit, a conference based around the notion that technologies envisioned in Star Trek may be here sooner than you think.

It's all because of the vision of Ray Kurzweil, author of The Singularity Is Near, an inventor who takes ideas normally relegated to science fiction movies seriously. During the two day conference at the historic 92nd Street YMCA in Manhattan, casual reference to the fictional self-aware computer system "Skynet" from The Terminator movies was common. The group of intellectuals, scientists, entrepreneurs and wealthy eccentrics that came together to ponder Kurzweil's concept of "The Singularity" felt at home amongst fellow futurists.

It was something of a safe environment to discuss the notion that soon humans and computers will merge as technological progress increases exponentially. But what, exactly, is The Singularity? Kurzweil gave a talk the first day with over a hundred slides with charts and graphs describing various exponentially increasing phenomenon. One of his classic charts shows how human progress, as determined by emergence of significant inventions such as the printing press or computer, is exponentially increasing. He believes that we will reach a point, a singularity, when progress will increase so fast we will cease to be able to control it as machines with superintelligences take over.

The hope is that these superintelligent beings will be friendly, forming an interdependent and mutually beneficial bond with humans, rather than enslaving them.

I was impressed with the mixture of perspectives offered by the speakers. While there were some that seemed purely Kurzweilian, supporting the idea that The Singularity is indeed approaching, others felt that we are safely far in time from the moment of non-biological consciousness. I ran into one speaker Nadrian Seeman, an NYU chemist who makes DNA nano-robots, on my way to the conference. He confided that he wasn't even sure why they invited him, that he hadn't really heard of The Singularity and didn't know how his research related to it. A couple of other speakers who don't completely buy in to Kurzweil's "law of accelerating returns" publicly declared so, eyeing humanity's future rate of technological progress more conservatively.

There was definitely an economic slant (plea?) to some of the talks, perhaps in research areas that have failed to find more mainstream funding sources. Peter Thiel, billionaire on the board of directors of Facebook, discussed the need to invest in Singularity-esque technologies during a panel on venture capitalism. There was even a pitch toward the end of the conference from a "friend" of The Singularity Institute to audience members to support Singularity research financially.

Whether the Singularity Is Near or not, Kurzweil's ideas are definitely here to stay. Let's just hope that if computers do become conscious, they aren't like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Wolfram's Favorite Example of Information in Nature - The Mollusk Shell