Talks

[TEDTalk] Golan Levin makes art that looks back at you

Golan Levin is an artist and an engineer. Wait, what? Artist and engineer? Isn't it kind of an odd mix? Well, Levin realizes that and revels in the fact. The man has worked as an academic at the prestigious MIT as well as a computer technology and software engineer. Nowadays though, he spends a lot of his time as a performance artist, using his background as an engineer to fuse technology and art in his amazing work. Levin's philosophy is pretty straightforward: art should be a way for us to discover ourselves. One way to go about it is to create art and interact with it using one's body and voice.

[TEDTalk] Benjamin Wallace: Does Happiness Have A Price Tag?

Can happiness be bought? This is a question for the ages. One can give an empty philosophical answer or one can be like Ted Wallace---try the most expensive and coveted things in the world and give the answer straight up. He's tasted some of the world's most costly and rarest wine, richest steak, fragrant truffles, outrageously priced coffee, smoothest car, and state-of-the-art bed and toilet seat, among other things. If you're a human being, you don't want to miss this short, humorous yet very informative talk on our civilization's most cherished goals: money and happiness. More so, you'd want to know if those two things are indeed synonymous.

R&D TV: Episode 1

R&D TV is a monthly technology programme made up of interviews from knowledgeable BBC developers, BBC project experts and external experts from around the world. This first episode includes interviews with The Digg guys, Nicholas Negroponte of OLPC as well as Graham Thomas, Ant Miller and George Auckland talking about their work for BBC R&D & Learning Innovation.

The Story of Stuff

"The Story of Stuff" is a 20-minute film that takes viewers on a very provocative and eye-opening tour of the real costs of our consumer driven culture. In a very straightforward and open way, this short video shows viewers how from its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad. Download it with a .torrent file or straight from the website.