Coffee. Hacking. Indonesia: 5 TEDx Talks on Java
When you hear “java,” you might think of the pesky window that pops up on your computer desktop every few months, begging you to close all browser windows so you can install vital security updates — or maybe your morning coffee, expertly brewed by your favorite neighborhood barista — or, an image even more lovely, the lush greens of Indonesia’s third largest island.
Whatever it is you’re thinking of — we’ve got a talk for you. So pour your cup of joe, save all tabs, and take a break from your vacation planning to watch these 5 TEDx talks in honor of the word java:
All your devices can be hacked: Avi Rubin at TEDxMidAtlantic
Lately reports have been popping up all over on a vulnerability in Sun Microsystem’s Java plug-in, which has prompted what PC Mag has called a “Java-based hacking spree.” Recent attacks have affected companies such as Facebok, Twitter and, now, Apple, prompting concern over who will be next and how these attacks will be stopped. Computer scientist Avi Rubin is no stranger to hacks, and at TEDxMidAtlantic, he explains how hackers are compromising cars, smartphones and medical devices, and warns us about the dangers of an increasingly hack-able world.
Hacking the city with fun: Irwan Ahmett at TEDxJakarta
Sometimes the smallest things make your day so much better. A funny road sign. Clever graffiti. Free cookies. Part-way through his career, artist Irwan Ahmett realized this and decided to run with it. Using spinning umbrellas, a human monorail, fruit baskets, and a secret lumberyard Internet cafe, he hacked his city, Java’s largest, with random acts of playfulness. At TEDxJakarta, he explains the story behind the hacks.
The human cost of food: Rebecca Scott at TEDxCanberra
Rebecca Scott wants you to know what goes into your morning coffee — and that’s not just how much cream or sugar you like. She says that when we buy a cup a coffee, we should think about more than just taste; but consider the treatment of the people behind the bean — the farmers, harvesters, packagers, and coffee shop employees involved in providing our caffeine fix. In this talk, she reveals some of the astounding stories behind the things we consume, and introduces her project, STREAT, an effort to create cafes and coffee shops staffed by homeless youth serving ethically-sourced food and drink.
In September, food waste activist Selina Juul gave a talk called, “Stop wasting food” at TEDxCopenhagen, asking global citizens to be more mindful of the food they let go to waste.
Unfortunately, since Selina’s talk went live, it’s become clear that the problem of global food waste is a lot worse than even she thought.
Just this month the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) published a study that revealed that — as The Guardian reports — “up to half of the food that is bought in Europe and the US is thrown away by consumers,” and almost as much as half of the food produced in the world (2 billion tons worth) winds up in the trash instead of in people’s mouths.
And just yesterday, the UN launched a new campaign to fight global food waste: the Think.Eat.Save campaign. The new initiative seeks to educate consumers and retailers on the issue of global food waste, and provide strategies, ideas, and resources to ameliorate this worldwide endemic.
In her talk, Selina explains the problem, and her hopes for awareness and future solutions:
I was born in Moscow, Russia. When I came to the West some 19 years ago, I was shocked to see the amount of food [available]… I mean, I was born in Communist Russia — we didn’t have that much food … And I was also shocked to see the amount of food waste. People wasted food everywhere, without giving it any second thought.
…We do it all the time: We buy more food than we actually need; we stack it into the back of our fridges, and then we let it die — slowly. And let’s say that after a week or two, when our carrots get all wrinkled and sad, we just take them out and throw them all away, because, you know, you can always buy some more.
Does it matter? It actually does.
Good edible food — your money, your time, farmers’ work, carbon emissions, all of that — [we throw it directly away to feed our garbage can.]
Ladies and gentlemen, we have to be smarter than that. We have to wake up…
In just some 20 years, we are going to need two planets to sustain the demand for our consumption: The population is growing and the resources are already lacking … We are running out of time.
It’s all too easy, Selina says, for people to become “consumer zombies” — never thinking about the choices they make at the grocery store, the office cafe, or the local farmers’ market. Whether it’s buying a super-sized sandwich you probably won’t eat, an extra pint of milk just because it’s on sale, or ignoring perfectly fine leftovers in favor of shopping for more food, so many shoppers in the western world make choices that lead to food waste every day. She wants that to change.
She suggests that people use their leftovers, share food with neighbors, be wise about portion choices at restaurants, even start consumer movements to change how food is sold and bought in consumer markets, and how food waste is perceived in society.
“The power of ordinary people like you and I,” she ends her talk, “is extraordinary … This food .. is not only food. This is your power. This is your personal power to change the future. Don’t waste that power. Stop wasting food.”
For more tips on reducing food waste, you can visit Selina’s website at http://www.selinajuul.com/ or the Think.Eat.Save website at: http://www.thinkeatsave.org/
Photos: Left, by Flickr user szczel; Right, Selina Juul at TEDxCopenhagen
7 TEDx Talks from women making change
This Friday and Saturday, November 30 and December 1, over 150 TEDx events will join the anchor TEDxWomen event in Washington D.C. in a global conversation about the state of women in the world today. To celebrate this momentous occasion, here are seven talks from women innovating the way we live — the way we eat, educate, heal and care.
The aftermath of Occupy: Naomi Colvin at TEDxHousesofParliament
Last year, the Occupy Wall Street movement spread like wildfire across the globe. It sparked countless protests and its “We are the 99%” slogan has been canonized into the progressive lexicon. Just as quickly as it gained champions, however, it found critics from the left and right who dismiss the campaign for its inability to articulate specific demands. Naomi Colvin thinks they miss the point entirely; that the protests were not about rushing into specific negotiations based on conventional principles, but about disrupting the way we reform altogether. In this reflective talk, she lays out a new vision of political identity.
Young people can make an extraordinary impact on the global health crisis. Through the story of an anti-HIV campaign in Malawi, Barbara Bush demonstrates the power of motivated volunteers to solve problems of health equity.
(Photos, Top: Brandon Shigeta, Left: Brandon Shigeta, Right, DO|SU Studio Architecture)
Above: “Bloom,” an architectural project designed by Doris Kim Sung and made from thermo-bimetals, smart materials that respond dynamically to temperature change. The installation is 20 feet tall and made with 14,000 completely unique pieces of thermo-bimetal. This metal is dynamic and responsive, curling as air temperatures rise, resulting in a beautiful sculpture that breathes. “Bloom” was exhibited in Silver Lake, Los Angeles in November 2011.
Having studied biology at Princeton University intending to go to medical school, Sung explores architecture as an extension of the body, challenging the notion that buildings ought to be static and climate-controlled. Rather, they should be able to adapt to their environment through self-ventilation.
Below: Her talk from TEDxUSC, “Metal that breathes”:
