TED Talk #11- Living a Life without Limits

Hi Everyone,

Get your tissues ready for this one!  Some talks are funny.  Some talks are educational.  Some talks are jaw-dropping.  Well, this talk is a combination of all those things and so much more. 

When she was 19, Amy Purdy lost both her legs below the knee. And now ... she's a pro snowboarder (and a killer competitor on "Dancing with the Stars"!). In this powerful talk, she shows us how to draw inspiration from life's obstacles.

Here is the link to Amy's talk about living life without limits.

Oh, in case you missed it, here is a video of one of Amy's best dances on Dancing with the Stars.

I hope you enjoy it.

TED Talk #9- Meet Sixth Sense Technology

In Academic Strategies, we've been talking a lot about imagined technological advances that are becoming more and more of a reality.  Our TED Talk today shows just how close the future is.  What was once only seen as sci-fi is not becoming possible.



Check out Pattie Maes's TED Talk as she introduces us to the 6th sense and a very Minority Report way of using technology! 

TED Talk #6: A call to invention: DIY speaker edition - William Gurstelle

A Call to Invention 

Hi Everyone,

Do you love handmade things?  Is working with your hands something you enjoy doing?   Have you always wondered just what you can do with a potato chip?

If you think it's fun to make stuff, then, this is the TED Talk for you!

TED Talk #5: Cyber Magician

Hi Everyone,

Have you ever heard of Google Glass?  It sounds like something out of a science fiction book, but it is becoming our reality!  Check out this video about it.

Here is a fun talk for us this week about a magician who uses Google glass!

The suits, numbers and colors in a deck of cards correspond to the seasons, moon cycles and calendar. Marco Tempest straps on augmented reality goggles and does a card trick like you’ve never seen before, weaving a lyrical tale as he deals. (This version fixes a glitch in the original performance, but is otherwise exactly as seen live by the TEDGlobal audience, including the dazzling augmented reality effects.)

Hope you enjoy :-)

TED Talk #3: When I grow up, I want to be a YouTuber!

When I grow up, I want to be a doctor, photographer, policeman, fireman, teacher, veterinarian, YouTuber!  Wait, what?!  A YouTuber?!

If any child mentioned YouTuber on a list of dream jobs ten years ago, people wouldn't have had a clue what he was talking about.  Boy, have things changed.

Media has changed.  Communication has changed.  No longer is the Internet a place for professionals and computer geniuses only.  Every day people are creating and jumping in the deep side of the Web.  It's the ultimate technological power-to-the-people movement.  In this case, the power to create a video.  

The pool of video online is wide and deep!  Sometimes funny.  Sometimes sweet.  Some well-made.  Some  very well made, but, honestly, most are really, really, really bad.



What fascinates me is that even a horrendously horrible video can still score hundreds of thousands of views. That's right, hundreds of thousands.  It's crazy!

Why do some videos go viral and some fizzle out?  What is the key to getting a large audience for that video of your cat playing the piano?

This guy knows.  I bring you this week's TED Talk from Kevin Allocca.

Kevin Allocca is YouTube's trends manager.  That means he gets paid to watch YouTube videos all day!  He's got some deep thoughts about web video today.  In this talk from TEDYouth, he shares the 4 reasons a video goes viral.

Here's the link.

Enjoy the video and keep those cameras running when you, your friends, your cat, your parakeet, your dog, your grandpa, or your brother does something interesting.  You never know who will be the next trend in YouTube videos.