TEDxTeen

June 26, 2012

Here's something I love: TED Talks. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. It's a global phenomenon that brings together all kinds of people, from every walk of life, to share new things. They can be technological advances, they can be comedic skits, they can be fantastic performances, and more. My favorite thing is that all are about innovation, education, and creativity.

This week marks the 2012 TEDGlobal Conference, and just one more reason to check them out. In fact, they're trending on Twitter #TEDGlobal. They don't have all the talks up from this week yet, but I got to read about open source and Arduino (you may remember I wrote about them in my Wearable Electronics blog), and all the amazing things they are doing with it! I'll mention one: the txtBOMBER. It allows you to print text wherever you are and create individualized graffiti, art, and more.

Why should you care? Well, there's this great thing they have called TEDxTeen! It's a bunch of teens, just like you, who are making a difference in the world around them. They took an idea, and made it a reality. They helped one person, and ended up helping lots. It's the little things that sometimes take off in a big way.

I highly recommend checking out the TEDxTeen Talks. You'll laugh, maybe cry, and definitely learn something new. If you're a Netflix user, you may have seen these popping up as well. TED is taking the world by storm, so don't get caught unaware.

You can watch great videos on the TEDxTeen website. Here are some that I really enjoyed:

• Jacob Barnett: Forget What You Know
• Khadim Diop: Frankenstein
• Amy Eldon Turteltaub & Kathy Eldon: Safari as a Way of Life
• Sejal Hathi: Empowering Girl Changemakers
• P-Star: Join Literacy

Abbey L.
South Independence Branch