TEDx - Our Next Speaker is Going to Get Us Moving

Canadians sometimes bemoan the lack of innovative spirit in this country. Every once in a while we see a talented individual that proves the exception.

Ben Gulak, a native of Milton just outside Toronto, is such a young man. Ben’s the inventor of the UNO electric bicycle shown on the right.

Fired by a passion to provide more eco-friendly urban transportation, he created the ever-so-cool UNO electric bike. He survived trial by fire on Canada’s Dragon’s Den TV program to gain investment from the curmudgeon investors there. He hit the front page of Popular Science as one of the Top 10 Inventions of the year. His prowess has led him to be chosen three times to represent Canada at the International Science and Engineering Fair and he’s a winner of the prestigious National Collegiate of Inventors and Innovators Alliance Award. In other words, he was off to a good start as an inventor.

But Ben doesn’t rest on his laurels. His next invention is the Shredder all terrain vehicle, described on Ben’s site as “an adrenaline pumpin’, mean lookin’ board that takes off-road riding experience into a whole new realm”. Not only is it usable as a platform for extreme sports, it is also offered as a first response vehicle for soldiers in crisis situations.

Somehow Ben finds time within all this invention stuff to pursue his studies at MIT, where he’s a sophomore. And a few other interesting activities here and there. When I talked to this charming young man he was just leaving to visit the Singularity University, an interdisciplinary university working to stimulate groundbreaking, disruptive thinking and solutions aimed at solving some of the planet’s most pressing challenges. Sounds as if that’s a great place for Ben to be!

I just know Ben is going to inspire the attendees at TEDx. Ben will also be offering a chance for attendees to test-ride both the UNO and the Shredder. We’ll open up registration for this bonus experience shortly before the conference and I know that will be one of the hottest tickets in town!

Weird Animal Sex

You’re going to love our next TEDx speaker! Pat Senson spent eight years behind the scenes at CBC’s wonderful science program Quirks and Quarks, where his work won many awards. A biologist and journalist by trade, he knows a great story when he hears it – and he knows how to tell it as well.

And tell it he does in his book exploring the more bizarre behaviours of animals – Nasty, Brutish and Short: The Quirks and Quarks Guide to Animal Sex and Other Weird Behaviour. This book has all the ingredients of a popular novel – conflict, intrigue and sex – yet it’s E Rated (E for educational).

I heard Pat interviewed on the radio about this book and I just knew we had to have him at TEDx. We've all seen lots of movies where 'boy meets girl, boy chases girl, boy gets girl', with all the trials and tribulations along the way. But you ain't't heard nuthin' yet! Wait until you hear Pat unfold this tale as transposed to a certain species of spiders!

In his spare time, Pat participates in amateur theatre and I think the audience is going to love him. It’s getting exciting to see a mix of topics and speakers emerging for our program.

TEDx - another great speaker confirmed!

I’m pleased to announce a second wonderful speaker for our November 11 TEDx conference. I met Juliana Rotisch at TED2010 in California. By total coincidence, I ended up sitting at a dinner table with her and some other TED Fellows, and was completely captivated by her sparkling personality and her story.

Juliana is a native of Kenya and a co-founder of Ushahidi. Born during the post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, Ushahidi is a web based reporting system that utilises crowd sourced data to formulate visual map information of a crisis on a real-time basis. Ushahidi is versatile in allowing users to input data through SMS, through video MMS on a smart phone, or through a computer – basically any connected digital device. In the Kenyan scenario it was used to map out incidents of violence and this information has played a crucial role in the continuing justice and reconciliation process in Kenya. Ushahidi then grew to be a generic open source incident reporting platform that has been successfully deployed in various situations such as the Haiti and Chile earthquakes, the Palestine conflict crisis, the heavy snow crisis in Washington, and the recent oil spillage crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. As a Program Director for Ushahidi Juliana manages projects and aids in the development, testing and deployment of the Ushahidi platform.

Juliana is an experienced public speaker and she also likes to talk about the vitality of technology in Africa. It was a tough choice, but Ushahidi is such a compelling story that I think that’s the topic she’ll address. I can’t wait to see Juliana again in November and to get an update on where Ushahidi is being deployed.

Mysteries and Thrillers

Over the past couple of weeks, I've read three mystery/thriller books. I recommend two and not the third.

A Question of Belief

Both my husand and I are fans of Donna Leon's series about Commissario Guido Brunetti, set in Venice. This latest book evokes Venice as it swelters in the summer heat, and the natives weave their way through streets full of tourists. Brunetti's family is away in the mountains so we only get a brief glimpses of Guido's wife Paola and the kids. The incomparable Signora Ellettra is working her magic with the computer again, the trustworthy Inspettore Viannello is at Guido's side, and the disgusting Patta is up to his usual tricks. As usual, Brunetti solves the crime, but that doesn't necessarily mean the guilty end up behind bars!

This is a must read for any Leon fans. If you haven't already read Donna Leon, you should go back to the beginning of the series and start with Death at La Fenice. If you fall in love with the series, you have many delights to look forward to.


The Ghost

This was the first book I've read by Robert Harris, but it won't be the last.

The Ghost is a clever political thriller. It's a first-person narrative by an author who's usually a ghost-writer for other people's lives. His own life has now become rather interesting as he learns more and more about his subject, a former Prime Minister of Britain, who bears a remarkable resemtblance to Tony Blair.

The book kept me turning pages right until the very satisfying end. My only complaint is that the book was too short! I recommend this book highly.


This Body of Death

Elizabeth George is an American who sets her novels in Britain - in the grand tradition of British murder mysteries. It's not I think she's the greatest writer of British murder mysteries. But I've grown accustomed to her characters over the years, and look forward to revisiting them. Besides, you can always count on a a reasonably plotted mystery.

This book delivered on the good plot, as the force welcomes back the lead character Lynley after the death of his wife. However, I just didn't like how the characters were trending. Lynley's behaviour was not credible. A new character was not likeable. There was a kicker in Barbara Havers life; she's been Lynley's long-time quirky, irreverent partner.

Definitely not one of George's best. Give it a miss.