TED Community » Michael Glass

More About Me

I'm passionate about

My wife and children. My work. Maps. Bandwidth.

An idea worth spreading

Cynicism is what passes for insight among the mediocre. (Joe Klein)

Talk to me about

You. Psychology. Historical fiction. Secrets of New York City. What makes you laugh. Your favorite TED Talk.

My TED Story

I started working at TED six ago before the TED Talks version of our website was launched. The office was in Chris Anderson's apartment and the TED archival tapes were stored in a drawer in his bedroom. Of course a lot has changed, but it's just as exciting to come to the office today as it was in 2007.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +300.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Conversation: What is the best 404 page you have found?

  May 25 2012: Far from the best but these among my personal favorite -- Commodore/Amiga nostalgia:
  http://scar.atspace.org/404.html
  www.klaus.dk/404040404040404
  
  Here's a collection:
  http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/49-nice-and-creative-error-404-pages/
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Why does TED.com have so little focus on open-source (software/hardware/ideas)?

  Feb 21 2011: I agree actually, but I think I'm conflating two areas in my response -- TED's internal practices vs. TED's speaker/content curation. I spend my days immersed in the former which I do believe approaches Open Source as both a practice and philosophy with a great deal of vigor.
  
  TED Curation, however, is far outside my day-to-day work. I think curation by definition is the opposite of open source. Even so, I believe TED does an outstanding job of it. True, there are always a few voices that I feel are neglected, but the curators themselves appear to periodically feel the same way.
  
  From what I've seen, every speaker recommendation is investigated in a disciplined and fair manner by people I find thoughtful, open-minded, and emotionally intelligent. (Working at TED leaves me biased of course, but it's what I've witnessed since I started working here. So take this for whatever it's worth.)
  
  Please recommend speakers! While the curators track a broad spectrum of areas of thought, invention, and action, they don't purport to be worldwide authorities on 'ideas.' TED would no doubt benefit from exploring unusual aspects of Open Source and would listen carefully if you shared some which might fit the format of a TEDTalk.

• A comment on Conversation: Why does TED.com have so little focus on open-source (software/hardware/ideas)?

  Feb 20 2011: Actually, in my experience TED is a ardent supporter of Open Source. Sponsors have no input on whether content or the technologies behind the site are open (see the CC license at the end of every TEDTalk and the license-free nature of all images we capture at conferences.)
  We endeavor to use open source software in encoding and managing our video, although we always balance those decisions with a respect for quality concerns. All our video is currently moving to h.264 -- itself not open source -- but encoded using ffmpeg and x264. As soon as VP8/WebM (or Theora) catches up in efficiency and quality we are ready to transform the library once again.
  To be sure, certain technologies crucial to our workflow require us to venture into the world of closed technologies. We've moved all video recording away from linear media to HD-based capture, but the best tool we've found available to us in doing that records using ProRes. Even so, a slew of tools we've developed internally are based on open source technologies -- users reap the benefits of these although are never aware if their use.
  Linus Torvalds et al likely haven't spoken at TED because of reasons unrelated to the 'politics' of their talks. See Julian Assange's talk for a sense of TED's interest in exploring the openness of ideas. Or watch Larry Lessig's 2007 talk -- far from ambivalent about the worthiness of Open Source.
  If you find that there is a particular aspect of TED.com or TED that neglects an open source technology which is more efficient and/or higher quality than what we're currently using please post the specifics here. I am certain all the developers and media geeks at TED are interested!
• +3

  A comment on Conversation: TED conversations needs visuals

  Feb 20 2011: Makes complete sense. If only TED had enough resources to implement such things quickly! Seems a great addition for a v2 or v3 of the conversation project.
• +1

  A reply on Talk: Natalie Merchant sings old poems to life

  Apr 10 2010: Done!
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  A comment on Talk: Paola Antonelli treats design as art

  Jan 16 2008: I've fixed the "Video to iTunes" and "Video to Desktop" links. Thanks for alerting us! I apologize for the mishap.

• A comment on Theme: Africa: The Next Chapter

  Aug 1 2007: So far I've found more hidden gems here than any of the other themes -- particularly William Kamkwamba's talk. Be sure to take a look at his windmill blog.

• A comment on Talk: Dolby + Garniez play "La Vie en Rose"

  Apr 25 2007: The download link has been fixed, Rickey. Thanks so much for helping bring the issue to our attention!

• A comment on Talk: Chris Bangle says great cars are Art

  Apr 25 2007: Thanks for catching that, Edward! The above links have been fixed.

• A comment on Talk: Vik Muniz: Art with wire, sugar, chocolate and string

  Apr 25 2007: The download links should be fixed now. Thanks for your patience with the new site!