TED Community » Gowtham Sunkara

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Technology, Education, Entrepreneurship, Social Networking (both online and offline)

An idea worth spreading

Good begets good. Spread cheer always.

Talk to me about

Anything that interests you. I am always open to learning new things and forming new friendships.

People don't know that I'm good at

Singing. Very few people know me as a good singer. You are lucky if you are one of them! :)

My TED Story

TED is one thing I am very passionate about. The simple idea of a platform to share the most brilliant ideas known to humanity has a captivating effect on me, I have been associated with TEDxBITSGoa, one of the largest TEDx events in India for the past 2 years. Being a part of this event has brought me even closer to TED.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +662.10 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +2

  A comment on Conversation: The Mega Million dollar question.

  Mar 31 2012: Hi Everyone,
  
  Here are my thoughts on the question-
  
  1) We all are optimists at some level. Here a few things more likely to happen to you than winning this lottery,
  
  Struck by Lightning 576,000-to-1
  Killed by the Escape of Radiation From a Nearby Nuclear Power Station 10,000,000-to-1
  
  Source- http://gizmodo.com/5897509/a-list-of-things-that-are-more-likely-than-you-winning-540-million-tomorrow
  
  But, we never worry about getting struck by lightning when we are out, do we? Optimism at work! And frankly, it is a good thing in my opinion.
  
  
  2) I would use that money to change one person's life. Maybe mine. :) (And I guess the lottery was for 540 million)
  
  @Jamal Thomas Interesting question. Thanks for putting this up!
  
  Best Regards,
  Gowtham
  
  P.S. If you like my comment, please click the 'like' (thumbs up) icon in this box to like my comment. Thanks!
• +2

  A comment on Conversation: Does Facebook And Twitter Really a matter to be Blocked in Offices?

  Mar 31 2012: Hi Everyone,
  
  I read in a survey somewhere that the average office worker needs 8 minutes to get into the proper mood for creating, but is disturbed at every 3 minutes due to some alert from his computers. When employers pay money, they expect certain amount of quality work from the employees. Sure, they may be able to finish the work even while chatting on facebook, but will it have the same quality as the work they do with full concentration? I don't think so.
  
  Quick naps are encouraged in many places because they are scientifically proven to relax the mind and increase memory retention.
  
  On the other side, many companies these days encourage workers to get online on facebook and twitter so that they can better interact with end users and hence create more valuable products.
  
  Bottomline: The blocking of social networks at work really depends on the organization and what they expect from the employees.
  
  Best Regards,
  Gowtham
  
  P.S. Please click on the 'like' (thumbs up) icon if you like my comments.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: "If you can't win, change the rules." this is what we should do with financial crisis.

  Mar 29 2012: "If you can't win, change the rules" This is a great motto. But we must respect its limits.
  
  Politicians are nothing but our representatives. We elect them through a fair and transparent process. In a way, what they say is the voice of the majority. We are the people who put them in the seat of power and gave them a voice to speak on behalf of us.
  
  Using Internet as a tool for a direct democracy is a radical new idea that is being suggested by many people. Before going ahead with this, we must look into many of the issues surrounding it, such as penetration, accessibility etc. Once
  all these are sorted out, Internet can be a very powerful tool to aid democracy.
  
  If everybody stops following rules just because the situtation is not in their favour, utter chaos will reign. It will benefit nobody in the long run. Robert Winner has summed this up quite nicely in his comment.
• +3

  A comment on Conversation: Is History an important subject in school? Or should we be focusing on the future?

  Mar 29 2012: We can never move forward without a strong understanding of our past. History helps us learn the mistakes of the past and avoid them in the future.
  
  I think the question should be .. How can History be taught better in our schools to benefit the students?

• A comment on Conversation: Technology doesn't kill the magic

  Mar 29 2012: Getting to know more about something takes away a little of the mystery surrounding it. As Sanjana Hattotuwa pointed out, it will also serve to arouse our interest in the matter further. I believe that there will always be much more to learn than what we know.
  
  Here is an interesting video for you to watch -> http://www.ted.com/talks/marco_tempest_the_augmented_reality_of_techno_magic.html
  
  It mixes technology with illusions, resulting in an amazing presentation.

• A reply on Conversation: Shall We Pity the Entertainment Industry?

  Mar 17 2012: Great points @Mark Meijer

• A reply on Conversation: Value of privacy on the internet.

  Mar 16 2012: Time for some better End-User License Agreements then!
  
  Here is an interesting article I found on why to go through EULAs - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc512640.aspx

• A reply on Conversation: Value of privacy on the internet.

  Mar 16 2012: Good Point Gabe. They value comfort much more than privacy. But I do see a little change in the recent past. People are beginning comprehend whats at stake. I hope the trend flourishes.

• A comment on Conversation: Shall We Pity the Entertainment Industry?

  Mar 16 2012: I appreciate your long reply. But, don't you think there should be some safeguards (until an extent) to stop piracy? After all piracy is stealing, right?
  
  I spoke about the profits as part of the industry as a whole. The jobs point was on a more emotional level.
  
  P.S. I wanted to post this as a reply to your comment, but I guess TED.com does not allow more than three levels of conversation.

• A reply on Conversation: Shall We Pity the Entertainment Industry?

  Mar 16 2012: Do you know how many people rely on the media industry? From technicians to directors, millions of people depend on the media industry for their livelihood directly or indirectly. Piracy is hurting their livelihoods.
  
  I am not saying SOPA in its present form is right. I was merely pointing out one of the reasons for its existence.