TED Community » Anna Patai

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• TEDCred score: +571.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Talk: BLACK: My journey to yo-yo mastery

  Apr 28 2013: If you hover your cursor over the video you can turn on subtitles in English and many other languages.

• A comment on Conversation: How many books have you read this year?

  Jun 28 2012: Not sure how many I've read - I start many books, certainly more than I finish, too old to bother with something that doesn't hold my interest - but the last one that really stayed with me was The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. It's sf that takes place in a future of genetically engineered crops where the most valuable commodity is the genetic code of plants that are extinct stored in seeds. It got me interested in seed banks and as a result translated Cary Fowler: One seed at a time, protecting the future of food and Jonathan Drori: Why we're storing billions of seeds.
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  A comment on Talk: Andrew Stanton: The clues to a great story

  Jun 28 2012: One of those classic whirlwind talks that grab you with their energy and wit and take you on a journey of heart and intellect - how could none of it translate into the film? John Carter was such a mess, it was such a disappointment after watching this talk, because Stanton obviously has solid founding in storytelling.

• A comment on Talk: Rives: Reinventing the encyclopedia game

  Jun 28 2012: Does Rives always wear the same blue shirt for TED like David Attenborough?
  
  And does the quality just keep randomly dropping for a few seconds at a time?
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  A comment on Conversation: Have Documentaries or Narrative Films had a bigger impact on you?

  Jun 23 2012: The Crying Game had really shown me early on that love can come in many shapes and forms and is still an equally valid emotion. I grew up in a very homogenous society, have not seen people of different skin colour, of very different faiths, let alone sexual orientation, so seeing a film like the Crying Game had a great part to play in teaching me that "normal" is a matter of perspective. I still don't really have friends who are very different from me - it just happens that way - so films are still the primary way for me to experience other perspectives. I can't afford to travel to the other end of the world, but films can take you everywhere!:) I love docs, especially Werner Herzog, and they are great for information, but you can't beat narrative in making you "feel" for someone else.
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  A reply on Conversation: How is your experiences with Amara for TED Translations

  May 7 2012: I agree with all these points, what I would add - which is kind of a variation on #3 - is that the translation field is way too small.
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  A comment on Talk: Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea

  Jan 21 2012: What really makes me angry about Hollywood's approach is that it is generally formulated with an American audience in mind, but it affects everyone around the world. Media companies posit that people pirate movies and TV shows because they don't want to pay for them. That might be the case in America, where they have every available option to get a product legally if they so choose: they get it first in the world, they can buy it on Amazon, physically, digitally, Hulu, Netflix, whatever they like. Only available in America. I live in a small Eastern European country, that has no dedicated DVD stores. I can buy a small and random selection in electronics stores or TESCO, but can't think of a movie then go out and buy it. Or take 3D, the only purpose of which is to stop illegal recording. And it is making more money outside of America than in the States. Because American multiplexes have enough screens to show 3D and 2D copies at the same time, and more people will chose 2D. But here one film is only shown on one screen, so they show it 3D, because it's more expensive, I don't get a choice. And 3D can't be subbed, it has to be dubbed, so no expats can watch it anymore. Hollywood's answer? Do they make digital streaming more widely available? No, they punish countires with high levels of piracy by releasing their movies with a bigger delay! Same for books, you can buy a Kindle from abroad, but you need an American card to buy anything from Amazon.com. or an English card to buy it from .co.uk. I couldn't even buy a book for a friend, because gifting is only available in America, and it's technically possible to lend, but no publisher allows it. So in the end I just slaved his Kindle to my account so he could read a book. America (and Japan) I am yours! I want to consume your products, please make it convenient, nay, possible for me to do so! iTunes already knows how lucrative it is to let people listen to what they want where and how they want to, please take note!
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  A comment on Talk: Mustafa Akyol: Faith versus tradition in Islam

  Jul 4 2011: These are very salient points and all people should be aware of them, Muslims and Non-Msulims alike, in fact followers of any faith need to learn to differentiate between custom and scripture. I think though, as a white, middle-class Westerner it would be considered equally racist or Islamophopic if I were to call any Middle-Eastern practice barbaric or medieval, regardless whether it is religious or cultural. But for that matter, why should religion enjoy such special treatment? Shouldn't we be allowed to speak out against medieval and barbaric practices - such as the opression of women - no matter what excuse is used to justify them? Saying "ACTUALLY, it's not Islamic, it's Persian." does't make it any better or worse.
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  A comment on Talk: Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"

  Jun 2 2011: Ethan Zuckeman also talked about the tunnel vision of the internet in his very interesting talk on listening to global voices, and I think this is really the talk that should be on the right under "What to watch next". http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ethan_zuckerman.html
  
  Is it just me or did Pariser try really hard not to upset Google and Facebook whilst criticising them? I hope they had a meaningful and fruitful chat at the conference with 'Sergey and Larry'.

• A reply on Talk: Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child

  May 24 2011: $199 is pretty bad, if it cost about a $100 in 2006 and they hoped to bring it down to $50 by 2010. Isn't that the exact opposite of Moore's law?