TED Community » Bob Douglas

More About Me

I'm passionate about

My family foremost, the environment, the plight of the Hawaiian people and photography as a tool.

An idea worth spreading

Coming soon

People don't know that I'm good at

Coming soon

My TED Story

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Comments

• TEDCred score: +0.60 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: Ted videos have closed captioning for the deaf.

  Dec 8 2011: Hi Katja,
  
  One more request. Would it be possible to either list the talks that are CC or include a small CC icon so that we don't have to go into the page and wait for the talk to start prior to learning that it's not available. I.e., Cheryl Hayashi talk.
  
  Thanks!

• A reply on Conversation: Ted videos have closed captioning for the deaf.

  Dec 8 2011: Emily,
  
  Somehow I missed that option. Maybe it was because I was watching TED youtube versions earlier.
  
  Thanks.
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Ted videos have closed captioning for the deaf.

  Dec 8 2011: Katja,
  
  I speak for a very small portion of the deaf community. My hearing was lost at 50+. I prefer subtitles as much of the pertinent content is visual. Transcripts are great when in depth study is required. That being said your idea to shorten the subtitles is wonderful especially for those times the speaker is flying through the talk. When there are too many words it can be hard to follow and you can forget watching the video portion. If I may suggest one option to consider would be to offer a choice to proportionally slow down or even study pausing the video to accommodate the length of subtitles. I would prefer investing in spending a little more time than having to rewind or watch it twice.
  
  Thanks for your concern.

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

  Jun 3 2011: As an artist you always learn from others. From some you learn more, from some less. I learned more from Vik. Thanks for posting this vid.
• +4

  A reply on Talk: Chip Conley: Measuring what makes life worthwhile

  Jun 22 2010: kurg - just curious have you measured the true happiness you derive from your posts?

• A comment on Talk: Larry Burns on the future of cars

  Dec 4 2008: Excuse me if it's with skepticism that I trust Mr. Burns and GM.
  
  What about dealing with the current situation now!!! As I write this GM's European division Opel produces the Agila which achieves 52.27 combined MPG and 58.8 MPG on the highway. Why aren't they available in the US?
  
  To be honest Ford, BMW, Mercedes and others also produces 50 MPG variants unavailable here in the US.
  
  If we are to solve the oil crisis we need these cars here and now! Why isn't congress acting?

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

  Dec 7 2007: Please does anyone know anyone at BMW that I can escalate my gripe about the unavailability of the smaller displacement gasoline engines or the availability of the diesel engines for the new 1 series in the US? I've called customer relations and they were useless to say the least. See my post below for more info on the 118d.

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

  Nov 1 2007: So Chris learned to trust his designers this is really great, now how about if BMW trusted the American public and offered the complete 1 series to include the 62.8 mpg (UK Gal) diesel 118d. Complete 1 series overview. We (Americans) don't all want the larger displacements models. So with the same passion but with a more restrainded vocabulary I would love to ask BMWs management what the HECK is up with this?
  
  I currently drive a '94 E36 325i 30.6 mpg which I love but honestly it's getting a bit tired. So for the past few years I have been awaiting a more Eco friendly solution from BMW shunning the Toyotas and Hondas. Alas I may have to give up.