words that seem boring
will become much more worthwhile
when viewed through this lens.
[via mefi projects]
posted by mdn on Sep 16, 2009 - 66 comments

Chris Dane Owens' epic medieval bluescreen journey to poprock superstardom. Video directed by academy award winning Robert Short. [more inside]
posted by Count on Dec 5, 2008 - 11 comments

Doctor Larry Brilliant (mentioned before) spoke at TED this year, calling himself the "luckiest man in the world." He played witness to the last case of Smallpox, and played a significant role in making it the last case. Inspiring/terrifying video here, long, with some graphic images of smallpox.

Back in 1974, Brilliant's technique for early detection in India was to take graphic photos door to door, asking if anyone inside looks like this. Now, as head of Google's philanthropic efforts, he's advocating systems for "early detection, early response." Unsurprisingly, Google, etc, are an important piece of that system: can we detect what's happening before it can spread?

One of the first responses to Brilliant is up already, a means for doctors to immediately text epidemiological information straight into a global spatial database. It's a rough and promising start, and its fascinating that it's coming from the bottom up, instead of NGOs like the Red Cross.
posted by cloudscratcher on Aug 30, 2006 - 17 comments

Don't Be Evil is Google's motto. But now they're putting their money (approx. $1.1 billion) where their mouth is. The man in charge of Google's new philanthropic arm is Dr. Larry Brilliant, a man of exceedingly humanitarian endeavors.
posted by Like the Reef on Feb 23, 2006 - 61 comments