GoodBomb

There are a lot of great ideas out there that, were they to succeed, would make our world phenomenally better. These great ideas would eliminate our need for fossil fuels, cure cancer, and end homelessness, hunger, and poverty, to name only a few. Unfortunately, though, most of these ideas won’t fly and there’s one simple reason why...

Why good ideas don't fly | The GoodBomb Blog

Heard this really interesting debate on CBC Radio this morning. Are TED Talks actually intellectual placebos? Are the talks themselves designed to manufacture "feel good" responses from the audience, that distracts from the real complexities of the issues? Benjamin Bratton calls the TED model, among other things: "middlebrow megachurch infotainment" and "placebo politics."

What do you think?

TED Talks: The original Technology, Education and Design conferences (TED Talks) were brought about as opportunities to bring Big Thinkers and New Ideas to everyone, anywhere, on stage and online. Supporters would argue they still do. But critic Benjamin Bratton sees what he calls the TED-ification of informat...

This week's Vancouver Is Awesome GoodBomb feature is the "Commercial Drive Parklet" by Julien Thomas.

Just outside of Prado café at 1938 Commercial Drive, Julien Thomas, a social artist in Vancouver with a knack for transforming abstract ideas into interactive public projects, wants to convert two parking stalls into a Parklet. What is a Parklet you ask? Parklets transform on-street parking into places for people to sit, relax, and enjoy the city. Traditionally, parklets consist of an extended platform over a parking space and can include benches, tables, chairs, landscaping, and bike parking.

Weekly GoodBomb: Commercial Drive Parklet The Commercial Drive Parklet is one of a few projects selected as part of VIVA Vancouver’s 2013 Parklet Pilot Program. Unlike other projects led by large architecture and landscape architecture firms, this is the only one undertaken by active residents of the project neighbourhood. The parklet desig...