The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age

This podcast really made me think. Today so much information about our lives is archived and stored basically forever.  However, our biological memory fades.  This podcast poses the question, "Would we be better off if our digital memories faded (or expired) over time like our biological memory?"  Would it be easier to move on and get on with life easier or quicker? to think more clearly? 

Check out Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Inbox, episode 133.

Here's a link to the book discussed, Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age

Poor Malawian Farmer Becomes an Inventor and Brings Hope to Africa

This is a truly inspiring story of how a poor Malawian teenager, a "poor farmer in a nation of poor famers" took inspiration at age 14 from science books and used parts he got in a scrap yard to change his life.  The following is a quote from his biography:

William Kamkwamba, from Malawi, is a born inventor. When he was 14, he built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap, working from rough plans he found in a library book called Using Energy and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home.

After reading about Kamkwamba on Mike McKay's blog Hactivate (which picked up the story from a local Malawi newspaper), TEDGlobal Conference Director Emeka Okafor spent several weeks tracking him down at his home in Masitala Village, Wimbe, and invited him to attend TEDGlobal on a fellowship. Onstage, Kamkwamba talked about his invention and shared his dreams: to build a larger windmill to help with irrigation for his entire village, and to go back to school.

Following Kamkwamba's moving talk, there was an outpouring of support for him and his promising work. Members of the TED community got together to help him improve his power system (by incorporating solar energy), and further his education through school and mentorships. Subsequent projects have included clean water, malaria prevention, solar power and lighting for the six homes in his family compound; a deep-water well with a solar-powered pump for clean water; and a drip irrigation system. Kamkwamba himself returned to school, and is now attending the African Leadership Academy, a new pan-African prep school outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

He shows there is hope for poor developing countries.  You really must check out these two video podcasts from TED:

•  "William Kamkwamba on building a windmill" (the original TEDTalk at age 19)
  
•  a more recent TEDTalk "William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind" (also on iTunes)

 Here's a link to William's book:

 If you enjoy this or any of my other recommendations, please leave a comment!