TED Talk Ideas

1. Teen Living With Depression
2. Teen Living With Bi-Polar
3. The Art of Tattoos
4. Best Buddies
5. Teen Love
6. Positivity
7. Dreams
8. Hope
9. 18 & Published
10. Working Full-Time
11. Finding Yourself
12. Controlling Your Dreams
13. Dedication
14. The Success of Defeat
15. Take The Curved Path
16. The Downside To Being Honest
17. How To Go Unnoticed
18. Hot To Get People To Do What You Want
19. How To Color Inside The Lines
20. How To Apply Make-up

The Fringe Benefits of FAILURE!

     “Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution.” J.K. Rowling’s speech on the benefits of failure was nothing less than insightful. She spoke of how she herself had a fear of failure like some many do today, but eventually found that her failures were what brought her to not only the place she’s in today but into the person she is.

     A famous quote by Winston Churchill states, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” The underlying theme from the quote and Rowling’s speak is that no one should fear failure because failure is what makes one become determined. The benefits of failure will outweigh the benefits of continuous success, because with continuous success, one will never know what it means to have to work harder and they will never strive to be better.  

Does Racism Still Exist?

            Throughout history it has been argued and stated that African Americans were inferior to whites, causing whites to denigrate African Americans. During slavery African Americans were the property of whites and had no rights and when slavery ended those rights were still revoked. Years after slavery African Americans began to earn their rights to do ordinary things such as voting, going to school, and marriage. In time the treatment of African Americans began to change, but the mindset about African Americans hasn’t, proving that racism still exist today in America.

 An unanswered question still racking the minds of so many people in America today is whether or not racism still exists. While racism has a broader covering, today we’ll focus on racism towards African Americans. Society's belief is since African Americans and whites befriend each other, get married, go to schools and churches together that racism has ended; it’s quite the contrary actually. People such as Derrick Bell believed, “Equality for blacks will be found just around the corner (Greenhouse).” The corner that Bell spoke of apparently was a great distance because that article was written in 1992. 

In the previous months displays of racism have been plastered on social media websites. The most memorable act was the picture that had been circulated around of a life-sized doll of President Obama hanging from a noose (Borlik). There is no doubt about the message being sent here and this is a clear example of racism. The noose was originally used to lynch blacks during a time when racism was undeniable.  This was a clear and deliberate act of racism. As a result of the hanging doll African Americans took a stand and boycotted Shell gas stations. 

Another act was on a college campus, Oberlin College; classes were suspended after students were sighted in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan-type hooded robes. The irony of the situation is that Oberlin was one of the first universities to admit African Americans (Sheeran). It could be argues that it was a joke or a mere coincidence, but all African American people as a whole would not find it amusing. They would think of it as an attack and a threat to their well-being. No one could argue that these two acts were just mere coincidences. They were thought out attempts to put fear back in African Americans like there had been at one point in history. 

Although we’ve entered a time where interracial couples are seen in public and are happy, spectators frown upon their relationship. Mrs. Tamera Mowry-Housley is an actress, who recently was brought under scrutiny due to her decision to marry a white man. Many of her “fans” took to Internet blogs to bash her about her decision. It is the thought of so many that beings should not cross out of their race zones, this however isn't just a thought of whites but some African Americans feel this way too.
          Many argue how whites are racist towards African Americans but no one takes the time to reflect on how African Americans themselves can be racist to not only whites but people of their own race. African Americans also frown upon interracial relationships. Discussions are held in African American community about the loyalty women and men need to have to their own race. African American families have been known to disown "mix-breeds", a person half black and half white, because of their connection to the white world.
          African Americans out of anger or maybe even out of fear avoid whites and speak of them in derogatory ways. Just as stereotypes about African Americans are made by whites, African Americans make stereotypes about whites. African Americans repeat history everyday by violating or assaulting a white person, just as whites did over a century ago to their ancestors. There is a constant drive to want to play the victim so African Americans scream racism when they'll benefit. Even though racism still exist, it shouldn't constantly bring African Americans down it should be used as a motivational tool.
           

Work Cited

Greenhouse, Linda. "The End of Racism, and Other Fables." New York Times 20 Sept. 1992. Web. 5 Mar. 2013.

"Hanging Obama doll angers North Carolina, Hampton Roads residents." Writ. Joe Borlik. My Fox 8. WGHP, 4 Nov. 2012. Web. 5 Mar. 2013.

Sheeran, Thomas J. "Racial Episodes Shake Ohio's Oberlin College." Associated Press 5 Mar. 2013 [Oberlin, OH] . Web. 5 Mar. 2013.

Top Three Innovations & The Lowest Three Innovations

The latest bizarre techs have released some ideas for new innovations. The innovations vary in their targeted audiences. Based on the trends and necessities of today’s world, the innovations were ranked by the top three and the lowest three. The top three are devices that people believe will thrive and be very useful; the lowest three are devices that people feel should be reexamined.

The number one pick: A photovoltaic allows someone to charge their phone in the sun or even indoors via ambient light. Many would agree that this would be one of the greater inventions because of the world’s dependency on technology. A photovoltaic allows people to charge their phone without the hassle of remembering to bring your charger.

The Olloclip is the iPhone photographer's dream gadget. The device is a quick-connect lens for the iPhone and iPod touch that includes fisheye, wide-angle and macro lenses in one. The thought process behind this innovation was impeccable. Many photographs do not always wish to lug around all their equipment but with this handy little lens, they’ll have a professional camera in seconds. Many people would argue that it only being available for the iPhone is not good for business, but in fact, there is a large number of people who have iPhones which still merit great sells.    

The water-resistant Ascend D2 smartphone is self-explanatory. There are numerous times people drop their phone in a substance and have to buy a new device. The device would sell high with different audiences making it a great sell. The device could sell well with people who enjoy being underwater and like to take pictures or people who are prone to dropping their phone in water.

After looking at the list, the remainders were believed to be the bottom three of the innovations. Fujitsu's Generation walking stick would be the top of the bottom three simply because it targets only the older audience. The problem with targeting the older audience is that they are not tech-savvy so they won’t like using the device. The stick also tracks and monitors where the person is which could cause the buyer to feel an invasion of privacy, which may cause them to shy away from buying it.

YotaPhone features both a color touch screen and a screen using low-power monochome e-ink. While the phone does allow for its owner to use to different screens, it isn’t necessary. Having two screens when you can only view one screen at a time is an unnecessary amenity. A user will pay an excessive amount of money for two screens, when they’ll only be able to use one screen. An improvement might be if the phone had two screens that were able to be used simultaneously by two different people.

The lowest ranking innovation of all twenty-two had to be Spheron's robotic balls. While the robotic balls can be controlled by Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices they don’t serve a primary purpose. They weren’t invented for a direct purpose which will have some effect on their ability to sell.