In a strange moment of Baader-Meinhoff-Phenomenon (or Synchronicity) I watched a TED Talk last week that featured Nathan Myhrvold from Intellectual Ventures.
It’s an amazing video, though it starts a little slow. By the end of the talk he’s brought out a device built from a Webcam, a PS3, a Bluray player and a few other things from eBay. The frankenstein device uses the camera to spot mosquitos, then uses the laser from the Bluray player to listen (yes, listen) to the wing beats to determine if it’s a female, then turns up the power on the laser and kills the insect. Thus helping to slow or stop the spread of malaria. Oh, and it doesn’t do this to a mosquito mere inches away. It zaps them from across the stage!
This is the sort of thing they’re doing at IV. They’re inventors (and, some claim, patent trolls).
So where’s the synchronicity? Well at the same time I read that, I was reading Levitt and Dubner’s follow up to the madly successful “Freakonomics
This sequel, like the original, is a series of stories about looking at things from a totally different point of view. It’s a great read but, unfortunately, I don’t think it has the impact of the original. Something has been lost somewhere and it’s less about economics and more about telling interesting stories.
If you enjoyed Freakonomics, you’ll probably enjoy Superfreakonomics
Superfreakonomics
