It had been a while since I’d talked to Larry Lessig, or heard him talk about Creative Commons. I’ve always embraced his vision, but it’s been hard to get people to understand that re-thinking copyright is a critical element of the evolution of content on the web.

But at this year’s TED conference, Lessig presented an 18 min talk that was breathtaking in it’s simplicity and it’s power. Using a fast paced slide show of words and pictures, he took the Audience back to the days of John Phillip Sussa. Sussa was staunch opponent of electronic recording of music – fearing that we could go from being a socity of music makes to a society of passive music listeners. Or, as Lessig put it from a Read /Write Culture to a Read Only Culture. Well, turns out that Sussa was right - and the devices that recorded music resulted in a society that used to sing on the front porch evolving into a society that now listens. But, says Lessig – the remix culture that is now evolving around mash-ups and re-mixes is changing that. He played 3 videos from YouTube - including this one:

and this:

Lessig’s point is simple, and resonates with me. He said - “We are raising a generation of kids who are being told that to be creative, they have to break the law.”

I sat in the audience, and thought back to how man times my older son has asked me about how he can use music in his films, how he can address the creative calling he has to remix and edit to music, without breaking the law. I didn’t have a good answer for him… and we should have one.

But at Magnify.net, we default all of our uploads to a Creative Commons License, so maybe that's a start.

At TED there are thinkers and there are doers. People stand on stage and talk about concepts, ideas, theories, and ideas. Then in the gallery area, there are products – mostly companies, that present ideas that have evolved into things that are manufactured. The space between, from idea to execution – isn’t something that is often visible.

In the middle of all this stands Jeff. He’s like a kid in a candy store. He’s built an application so immediately cool that everyone who touches it wants to put it to use. At the same time, He’s so clearly built something that WILL become part of our work place, our schools, and our homes that you can’t help but think he already knows that.

Here, take a look

It doesn’t have a name, or if it does - Jeff didn’t tell me.

But he did demonstrate. A 20 foot wide touch screen video space that is operated by gestures. Hand movements, figures tips spreading and contracting. He’s build a few demonstration applications that help you understand the potential impact this interface will have.

First, there’s mapping. Google Maps, Google Earth, detailed images that can be cut, paste, zoomed, and layered. Because the screen can be used by more than one person at the same time… immediately geogphrayp is dynamic and engaging. It’s hypnotic.

Then, there’s real time video. With a click, the Han wall has 200 videos from you tube – playing all in real time. You can order them, cut them, past them. Resize them. Remember the video wall from Minority Report? Han built it.

And then there’s Flicker. You type in a key word and all the images from across the web that are findable are layed out in a wonderful mosaic. Here too you can cut and past, draw on top of them. Re-order, replace, stack and unstuck.

The applications for art directors is obvious. The application for education is immediate. You want one in your office, your kids school, your living room. Once you put your hands on the Han screen, you don’t wan to stop playing. It’s the best UI I’ve seen since the first time I saw a Mac Desktop in 1986. Wow.

And the crowds proved it. People stood, started, touched, played, just flat our loved the idea that the static world of the web is now something that can be played with poster size.

Han hasn’t taken a dime of Venture Capital, and my guess is he won’t have too. He’s already got customers, and he’s shipping units. At $200,000 each mostly to government users. One TED member with who was there from the NSA said - “heck, we’ll buy six of them.” Yup.

Hanging out with Thomas Dolby at the TED party last night, we ended up talking about Larry Lessig. Thomas had said at TED global in Oxford that he didn’t want his music given away freely on the web, sparking a discussion about how artists feel about distribution. And as we explored the need to balance the freedom of the web with artists need to pay their bill, Thomas pointed out that it was his deal with EMI that got his music heard.

The irony is that I was programming my college radio station when he signed his record deal, and without EMI there’s certainly no way that I would have ever heard “She Blinded Me with Science” or put it on the air on WSPN. So – we agreed that record deals were critical for artists who wanted to get their music heard. But that was then, and there was no internet, and really very little in the way of independed Distribution. Today Thomas puts his new stuff out on the web, looking to connect with new audiences as his fans. What’s amazing about his music is that you hear him just as hungry for new musical ideas, just as experimental, and just as hypnotically lyrical as he was back in 1982.

If you haven’t listened to his new stuff - you should - you can find it here. He really is a remarkable artist – and he brings to TED a remarkably diverse and musical spirit that makes the 3 days an artistically uplifting experience.

Eighteen minutes can seem like an eternity on the TED stage, or it can go by in a flash. But every now and then, someone will speak with such passion, conviction, and vision that you just know you’re hearing the worlds of a world changing individual. That was my reaction to listening to Bill Stone.

Stone is an explorer. You know, like Columbus. And as Stone’s eye is on space. The plan he laid out for commercializing space travel was so detailed, so simple, and from the standpoint of a non- scientist so achievable, I fond myself imagining a world in which space travel is common place this is now in the foreseeable future.

Simply put – Stone says that the problem with all current space exploration is that it is based on bringing with you all the fuel you need to get into orbit, and get home. You have to carry it with you, and space travel’s cost is measured by the kilogram. Simply put, it’s cost prohibitive to launch a lot of fuel with you when you go up to space. But Stone says that there has been indication's that there is a large collection of a fuel source on the Moon, in a region called Shackleton Crater. His vision is the travel to the moon, set up a mining operation, and basically build a giant orbiting gas station. The result would be that ships would no longer need to carry enough fuel to launch, orbit, and land - they would simply need a one-way tank of gass to get them into orbit. This is a wild idea, and Stone knows it. He happily suggests that we’ve become too comfortable and risk averse to explore the universe in a way that will yield ground breaking results. So, he’s prepared to lead the mission…. Do it in just 7 years, and take enough fuel to get him to the moon without resources to get him him. He will mine the fuel necessary to get his team back to earth. He’ll risk his life. And he point out that explorers – true explorers - don’t have a return ticket when they’re exploring the outer reaches of man’s known world.

Historically, space exploration, has carried all its fuel, along with enought to get home. Now Stone says risk is required: "the first expeditionary team must travel to Shackleton crater without the fuel to come back, and produce it there. It can be done in 7 years, and I intend to lead that expedition. There was a time when people did bold things to open new frontiers. We have collectively forgotten that. Now we are at a time when boldness is required again".

Is Bill Stone the next Christopher Columbus? Well, if he isn’t , I don’t know who is.

Here's a link to Stone Areospace

Here's a great link of Stone's whole talk, from Bruno Giussani on Huffington Post: LINK

This morning's TED University was 6 rapid fire (15min) mini-courses that were a wild mix of theory, exploration, and mini-adventures. David Rose gave a great talk about how to raise money from VC's, There was a talk about how to be lucky - a talk about flying model helicopters, and a mini-session on YouTube and how to video blog. And a quick overview of what is called 'web 2.0'.

The halls around TED u were full to the brim with friends, folks i met at prior TED's, and there was an energy in the air that was intoxicating.

I've posted a few videos from today here: http://tedtv.magnify.net/

and more here: http://www.stevesvideoblog.magnify.net/

I'll write more later, and post more video later... so check back.