#the wednesday watch

[zealousplus]

My main takeaway from this video is something that I hope to apply to every child in my life and each one that I meet in the future: children are people and should be treated as such.

Looking down on children strictly due to their age and (sometimes only perceived) lack of life experience isn't something I personally enjoyed as a child and young adult, and so, I don't want to perpetuate that sort of mentality and behavior. Here's to the youths in each of our lives!

[zealousplus]

I'm not usually a great fan of "kids' movies", but Pixar has made a few that I enjoyed--nobody could be so cold-hearted as to hate Toy Story!

What struck me most about this video is how Research Lead Tony DeRose presented what most people--myself included--think of as "basic math" not as a stepping stone to calculus or rocket science, but as essential in itself in creating the complex figures and animations that make up Pixar movies and enchant audiences young and old. From now on, whenever I feel like I don't know enough to be valuable as an engineer or computer scientist, I can think back to this video and remember that not only does everyone have to start somewhere, but even simple ideas (and skills!) are useful for something, whether combined with those that are more advanced or not!

[zealousplus]

This week's The Watch introduces a project I've been working on since last year: creating monthly YouTube playlists around a central theme (with some videos I curated during that same month for levity). The theme for April is "Energy" and, while the playlist is currently only one video, I expect it to morph and grow over the coming months and years. 

In the playlist's single video (clocking in at a rather whopping 27 minutes on its own), energy innovator Amory Lovins presents the ideas that informed his book, Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era. Talking in the TED office in New York City in March of 2012, he says that by combining technology, policy, design, and business strategy, we can unite transportation, buildings, industry, and electricity behind the need to transition to a renewable energy model.

This Talk sparked a keen interest in me to find out more about the planet's energy options and prospects, and I hope it--and it's future playlist buddies--will do the same for you!