It was inevitable. After the extraordinary work done at the RIC with Dr. Todd Kuiken and patient Jessie Sullivan (featured in Alive From Pop!Tech) to create the world’s first bionic man, there had to be the world’s first bionic woman. That woman is Claudia Mitchell.

Back in 2004, former U.S. Marine Mitchell, severed her arm in a motorcycle accident. After reading about Kuiken’s work in a magazine, she was put in contact with the RIC and in 2005 underwent survey to fit her with a bionic limb. She is the fourth person–the first woman to undergo this kind of surgery.

“It is so rewarding for me as a physician and a scientist to lead research with the potential to positively impact the lives of amputees, including our U.S. service men and women,” said Dr. Kuiken. “On behalf of RIC, my team and I consider it a great honor to be able to serve our country and the individuals with disabilities around the world in this way.”

photo credit: Dayna Smith, Washington Post

We recently received an update from Neema Mgana on the amazing Ipuli Medical Center project. There are some really exciting developments. Neema writes:

Dear all,
Greetings from Dar es salaam, Tanzania! The weather has been very irregular and we are currently suffering from extreme heat and humidity. I have been doing some traveling and a lot of writing about the project in Ipuli village and wanted to give you an update on where we are.

First the most recent news. The Iramba district (Ipuli falls into this district) has now been divided into West and East (for political reasons). We just found out that the main governmental district office for both regions will be built just next to the Medical center. This means that there will be additional infrastructure (roads, electricity, etc) to the area and we very much suspect that the government will welcome the Ipuli Medical center to be a district hospital. If that is the case, then the government would cover all expenses (including the purchase of drugs and supplies, staff salaries, etc) for the medical center. This is a decision that we have to make if this is the direction that we want to go towards. The attraction would be that funding would be provided but the other side of this is that we want to guarantee the medical center will always strive towards quality in staff and services.
(more of the letter here)

The Iramba district (of which Ipuli is part) has been divided into East and West for political reasons. As a result, there will be two government offices built right next to the Medical center. This means that infrastructure such as roads and electricity will be created surrounding the medical center, making the center that much more accessible to those needing medical care.

Of course there is still much more work to be done and funds to be raised. Property owned by Neema’s family in Tanzania is being converted into a bed and breakfast which will create additional income for the project and serve as a place to stay for people visiting Tanzania or those making the trip from the city of Dar es Salaam to the Ipuli Village(which is a 2 day journey).

Another source of income is from the basket-making business started by the women of Ipuli. Below are pictures of some the crafts made by these women to support the project and can be purchased by emailing Neema directly at

nmagana(at)yahoo.com. And as always, we encourage you to visit the

Pop!Tech Giving

site where you can donate to the Ipuli Medical Center as well as the many other amazing projects that were presented at Pop!Tech last year.

It also looks as though the center is generating some media noise and sources have been interested in the Ipuli Medical story. We can’t wait to hear more updates from Neema as those develop.

For more information on the project see the link to

Architecture For Humanity.

These two images, separated by nearly half a century, represent the dreams of human exploration of space. Together they tell a story of lost opportunity and future promise.

Forty-five years ago today astronaut John Glenn completed an epoch space mission making him the first American to orbit the Earth. The Port Arthur News reported: “Glancing at the Earth at altitudes ranging from 100 to 160 miles, Glenn had a breathtaking panoramic view stretching 1,800 miles from horizon to horizon. He described the view as ‘tremendous’ and a ‘beautiful sight.’”

Just a few weeks ago the Cassini spacecraft snapped the above picture of Titan, the biggest of the 56 known moons orbiting Saturn and the second largest moon in our solar system. The Cassini spacecraft is the first to explore the Saturn system of rings and moons from orbit.

As planetary scientist (and 2005 Pop!Tech speaker) Carolyn Porco writes in a fabulous New York Times Op-Ed piece published today, in the 1960s the possibilities for human space travel were intoxicating: plans were laid for the establishment of a 50-person lunar base, a 100-person Earth orbiting space station and human landfall on Mars by the 1980s.

Instead, by abandoning the Apollo space program the country lost a capital investment of close to $160 billion and the collective knowledge of the tens of thousands of space engineers and scientists.

Yet Porco also paints an amazing vision: one of a revitalized NASA with plans to return to the Moon with a party of humans by 2020, a solar-powered human-tended research outpost by 2025 and preparations for a Mars trip soon after.

As she says: “Humanity’s future need not be confined to mere survival on our home planet. Other worlds beckon, we know how to reach them and we will once more be outward bound.”

It’s an ambitious and inspiring vision of the future–and one that maybe this time around, we can get right.

Pop!Tech 2006 favorites, Rodrigo y Gabriela have been playing the late night circuit recently with performances on Leno and Letterman.

The Dublin-based Mexican duo combine lightening fast finger picking and string thrashing strumming to create a mix of Rock, World and Hispano musical genres.

You can watch the Leno clip here and the Letterman clip here.

But when are Rodrigo Y Gabriela coming to MY town, you ask…

Well, your prayers are answered as they have announced 2007 tour dates.

They will be playing in the US until May. Here are some dates:

MARCH
11 Mar - Sunrise, Florida, Langerado Music Festival
13 Mar - Boston, MA, US Paradise Rock Club
15 Mar - Austin, Texas, SXSW Stubbs
20 Mar - Washington, D.C. Grosvenor Auditorium, National Geographic Headquarters
21 Mar - New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
22 Mar - Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory

APRIL
14 Apr - Los Angeles, CA - KCRW Charity Drive Gibson Amph
23 Apr - Portland, OR Aladdin Theatre
24 Apr - Seattle, WA Showbox Theatre
26 Apr - San Francisco, CA Grand Ballroom at Regency Center
29 Apr - Indio, CA Coachella Festival, (Stage to be confirmed)

MAY
01 May - Denver, CO - The Ogden Theatre

and you can see more European dates on their website at www.rodgab.com

The online auction site eBay has put a kibosh on any listing for virtual goods used in multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft. However, the company has exempted Second Life from this decision and will allow trade to continue is the online community.

eBay spokesman Hani Durzy told CNET that “We think there is an open question about whether Second Life should be regarded as a game.”

Edward Castronova, an Associate Professor of Telecommunications at Indiana University and 2005 Pop!Tech speaker, studies synthetic worlds and their economies. He adds that “this is very, very good. Second Life wants to be an extension of the real economy, while World of Warcraft does not. Will judges and legislatures see the difference? At least eBay did.”

The question that continues to surround Second Life is whether or not Second Life is in fact a game. How do we define the Second Life phenomena? More importantly, in a virtual situation where users can make money and become millionaires while they are at it, how do we define the growing economy? One could say that because Second Life has not real “goal”, no levels to pass, no monsters to defeat it is not a game. It maybe be an extension of a very real first life, made accessible on the internet. But does that mean that Second Life will develop is own economy, will there be a SLSE (Second Life Stock Exchange)? And there are even rumors of taxation on virtual goods. It will be interesting how these issues develop as we see more and more business jump on the band wagon.

Thanks to Ed Castronova for the link.

Bunker Roy, one of the world’s most extraordinary social change agents, and an alumnus of Pop!Tech, is visiting the United States, and tomorrow evening Bunker will speak here in New York City, and a special film abouthis work in both India and Afghanistan will be shown. Bunker is one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet, and a brilliant thinker and speaker — you will absolutely love this.

Bunker is the creator of the Barefoot College in rural Tilonia, India. At the Barefoot College, men and women with just a few years of primary schooling are instructed on how to become water and solar engineers, village medical technicians and other trades. The college’s approach is changing what we thought we knew about sustainable development, and its success is now spreading around the region and the world.

Tomorrow Night at the Helen Mills Theatre, (137-139 West 26th St.) from 6:30-8:30, Bunker will be speaking and we’ll be premiering “The Ordinary Heroes of Afghanistan” about the work of the College in Badakshan, a small village on that country.

Here is what the film makers have to say about the movie:

The Ordinary Heroes of Afghanistan
Watch the remarkable story of 10 Afghan men and women who travel to the Barefoot College of Tilonia in India to become Barefoot Solar Engineers. The Barefoot College has already trained semi-literate Barefoot professionals to solar electrify over 200 remote communities across India and is now training Barefoot Solar Engineers in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Mali, Bolivia, Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia.

The Barefoot College is the recipient of the 2006 Alcan Prize for Sustainability and the 2005 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Skoll’s grant is helping the Barefoot College bring the “Barefoot Approach”” to 30 communities in five countries. The Ordinary Heroes of Afghanistan documents this Barefoot approach in five communities in Afghanistan. The film was produced by the Barefoot College and Roughcut Productions with support from the Skoll grant.

Pop!Tech is a proud sponsor of the event and Curator and Host, Andrew Zolli, will introducinging Bunker Roy at the film premier. If you are in New York and able to attend this fantastic event, space is limited so call now to reserve a ticket now.

A few nights ago in Carnegie Hall, David Byrne curated the “Perspective” Series. On Sunday night, the show explored music based on a single note. One of the artists on the bill was Pop!Tech 2005 alum and jaw-dropper Haale. Haale brought the Pop!Tech crowd to its knees with her entrancing mix of American rock and Iranian-inspired music.

Her performance was also picked up in the New York Times:

“Underlying the songs of Haale, an American singer of Iranian descent, was the trance-inducing drone of Sufi devotional music, here assigned to a violinist, a cellist and occasionally an electric guitarist. Three percussionists provided driving rhythms on hand drums, shakers and clacking karkaba, over which Haale’s warm, supple voice unfurled like a curlicue of smoke. Her band’s amplified rumble served as a reminder of the extent to which rock bands like the Doors and the Velvet Underground turned to the East for their most hypnotic efforts; here their borrowings were reclaimed with interest.”

You can read the full story here.

Congratulations Haale on bringing down yet another house!

At Pop!Tech 2005, Ivan Moravic presented his story and his software to the Pop!Tech crowd.

Ivan was a Serbian student during the Kiev uprisings in 2005 and was a key figure in taking Milosevic out of power…all through well choreographed non-violent tactics.
Ivan developed a simulation game, A Force More Powerful, developed with Breakaway Games. It looks a little like Sim City or Civilization, but is focused on teaching organizers the tactics of nonviolent resistance. As a player, you control characters, groups and movements, you build them into coalitions, send them out to carry out tactics and see the results from the government. Ivan walks us through a graffiti campaign, some street rallies and a benefit rock concert that finally brings down the game government.

Similar to Marovic’s “A Force More Powerful” is the SimGame “PeaceMaker” developed by Impact Games. The ultimate goal of the game: to win the Nobel Prize for stabilizing the political conflict before your term in office is over.

Here is the trailer for PeaceMaker:

Both A Force More Powerful and PeaceMaker has been released and is available for download for only $20.