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Rahaf Harfoush

New Media Maverick embarks on road less traveled

TED Tuesday : Aubrey De Grey on how we can live to be 1000November 18

I find it so fascinating that despite all the advances science has made in learning about our minds and bodies, there are still vast amounts of information that remains unknown. Things that seemed impossible to our ancestors like flying through the sky or curing (now) common diseases are normal for us. I can only imagine what seemingly out of this world things will be commonplace to future generations. I think you’ll enjoy this talk by renown age scientist Aubrey De Grey, who hypothesizes that within the next thirty years, gene therapies will be introduced that will allow us to halt the aging process and life long and extended lives, spanning hundreds of years.

Why You Should Watch:

Cambridge researcher Aubrey de Grey argues that aging is merely a disease — and a curable one at that. Humans age in seven basic ways, he says, all of which can be averted. He provocatively proposes that the first human beings who will live to 1,000 years old. 

Changing the World - TED for the rest of usNovember 13

If you are in Toronto this weekend you should consider attending a really great event that is being put on my friend Justin Lee. Justin and I were in the same elementary school and recently reconnected through the awesome yet creepy power of Facebook. Incidentally, I also found this incredible blast from the past picture from one of our other classmates. Aww, we were so little and innocent.

Ok, back to the present, so Changing the World is a great conference being put on in Toronto to showcase emerging young leaders who are changing the world.

In brief:

The World’s Premier Conference for Young People

Changing the World brings together the world’s greatest visionaries to
inspire young people to innovate and better our world. The topics covered
include: technology, science, design, entrepreneurship, philanthropy,
and the

The Foush in the Globe and MailNovember 13

I just got back from North Carolina and I am simultaneously revved up and exhausted at the same time. I’ll have a lot of exciting news to share in the upcoming weeks. This is just a baby post since I’m working on a few longer pieces that will be up later tomorrow or Saturday.

Patrick White from the Globe and Mail did a piece recently about some of the Canadians who worked on the Obama campaign and I wanted to post it.

You can read the story here.

Ted Tuesday - Ken Robinson on why education is killing creativityNovember 11

Welcome to the first ever Ted Tuesday! I have been a huge fan of TED for a long time, and I’m happy the response to discussing various presentations on The Foush was so positive- thank you for your tweets and emails! Looks like I’m not the only one craving some idea juice. I wanted to pick my favorites because some of them go back to 2006 and I wanted to make sure that you knew about these videos. I’m hoping that this will be a two way exchange, that you will in turn share with me your favorite Ted Talks and we can put them up here and talk about them too!

Why you should watch this (from TED):

Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. It’s a message with deep resonance. Robinson’s TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006.

WE WON! I’M BACK!November 9

I can’t believe it’s been two months since I put my life on hold and traveled down to Chicago to volunteer on Barack Obama, oh excuse me, President-Elect Obama’s campaign. This has been one of the most thrilling and satisfying things I’ve ever been a part of and I will treasure the experience forever.

It feels so foreign to be sitting on my couch on a rainy Sunday afternoon leisurely drafting a blog post. I’m really looking forward to getting back to my old routine and blogging up a storm. So for those of you who have been patient with me during this time, thank you! Your emails and text messages of support during the last two months energized me and I am grateful!

I will be uploading some more pictures and videos soon, so stay tuned!

You know, I have never seen the entire world get so engrossed in a political campaign before. It seemed as though all eyes were on the United States. I watched the election results come in from the campaign’s national Headquarters in Chicago and the mood was tense. I was hopeful going in, but all day I was reading reports of voting problems and machine issues off of the Huffingt