The theme of TedX Brooklyn was redefining better. In this talk, I explore how the hacker ethos has given us the tools to change the world.

1. Redefining Better
TedXBrooklyn
Chad Dickerson
CEO, Etsy
@chaddickerson
December 2, 2011

2. better

5. Hackers can do almost anything and be a
hacker. You can be a hacker carpenter. It's
not necessarily high tech. I think it has to
do with craftsmanship and caring about
what you're doing.
Burrell Smith
Designer of Macintosh motherboard

6. Hacking might be characterized as “an
appropriate application of ingenuity.”
— Eric Raymond

8. The Hacker Ethic
Hands-on learning
Sharing
Openness
Decentralization
Improving the world

9. In the emerging, highly programmed
landscape ahead, you will either
create the software or you will be the
software. It’s really that simple:
Program, or be programmed.
— Douglas Rushkoff

15. Two simple “rules”

16. Take something from idea
to prototype in a day

17. Demo it at the end of the
day, in two minutes or less

22. “a wonderful bazaar of
dreamers showing
their ideas made real.”

23. “life-changing”

24. What makes
Hack Days special?

25. Almost no rules

27. No obvious leader

28. “Prepared environment”

29. Ideas united with action

30. Don’t bullshit —
just play.
— Wynton Marsalis

31. Cultivation of joy

32. Story-telling

33. Faith in people

34. I learned that inspiration might be the
world’s only renewable energy source
and it scales like a motherf*****.
My blog post after Open Hack Day
“Yahoo! Open Hack Day: How it all came together”

36. The world is being
hacked, right now.

38. #egypt

39. ”We use Facebook to schedule the protests,
"
Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the
world."
– Egyptian Activist

40. Thank you, Facebook

41. #OWS

48. Hack your company.

49. Hack your country.

50. Hack your world.

52. Photo credits and sources
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/danieloliverio/6252676907/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/lhl/241180672/
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Douglas_Rushkoff.jpg
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/lincolnian/304477845/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/26686573@N00/5059088848/ (The_Brit_2)
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/chad/163890393/ -
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/freshelectrons/166492035/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/andypiper/561849829/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4792764923/
• http://www.wired.com/software/coolapps/news/2007/06/hackday
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/kentbrew/557602352/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/heroiclife/2372572357/
• http://wyntonmarsalis.org/photos/gallery/wynton-marsalis-quintet-concert-sound-check-at-ronnie-scotts-
jazz-club-lond/5
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/yodelanecdotal/257015615/
• https://twitter.com/#!/factoryjoe/statuses/223115412
• https://twitter.com/#!/richardengelnbc/status/33538754417266688
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevynjacobs/6244779897/
• http://www.seattlepi.com/local/gallery/Occupy-Seattle-protest-at-Walmart-32299/photo-1795212.php
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/subcow/6236610724/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/42745190@N02/6348269065/ (neonmorgan, with permission)