The kaleidoscope makes its magic by using light and mirrors, showing the world in many facets and many colors. The word, has its roots in Greek, kalos, eidos, and skopios respectively meaning beautiful, form, and view. What can a kaleidoscope teach us? It’s all about acquiring multiple perspectives, gaining insight from the unusual and unexpected. If we view the world with an open mind, the world will appear more colorful in our eyes, inspiring us to make it even more colorful. Join us now in looking at a brighter and more colorful future through the Kaleidoscope of TED talks.
Simon Tam
Simon Tam and his all Asian band, entered a maximum security prison, filled with white supremacists, to play a concert, expecting the worst to happen. In this surprising and heartfelt talk, Simon shares his story of what happens when you take a moment to really have a conversation with another person.
Simon Tam is an award-winning musician, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and social justice activist.
Simon is best known as the founder and bassist of The Slants, the world’s first and only all-Asian American dance rock band. His approach to activism through the arts has been highlighted in thousands of media features across 82 countries, including: BBC World News, NPR, TIME Magazine, TED talks, NBC, and the New York Times.
Since 2000, he has been a performer, presenter, and keynote at events and organizations such as TEDx, SXSW, Comic-Con, The Department of Defense, Stanford University, Rotary International, and over 1,200 others across North America, Europe, and Asia.
You can find Simon's appearance schedule, writing, and current projects at: www.simontam.biz
Boris Maciejovsky
Every year we make and fail to reach our new year's resolution, to become that better future you. Behavioral Economist Boris Maciejovsky says it's because our Present self is stronger than our Future self. But based on his research, he shares one surprising way to allow us to overcome our present self's desires and become the person you want to be.
Boris Maciejovsky’s research interests are in the area of decision-making in economic, social, and organizational contexts. He is particularly interested in developing novel laboratory paradigms that help to isolate important aspects of real-world phenomena in order to study how such features influence decisions, processes, and outcomes.
Professor Maciejovsky received his Ph.D. in marketing from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and his doctoral degree in psychology from the University of Vienna. Before joining SoBA, he was a faculty member at Imperial College London, the London School of Economics, the Max Planck Institute of Economics, and the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Leonardo Mendoza
In this moving and profound talk, Leonardo Mendoza, a wedding cinematographer, shares how a camera saved his life.
Leonardo Mendoza is the founder and lead videographer for LeonardoMendoza.com, a premiere videography service. He graduated from UCR with a Bachelors in English in 2011. For the past two years, Leonardo has been expanding his company to provide services to not only wedding events, but also commercial and public sector projects. You can connect with him through his website LeonardoMendoza.com and his growing Youtube Channel at YouTube.com/AudioLeo.
Stu Krieger
"Look at the very word the connotes illness, disease. Dis-ease. Until we find ease with ourselves how can we possibly see the joy in the world," says Stu Kriegar during this powerful talk. Stu shares his journey that led him to choose joy.

Stu Krieger is a Professor and Chair of the UCR Department of Theatre, Film & Digital Production. He co-wrote the Emmy award winning mini-series A Year in the Life and been nominated for Humanitas Prize for the Disney Channel original movie, Going to the Mat. Among his more than 25 produced credits, Stu wrote the animated classic The Land Before Time for producers Steven Spielberg & George Lucas and ten original movies for the Disney Channel, including Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century and its two sequels, Tru Confessions, Smart House, Phantom of the Megaplex, and Cow Belles. His first full-length play, Chasing Smoke, debuted in a staged reading at Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre in Burbank in July 2014.
CiCi
"Anybody who can accomplish all that, is not a freak. Anybody who can do that is a freakin' role model." At times funny and at others powerful and inspirational, CiCi shares her story and that of those in her life who inspire her.
Writer * Dreamer * Late Night Socialite
CiCi is a “Double-Oh” girl. She’s a product of the M2F trans revolution that occurred in the early Double-Oh’s (2000‘s) when the internet became widespread and closeted trans people of all kinds gained access to information, friendship, and emotional support.
“With no positive images of trans girls in our hometowns or in mainstream pop culture, my friends and I had no one to look to for guidance or inspiration. But through social media, we became our own role models. We taught each other how to be trans. We taught each other how to be ourselves.”
CiCi has written a monthly blog for the trans/crossdresser community since ’07. A self-published collection of her blogs, “Baby Steps in Sky High Heels,” is available in ebook format.
Michael Libres Uy​
“This isn’t a story about how hacking has benefited a bunch of kids it’s a story of how hacking has benefited all of us," says Michael in his passionate talk about hacker culture. Michael explains what hackers really are and what they stand for.
First off, I’m Michael Libres Uy and I am a hacker. Hacking isn’t breaking into computer security systems. Hacking is the practice of modifying or utilizing technology in order to accomplish a goal seemingly outside of that technology’s purpose.
To be a Hacker is to be a person who enjoys creatively overcoming the limitations of technology and exploring the limits of what's possible - doing what has never been tried before. Thereby doing something exciting and meaningful. That is Hacker culture.
Chuan Qin
In this unearthly musical performance, erhu master, Chuan Qin plays some traditional and not-so-traditional Chinese music. With her command of the instrument, beautiful music echoes from the Erhu in this jaw dropping and funny performance. Chuan Qin revitalizes a traditional instrument to bridge the cultures of the East and West.
Chuan Qin, holding the dual masters of Management and Finance, is the member of Chinese Musicians Association. Currently, she is the first-chair erhu as well as the soloist of Houston Chinese Traditional Music Group (http://www.hctmg.org/) and also the founder of Eastern Echo music group (www.easternechomusic.com). Started learning erhu at the age of seven, Chuan obtained the certificate of grade-ten of erhu from Chinese Musicians Association when she was thirteen years old. Since then, she gained many awards of province-wide and nation-wide competitions.

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