I have learned SO much over the past year as a curator that I can honestly say I would be a different person today if I had never started.  I am extremely proud of my shares and sincerely hope they entertain and inform an audience who appreciates them as much I do.  From the beautiful, inspiring videos about saving the planet in the Earth Hackers channel, to the always entertaining, sometimes informative videos in the DRUGS channel, it was quite a task to pick just 5 for the Best of 2011.  However, I hope you enjoy watching this selection as much as I did sharing it.  These are my best (in no particular order, that would be way too difficult) shares of 2011:

 

This is just incredible.  The pacing, acting, setting, sound design, cinematography, and just everything are some of the best I have ever seen in any short film, let alone about drugs.  Most drug-related short films don’t even come close to this love story focused around the interactions of two people on ‘shrooms. 

 

Redux is all about the most interesting, visually appealing videos available on the internet, but sometimes you just don’t get that level of quality at the same time you get brilliant, new ideas.  This is an exception: a simple demonstration of a solar powered 3D printer which uses the sand around it as “ink.”

 

If you are going to rebuild the world, you should do it right, and make sure anyone can find the resources and materials to do so.  Adapting the open-source principle already common to many software developers, one man has come up with a system to provide anyone with the plans to do just that.

 

I have seen so many ideas this year regarding creating new energy sources and improving others.  However, most seem to rely on an existing power grid.  Well this man decided to go back to the drawing board and developed a material which can be applied to any surface like a sticker to actually create energy.