[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events

George Mokray gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Jun 17 13:54:52 PDT 2012


Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most  
Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater Boston  
area that catch the editor's eye.

Hubevents  http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.

If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events  
email gmoke at world.std.com

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Monday, June 18
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MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference:  The Story and the Algorithm
Schedule at http://civic.mit.edu/conference2012
Livestream at http://knightfoundation.org/live/

---------------------------

Das Haus Pavilion
Monday, June 18th
10am – 6pm
219 Vassar Street, Cambridge

PAVILION OPEN HOURS
Das Haus is a traveling pavilion, a North American tour and an ONGOING  
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUEabout advanced technologies for home  
construction and solar energy use. The purpose – to share German  
innovations that have achieved sustainable construction and  
operational energy savings. Attendees will represent leading  
organizations and businesses in building materials, architecture,  
engineering, renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses,  
universities, and public officials.

http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/rsvp/

-----------------------------

MIT Economics Department Seminar: Government support of R&D-the  
Israeli case
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
11:00a–12:00p
MIT, Building E62-223, 100 Main Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Avi Hasson, Chief Scientist, Israel Ministry of Industry,  
Trade and Labor
Mr. Avi Hasson is Israel's Chief Scientist leading the implementation  
of government policy to support industry R&D. His office is  
responsible for Assisting technology development in Israel as a means  
of fostering economic growth. In his talk he will discuss policies  
designed to encourage technological innovation and entrepreneurship,  
leverage Israel's scientific potential and enhance the knowledge base  
of industry, by stimulating high value-added R&D and encouraging R&D  
collaboration both nationally and internationally. In particular he  
will highlight the role of specific programs that have been vital to  
enabling Israel's success as a center for entrepreneurship.

Previously, Mr. Hasson was a general partner at Gemini Israel Funds  
where he managed the Fund's investments in communication, storage and  
consumer electronics sectors, supervised portfolio companies  
throughout their life cycle, was an active board member of companies  
in the Gemini portfolio. Prior to Gemini, Mr. Hasson had management  
positions in Israeli high-tech companies ECI Telecom, ECtel and  
Tadiran Systems.

Hosted by Professor Robert S. Pindyck, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi  
Professor of Economics and Finance, Sloan School of Management
Open to: the general public

Cost: Free

Sponsor(s): Economics Department, Research Laboratory of Electronics

For more information, contact:  Tina Gilman
617.253.5957
tgilman at mit.edu
------------------------------

Can Social Games Solve America’s Biggest Health Challenge?
Monday, June 18, 2012
3:30 PM to 5:00 PM (ET)
IBM Center for Social Business,1 Rogers Street, Cambridge
Register at http://shapeup-social-games.eventbrite.com/?ref=enivte&invite=MjA0ODE4OS9nbW9rZUB3b3JsZC5zdGQuY29tLzA%3D&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=invitenew&utm_term=attend

Event Details
The IBM Center for Social Business welcomes Dr. Rajiv Kumar, literally  
a game changer in tackling healthcare issues. His company, ShapeUp,  
designs social games for companies to bring employees together so they  
can help each other be healthy. The theory is that peer support and  
accountability are the keys to wellness success.
Refreshments at 3:30. Talk starts at 3:45.

About the talk
Facing rapidly rising health care costs driven by unhealthy behaviors  
and a national obesity epidemic, self-insured employers have told  
their employees to “shape up.” But regular physical activity and  
healthy eating are easier said than done. Many years and millions of  
dollars have been wasted on employee wellness programs that get  
astonishingly low participation.

Social gaming is changing that. ShapeUp has developed an online  
behavior change solution for employee populations that uses social  
gaming, in the form of team-based competitions, to activate, motivate,  
and guide participants toward reaching their healthy goals. This  
approach generates extraordinary company-wide engagement rates and has  
been shown to produce clinically significant health outcomes.

This talk will describe how ShapeUp has used social games over the  
past 5 years to reach 2 million lives across 93 countries at companies  
like HP, Aetna, Raytheon, and Sprint. It will also explore how the  
latest advances in mobile apps, personal fitness devices, and real- 
time rewards are creating new ways to enhance the wellness experience.

Rajiv Kumar on how ShapeUp came to be
"During medical school, I realized that many of the worst health  
problems we face as a nation--diabetes, heart disease, cancer,  
hypertension, osteoarthritis, depression--are related to our  
collective unhealthy lifestyle. I also learned through my clinical  
encounters that the patients who succeeded in adopting and sustaining  
healthy behaviors were those who leveraged their trusted social  
network for support, motivation, and accountability.

By launching a community non-profit organization (Shape Up Rhode  
Island) and a for-profit company (ShapeUp), I've dedicated my life to  
helping people reverse and prevent obesity-related illnesses through  
group behavior change models.

Our goal is to build the largest online social application that  
connects people around the world to improve their health."

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Social Innovation in the Public Sector
Monday, June 18, 2012
6:00 PM
MIT, Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
More information at https://boston.tie.org/

Public awareness of the significant value of social innovation is  
growing rapidly in the United States. Governments at the local, state  
and federal level have promoted policies to encourage social  
innovation, public/private partnerships and entrepreneurship in a wide  
variety of ways.  What is happening in the Commonwealth of  
Massachusetts to cultivate and strengthen social innovation?  Come  
network and interact with our panel of government-oriented social  
enterprise champions who represent the fields of finance, community  
development and technology.

Panelists include:
Steve Goldberg, General Counsel, SocialFinance, Inc.
Following 30 years in government, law, and business, Steve Goldberg  
began consulting on growth, management, and scalability for numerous  
nonprofits.  Steve is the author of Billions of Drops in Millions of  
Buckets: Why Philanthropy Doesn’t Advance Social Progress (Wiley,  
2009), a former lead consultant for “Charity Navigator 2.0,” and one  
of 50 expert reviewers selected nationally for the first Social  
Innovation Fund.   Steve currently leads Social Finance’s government  
relations and partnership efforts.

Nigel Jacob, City of Boston, Co-Founder, Urban Mechanics
With an extensive background in collaborative, citizen-facing  
technology projects, Nigel Jacob co-founded the Office of New Urban  
Mechanics -  a civic innovation incubator within Boston’s City Hall.   
Nigel also serves as Mayor Menino's advisor on emerging technologies.  
In both of these roles, Nigel works to develop new models of  
innovation for cities in the 21st century.  Prior to joining the City  
of Boston in 2006, Nigel worked for and launched a series of  
technology start-ups in the Boston area.  Nigel is also a fellow at  
the Center for the Advancement Public Action at Bennington College.

Chris Osgood, City of Boston, Co-Founder, Urban Mechanics
Chris Osgood co-founded the Office of New Urban Mechanics, bringing to  
the office nearly ten years of experience in city government. Much of  
his work during that time has focused on designing operations and  
policy that help cities engage and respond to constituents.  Before  
joining the City, Chris earned his MBA from Harvard after serving for  
5 years in the NYC Parks & Recreation Department as its Chief of Staff  
and Senior Advisor.
Chris and Nigel have received a number of awards for their ground  
breaking work in Boston, including being named Public Officials of the  
year in 2011 by Governing Magazine and the Tribeca Disruptive  
Innovation award for 2012.

Todd Fry, Executive Director for the Merrimack Valley Sandbox,  
Deshpande Foundation
Todd Fry joined the Deshpande Foundation as Executive Director for the  
Merrimack Valley Sandbox. Todd comes to the Foundation after a  
distinguished career at the Boston Center for Community Justice, as a  
teacher at Milton Academy, and social entrepreneur for 20 years in  
Greater Boston.  His career spans work with youth and adults in prep  
school and in prison, in business and in Boston City Hall. Todd chairs  
the USA Advisory Board for the Rwanda Youth Healing Center, a  
grassroots NGO in Rwanda that helps young people with emotional  
healing from the genocide and leadership development. Todd grew up in  
Ohio, holds a bachelors degree in Communication Education from  
Northwestern University, and lives in Roxbury today.

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Tuesday, June 19
---------------------

MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference:  The Story and the Algorithm
Schedule at http://civic.mit.edu/conference2012
Livestream at http://knightfoundation.org/live/

---------------------------

Das Haus Pavilion
Tuesday, June 18th
10am – 6pm
219 Vassar Street, Cambridge

PAVILION OPEN HOURS
Das Haus is a traveling pavilion, a North American tour and an ONGOING  
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUEabout advanced technologies for home  
construction and solar energy use. The purpose – to share German  
innovations that have achieved sustainable construction and  
operational energy savings. Attendees will represent leading  
organizations and businesses in building materials, architecture,  
engineering, renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses,  
universities, and public officials.

http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/rsvp/

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Who can Learn Online, And How?
Tuesday, June 19
12:30 pm
Classroom 1010, Wasserstein Hall, Harvard Law School, 1585  
Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2012/06/kamenetz#RSVP
This event will be webcast live at 12:30 pm ET at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast 
  and archived on our site shortly after.

Anya Kamenetz, Fast Company Magazine
The selection of free online higher learning experiences--as  
distinguished from merely raw learning materials, like MIT's Open  
Courseware --- has expanded greatly in the past six months. Udemy,  
Coursera, the Minerva Project, Udacity, and edx all offer courses  
created by faculty at top universities in the Massively Open Online  
Course (MOOC) format, each with some combination of video lectures,  
exercises, a social component (chat rooms, wikis, Facebook groups) and  
even a form of certification for your learning. And many of them are  
offering these courses for free. Much of the conversation around this  
new wave of education startups has focused on what they mean for the  
incumbent institutions, from for-profit online universities to the  
traditional Ivy League. But what about what they mean for learners?  
Who is currently succeeding in open learning contexts? What are the  
missing pieces of the ecosystem--from discovery, to peer support, to  
mentoring, to assessment--that will allow the most severely  
underserved learners to succeed in this new learning environment?

About Anya
Anya Kamenetz is a senior writer at Fast Company Magazine. She's the  
author of two books and two ebooks about the future of education.  
Generation Debt (Riverhead, 2006), dealt with student loans,  
generational economics and politics, and DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs,  
and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education, (Chelsea Green,  
2010) investigated the roots of the cost, access, and quality crises  
in higher education as well as innovations to address these crises.  
Her 2011 ebooks were The Edupunks' Guide, funded by the Gates  
Foundation, and Learning, Freedom and the Web, produced in  
collaboration with the Mozilla community. She was named a 2010 Game  
Changer in Education by the Huffington Post, received two National  
Awards for Education Reporting from the Education Writers Association  
in 2009 and 2010, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Feature  
Writing by the Village Voice in 2005. She travels and speaks across  
the country, Twitters @anya1anya, and occasionally gives commentary on  
NPR, CNN and other news networks. She lives in Brooklyn with her  
husband and daughter.

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9/11: EXPLOSIVE EVIDENCE EXPERTS SPEAK OUT- FINAL EDITION

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Doors Open at 6:00 PM. Film Starts at 7:00 PM.
West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton, MA 02465

$10 admission

Order your tickets on line now at 911ExpertsSpeakOut.org

Live in person introduction by Director/Architect Richard Gage, AIA
Discussion to follow the film.

40 whistle blowing experts present the evidence of controlled  
demolition of the three World Trade Center skyscrapers on 9/11.

AE911truth Contact: eso-info at ae911truth.org
Local Contact: rich.mccampbell at crbusa.com

Editorial Comment:  In the interest of promoting heterodox opinions  
and uncomfortable controversy

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Wednesday, June 20
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Das Haus Pavilion
Tuesday, June 18th
10am – 12:30pm
219 Vassar Street, Cambridge

PAVILION OPEN HOURS
Das Haus is a traveling pavilion, a North American tour and an ONGOING  
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUEabout advanced technologies for home  
construction and solar energy use. The purpose – to share German  
innovations that have achieved sustainable construction and  
operational energy savings. Attendees will represent leading  
organizations and businesses in building materials, architecture,  
engineering, renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses,  
universities, and public officials.

http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/rsvp/

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Biologically Inspired Miniature Robot Locomotion
Wednesday, Jun 20, 2012
2:00pm – 3:00pm
60 Oxford Street, Room 330 Cambridge

Speaker:  Metin Sitti, Ph.D., NanoRobotics Lab & Center for Bio- 
Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University
Abstract: Biological systems have evolved to find just-good-enough  
solutions to survive. By understanding and adapting the underlying  
principles of these solutions to engineering systems, new miniature  
mobile robots that can operate in unstructured environments robustly  
and efficiently are investigated in this presentation. First, various  
palm-size climbing robot platforms using gecko foot-hairs inspired  
micro-fiber adhesives as their repeatable and power efficient  
attachment materials are proposed. Geckos are very agile and robust  
climbers on wide range of smooth and slightly rough surfaces.  
Understanding the principle of gecko foot-hair adhesion, synthetic  
fibrillar adhesives are designed and fabricated. Vertical polyurethane  
elastomer micro-fiber arrays with mushroom like tip endings are shown  
to enhance adhesion and friction as strong as gecko foot-hairs on  
smooth surfaces. Also, angled elastomer micro-fibers with angled tips  
are proposed to enable highly directional/anisotropic friction and  
controlled adhesion similar to biological foot-hairs. Next, miniature  
robots with legged locomotion on water surface are proposed inspired  
by water striders and basilisk lizards. Water striders can stay on  
water surface using surface tension based lift forces due to their  
very hydrophobic hairy supporting legs and can move on water up to 1.5  
m/s peak speeds by rowing two side legs. On the other hand, basilisk  
lizard uses very fast rotation of its two legs with a specific  
elliptic trajectory at 6-10 Hz frequencies. By slapping and stroking  
their feet into the water, the lizard lifts and propels its body.  
Legged robots utilizing similar principles on water surface are  
proposed and demonstrated. Bio-inspired robots are aimed to enhance  
our understanding of animal locomotion and also have potential  
applications in mobile sensor networks, environmental monitoring,  
search and rescue, and inspection.

Contact information:caitlin.wells at wyss.harvard.edu

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An Archaeology of Disaster and Desert at Deir Mar Musa, Syria
WHEN  Wed., June 20, 2012, 4 – 5 p.m.
WHERE  Semitic Museum, Room 201, 3 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION  Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR  Harvard Art Museums and the Semitic Museum
SPEAKER(S)  Robert Mason
COST  Free
CONTACT INFO  semiticm at fas.harvard.edu
NOTE  Typically when archaeologists study the remains of the people of  
the past in the Middle East they focus on where people commonly lived,  
the lands often referred to as the Fertile Crescent. But the founders  
of the Monastery of St Moses, or Deir Mar Musa, deliberately chose to  
live where people did not commonly live: in the desert. Study of this  
complex is aimed at understanding the sequence of construction, often  
related as much to earthquake as planning, and occupation of the site,  
including extra-mural contacts. A major aspect of this is to attempt  
to understand the desert context in which the monastery exists. As  
such it includes a survey of the surrounding desert aimed at  
determining changing use of the environment going back to the earliest  
traceable times.
LINK  http://www.semiticmuseum.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k66717&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup115733

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The Microbiology of Food
Wed, June 20
4:00pm – 5:30pm
Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) seminar room, 24  
Oxford St, 3rd Floor, Room 310, Cambridge

contact noramillanrivas at gmail.com

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Seeds of Resistance Gathering:  COUNTER CONFERENCE
Wednesday, June 20th
5:30 - 9:00 p.m.
Spontaneous Celebrations, 45 Danforth Street, Jamaica Plain
Suggested $5-$10 donation, to go towards cost of space and food
REGISTER at http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CiclovidaLifecycle/784374dc11/8be92fb026/9b5d56b6cf
Contact Ashley, one of the organizers, with any questions, comments, or
concerns, at ashley at ciclovida.org, 774-460-1274

A gathering to share, organize, learn, and strategize in resistance to  
industrial agriculture and for alternative solutions.
Featuring the world premiere of Ciclovida: Lifecycle's new short film  
about agrofuels!

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"Global Pitchfest 2012."
Wednesday, June 20
6 - 11:55p.
Masschallenge, One Marina Park Drive, 14th floor, Boston

The Global “PitchFest” is the traditional closing event for the  
Venture Leaders program. It will take place on the June 20 at  
theMassChallenge facilities, one of the epicenters of the Boston start- 
up scene.  The rules of the PitchFest could not be simpler: 20 Swiss  
entrepreneurs competing with the new generation of MassChallenge  
entrepreneurs. Who will have the best pitching abilities?

You will be the judge!
In 1 minute and 1 slide, the Swiss and Local entrepreneurs  
representing a wide range of industries will convince you to vote for  
their venture. By using our Text-Message-based polling system, you  
will choose the 5 best pitches of the night. Our jury will pick a  
final winner who will receive a special prize from our generous  
sponsor: Mondaine, the Swiss Watch Maker.

Call for Startups!
Be part of the 2012 Global Pitchfest- pitch you own start-up!
Have you recently launched a start-up in Boston and want to train your  
pitch, while getting more visibility for your business?  Join our  
lineup of presenters by contacting Marian Toader at marian at swissnexboston.org
Please note that - due to logistics constrains - we will accept a  
limited amount of candidates. First come, first served!

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Thursday, June 21
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Building Technologies Symposium at MIT

Thursday, June 21st, 2012

9:00AM - 2:00PM

Building 7, Room 431 (Long Lounge), 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

If you are interested in attending, we encourage you to RSVP.

This cross-disciplinary symposium will feature a dialogue among  
policymakers, industry and researchers who will address real-world  
market challenges in building technologies.

RSVP and more information at http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/

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Das Haus Pavilion
Thursday, June 21th
10am – 5:30pm
219 Vassar Street, Cambridge

PAVILION OPEN HOURS
Das Haus is a traveling pavilion, a North American tour and an ONGOING  
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUEabout advanced technologies for home  
construction and solar energy use. The purpose – to share German  
innovations that have achieved sustainable construction and  
operational energy savings. Attendees will represent leading  
organizations and businesses in building materials, architecture,  
engineering, renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses,  
universities, and public officials.

http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/rsvp/

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e-Heritage, Cyber-Archaeology, and Cloud Museum
Thursday, June 21 2012
3:00PM to 4:00PM
Refreshments: 2:45PM
MIT, Building 32-D463, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Katsushi Ikeuchi, University of Tokyo

We have been conducting e-Heritage project, which converts assets that  
form our cultural heritage into digital forms, by using computer  
vision and computer graphics technologies, so that we can utilize such  
forms 1) for preservation in digital form of our irreplaceable  
treasures for future generations, 2) for planning and physical  
restoration using the digital forms as basic models from which we can  
manipulate data, 3) for cyber archaeology, investigation of digitized  
data through computer analysis, and 4) for education and promotion  
through multimedia contents based on the digital data. This talk  
briefly overviews our e-Heritage projects in Italy, Cambodia, and  
Japan, and explains what were hardware and software issues, how to  
overcome them by designing new sensors using recent computer vision  
technologies, and how to process these data using computer graphics  
technologies. Also, we explain how to use such data for archaeological  
analysis, and what are new findings. Finally, we emphasize a new way  
to display such digital data by using the mixed reality systems, i.e.  
head-mount displays on site, connected from cloud computers.

Brief Biographical Sketch:
Dr. Katsushi Ikeuchi is a Professor at the University of Tokyo. He  
received a Ph.D. degree in Information Engineering from the University  
of Tokyo in 1978. After working at the Massachusetts Institute of  
Technology’s AI Lab for two years, Electrotechnical Lab, Japan for  
five years, and Carnegie Mellon University for ten years, he joined  
the university in 1996. His research interest spans computer vision,  
robotics, and computer graphics. He has received several awards,  
including the IEEE Marr Award, the IEEE RAS most active distinguished  
lecturer award and the IEEE-CS ICCV Significant Researcher Award as  
well as Shiju Houshou (the Medal of Honor with Purple ribbon) from the  
Emperor. He is a fellow of IEEE, IEICE, IPSJ, and RSJ.

Contact: Maysoon Hamdiyyah, (617) 253-6693, maysoon at csail.mit.edu

---------------------------

Solar & Home Energy Efficiency Workshop
Thursday, June 21, 2012
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Brighton Public Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd, Boston

We solved the energy crisis - it's called paying less!
It's time that you saved money on your electricity costs by going  
SOLAR!  And don't be the last one on your block to get your Mass Save  
Home Energy Assessment - come find out how you can save even more  
money and energy in your home!
Brighton Residents can now find out more about these great  
opportunities by joining your friends and neighbors at the library to  
meet a member of your community who has already experienced just how  
these great programs in Massachussets save you money every month and  
lower your carbon footprint.
See if you can GO SOLAR with little to no cost and save money every  
month on your electric bills.  A solar adviser will help you determine  
if your home qualifies for the prorgam and answer all of your questions.

Never considered solar before?  This is a great way to get your first  
introduction to how Massachusetts residents are taking control of  
their energy costs and doing your part to help the environment while  
getting to meet some of your neighbors and fellow community members.
Light refreshments will be provided.  Please RSVP with your name and  
number of attendees at http://brightonsolarworkshop-es2.eventbrite.com/?srnk=319

We look forward to meeting with you!

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Democracy is a design problem: How changes in design change the  
outcome of elections
Thursday, 21 June
7:00 PM,
MIT Room E51-315, the corner of Wadsworth and Amherst Streets and  
Memorial Drive

Dana Chisnell
This is a story about how a simple change in type size on a commonly  
used form led to two major wars and a world wide economic crisis.  
Design matters.
We keep learning this lesson on ballots, on web sites, in software and  
devices, and in the interactions we have with customers and users. And  
yet, there are glimmers of hope everywhere - successful designs where  
small changes made all the positive difference. Dana will discuss some  
of the lesser-known disasters, show some surprising successes, and  
share results from her research and usability testing on ballot  
designs and instructions to voters.

Even if your day job is seemingly far away from world-changing events,  
Dana will show you how you, too, can get involved and start  
contributing your super powers to make your world a better place.

Dana is the person federal and state election officials call on when  
they need to do something about ballot usability and design.

Over the last 8 years, Dana E. Chisnell has trained more than a  
thousand election officials to test the design of their ballots to  
avoid costly mistakes and unwarranted attention. She's given highly  
rated presentations and workshops for a dozen state election  
departments and conferences, as well as voter advocacy groups and  
secretaries of state.

As a member of the Brennan Center for Justice's ballot design task  
force, Dana advises on plain language, ballot design, and usability  
testing. She's also one of the leaders of the Usability in Civic Life  
Project, which developed the LEO Usability Testing Kit, a simple  
training tool for local election officials.
This is a joint meeting of the Boston Chapter of the IEEE Computer  
Society on Social Implications of Technology, and GBC/ACM

Up-to-date information about this and other talks is available online  
at http://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/. You can sign up to receive  
updated status information about this talk and informational emails  
about future talks at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/ieee-cs,  
our self-administered mailing list.

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Friday, June 22
-------------------

Das Haus Pavilion
Fridday, June 22th
10am – 5:30pm
219 Vassar Street, Cambridge

PAVILION OPEN HOURS
Das Haus is a traveling pavilion, a North American tour and an ONGOING  
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUEabout advanced technologies for home  
construction and solar energy use. The purpose – to share German  
innovations that have achieved sustainable construction and  
operational energy savings. Attendees will represent leading  
organizations and businesses in building materials, architecture,  
engineering, renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses,  
universities, and public officials.

http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/rsvp/

----------------------------
Friday June 22

7pm-9pm

Encuentro 5, 5th floor, 33 Harrison Ave, Boston

Facilitated by OBIT and Jeremy Stark

OBIT is proud to present a consensus building tool focused on  
accessing direct democracy and using technology to influence political  
outcomes at the state and federal levels.

http://www.occupyboston.org/2012/06/15/technology-direct-democracy/

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Saturday, June 23

----------------------

Das Haus Pavilion
Saturday, June 23th
10am – 5:30pm
219 Vassar Street, Cambridge

PAVILION OPEN HOURS
Das Haus is a traveling pavilion, a North American tour and an ONGOING  
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUEabout advanced technologies for home  
construction and solar energy use. The purpose – to share German  
innovations that have achieved sustainable construction and  
operational energy savings. Attendees will represent leading  
organizations and businesses in building materials, architecture,  
engineering, renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses,  
universities, and public officials.

http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/rsvp/

--------------------------------



“TOUR DE HIVES” BUZZING THROUGH TOWN

On Saturday, June 23rd bring your family and friends out to join  
Boston’s own Tour de Hives crew as we pedal our way across the river  
to explore the lives of bees and their keepers in 4 apiaries spread  
across Somerville and Cambridge.  We will start our day at 9:30am in  
the ¼ acre permaculture garden at the GrowingCenter in Somerville,  
where Kagen Weeks (of Hive at Your Home) will introduce us to one of  
his “Weeks” hives (a variation of the traditional but uncommon Warre  
beehive). Next, we’ll hop on our bikes and make our way over to a  
private residence in Inman Square where (at ~11:15am) Noah of BestBees  
will provide insight on his beekeeping style and honeybee health.  Our  
third stop brings us to the Dewolfe Boathouse on Boston University’s  
campus at ~12:30pm, where the BU Beekeepers Club will show us their  
hives and talk briefly about their educational approach to beekeeping  
(focused on training new beekeepers rather than maximum honey  
production) before we take a break for lunch, picnic-style along the  
banks of the Charles River.  We will then screen a short film at BU  
titled Sister Bee, a lyrical documentary about 6 beekeepers who  
encounter startling beauty and spiritual truth in honeybees. At ~3:15  
we will make our way to the final stop – the Museum ofScience – where  
we will check out the museum’s observation hive and get an up-close  
view of the bees hard at work!  The day will wrap up around 4:00pm.

Join us for a single site demo or spend the day touring by bike from  
hive to hive as we gain insight into the lives of local honeybees and  
their tenders. Don’t forget your helmet, water and picnic lunch if you  
plan to be with us all day! Total mileage from start to finish is just  
under 6 miles.

Pre-registration (which guarantees you a Tour de Hives T-shirt and  
VIBee access to the Museum of Science’s observation hive exhibit) is  
available now at:http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/247983. The  
suggested donation of $20 covers event costs; any proceeds will be  
reinvested in education and outreach initiatives by the Boston  
Beekeepers Community. No one will be denied Tour de Hives access/ 
enjoyment for lack of funds (FYI: Museum of Science access requires an  
event T-shirt be purchased and worn, drop-ins welcome at all other  
stops).

Further details, a link to a map of the route and other updates can be  
found at:https://www.facebook.com/BostonBeekeepers#!/events/ 
297115667029162/Questions can be directed to: BostonTourDeHives at gmail.com 
.

Hosted by: Boston Beekeepers Club
Sponsored by: Maxant Industries, the Beekeeper's Warehouse, the Museum  
of Science, Boston University, and New England Bees
Contact: Boston Beekeepers Club (BostonTourDeHives at gmail.com)

--------------------

Sunday, June 24

--------------------

Das Haus Pavilion
Sundday, June 24th
10am – 5:30pm
219 Vassar Street, Cambridge

PAVILION OPEN HOURS
Das Haus is a traveling pavilion, a North American tour and an ONGOING  
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUEabout advanced technologies for home  
construction and solar energy use. The purpose – to share German  
innovations that have achieved sustainable construction and  
operational energy savings. Attendees will represent leading  
organizations and businesses in building materials, architecture,  
engineering, renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses,  
universities, and public officials.

http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/rsvp/

-----------------------------

Cool Green Homes Brookline
Sunday, June 24, 2012
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Devotion School Lawn 345 Harvard St Brookline

Home Energy Solutions Outdoor Workshop and Family Fair

Open to Renters, Homeowners, Landlords, and Kids!
Learn how to keep your home cool in the summer and
warm in the winter with Green Homes Brookline! Green Homes Brookline  
is a town-sponsored program for home energy improvements.
Topics will include:
No cost home energy assessments
No cost “air sealing” to reduce drafts
Up to $2,000 for improvements in each unit!
Zero-interest financing with no money down
Affordable Solar Electric options
Affordable multi-zone heating and cooling systems

Activities will include:
Face painting, fun demonstrations, energy quiz, and other  
environmentally geared kids activities
Solar-powered TV's can show you if your roof is right for Solar!
Home Energy Solutions Workshop and Demonstration
HVAC system demonstration
Free food and cool drinks and more..

Top 10 Summertime Benefits of Acting Now for Home Energy Solutions:
1. No-cost CFL lightbulbs give off less heat
2. Insulation makes your home cooler in the summer and warmer in winter
3. Get rid of your bulky, expensive, loud air conditioners – learn  
about our high efficiency, zone cooling/heating systems.
4. Stay cool with the HEAT Loan, a 0% interest loan for up to $25,000  
in financing for HVAC upgrades and other improvements.
5. Weatherize before the Fall rush. September begins the busy heating  
season, which can mean a longer wait to insulation and weatherize your  
home.
6. Weatherizing in the summer is easier! a. On your house b. On your  
house siding materials c. On our crews
7. Capture the power of the summer sun and moderate those skyrocketing  
summer electric bills - Go solar!
8. Keep cool air circulating longer with no-cost air sealing.
9. Help keep summers cool by lowering 30-40% of your global warming  
impact.
10. Stop losing money now – start saving energy today!

RSVP appreciated but not required. Please contact Marisa Antolino at  
603-498-4430 or marisa.antolino at nextsteplivinginc.com to RSVP or for  
more information about the workshop. Visit our website at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/green-homes-brookline/ 
  or call 866-867-8729 to sign up.

--------------------

Monday, June 25

--------------------

Renewable Energy Lending 101 for Massachusetts Community Banks
Monday, June 25, 2012
9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Bingham McCutchen LLP, One Federal Street, Boston

This session will present an overview of key concepts in renewable  
energy development and finance presented by experts from MassCEC, the  
Department of Energy Resources (DOER), the Department of Public  
Utilities (DPU), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the  
Executive office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and Bingham  
McCutchen. Topics include:
Overview of renewable energy project development: What are key  
milestones in the development process for commercialized renewable  
energy technologies?
RECs / SRECs: How do these credit markets function and to what extent  
should revenues be included in project economics?
Interconnection: What is interconnection and how does its acquisition  
influence project viability?
Permitting: What are key state and local permits that must be acquired  
for project construction?
Net metering: What is net metering, how do projects obtain the right  
to net meter, and how does this influence project economics?
PPA structures: What are the main power purchase agreement (PPA)  
structures present in the state today?  What are some of the benefits  
and disadvantages of each structure?
Tax benefits: How do tax benefits contribute to project owner and  
developer returns?  How can banks monetize this value to improve debt  
coverage?
Please RSVP no later than June 18, 2012 at http://massachusettsrenewableenergy101-es2.eventbrite.com/?srnk=447
If you have any questions, please contact Sumit Kadakia at skadakia at masscec.com

----------------------------

Gravity, Pendulums and the Conservation of Energy
Monday, June 25, 2012
1:00p–2:00p
MIT, Building 26-100, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Walter Lewin, Professor of Physics, Emeritus, author of "For  
the Love of Physics"

These lectures are free and open to the public. They will be  
videotaped to air on Japanese Public Television (NHK). By attending  
you are giving NHK your consent to possibly appear on this television  
program without any compensation or credit.

Open to: the general public

Cost: Free

Sponsor(s): Physics Colloquia and Seminars

For more information, contact:  Nina Wu
ninawu at mit.edu

**********
------------
Upcoming
------------

**********

Das Haus Pavilion
Tuesday, June 26th
10:30am – 4:30pm
219 Vassar Street, Cambridge

PAVILION OPEN HOURS
Das Haus is a traveling pavilion, a North American tour and an ONGOING  
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUEabout advanced technologies for home  
construction and solar energy use. The purpose – to share German  
innovations that have achieved sustainable construction and  
operational energy savings. Attendees will represent leading  
organizations and businesses in building materials, architecture,  
engineering, renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses,  
universities, and public officials.

http://cambridge.dashaustour.com/rsvp/

-------------------------------------

GreenPort Forum:  Solar Hot Water is Hot

Tuesday, June 26, 2012
7:00pm
Cambridgeport Baptist Church, 459 Putnam Av, Cambridge (corner of  
Magazine St. and Putnam Av)

Meghan Shaw, Cambridge Energy Alliance

Solar hot water systems are a great way to provide 50% to 75% of all  
hot water for a household or business. Most solar hot water systems  
will work with existing plumbing or water heating systems. If building  
owners act before November 2012, the combined rebates from the  
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the City of Cambridge could mean  
a net cost of less than half the full cost of the system. Come to talk  
about how we can encourage and facilitate more solar installations in  
Cambridgeport.

The Cambridge Energy Alliance is a City-staffed program that is also a  
collaborative  effort of people dedicated to taking action on climate  
change.  CEA relies on the expertise and energy of community  
activists, businesses, and non-profits.

GreenPort envisions and encourages a just and sustainable  
Cambridgeport neighborhood
For more information, contact Steve Morr-Wineman at swineman at gis.net

------------------------------

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS & ELECTORAL POLITICS
A Roundtable Connecting #Occupy, Global Movements, the World Social  
Forum, and Elections
Saturday, June 30, 2012, 6:00 p.m. at encuentro 5 (33 Harrison Ave,  
5th floor, Boston, MA 02111)
featuring: Sarah Francis, Jeff Juris, Suren Moodliar, Thomas
Ponniah, Monica Poole, and (chair) Heike Schotten

The Arab Spring signaled a global wave of social movements challenging  
inequality, repression, austerity, war, & corporate power. Whatever  
their strengths, these movements have all had to give serious  
consideration to how they relate to electoral politics. This timely  
conversation brings together a diverse group of thoughtful activists  
and engaged scholars who have connections to the #Occupy movement, the  
World Social Forum, solidarity movements and grassroots organizing.

NOTE: encuentro 5 is NOT yet wheelchair accessible, call 888-400-1225  
to join the conversation via Skype or conference call. Visit website  
for speaker bios, background information and selected articles.

Speaker bios and more information to follow; light refreshments  
provided.
More details at http://www.encuentro5.org. See flyer here:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1042836/flyer-2012-06-30.pdf

*************
----------------

Opportunity

---------------
*************

Boiler Rebate
If your boiler is from 1983 or earlier, Mass Save will give a $1,750  
to $4,000 rebate to switch it out for a new efficient boiler that uses  
the same fuel (i.e. if you have oil, you have to continue to use oil)  
so long as it is installed by July 31, 2012.

Call Mass Save (866 527-7283) to sign up for a home energy assessment  
or sign-up online at  www.nextsteplivinginc.com/HEET  and HEET will  
receive a $10 contribution from Next Step Living for every completed  
assessment.

This is a great way to reduce climate change emissions for the next 20  
or so years the boiler lasts, while saving money.

------------------------

CEA Solar Hot Water Grants
Cambridge, through the Cambridge Energy Alliance initiative, is  
offering a limited number of grants to residents and businesses for  
solar hot water systems.  The grants will cover 50% of the remaining  
out of pocket costs of the system after other incentives, up to $2,000.

Applications will be accepted up to November 19, 2012 and are  
available on a first come, first serve basis until funding runs out.   
The Cambridge grant will complement other incentives including the  
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center solar thermal grants.  For more  
information, seehttp://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/additional-resources/solar-hot-water-grant-program

-----------------------

Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images

Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by  
having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera?   
With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more  
comfortable and less expensive to heat.  However, at $200 or so, the  
cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.

HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer  
Cambridge residents free thermal scans.

Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a  
hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras.  They will scan every  
building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or  
buildings or on a private way).  Building owners can view thermal  
images of their property and an analysis online. The information is  
password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.

Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images  
and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building  
owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their  
images and analysis for a small fee.

The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.

Go to Sagewell.com.  Type in your address at the bottom where it says  
"Find your home or building" and press return.  Then click on "Here"  
to request the report.

That's it.  When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will  
be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help  
you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to  
do about it.

With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money,  
not to mention comfort).

---------------------

Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ

-----------------------

HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor  
Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to  
Cambridge residents.

During the assessment, the energy specialist will:

Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass  
Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on  
your energy bills.  You might as well use the service.

Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or  
call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729.  A Next Step Living  
Representative will call to schedule your assessment.

HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the  
services and rebates possible.

(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home  
Energy Assessment.  We won’t keep the data or sell it.)

(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call  
HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)


*********
-----------

Resource

-----------
*********

Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide

SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green  
Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!

To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for  
sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha at sbnboston.org

--------------------------------------------------

Massachusetts Attitudes About Climate Change – An opinion survey of  
Massachusetts residents conducted by MassINC and sponsored by the Barr  
Foundation found that 77% of respondents believe that global warming  
has “probably been happening” and 59% of all respondents see see it as  
being at least partially caused by human pollution.  Only 42% of the  
state’s residents say global warming will have very serious  
consequences for Massachusetts if left unaddressed. The 18 to 29 age  
group is more likely to believe global warming is appearing and caused  
by humans compared to the 60+ age group.  African-American (56%) and  
Latino residents (69%) are more likely than white residents (40%) to  
believe global warming will be a very serious problem if left  
unaddressed.  The MassINC report, titled The 80 Percent Challenge:   
What Massachusetts must do to meet targets and make headway on climate  
change (http://www.massinc.org/Research/The-80-percent- 
challenge.aspx), contains many other findings.

----------------------------------------------------

Free Monthly Energy Analysis

CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track  
your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while  
controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly  
email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.

https://www.carbonsalon.com/

---------------------------------------

Boston Food System

"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post  
announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships,  
programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles  
or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's  
food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take  
place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."

The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food  
system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food,  
farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health,  
environment, arts, social services and other arenas.   Hundreds of  
organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on  
week-to-week is not always well publicized.

Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let  
everyone know about these activities.  Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of  
subscribers.  Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and  
other posting guidelines will be provided as well.

It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs

----------------------

Artisan Asylum  http://artisansasylum.com/

Sprout & Co:  Community Driven Investigations

Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project  http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation,  
contact jmatthaei at wellesley.edu

------------------------

Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston  http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/

********************************************
-----------------------------------------------------

Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents   http://hubevents.blogspot.com

Thanks to

Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the  
Boston Area  http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com

Boston Area Computer User Groups  http://www.bugc.org/

Arts and Cultural Events List  http://aacel.blogspot.com/

http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php

http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template

http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/

http://green.harvard.edu/events

http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx

http://boston.nerdnite.com/

http://www.meetup.com/

http://www.eventbrite.com/
http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar

http://harddatafactory.com/mobileapp.shtml

http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/






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