[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/
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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/
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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
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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
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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
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
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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)
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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.
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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
**********
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Upcoming
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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
*************
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Opportunity
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*************
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
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*********
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/
********************************************
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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/
More information about the Act-MA
mailing list