[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events

George Mokray gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Jul 15 12:09:26 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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Zero Emissions Resources
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/11/1108649/-Zero-Emissions-Resources

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Monday, July 16
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Quantization and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
Monday, July 16, 2012
11:00a–12:00p
MIT, Building 6-120, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Walter Lewin, LIVE! Special Lecture Series

MIT Physics Professor Emeritus, educator and author of "For the Love  
of Physics," will be giving a unique series of public lectures at MIT.

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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Tuesday, July 17
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Bringing Daylight into the Core of Buildings
Tuesday, July 17
noon
Boston Society of Architects, 290 Congress Street #200, Boston

Sustainability Education meeting, a video of the AIA ’12 presentation  
on daylighting

Bringing daylight into the deep interior of buildings involves  
understanding principles of optics and physics in order to optimize  
transmission via reflecting conduits, but also involves understanding  
the health benefits of daylight vs. some of the harmful effects of  
electric lighting. The session will also cover different methods of  
bringing daylight into the deep core of buildings.

FYI, I'm attaching a summary of LEED-related points to Sundolier®, one  
of the methods for bringing daylight into the core of buildings (as  
one of its directors I  prepared this summary for Sundolier®). Similar  
LEED scores are applicable to other daylight delivery systems.

We offer 1.5 CE credits, and will feed you if you RSVP to the BSA by  
Monday, July 16: rsvp at architects.org with “SEC 7/17” in the subject  
line.

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Mihir Sarkar Thesis Defense: "World Music Technology: Culturally  
Sensitive Strategies for Automatic Music Prediction"
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
4:00pm - 6:00pm
MIT Media Lab, E14-633, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

Speaker:  Mihir Sarkar

Music has been shown to be an essential part of the human experience--- 
every known society engages in music. However, as universal as it may  
be, music has evolved into a variety of genres peculiar to particular  
cultures. In fact, people acquire musical skill, understanding, and  
appreciation specific to the music they have been exposed to. This  
process of enculturation builds mental structures that form the  
cognitive basis for musical expectation.
In this thesis, Sarkar argues that in order for machines to perform  
musical tasks like humans do, in particular to predict music, they  
need to be subjected to a similar kind of enculturation process by  
design. This work is grounded in an information theoretic framework  
that takes cultural context into account. He introduces a measure of  
melodic and rhythmic entropy to analyze the predictability of musical  
events as a function of prior musical exposure. Then he discusses  
computational models for music representation that are informed by  
genre-specific containers. Finally he proposes a software framework  
for automatic music prediction. The system extracts a lexicon of  
melodic and rhythmic primitives from audio, and generates a  
hierarchical grammar to represent the structure of a particular  
musical form. To improve prediction accuracy, context can be switched  
with cultural plug-ins that are designed for and trained by specific  
musical instruments, genres, and performance styles.

In controlled listening experiments a culture-specific design fares  
significantly better than a culture-agnostic one. Hence Sarkar's  
findings support the importance of computational enculturation for  
automatic music prediction. Furthermore he suggests that in order to  
sustain and cultivate the diversity of musical traditions around the  
world it is indispensable that we design culturally sensitive music  
technology.

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GreenPort Forum

TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2012  (Rain or Shine)

6:30 - Meet on steps of First Baptist Church, Central Square, Cambridge

6:55 - 19 Chalk Street

7:15 - Dana Park

7:30 -	Corner of Pearl and Cottage

7:40 -  69 Brookline right around corner from community garden

7:50 Peggy Hayes Community Garden Watson Street

Please join the PickaPocket Garden Volunteers, starting on the front  
steps of Central Square’s First Baptist Church, at the intersection of  
Magazine and River Streets, 6:30 start time. We will then proceed  
through the Cambridgeport Neighborhood.

GreenPort envisions and encourages a just and sustainable  
Cambridgeport neighborhood

For more information, contact Steve Wineman at swineman at gis.net

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Wednesday, July 18
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Atlantic Ocean circulation at the Last Glacial Maximum: Inferences  
from data and models
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
1:30p–2:30p
MIT, Building 54-915, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Doctoral Thesis Defense by Holly Dail


Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)

For more information, contact:  Jacqui Taylor
617-253-2127

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Sustainable Business Network Presents A Special Film Screening of  
"Fixing the Future"
Wednesday, July 18
7:30pm
AMC Loews Boston Common, 175 Tremont Street, Boston

As part of a national event, Boston is one of dozens of cities hosting  
screenings of the documentary Fixing the Future (http://fixingthefuture.org/ 
). Host David Brancaccio (of public radio's Marketplace and NOW on  
PBS) visits people across America that are attempting a revolution:  
the reinvention of the American economy. Featuring communities using  
innovative approaches to create jobs and build sustainability, Fixing  
the Future inspires hope and renewal in tough economic times.

Join us for the screening and an exclusive on-screen panel discussion  
after the movie, followed by tips from SBN and other partner  
organizations on what YOU can do to fix the future!

$12 Admission
Group discount available for purchase of 15 or more tickets ($7.50/ 
ticket)
For tickets please visit: http://bit.ly/MRNVEK

RSVP on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/440951739272442/  
and tell your friends about it!
For more information please contact Amara at amara at sbnmass.org

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Saturday, July 21
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Help out community gardens around Boston!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
10:00 AM To 2:00 PM
Shirley-Eustis House and Gardner Carriage House, 33 Shirley Street,  
Roxbury

COGDesign is an organization who helps hold and grow plant material to  
be used at other gardens across Boston, many of which are community  
gardens or located at other non-profits.

The Shirley Eustis Historic House is located at 33 Shirley Street,  
Roxbury, MA 02119.  We will weed and deadhead the formal gardens of  
thishistoric house. There is also an orchard on-site in which we can  
tour. No experience necessary.  Tools and information will be  
provided.  Please wear comfortable clothes you do not mind getting  
dirty and closed-toed shoes.

Bring a snack and some water.  Volunteers may arrive late and leave  
early if need be.  Everyone will meet in the formal garden in front of  
the house.

http://www.cogdesign.org/

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Tuesday, July 24
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Solar 3.0 Solar Innovation Forum
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (ET)
Atlantic Wharf Building, 280 Congress Street, Boston

See How Solar 3.0 Can Help Make Your Local Solar Industry More  
Competitive
If you work for a city, utility, or company involved in permitting,  
interconnecting, selling, installing, inspecting, or financing solar  
PV systems, you are cordially invited to attend "Solar 3.0 Solar  
Innovation Forum," a workshop covering national best practices and  
standards in the areas of solar permitting, installation,  
interconnection, and inspection. Solar 3.0 is focused on reducing the  
cost of residential and commercial solar installations in the U.S.  
market and is backed by SunShot, an initiative of the U.S. Department  
of Energy.

Contact ttansy at solartech.org.
For more information, visit www.Solar30.org.

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  "Shellshocked: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves"
WHEN  Tue., July 24, 2012, 7 p.m.
WHERE  Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION  Film
NOTE  A new documentary about the efforts to restore wild oyster reefs  
in the Northeast. Free and open to the public.


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Upcoming
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Stalled from getting public records? Here's how to pry them loose
Thursday, July 26, 2012
7:00 PM
Boston Globe, 135 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester
RSVP at http://meetupbos.hackshackers.com/events/72912772/?a=ea1_grp&eventId=72912772

Want to learn more about public records? Looking for a way to get a  
leg up on the competition, impress your editors, and literally have  
stories come to you while you sleep? Then get ready, because Access  
Across America, brought to you by the Society of Professional  
Journalists, is coming to Boston.
Learn tips and tricks gleaned by MuckRock founder Michael Morisy from  
thousands of public record and FOIA requests, and discuss your  
frustrations with getting government documents. Whether you are a  
seasoned pro or looking for your first internship in the media world,  
this session will help you report on the stories that matter, learning  
to think and investigate like a pro while avoiding the dead ends,  
frustrations and runarounds so common in both investigative and local  
beat reporting.
Sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists & Hacks Hackers  
Boston

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Living Light:  The Art & Science of Bioluminescence
July 31, 2012, 6pm
Harvard Science Center, Hall B. One Oxford Street, Cambridge

Featuring:  Sylvia Earle, Explorer in Residence, Nat Geo;  J. Woody  
Hastings, Prof. of Natural Sciences, Harvard;  Kristin McArdle Dance  
performing Aqua Borealis

Free and open to the public, general admission seating.
$5-10 suggested donation.

For more information on this and other events,http://chge.med.harvard.edu/events

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The future of local jazz radio — An open meeting of Greater Boston's  
jazz community
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
6:00pm until 8:00pm
Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Mezzanine Conference Room,  
Boston

WHO IS INVITED
Members of the jazz community and allies inside and outside the arts  
world who share our concerns

PURPOSE
To forge ties, agree on goals, and begin developing strategies for  
collaborative action to address the immediate issue of WGBH's  
withdrawal from weeknight jazz programming and the broader issues of  
local jazz radio and the place of the music in our city's cultural life

FORMAT
Conversation led by JazzBoston board members Emmett Price, musician  
and Chair of African American Studies at Northeastern University, and  
José Massó, community activist and announcer/producer of ¡Con Salsa!  
on WBUR FM.

Contact http://www.jazzboston.org/

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Social Hour with the BSA and LivableStreets
August 2, 2012
5:30-7:00 PM
BSA Space: 290 Congress Street Boston
“Join LivableStreets and the BSA for a social hour that celebrates  
vibrant communities and the value of building connections. Learn more  
about the work of both organizations, and view the BSA’s new Let’s  
Talk About Bikes exhibition, which explores the role of the bicycle in  
urban centers like Boston. LivableStreets is your advocate for biking,  
walking and transit to make the Boston region a better place to live,  
work and play. LivableStreets fought for and won bike lanes on the BU  
Bridge and Commonwealth Avenue, and hosts the annual Boston Bike  
Update.” Admission is free and open to the public, and the exhibit is  
handicap accessible and appropriate for families and all ages.

http://bsaspace.org/events/social-hour-with-the-bsa-and-livablestreets/
If you have any further questions, please contact me or Angela King at aking at architects.org

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Robotics Design Meetup
Friday, August 3rd
7:30 pm
Artisans Asylum 10 Tyler Street, Somerville
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Hello all,
Think robots are cool? Like free drinks and food?
Come share your robotics enthusiasm/thirst/hunger at August's Robot  
Design Meetup,
August, Friday the 3rd, 7:30pm, at Artisans Asylum (10 tyler st,  
Somerville, MA)
We'll be having at least the following, and looking for more:
Update on Project Stompy, its Kickstarter and example pieces of the  
full-scale parts (http://projecthexapod.com/blog/stompy-is-coming/)
ArcBotics' Codename Discbot and Wisp: low-cost educational robotics  
platform project and micro-quadcopter project
Your own project! let us know at joe at arcbotics.com

RSVP:  https://www.facebook.com/events/280823695357943/

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Saturday, Aug 4th: End Fossil Fuel Subsidies Day of Action

On August 4th communities across Massachusetts will engage in a day of  
action to call for an end to taxpayer support of deadly energy like  
coal, natural gas, and oil that wreak havoc on our health,  
environment, and climate. Subsidies that impede community based  
solutions at the time when we need them most. How could ending fossil  
fuel subsidies support your local work? Join us in taking action on  
August 4th to demonstrate how ending subsidies to deadly energy will  
improve our communities. Whether it’s shutting down coal plants,  
installing solar panels, fighting corruption, or weatherizing a house,  
we will voice our opposition to funding the richest companies at the  
expense of our health and wellbeing. Learn more, or Sign up to host or  
participate in an event in your community.

http://350ma.org/2012/07/end-fossil-fuel-subsidies/

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Sunday, August 5

Come out to walk, bike, dance, and roll on open, car-free streets in  
and between our parks! Circle The City is free and open to people of  
all ages.

August 5, 10 am-1 pm, Rose Kennedy Greenway
Featuring a car-free corridor along the downtown waterfront.

Organized by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Boston Collaborative
for Food and Fitness, LivableStreets Alliance, Franklin Park  
Coalition, and the City of Boston.

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Devil’s Tango (how I learned the Fukushima step by step)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10

Joan Ecklein’s house, 14 Sterling Street, Newton

Potluck •6 pm

Book talk by award-winning author Cecile Pineda
Sponsor:  Boston Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

Organizer: Joan Ecklein • 617.244.8054

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Boston GreenFest
Thursday, Aug 16   5 pm - 9:30 pm
(Performers/Food)
Friday, Aug 17       noon - 9:30 pm
(Exhibitors/Food/Vendors/Performers)
Saturday, Aug 18    11 am - 8 pm
(Exhibitors/Food/Vendors/Performers)
Sunday, Aug 19    10 am - 5 pm
Featuring: The Movement Festival!
(Dance/Food/Vendors/Performers)

Boston City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Square, Boston

http://www.bostongreenfest.org/index.html
info at bostongreenfest.org
617-477-4840

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SOMERVILLE CONFERENCE ON THE CREATIVE ECONOMY

Thursday, August 23, 2012

7 to 9 pm

Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler Street, Somerville

Uncover What's Next for the Creative Economy
CreativeNEXT is a series of 21 state-wide events held bythe  
Massachusetts Creative Economy Council, an advisory Council to the  
Legislature and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic  
Development, and a variety of local partners. The MA Creative Economy  
Council is tasked to develop a statewide strategy for the enhancement,  
encouragement, and growth of the creative economy in Massachusetts.  
Working with the Creative Economy Industry Director this listening  
tour will help to guide the future priorities of the Council. The  
greater Boston event, co-hosted by the Artisan's Asylum and Union  
Square Main Streets, will take place on Thursday, August 23, 2012 from  
7 to 9 pm at the Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler Street, Somerville. Join  
colleagues in a discussion on furthering the visionary growth of your  
business and other creative industries across the state. Who should  
attend? Businesses, Organizations, and Individuals working in:  
Marketing: Advertising and marketing agencies and professionals  
Architecture: Architecture firms and architects Visual Arts + Craft:  
Museums, galleries, theatres and curators, artists, + artisans Design:  
Industrial, interior, graphic, web, fashion firms and designers Film +  
Media: Film, TV, animation, and radio businesses and talent Video  
Game: Companies, programmers, and individuals producing games Music +  
Performance: Venues, producers, and performers Publishing: Content  
creation, editors, writers and distributors What's on the agenda? You  
are! We want to hear from you, about you, as we explore future  
opportunities for like-minded businesses within the creative  
landscape. Through a round table discussion we hope to gain valuable  
insights concerning the growth and sustainability of your business  
within the state of Massachusetts.

For more information and to register your space: http://creativenextgreaterboston.eventbrite.com


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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.

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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

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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).

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

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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.)


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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

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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.

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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/

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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

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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

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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/




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