[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/
More information about the Act-MA
mailing list