[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - December 23, 2012

[George Mokray]

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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Talking to the NRA:  My Sister's Experience
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/17/1171334/-Talking-to-the-NRA-My-Sister-s-Experience

US Politics Today:  Discriminatory Tit for Tat
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/20/1172460/-US-Politics-Today-Discriminatory-Tit-for-Tat

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Nothing much is scheduled as the schools are on vacation and people are spending time with their families.  So…..

Happy holidays and bah humbug!

See you next year.

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Upcoming
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The Massachusetts Environmental Community Inaugural Legislative Breakfast
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013 
8:30am - 10am
Scollay Square Restaurant, 21 Beacon Street, Boston
Please RSVP by 12/28/12 at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5029878502#

Please join leaders of the Mass. Environmental Community in a welcome to new and re-elected Legislators and a tribute to the Legislature. 
Speakers: 
Senator Daniel Wolf, (Cape & Islands)
Representative Stephen Kulik, Vice-Chair, House Ways & Means 

Hosted by:
Appalachian Mountain Club
Charles River Watershed Association
Clean Water Action*
Conservation Law Foundation
Environmental League of Mass.*
Environment Massachusetts*
ENE
Humane Society of the United States
Mass. Audubon
Mass. Association of Conservation Commissions
Mass. Climate Action Network
Mass. Rivers Alliance
MASSPIRG*
Massachusetts Sierra Club*
The Nature Conservancy
The Trustees of Reservations
(nonprofits with C4 affiliates which endorse candidates)

"One Environment...One Voice" 

Event Contact Info Rob Garrity
Email:  rob.garrity at gmail.com 
Phone: 6175150600 

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Genomics, Science & Fiction
Jan. 03, 2013
6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGdPVWlGQ0RkNjc5S0MtWFd4TjN6NUE6MQ

This panel discussion will address some of the ethical and sociocultural issues raised by depictions of genomics in film, and will help separate science fact from science fiction. 

Panelists:
Jay Clayton - Director, The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy, Vanderbilt University
George Church - Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School; Director of Personal Genomes.org
Marnie Gelbart - Director of Program Development and National Initiatives, Personal Genetics Education Project
Chad Nusbaum - Co-Director, Genome Sequencing Analysis Program and Scientific Director, Broad Technology Labs

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Boston Quantified Self Show&Tell #11 
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
6:00 PM
Cambridge Innovation Center, 5th Floor - Havana Training Room, One Broadway, Kendall Square, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/BostonQS/events/94557702/?joinFrom=event&success=profileUpdatedEventWelcome

Please come join us for another fun night of self-tracking presentations, sharing ideas, and showing tools. If you are self-tracking in any way -- health stats, biofeedback, life-logging, mood monitoring, biometrics, athletics, etc. -- come and share your methods, results and insight.

6:00 -7:00 pm SOCIAL HOUR AND NETWORKING
Come early, connect with others and share your interest in QS. We'll have healthy refreshments to get us started.
7:00 - 8:00 pm QS SHOW & TELL TALKS
If you'd like to talk about your personal self-tracking story, please let us know in your RSVP or write Joshua at [masked]. In your talk, you should answer the three prime questions: What did you do? How did you do it? What did you learn?
If you've never been to a meetup before, you can get a sense of what the talks are like from watching videos of previous QS talks.
8:00 - 8:45 pm MORE SOCIAL TIME
Talk to the speakers, chat with new and old friends, ask other people what they're tracking, and generally hang out and have a great time.
QS SPONSORS: OUR THANKS TO Cambridge Innovation Center
A wonderful space is generously being provided by Cambridge Innovation Center, the area's largest and most popular flexible office space facility designed to meet the needs of small and fast-growingtechnology-oriented companies.

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Green Minga Barnraising, Family Activities, and Job Fair
Saturday, January 12, 2013
11:00am
Minden Street, Jamaica Plain

"Minga" is a term used in some Andean communities for collective agriculture work days to benefit the community. Our Green Minga Barnraising will be a hands-on neighborhood weatherization work party—complete with a mini career fair and children’s activities. The work party will provide direct energy saving services to three Latino households in this older triple-decker. The owner-occupants have experienced roadblocks to accessing the MassSave program, barriers that have affected many moderate- and low-income homeowners in Boston. Help draw attention to the need for solutions to these barriers and  learn new skills, cut carbon directly, and make new friends.

Get more information and sign up to participate at https://docs.go
ogle.com/spreadsheet/viewform?pli=1&formkey=dEJhekhfQno5VDZuak91WEZvNGM5NkE6MA#gid=0

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FAMILY FRIENDLY WORKSHOP AT ARTISAN'S ASYLUM 
January 12, 2013
Artisan's Asylum, 10 Tyler Street, Somerville

Join us for this family-friendly fun afternoon workshop! Start with a surface: wood, plexi-glass, or the motherboard from a computer. Add 2D materials like photos, newspapers and magazines, maps, bubble wrap and aluminum foil. Then take your pick from buckets of recycled 3D debris like computer parts, buttons, shells, and other small objects. Come out with a beautiful piece of art to hang on your wall! Easy as one, two, 3D.

Students will get to experiment with dynamic patterns and sculptural qualities of found objects, and become familiar with a variety of methods of combining materials. 
Prerequisites: None!
Materials Provided: 
3D: computer & printer parts, shells, toys, junk, buttons, jewelry, other debris and small objects.
2D: photos, papers, maps, cardboard, foam, bubble wrap, foil.
Surfaces: various shaped bits of wood, motherboards, plexi glass.
Tools and fixatives: scissors, mod-podge, wood glue, brushes.
Register here:
http://foundartmosaicworkshop.eventbrite.com/#

(617) 863-7634
www.artisansasylum.com

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BEANPOT HACKATHON
1/25/2013 - 1/27/2013 ADD TO CALENDAR
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Microsoft New England R&D Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at http://hackbeanpot.eventbrite.com

Audience: Students in the Boston area
Description: We're hosting a hackathon to bring together the student hacker community in Boston through some friendly competition. We're bringing in mentors from the area to help students deal with their technical and design challenges. This event is a collaboration with Hack Harvard and MIT's SIPB group.
We also usually bring in sponsors to get food and prizes, which include local and nationally-known companies and startups.

Also, anyone who attends this hackathon would be able to continue to build their idea at a workshop at PayPal a few weeks later, which I guess makes this the playoffs.

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Askwith Forum on the Futures of School Reform
WHEN  Tue., Jan. 29, 2013, 5 – 7 p.m.
WHERE  Longfellow Hall, 13 Appian Way, Cambridge
TYPE OF EVENT	Discussion, Forum, Panel, Question & Answer Session
BUILDING/ROOM	Askwith Hall
CONTACT NAME  Amber DiNatale
CONTACT EMAIL  askwith_forums at gse.harvard.edu
CONTACT PHONE  617-384-9968
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION/DEPARTMENT	Harvard Graduate School of Education
REGISTRATION REQUIRED	No
ADMISSION FEE	This event is free and open to the public.
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION	Education, Lecture
NOTE  Speakers include: 
Frederick Hess, Ed.M.’90, resident scholar and director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute 
Jal Mehta, assistant professor of education, HGSE 
Paul Reville, secretary of education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and senior lecturer on education, HGSE
Robert Schwartz, C.A.S.’68, Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration, HGSE
Description coming soon. Please check back for additional information.
Please note: Seating for all Askwith Forums is on a first-come, first-serve basis unless otherwise noted. It is recommended you arrive early in order to obtain a seat as seats cannot be saved.
Want to win a reserved seat for this forum? Become a fan of the Ed School on Facebook (www.facebook.com/harvardeducation) and watch for a posting about this event.
Connect with Us:
Tweeting at an Askwith Forum? Use the #Askwith hashtag.
Attending a Forum? Check in on Foursquare (www.foursquare.com/hgse)
For more information on Askwith Forums, please visit our Frequently Asked Questionspage.

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From Geometry to Time and Compositionality:  Movement Representations in the Brain
Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013
4:00 pm
Radcliffe Institute, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge

Tamar Flash will expand upon a recently developed theory regarding movement representation in the brain, based on a mixture of geometries. She will study the possible relationships between spatial, temporal, and movement representations in the brain and will formulate ideas and models concerning motor compositionally.

http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2013-tamar-flash-fellow-presentation

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Al Gore
February 6, 2013
7pm
The Memorial Church, Harvard University, One Harvard Yard, Cambridge

Free and open to the public. 

Click here to register for reminders and updates. Registration is optional and does not guarantee seating. 

Seats are first come-first serve. Doors open at 6:15 PM, early arrival is encouraged. 

Sponsored by the Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard School of Public Health

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Urban Farming Conference - “Cultivating Lands, Nourishing Communities, Building Businesses”
Saturday, February 9, 2013
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Roxbury Community College Reggie Lewis Center, Boston, MA

Presented by:  City Growers And Urban Farming Institute (UFI)
In partnership with:  MA Department of Agricultural Resources

The annual Massachusetts Urban Farming Conference (UFC) is designed to advance the opportunities and address the barriers involved in cultivating a thriving urban farming sector. The UFC is a forum to share information regarding what is currently happening in Boston and other local urban communities and to map out a vision for urban farming in Massachusetts.

The UFC brings together participants representing all aspects of urban farming including, but not limited to, farmers (including roof top, chicken, bees, etc.), commercial buyers, policy makers, and investors. The UFC conference is being convened to foster best urban farming practices, sustainable networks and business relationships. This will be achieved with following interactive panels and roundtable discussions:

Open Field Farming and Season Extension Techniques
Organic Farming and Its Importance
Lessons from Successful CSA Strategies
Composting: Policy, Practice and Viable Business Enterprise
Roof Top Techniques
Food System Investors Meeting
Urban Farming Thought Leaders: A Panel Discussion
Land: Strategy, Community Control, Zoning and Policy
Viable Enterprises Other Than Fruits and Vegetables
Investing in Workforce Training
Marketing Options

Registration $25. Register at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4701198411 
Limited Seating. Register Early.
Limited Scholarships are available. 
For Inquiries and Sponsorship Details, Please Contact: Crystal Johnson at Crystal at isesplanning.com, 617-416-4915


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Opportunity

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Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!

Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch.  No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.

For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home

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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, see
http://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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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/

Cambridge Civic Journal  http://www.rwinters.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/Johnny_Monsarrat/index.html

http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/