[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - July 21, 2013

Sun Jul 21 11:41:20 PDT 2013

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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World Meteorological Organization:  Heatwave Decade
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/16/1224282/-World-Meteorological-Organization-Heatwave-Decade

Sixpack of Solar:  How Many Solar Devices Can You Make from a Plastic Bottle?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/19/1225123/-Sixpack-of-Solar-How-Many-Solar-Devices-Can-You-Make-from-a-Plastic-Bottle

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Event Index - full Event Details available below the Index

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Monday, July 22
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7pm  The Green Neighbors Solar Talk

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Tuesday, July 23
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9:30am  How to Assemble a PV module in the Jungle
2pm  Media Lab Conversations Series: IDEO's David and Tom Kelley in Conversation with Joi Ito
6pm  Boston Quantified Self Show&Tell #13 (NERD)

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Wednesday, July 24
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12pm  Building a Global Urban Logistics Atlas
12pm  SPI Roundtable: The Changing Role of Contractors as Sustainability Leaders
6pm  Unweaving the circuitry of human disease

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Thursday, July 25
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5pm  "Effect of CO2 on the ocean, especially effects of the pH change, changes in ocean carbonate chemistry since the Industrial Revolution, biogeochemical consequences of ocean acidification and feedbacks to the Earth system"
6pm  Nerd Nite

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Friday, July 26
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9am  Counting Carbon: Lessons from the South African Fruit and Wine Industry Initiative
6:30pm  India:  An Urban Battleground
7pm  Inquisitive Mind Meetup:  Milgram's Experiment 18

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Saturday, July 27
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Climate Demonstration at Brayton Point Coal Plant

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Sunday, July 27
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Climate Demonstration at Brayton Point Coal Plant

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Monday, July 29
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10am  Mass DEP regulatory hearings on GHG regs (RGGI and SF6)
12pm Designing and Operating Safety Systems: The Missing Link

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Tuesday, July 30
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7pm  Code for Boston Monthly Demo Night + IxDA

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Event Details

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Monday, July 22
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The Green Neighbors Solar Talk
Monday, July 22, 2013 
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain
Cosponsors:   GNEC; Boston Climate Action Network; Foundation for a Green Future

Solar for the whole planet
1. Adventures in teaching solar as a cottage industry in the developing world!
2. Hands-on workshop learning to build solar panels in Dorchester.
3. Sustainable Development in Liberia. Send Dr. Komp to Liberia fundraiser.

Join the Green Neighbors Education Committee, Inc. and our Guest Speaker Dr. Richard Komp (mainesolar.org & skyheat.org) world renowned solar expert; inventor and teacher for a talk on bringing solar technology to remote and not so remote parts of the world. With video, slides and more Dr. Komp will show how solar photovoltaic panels, and other devices, can be built anywhere, by anyone and improve the lives of people with no or poor access to the grid.

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Tuesday, July 23
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How to Assemble a PV module in the Jungle
Tuesday, July 23 and Wednesday, July 24, 2013
9:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Unity Sports and Cultural Club, 10 Dunbar Street, Codman Square, Dorchester
Costs:  $100.00 per attendee (discounted from the normal fee).
Reply or Call to hold your seat to Owen Toney:  otoney at comcast.net, (617) 427-6293

Dr. Richard Komp will show us ‘How to Assemble a PV module in the Jungle’. This is a two-day hands-on training where we will build a solar panel during the workshop. The solar panel will be donated to The Urban Farming Institute for their Aquaculture project on Lindsey Street in Dorchester. Attendees will also receive a piece of EVA to encapsulate their own solar panel when they make it.

Dr. Komp will teach his full month long training on solar PV in Liberia in October.

Please feel free to forward this email.

Please also consider making a tax-deductible donation to provide a scholarship for one of the non-profits or neighborhood folks who want to participate in our solar panel workshop.

To make a Tax-Deductible donation, or sponsor someone for the workshop go to: https://www.communityroom.net/   Find Green Neighbors – click on highlighted name – click on give button - Follow directions.

Or, mail a check made out to: 
The Green Neighbors Education Committee, Inc.
281 Humboldt Avenue
Dorchester, MA 02121-2241

Owen Toney
Green Neighbors Education Committee, Inc.
281 Humboldt Avenue
Dorchester, MA 02121
(617) 427-6293
otoney at comcast.net

Editorial Comment:  Richard Komp has been doing solar as a cottage industry, teaching people how to make their own solar devices, around the world for over 30 years.  He has worked in every aspect of solar energy from the lab to the field, from advanced solar electronics to simple solar cookers.

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Media Lab Conversations Series: IDEO's David and Tom Kelley in Conversation with Joi Ito
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
2:00p–3:30p
MIT, Building E14-300, MIT Media Lab, Third-Floor Atrium, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

Speaker: David and Tom Kelley
MIT Media Lab Conversations Series
All talks at the Media Lab, unless otherwise noted, are open to the public. 
This talk will be webcast. Join the conversation on Twitter: #MLTalks 

Learn more about David Kelley 
http://www.ideo.com/people/david-kelley 
Tom Kelley 
http://www.ideo.com/people/tom-kelley

Web site: http://www.media.mit.edu/events/2013/07/23/media-lab-conversations-series-ideos-david-and-tom-kelley
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab
For more information, contact:  Jess Sousa
events-admin at media.mit.edu 

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Boston Quantified Self Show&Tell #13 (NERD)
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Microsoft NERD New England Research & Development Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Bring ID and come to 1st floor
Price: $5.00/per person
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/BostonQS/events/121586872/

Please come join us on July 23rd 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 insights.

6:00 - 7:00 pm DEMO HOUR & SOCIAL TIME
Are you a toolmaker? Come demo your self-tracking gadget, app, project or idea that you're working on and share with others in our "science fair for adults." If you are making something useful for self-trackers – software, hardware, web services, or data standards – please demo it in this workshop portion of the Show&Tell. Please let us know you will be bringing something to the Show&Tell, so we can be prepared for you.

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 email me (JoshuaKot at gmail dot com), so we can discuss your topic and how much time you'll need. 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 - 9:00 pm MORE SOCIAL TIME & NETWORKING
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.

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Wednesday, July 24
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Building a Global Urban Logistics Atlas
July 24, 2013 
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT
MIT, Building E40-298, 1 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Lunch will be provided

As cities continue to grow in population and size, the demand by urban dwellers for goods and services continues to rise. Policy makers and logistics managers need detailed and context specific information on the patterns of logistics intensity in large urban areas. This is especially important in the developing world because of rapid growth rates.  During the Summer of 2013, a team of 11 MIT students, 7 ITESM (Mexico) students, 2 TU/e students (Netherlands) and 2 SUTD students (Singapore) worked together to build the foundation of the first "global urban logistics atlas" to inform this significant gap in information for policy makers and logistic planners. 

In this session, the data collection efforts in eight cities (Beijing, Bogota, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile & São Paulo) will be presented alongside preliminary findings. The first release of "km2", a web-based platform to manage urban logistics information, will be featured. In addition to "km2", the team from ITESM developed a web-based urban logistics explorer called "loopa" that is directed towards companies to help them better explore large scale urban logistics data effectively. 

This is an initiative of the Megacity Logistics Lab (http://megacitylab.mit.edu) and was sponsored by the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics SCALE Network, MISTI (MIT-Chile & MIT-Brasil), ITESM Campus Santa Fé (Mexico) and the MIT UROP Office.

Organizer:
Dr. Edgar E Blanco  (eblanco at mit.edu) - MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics 
+1.617.517.6048 http://edgarblanco.mit.edu

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SPI Roundtable: The Changing Role of Contractors as Sustainability Leaders
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (EDT)
711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://spi-july2013-roundtable-eanrecl.eventbrite.com

Contractors have the knowledge and expertise to radically shift the approach to projects but still often struggle to be part of early decisions. Equally, opportunities abound post-construction for occupancy optimization and contractors can play an important role there. Additionally, contractors are beginning to measure and track the carbon impacts of their work processes, which is a significant part of the environmental impact in the built environment. How can we shift how we work to optimize the input of construction experts and improve project performance? How can their leadership and innovation in carbon tracking benefit us all? Come to this Roundtable to discuss these issues and more!

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Unweaving the circuitry of human disease
Wednesday, July 24
6-7pm
Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center, Kendall Square, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.cvent.com/events/2013-midsummer-nights-science/registration-5ab918d3c7ff4d9e9a42af10cedab3d9.aspx

Manolis Kellis
Countless regions of the human genome have been mapped by genetic studies in recent years. Manolis Kellis will discuss these efforts to build high-resolution activity maps of gene and regulatory regions across hundreds of cell types. These maps are bringing the genome to life, revealing possible culprits in human disease, and revealing the circuitry likely responsible when the genome’s regulatory system goes wrong. Understanding these mechanisms is essential to the development of effective therapeutics.

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Thursday, July 25
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"Effect of CO2 on the ocean, especially effects of the pH change, changes in ocean carbonate chemistry since the Industrial Revolution, biogeochemical consequences of ocean acidification and feedbacks to the Earth system"
July 25, 2013 
5:00pm - 7:00pm
MIT, Building 68-181, 31 Ames Street, Cambridge

Presenter Richard Zeese
Open CO2 Seminar Series

The Sinskey lab (Department of Biology) is hosting an open seminar series on CO2. 
The complete series will feature different aspects of CO2 from 5 different research perspectives: 1) CO2 chemistry and the global carbon cycle; 2) Co2 in biological systems; 3) CO2 in the atmosphere; 4) CO2 in the oceans; 5) CO2 and its impact on politics and economics.

More information at https://biology.mit.edu/about/events/open_co2_seminar_series_7

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Nerd Nite
Thursday, July 25, 2013!
6PM
Trident Cafe, 338 Newbury Street, Boston 
$13

WHAT IS A SUPERHERO? A Science Author Salon

Join us for a super awesome collaboration with the Museum of Science and Social Wines. Meet author Robin Rosenberg, PhD, ABPP, and chat with her about her new book, What is a Superhero?
Enjoy a tasting of super brews from a specially curated list of craft beers.
Select from menu items appreciated by mutants, aliens, armor-clad super-geniuses, thunder gods, and super-soldiers alike.
Use superior powers of conversation to socialize with some alter egos.
Snag a signed copy of What is a Superhero.

More information at http://boston.nerdnite.com/2013/07/02/science-author-salon-with-robin-rosenberg/

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Friday, July 26
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Counting Carbon: Lessons from the South African Fruit and Wine Industry Initiative
Friday, July 26, 2013
9:00a–10:00a
Register at https://mit.webex.com/mit/j.php?ED=39390858&RG=1&UID=0&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D

Speaker: Shelly Fuller, Project Manager for the Confronting Climate Change: Fruit & Wine Industry Initiative
Free Webinar! The South African fruit and wine industry exports 2.2 megatons of fruit and 412,000,000 liters of wine each year. As the threat of climate change continues to mount, governmental bodies and retailers are beginning to consider labeling schemes and other measures to track and reduce carbon emissions. In addition, the price of fuel will likely continue to rise, providing a potentially more significant incentive to reduce fossil fuel consumption. 

In response, the South African Fruit and Wine Industry worked together to develop a calculation methodology and local data set to help growers understand their carbon footprints and look for ways to reduce emissions and costs. Shelly Fuller will join us to explain their work to date as well as their next steps for the future. 

Registration is available here: https://mit.webex.com/mit/j.php?ED=39390858&RG=1&UID=0&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D.

Web site: https://mit.webex.com/mit/j.php?ED=39390858&RG=1&UID=0&RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Center for Transportation & Logistics
For more information, contact:
Suzanne Greene
617-715-5473
segreene at mit.edu

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India:  An Urban Battleground
Friday, July 26
6:30 pm
MIT, Building 4-237, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/events/353266528135923/

A talk by Dr. Parthosarathy Ray
Over the last decade or so, the focus of most activists and organizations in India has been mostly on the countryside, where large scale displacement and land grab has been going on in the interests of national and multinational capital. However, in the meantime, the urban conflict over land, over the right to the city, and over proper working and living conditions has also become more and more intense.

Actually, the conflicts in the rural areas and urban areas are interlinked by economics and commonality of class interests. At the fundamental level, this battle, beyond the rhetoric on urban development and beautification, on rights and rehabilitation, on investment and industrialization, is class conflict. It is a conflict between the urban working class and the
bourgeoisie, and the basic question in contention is the 'right to the city'. In some places the conflict is taking the shape of slum eviction and resistance to it, in others it is reflected in the militant action of unorganized labour.

The contours of this conflict are going to shape the future nature and the character of the cities in India, where most of the economic activity in the country is already concentrated, and understanding and developing a proper response to it is therefore of immense importance to all of us.

Partho Sarothi Ray is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata. He has been active in the anti-displacement movements around India and has beenpart of struggles of the urban poor in Kolkata and Bengaluru. He is a founder member of the solidarity forum Sanhati <http://sanhati.com/>. He was the first activist to do a thorough ground-level reporting of the movement in Lalgarh, West Bengal <http://sanhati.com/excerpted/1083/>, and has
written extensively on political economy of contemporary India, especially the political economy of urban struggles<http://sanhati.com/excerpted/6074/>

www.southasiaalliance.org
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.southasiaalliance.org&h=HAQHa4HAN&s=1>
www.sanhati.org
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sanhati.org&h=iAQFI_W55&s=1>

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Friday, July 26, 2013
7:00 PM
Diesel Cafe, 257 Elm Street, Davis Square, Somerville
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/InquisitiveMinds/events/124750312/

You take a seat at the table.  Before you are 30 switches. Each switch generates an electric shock at a higher voltage than the last. From 15 volts to 450 volts.   You note some labels besides some of the switches.  These proceed from "slight shock" all the way up to"danger: severe shock" on the second to last switch. The last switch is just labelled "XXX".

You volunteered to help with this study on learning and memory.  How much does punishment impact learning?  For this experiment you will be the teacher.  You have met the subject.  The learner. She will sit  in the room next door, attached by electrodes to the shock generator.  Which of you would be the teacher and the learner were determined at random.

The learner is strapped into her chair, the electrodes are attached, and the door between the 2 rooms is closed. Shocks will be administered by the teacher for wrong answers. The experimenter has told both of you that the shocks will be painful, but no tissue damage will result.

You were given the electrodes earlier to experience what the 15 volt shock is like.  You will now teach the learner the tasks. Your instructions are to increase the voltage by 15 volts each time you get a wrong answer. She indicates her answer by pressing one of four buttons.

The experiment begins.

As you proceed, the voltage level rises.. 45... 90 volts... 105 volts.
You can hear the learner grunt in pain. At 120 volts, the learner complains about the pain.
135 volts
150 volts. The learner screams: “get me out of here! I refuse to go on.”
You look to the experimenter, who says to you:   "You can’t stop now. The experiment depends on your continuing compliance.” You feel tense and stressed..
285 volts The learner cries out: "I can’t stand the pain,”
300 volts. Banging on the wall from the learner in the other room demanding to be let out. She complains about her heart condition.
315 volts. More banging on the wall.
330 volts. Silence from the other room.  The experimenter tells you that rules of the experiment require that no answer be treated as a wrong answer. You must administer a shock and increase the voltage. The experimenter tells you will not be held responsible.
You question the experiment. You want to stop. The experimenter: "Please continue"
345 volts   Silence. "The experiment requires that you continue."
385 volts  Silence. "It is absolutely essential that you continue."
400 volts. Silence. "You have no other choice, you must go on."
450 volts. Silence
450 volts. Silence
450 volts. Silence

Join us for a discussion of the ground breaking studies of Stanley Milgram, and more.

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Saturday, July 27
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Climate Demonstration at Brayton Point Coal Plant
Saturday, July 27
Sunday, July 28
Somerset, MA
Contact http://joinsummerheat.org/massachusetts/ to help shut down the Brayton Point plant.

We’ll meet and train for this action on Saturday, July 27, and then on Sunday, July 28th, more we’ll gather at Brayton Point, where we’ll send a simple message to Massachusetts’ Governor, Deval Patrick: this plant kills people, destroys communities, and must be closed immediately. Massachusetts could shut down the Brayton Point plant tomorrow and meet all of its additional energy needs through renewables and increased energy efficiency. So, let’s come together and make sure that a just transition is provided for the workers and communities—from West Virginia to Massachusetts—who have been bearing the burden of coal for so long.
Hundreds have signed up to join us already, and we need hundreds more. Add your conviction, your passion, and your voice, by joining in this event.

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Sunday, July 27
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Climate Demonstration at Brayton Point Coal Plant
Sunday, July 28
Somerset, MA
Contact http://joinsummerheat.org/massachusetts/ to help shut down the Brayton Point plant.

We’ll meet and train for this action on Saturday, July 27, and then on Sunday, July 28th, more we’ll gather at Brayton Point, where we’ll send a simple message to Massachusetts’ Governor, Deval Patrick: this plant kills people, destroys communities, and must be closed immediately. Massachusetts could shut down the Brayton Point plant tomorrow and meet all of its additional energy needs through renewables and increased energy efficiency. So, let’s come together and make sure that a just transition is provided for the workers and communities—from West Virginia to Massachusetts—who have been bearing the burden of coal for so long.
Hundreds have signed up to join us already, and we need hundreds more. Add your conviction, your passion, and your voice, by joining in this event.

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Monday, July 29
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Mass DEP regulatory hearings on GHG regs (RGGI and SF6)
Monday, 29 July, 2013
10:00 AM
Mass DEP Headquarters, One Winter Street, Boston

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is proposing two regulatory actions:
First, MassDEP is proposing amendments to the CO2 Budget Trading Program regulations (310 CMR 7.70). 310 CMR 7.70 implements the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in Massachusetts. The proposed amendments would implement program changes resulting from the 2012 RGGI program review. A public hearing on the proposed amendments will be held on July 29, 2013 at 10:00 AM. Please feel free to contact Bill Lamkin (william.lamkin at state.ma.us or 978-694-3294) if you have any questions about this proposal.
Second, MassDEP is proposing a new regulation titled Reducing Sulfur Hexafluoride Emissions from Gas-Insulated Switchgear (310 CMR 7.72). Gas-insulated switchgear is used in high-voltage electrical applications. A public hearing on the proposed regulation will be held on July 29, 2013 at 2:00 PM. Please feel free to contact Will Space (william.space at state.ma.us or 617-292-5610) if you have any questions about this proposal.

The hearing notices, along with copies of the proposed regulations and background information, are available on MassDEP's web site athttp://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/news/comment/. The hearings will be held at MassDEP's Boston office (One Winter Street). Directions to the hearings can be foundathttp://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/about/contacts/massdep-boston-office-hours-and-directions.html.
Written comments on either proposal may be submitted by mail or to climate.strategies at state.ma.us until 5:00 PM on August 8, 2013.

Event Contact Info
William Lamkin
Email:  william.lamkin at state.ma.us 

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Designing and Operating Safety Systems: The Missing Link
Monday, July 29, 2013
12:00p–1:00p
Virtual:  register at http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_072913/helferich-webinar-safety-systems.html

Speaker: SDM alumnus John Helferich, former senior vice president of R&D, Mars Inc., and Ph.D. student, MIT Engineering Systems Division
MIT SDM System Thinking Webinar Series 

The MIT System Design and Management Program Systems Thinking Webinar Series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.

Abstract: Hospital safety, aviation safety, food safety, product safety, and virtually any safety systems designed to control hazards that could result in injuries or deaths, share one critical, but often overlooked component: the people responsible for designing and operating these systems. Recent research indicates that because the people are rarely considered part of the systems, they consequently (and frequently) make mistakes. 

This webinar will address why and how to incorporate "safety of management" when designing and operating safety systems. It will cover: 
examples of safety failures and high-level analyses of their origins;
a description of the STAMP (Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Process) model developed by MIT Professor Nancy Leveson and described in her book, Engineering a Safer World (MIT Press, January 2012); 
ways that managers can use STAMP's hazard analysis methods to make safer decisions; and 
mitigation strategies for unsafe managerial decisions. 

Webinar attendees will gain a preliminary understanding of how to apply systems thinking to incorporate STAMP and improve safety, no matter what the industry.

Web site:  http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_072913/helferich-webinar-safety-systems.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Tickets: See url above
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT System Design and Management Program
For more information, contact:  Lois Slavin
617-253-0812
lslavin at mit.edu 

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Tuesday, July 30
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Code for Boston Monthly Demo Night + IxDA
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
7:00 PM to 10:30 PM
Cambridge Innovation Center, 5th Floor, Havana Conference Room, 1 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Code-for-Boston/events/116672192/

For this month's Demo Night, we'll be co-hosting with the Boston Interaction Design Association (IxDA). Let's make sure to give a big welcome from Code for Boston to our design colleagues!

Our monthly Demo Night will be at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square, on the FIFTH FLOOR, in the HAVANA room.

At demo nights, Brigade teams will have the opportunity to show off the projects they're working on, celebrate successful work, and discuss blockers they're working through. We may be joined by members of the public, and may have outside guests present their own work to the Brigade community.

There is a pay parking lot underneath the building, and limited meter parking in the area. The MIT parking lot at Hayward St is free after 5pm. The best way to get to CIC is by Red Line.

Please make sure to check in with security when you arrive, and take the elevator to the 5th floor; the Havana room is to the left. Looking forward to seeing you there!

To sign up to present a product demo, pitch a new project / request help for an existing project, or speak on another topic, fill out the submission form: http://bit.ly/1dBkqTS

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Upcoming
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Benjamin Mako Hill Thesis Defense:  Essays on Volunteer Mobilization in Peer Production
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 | 1:30pm - 3:30pm
MIT, Building E14-525, MIT Media Lab, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

Speaker:  Benjamin Mako Hill
Participant(s)/Committee: Eric von Hippel, Mitchel Resnick, Yochai Benkler, Thomas Malone

Although some examples of Internet-based collaborative "peer production"— like Wikipedia and Linux—build large volunteer communities and high-quality information goods, the vast majority of attempts at peer production, like other forms of collective action, never even attract a second contributor. This dissertation is composed of three essays that describe and test theories on the sources and dynamics of volunteer mobilization in peer production.

The first essay is a qualitative analysis of seven attempts to create English-language online collaborative encyclopedia projects started before January, 2001, when Wikipedia was launched. Hill offers a set of three propositions for why Wikipedia, similar to previous efforts and a relatively late entrant, attracted a community of hundreds of thousands while the other projects did not. Using data from interviews of these Wikipedia-like projects' initiators, along with extensive archival data, he suggests that Wikipedia succeeded because its stated goal hewed closely to a widely held concept of "encyclopedia" familiar to many potential contributors while the project innovated around the process and the social organization of production.

In the second essay, Hill presents evidence of a trade-off between "generativity" (i.e., qualities of work products likely to attract follow-on contributors) and the originality of the derivative work products that follow. Using data from the Scratch online community — a large website where young people openly share and remix animations and games, he builds on foundational theoretical work in peer production to formulate and tests a series of hypotheses suggesting that the generativity of creative works is associated with moderate complexity, prominent authors, and cumulativeness. Hill also formulates and tests three hypotheses that these qualities are associated with decreased originality in resulting derivatives. He finds broad support for the hypothesized trade-off.

Finally, in the third essay, he considers the relationship between volunteer mobilization and governance in peer production organizations. Although large successful peer production projects have inspired a wave of social movements and scholars, he hypothesizes that, like other democratic organizations, peer production exhibits governance consistent with Robert Michels' "Iron Law of Oligarchy." Using exhaustive longitudinal data of internal processes drawn from a population of wikis, he constructs measures of organizational participation and present evidence of increases in oligarchy and decreases in democracy associated with volunteer mobilization. In contrast to previous work, Hill finds support for Michel's iron law and conclude that the adoption of organizational forms used in peer production may not enhance democratic outcomes.

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2013 Midsummer Nights' Science Lecture Series - The coelacanth, its evolution, and how fish first came onto land
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
6:00p–7:00p
Broad Institute, 7 Cambridge Center, Auditorium (first floor), Cambridge

Speaker: Jessica Alfoldi
The African coelacanth, whose genome was recently sequenced, is a highly unusual fish that closely resembles the fossils of its 300-million-year-old ancestors. Scientists have debated for decades about whether it truly is a slow-evolving fish, and how closely related it is to our own ancestor - the fish that first came up onto land. Jessica Alfoldi will discuss the history of the enigmatic coelacanth and what its genome has taught us about our own evolution.

Web site: http://broad.io/midsummer
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): IS&T Computing Help Desk, Broad Institute
For more information, contact:  Monica Concepcion
617-714-7156
events at broadinstitute.org 

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E-Waste Double Feature
Thursday, August 1, 2013
12-1pm
Harvard University Hall Basement Conference Room

Join the FAS Green Program for a double feature about E-Waste. We will be watching the Basel Action Network's films "Exporting Harm" and "Digital Dump".

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"Methane and CO2 depots, the ocean carbon cycle, interdependence of atmospheric and oceanic CO2"
Thursday, August 1, 2013 
5:00pm - 7:00pm
MIT, Building 68-181, 31 Ames Street, Cambridge

Presenter Roger Summons
Open CO2 Seminar Series

The Sinskey lab (Department of Biology) is hosting an open seminar series on CO2. 
The complete series will feature different aspects of CO2 from 5 different research perspectives: 1) CO2 chemistry and the global carbon cycle; 2) Co2 in biological systems; 3) CO2 in the atmosphere; 4) CO2 in the oceans; 5) CO2 and its impact on politics and economics.

More information at https://biology.mit.edu/about/events/open_co2_seminar_series_8

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Boston Greenfest
Thursday-Saturday, August 15-17, 2013
Boston City Hall Plaza, Boston
Free admission

Boston GreenFest 2012 is a fully inclusive festival filled with fun learning experiences to address the important changes we need to make in our daily lives and our neighborhoods. It will begin at Boston City Hall Plaza with a Kick-Off Concert on Thursday, August 16, from 5-9:30 pm and will continue all day long, Friday-Saturday, August 17-18, from noon-9:30 pm and 11 am-8 pm. This year we are introducing The Movement Festival and will have performances and free dance classes on Sunday, August 19 from 10 am-5 pm. It is an event that will have something for everybody, young and old.

What's Happening at Boston GreenFest 2012? 
All of our neighborhoods will come together from across Greater Boston to work on solutions to make our city a healthy sustainable place to live. People from all over New England will be welcome to join us. Boston GreenFest 2012 brings many opportunities to the heart of our city to learn about green products, services, ideas, networks, and jobs. There will be interactive exhibits, workshops, presentations, and special features: continuous live entertainment on three stages, EcoTimeTrail, EcoFashion, GreenFilmFest for children and adults, eco-games, One Gallon Challenge – a "race" starting at noon on Thursday, August 16th from Plymouth, MA to GreenFest for cars that can drive 112 miles on 1 gallon of gas and arrive at City Hall throughout the afternoon to be on hand during the entire festival, lots of great kids' activities, great food, and much more.
Learn and Celebrate!

Find out how to save money and make your home efficient. Buy local fresh and organic fruits and vegetables. Explore interesting vendors of unique crafts and products. Check out new clean technologies and green inventions. Be amazed at how we can begin to make a difference with small changes to our own lives and how we can build on these changes with our neighbors. Let's learn and celebrate together!

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Energy Exodus
August 28 to September 2, 2013
From Somerset, Mass To Cape Wind, Across the South Coast, MA

From August 28th to September 2nd, the Better Future Project will sponsor the Energy Exodus -- a march from the largest point-source carbon emitter in the North East to the site of the nation's first off shore wind farm. Whether for a single day or for the entire march, we hope you can join us on this six-day trek from Brayton Point to Barnstable, MA. By the end, with over 1,000 people participating, we will have demonstrated the strength of our movement and progressed toward the clean, safe future that we all deserve.

Let us know you're interested here: http://energyexodus.org/
Facebook: Energy Exodus: March from Coal to Cape Wind  https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/332490020213403/
Sponsored by: Better Future Project
http://www.betterfutureproject.org/

Contact Better Future Project
Email:  info at betterfutureproject.org 
Phone: (617) 299-0771 
Website: http://energyexodus.org

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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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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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Cambridge Solar Challenge

We're working to get 100 solar-panel installations on residential roofs in Cambridge this summer.

Because of the scale of the project, we've managed to bargain with Next Step Living (the solar installer) to get a:
20% discount for Cambridge residents from May 1st until August 1st. (That's 20% below the state average price per watt installed.)  The discount applies whether the solar is purchased outright or leased.

$300 donation to any nonprofit for any solar installations that result from their referral.  So, if your church, preschool or other nonprofit persuades a family in its community to sign up for a solar evaluation, and the family ends up installing solar, the nonprofit will earn $300 for its sustainability needs (such as adding insulation, installing efficient lighting, creating a garden, etc.). In this way we double the amount of good we are doing.

You can easily look up your home's solar potential through MIT's solar map (http://www.cambridgema.gov/solar/). Then email us (heet.cambridge at gmail.com) to sign up for a free solar assessment with an expert.

If you are associated with a nonprofit and want to help sign up solar assessments to increase the renewable energy  in Cambridge as well as earn money for your nonprofit, email us with questions or to get started.

We will happily attend events at your nonprofit in order to explain how solar works, figure out who has good solar potential and explain how it can save residents money.

Contact http://www.heetma.com

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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/