[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - January 26, 2014
George Mokray
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Jan 26 14:04:40 PST 2014
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
What I Do and Why I Do It: The Story of Energy (and Other) Events
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-do-and-why-i-do-it.html
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Event Index - full Event Details available below the Index
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Monday, January 27
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10:30am Cold Fusion 101: Introduction to Excess Power in Fleischmann-Pons Experiments
12pm Supply Chain and Risk Management: Making the Right Decisions to Strengthen Operations Performance
12pm Hazard Prediction in the Developing World: Tales of efforts to span the "Valley of Death"
12pm Reading the 1951 Nationalization of Oil in Iran: Global Interactions, Continuity, and Change
12pm Big Data-In-Time Critical Circumstances: The Philippines Relief Effort as a Case Study for Journalists and Responders
4pm Taking Labor Rights Seriously: Ending Sweated Labor in the Global Economy
5pm A Fireside Chat with Drew Houston, Founder & CEO of Dropbox and Jason Pontin, Editor in Chief, MIT Technology Review
7pm Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
7pm Religious Responses to Climate Change
8pm Nerdnite
8pm World Music Jam, in odd time signatures
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Tuesday, January 28
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12pm Towards a General Theory of Monsoon Dynamics
12pm AMPS Media Makers SHOWCASE
12:30pm Robotic Surveillance: Authorship or Intrusion?
1pm Writing in Digital Margins - Annotation Studio Workshop
3pm Rap, Rai, Rock, and Revolution: The Role of Music in the "Arab Spring"
4:15pm Wind Turbines and Public Health: Findings from the MA DEP Panel Report and Beyond
5pm Concrete Selection and Sustainable Choices
6pm Cambridge Net Zero Task Force Meeting
6pm Struggling to Win: From Student Power to Popular Power: An international panel with speakers from Boston, Québec and Chile
6:30pm Stay Secure in 2014
7pm Boston Virtual Reality Demo Night
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Wednesday, January 29
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9am "Horses and Thunder" -- Meeting the Energy Needs and Oil Exploration and Production in the Deepwaters
1:30pm Cybersecurity: People, Process and Technology
2:30pm Project Mars: Screening and Panel Discussion
4pm Radcliffe Institute Fellows' Presentation Series: "Olympia (2012)"
4:10pm Clean Air Act Regulation of CO2 from Power Plants
4:10pm Civil Society in China
6pm Public Meeting on the Cambridge Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Project
6pm Startups 3.0: Seeing the System
6pm Best Practices: Preparing for Climate Change
7pm Food on Film Presents: Symphony of the Soil
7pm Best of European Short Film Festival at MIT 2013
7:30pm Science in the News Election Meeting
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Thursday, January 30
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9am "Fuel Your Mind" -- A Primer on Transportation Fuels, Current and Future
12pm Fundamental Monsoon Dynamics: Aquaplanet monsoons and their response to climate changes
1pm Economics and Policy of Global Change
2pm Media Lab Conversations Series: Colleen Macklin
2pm "Textual Science and the Future of the Past"
4pm Biomaterials for the 21st Century and How They Will Change Our Lives
6pm Chinese Democracy by and for Third Graders
6pm We are Legion
6pm Basel Night: The Basel-Boston Connection in Quantum Computing & Music
6:30pm Intro to the Boston StartUp Community with John Harthorne, Founder of MassChallenge
7pm Unmanned: America's Drone Wars, a film screening
8pm Harvard University and Boston University Joint Piano Recital: The Two Piano Project
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Friday, January 31
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The Northeastern University Affective Science Institute presents New Vistas in Emotion and Technology
Destination Europe Conference
11am Intelligent Enterprise Control of Future Electric Power Systems
12pm Synoptic View of Past Climates in the Yucatan Peninsula and the Fate of the Ancient Maya Kingdom
2pm IAP Math Department Music Recital
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Saturday, February 1
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By Design Conference
Earth Rocks!
6pm RightNow! Climate Change Awareness + Philippines Benefit Event
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Sunday, February 2
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12pm Massachusetts Carbon Exchange Tax: What Is It? Will It Make a Positive Difference?
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Monday, February 3
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4pm The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures by Herbie Hancock; Set 1: The Wisdom of Miles Davis
4pm Opportunities and Challenges in Control Systems Design Arising from Ubiquitous Computation and Network Communication
5pm Defending an Unowned Internet: Opportunities for Technology, Policy, and Corporations
5:15pm Greed: How Can Religions Address the Deepening Spiritual Crisis of Our Time?
6pm The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
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Tuesday, February 4
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9am IBM Entrepreneur Day - Innovate, Transform, Grow
12:30pm 2014 High-Level Conferences on ICT and the Internet: What Do They Mean for the Internet As We Know It?
6pm The Sun Temple of Nefertiti: Sex and Death
6pm The Role of Regulation in Furthering Sustainability
7pm Beyond Recycling: Take It to the Next Level
7pm Getting Beyond Us and Them: Our Brains and the Possibility of Peace
7:30pm What a Plant Knows
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My rough notes on some of the events I go to are at:
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com
NSA, Snowden, and Surveillance
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2014/01/nsa-snowden-and-surveillance.html
Solar Powered Amish Buggy
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/24/1272344/-Solar-Powered-Amish-Buggy
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Event Details
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Monday, January 27
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Cold Fusion 101: Introduction to Excess Power in Fleischmann-Pons Experiments
Monday, January 27 (repeated at the same time and place every day until Friday)
10:30AM-01:30PM
MIT, Building 4-145, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Peter Hagelstein, Mitchell Swartz
Excess power production in the Fleischmann-Pons experiment; lack of confirmation in early negative experiments; theoretical problems and Huizenga's three miracles; physical chemistry of PdD; electrochemistry of PdD; loading requirements on excess power production; the nuclear ash problem and He-4 observations; approaches to theory; screening in PdD; PdD as an energetic particle detector; constraints on the alpha energy from experiment; overview of theoretical approaches; coherent energy exchange between mismatched quantum systems; coherent x-rays in the Karabut experiment and interpretation; excess power in the NiH system; Piantelli experiment; prospects for a new small scale clean nuclear energy technology.
Sponsor(s): Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Contact: Peter Hagelstein, plh at mit.edu
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Supply Chain and Risk Management: Making the Right Decisions to Strengthen Operations Performance
January 27, 2014
Noon – 1 p.m. EDT
Webinar RSVP at http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_012714/kyratzoglou-webinar-operations-performance.html#register
Free and open to all
Ioannis Kyratzoglou, SDM '11, Principal Software Systems Engineer, MITRE Corporation
About the Presentation
Today's global corporations face risks that range from the controllable (price fluctuations, currency volatility, market changes) to those that are beyond control (natural disasters). To counter supply-chain disruptions, best-in-class organizations apply mature operations and risk management practices to reduce their exposure to these risks and maintain a competitive advantage.
This webinar will discuss the supply chain operations and risk management approaches of large companies. Specifically, the presenter will:
Describe company operations and financial performance in the face of supply chain disruptions;
Propose a systems-based framework and set of principles to help companies analyze and assess controllable and uncontrollable risks; and
Explain four key principles that companies can use to better manage supply chain risks and prepare for future opportunities.
The presenter will also discuss how leaders can use this systems-based framework to better understand a company's position in the market relative to its competitors.
About the Speaker
Ioannis Kyratzoglou is a principal software systems engineer with the MITRE Corporation. He has 30 years of experience in systems engineering and in the acquisition of large-scale software systems. He has served as chief engineer, senior technical advisor, and project leader on key projects involving close collaboration with the customer. He is currently responsible for the development of predictive systems performance analytics techniques for a large-scale project. As an SDM alumnus, he holds an S.M. from MIT in engineering and management. He also earned an S.M. in mechanical engineering from MIT and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the City College of New York.
About the 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.
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Hazard Prediction in the Developing World: Tales of efforts to span the "Valley of Death"
Monday, January 27, 2014
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Professor Peter Webster, Georgia Tech
2014 EAPS Lecture Series: Monsoons: Past Changes, Present Impacts, Future Projections
EAPS' IAP seminar will explore the magnitude, drivers and impacts of changes in monsoon precipitation in the past, present and future. Featured speakers will share their research into a diverse array of topics, including past abrupt changes in the African monsoon, the role of monsoon changes in the collapse of Mayan civilization, the dynamics of monsoon-associated cyclones, and the impacts of present and future monsoon changes on societies in the Sahel region of North Africa
Web site:http://eapsweb.mit.edu/academics/courses/iap#noncredit%20id=
Open to: the general public
Cost: $0.00
Tickets: N/A
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Jacqui Taylor
617-253-3381
jtaylor at mit.edu
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Reading the 1951 Nationalization of Oil in Iran: Global Interactions, Continuity, and Change
WHEN Mon., Jan. 27, 2014, 12 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CGIS Knafel, 1737 Cambridge Street, K262, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Weatherhead Initiative on Global History
SPEAKER(S) Maral Jefroudi, WIGH Fellow; International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam
CONTACT INFO jbarnard at fas.harvard.edu
NOTE Lunch will be available. RSVPs suggested, email jbarnard at fas.harvard.edu
LINK http://wigh.wcfia.harvard.edu/content/global-history-presentation-reading-1951-nationalization-oil-iran-global-interactions
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Big Data-In-Time Critical Circumstances: The Philippines Relief Effort as a Case Study for Journalists and Responders
Monday, January 27 (and Wednesday, January 29, same time and place)
12:00PM-02:00PM
MIT, Building 8-119, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Lunch will be served
Tom Levenson, Director, Graduate Program in Science Writing
Attendance: Participants are strongly encouraged to attend both sessons.
Enrollment: Advance registration plus walk-in as space permits
Limited to 12 participants
The Typhoon Haiyan disaster provides a major application of Big Data to disaster relief. This seminar will look at issues raised by a Big Data approach for both aid workers and journalists covering rapidly moving events. They are: 1) Where and how to get your data. 2) How do you usewhich tools to construct questions and run calculations robustly and resiliently under the pressure of time? 3) Following analysis, how do you visualize your data to support real action on the ground and to find stories to be reported and told?
Instructors: Dr. Steve Chan (Research Fellow, CMS/W and CTO, E-Lab, MIT and co-director Network Science Research Laboratory, IBM), Wesley Rhodes (director, Network Science Research Laboratory, IBM), Andrea Johns
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Tom Levenson, Levenson at mit.edu
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Taking Labor Rights Seriously: Ending Sweated Labor in the Global Economy
WHEN Mon., Jan. 27, 2014, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Room 2019 A, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Law, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School
SPEAKER(S) Charles Kernaghan, director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights
CONTACT INFO john_trumpbour at harvard.edu
NOTE A presentation by one of the leading activists against labor exploitation in sweatshops around the world.
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A Fireside Chat with Drew Houston, Founder & CEO of Dropbox and Jason Pontin, Editor in Chief, MIT Technology Review
Monday, January 27, 2014
5:00p–7:00p
MIT, Building 32-123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Cost: Free for full-time students with ID, and MITEF Members; $45 for Non-members
Tickets: http://www.mitforumcambridge.org
MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge
Speaker: Drew Houston, CEO, DropBox
Jason Pontin, Editor in Chief and Publisher, MIT Technology Review will host a fireside chat with Drew Houston, Founder and CEO of Dropbox.
Drew graduated from MIT and wrote the first lines of code for Dropbox while at a train station in Boston. These days he's usually out and about running Dropbox's business affairs, but he still contributes a lot to Dropbox's client software. In the little free time he has, Drew can be found jamming on his guitar.
Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Dropbox was founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, two MIT students tired of emailing files to themselves to work from more than one computer.
Today, more than 200 million people across every continent use Dropbox to always have their stuff at hand, share with family and friends, and work on team projects.
Web site: http://www.mitforumcambridge.org/events/fireside-chat-with-drew-houston-founder-ceo-of-dropbox/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge
For more information, contact: Amy Goggins
617-253-3937
agoggins at mit.edu
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Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
Monday, January 27
7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Harvard Book Store is pleased to welcome MIT professor MAX TEGMARK for a discussion of his book, Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality.
Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present and future, and through the physics, astronomy and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and groundbreaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories, but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist. Fascinating from first to last—this is a book that has already prompted the attention and admiration of some of the most prominent scientists and mathematicians.
“Tegmark offers a fascinating exploration of multiverse theories, each one offering new ways to explain ‘quantum weirdness’ and other mysteries that have plagued physicists, culminating in the idea that our physical world is ‘a giant mathematical object’ shaped by geometry and symmetry. Tegmark’s writing is lucid, enthusiastic, and outright entertaining, a thoroughly accessible discussion leavened with anecdotes and the pure joy of a scientist at work.” —Publishers Weekly
“Galileo famously said that the universe is written in the language of mathematics. Now Max Tegmark says that the universe IS mathematics. You don’t have to necessarily agree, to enjoy this fascinating journey into the nature of reality.” —Prof. Mario Livio, astrophysicist, author of Brilliant Blunders and Is God a Mathematician?
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Religious Responses to Climate Change
Monday, January 27, 2014
7:00 pm
Hebrew College Berenson Hall, 160 Herrick Road, Newton Centre
Cost is $10; students admitted free with valid student ID.
See more at: http://www.hebrewcollege.edu/upcoming-events#sthash.1FGWnJ9U.dpuf
Join us as we hear from leading religious thinkers and activists on the urgent need for thoughtful action in the face of global climate change. Each of our esteemed speakers will share resources from their personal and communal experiences, and discuss possibilities for interreligious cooperation to heal and transform our shared planet.
Panelists incude Rabbi Arthur Green, Irving Brudnick Professor of Philosophy and Religion and rector of the Rabbinical School, Hebrew College; author and sustainability educator Ibrahim Abdul-Matin; and Barbara Darling Smith, assistant professor of religion at Wheaton College. Rabbi Or Rose, director of the Center for Global Judaism at Hebrew College, will serve as moderator.
Sponsored by the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College and the Center for Inter-Religious and Communal Leadership Education.
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Nerdnite
Monday, 27 January 2014
8pm
Middlesex Lounge, 315 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
cost: $5
Talk 1 – “Slope : Intercept” by Sara Hendren
Talk 2 – “Ask Us Anything (No, really, that’s our job): the World of Public Librarians” by Meagan Parker and Colin Wilkins
For more information http://boston.nerdnite.com/2014/01/17/nerd-nite-january-2014/
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World Music Jam, in odd time signatures
Monday, January 27, 2014
8:00p–9:30p
MIT, Building 66-144, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Learn to play in time signatures you've never heard of!
An open jam session featuring traditional folk dance music from a variety of countries, led by Skorosmrtnica, a local folk dance band with its roots at MIT.
Tunes will be from the Balkans (Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Greek, and others) and a variety of other genres (klezmer, Romanian, Armenian, Israeli, Breton (the Celtic part of France), Russian, German, Scottish, Swedish, Quebecois, English, and American old time).
Sheet music will be provided. Bring an instrument, or come to listen. No folk music experience necessary!
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Folk Dance Club
For more information, contact:
MIT Folk Dance Club
fdc [at] mit [dot] edu
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Tuesday, January 28
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Towards a General Theory of Monsoon Dynamics
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-819 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Professor Peter Webster, Georgia Tech
2014 EAPS Lecture Series: Monsoons: Past Changes, Present Impacts, Future Projections
EAPS' IAP seminar will explore the magnitude, drivers and impacts of changes in monsoon precipitation in the past, present and future. Featured speakers will share their research into a diverse array of topics, including past abrupt changes in the African monsoon, the role of monsoon changes in the collapse of Mayan civilization, the dynamics of monsoon-associated cyclones, and the impacts of present and future monsoon changes on societies in the Sahel region of North Africa
Open to: the general public
Cost: $0.00
Tickets: N/A
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Jacqui Taylor
617-253-3381
jtaylor at mit.edu
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AMPS Media Makers SHOWCASE
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
12:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 10-105, Bush Room, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Academic Media Production Services
Exhibits and Demonstrations, Two 50 minute feature presentations: 1pm-Video on the Web: Plan It, Make It, Share It and 3pm-Educational Media Design and Capture...REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED!
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Office of Digital Learning, AMPS
For more information, contact:
Events and Information Center
617-253-4795
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Robotic Surveillance: Authorship or Intrusion?
January 28, 2014
12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
RSVP at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/01/kaminski#RSVP
This event will be webcast live at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast at 12:30pm ET.
with Margot Kaminski, Executive Director, Information Society Project, Yale Law School
Robots will use surveillance for locomotion, communication, and for marketing. As robots are adopted for personal use, private third-party surveillance will expand to new locations and scenarios. This project explores how the pending increase in robotic surveillance poses new questions for U.S. privacy law, particularly the application of privacy torts. Some robotic surveillance will be necessary, some will be superfluous, and some will be deliberately intrusive. Some will be automatic, while some will depend on a robot's deliberate decisions. Is it possible--or desirable--to craft meaningful laws or guidelines before widespread private adoption of robots?
About Margot
Margot E. Kaminski is a Research Scholar in Law, Executive Director of the Information Society Project, and Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School and a former fellow of the Information Society Project. While at Yale Law School, she was a Knight Law and Media Scholar and co-founder of the Media Freedom and Information Access Practicum. Following graduation from Yale Law School, she clerked for The Honorable Andrew J. Kleinfeld of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She has been a Radcliffe Research Fellow at Harvard and a Google Policy Fellow at theElectronic Frontier Foundation. Her research and advocacy work focuses on media freedom, online civil liberties, data mining, and surveillance issues. She has written widely on law and technology issues for law journals and the popular press and has drawn public attention to the civil liberties issues surrounding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
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Writing in Digital Margins - Annotation Studio Workshop
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
1:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building E51-095, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Annotation Studio, an easy-to-use web application for education, engages students in close reading through annotation, allows them to add multimedia links to comments in order to cite sources, variations, or adaptations, and to share annotations with fellow students.
In this hands-on workshop you'll learn how to create, tag, link, and share annotations, how you can integrate digital text annotation in your teaching, or - if you are interested in the development or deployment aspects - how the underlying open-source technology opens up exciting possibilities for new functionality. Free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Web site: http://hyperstudio.mit.edu/events/annotation-studio-workshop-january-2014/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Hyperstudio
For more information, contact: Gabriella Horvath
617-715-4480
hyperstudio at mit.edu
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Rap, Rai, Rock, and Revolution: The Role of Music in the "Arab Spring"
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
3:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 3-133, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
The Arab Spring is the term given to the wave of demonstrations and protests that began in Tunisia in December 2010. To date this massive wave of popular protests has toppled authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. There have also been significant demonstrations in other countries, some of which have led to meaningful reforms, while others have led to civil war and strife. In such times of crisis, music can be particularly important as a tool of communication and education that builds community, boosts morale, and rallies people to the cause. One thing is clear, this is a revolutionary moment, and every revolution comes with a soundtrack.
The still evolving soundtrack of the Arab Spring is a fascinating blend of local and international influences ranging from classical Chaabi music from North Africa to the electronic sounds of Rap. Genres that have largely been robbed of their subversive power by the commercial music industry in the West, still pack a radical punch on the streets of the Middle East and North Africa. Performers have been beaten, jailed, and even killed as part of government efforts to suppress popular uprisings. This program will dive into the music of the Arab Spring and its antecedents through audio, video, texts, and multimedia resources.
Come discover the musicians that emerged as heroes of these protest movements and join a discussion of what the future might hold, given the rapid political and social changes in the region.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Libraries
For more information, contact: Michael Toler
617-253-2955
mtoler at mit.edu
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"Wind Turbines and Public Health: Findings from the MA DEP Panel Report and Beyond"
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
4:15pm
USEPA Region 1, Room 1562 (15th Floor-Small Court Room), 5 Post Office Square, Boston
with Sheryl Grace, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University and Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Associate Professor, Environmental Health, Boston University
We all depend on some form of energy to survive. Yet all forms of energy have adverse impacts that differ in their nature and severity and in how those impacts are distributed geographically and among different segments of society. The better known risks of nuclear and fossil fuel derived energy have caused people to favor alternative, more 'environmentally friendly' forms of energy - wind and solar power. However, these have their critics as well. What is the contribution of scientists and risk analysts in this debate? This seminar will be devoted to a discussion of wind turbines, focusing on the results of the January 2012 MA DEP "Wind Turbine Health Impact Study" - available athttp://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dep/energy/wind/turbine-impact-study.pdf. We hope that the presentation will be useful to those involved in wind turbine siting and evaluation but will also stimulate broader discussion of the public health, policy and communication challenges associated with energy use.
About the Speakers
Sheryl Grace, PhD. Dr. Grace is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Boston University. Her research interests lie in the fields of unsteady aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. She focuses on creating analytical and computational models of the mechanics which create sound and vibration. She is most interested in applications in which the vibration and sound result from the interactions of unsteady flows past solid bodies, such as for aircraft external structures and marine and aircraft propulsion systems. Her analyses are intended to be used as predictive tools in the design of next generation systems, and they offer a less expensive mode of prediction as compared to experiment.
Wendy Heiger-Bernays, PhD. Dr. Heiger-Bernays is an Associate Professor of Environmental Health at Boston University School of Public Health. Her interests center on understanding how environmental hazards adversely affect people’s health and how risks associated with these exposures can be quantified and decreased. She collaborates with other researchers to understand patterns of migration of contaminants in municipal compost and soils in urban gardens and risks associated with these agents, with the objective of translating this research into cost-effective best practices. As a member of a multi-disciplinary team she is investigating the properties that impact human health and that limit the installation of on-shore large wind-turbines. Dr. Heiger-Bernays is a member of the BUSPH team investigating flame retardants in which she is focusing on understanding the risks associated with exposure to the chemicals. She also serves on technical advisory committees for toxicological and environmental health issues at both the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the US Environmental Protection Agency and as Chair of her local board of health.
Society for Risk Analysis Seminar
http://www.sra-ne.org/seminar.htm
Contact Name: Margarita Shablya
mshablya at healtheffects.org
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"Concrete Selection and Sustainable Choices"
January 28
5:00 pm
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
RSVP email rsvp at architects.org with "Concrete 1/28" in the subject line.
Explore the desirable effects and possible drawbacks of one of the most widely used materials in the world: concrete. Panelists representing industry leaders from various disciplines will be speaking on behalf of the "greening" potential for concrete solutions. This event is co-sponsored by the BSA Committee on the Environment and BSA Sustainability Education Committee, and is open to all building-industry professionals interested in making more sustainable concrete designs and specifications.
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Cambridge Net Zero Task Force Meeting
Tues, Jan 28
6:00-8:00pm
City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Cambridge
The “Getting to Net Zero Task Force” is charged with advancing the goal of putting Cambridge on the trajectory towards becoming a “net zero community”, with focus on carbon emissions from building operations. This includes reducing energy use intensity of buildings and taking advantage of opportunities to harvest energy from renewable sources. This committee will be working collaboratively with a team of technical consultants with support from City staff to examine strategies and develop recommendations that address the following topics:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment
Improve energy efficiency and conservation in existing and new buildings
Support renewable energy generation both on- and off-site
Best practices to engage and educate users and influence occupant behavior
The meeting agenda and related materials may be found on the Net Zero Task Force webpage:
http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Climate/netzerotaskforce.aspx
Contact: Ellen Kokinda
ekokinda at cambridgema.gov, 617-349-4618.
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Struggling to Win: From Student Power to Popular Power: An international panel with speakers from Boston, Québec and Chile
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014
6:00-8:30pm
Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street, Boston
Gabriel (Santiago de Chile) - Helped organize support for university student strikes as a high school militant of the Frente de Estudiantes Libertarios. Participated in Asamblea Coordinadora de Estudiantes Secundarios during large scale high school movement in 2006. Later coordinated university student participation in popular student-run school in Santiago.
Marie (Montréal) - Political science student, worker, anarchist, and radical femin...ist militant. Helped build 2012 student strike, traveling throughout the province to promote the mobilization and bring it to a mass movement. Currently involved in radical feminist collective and in new Anarchist political organization in formation in Montr?al.
Maxime (Montréal) - Political science student doing Master degree on neighborhood assemblies that were created during the 2012 student strike in the province of Qu?bec. Currently involved in some of these assemblies, his student association, and a newborn anarchist organization in Montr?al.
Pablo (Santiago de Chile) - A founding member of Librer?a Proyecci?n, a social center and bookstore where many organizations meet, including student collectives, feminist groups, unions, and artists. Gives introductory workshops on anarchist history and politics in social spaces and universities.
Katherine (Boston) - Undocumented student originally from the Dominican Republic. Became involved in the Dream movement in 2010 as a high school student yearning for the passage of the DREAM Act. Currently works for the Student Immigrant Movement in Massachusetts, a grassroots organization developing undocumented youth into the leaders of the Dream Movement with the vision of equal rights for the undocumented immigrant community.
info: http://chilespeakingtour.wordpress.com/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/586122191464180/?ref=br_tf
sponsored by Black Rose Anarchist Federation
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Stay Secure in 2014 {Presented by Sophos}
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
6:30 PM
White Horse Tavern, 116 Brighton Avenue, Allston
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/TechinmotionBoston/events/159186142/
2013 was a great year for Tech in Motion: Boston. We reached over 2600 members and had over 1600 total RSVPs all thanks to you! Our hope is for this year to be no different.
Join us for a night of networking, drinks, and demos to kickoff the new year! We've invited some of Boston’s best tech security companies out to demo their products and lend advice on staying secure in 2014.
We hope to see you there and remember, the first 35 people to arrive receive a free drink ticket!
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Boston Virtual Reality Demo Night
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Microsoft N.E.R.D. Center, One Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-Virtual-Reality/events/159466862/
Sign in at the front desk, head up the elevators and look for folks with computers and Oculus Rift headsets
Bring your VR rig and demo what you've made, or just come and see what Boston's creative technologists are doing with the recently-released batch of virtual reality hardware and software.
The meeting will be in the Deborah Sampson & Thomas Paul rooms. You will need to sign a waiver at the front desk to get into the meetup.
----------------------------
Wednesday, January 29
----------------------------
"Horses and Thunder" -- Meeting the Energy Needs and Oil Exploration and Production in the Deepwaters
Wednesday, January 29
09:00AM-05:00PM
MIT, Building 3-333, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Ahmed Ghoniem, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ryan Yeley
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Limited to 57 participants
How will we meet our growing energy needs in the future, especially for transportation, which is heavily dependent on oil? More and more oil is discovered and produced offshore, in deeper and deeper water. How do we know where and how to drill for oil? What are some of the engineering challenges in working at 5000’ of water? How do we produce it efficiently, bring it to shore safely, and beyond? What are some of the recent developments in science and engineering that will take us further? This short course will discuss: 1. Energy needs and role of offshore oil 2. Exploration - the idea phase 3. Drilling - the discovery and development phase 4. Production - the extraction phase 5. Transportation - getting it to market 6. Recent science and engineering developments We will look at the Thunder Horse field located in the Gulf of Mexico. Starting with 1999, this field has contributed > 5% of the oil produced within the United States. Since then, oil has been discovered further out and effort is underway to produce from these fields.
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up, lunch provided.
Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Contact: Prof. Ahmed Ghoniem, 3-344, 617) 253-2295, ghoniem at MIT.EDU
----------------------------------
Cybersecurity: People, Process and Technology
Wednesday, January 29
01:30PM-03:30PM
MIT, Building E62-250, 100 Main Street, Cambridge
Everardo Ruiz SM '00, Intellectual Ventures, Col. Robert Banks
Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required at https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1314/03-alumni/wide.aspx?sid=1314&gid=13&pgid=17818&cid=30219
The tools for Cybersecurity are shifting from Protection and Detection toward Tolerance and Survivability. As Malware numbers, attacks, cost, and time-to-fix all explode, it has become clear that advances in Cybersecurity technology have outpaced similar advances in People and current Processes. Should we move beyond isolated patch fixes and automated islands towards fail safe protection? Can we align dependent circles...and what can we do till then? Is this simply a technology discussion? The presentation was based on several decades of industry, telecom, and government perspectives.
Sponsor(s): Alumni Association
Contact: Elena Byrne, W98-206C, 617 252-1143, EBYRNE at MIT.EDU
-----------------------------------
Project Mars: Screening and Panel Discussion
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
2:30p–5:00p
MIT, Building 3-133, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Alexandra Krawiec
Screening of "Project Mars" a documentary presenting analogue field mission which took place in the northern Sahara near Erfud Morroco. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with film director Alexandra Krawiec and Gernot Gromer, the Austrian Space Forum President, who will join live via the Internet connection to talk about space exploration.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT spouses&partners
For more information, contact: Alexandra Krawiec
617-253-1614
al.krawiec at gmail.com
--------------------------------
Radcliffe Institute Fellows' Presentation Series: "Olympia (2012)"
WHEN Wed., Jan. 29, 2014, 4 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Sheerr Room, Fay House, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Film, Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) T. Marie Dudman, 2013-2014 Radcliffe-Harvard Film Study Center Fellow, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO 617.495.8212
NOTE T. Marie Dudman is a transdisciplinary artist and an assistant professor in the animation program at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her recent works "Slave Ship" and "Water Lilies" extend her long-term interest in the intersection of film, painting, and animation.
LINK http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2014-t-marie-dudman-fellow-presentation
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Clean Air Act Regulation of CO2 from Power Plants
WHEN Wed., Jan. 29, 2014, 4:10 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Littauer-382, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Law, Lecture, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Environmental Economics Program
SPEAKER(S) Dallas Burtraw
LINK http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k96249
----------------------------------
Civil Society in China
WHEN Wed., Jan. 29, 2014, 4:10 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Allison Dining Room, 5th Floor Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Law, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Ash Center
SPEAKER(S) Karla Simon, chair, International Center for Civil Society Law; affiliated scholar, NYU US-Asia Law Institute
COST Free and open to the public
NOTE Professor Karla Simon will be giving a book talk about her highly acclaimed book Civil Society in China at the Harvard Kennedy School. The book was awarded the number three spot on the list of Ten Best Humanitarian Books for 2103 by the Humanitarian Times.
The subtitle for the book is The Legal Framework from Ancient Times to the “New Reform Era,” and in the book Professor Simon explored the connections between laws and regulations and social and economic development in the associational sphere. Her talk will draw these linkages, but she will also discuss the “contradictions” in the state’s treatment of civil society organizations in 2013. She discusses the opening space for some types of civil society organizations and contrasts that with the clampdown on the New Citizens’ Movement.
LINK http://www.ash.harvard.edu/Home/News-Events/Events/Civil-Society-in-China
------------------------------
Public Meeting on the Cambridge Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Project
Wednesday, January 29
6:00 to 8:30 PM
Cambridge Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Avenue, in the ballroom
An agenda for the meeting will be available the week of January 13th. The purpose of the meeting is:
1) Talk about why the City is planning for impacts from climate change
2) Describe how the vulnerability assessment is being conducted and the status of the project
3) Ask the community to help the City understand how climate change impacts would affect residents and businesses, assess how resilient Cambridge already is, and identify what more needs to be done to cope with climate change impacts such as flooding and increased heat.
This meeting will be participatory. We look forward to seeing you.
Contact: Jennifer Lawrence
Phone (617) 349-4671
jlawrence at cambridgema.gov
-----------------------------------
Startups 3.0: Seeing the System
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
6:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building 3-333, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Fady Saad, SDM '10
The majority of startups fail because of managerial issues, and mainly because managers fail to see the large startup "system". This practical and concise course will explore the different lifecycle phases an organization goes through, and the changing needs in each phase. At the end of this course, students will be able to see the complete startup system and the interdependency between its elements.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Tickets: Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up) Limited to 50 participants
This event occurs daily through January 30, 2014.
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT System Design and Management
For more information, contact: Fady Saad
617 386 9861
fady at mit.edu
------------------------------
Best Practices: Preparing for Climate Change
January 29
6:00 pm
BSA Space 290 Congress Street, Boston
RSVP, email rsvp at architects.org with "Preparing for climate change 1/29" in the subject line
Join Sarah Slaughter of the Built Environment Coalition and Fiona Cousins of Arup for a follow-up conversation on resiliency, nearly six months after the BSA-initiated Building Resiliency in Boston report was released. The event will be moderated by past BSA president Mike Davis. The agenda includes plenty of time for Q+A. A reception follows. Read the report here: Building Resilience in Boston: "Best Practices" for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience for Existing Buildings. This event is sponsored by Arup.
-------------------------------
Food on Film Presents: Symphony of the Soil
Wednesday, January 29
7:00 p.m.
Museum of Science, 1 Science Park, Boston
Local specialists will be offering soil and composting workshops beginning 30 minutes before the program and for 30 minutes afterward.
Thomas J. Akin, conservation agronomist, grazing lands coordinator, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Serita D. Frey, PhD, professor of soil microbial ecology, University of New Hampshire; research faculty at The Harvard Forest
Jim Ward, farmer and owner, Ward’s Berry Farm, Sharon, Massachusetts
Join us to explore the complexity and mystery of a miraculous substance—soil. Symphony of the Soildraws from ancient knowledge and cutting-edge science, and shares the voices of some of the world’s most esteemed soil scientists, farmers, and activists. Filmed on four continents, it portrays soil as a protagonist in our planetary story. Soil is alive, and its health and survival are intricately connected to that of all life. A panel discussion follows the screening.
Advance registration begins at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, January 15 (Monday, January 13 for Museum members).
--------------------------------
Best of European Short Film Festival at MIT 2013
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
7:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building 6-120, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Watch a rarely seen selection of the best European short films from the MIT 2013 European Short Film Festival. These films give you a glimpse into contemporary short film productions from European film schools, young and established independent filmmakers, and European festivals. 12 films - many of them US premiers - that reflect the most compelling fiction, animation, documentary and experimental film from the 3-day festival in October 2013. A brief introduction will precede the screening.
Web site: esff.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): CMS, MIT Hyperstudio
For more information, contact: Gabriella Horvath
617-715-4480
hyperstudio at mit.edu
--------------------------------
Science in the News Election Meeting
WHEN Wed., Jan. 29, 2014, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.
WHERE TMEC 250, Longwood campus, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Science in the News
CONTACT INFO sitnboston at gmail.com
NOTE Science in the News, and democracy in action – if you are a SITN member, come to our annual election meeting, cast your vote (or join!) the new executive board, and make your ideas heard. If you would like to become a member, come check us out!
LINK http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu
--------------------------
Thursday, January 30
--------------------------
"Fuel Your Mind" -- A Primer on Transportation Fuels, Current and Future
Thursday, January 30
09:00AM-05:00PM
MIT, Building 66-168, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
William H. Green, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Jim Simnick, George Huff
How is crude oil converted into gasoline and other transportation fuels? Is the gasoline available in Boston the same as what is available in Chicago? What are biofuels and what is driving the demand for these fuels of the future? Which fuel properties matter for performance? Please join us in this short course offered by engineers from BP and Prof. Green to answer these questions, and to gain a better understanding of transportation fuels, and fuel processing technology.
Projections and recent history suggest significant shifts in the transportation fuels system over the next few decades, but no one is sure how things will actually develop. This mini-course will give you a more complete perspective on the many issues involved when fuel standards or regulations shift and when new types of fuel feedstocks become available.
Experiences so far with E85 (and CNG) illustrate some of the realities which make it very challenging to introduce alternative fuels which are not compatible with existing engines and infrastructure.
Topics Include:
Fuel Performance Criteria
Refining
Gasoline & Diesel
Biofuels, Ethanol & E85
Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering
Contact: Prof. William H. Green, 66-352, 617-253-4580, whgreen at mit.edu
--------------------------------------
Fundamental Monsoon Dynamics: Aquaplanet monsoons and their response to climate changes
Thursday, January 30, 2014
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Professor Simona Bordoni, Caltech
EAPS' IAP seminar will explore the magnitude, drivers and impacts of changes in monsoon precipitation in the past, present and future. Featured speakers will share their research into a diverse array of topics, including past abrupt changes in the African monsoon, the role of monsoon changes in the collapse of Mayan civilization, the dynamics of monsoon-associated cyclones, and the impacts of present and future monsoon changes on societies in the Sahel region of North Africa
2014 EAPS Lecture Series: Monsoons: Past Changes, Present Impacts, Future Projections
Web site:http://eapsweb.mit.edu/academics/courses/iap#noncredit%20id=
Open to: the general public
Cost: $0.00
Tickets: N/A
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Jacqui Taylor
617-253-3381
jtaylor at mit.edu
------------------------------------
Economics and Policy of Global Change
Thursday, January 30
01:00PM-03:00PM
MIT, Building 66-144, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Arthur Yip, Michael Davidson
This session will outline how energy use and greenhouse gas emissions are linked to the world economy and the technologies we use, how climate change impacts affect us, and discuss mitigation and adaptation options and instruments. It will also survey policies in place, and major challenges and opportunities as the world works toward coordinated action. One of the presenters attended the recent UN climate talks held in Poland and will reflect on next steps toward a new global climate agreement in 2015.
Sponsor(s): Joint Program/Science and Policy of Global Change
Contact: Robert Morris, E19-411, 617 324-7375, RHGMORR at MIT.EDU
----------------------------------
Media Lab Conversations Series: Colleen Macklin
Thursday, January 30, 2014
2:00p–3:00p
MIT, Building E14, 3rd floor atrium, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Media Lab Conversations Series
Colleen Macklin in conversation with Joi Ito
Web site: http://www.media.mit.edu/events/2013/01/30/media-lab-conversations-series-colleen-macklin
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab
For more information, contact: Jess Sousa
events-admin at media.mit.edu
---------------------------------
"Textual Science and the Future of the Past"
Thursday, January 30, 2014
2:00p–3:00p
MIT, Building 3-133, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Gregory Heyworth
Over the past decade, a quiet technological revolution has been occurring in the humanities. Great texts -- the Archimedes palimpsest, the Dead Sea Scrolls among others -- once largely illegible and lost to history, have been returned to us through spectral imaging. We stand now at the threshold of a renaissance of the past, but only if we can integrate science with the humanities in a new, hybrid discipline. Textual Science, as Gregory Heyworth argues, is poised to change the established order of things: the notion that the humanities is about husbanding the past with scholarship that adds to human insight in ever slenderer increments; that the canon is a coffin, the past irrevocably the past, and that scholars and students must behave as humble curators rather than archaeologists of an undiscovered country; that the artistic mind cannot, in any profound way, share neurons with the scientific. With images of recovered works, many previously unseen, this talk will chart the way ahead in theory and praxis.
Gregory Heyworth is Associate Professor of English at the University of Mississippi, and the Director of the Lazarus Project, an initiative to recover damaged manuscripts using spectral imaging.
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Comparative Media Studies/Writing
For more information, contact: Andrew Whitacre
617-324-0490
cmsw at mit.edu
--------------------------------
Biomaterials for the 21st Century and How They Will Change Our Lives
WHEN Thu., Jan. 30, 2014, 4 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Robert S. Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
COST Free and open to the public.
NOTE In this lecture, Robert Langer will examine the enormous impact of biomaterials and biomaterial-based drug delivery systems on human health and how these new technologies might develop and be applied in the future. For example, he will detail how mammalian cells, including stem cells, may be combined with synthetic polymers to create a new approach to engineering tissues. He will also discuss nanoparticles and novel microchips for drug delivery. Langer will explore how new materials can change the way we treat diseases today and play an even larger role in how we fight cancer, address spinal cord injuries, and create new tissue.
LINK http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2014-robert-s-langer-lecture
-------------------------------
Chinese Democracy by and for Third Graders
Friday, January 30
06:00PM-08:00PM
MIT, Building E51-095, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Christopher Leighton, Assistant Professor, History
The dream of a democratic China excites its champions and frightens its critics, but for some it already exists. When the eight-year old students at Wuhan’s Evergreen Primary School were allowed to elect their class monitor, a camera crew captured the experiment. The documented result was democracy in its most raw form, complete with character assassination, bribes, and demagoguery.
What can we learn about the promise or peril of democracy in contemporary China from this case? How have China’s values (whether traditional ethics or Maoist morals), social polices (e.g. the one child policy), or burgeoning economy of consumer capitalism shaped its prospects? To what extent are the problems we see universal, and to what extent do they seem particular and Chinese?
Participants will watch a documentary film, share a meal of Chinese food, and discuss these questions. No prerequisites; all welcome.
Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Christopher Leighton, E51-288, 617 324-0541, CLEIGHT at MIT.EDU
-----------------------------
We are Legion
Thursday, January 30
06:00PM-08:30PM
MIT, Building 56-114, Access Via 21 Ames Street, Cambridge
Documentary exploration of the hacktavist culture of Anonymous and its modeling of surveillance and action by the many against organizations and state-supported institutions. (2012), directed by Brian Knappenberger (93 min)
-----------------------------
Basel Night: The Basel-Boston Connection in Quantum Computing & Music
Thursday, January 30, 2014
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
swissnex Boston, Consulate of Switzerland, 420 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/basel-night-the-basel-boston-connection-in-quantum-computing-music-tickets-9893353286
Join us for the Basel Night and learn about the status quo in quantum computing and the collaboration between MIT, Harvard and the University of Basel in this field! We will close the evening with another Basel-Boston connection: Song Yi Jeon from the Berklee College of Music!
Schedule:
6:30 pm Doors open
6:45 pm Event begins
- Welcome: Felix Moesner (swissnex Boston) & Matthias Geering (University of Basel)
- Friends of Basel: "State of the Union" – what happened the last months – what's coming in the future
- Dr. Jelena Klinovaja: Quantum Computer – fruitful cooperation between Basel and Boston
- Musical performance by Song Yi Jeon, Berklee College of Music Boston / Music Academy University of Basel
8:00 pm Apéro riche
Speakers' Biographies:
Dr. Jelena Klinovaja is a postdoctoral researcher at Prof. Bertrand I. Halperin’s group in the Departments of Physics at Harvard University. Before, she was a postdoctoral associate at the Condensed Matter Theory group of the University of Basel under the supervision of Prof. Dr. D. Loss where she also pursued her PhD. She received the prize of the Faculty of Science for the best dissertation at this year’s Dies Academicus of the University of Basel. Dr. Klinovaja made her Bachelor as well as her Master’s degree at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology at the Department of General and Applied Physics. Dr. Klinovaja is living the Basel-Boston axis of the close collaboration in the area of quantum computing between Harvard, MIT and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI) of the University of Basel. The claim can be made that these institutions here are among the top in the world. The goal of the research efforts is to implement a quantum computer that could perform a large number of operations simultaneously due to quantum mechanical overlapping and does not have to compute with 0 and 1. Calculations which now take years could be solved within hours with a quantum computer.
Hailing from South Korea, Song Yi Jeon is a singer and composer who deftly combines modern jazz harmony and odd time signatures with singable melodies that instantly catch the ear of the listener.
Born in August, 28th, 1984 in Republic of Korea, Song Yi Jeon had from age 7 an early training, such as Piano, Korean traditional singing, Korean traditional drums, and drawing. She studied classical composition at the University of Music and Fine Art in Graz, Austria and Jazz voice at the Music University in Basel, Switzerland developing her clean, pure voice with unique instrumental improvising skill. Her background with classic composition let her to have the perfect understanding of harmony structure, and makes her improvisations incomparable to any instrument players. Since September 2011 Song Yi Jeon is studying at Berklee college of Music with George Garzone, Ed Tomassi, Dave Santoro, Lisa Thorson, Leo Blanco, and many more. Heavily influenced by instrumental Jazz Music, the refined compositions of Song Yi Jeon have clear musical direction and taste.
---------------------------------
Intro to the Boston StartUp Community with John Harthorne, Founder of MassChallenge
Thursday, January 30, 2014
6:30pm - 8:00pm
WeWork PopUp 755 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
Cost: Free
RSVP at https://generalassemb.ly/education/intro-to-the-boston-startup-community/boston/3987
ABOUT THIS CLASS
Join General Assembly and WeWork for an orientation to help newcomers to the startup scene get acquainted with the exciting world of tech in Boston. John Harthorne, Founder of MassChallenge, will give you the inside scoop on Boston's key events and meetups, people, companies, VCs, blogs, programs, and more.
------------------------------
Unmanned: America's Drone Wars, a film screening
Thursday, January 30, 2014
7:00pm
Robbins Library, 700 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington (on the 77 and 79 bus lines)
Documentary by Robert Greenwald on the impact of drone wars in Pakistan and elsewhere, sponsored by the Eastern Massachusetts Anti-Drones Network, (JusticeWithPeace.org, 617-776-6524) co-sponsored by Arlington UJP, WILPF Boston and Veterans for Peace Smedley Butler Brigade.
---------------------------------
Harvard University and Boston University Joint Piano Recital: The Two Piano Project
Thu., Jan. 30, 2014, 8 – 9:30 p.m.
WHERE Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Concerts, Music, Special Events, Support/Social
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard College Piano Society; Boston University, College of Fine Arts, Piano Department
CONTACT INFO harvardpiano at gmail.com
NOTE Music is a collaborative art. Many people, musicians and composers are among them, are required to produce a performance of music. As an organization part of an academic institution, collaboration is at the core of Harvard’s values, as it is through collaboration that progress and fulfillment can be achieved.
With these goals in mind and with the passion to create music, Boston University’s Piano Department chairman Boaz Sharon, Co-President of the Harvard College Piano Society George Ko and concert pianist and BU doctoral candidate Anna Arazi have decided to create the Two Piano Project. This project entails an annual recital series featuring Boston University and Harvard students performing two piano works side by side. George Ko and Millie Shi are the Harvard directors and Anna Arazi is the Boston University director and coach for this event.
Repertoire:
I. Suite Op. 23 No. 2 Silhouettes by Arensky
Leon Bernsdorf (Boston University)- Primo
Auburn Lee (Harvard University)- Secundo
II. Concerto per due pianoforti soli by Stravinsky
Sitan Chen (Harvard University)- Primo
Pei-yeh Tsai (Boston University)- Secundo
III. Suite No. 1 Fantasie-Tableaux for Two Pianos by Rachmaninoff
Anna Arazi (Boston University)- Primo
Jennifer Tu (Harvard University)- Secundo
LINK http://harvardpiano.com/?page_id=1605
----------------------
Friday, January 31
----------------------
The Northeastern University Affective Science Institute presents New Vistas in Emotion and Technology
Friday, January 31, 2014
Raytheon Amphitheater, Northeastern University, Egan Center, 120 Forsyth Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1372591
Cost: $25
This one-day summit will bring together leading researchers and engineers at the forefront of emotion science and mobile/social technology to discuss emerging, cross-cutting initiatives aimed at enhancing individual and societal wellbeing.
Together with the audience, panels will explore issues including:
how endowing technological entities (e.g., robots, virtual agents and avatars) with emotional expression alters interactions with humans,
how new advances in mobile technology can be used to assess emotional and physiological changes relevant to physical and mental health, and
how emotion science can be leveraged to enhance harmony and user satisfaction in online social networks.
Join moderators Andrew Zolli (curator for PopTech), Hiawatha Bray (Technology Columnist for the Boston Globe), and Meghna Chakrabarti (co-host of WBUR’s Radio Boston) along with all of the guest speakers, for a lively exploration of what the future holds for “emotion-sensitive” tech.
Arturo Bejar, Facebook Engineering Director, Keynote Speaker
“Life Happens: People, Emotion, and Facebook”
Also featuring:
Stacy Marsella
Designing Hot-Blooded Virtual Humans
David DeSteno
Detecting Trustworthiness: Can I Trust You (Even If You’re a Robot)?
Magy Seif el-Nasr
Engineering the Social Connection in Virtual Experiences
Matthew Goodwin
Understanding Affect and Supporting Behavior Regulation in Individuals on the Autism Spectrum: A Computational Behavioral Science Approach
Emre Demiralp
Emotion, Context and Tech
Stephen Intille
Measuring Behavior Using Mobile Phones: New Opportunities
---------------------------------------
Destination Europe Conference
Friday, January 31
9am - 7:30pm
Boston Marriott Cambridge, Two Cambridge Center, 50 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at https://destinationeurope.teamwork.fr/cambridge/en/registration
Destination Europe events showcase the vibrant and exciting research and innovation culture in Europe and the opportunities available to researchers, from anywhere int he world, interested in working there or cooperating with European researchers.
Come to Destination Europe to meet:
Experts from European research organizations, universities, funding agencies and European Commission services who will present programs, initiatives and opportunities to cooperate or to pursue a career in Research and Innovation in Europe
Researchers who have move to Europe temporarily or permanently and who will share their experience with you
Information about the help available for the practicalities of moving to Europe (scientific visa, mobility centers etc.)
---------------------------------------
Intelligent Enterprise Control of Future Electric Power Systems
Friday, January 31, 2014
11:00a–12:00p
MIT, Building 3-333, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Dr. Amro Farid, Assistant Professor Engineering Systems & Management, Masdar Institute of Science & Technology
This presentation motivates the need for methods of integrated assessment that manage the diversity of control solutions against their many competing objectives. Furthermore, the concept of integrated enterprise control is proposed as an approach to operate the power grid reliability and economically. The presentation concludes with a summary of relevant ongoing work at the Masdar Institute Laboratory for Intelligent Integrated Networks of Engineering Systems (LIINES).
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MechE Seminar Series
For more information, contact: Catherine Hogan
617-253-0580
-----------------------------------
Synoptic View of Past Climates in the Yucatan Peninsula and the Fate of the Ancient Maya Kingdom
Friday, January 31, 2014
12:00p–1:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Visiting Professor Martin Medina, Amherst College
EAPS' IAP seminar will explore the magnitude, drivers and impacts of changes in monsoon precipitation in the past, present and future. Featured speakers will share their research into a diverse array of topics, including past abrupt changes in the African monsoon, the role of monsoon changes in the collapse of Mayan civilization, the dynamics of monsoon-associated cyclones, and the impacts of present and future monsoon changes on societies in the Sahel region of North Africa
2014 EAPS Lecture Series: Monsoons: Past Changes, Present Impacts, Future Projections
Web site:http://eapsweb.mit.edu/academics/courses/iap#noncredit%20id=
Open to: the general public
Cost: $0.00
Tickets: N/A
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Jen DiNisco
617-253-3381
jtaylor at mit.edu
-------------------------------
IAP Math Department Music Recital
Friday, January 31, 2014
2:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building 14-Killian Hall, 160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
The math department's annual IAP music recital at Killian Hall. It's a fine tradition, and always features a variety of great performances for an adoring audience of our peers and colleagues
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Mathematics, Department of
For more information, contact: Alexander Moll
alexmoll at math.mit.edu
-------------------------
Saturday, February 1
-------------------------
By Design Conference
WHEN Sat., Feb. 1, 2014
WHERE Harvard Graduate School of Design
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Business, Conferences, Film, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR GSD Design Thinking Student Group & the HBS Design Club
SPEAKER(S) Contributors to Vogue, Joseph-Gordon Levitt’s production company hitRECord, General Assembly, Finnish fashion and design house Marimekko, and Google Creative Lab, among others.
TICKET INFO Students $25; general admission $45
CONTACT INFO gsddesignthinking at gmail.com
LINK www.harvardxdesign.com
--------------------------------
Earth Rocks!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
9:00am - 4:00pm
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Regular museum admission rates apply
A family festival for all ages at the Harvard Museum of Natural History
Explore our amazing planet from inside out through demonstrations, presentations, and hands-on activities
Learn how volcanoes and other earth processes help us understand Earth's structure
Meet Harvard paleontologist Anjan Bhullar
Examine rocks, minerals, fossils, and meteorites from the museum's collections
Chat with members of the Boston Mineral Club
http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu
------------------------------
RightNow! Climate Change Awareness + Philippines Benefit Event
Saturday February 1, 2014
6pm to 12 am
Brooklyn Boulders, 12A Tyler St, Somerville
RSVP http://www.eventbrite.com/e/right-now-tickets-10159785191
Cost: $28-65
Greentown Labs members have a discount code, greentown, which will lower the admission price to $22.50
Featuring Michael Mann And Jack Healey To Speak,
Escort, Juan Maclean & Bearstronaut to perfom at RIGHTNOW!
WE ARE MUSIC will be presenting a one evening festival of events with 100% of ticket proceeds to benefit rebuilding efforts in the Philippines post-Typhoon Haiyan. The event will be held at BROOKLYN BOULDERS, SOMERVILLE, a 40,000 sq ft indoor climbing facility and community co-work space. This very special evening will bring together celebrated national and local musical talent, acclaimed scientists, & activists, policy-makers, non-profits, sustainability-oriented companies, installation artists and a host of celebrated New England beverage and food brands.
The evening’s events will commence with a lively panel discussion about building a broad youth movement to confront climate change. Featured speakers on the panel include: MICHAEL MANN, creator of the famous Hockey Stick Graph and author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines, and American climatologist and geophysicist and currently director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State. JACK HEALEY, called "Mr. Human Rights" by U.S. News and World Report, whose entire career has been focused on inspiring the world’s youth to support non-violent activism that would push back oppressive governments and societies. A former twelve year head of Amnesty International, Jack now heads the Washington, D.C. based, Human Rights Action Center. BILL MCKIBBEN, the founder of 350.org who work in almost every country in the world on campaigns like fighting coal power plants in India, stopping the Keystone XL pipeline in the U.S, and divesting public institutions everywhere from fossil fuels. Boston Globe called him "probably the nation's leading environmentalist" in 2010. A ten minute statement to RightNow! will be screened via Skype during the event.
Brooklyn-based live disco band ESCORT and celebrated producer JUAN MACLEAN will headline the musical portion of the evening. ESCORT were voted #40 album of 2012 in Rolling Stone and The New York Post and Time Out NYC both described Escort as the "city's best live band.” JUAN MACLEAN, a seminal artist on James Murphy’s DFA label is known for his epic remixes and pure house productions. His 2012 ESSENTIAL MIX was voted the best of 2012 by DJ Magazine. Also appearing are BEARSTRONAUT, voted “Best Electronic Act Of 2012” at the Boston Music Awards, will also be bringing their signature sound to the RightNow! stage. And beantown favorite KON, who was once described by Boston peers Soul Clap as: “the best Disco/Funk/Soul/Boogie DJ in the world,” will spin one of his legendary sets.
The evening will feature some of the finest beer and spirit brands represented in the Northeast including: NARRAGANSETT BEER, HIGH & MIGHTY BEER, RISING TIDE BREWERY, DEEP EDDY VODKA, PRIVATEER RUM, SLOW & LOW WHISKEY, 4 ROSES BOURBON & POP CHIPS. Attendees to the panel portion of the evening’s program will also enjoy an open oyster bar provided by Island Creek Oysters while supplies last. HOLIDAY INN, BOSTON BUNKER HILL are the official partner hotel of the event and DIG!BOSTON “Boston’s only weekly” the official media partner. Somerville-based energy start-up incubator GREENTOWN LABS will be providing tours of their facility in the adjoining building at Ames Industrial Park for a donation to the evening’s fundraising efforts.
WE ARE MUSIC are an events promotion and consulting company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Venice, California. WE ARE MUSIC are fueled by a vision of creating the most impactful music and social change events of our time. We Are Music organize inspiring, unexpected collaborations and work to yoke the most promising ideas of our time to the most far reaching and influential creative forces in culture. We Are Music believe that to shape a world that supports everyone, we must transcend national, political, economic and social boundaries. We Are Music strategically employ the universal language of music to empower and to catalyze a joyous, sustainable and unprecedented global youth movement for good.
Contact: Summer Forest Hoeckel
summerforest at wearemusic.us
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Sunday, February 2
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Massachusetts Carbon Exchange Tax: What Is It? Will It Make a Positive Difference?
Sunday, February 2
12:30-2:30pm
Cambridge Friends Meeting House, 5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge
SPEAKERS:
SENATOR MIKE BARRETT, Massachusetts State Senator, Third Middlesex District; Co-sponsor of the Massachusetts Carbon Tax Bill
GARY RUCINSKI, Co-founder and Chairman of Committee for a Green Economy, a ballot initiative committee working to put a carbon exchange tax before the voters of Massachusetts.
A light lunch will be served before the presentations
As members of a faith community, we have concern for the care of Creation, of the most vulnerable peoples and communities, and of future generations. We feel it is crucial that society take all appropriate and available actions to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, which we as Friends view as one of the most critical moral and spiritual issues of our time.
The Carbon Exchange Tax will put a price on CO2 and will redirect the funds raised back to local citizens and business. Economists, business people, and environmentalists widely view the Carbon Exchange Tax as the public policy with the most significant potential to reduce the use of fossil fuels and encourage energy conservation. Where such bills are already in place they have been shown both to have positive impact on jobs and to improve environmental quality.
Join our two speakers for a discussion on this important policy mechanism. Will it reduce emissions? Lower taxes? How will we ensure that poor citizens will not be especially impacted in a negative way? What effects will it have on the Massachusetts economy and job situation? What can citizens and members of faith communities do to get involved with this campaign?
The Friends Committee on National Legislation strongly supports a national carbon tax in order to demonstrate our stewardship for the Earth and its natural resources.
Snow Date: Feb 16
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Monday, February 3
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The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures by Herbie Hancock; Set 1: The Wisdom of Miles Davis
WHEN Mon., Feb. 3, 2014, 4 p.m.
WHERE Sanders Theatre
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Lecture, Music
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard
SPEAKER(S) Herbie Hancock
COST Free; tickets required
TICKET WEB LINK https://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu/Online/
TICKET INFO Tickets will be available starting at noon on the day of each lecture. Tickets will be available at Sanders Theatre's box office and online (handling fee applies). Limit of 2 tickets per person. Tickets valid until 3:45 p.m. on the day of the event.
CONTACT INFO humcentr at fas.harvard.edu,
NOTE The Norton Lecturer in 2014 is Herbie Hancock.
THE ETHICS OF JAZZ
4pm, Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street
Set 1 - THE WISDOM OF MILES DAVIS
Monday, February 3
Set 2 - BREAKING THE RULES
Wednesday, February 12
Set 3 - CULTURAL DIPLOMACY AND THE VOICE OF FREEDOM
Thursday, February 27
Set 4 - INNOVATION AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Monday, March 10
Set 5 - BUDDHISM AND CREATIVITY
Monday, March 24
Set 6 - ONCE UPON A TIME…
Monday, March 31
LINK http://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/content/norton-lectures
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Opportunities and Challenges in Control Systems Design Arising from Ubiquitous Computation and Network Communication
Monday, February 3, 2014
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
BU, 15 St. Mary’s Street, Room 105, Boston
Refreshments served at 3:45.
Joao Hespanha, University of California at Santa Barbara
Advances in VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) design and fabrication have resulted in the availability of low-cost, low-power, small-sized devices that have significant computational power and are able to communicate wirelessly. In addition, advances in MEMS (Micro Electric Mechanical Systems) technology have resulted in wide availability of solid-state sensors and actuators. The net result is ubiquitous sensing, communication, and computation that can be incorporated into small low-power devices.
In this talk, I will demonstrate that the above-mentioned technological advances present important opportunities and interesting challenges for control system designers. To this effect, I will describe recent work demonstrating that optimization-based approaches to path planning – which have been enabled by fast computation – can lead to solutions that significantly outperform previously proposed heuristics. I will also discuss how the introduction of digital communication in control loops gives rise to a need for new tools for the design and analysis of feedback control systems.
João P. Hespanha received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and applied science from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut in 1998. From 1999 to 2001, he was Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2002, where he currently holds a Professor position with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prof. Hespanha is the Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the Executive Committee for the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies (ICB).
His current research interests include hybrid and switched systems; multi-agent control systems; distributed control over communication networks (also known as networked control systems); the use of vision in feedback control; stochastic modeling in biology; and network security.
Dr. Hespanha is the recipient of the Yale University’s Henry Prentiss Becton Graduate Prize for exceptional achievement in research in Engineering and Applied Science, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the 2005 best paper award at the 2nd Int. Conf. on Intelligent Sensing and Information Processing, the 2005 Automatica Theory/Methodology best paper prize, the 2006 George S. Axelby Outstanding Paper Award, and the 2009 Ruberti Young Researcher Prize. Dr. Hespanha is a Fellow of the IEEE and an IEEE distinguished lecturer since 2007.
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Defending an Unowned Internet: Opportunities for Technology, Policy, and Corporations
Monday, February 3, 5:00 p.m.
Harvard Law School, Milstein East B (Room 2036), Wasserstein Hall, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Free and Open to the Public
RSVP required at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/2014/02/defending_an_unowned_internet#RSVP
In the wake of the disclosures about government surveillance and the rise of corporate-run applications and protocols, is the idea of an "unowned" Internet still a credible one? The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is pleased to invite the community to a panel discussion on February 3rd, 2014 that will address this question as well as explore the potential for reforms in policy, technology, and corporate and consumer behavior.
Panelists will include:
Yochai Benkler, Berkman Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School
Ebele Okobi, Global Head and Senior Legal Director for Human Rights, Yahoo!
Bruce Schneier, CTO of CO3 Systems and Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
Benjamin Wittes, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Editor in Chief of Lawfare
Jonathan Zittrain, Co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, will moderate the discussion.
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Greed: How Can Religions Address the Deepening Spiritual Crisis of Our Time?
WHEN Mon., Feb. 3, 2014, 5:15 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Common Room, CSWR, 42 Francis Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Religion
SPONSOR Center for the Study of World Religions
CONTACT Lexi Gewertz, 617.495.4476
NOTE Please join us for our annual Greeley Lecture for Peace and Social Justice. This year the lecture will be held as part of Harvard's Interfaith Awareness Week, in honor of the United Nations' Interfaith Harmony Week.
We are honored to have the Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana deliver the 2014 lecture. Premawardhana is the President of the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE) in Chicago. He is originally from Sri Lanka and was most recently the director for the program Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation in the World Council of Churches. He is also a member of the governing board of the National Council of Churches and a member of the board of trustees of the Parliament of the World's Religions.
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The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
Monday, February 3
6:00 PM
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge
$5 tickets on sale now through Harvard Book Store
Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee in conversation with MEGHNA CHAKRABARTI
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Tuesday, February 4
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IBM Entrepreneur Day - Innovate, Transform, Grow
Tuesday, February 4
09:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
IBM, 1 Rogers Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www-304.ibm.com/events/idr/idrevents/register.action?meid=15803&ieid=8674
Come one come all to IBM Entrepreneur Day, where you can network and learn from your local ecosystem of entrepreneurs, VCs, academic leaders, accelerators, IBM executives and Business Partners. Your ecosystem is the most effective means of fostering the success of everyone in the business community. Working together, we can go further than we would on our own!.
About IBM Entrepreneur Day - Innovate, Transform, Grow
Join IBM to celebrate Entrepreneur Week by “Connecting Companies with Capital”.
Build connections to an ecosystem of investors, incubators and entrepreneurial associations
Gain insights on IBM’s deep commitment to the entrepreneurial community and supporting resources.
Showcase your company to influencers, coaches and mentors from across industries
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2014 High-Level Conferences on ICT and the Internet: What Do They Mean for the Internet As We Know It?
February 4, 2014 at 12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, Second Floor, Cambridge
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Civic Media
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/02/markovski#RSVP
This event will be webcast live (on this page) at 12:30pm ET.
with Veni Markovski, Internet pioneer, co-founder of bol.bg, and current ICANN vice-president for Russia, CIS, and Eastern Europe
In October, President of Brazil Dilma Roussef announced a high-level meeting on Internet governance to be held in April in Rio de Janeiro. ITU will have not one, not two, but three international meetings, and will be tackling Internet issues. As governments initiate talks about policies with regards to who controls the Internet, Veni Markovski will explore how the 2014 landscape of Internet governance may change.
About Veni
In September 1990, Veni Markovski started his work on the Internet as a system operator of the first Sofia-based bulletin-board system, part of FidoNet. In 1993 Mr. Markovski partnered with another Bulgarian Internet pioneer, Dimitar (Mitko) Ganchev, to form bol.bg, the second Bulgarian Internet Service Provider in history. Veni Markovski was President and CEO ofbol.bg for nine years. The two owners sold the company successfully in 2008 to an international investment fund. In 1995, he co-founded the Bulgarian Internet Society, a non-profit, of which he serves still as President and chairman of the Board. In March 2002, Mr. Markovski was appointed as the Chairman of the Bulgarian President's IT Advisory Council, a position he held until the President stepped down from office at the end of his second term on January 22, 2012. In 2005, he was invited to be the senior international projects adviser to the chairman of the Governmental Agency for Information Technologies and Communications, a position that he has held until 2009. As of November 2012, Mr. Markovski is the ICANN vice-president for Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe, and frequently visits the region, where he is using his long-term personal and working relations with many of the Internet policy makers, pioneers, businessmen and non-profits for the good of the global domain names and IP addresses coordinating body.
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The Sun Temple of Nefertiti: Sex and Death
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
6:00pm
Yenching Auditorium, 2 Divinity Ave.
Reception to follow in the Harvard Semitic Museum Galleries
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The Role of Regulation in Furthering Sustainability
Tuesday, February 4th
6 to 9 PM
Venture Café, 5th Floor, Cambridge Innovation Center, One Broadway, Cambridge
Cost: $12 - includes Eventbrite service fees
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/feb-4th-basg-presents-the-role-of-regulation-in-furthering-sustainability-tickets-10033748211
This month Boston Area Sustainability Group collaborates with New England Women in Energy & the Environment .
As long as a capitalist economy fails to capture the costs of negative externalities there is little incentive for corporations to reduce their environmental impact. However, as shown through the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Dodd-Frank, among other local, national, and international laws, businesses are required to evaluate and report their risks and impacts. That requirement can provide incentive for more sustainable actions. The following speakers will present information about successes and challenges in using regulation, legislation, and legal action to drive change for a more sustainable world.
Speakers
Ann Brewster Weeks, Senior Counsel, Legal Director at Clean Air Task Force
Ann will discuss the power of environmental regulation under the Clean Air Act in stimulating technological advances in pollution controls, both from personal observation and based on some academic studies on the topic.
Erica Mattison, Legislative Director, Environmental League of MA
Erica will speak about how businesses, labor, and environmental advocates are working together to make the case for progressive environmental policies and environmental agency funding.
Lea Reynolds, SeniorPolicy Analyst, M.J. Bradley & Associates, LLC, Concord MA
Lea will speak about the role of policy in the electric sector’s evolution of voluntary corporate climate change disclosure.
Steve Long, Director of Government Relations, The Nature Conservancy
Steve will reflect on thirty years of experience of influencing environmental policy with an emphasis on collaboration among non-traditional partners – including the roles of stakeholders, the dynamics among institutions, effective messaging and ultimately -- “Getting to Yes”.
Light fare will be provided by the Environmental League of Massachusetts - Thank YOU!
Time is short and we all need to learn a boatload, fast. One of BASG’s explicit goals is that we learn as much as we can from each other, where the very diversity of the group is one of our most valuable assets. Come join the discussion, or hang out and listen. Meet those folks working hard to do what you’re trying to do and your paths have not yet crossed. We have a great time and really want to meet you!
Our format for the evening begins with informal networking followed by quick introductions all round before several lightening-speed presentations from knowledgeable folks. Using a modified IGNITE-style format, our speakers will share their experiences and then open the discussion.
We’ll end the discussion with time left for more networking and sharing info on other local events. Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
Register: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/feb-4th-basg-presents-the-role-of-regulation-in-furthering-sustainability-tickets-10033748211
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Beyond Recycling: Take It to the Next Level
Tuesday, February 4
7:00pm
Dwelltime, 364 Broadway, Cambridge
Join us for a Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conversation where Cambridge Recycling Director, Ms. Randi Mail, will lead a lively discussion of steps we can take that go beyond normal recycling practices. Topics include zero waste solutions for individuals and benefits of reuse. We will look at personal choices and City initiatives that can significantly reduce our carbon footprint. This is the first in a series of "Conversations About Living in Mid-Cambridge," informal evening get togethers which will begin with a brief talk followed by an opportunity for small and large group conversations on a topic.
For more info contact
john_pitkin at earthlink.net
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Getting Beyond Us and Them: Our Brains and the Possibility of Peace
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
7:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building 6-120,, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: EMILE BRUNEAU, Researcher, Social Cognitive Neuroscience, Saxelab, MIT and JOSHUA GREENE Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Harvard University and author of "Moral Tribes"
New brain imaging studies show us that our instincts and assumptions can set us up to experience greater conflict, especially between groups that have differing moral codes or unequal access to power. Dr. Joshua Greene and Dr. Emile Bruneau will share insights from their research into why we encounter conflict and the strategies we can use to overcome our brains' automatic responses and create new opportunities for compromise, coexistence and peace.
Web site: web.mit.edu/tac
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT
For more information, contact: Patricia-Maria Weinmann
617-253-0108
weinmann at mit.edu
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What a Plant Knows
WHEN Tue., Feb. 4, 2014, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Phillips Auditorium, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
SPEAKER(S) Daniel Chamovitz
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO pubaffairs at cfa.harvard.edu, 617.495.7461
NOTE To understand life in the universe, we first must understand life on Earth - both animal and plant. Plant life impacts everything from the terrain under our feet to the air we breathe. Scientist and author Daniel Chamovitz will unveil the surprising world of plants that see, feel, smell, and even remember.
LINK http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/publicevents
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, February
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Nuclear 101: Technologies and Institutions for Nuclear Security
WHEN Wed., Feb. 5, 2014, 10 – 11:30 a.m.
WHERE Harvard, Kennedy School, Fainsod Room, Littauer-324, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Ethics, Law, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Project on Managing the Atom
SPEAKER(S) Matthew Bunn, professor of practice, Harvard Kennedy School
CONTACT INFO atom at hks.harvard.edu
NOTE Bunn's research interests include nuclear theft and terrorism; nuclear proliferation and measures to control it; the future of nuclear energy and its fuel cycle; and policies to promote innovation in energy technologies.
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6241/nuclear_101.html
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Live Webcast: Battling Drug-Resistant Superbugs
WHEN Wed., Feb. 5, 2014, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE http://www.forumhsph.org
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Forum at Harvard School of Public Health in collaboration with PRI's The World and WGBH
SPEAKER(S) Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health; Aaron Kesselheim, director, Program on Regulation, Therapeutics, and Law, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Stuart Levy, president of Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics; Beth Bell, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC; moderated by David Baron, Health & Science Editor, PRI's The World
CONTACT INFO theforum at hsph.harvard.edu
NOTE E-mail questions for the expert participants to theforum at hsph.harvard.edu.
LINK http://theforum.sph.harvard.edu/events/battling-drug-resistant-superbugs/
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“Partisan Media and Democracy: An Historical Perspective.”
Wednesday, February 5
4-6 p.m.
Harvard, Cason Seminar Room, Taubman Building, first floor, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Partisan Media Seminar Series with Matthew Gentzkow, Richard O. Ryan Professor of Economics and Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow, University of Chicago; and Tim Groeling, Associate Professor and Chair of Communication Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.
Moderator: Marion Just, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College and an associate of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.
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MIT Big Data Challenge - Transportation in the City of Boston
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM (EST)
MIT, Stata Center, Building 32, 32 Vassar Street, ROOM # (TBA), Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/final-event-mit-big-data-challenge-transportation-in-the-city-of-boston-tickets-9611611589
During this 1st MIT BIG DATA CHALLENGE final event the submissions will be showcased and the judging panel for the visualization challenge will announce the winners.
The first MIT Big Data Challenge launched November 12 2013 in partnership with the City of Boston and co-sponsored by Transportation at MIT focuses on transportation in downtown Boston. The challenge will make available multiple data sets, including transportation data from more than 2.3 million taxi rides, local events, social media and weather records, with the goal of predicting demand for taxis in downtown Boston and creating visualizations that provide new ways to understand public transportation patterns in the city.
The City of Boston is interested in gaining new insights into how people use all modes of transportation travel in and around the downtown Boston area. A critical imperative of Boston's Complete Streets Policy is to move all modes of transportation more efficiently and to use real-time data to facilitate better trip-planning between modes of transportation. With urban congestion on the rise, city planners are looking for ways to improve transportation such as providing people with more options to get from one place to another (walking, biking, driving, or using public transit) and by reducing and more efficiently routing vehicles in the city.
This Big Data Challenge provides a unique opportunity to analyze City of Boston taxi data and combine multiple data sets including social media, transit ridership, events data and weather data to effectively predict demand and better understand patterns in taxi ridership. We hope this will result in new insights for the City of Boston and the public that will improve transportation in the city (and ability to get a cab when you need one)!
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Thursday, February 6
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Afghanistan: A Post-Mortem of U.S. Policymaking
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Belfer Center Library, Littauer-369, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR International Security Program
SPEAKER(S) Matt Waldman, research fellow, International Security Program
CONTACT INFO susan_lynch at harvard.edu
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6244/afghanistan.html
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Intelligence in the Private Sector
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 1 – 4:15 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman 5th Floor, Nye A&B, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Conferences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Belfer Center's Defense and Intelligence Projects
SPEAKER(S) Disney, Coca Cola, BP, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Office of Director of National Intelligence, FBI, Department of State
NOTE In today’s world, businesses are facing increasingly complex threats to infrastructure, finances, and information. The government is often slow to share classified information about these threats. As a result, business leaders are creating their own intelligence capabilities within their companies.
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6230/intelligence_in_the_private_sector.html
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"China's Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Various Scales and Perspectives"
Thursday, February 6, 2014
3:30pm
Harvard, Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Wang Haikun, Associate Professor, School of Environment, Nanjing University; Visiting Scholar, Harvard China Project
China Project Seminar
http://chinaproject.harvard.edu/
Contact Name: Chris Nielsen
nielsen2 at fas.harvard.edu
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The Arab Uprisings Three Years Later: Trajectories of Transition and Crisis
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, CGIS, Knafel 262, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The WCFIA/CMES Middle East Seminar
SPEAKER(S) Paul Salem, vice president, the Middle East Institute
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO sroy at fas.harvard.edu
NOTE This event is off the record. The use of recording devices is strictly prohibited.
LINK http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/node/3519
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The Politics of Public Space
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 4 p.m.
WHERE Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
SPEAKER(S) Introduction by Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design
Lecture by Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times
COST Free and open to the public.
NOTE Registration is encouraged to guarantee a seat. To register: http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?470067
LINK http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2014-michael-kimmelman-lecture
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NSA Surveillance and What To Do About It
Thursday, February 06, 2014
5:00p–6:00p
MIT, Building 32-123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Speaker: Bruce Schneier
ABSTRACT: Edward Snowden has given us an unprecedented window into the NSA's surveillance activities. Drawing from both the Snowden documents and revelations from previous whistleblowers, this talk describes the sorts of surveillance the NSA conducts and how it conducts it. The emphasis will be on the technical capabilities of the NSA, and not the politics or legality of their actions. I will then discuss what sorts of countermeasures are likely to frustrate any nation-state adversary with these sorts of capabilities. These will be techniques to raise the cost of wholesale surveillance in favor of targeted surveillance: ubiquitous encryption, target dispersal, anonymity tools, and so on.
BIO: Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a "security guru" by The Economist. He is the author of 12 books -- including Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust Society Needs to Survive -- as well as hundreds of articles, essays, and academic papers. His influential newsletter "Crypto-Gram" and blog "Schneier on Security" are read by over 250,000 people. Schneier is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, a program fellow at the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and an Advisory Board member of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. He is also the Chief Technology Officer of Co3 Systems, Inc.
MIT BIG DATA LECTURE SERIES
Talks will feature distinguished individuals from academia, industry and government including pre-eminent people from all the subfields of computer science that have something to say about data, data processing and analytics, as well as people from organizations that are consumers of Big Data from both industry and government.
Web site: http://bigdata.csail.mit.edu/talks
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Big Data Initiative at CSAIL
For more information, contact: Susana Kevorkova
617-324-8424
skevorkova at csail.mit.edu
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William Anderson and Mitchell Silver in Conversation: The Future of Planning: Perspectives from APA Presidents
WHEN Thu., Feb. 6, 2014, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Graduate School of Design
SPEAKER(S) William Anderson and Mitchell Silver
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO events at gsd.harvard.edu
NOTE William Anderson, FAICP, MCRP '83, the new president of the American Planning Association, is principal/vice president of AECOM, a consultancy that works to improve built, natural, and social environments by creative, analytical, and technical means. Based in 69 countries, the firm’s architects, landscape architects, planners, ecologists, economists, engineers, program managers, and technicians collaborate to address complex challenges at various scales from buildings to public spaces, infrastructure, and management of open space and natural systems. Mitchell Silver is the previous president of the APA and the chief planning & development officer/planning director for Raleigh, North Carolina. An award-winning planner for over 28 years, Silver specializes in comprehensive planning, place making, and implementation strategies and is internationally recognized for leadership in his profession. Before moving to Raleigh in 2005, Mitchell was a policy and planning director in New York, principal of a New York-based planning firm, a town manager in New Jersey, and a deputy planning director in Washington, DC.
LINK www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/events/conversation-william-anderson-and-mitchell-silver.html
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Friday, February 7
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Media Lab Conversations Series: Shaka Senghor and Martha Minow
Friday, February 07, 2014
11:00a–12:30p
MIT, Building E14, 3rd floor atrium, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Shaka Senghor and Martha Minow in conversation with Joi Ito and Ethan Zuckerman
Media Lab Conversations Series
Web site: http://www.media.mit.edu/events/2014/02/07/media-lab-conversations-series-shaka-senghor-and-martha-minow
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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Saturday, February 8
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MIT Scaling Development Ventures Conference
Saturday, February 8, 2014
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EST)
MIT, Building 32-123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/mit-scaling-development-ventures-conference-registration-9699378101
Exploring innovative, collaborative, market-driven strategies for poverty alleviation at scale.
The MIT Scaling Development Ventures conference is back for a second year! SDV brings together exciting perspectives from the international development and business communities to examine the best way to bring poverty-alleviating solutions to market at scale.
SDV 2014 features Paul Polak as keynote speaker, who is widely regarded as the father of market-centered approaches to development. Paul is the author of Out of Poverty (2008) and The Business Solution to Poverty (2013, with Mel Warwick), described recently by Bill Clinton as "one of the most hopeful propositions to come along in a long time...original, ambitious, and practical."
Panel Sessions include:
Appropriate Solutions for Real Needs - A discussion of the importance of rigorous needs and market assessment in crafting solutions for those living in poverty. Featuring speakers from the U. S. Agency for International Development, Vodafone, and Unilever.
Partnering for Scale - An exploration of partnership models between social enterprises, NGOs, and multinational corporations which have been effective in creating value in Base of the Pyramid markets. Featuring speakers from the Grameen Foundation, Danone Ecosystem Initiative, Greenlight Planet, and Schneider Electric.
MIT Alumni Driving Impact - A spotlight on MIT alumni currently driving change in NGOs, corporations, and social enterprises. Featuring speakers from Sanergy, Evidence Action, Air Liquide, and the Mars Sustainable Cocoa Initiative.
Also at SDV 2014:
Poster session featuring poverty-alleviating projects by MIT students
Affinity Group Networking Lunch
Attendance is free, but registration is required as seats are limited! Register to join us on Saturday, February 8th.
-----------------------------------------------
Massachusetts Peace Action 2014 Annual Meeting
Saturday, February 8, 2014
1:00 to 5:00 pm doors open 12:30
St. Ignatius Church, Boston College, 28 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill
Free to members – others $10
RSVP at http://org.salsalabs.com/o/161/c/3952/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=81227
What a year! A popular outcry stopped a U.S. war with Syria and diplomacy promises relaxation of tensions with Iran (if Congress doesn’t interfere). The Budget for All proved that voters want less military spending and more social investment, and the Autumn Convergence showed that we can connect peace, climate, and economic and social justice into a single progressive agenda.
Why is the U.S. the world’s policeman and what is the alternative? How can we move our nation towards a more peaceful foreign policy? We present two important voices to solve these riddles and shape our work in 2014.
Barney Frank served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 2013. A constant campaigner to cut the military budget by 25%, he formed the Sustainable Defense Task Force in 2010 to propose practical ways to do so, and criticized U.S. support for NATO . The primary architect of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform act, Frank is now at work on a book.
Andrew Bacevich is Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University. A West Point graduate and retired U.S. Army Colonel, he is author of The New American Militarism, Washington Rules, andBreach of Trust. Read an important recent article. Bacevich urges the U.S. to abandon its hegemonistic foreign policy and focus on rebuilding its society at home. His books will be available for signing.
Workshops will focus on Iran and the Mideast, Israel/Palestine, convergence and new foreign policy. Do you have a workshop idea? Propose a workshop – contact MA Peace Action.
We will complete the election of new board members.
All are welcome!
Massachusetts Peace Action
Phone: 6173542169
Email: info at masspeaceaction.org
Website: masspeaceaction.org
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Monday, February 10
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Afghanistan Present and Near Future - Will the US really Leave?
Monday, February 10, 2014
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Cambridge Friends Meeting, 5 Longfellow Park (off Brattle Street, Cambridge
Kathy Kelly with Afghan Peace Volunteers
What are the conditions for women and ordinary people?
What are the effects of the US drone war on people in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan?
What should we be doing in response?
Kathy Kelly, coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-violence, has recently returned from Afghanistan where, as a guest of the Afghan Peace Volunteers, she lived in a working class neighborhood of Kabul. This was her 13th trip to Afghanistan since 2010. She continues to be a voice for the voiceless in war zones.
Ms. Kelly is known for her decades of peace activism. She was on the floatilla to Gaza. She has been in Gaza to witness the suffering of Palestinians following "Operation Cast Lead." Between Gulf War I and II, Ms. Kelly made over 25 trips to Iraq leading humanitarian delegations and documenting the effects of use of economic sanctions against Iraq..
Ms. Kelly founded "Voices in the Wilderness," co-coordinates "Voices for Creative-Non Violence." She is renowned among the Catholic Worker Community. She has received and been nominated for numerous awards including: USA Teacher of Peace - Pax Christi, and Woman of Courage" - Peace Abby Courage of Conscience. She is an author of book(s) documenting her experience " Other Lands Have Dreams". And, she has been a prisoner of conscience in US Federal Prison.
United for Justice with Peace (Greater Boston) and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Boston Branch are pleased to offer an evening of conversation with Kathy Kelly about the US presence in Afghanistan and how the peace and justice community should respond.?
United for Justice with Peace is a coalition of peace and justice organizations and community peace groups in the Greater Boston region. The UJP Coalition, formed after September 11th, seeks global peace through social and economic justice.
info at justicewithpeace.org
617-383-4857
http://www.justicewithpeace.org
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Tuesday, February 11
--------------------------
David Carr
Tuesday, February 11
12 p.m.
Harvard, Taubman 275, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
Speaker Series with David Carr, media and culture columnist for The New York Times.
---------------------------------
How Dungeons & Dragons and Fantasy Prepare You for Law and Life
February 11, 2014 at 12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/02/gilsdorf#RSVP
This event will be webcast live (on this page) at 12:30pm ET.
Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, in conversation with Jonathan Zittrain
How is a lawyer like a wizard? How does a courtroom resemble an epic battle? How is a casebook like the Dungeon Master's Guide? If you played Dungeons & Dragons in another age, or today, then you know this enormously influential role-playing gaming, which shaped the video gaming industry and geek culture, can be perfect training ground for law and life. This low-tech, pencil-and-paper-and-dice game teaches us how to solve problems, be a heroic leader, and achieve a common goal in a collaborative group environment. But the skills, rulebooks and "laws" required to play D&D --- whether understanding complex "to hit" charts or inventing the backstory of an evil Witch King -- can especially apply to law students. What Dungeon Master or lawyer doesn't need to parley with a foe? In this informal talk and conversation, critic and journalist Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, discusses how D&D's inherent storytelling skills can champion a role for creative play space in both your work and leisure life. We'll also discuss the push and pull of laws and rules vs. imagination in a game like D&D, a book series like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, or any fantasy world, and the role of the dungeon master/author/world-builder in the consistent (or inconsistent) application of these rules and standards, and how this all might apply to the imaginary world of law, too.
Jonathan Zittrain will join Ethan Gilsdorf for a conversation about how D&D can be a perfect training ground for law and life.
About Ethan
Ethan Gilsdorf is a journalist, memoirist, critic, poet, teacher and 17th level geek.
He wrote the award-winning travel memoir investigation Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms.
Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, Gilsdorf writes regularly for the New York Times, Boston Globe, Salon.com, BoingBoing.net, PsychologyToday.com, Washington Post and wired.com. He has published hundreds of articles, essays, op-eds and reviews on the arts, pop culture, gaming, geek culture and travel in dozens of other magazines, newspapers, websites and guidebooks worldwide. He has also published dozens of poems in literary magazines and anthologies. [More...]
About Jonathan
Jonathan Zittrain is Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Professor of Computer Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. His research interests include battles for control of digital property and content, cryptography, electronic privacy, the roles of intermediaries within Internet architecture, human computing, and the useful and unobtrusive deployment of technology in education.
-------------------------------------
“The Most Important Topic Political Scientists Are Not Studying: Adapting to Climate Change”
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Harvard, Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) Knafel Building, Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Featuring Debra Javeline, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame; Fellow, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies; Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies; Fellow, Nanovic Institute for European Studies; Affiliated faculty, Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative
Chaired by Dustin Tingley, Paul Sack Associate Professor of Political Economy, Department of Government, Harvard University.
A seminar jointly sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Harvard University Center for the Environment.
-----------------------------------
Emergency Operations at Institutions of Higher Education
Tuesday, February 11
4:15 - 6:00 PM
Harvard, 124 Mt. Auburn Street,Suite 100/Room 106, Cambridge
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Wednesday, February 12
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Ideas in Action Virtual Conversations in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab & MacArthur Foundation
February 12
11 AM-10 AM (?)
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_0aPo-ZtaOgpujie4SImIfAWddN1KYbgNuFzgxD_zSY/viewform
We want to experiment this year with a number of different ways to advance ideas, i.e. to put Ideas in Action
We have the opportunity to try an interesting new format - virtual conversations using a kind of Google Hangout
We are inviting 10 of our speakers to be hosts of virtual discussion rooms on Feb 12 in which a group of up to 10 people in each room will view a TEDxBeaconStreet talk and discuss it with the speaker and audience members
On the day of the event, attendees will log in to the platform using their gmail account (note: you must have a gmail account). There will be a general welcome for a few minutes and then people will proceed to the session they are interested in (limit of 10 people per session).
In the individual discussion room, participants will hear from a speaker, view a talk and discuss it
We hope this catalyzes interest, ideas, and the potential for follow-up to helpadvance the idea!
If you are interested in helping facilitate or document the conversation (with a blog post we will share on TEDxBeaconStreet.com), please let us know.
This is an experiment and afterwards we will seek your feedback about whether we should continue to host more Virtual Conversations.
---------------------------------
Wind Energy Lecture
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
1:00pm to 2:00pm
MIT, Building 4-145, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Dan Shreve, a partner at MAKE, a wind power consulting firm, will discuss the state of the global wind industry, core demand drivers, and obstacles to higher levels of grid integration. He will also cover new turbine technology trends that support reductions in wind energy???s levelized cost of electricity and progress towards grid parity.
Sponsor: MIT Energy Club
--------------------------------------
Building a Vibrant Social Enterprise Ecosystem in Massachusetts
February 12, 2014
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Microsoft New England R&D Center
Audience: Open to the broader social enterprise and innovation community - including impact driven organizations, funders, policy makers, academics and students
Twitter: @sea-mass, @ MassCouncil
Description:
Social Enterprise communities are flourishing in cities and states across the country. Social Venture Partners Rhode Island has been leading an effort to create a dynamic and interconnected innovation “ecosystem” - including practitioners, business leaders, academics, impact investors, students and policymakers – with a goal towards driving economic development and innovation. Their efforts have led to drafting the proposed SEEED Act legislation (The Social Enterprise Ecosystem and Economic Development (“SEEED”) Commission Act (H.R. 2043), which would establish a Commission on the Advancement of Social Enterprise to make recommendations on ways the federal government can support and utilize SEs.
Please join us for a conversation with Kelly Ramirez, CEO of the Social Enterprise Greenhouse (part of the Social Venture Partners network) to learn more about the vibrant Social Enterprise ecosystem in the state of Rhode Island and discuss how we can help catalyze similar growth in the state of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has an emerging number of individuals and organizations focused on social enterprise and innovation. The Social Enterprise Alliance Massachusetts (SEA MA) acts as a convener in bringing together these diverse but vibrant groups. We hope this event will provide a forum for an engaged discussion on how Massachusetts can similarly connect key stakeholders and strengthen an innovation ecosystem
About the Speaker:
Kelly Ramirez is CEO of the Social Enterprise Greenhouse (part of the Social Venture Partners Rhode network), and creator of the successful SEEED Summit, a collaboration between Brown University and Social Venture Partners Rhode Island (SVPRI), which is the first national conference that focuses on what is needed to build an effective social enterprise ecosystem. Kelly is also a driving force behind the proposed SEEED Act legislation.
Kelly has more than fifteen years of social enterprise and international development experience, advising NGOs, corporations and governments on civic engagement, sustainability, business development and advocacy. Kelly directed the Social Enterprise Initiative at the William Davidson Institute (WDI) and was an adjunct lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. She has extensive fundraising, consulting and project management experience with organizations including Aid to Artisans, the Ford Foundation, the European Commission, USAID, the State Department, and Roche. She is active as a board member and volunteer with several non-profits. Previously, Kelly worked as a political analyst for the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service, an election monitor for the OSCE, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Slovakia. Kelly received MA Degrees in Public Policy and Urban Planning and a BA in political science from the University of Michigan where she has also done post-graduate work at the Ross School of Business. She was named a 2011 Woman to Watch by the Providence Business News.
About the Sponsors
This event is co-sponsored by the Social Enterprise Alliance Massachusetts and the Providers Council of Massachusetts.
About the Social Enterprise Alliance Massachusetts (SEA MA)
SEA MA was formed in 2010 with the vision of making Massachusetts a national leader in building sustainable social enterprises. SEA MA is a thriving community that comes together to connect, learn and share knowledge to advance the field of social enterprise. We provide education and information, practical tools, and support to improve the profitability and impact of social purpose ventures. To learn more, visit http://sea-mass.org/
About the Providers Council
The Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, Inc. is a statewide association of health and human service agencies. Founded in 1975, the Providers' Council is the state's largest human service trade association and is widely recognized as the official voice of the private provider industry.
------------------------------
Mass Innovation Nights #MINFoodie6
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
6:00pm - 8:30pm
Le Cordon Bleu - College of Culinary Arts Boston 215 First Street, Cambridge
Cost: FREE
RSVP at http://mass.innovationnights.com/content/mass-innovation-nights-minfoodie6
Description:
The first Foodie Innovation event of the year—Mass Innovation Nights Foodie 6 is going to be AMAZING! There are some refreshing, ingenious and fun products to be launched. The Canadian Trade Commission will be sponsoring so there will be some BONUS innovation from the north.
Every month ten companies bring new products to the event and the social media community turns out to blog, tweet, post pictures and video, add product mentions to LinkedIn and Facebook statuses, and otherwise help spread the word. In the last four years, the events have helped to:
Launch more than 550 products
Connect dozens of job seekers and hiring managers
Profile dozens of local experts
Launch a wave of Innovation Nights events around the world (coming soon)
Held once a month, registration and networking at 6:00 p.m., presentations start at 7:00 p.m., the live events allow companies to show off Massachusetts-based innovation. The Experts Corner team has one-on-one conversations with start-ups and entrepreneurs. Innovation Nights are held on site at various venues who donate their space to further the cause of local innovation.
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Thursday, February 13
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Design Guidelines for Transit Supportive Communities
Thursday, February 13, 2014
1pm EST; noon CST; 11am MST; 10am PST
webinar
RSVP at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/518603078
To have access to effective public transit, every step of the user's trip must be accessible, efficient, safe, and comfortable. The transit system must eliminate barriers -- real or perceived -- in order to make it a viable or preferred alternative. The goal of these Design Guidelines for Transit Supportive Communities is to foster reliable, efficient, convenient, and accessible transit, from the customer's front door to the bus.
This free, one-hour webinar will feature Bryce Word, special projects manager with Pace Suburban Bus Services, and Thomas Radak, senior project manager with Pace Strategic Services.
About Pace
Pace is a suburban Chicago transit provider serving tens of thousands of daily riders with fixed bus routes, vanpools and Dial-a-Ride programs. Pace covers 3,500 square miles and is one of the largest bus services in North America. Its fresh approach to public transportation gives the agency a national reputation as an industry leader.
Key Take-Aways
Pace's Transit Supportive Guidelines for the Chicagoland Region present principles and standards that may be implemented by municipalities, designers, engineers, and many others. Ultimately, it is Pace's vision to provide a higher level of bus service to places that actively remove barriers to transit as a viable transportation choice.
Join us Thursday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. Pacific, 11 a.m. Mountain, noon Central and 1 p.m. Eastern. (Please note your time zone!)
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Friday, February 14
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National Preach-In on Climate Change
Friday, February 14 - Sunday, February 16
To find a participating religious institution, contact http://www.preachin.org
Interfaith Power & Light just received funding that allows it to pass along free online copies of the award-winning film Chasing Ice to congregations who download the National Preach-In on Climate Change kit.
With the extreme winter weather recently brought on by the unusual polar vortex, there is great confusion about climate impacts and global warming. This film shows the long-term impact on glaciers, and how that contributes to sea level rise, and changes in weather patterns.
IP&L will also send you the full Preach-In kit that will help you host a climate sermon and valentine postcard signing activity at your congregation. More than 1,000 clergy of all faiths nationwide will be giving Preach-In sermons, talks, and events on the weekend of February 14-16, 2014.
Together, we're going to have a huge impact as we send thousands of Love Creation valentines to our senators so they hear our call to protect Earth's climate, and thus our children's future and all of Creation. To order your free kit: https://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50836/t/15471/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=10
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Saturday, February 15
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American Energy Data Challenge “Apps for Energy II” Hackathon
February, 15-16
12:00 PM - Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 4:00
hack/reduce, 275 Third Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-energy-data-challenge-apps-for-energy-ii-hackathon-tickets-9978089735
Join hack/reduce and the U.S Department of Energy for the American Energy Data Challenge "Apps for Energy II" Hackathon to develop apps that address some of America’s most important energy challenges.
Teams that participate in the hackathon and demo something they built will be eligible to win prizes. Additionally, teams can continue to work on their app and submit it to the Department of Energy’s American Energy Data Challenge by March 9, 2014 to be eligible for the big cash prize pot - over $70,000 in total prizes!
For the weekend hackathon at hack/reduce, there will be a total of $1,500 for the first place winner, and $1,000 for the second place winners. More information is available here: http://energychallenge.energy.gov.
-----------------------------------
ID Hack 2014
6pm February 15th - 10pm February 16th
@ the Cambridge Innovation Center
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/id-hack-2014-tickets-9524585291
The International Development Hackathon (ID Hack) is a 24-hour hackathon that brings together hackers, international development enthusiasts, and NGOs from the greater Boston area to work on projects that will make an impact on international development.
All skill levels welcome!
We have workshops and projects for you whether you’re an experienced hacker, just finished CS50, or have no experience at all. We will be conducting workshops on introductory web development for those without experience.
Why hack for international development?
Enjoy delicious food, compete for $2000+ in prizes, and have fun!
Network with sponsors such as Google, Microsoft, Twilio, Dropbox, McKinsey, and J.P. Morgan., Bridgewater, Intuit, InterSystems, and more!
Work on projects from Partners in Health, Peace Corps, Sana Health, Dimagi, Jana Care, and more!
Use technology to impact the world.
Sign up today AT http://www.eventbrite.com/e/id-hack-2014-tickets-9524585291
The first 100 participants get 5GB free Dropbox space!
Making a difference in the world, networking, great prizes...
I’D Hack for international development ... wouldn't you?
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Tuesday, February 18
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Boston TechBreakfast: Abine, Gradeable, InsideTracker, 1sqbox, HubEngage
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
8:00 AM
Microsoft NERD Center, Horace Mann Room, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-TechBreakfast/events/155722462/
Interact with your peers in a monthly morning breakfast meetup. At this monthly breakfast get-together techies, developers, designers, and entrepreneurs share learn from their peers through show and tell / show-case style presentations.
And yes, this is free! Thank our sponsors when you see them :)
Agenda for February 2014:
8:00 - 8:15 - Get yer Bagels & Coffee and chit-chat
8:15 - 8:20 - Introductions, Sponsors, Announcements
8:20 - ~9:30 - Showcases and Shout-Outs!
Abine - Zach Rachins
Gradeable - Kattie Lam
30 Second Lightning "Shout Outs": JOBS
InsideTracker - Gil Blander
1sqbox - Alexis Coates
30 Second Lightning "Shout Outs": EVENTS
HubEngage - Chris Requena
~9:30 - end - Final "Shout Outs" & Last Words
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Wednesday, February 19
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"The Economics of Attribute Based Regulation: Theory and Evidence from Fuel Economy Standards."
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
4:10pm - 5:30pm
Harvard, Kennedy School of Government, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Room L-382, Cambridge
Koichiro Ito, Boston University, and James M. Sallee, University of Chicago
Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
For further information, contact Professor Stavins at the Kennedy School (495-1820), Professor Weitzman at the Department of Economics (495-5133), or the course assistant, Jason Chapman (496-8054), or visit the seminar web site.
http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k96249
Contact Name: Jason Chapman
617-496-8054
Support from the Enel Endowment for Environmental Economics and the Department of Economics is Gratefully Acknowledged
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Thursday, February 20
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"Challenges of Balancing the Chinese Power System with Large-Scale Renewable Penetration"
Thursday, February 20, 2014
3:30pm
Harvard, Pierce Hall 100F, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge
with Zhang Ning, Research Associate, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University; Visiting Scholar, Harvard China Project
China Project Seminar
http://chinaproject.harvard.edu/
Contact Name: Chris Nielsen
nielsen2 at fas.harvard.edu
------------------------
Friday, February 21
------------------------
2014 MIT Energy Conference
February 21-22, 2014
http://mitenergyconference.com
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Saturday, February 22
---------------------------
Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) Workshop
Saturday, February 22
St. Paul's Episcopal Churchm 39 E. Central Street, Natick
RSVP at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=s4blzzbab&oeidk=a07e8rs0p9v554b139a
Sign up for a Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) workshop to be eligible to apply for a Green Improvement Grant or Green Loan and reduce energy costs!
Would you like to save money for your parish? Did you know that the average parish in the diocese spends over $20,000 on energy costs annually but that savings of 20-30% are possible? Do you know Diocesan grant and loan funds are available to assist with energy efficiency improvements that can help achieve these savings? As importantly, reducing your energy use also cares for God’s creation by reducing the greenhouse gases your parish produces.
The Diocese’s Creation Care Initiative can help your parish learn how to reduce its energy use and cost, evaluate potential energy savings projects then purchase needed supplies and equipment.
The harvest has been plentiful! Since the grant program launched in 2011, we have granted nearly $600,000 in Green Grants to 69 congregations, and all have representatives that attended SHOWs to learn the whys and hows of sustainability and reducing carbon footprints. In 2014, we will have another round as we use the resources our diocese’s Together Now campaign has raised.
Consider this: whether you intend to apply for a Green Grant or Green Loan or not, determining the size of your carbon footprint is the first step in energy savings and caring for creation. One of the first steps to being eligible to apply for a Green Improvement Grant or Green Loan is to attend a SHOW workshop.
In this half-day session conducted by Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light (www.mipandl.org) you will learn:
How to track your energy use, cost and carbon footprint
How to find no-cost and low cost projects that can have a big impact on your electricity and heating bills
How to evaluate energy using equipment and systems to determine whether they should be updated
Incentives, rebates and other financial help available through utility companies
How to apply for a Green Grant or Green Loan
There is $10 per person fee to attend the workshop, payable during online registration through PayPal or by check. Light refreshments are included. Registration begins at 8:30 and the program starts at 9.
When you register, you will receive an easy-to-use spreadsheet to calculate your parish’s energy use and cost; you are encourage to fill it out and bring it to the workshop. You may also download the spreadsheet here: http://www.mipandl.org/MIPL_resources/MIPL_HOWUtiUseCost.xls
Who should attend: Parishes are encouraged to send two members from their environment committee, property committee or Vestry. Other members who are interested are also welcome.
REGISTRATION CLOSES FEBRUARY 20TH
Contact Esther Powell
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
617.482.4826 x421
epowell at diomass.org
----------------------------------------
Ideastorm - Free Event for High School Students
Saturday, February 22, 2014
1:00pm - 5:00pm
Cambridge Innovation Center, Venture Cafe 1 Broadway, Cambridge
Cost: FREE
RSVP at http://youngentrepreneurchallenge.com/ideastorm/
What is IdeaStorm?
IdeaStorm is a mini-version of the Young Entrepreneur Challenge for high school students. Come into Cambridge, MA to work with the YEC mentor team to develop a new business idea.
When you're here, you'll join other high school students in a down and dirty brainstorming and business pitch event. Complete with coaching from our mentors and lots of prizes to win, IdeaStorm is the perfect exploration of entrepreneurship!
The Run Down
When is IdeaStorm?
The next IdeaStorm will take place on February 22nd, 2014 from 1.00PM to 5.00PM. Registration is now open!
Where is IdeaStorm?
IdeaStorm takes place at the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Cambridge, MA at Kendall Square.
Do I have to do anything before IdeaStorm?
Nope! Simply show up and we'll take over from there!
Do I have to register?
We have limited spots so we'd appreciate if you could use the EventBrite registration form below to officially reserve your spot at IdeaStorm. You may also show up at the event and see if there's extra spots.
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Saturday, March 1
---------------------
Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) Workshop
Saturday, March 1
9:00 AM to 12:30 PM EST
Trinity Episcopal Church, 124 River Road, Topsfield
RSVP at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=s4blzzbab&oeidk=a07e8sp7hkpc2a4f02a
Sign up for a Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) workshop to be eligible to apply for a Green Improvement Grant or Green Loan and reduce energy costs!
Would you like to save money for your parish? Did you know that the average parish in the diocese spends over $20,000 on energy costs annually but that savings of 20-30% are possible? Do you know Diocesan grant and loan funds are available to assist with energy efficiency improvements that can help achieve these savings? As importantly, reducing your energy use also cares for God’s creation by reducing the greenhouse gases your parish produces.
The Diocese’s Creation Care Initiative can help your parish learn how to reduce its energy use and cost, evaluate potential energy savings projects then purchase needed supplies and equipment.
The harvest has been plentiful! Since the grant program launched in 2011, we have granted nearly $600,000 in Green Grants to 69 congregations, and all have representatives that attended SHOWs to learn the whys and hows of sustainability and reducing carbon footprints. In 2014, we will have another round as we use the resources our diocese’s Together Now campaign has raised.
Consider this: whether you intend to apply for a Green Grant or Green Loan or not, determining the size of your carbon footprint is the first step in energy savings and caring for creation. One of the first steps to being eligible to apply for a Green Improvement Grant or Green Loan is to attend a SHOW workshop.
In this half-day session conducted by Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light (www.mipandl.org) you will learn:
How to track your energy use, cost and carbon footprint
How to find no-cost and low cost projects that can have a big impact on your electricity and heating bills
How to evaluate energy using equipment and systems to determine whether they should be updated
Incentives, rebates and other financial help available through utility companies
How to apply for a Green Grant or Green Loan
There is $10 per person fee to attend the workshop, payable during online registration through PayPal or by check. Light refreshments are included. Registration begins at 8:30 and the program starts at 9.
When you register, you will receive an easy-to-use spreadsheet to calculate your parish’s energy use and cost; you are encourage to fill it out and bring it to the workshop. You may also download the spreadsheet here: http://www.mipandl.org/MIPL_resources/MIPL_HOWUtiUseCost.xls
Who should attend: Parishes are encouraged to send two members from their environment committee, property committee or Vestry. Other members who are interested are also welcome.
Location Information: Trinity Church is located just off I-95 at 124 River Road in Topsfield. Click here for directions. The workshop will take place in the Vestry Room/Worship Room space, which is in the office wing. There will be signs to direct you! The space is completely handicap-accessible.
REGISTRATION CLOSES FEBRUARY 27TH
Contact Esther Powell
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
617.482.4826 x421
epowell at diomass.org
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Concert for the Silver Maple Forest
Saturday, March 1, 2014
7:30pm
The First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Avenue, Belmont
Tickets: http://www.belmontcoalition.org
Donation $25 or $27 at the door
Featuring: The Loomers
with food baby opening
Contact Save the Silver Maple Forest
https://www.facebook.com/savethesilvermapleforest
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2nd Annual Massachusetts Urban Farming Conference
Saturday, March 8, 2014
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Northeastern University Student Center, Curry Center, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-massachusetts-urban-farming-conference-tickets-7547919029
The 2nd Annual Massachusetts Urban Farming Conference (UFC) is designed to advance urban farming issues ranging from farming techniques and
business models to climate change adaptation and food security. The UFC contributes to short-term and long-term state-wide strategic planning for a sustainable food system in Massachusetts.
Network with Massachusetts' diverse, multi-sector stakeholders in this dynamic event that looks at current issues, emerging practices and programs, and markets that
can contribute to Massachusetts' urban farming sector resiliency.
For vendor or general information, contact Rose Arruda at MDAR; Rose.Arruda at state.ma.us
For sponsorship opportunities, contact Crystal Johnson at Crystal at isesplanning.com
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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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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 http://thesprouts.org/
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
MIT Events: http://events.mit.edu
MIT Energy Club: http://www.mitenergyclub.org/events/calendar/
Harvard Events: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/harvard-events/events-calendar/
Harvard Environment: http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
Sustainability at Harvard: http://green.harvard.edu/events
Mass Climate Action: http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/
Eventbrite: http://www.eventbrite.com/
Microsoft NERD Center: http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx
Startup and Entrepreneurial Events: http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar
High Tech Events: http://harddatafactory.com/Johnny_Monsarrat/index.html
Cambridge Civic Journal: http://www.rwinters.com
Cambridge Happenings: http://cambridgehappenings.org
Boston Area Computer User Groups: http://www.bugc.org/
Arts and Cultural Events List: http://aacel.blogspot.com/
Boston Events Insider: http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/
Nerdnite: http://boston.nerdnite.com/
More information about the Act-MA
mailing list