[act-ma] Energy (and Other) Events - June 1, 2014
George Mokray
gmoke at world.std.com
Sun Jun 1 11:03:04 PDT 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, June 2
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8am MA Republican Gubernatorial Candidates Forum
12pm Webinar: The Maturation of Model-Based Systems Engineering: OPM as the ISO Conceptual Modeling Language Standard
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Tuesday, June 3
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12:30pm Framing the Law & Policy Picture: A Snapshot of K-12 Cloud-Based Ed Tech & Student Privacy in Early 2014
2pm Judging a Planet by its Cover: Insights into Lunar Crustal Structure and Martian Climate History from Surface Features
5:30pm (Dis) Locative Media: Performance and Mobile Technologies
6pm Science by the Pint with scientists from NASA's Kepler Mission
6pm HEET Fundraiser for Mapping Natural Gas Leaks
6pm Hacking HSTRY; Emerson's ENGAGEMENT LAB gamifies citizenship
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Wednesday, June 4
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5:30pm Why the Posthuman is Performed
6pm Moving MA Forward: A Gubernatorial Forum on Transportation & Smart Growth
6pm Boston Area Sustainability Group – “Bringing Sustainability to Your Community”
6pm Cambridge Net Zero Task Force Meeting
7pm Ecosystems Under Siege by White-tailed Deer
7pm Science in the News Lecture: Investigating Symbiosis in Carnivorous Pitcher Plants
7pm Public Forum: The Ecosystem within Us: the Role of Gut Bacteria in Obesity
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Thursday, June 5
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4:30pm Research on Potential Pandemic Pathogens: Are Limits Necessary to Contain the Risks?
5pm TEDxCambridge 2014 Spring
6pm "Energy Obesity: An Appetite for Oil”
6pm Film Premiere: Sacred Forest, Sacred Water
6:45pm Screening of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
7:30pm GreenPort Incubator: Taking Next Steps to Prepare for Neighborhood Emergencies
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Friday, June 6
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7am Virtual Conference for Innovative Product Development
11am Contemporary Artists' Book Talk: Barbara Hosein, Instant Objects of Desire
4:30pm Research on Potential Pandemic Pathogens: Are Limits Necessary to Contain the Risks?
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Saturday, June 7
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9am Hacking Journalism: Rethink how we create, disseminate, and consume media
12pm Cambridge River Festival
3pm NuVu Spring 2014 Exhibit
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Monday, June 9
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5:30pm Reciprocity, Conflict, Indifference: Relationships Between Performance and Its Sites
5:30pm Weathering the Storm: Boston's Future Climate
7pm An evening with Chris Hedges
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Tuesday, June 10
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8am Boston TechBreakfast: AudibleAssist, Slingbot, Epidemico, Vocoli, ShoutHub
12:30pm Ivan Sigal
1:30pm “Shortening the Innovation Lifecycle”
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My rough notes on some of the events I go to and notes on books I’ve read are at:
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com
Air Pollution in China
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2014/06/air-pollution-in-china-scientific-and.html
Community Energy Innovations
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2014/06/community-energy-innovations.html
Sun Money
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/05/26/1300336/-Sun-Money
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Monday, June 2
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MA Republican Gubernatorial Candidates Forum
Monday June 2, 2014
8:00 AM to 9:30 AM EDT
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=i7ljcybab&oeidk=a07e9at70hrb2047583
Charlie Baker and Mark Fisher questioned by Questions: Rick Dimino, President & CEO, A Better City; Daniel O'Connell, President & CEO, Massachusetts Competitive Partnership; Bruce Mohl, Editor, CommonWealth Magazine
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Webinar: The Maturation of Model-Based Systems Engineering: OPM as the ISO Conceptual Modeling Language Standard
Monday, June 02, 2014
12:00p–1:00p
RSVP at https://mit.webex.com/mw0401l/mywebex/default.do?service=1&siteurl=mit&nomenu=true&main_url=%2Fmc0901l%2Fe.do%3Fsiteurl%3Dmit%26AT%3DMI%26EventID%3D277797077%26UID%3D0%26Host%3D974f2d5d1a551e23181618%26RG%3D1%26FrameSet%3D2
Speaker: Dov Dori, Ph.D., Visiting Professor, MIT Engineering Systems Division
About the Presentation
Model-based systems engineering promotes the use of modeling and models as focal design artifacts to enhance the rigor and robustness of systems engineering activities throughout the various phases of a system's life cycle???with an emphasis on the early, conceptual phases.
The Object Management Group's Systems Modeling Language (SysML) and Object-Process Methodology (OPM) are the two conceptual modeling languages currently in use. In this presentation, MIT Visiting Professor Dov Dori will:
highlight the working principles of OPM, with examples from various domains;
explain the differences between OPM and SysML; and
present the upcoming ISO 19450 OPM standard.
A question and answer session will follow the presentation.
We invite you to join us.
MIT System Design and Management Program Systems Thinking Webinar Series
This 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.
Web site: http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_060214/opm-iso-language.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to all
Tickets: See url above.
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT System Design and Management Program
For more information, contact: Lois Slavin
617-253-0812
lslavin at mit.edu
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Tuesday, June 3
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Framing the Law & Policy Picture: A Snapshot of K-12 Cloud-Based Ed Tech & Student Privacy in Early 2014
June 3rd
12:30pm ET
Harvard Law School campus, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein East C
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/06/studentprivacy#RSVP
This event will be webcast live on http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/06/studentprivacy at 12:30pm ET
Leah Plunkett, Alicia Solow-Niederman, and Urs Gasser
In conjunction with the June 3, 2014, release of our latest paper-- Framing the Law & Policy Picture: A Snapshot of K-12 Cloud-Based Ed Tech & Student Privacy in Early 2014-- the Berkman Center’s Student Privacy Initiative (SPI) team is pleased to present an overview of the rapid transformation underway in primary and secondary (K-12) education as school systems nationwide adopt cloud-based educational technologies (“ed tech”). Cloud-based ed tech facilitates educational innovation-- such as new connected learning frameworks-- but also poses privacy challenges as more and more potentially sensitive data about students goes into the cloud. Though there is often no bright line rule that can strike an ideal balance of the imperatives of protecting both student privacy and innovation, the SPI team will present several pragmatic recommendations to guide policy and decision-makers at the school district, local, state, and federal government levels as they consider cloud-based ed tech. We also look forward to discussing how such recommendations might evolve as both the student privacy and ed tech pictures continue to develop.
About the Student Privacy Initiative
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society's Student Privacy Initiative, led by Executive Director Urs Gasser, explores the opportunities and challenges that may arise as educational institutions consider adopting cloud computing technologies. In its work across three overlapping clusters – Privacy Expectations & Attitudes, School Practices & Policies, and Law & Policy – this initiative aims to engage diverse stakeholder groups from government, educational institutions, academia, and business, among others, develop shared good practices that promote positive educational outcomes, harness technological and pedagogical innovations, and protect critical values.
To get in touch with the SPI team, please write to Leah Plunkett (lplunkett (at) cyber.law.harvard.edu) or Paulina Haduong (phaduong (at) cyber.law.harvard.edu).
About Leah Plunkett
Leah A. Plunkett does research with the Student Privacy Initiative. Leah is also Associate Professor of Legal Skills & Director of Academic Success at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. [More..]
About Alicia Solow-Niederman
Alicia Solow-Niederman joined the Berkman community in September 2011, beginning work as a research assistant for Professor Jonathan Zittrain before transitioning to her current position as project manager. As project manager, Alicia's portfolio includes Media Cloud (with a particular emphasis on Controversy Mapping) and the Student Privacy Initiative as well as research on information quality with Executive Director Urs Gasser. [More...]
About Urs Gasser
Urs Gasser is the Executive Director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School. He is a visiting professor at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and at KEIO University (Japan), and he teaches at Fudan University School of Management (China). Urs Gasser serves as a trustee on the board of theNEXA Center for Internet & Society at the University of Torino and on the board of the Research Center for Information Law at the University of St. Gallen, and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin. He is a Fellow at the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research.
Links
To learn more about the Student Privacy Initiative, please visit: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/studentprivacy
Collected publications from the SPI are available for download athttp://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/2014/spi_publications
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Judging a Planet by its Cover: Insights into Lunar Crustal Structure and Martian Climate History from Surface Features
Tuesday, June 03, 2014
2:00p–3:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)
Speaker: Michael M. Sori
Doctoral Dissertation Defence of Thesis.
Open to: the general public
Cost: $0.00
Tickets: N/A
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) Lectures
For more information, contact: Jacqui Taylor
617-253-3381
jtaylor at mit.edu
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(Dis) Locative Media: Performance and Mobile Technologies
WHEN Tue., June 3, 2014, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Barker Center, Thompson Room, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Theater
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Sarah Bay-Cheng, SUNY-Buffalo
COST Free and open to the public
LINK http://thschool.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k76089&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup142417
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Science by the Pint with scientists from NASA's Kepler Mission
Tuesday, June 3
6:00 PM
The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Somerville
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/NerdFunBoston/events/185538142/
Meet in the back room starting at 6:00. I will (possibly) be wearing a nerdy Meetup pin graciously on loan from Doreen.
Are we alone? NASA's search for habitable worlds with Charles Sobeck, Kepler mission manager at NASA's Ames Research Center and Dr. Douglas Hudgins, exoplanet exploration program scientist at NASA headquarters
Note that this is a Tuesday!
Join us on June 3rd, at 6:30pm at the Burren, for a special edition of Science by the Pint. Members of the Kepler team will be joining us to talk about the discoveries of the Kepler space telescope and the excitement surrounding this very new field of science.
Science by the Pint is sponsored by an organization of Harvard graduate students called Science in the News. In between their sleepless hours of hard work at Harvard Med School, they bring cutting edge scientific research to the public in a fun and informal format.
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HEET Fundraiser for Mapping Natural Gas Leaks
Tuesday, June 3
6 to 8 pm.
Asgard, 350 Massachusetts Avenue, Central Square, Cambridge
Perhaps you've heard about the natural gas that leaks out of the pipes under our streets, but the problem is huge and literally buried.
Along with causing explosions and killing trees, these leaks hurt the climate because natural gas is a greenhouse gas 34 times more damaging than CO2. The gas leaks in Massachusetts hurt the climate more than all of Mass Save's energy-efficiency programs help it.
Once HEET learned that simple fact, it began to act on this critical issue, as always using our typical combination of education and community action.
Using a natural gas analyzer, we’re going to drive down every street in Cambridge and Somerville to map where the leaks are. We expect to find over 700 leaks.
The utilities do this mapping all the time, but they won't share the data even with city officials, much less with us residents. Instead they just pass the cost onto us by factoring the waste into the price we pay for the natural gas we use.
HEET will, for the first time, publish these maps to let cities know where the leaks are and how bad they are. Then we will organize residents to stop the very worst leaks and use this pilot program to create a national website where any community can do the same.
We'll have a raffle, bidding on a fine organic wine and other prizes. Get mildly drunk with illustrious enviro stars like the guy who helped write the Clean Water bill and the senior building scientist at Nest Labs. There isn't a lot of room so reserve now.
Please help us by contributing to HEET's fundraising campaign to map leaks in Cambridge and Somerville.
And please pass this info along to those who might be interested.
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Hacking HSTRY; Emerson's ENGAGEMENT LAB gamifies citizenship
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
MIT, Building 3- 333, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/StoryCode-Boston/events/183609552/
On June 3rd, StoryCode Boston is happy to present Emerson College's civic-minded ENGAGEMENT LAB, and HSTRY's new platform for the digital classroom.
The Engagement Lab is an applied research lab at Emerson College focusing on the development and study of games, technology, and new media to enhance civic life. The Engagement Lab works directly with its partner communities to design and facilitate civic engagement processes, augment stakeholder deliberation, and broaden the diversity of participants in local decision-making. The Engagement Lab is also the home of the Design Action Research for Government (DARG), a project in collaboration with the Mayor's office of New Urban Mechanics for researching and evaluating civic innovation tools created in cooperation with the city.
Christina Wilson is the Project Manager at the lab, including being the community liaison for Community PlanIt, an online game that helps planners in government, NGOs and other agencies to gather public input for long-range strategic planning, while rallying around awards fo local causes, connecting with others in the community, and gaining a sense of empowerment in the process of active civic engagement.
Hstry relives historical events through a first-person perspective to bring history to life in the classroom. Interactive timelines, collaborative social features combine to make Hstry engaging and fun for students, while being effective and practical for teachers. Hstry is now providing interactive storylines of historical events for both elementary and secondary schools across the globe in line with their vision to become the leading digital learning platform for history. On May 3rd HSTRY held the first ever historython in Boston to develop their new platform.
Thomas Ketchell was born in St. Leonards-On-Sea (UK) but grew up in France and Belgium. After working in Australia for a year, he went on to clinch his BA in History & Chinese Studies. His desire to help the environment brought him to East Africa in 2010 where he built biogas systems. Biogas projects use cow dung to provide clean cooking gas in rural parts of Kenya, where forests are being cut down and wood for cooking is disappearing rapidly.
He went on to do a postgraduate in Business & Development, and ended up living and working in China. Whilst living in Beijing, he experienced the dreadful quality of the air on a daily basis. Wanting to alert people back home what it was like to breathe in this dirty air, he decided with his colleague Steven Chiu - to re-enact on social media the 1952 Great Smog of London. The success of this re-enactment led to worldwide coverage, which encouraged both Steven and Thomas to co-found Hstry, and the rest is... well you know
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Wednesday, June 4
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Why the Posthuman is Performed
WHEN Wed., June 4, 2014, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Barker Center, Thompson Room, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Lecture, Theater
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Seth Harrison & Ariane Lourie Harrison (Harrison Atelier, Yale School of Architecture)
COST Free and open to the public
LINK http://thschool.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k76089&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup142417
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Moving MA Forward: A Gubernatorial Forum on Transportation & Smart Growth
Wednesday, June 4
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Boston Public Library's Rabb Lecture Hall, 700 Boylston Street, Boston
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/moving-ma-forward-a-gubernatorial-forum-on-transportation-smart-growth-tickets-11651051609
Find out where the Massachusetts Gubernatorial Candidates stand on issues of transportation and smart growth.
Doors open at 5:30PM.
Seating is first come, first serve; tickets help us plan accordingly but do not guarantee seats.
Help us come up with great questions to ask the candidates:
Email jamie at livablestreets.info or tweet your question to @StreetsBoston #MovingMAForward
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Boston Area Sustainability Group – “Bringing Sustainability to Your Community”
Wednesday, June 4
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Venture Café, Cambridge Innovation Center, One Broadway, 4th floor, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6656396461
Cost: $10
Speakers are Susan Jennings, UMass Dartmouth Director of Sustainability; Peter De Bruin, VP of Environmental Sustainability, State Street Corp.; Ian Todreas, environmental consultant & co-chair of the Belmont Energy Committee; Mike Balin speaking on “Green Churches”; and Jim Newman, Linnaen Solutions.
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Cambridge Net Zero Task Force Meeting
Wednesday, June 4
6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Main Library, Community Room, Level L2, 449 Broadway, Cambridge
All Net Zero Task Force Meetings are open to the public.
More information at http://www.cambridgema.gov/cdd/projects/climate/netzerotaskforce
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Ecosystems Under Siege by White-tailed Deer
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Main Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge,
A free lecture presented by Grow Native Massachusetts:
The overabundance of white-tailed deer is a growing problem. As a keystone species of forest ecosystems, they have a disproportionate impact on other species—wildflowers, tree seedlings, songbirds, and insects. Learn about the extensive damage caused by deer overpopulation on the Blue Hills Reservation and in other forests throughout our region. We can solve this by restoring the predation that once kept deer populations in check. Tom Rawinski is a US Forest Service botanist in Durham, NH.
For more information: http://www.grownativemass.org/programs/eveningswithexperts
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Science in the News Lecture: Investigating Symbiosis in Carnivorous Pitcher Plants
WHEN Wed., June 4, 2014, 7 – 9 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Pfizer Lecture Hall (B23), Malinckrodt Chemistry Lab, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Science in the News
SPEAKER(S) Leonora Bittleston
CONTACT INFO sitnboston at gmail.com
NOTE Come hear a Ph.D. student give an engaging and accessible lecture on his or her cutting-edge research. No prior knowledge necessary! Free refreshments!
LINK http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/seminar-series/
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Public Forum: The Ecosystem within Us: the Role of Gut Bacteria in Obesity
Wednesday, June 4
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT)
Skyline Room DE, 40 Edwin H Land Boulevard, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/public-forum-the-ecosystem-within-us-the-role-of-gut-bacteria-in-obesity-tickets-11697235747
The HMS Obesity Public Forum: The Ecosystem within Us: the Role of Gut Bacteria in Obesity
Leading experts in the field of obesity medicine, including faculty from Harvard Medical School, its affiliated hospitals, and around the country, invite you to participate in a discussion of the role of intestinal bacteria in causing – and possibly treating – obesity and metabolic diseases such as diabetes. Offered as part of the Blackburn Course in Obesity Medicine, the 2014 Public Forum includes a Question and Answer session, during which you can pose your questions to the expert faculty. The session is free and open to the public.
Leading experts in the field of Obesity medicine and research discuss the topic, “The Ecosystem within Us: the Role of Gut Bacteria in Obesity”
During this session, attendees will have a chance to pose questions on this topic to the experts
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Thursday, June 5
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Research on Potential Pandemic Pathogens: Are Limits Necessary to Contain the Risks?
WHEN Thu., June 5, 2014, 4:30 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Medical School, Tosteson Medical Education Center, Room 227, 260 Longwood Avenue, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Ethics, Health Sciences, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR HMS Division of Medical Ethics
SPEAKER(S) Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology, director, Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, HSPH; David A. Relman, Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor, Departments of Medicine, and of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University; and Robert Truog, professor of medical ethics, anesthesiology, and pediatrics, director of Clinical Ethics, HMS
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO RSVP to DME at hms.harvard.edu
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TEDxCambridge 2014 Spring
Thursday, June 5
5:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Kendall Square, Cambridge
TEDxCambridge 2014 encompasses a Spring and Fall event hosted in Kendall Square at three world-renowned research centers. The conference features our unique TEDx evening event format and guest experience followed by a gourmet reception with amazing food & beverages provided by the area’s top chefs and restaurants. To apply for an invitation, please fill out this attendee application form.
See more at: http://www.tedxcambridge.com/event-item/tedxcambridge-2014-spring/#sthash.AgxLHpmR.dpuf
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"Energy Obesity: An Appetite for Oil”
Thursday, June 5
6:00 pm
BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, Boston
Register at https://online.architects.org/bsassa/evtssareg.custid?p_event_id=1284
Cost: $10 for BSA members and $15 for nonmembers
In a lively, image-rich presentation, Amanda Little, author of Power Trip:The Story of America's Love Affair With Energy, will explain "energy obesity," a nationwide phenomenon caused by the pervasive use of petrochemicals in nearly every aspect of American life. This event will be held on
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Film Premiere: Sacred Forest, Sacred Water
Thursday, June 5, 2014
6:00-8:00 PM
Le Meridien Cambridge, 20 Sidney Street, Cambridge
Cost: $25 in Advance
Please join EcoLogic Development Fund for a premiere of an original documentary film about the Maya Kiche of Totonicapn, Guatemala.
Los 48 Cantones is a 27-minute documentary film that explores an indigenous forest management system that pre-dates the Spanish colonization of the Americas. To this day, this community protects the 21,000 hectares of forest and the fresh drinking water it provides to the Maya Kiche of Totonicapn. A colorful and moving piece, the film presents various members of the community who share their experiences in an increasingly globalized world, and the struggle they face to maintain their ancestral way of life. This documentary is by brothers Julian and Thomas Moll-Rocek. Julian will be at the event to talk about the film and answer questions from the audience. The event will also feature a reading from Guatemalan writer Jennifer De Leon. Share this invitation with everyone who may be interested in joining us!
Enjoy a delightful array of complimentary hors d?oeuvres & a cash bar.
Contact Gina Rindfleisch at gina at ecologic.org
Space is limited, don’t miss out!
Juliana Field
Director of Development & Communications
EcoLogic Development Fund
25 Mt. Auburn Street, #203
Cambridge, MA 02138
E: jfield at ecologic.org; W: www.ecologic.org
EcoLogic empowers rural and indigenous peoples to restore and protect tropical ecosystems in Central America and Mexico.
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Screening of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Thursday, June 5
6:45 pm
Central Square Library, 45 Pearl Street, Cambridge
Brother Outsider has introduced millions of viewers around the world to the life and work of Bayard Rustin, a visionary strategist and activist who has been called "the unknown hero" of the civil rights movement. A Quaker, a disciple of Gandhi, a mentor to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the architect of the 1963 March on Washington, Rustin dared to live as an
openly gay man during the fiercely homophobic 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
Long before Martin Luther King, Jr. became a national figure, Bayard Rustin routinely put his body and his life on the line as a crusader for racial justice. Rustin's commitment to pacifism and his visionary advocacy of Gandhian nonviolence made him a pioneer in the 1940s, and captured King's imagination in the 1950s. In 1963, with more than 20 years of organizing experience behind him, Rustin brought his unique skills to the crowning glory of his civil rights career: his work organizing the historic March on Washington, the biggest protest America had ever witnessed.
But Rustin was also seen as a political liability. He was openly gay during the fiercely homophobic era of the 40s and 50s; as a result, he was frequently shunned by the very civil rights movement he helped create. The compelling film "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” chronicles Rustin's complex life story, a tale of race, prejudice, and idealism at the heart of 20th century America. Though he had to overcome the stereotypes associated with being an illegitimate son, an African American, a gay man and a one-time member of the Communist Party, Rustin, the ultimate outsider, eventually became a public figure and respected political insider. He not only shaped civil rights movement strategy as a longtime advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., but was known and respected by numerous U.S. Presidents and foreign leaders.
There will be a discussion after the screening. Refreshments will be served.
This event is sponsored by the Cambridge Peace Commission and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
"Brother Outsider illuminates as never before Rustin’s fascinating public career and his equally intriguing private life. It is a film worthy of his valuable legacy." Clayborne Carson, Stanford University, Director, Martin Luther King Papers Project
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.
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GreenPort Incubator: Taking Next Steps to Prepare for Neighborhood Emergencies
Thursday, June 5
7:30pm
12 Kenwood Street in Cambridgeport (home of Randy Stern)
A GreenPort initiative this spring has enlisted a number of houses of worship to serve as places of refuge in the event of neighborhood emergencies. The importance of emergency preparedness has been underlined by recently released reports from the UN and US Government stating what many of us have seen for ourselves: the effects of climate change are already upon us and will grow progressively more severe. And new scientific findings warn of sea level rise from “unstoppable” Antarctic melting.
Please join us if you would like to get actively involved in preparing for emergencies in Cambridgeport. Possible next steps include:
Developing a rapid response system using social media.
Devising a plan to inform neighborhood residents of emergency resources.
Gathering emergency supplies.
Raising a neighborhood emergency fund.
Developing signage for participating houses of worship indicating their role in the event of environmental emergencies.
This will be a meeting where we work together to develop an action plan. We welcome your ideas, suggestions, and energy.
GreenPort envisions and encourages a just and sustainable Cambridgeport neighborhood
For more information, contact Steve Wineman at steven.wineman at gmail.com
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Friday, June 6
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Virtual Conference for Innovative Product Development
Friday, June 6, 2014
7:00 AM
Webinar
RSVP at http://bit.ly/1pdckLk
The live conference kicks off on June 6th, 2014 and after that date attendees have on-demand access to the content and resource center for 12 months with new content added regularly.
Join more than 2000 product development peers globally at the PIPELINE 2014 virtual conference on Friday, June 6. You’ll hear product development experts and practitioners speaking on the end-to-end product development process including keynote Michelle Greenwald, author of Catalyzing Innovation. Attend this virtual conference to learn actionable strategies that you can apply immediately and discover best practices to speed time to market, strengthen brand positioning, and stay ahead of the competition.
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Contemporary Artists' Book Talk: Barbara Hosein, Instant Objects of Desire
Friday, June 06, 2014
11:00a–12:00p
MIT, Building 7-338, Large Stella Room, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Speaker: Barabara Hosein
Barbara will talk about her work. Attendees will have the rare opportunity to see contemporary artists' books on display in the room before and after the talk.
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): MIT Libraries
For more information, contact: Hall, Lareese
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Research on Potential Pandemic Pathogens: Are Limits Necessary to Contain the Risks?
Thursday, June 5
4:30 – 6 p.m.
Harvard Medical School, Tosteson Medical Education Center, Room 227, 260 Longwood Avenue, Boston
Speaker(s): Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology, director, Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, HSPH; David A. Relman, Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor, Departments of Medicine, and of Microbiology &Immunology, Stanford University; and Robert Truog, professor of medical ethics, anesthesiology, and pediatrics, director of Clinical Ethics, HMS
Cost: Free and open to the public
Contact Info: RSVP to DME at hms.harvard.edu
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Saturday, June 7
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Hacking Journalism: Rethink how we create, disseminate, and consume media
Saturday, June 7, 2014 9:00 AM
to Sunday, June 8, 2014, 6:00 PM
MIT Media Lab, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/hacking-journalism-rethink-how-we-create-disseminate-and-consume-media-tickets-11407617491?aff=eorg
MISSION: There is so much opportunity for new products in the media and publishing space, but figuring out what will succeed is no easy task. This hackathon will bring together journalists, developers, and designers to build out ideas to reshape the future of news.
EMPHASIS ON MOBILE: Together, we'll target mobile. Imagine the tools, products, and possibilities for news on mobile devices.
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Cambridge River Festival
Saturday, June 7
12pm - 6pm
Massachusetts Avenue from Prospect Street to Sidney Street then turn continuing down Sidney Street from Mass Avenue to Pilgrim Street
More information at http://www.cambridgema.gov/arts/programs/riverfestival.aspx
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NuVu Spring 2014 Exhibit
Saturday, June 7
3:00 PM to 5:00 PM (EDT)
Nuvu Studio, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/nuvu-spring-2014-exhibit-tickets-11783367369
You are invited to attend our Final Spring 2014 Exhibit. We are excited to showcase the projects that the students have been working on. During the spring term, students were teaming up with doctors, engineers, designers, filmmakers, photographers, roboticists and hackers to come up with creative solutions for problems related to the home. Students designed medical devices for the home, cleaning robots, games that will educate players on health topics, short documentaries focusing on concepts of home and security, and robotic gadgets that will make anyone’s home feel like the home of the future, used big data to understand health trends and created a variety of physical products and models.
NuVu is a full-time magnet innovation center for middle and high school students and a professional development program for teachers and educators. NuVu’s pedagogy is based on the architectural studio model and geared around multi-disciplinary, collaborative projects. Established in the Fall of 2010 in Cambridge, MA, NuVu provides students the opportunity to work collaboratively with experts, PhDs and alumni from MIT and Harvard as well as working professionals, to solve real-world problems in an intensive and fun studio environment. For teachers and educators, NuVu provides training on how to bring innovative practices to students’ learning using project-based methods. NuVu nurtures creative problem solving, team collaboration across networks, communication and presentation skills, systems thinking, adaptability, risk-taking and imagination, all critical for student success.
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Monday, June 9
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Reciprocity, Conflict, Indifference: Relationships Between Performance and Its Sites
WHEN Mon., June 9, 2014, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Barker Center, Thompson Room, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Conferences, Humanities, Lecture, Theater
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Mike Pearson, Aberystwyth University
COST Free and open to the public
LINK http://thschool.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k76089&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup142417
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Weathering the Storm: Boston's Future Climate
Monday, June 9
Reception 5:30 p.m.; panel 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, Wimberly Theatre, 527 Tremont Street, Boston
RSVP at https://support.nature.org/site/Ticketing?view=Tickets&id=5102
Cost: $25
What will climate change mean for Boston and other coastal cities? How can we adapt to the impacts of climate change, even as we work to mitigate greenhouse gases emissions in the future? How can New England be more resilient in the face of sea level rise and stronger storms?
Speakers will include: Adam Freed of The Nature Conservancy; Vivien Li, president of the Boston Harbor Association; Brian Swett of the City of Boston; and Vicki Arroyo of the Georgetown Climate Center.
Click here to buy tickets to our June 9 event; https://support.nature.org/site/Ticketing?view=Tickets&id=5102
See more at: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/massachusetts/explore/ma-future-of-nature.xml#sthash.g35IZGrm.dpuf
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An evening with Chris Hedges
Monday, June 9
7pm-8:30pm
First Church Jamaica Plain, 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain
Co-sponsors: Jamaica Plain Forum, Common Dreams
Cost: Admission is free (Though small donations welcome at the door)
RSVP: Those planning to attend can sign-up on the event's Facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/events/1381519838760176/?ref_dashboard_filter=calendar> here.
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Tuesday, June 10
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Boston TechBreakfast: AudibleAssist, Slingbot, Epidemico, Vocoli, ShoutHub
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
8:00 AM
Microsoft Technology Center (4th Floor Longfellow), 1 Cambridge Center, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-TechBreakfast/events/155722922/
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 Boston TechBreakfast:
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!
LifeAssist: AudibleAssist - Jean Anne Booth
Slingbot - Sebastian Fung
MedWatcher Social: Epidemico - Nabarun Dasugpta
Vocoli - Rich Kneece
ShoutHub - Max Alexander
~9:30 - end - Final "Shout Outs" & Last Words
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Ivan Sigal
June 10
12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/06/sigal#RSVP
This event will be webcast live on http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/06/sigal at 12:30pm ET
Ivan Sigal will present at the Berkman Luncheon Series on topic TBA.
About Ivan
Ivan Sigal is the Executive Director of Global Voices, an online citizen media network that amplifies unheard stories and perspectives, originally founded at the Berkman Center. He designs and creates media projects around the world with a focus on networked communities, conflict, development, and humanitarian disasters. He was a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, writing about digital media technologies and their effect on conflict. He also held many positions over a 10-year period at Internews, working on dozens of media projects across the former Soviet Union and Asia, on topics such as conflict, transitional societies, humanitarian information, broadcast and Internet media infrastructure, and freedom of expression.
Ivan is also a photographer, working on long-term projects that chronicle places and situations. He is the author of White Road, a book of photography and writing about Central Asia and Siberia, and is currently working on two other projects, about urban spaces and the ordering of nature in Asia and a visual memoir of Pennsylvania. He speaks Russian (fluently) and German (less so). He has an undergraduate degree from Williams College, and an MA from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy. Ivan has lived and worked in over 70 countries, including long periods in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Asia.
At the Berkman Center, Ivan will research the impact of shifting information technology preferences on the citizen media communities, focusing on evolving forms of content creation, sharing, news and information production, and storytelling.
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“Shortening the Innovation Lifecycle”
Tuesday, June 10
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Hynes Convention Center, Room 254B, Boston
A session during the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE), hosted by Earl Jones. Please join the New England Water Innovation Network for an exciting look at innovation in the water industry.
As the global water challenges of scarcity, quality and costs continue to worsen, there has never been greater urgency to find new technologies, products and business models that can deliver more effective and affordable treatment solutions. Ple ase join us for an exciting and energizing look at innovation through the lens of some of our industry’s leading thinkers from across New England. Our collection of speakers is sure to inform and entertain as they deliver a series of vignettes showcasing cutting edge innovation. Afterwards, our speakers will join together in a panel to answer your questions.
NEWIN is the water industry cluster for New England. A 503 (c) (6) non-profit, our mission is to make an impact on the global water challenges by both broadening and accelerating innovation to market. NEWIN harnesses the deep water industry capabilities from across industry, academia, finance and government to break down the barriers that slow the adoption of new technologies and solutions.
CONFIRMED PRESENTERS INCLUDE:
Scott Bryan, COO, Imagine H2O
Elizabeth Holst, Founder and CEO, Clean WaterNet
John H. Lienhard, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT
Louis Masi, Co-founder and Executive Vice President, FloDesign Sonics
Jim Matheson, President & CEO, Oasys Water
Alicia Barton, CEO and Executive Director, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Karen Oates, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Matthew Silver, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Cambrian Innovation
Richard Stover, Executive Vice President, Desalitech
contact at newengland-win.org
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Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, June 11
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Swiss American Startup Meetup
Wednesday, June 11
6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
swissnex Boston, Consulate of Switzerland, 420 Broadway, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/swiss-american-startup-meetup-tickets-11428275279
The Swiss National Startup Team, made up of 20 Swiss-based entrepreneurs, is coming to Boston for the annual Venture Leaders program, an intensive 10-day business development boot camp taking place from June 11 to June 21 .
You can learn more about the team and their activities on our blog: ventureleaders.swissnexboston.org
On this occasion, it would be our great pleasure to count you in for the Swiss American Startup Meetup that we organize at swissnex Boston. This networking event will give you the unique opportunity to discover more about the program and meet some of the most promising entrepreneurs that our country offer. Furthermore you will be able to connect with innovative entrepreneurs of the Greater Boston Area.
We are looking forward to see you there!
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Thursday, June 12
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The German 'Energiewende' and its Impact on the Global Energy Transformation
Thursday, June 12
12:00 - 2:00 pm
Goethe-Institut Boston, 170 Beacon Street, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/register?orderid=302608107997&client_token=29d0615e04684f54b51c51a4f3eca73a&eid=11485372057
Lecture by Eicke R. Weber, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Discussion and Luncheon
A rapid transformation of our global energy system away from the current fossil and nuclear-based power supply to the efficient use of increasingly renewable energy is the big task of our and the next generation.
With the 'Energiewende' Germany has embarked vigorously on this path, and the EU has accepted 20-20-20 goals in the same spirit. Whereas the US is still slow on this trajectory, individual states, among them California and Massachusetts, are developing strategies along the same lines.
This talk will present key elements of the needed transformation process and discuss opportunities especially in the transatlantic cooperation that was started as the 'Transatlantic Climate Bridge' in December 2008 in Washington.
Info: +1 (617)262-6050
info at boston.goethe.org
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Media Lab Conversations Series: Judith Donath
Thursday, June 12
2:00pm - 3:30pm
MIT, Building E-14, Media Lab, 3rd Floor Atrium, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Judith Donath in Conversation with Joi Ito and Ethan Zuckerman
All talks at the Media Lab, unless otherwise noted, are open to the public.
This talk will be webcast. Join the conversation on Twitter: #MLTalks
Judith Donath synthesizes knowledge from urban design, evolutionary biology, and cognitive science to design innovative interfaces for online communities and virtual identities. A Harvard Berkman Faculty Fellow and formerly director of the MIT Media Lab's Sociable Media Group, she is known internationally for her writing on identity, interface design, and social communication. She is the creator of many pioneering online social applications; her work and that of the Sociable Media Group have been shown in museums and galleries worldwide. She is the author of The Social Machine: Designs for Living Online (MIT Press, 2014). Her current research focuses on how we signal identity in both mediated and face-to-face interactions, and she is working on a book about how the economics of honesty shape our world.
She received her doctoral and master's degrees in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT and her bachelor's degree in history from Yale University.
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Boston TechJam
Thursday, June 12
2:00pm - 9:00pm
2:00 - 4:00pm Pitch Heard 'Round the World @ Faneuil Hall, Boston
4:00 - 9:00pm Boston TechJam Party @ City Hall Plaza, Boston
Cost: Students: FREE, Admission for Pitch: $10, Admission for Party: $10, Admission for Pitch and Party: $20
Location: Boston City Hall Plaza
RSVP at https://masstlc.proximate.com/boston-techjam-june-2014
Massachusetts has the world's greatest concentration of entrepreneurs, emerging and leading tech companies, top-tier academic institutions and students, world-class venture capitalists, incubators, and an eco-system of supporting service providers. There is no better place on earth to launch and scale innovative ideas that tackle the toughest challenges. We're about real and meaningful innovations that change the world.
Boston TechJam is a time when we all come together -from every corner of our innovation economy- to celebrate and accelerate our leading position. It's a collaboration between local tech companies, leading industry groups, the City of Boston, and you.
If you have any questions please contact info at bostontechjam.org or if you would like to sponsor or exhibit at this event please contact sponsor at bostontechjam.org.
This is a 21+ event
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Ambri NEWIEE Tour
Thursday, June 12
3:30 PM to 4:30 PM (EDT)
Ambri Headquarters, 19 Blackstone Street, Cambridge
Please join NEWIEE to tour Ambri's Cambridge facility. Ambri is an exciting local startup developing novel Liquid Metal Battery grid-scale energy storage technology. It was just named one of "25 companies that are changing the world"! Got to www.ambri.com to learn more.
The tour will begin at 3:30 followed by networking. Refreshments will be provided. Space is limited, so RSVP today (and if you RSVP and can no longer attend, please let us know).
NEWIEE
Founded in Boston in 2008 by a group of accomplished women in the sector, NEWIEE harnesses the passion, intelligence and leadership experience of New England women to promote and encourage public interest in the energy and the environment sectors. Comprised of members across the public and private sectors, as well as various age groups, NEWIEE is also a stimulating forum for networking, sharing of expertise and information and mentoring. Go to http://www.newiee.org/home for more information.
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EnergyBar: Summer Patio Edition!
Thursday, June 12
5:30-8:30 PM
Greentown Labs, 28 Dane Street, Somerville
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/energybar-summer-patio-edition-tickets-11709355999
2014 Boston Cleanweb Data Jam Finals
Almost two months ago, teams from the 3rd Boston Cleanweb Hackathon began a competition to turn their ideas into functioning startup companies. On June 12th, they'll square off in a Data Jam pitch and demo competition. Each team will make a short pitch, then the judges will award the final prize to the most promising company. Competition starts at 6:00PM!
Co-Sponsor
EnergyBar is a bi-monthly event devoted to helping people in clean technology meet and discuss innovations in energy technology. Entrepreneurs, investors, students, and 'friends of cleantech,' are invited to attend, meet colleagues, and expand our growing regional clean technology community.
Greentown Labs is a startup incubator that enable entrepreneurs to solve big energy and environmental problems. Our mission is to enable a vibrant community of entrepreneurs to work on their visions and to provide access to the space, resources, and funding that allows their early-stage companies thrive. Located near Somerville, MA, just 3.5 miles from downtown Boston, we offer 33,000 sq. ft. of prototyping lab and co-located office space, a shared machine shop, and immersion in a growing community of energy and clean technology entrepreneurs, and on-site events and programs designed to enable start-ups to rapidly grow their networks and their companies. We believe that the cleantech industry is absolutely necessary, and, in fact, growing!
Show your support for the cleantech industry by sponsoring this event!
Drinks/food served starting around 5:30pm. Dress code is shop floor casual.
Please RSVP to help us plan for food and beverages. See you there!
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The Hunt for Silk Road’s Masters - When Deep Web turns to Murder!
Thursday, June 12, 2014
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Google, 3 Cambridge Center, floor 4, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/boston-security-meetup/events/153128442/
Cost: $1.00/per person
A story that involves Deep Web, Bitcoin, TOR, deception, betrayal, multiple murders for hires and how a simple online slip-up may have ended one of the most profitable underground sites in history. This presentation will outline the government’s hunt for the people behind Silk Road. This evening will start with a 30 minute primer to introduce Bitcoin and how it compares to other currencies and then the main presentation “The Hunt for Silk Road’s Masters”.
About
Paul is a Director Emeritus and advisor to NAISG after being a Director for 9 years. Paul and NAISG prepared over 100 students for their CISSP exams through exam preparation seminars held to support the Premananda Orphanage and other charities. Paul has been involved with Bitcoin and been a researcher on Deep web for several years. Paul also specializes in researching the use of social media, astroturfing, digital forgeries and fraud tomanipulate stocks and public opinion.
Schedule
6:00 - 6:30: Pizza
6:30 - 6:35: Cybersecurity Opener by Akshat
6:35 - 6:40: Tool of the Month by Dawn
6:40 - 6:45: Lulzy News by Cindy
6:45 - 7:05: Bitcoin overview
7:05 - 8:05: Hunt for Silk Road's Masters
8:05+ Craft beer @ MeadHall
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Microsoft Cognitive Computing via Open Source
Thursday, June 12
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Microsoft NERD, Thomas Paul Room, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Enter and sign in. Registration required. If technically talented go on wait-list.
RSVP http://www.meetup.com/Cognitive-Computing/events/182869532/
Microsoft Cognitive Computers (MCC)
IBM with Watson and BlueMix has taken the lead in Cognitive Computing. Our goal, as Microsoft experts, is to catch up. This is our first meeting. The room is limited to 40 people and sign-ups will be on a first-quality-come basis. You must pre-register. You must be technical talented.
This is a very, very technical meeting. We are looking for a group to develop an open-source alternative to Watson. Some call this Watson Jr. I prefer to call it Gates.
You must be a programmer to attend. Your should have a working knowledge of cognition, NLP, Data Analytics, AI, Decision Support, Adaptive Pages, etc. This task will not be easy. The universal cognitive algorithm is elusive.
CC is coming. It is the next step beyond Big Data. Think of it as "applied Big Data."
If you believe that applications will become more "cognitive" in the future, come join in our collective efforts to create an open source solution. The goal is to make it better than the Watson BlueMix offering.
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Conflicting Science on the Safety of Genetically Modified Food - Science for the Public: The Public Science Lectures
Thursday, June 12
7:00 PM
Cambridge Public Library, Lecture Hall, 449 Broadway, Cambridge
Sheldon Krimsky, PhD., Lenore Stern Professor of Humanities & Social Sciences; and Adjunct Professor, Department of Public Health & Community Medicine, Tufts University.
While there have been controversies between vegetarians and meat-eaters or organic versus conventional farming, rarely has there been a time when food has divided society into two major warring camps. But that is the situation regarding genetically modified food (aka genetically modified organisms or GMOs). One camp proclaims that genetically modified crops represent the future of food. The other camp believes it is a corporate conspiracy that will contaminate and endanger the world's food supply. Can science bring us closer to the truth about GMOs?
Dr. Krimsky is Chairman of the Board for the Council for Responsible Genetics. The CRG provides a unique historical lens into the modern history, science, ethics, and politics of genetic technologies. Since 1983 the Council has had leading scientists, activists, science writers, and public health advocates researching and reporting on a broad spectrum of issues, including genetically engineered foods, biological weapons, genetic privacy and discrimination, reproductive technologies, and human cloning.
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Friday, June 13
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DNA: Not Merely the Secret of Life
Friday, June 13
1:30pm - 2:30pm
Wyss Institute, 3 Blackfan Circle, Room 521, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
SPEAKER(S) Ned Seeman
CONTACT INFO alison.reggio at wyss.harvard.edu
NOTE We build branched DNA species that can be joined using Watson-Crick base pairing to produce N-connected objects and lattices. We have used ligation to construct DNA topological targets, such as knots, polyhedral catenanes, Borromean rings and a Solomon's knot. Nanorobotics is a key area of application. We have made robust 2-state and 3-state sequence-dependent devices and bipedal walkers. We have constructed a molecular assembly line using a DNA origami layer and three 2-state devices, so that there are eight different states represented by their arrangements. We have demonstrated that all eight products can be built from this system. One of the major aims of DNA-based materials research is to construct complex material patterns that can be reproduced. We have built such a system, which can reach 2 generations of replication. In a new system that demonstrates exponential growth, we are progressing towards selection of self-replicating materials. Recently, we have self-assembled a 3D crystalline array and reported its crystal structure to 4 Å resolution. We can use crystals with two molecules in the crystallographic repeat to control the color of the crystals. Rational design of intermolecular contacts has enabled us to improve crystal resolution to better than 3 Å. Thus, structural DNA nanotechnology has fulfilled its initial goal of controlling the internal structure of macroscopic constructs in three dimensions. A new era in nanoscale control awaits us.
LINK http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewevent/389/wyss-lecture-ned-seeman
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Second Fridays at the MIT Museum: Nothing to Hide? Illusions of Privacy and Security
Friday, June 13, 2014
5:00p–8:00p
MIT, Building N51, MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Second Fridays at the MIT Museum
Explore the questions of privacy and security raised by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's installation "Please Empty Your Pockets," alongside digital art, documentary footage, short live performances by the Underground Railway Theater, and an opportunity for in-depth discussion with MIT researchers.
Web site:http://web.mit.edu/museum/programs/secondfridays.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free with Museum admission
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum, The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT
For more information, contact: Andrew Hong
617.324.7313
andhong at mit.edu
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@party 2014
June 13
7:00 pm - June 15 @ 12:00 pm
RSVP at http://gamelab.mit.edu/event/party-2014/
Cost: $20-$45
Sponsored by the MIT Game Lab
Come join us for our fifth year!
@party is a demoparty, or collaborative computer art festival where people participate in a variety of competitions that allow them to demonstrate their technical and artistic skills. These include graphics, music, games, wild, and of course demo (see our website for rules).
We are part of the demoscene, a computer art subculture focused on the symbosis of art and technology.
The goal of our event is to provide an environment in which folks can meet, learn from each other, and share nifty expressive projects involving technology, particularly computers.
Free to MIT students, faculty, and staff.
Contact us directly at questions @ atparty-demoscene.net if you are unemployed, underemployed, or in financial stress to see about volunteer opportunities and reduced-cost tickets.
@party is a program of Boston Cyberarts and is made possible by the MIT Game Lab.
We are pleased to announce the speakers for @party 2014.
Sean Kean, Voxon – the Voxiebox, a new volumetric display
Seth Riskin, MIT Museum – holography and spatial imaging
Sophia Brueckner, MIT Media Lab – Code That Sings Itself
Arlene Ducao, MIT Media Lab – MindRider, an EEG feedback display
Matt Trusten, Qualcomm – Tiled-rendering architectures
Britt Snyder, Worcester Polytechnic Institute – New directions for visual art education in college game development programs
James Susinno, Boston VR Meetup – RiftRay, an implementation of Shader Toy on the Oculus Rift
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Saturday, June 14
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Bangladesh Development Conference 2014: Globalization and Sustainability of Bangladesh Garment Industry
Saturday, June 14
8:00am - 6:00pm
Harvard, CGIS South, Tsai Auditorium S010, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dHRygFA7jCRMn-QTzPU0mOvlCkF-AQUAdI9U4ZPweN0/viewform
The objective of this year’s conference is to explore the linkages among development, garment sector and health and safety issues in Bangladesh. It will highlight the actors and factors that impinge on this linkage at national and global levels. The deliberation will explore how the development partners can more effectively facilitate and assist in solving the key problems for sustaining the competitiveness of Bangladesh garment industry. How to enhance the role international community and of industry experts for practical solutions will come up for discussion.
The seminar is bringing together experts, industry people, NGO representatives and practitioners from development agencies and high level policy makers from Bangladesh and the USA. Participants will include representatives from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), other manufacturers, international brands and retailers, workers rights groups, international labor organizations, United Nations Agencies, and representatives from international financial institutions.
The organizing committee invites you to attend this seminar and to participate in the discussion dealing with aspects of the global economy, garment industry, trade and development in the context of Bangladesh garments and apparel industry and the role of international community and development partners.
Contact Name: Mohammed Iqbal Yousuf
mohammed_yousuf at dfci.harvard.edu
http://southasiainstitute.harvard.edu/event/globalization-and-sustainability-of-bangladesh-garment-industry/
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Science Communication: American Sci-dol
Saturday, June 14, 2014
2:00p–3:30p
MIT, Building N51, MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
The search is on for the next science communication superstar! Join our panel of judges to decide which graduate student will be the next American Sci-dol!
Presented together with ComSciCon, communicating science workshop - http://comscicon.com/
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/museum/programs/calendar.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free with Museum admission
Sponsor(s): MIT Museum
For more information, contact: Brindha Muniappan
617-253-0527
brindha at mit.edu
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Monday, June 16
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Climate Change Symposium on Sustaining Coastal Cities
Monday, June 16, 2014
8:30a–3:00p
MIT, Building E-51, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge
Cost: Student full registration: $75, Daily rate: $150, Early Registration (by June 1st): $300, Full registration (after June 1st): $375
Tickets: http://seagrant.mit.edu/conferences/CCS2014/register.php
Speaker: Leaders in academia, government, and private industry
Climate Change Symposium on Sustaining Coastal Cities
MIT Sea Grant College Program is convening a three-day Climate Change Symposium on Sustaining Coastal Cities. Leaders in academia, government, and private industry will address concerns for change in sea level, storm surges, extreme precipitation and flooding and options for adapting to these risks.
Noted speakers and experts with vested interests in public health and safety will share the latest scientific, technical and social information in three general thematic areas. With shared knowledge and increased understanding, we can move forward to wisely use, manage, and protect our coastal areas now and in the future.
Our Non-Profit Organizing Partners include Boston Society of Architects, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, The City of Boston, Greenovate Boston, and UMass Boston Urban Harbors Institute. The Boston Foundation is a lead Symposium Partner, and Partners HealthCare and Sasaki are also event Sponsors.
MIT Sea Grant College Program is convening a three-day Climate Change Symposium on Sustaining Coastal Cities. Leaders in academia, government, and private industry will address concerns for change in sea level, storm surges, extreme precipitation and flooding and options for adapting to these risks. Noted speakers and experts with vested interests in public health and safety will share the latest scientific, technical and social information in three general thematic areas. With shared knowledge and increased understanding, we can move forward to wisely use, manage, and protect our coastal areas now and in the future.
Web site:http://seagrant.mit.edu/conferences/CCS2014/index.php
Open to: the general public
Cost: Student full registration: $75, Daily rate: $150, Early Registration (by June 1st): $300, Full registration (after June 1st): $375
Tickets: http://seagrant.mit.edu/conferences/CCS2014/register.php
Sponsor(s): MIT Sea Grant
For more information, contact: Gayle Sherman
(617) 252-1617
gsherman at mit.edu
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2014 Global Pitchfest: International Elevator Pitch Contest + Networking
Monday, June 16
6:00 - 9:00 PM
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/global-pitchfest-2014-tickets-11154207535
Join swissnex Boston, venture lab and MassChallenge at the Global Pitchfest 2014. As part of the venture leaders Boston Bootcamp, 30 entrepreneurs from all over the globe will be going head-to-head for the title of Global Pitchfest Champion. The event will end with a catered networking session.
YOU CHOOSE THE NEXT CHAMPION!
Each entrepreneur will have 1 minute to pitch their company to the audience. By using our SMS-based polling system, you will choose your favorite pitcher of the night. Then, our jury will choose another winner!
DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? JOIN THE PITCHFEST TODAY!
Did you recently launch a startup in the Boston area and want to train your pitch, while getting more visibility for your business? (Don’t worry - you don’t have to be Swiss or American... Every nationality is welcome!)
Join our lineup of presenters by contacting Genevieve atgenevieve at swissnexboston.org
MEET THE VENTURE LEADERS CLASS OF 2014:
Executed annually since 2000, the venture leaders program is a 10-day business development bootcamp in the US for Swiss entrepreneurs presented by Venture Lab and swissnex Boston. Every March, twenty Swiss-based entrepreneurs - out of hundreds of motivated candidates - are selected to attend the venture leaders program in Boston.
Visit http://ventureleaders.swissnexboston.org for video profiles of all 20 venture leaders.
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Tuesday, June 17
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Around the World in 120 Days: Latin America 101 - Opportunities South of the Border
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
8:00a–10:00a
MassBio, 300 Technology Square, 8th Floor, Cambridge
Cost: Free for MIT faculty, staff and students. $35 for others.
Speaker: Various Corporate Officers; Moderated by Pedro Arboleda, MS, MBA, Director, Strategy, Monitor Deloitte
South America, Mexico, and Central America are among the leading life sciences emerging markets in the world. Our experts will discuss the latest trends and cover topics ranging through market distinctions, business development, new product launches, clinical trial management, and CROs servicing companies in the region.
Key discussion points will include:
The role and importance of Private Public Partnerships (PPPs) in Latin America. How to materialize PPPs.
The role of patients when introducing new and innovative therapeutics in the region
The importance of including strong government affairs expertise from the start in your local team
Which big pharma/biotechs are striking deals with regional companies and why?
What are the barriers (IP, export control, etc.) to entry that U.S. companies need to consider/overcome in order to have successful product launches?
What do American companies need to do to partner with regional players and expand their markets?
What are the market distinctions among countries and subregions?
What are the pros/cons to conducting clinical trials in the region?
Are the market opportunities for U.S.???based CROs?
Web site: http://www.massbio.org/events/calendar/2591-around_the_world_in_120_days_latin_america_101-/event_detail
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free for MIT faculty, staff and students. $35 for others.
Tickets: https://www.massbio.org/events/calendar/2591-around_the_world_in_120_days_latin_america_101-/event_detail/556/register
Sponsor(s): MIT Technology Licensing Office, MassBio Forums
For more information, contact: Susan Silberman
617-674-5149
susan.silberman at massbio.org
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The Future of Startup Culture
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
6:00 PM
WeWork (South Station), 745 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-Startup-Culture-Meetup/events/183437402/
Our workplace is drastically different from what it was not too long ago. Greater Boston's startup culture has also seen its fair share of an evolution and it isn't about to stop improving anytime soon. What does the future hold for those of us tirelessly contributing to the startup community? How will we shape our work to make the experience more impactful and meaningful for everyone, not just those in the startup peripheral? Join Matt Lauzon, Co-Founder of Dunwello, Michelle Darby, Co-Founder & CEO of Roomzilla, and Allan Telio, Vice President at Startup Institute for an honest talk about what we can do to ensure the momentum of startup culture enthusiasm keeps up with our ambitions!
Matt Lauzon, Co-Founder of Dunwello
Michelle Darby, Co-Founder & CEO of Roomzilla
Allan Telio, Vice President at Startup Institute
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Boston New Technology June 2014 Product Showcase #BNT42
June 17
6:00PM–9:00PM
Foley Hoag LLP, Seaport West, 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston,
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston_New_Technology/events/181596732/
Free event!
Come learn about 7 innovative and exciting technology products and network with the Boston/Cambridge startup community! Each presenter gets 5 minutes for product demonstration and 5 minutes for Questions & Answers. Please follow @BostonNewTech and use the #BNT42 hashtag in social media posts: details here.
Products / Presenters:
Schedule
6:00 to 7:00 - Networking with dinner and beverages
7:00 to 7:10 - Announcements
7:10 to 8:20 - Presentations, Questions & Answers
8:20 to 9:00 - Networking
9:00 - More networking over drinks across the street, at The Whiskey Priest, 150 Northern Ave. (at Seaport Blvd.), Boston, MA. (optional)
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Wednesday, June 18
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Science in the News Lecture: Small Brains, Big Ideas: The Value of Model Organisms to Science
WHEN Wed., June 18, 2014, 7 – 9 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Pfizer Lecture Hall (B23), Malinckrodt Chemistry Lab, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Science in the News
SPEAKER(S) Yuly Fuentes-Medel
CONTACT INFO sitnboston at gmail.com
NOTE Come hear a Ph.D. student give an engaging and accessible lecture on his or her cutting-edge research. No prior knowledge necessary! Free refreshments!
LINK http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/seminar-series/
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Thursday, June 19
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Earthos Conversation about Renewable Energy
June 19
6:00PM-9:00PM
Earthos Lab, 1310 Broadway, Somerville
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/earthos-conversations-series-topic-3-energy-tickets-11783886923
Cost: $15
How do we collaboratively create+innovate community-to-regional ENERGY systems that sustain all of us into the future? We've invited energy experts and innovators, along with community members, who are grappling with this question. Together, we'll explore possible solutions and directions for New England and other regions.
Each month, Earthos hosts a Conversation about a key resource at the New Earthos Lab for resilient and sustaining regions. Each conversation focuses on a resource system, and how it relates to the other resources: food, energy, land, biodiversity, waste, and people [art+innovation+education+basic needs+economy+justice].
The Earthos Lab brings people together to research, learn, collaborate towards robust regional systems.
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Friday, June 20
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EurekaFest 2014: InvenTeams Presentations
Friday, June 20
9:00a–11:00a
MIT, Building 32-144, 32-141, 32-155, 32-124, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
The 2014 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams will discuss their invention prototype and inventive process in small groups.
EurekaFest is a multi-day celebration designed to empower a legacy of inventors through activities that inspire youth, honor role models, and encourage creativity and problem solving. Presented by the Lemelson-MIT Program, the 9th annual EurekaFest event will celebrate the inventive spirit June 20-21, 2014, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and at the Museum of Science in Boston.
Web site: www.eurekafest.org
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Lemelson-MIT Program
For more information, contact: 617-253-1000
eurekafest at mit.edu
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Saturday, June 21
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Tour de Hives 2014
Saturday, June 21
9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
John F Kennedy Park, 970 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
We will meet at 9:00am sharp in JFK Park in Cambridge, near the intersection of JFK Street and Memorial Drive. Please arrive on time to get your tour map and T-shirt so that we can get the tour rolling on time!
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston-Beekeepers-Club/events/159687082/
Cost: $20
The 4th Annual Boston Tour de Hives will engage, educate and enchant you with a first-hand look at honeybees in hives across the city, and will be guided by the humans who tend them. On Saturday June 21st come celebrate the bees on this auspicious Summer Solstice during National Pollinator Week! Hives in North Cambridge, Fresh Pond, and Newton will be featured on this year's tour, which you will visit by bicycle.
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN & STRONGLY RECOMMENDED (once we reach capacity we will have to close registration and turn away walk-ins on the day of): http://2014tourdehives.bpt.me/
Highlights of this year's tour include (not necessarily in this order)....
Site A: tending warre hives at an urban elementary school, chat with teachers
Site B: honeybees and fruit at an assisted living facility, speak with residents and their beekeeper
BYO PICNIC LUNCH: Featuring Commonwheels Bicycle Collective with a free DIY bike-maintenance skill share, including free tool use
Site C: backyard beekeeping, hear from a Newton family about their home honey production
Site D: beekeeping at Fresh Pond Reservoir in Cambridge
We will gather together at John F. Kennedy Park in Cambridge at 9:00am (near the intersection of JFK Ave & Memorial Drive), divide into 4 groups and visit 2 local apiaries, convening as a large group for lunch before splitting off into 4 groups again for the final 2 sites. At each site, you will have the chance to hear from local beekeepers and meet their bees! The total ride will be ~15 miles, broken up by hive visits, snacks and lunch (no single leg will be longer than 5 miles).
Please bring a bag lunch, bicycle, helmet, and water bottle!
Don't have a bike? No problem! Rent one from Urban AdvenTours at a discounted price of $20 when you mention Tour de Hives. A one-day, $20 rental is good for 24 hours. Bikes can be picked up on June 20th during UA's store hours and dropped off after the Tour during their hours. UA is located at 103 Atlantic Ave Boston, MA 02110.
The registration fee of $20 covers snacks and an event T-shirt (organic & hand-printed by a local artist). Pre-register today athttp://2014tourdehives.bpt.me/ if you want to be sure to get a spot on the tour (and a T-shirt)! While no one will bee denied TdH access for lack of funds, once we reach capacity we will regrettably have to close registration. Please contact us if the suggested registration fee of $20 is prohibitive for you. Any proceeds raised will bee reinvested in education & outreach initiatives by the Boston Area Beekeepers Association (formerly Boston Beekeepers Club).
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Summer Solstice Celebration: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
Saturday, June 21
5:00pm to 9:00pm
Activities at: The Plaza, Harvard Semitic Museum, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and Harvard Museum of Natural History
Kick off summer with the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture's annual Summer Solstice celebration! Enjoy a fun evening of telescope viewings, music, food, and hands-on activities for all ages at The Plaza near Memorial Hall, with free nighttime admission to the Harvard Semitic Museum, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and Harvard Museum of Natural History. You won't want to miss this special summer night!
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Monday, June 23
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Introduction to Regenerative Practice for Social and Environmental Impact: Environmental Leadership Program
Monday, June 23
1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (EDT)
Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts, 99 Bishop Allen Drive, Suite 100, Cambridge
RSVP at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/introduction-to-regenerative-practice-for-social-and-environmental-impact-tickets-11763443777
Introduction to Regenerative Practice for Social and Environmental Impact
Regenerative Development is a way of thinking and working through which the long-term and large-scale effect of an organization, project or community is considered. The ultimate goal of regenerative practice is that a project or organization will add value in a social, environmental, cultural and economic sense that goes beyond just remaining sustainable, and that has a continual ripple effect by design.
Please join Senior Fellow Andrea Atkinson and Bill Reed, regenerative development expert, in a session to explore how regenerative thinking can help you to bring a new perspective and energy to an aspect of your work and/or life. The goal will be to work individually and in small groups to tackle a challenge and begin to transform it into a viable opportunity that inspires you and engages others. Bring a community or work project in mind in order to apply basic principles of regenerative thinking.
About the Workshop Leaders
Andrea Atkinson
Andrea Atkinson is a sustainability professional with a background in international relations, non-profit management and sustainable program development. Andrea now manages her consulting entity, Scopa Group - providing sustainability solutions and programming for communities and companies. Previous to her current role, Andrea worked with The Green Roundtable, a green building organization, launching and managing NEXUS Green Building Resource Center, and educational center in downtown Boston. She has a degree in International Relations with a focus on sustainable development, Latin America and Africa. Andrea grew up in Brazil, Bolivia and Niger and has travelled extensively, always with an eye for intercultural relationship-building and social and environmental perspectives.
Bill Reed
An internationally recognized proponent and practitioner in sustainability and regeneration Bill is a principal in three firms, the Integrative Design Collaborative, Regenesis, Inc., and Delving Deeper – green building consulting, living system design, and education organizations working to lift building and community planning into full integration and co-evolution with living systems. His work centers on creating the framework for and managing an integrative, whole-systems design process. The objective: to improve the overall quality of the physical, social and spiritual life of our living places and therefore the planet.
http://youtu.be/BFzEI1rZG_U
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Tuesday, June 24
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(In)Security in Home Embedded Devices
June 24
12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/06/gettys#RSVP
This event will be webcast live on http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/06/gettys at 12:30pm ET
Jim Gettys
We now wander in Best Buy, Lowes and on Amazon and buy all sorts of devices from thermostats, hi-fi gear, tablets, phones, and laptops or desktops as well as home routers to build our home networks. Most of these we plug in and forget about. But should we?
"Familiarity Breeds Contempt: The Honeymoon Effect and the Role of Legacy Code in Zero-Day Vulnerabilities", by Clark, Fry, Blaze and Smith makes clear that ignoring these devices is foolhardy; unmaintained systems become more vulnerable, with time.
Structural issues in the market make the situation yet worse, as pointed out in Bruce Schneier's Wired editorial in January: "The Internet of Things Is Wildly Insecure — And Often Unpatchable", which I instigated and fed Bruce the ammunition. "Binary blobs" used in these systems have the net effect of "freezing" software versions, often on many year old versions of system software. Even if update streams are available (which they seldom are), blobs may make it impossible to update to versions free of a vulnerability.
There are immediate actions you can personally take, e.g. by running open source router firmware in your network, but fixing this problem generically will take many years, as it involves fundamental changes and an attitude change in how we develop and maintain embedded systems, and hardest, changes in business models to enable long term support of popular hardware.
About Jim
Jim Gettys is an American computer programmer. He coined the term "bufferbloat" and has organized efforts to combat it in the Internet (see gettys.wordpress.com), and has been working on home routers. He was the Vice President of Software at the One Laptop per Child project, working on the software for the OLPC XO-1. He is one of the original developers of the X Window System at MIT and worked on it again with X.Org, where he served on the board of directors. He previously served on the GNOME foundation board of directors. He worked at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and was the editor of the HTTP/1.1 specification in the Internet Engineering Task Force through draft standard. Gettys helped establish the handhelds.orgcommunity, from which the development of Linux on handheld devices can be traced.
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Boston Businesses Acting on Rising Seas Launch: Climate Adaptation Strategies for Small Business
Tuesday, June 24
6:00pm - 8:00pm
District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA. 02210
CALC would like to invite you to our celebratory launch for our exciting project, Boston Businesses Acting on Rising Seas, BostonBARS!
Climate Action Liaison Coalition will be convening a discussion on climate adaptation strategies for small business and the City of Boston’s preparedness efforts in response to rising sea levels. The conversation will start with high profile speakers and a focus on moving data storage to the cloud for remote access to mitigate disruption during the fallout from an extreme weather event.
Speakers Include:
Jim Newman, LEED AP, Principal, Linnean Solutions
Susan Labandibar, President and CEO, Tech Networks of Boston
Brian R. Swett, Chief of Environment and Energy, City of Boston
Light refreshments (beer/wine) and snacks will be provided!
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/bostonbars-launch-climate-adaptation-strategies-for-small-business-tickets-11635956459
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Friday, June 27
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Bioinspired Adaptive Materials: From Molecules to Buildings - Wyss Institute's 5th Annual Symposium
Friday, June 27, 2014
8:15am - 6:30pm
Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, Amphitheater, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA
RSVP at https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1525735
The Wyss Institute's 5th international annual symposium will focus on the development of innovative materials inspired by Nature that respond to the environment by adapting their shape and function to continuously optimize energy efficiency, thermal gain, and other properties critical for sustainability or other high value applications. Organized by Wyss Institute Core Faculty members Joanna Aizenberg, Jennifer Lewis and Don Ingber, the day will include a number of distinguished speakers and a keynote presentation by Peter Vikusic from the University of Exeter.
Session Topics*
Programmable Fabrication
Built Environment
Bioinspired Surfaces: To stick or not to stick
Smart, Adaptive Materials
*The complete program will be available in the coming weeks.
Confirmed Speakers
Martin Bechthold, Ph.D., Wyss Institute, Harvard University
Lei Jiang, Ph.D., Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jeff Karp, Ph.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School
Hod Lipson, Ph.D., Cornell University
Achim Menges, Ph.D., Universitat Stuttgart
Fiorenzo Omenetto, Ph.D., Tufts University
Neri Oxman, Ph.D., MIT Media Lab
Ozgur Sahin, Ph.D., Columbia University
Stephen Selkowitz, MFA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
George Whitesides, Ph.D., Wyss Institute, Harvard University
Contact information:
info at wyss.harvard.edu
617.432.7038
This symposium is free, however, registration is required: https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1525735
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The New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable Presents: The Utility of the (Near?) Future; and The Promise of Storage for Renewables
Friday, June 27, 2014
9 am to 12:30 pm
Foley Hoag LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, 13th Floor, Boston
In this, our 141st Roundtable, we explore how the utility of the not-so-distant future will need to adapt and transform to accommodate a brave new world of ubiquitous distributed generation, storage, technology-enabled demand response, and electric vehicles. Such a utility will be required to manage more complex two-way power
flow, while facing greater load, and hence, cost-recovery uncertainty. How should
our utilities of the (near) future best be structured, what services will they need to provide to their customers, and how can costs be recovered from ratepayers, while compensating shareholders - without sparking massive load and customer defection?
While many states, such as Massachusetts and New York, have commenced proceedings to modernize the electric grid, it's essential to simultaneously consider both regulatory and business models to enable the utility of the future. To provide deeper insight into these issues, we go straight to the source - the leaders of our
two largest PUCs in the Northeast, and the region's two largest utilities:
Chair Audrey Zibelman, New York Public Service Commission
Chair Ann Berwick, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
Tom King, Executive Director US, National Grid
David McHale, Chief Administrative Officer & EVP, Northeast Utilities
Preceding The Utility of the (Near) Future panel, we are pleased to be presenting
two directly relevant, recently released studies related to The Promise of Storage
for Renewables. First, Jon Creyts, Managing Director, Rocky Mountain Institute,
will present on RMI's study, "The Economics of Grid Defection: When and Where Distributed Solar Generation Plus Storage Competes With Traditional Utility Storage." In it, RMI looks at falling PV and battery storage prices and explores the tipping
point in five places around the U.S., including NY. In the second presentation, Paul Hibbard, Vice President at Analysis Group, discusses their findings in their recent study, "Project Vigilance: Functional Feasibility Study for the Installation of Ambri Energy Storage Batteries at Joint (military) Base Cape Cod." In this study, Analysis Group explores the economic and self-reliance benefits of various combinations of renewables and battery back-up.
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Opportunity
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FREE Top-Of-The-Line Event Space
Monday, June 2, 2014 (All day)
Cost: 0
Location: 210 Broadway, Suite 201, Cambridge
Register Here: BOOK YOUR EVENT!
Description: Planning Event? Need a space?
Stop looking! NGIN offers its new Top-Of-The-Line Event Space in Kendall Square to host your conference, course, Meetup, launch party, or networking event* for Free during the months of May & June.
Save-the-date TODAY before someone else does!
Send an email to olga at nginworkplace.com or call 617.863.3770
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Intern with Biodiversity for a Livable Climate!
Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (BLC) is a nonprofit based in the Cambridge, MA area. Our mission is to mobilize the biosphere to restore ecosystems and reverse global warming.
Education, public information campaigns, organizing, scientific investigation, collaboration with like-minded organizations, research and policy development are all elements of our strategy.
Background: Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon sink on the planet. Restoring the complex ecology of soils is the only way to safely and quickly remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the ground, where it’s desperately needed to regenerate the health of billions of acres of degraded lands. Restoring carbon to soils and regenerating ecosystems are how we can restore a healthy hydrologic cycle and cool local and planetary climates safely, naturally, and in time to ensure a livable climate now and in the future.
Our Work: immediate plans include
Organizing the First International Biodiversity, Soil Carbon and Climate Week, October 31-November 9, 2014, and a kick-off conference in the Boston area, “Mobilizing the Biosphere to Reverse Global Warming: A Biodiversity, Water, Soil Carbon and Climate Conference – and Call to Action” to expand the mainstream climate conversation to include the power of biology, and to help initiate intensive worldwide efforts to return atmospheric carbon to the soils.
Coordination of a global fund to directly assist local farmers and herders in learning and applying carbon farming approaches that not only benefit the climate, but improve the health and productivity of the land and the people who depend on it.
Collaboration with individuals and organizations on addressing eco-restoration and the regeneration of water and carbon cycles; such projects may include application of practices such as Holistic Management for restoration of billions of acres of degraded grasslands, reforestation of exploited forest areas, and restoring ocean food chains.
Please contact Helen D. Silver, helen.silver at bio4climate.org for further information.
781-316-1710
Bio4climate.org
SharedHarvestCSA.com
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Climate Stories Project
http://www.climatestoriesproject.org
What's your Climate Story?
Climate Stories Project is a forum that gives a voice to the emotional and personal impacts that climate change is having on our lives. Often, we only discuss climate change from the impersonal perspective of science or the contentious realm of politics. Today, more and more of us are feeling the effects of climate change on an personal level. Climate Stories Project allows people from around the world to share their stories and to engage with climate change in a personal, direct way.
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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