Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.
If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke@world.std.com
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I'll be away next Sunday so this week's edition is expanded. Next edition will be published on Monday, October 25 and the regular schedule will resume in two weeks.
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GREEN SOLUTIONS EXPO and WORKSHOPS
12pm – 5pm
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Newton Harvest Fair
Newton Centre Green
A Newton/Needham Chamber of Commerce Expo with solutions you need to reduce your carbon footprint & over 50 exhibitors held under a big tent held from 12-5pm in Newton Centre during the Newton Harvest Fair. Continuous entertainment, food and games for the kids. Tips on how be more environmentally friendly and live a "green" life style.
See exhibitors with green products, services and ideas.
Come to our expert workshops every hour.
Find out how you can convert to solar electricity without paying thousands and reduce your electric bills.
Find out how to save money on energy and reduce your carbon footprint.
These workshops and more will help you save money and the environment at the same time!
Green Life Style Workshops: Under the big tent
http://greendecade.org/green-solutions-expo.html
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Monday, October 17, 2011
What would have happened to the ozone layer if chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) had not been regulated?
Speaker: Paul Newman (NASA)
Time: 12:00p–1:00p
Location: MIT, Building 54-915
MASS Seminar
The MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar (MASS) is a student-run weekly seminar series within PAOC. Seminar topics include all research concerning the atmosphere and climate, but also talks about e.g. societal impacts of climatic processes. The seminars usually take place on Monday from 12-1pm followed by a lunch with graduate students. Besides the seminar, individual meetings with professors, post-docs, and students are arranged. The seminar series is run by graduate students and is intended mainly for students to interact with individuals outside the department, but faculty and post docs certainly participate.
MIT Atmospheric Science Seminar Series
Web site: http://eaps-www.mit.edu/paoc/events/calendars/mass
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact:
Roberta Allard
253-3382
allard@mit.edu
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Towards Robotic Laundry
Speaker: Pieter Abbeel, UC Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Date: Monday, October 17 2011
Time: 2:00PM to 3:00PM
Location: MIT, Building 32-D463, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Host: Leslie Kaelbling, MIT CSAIL
Contact: Teresa Cataldo, cataldo@csail.mit.edu
Since Rosie the Robot first debuted on television’s “The Jetsons” in 1962, the futuristic image of a personal robot autonomously operating in a human home has captivated the public imagination. Yet, while robots have become an integral part of modern industrial production, their adoption in these less well defined and less structured environments has been slow. Indeed, the high variability in, for example, household environments, poses a number of challenges to robotic perception and manipulation.
The problem of robotic laundry manipulation exemplifies this difficulty, as the objects with which the robot must interact have a very large number of internal degrees of freedom. In this talk, I will present our research towards enabling a general purpose robot, such as a Willow Garage PR2, to perform laundry. Our current results include the ability to fold towels, starting from a bunched towel on a table, the ability to organize socks, and a still limited-reliability ability to fold a mix of t-shirts, sweaters, towels and pants, starting from them bunched on a table.
BIO: Pieter Abbeel received a BS/MS in Electrical Engineering from KU Leuven (Belgium) and received his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from Stanford University in 2008. He joined the faculty at UC Berkeley in Fall 2008, with an appointment in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. He has won various awards, including best paper awards at ICML and ICRA, the Sloan Fellowship, the Okawa Foundation award, and the TR35. He has developed apprenticeship learning algorithms which have enabled advanced helicopter aerobatics, including maneuvers such as tic-tocs, chaos and auto-rotation, which only exceptional human pilots can perform. His group has also enabled the first end-to-end completion of reliably picking up a crumpled laundry article and folding it. His work has been featured in many popular press outlets, including BBC, MIT Technology Review, Discovery Channel, SmartPlanet and Wired. His current research focuses on robotics and machine learning with a particular focus on challenges in personal robotics, surgical robotics and connectomics.
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Monday, October 17, 2011
Joichi Ito: Enabling Emergent Voices and Expression Through Technology
Speaker: Joichi Ito
Time: 7:00p–9:00p
Location: MIT, Buidling E15-070, Bartos Theater, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge
Zones of Emergency: Artistic Interventions -- Creative Responses to Conflict & Crisis
Joichi Ito, Director, MIT Media Lab (USA)
Enabling Emergent Voices and Expression Through Technology
Respondent: TBA
Moore's law and the Internet have dramatically reduced the cost of producing and distributing information. This has greatly lowered the cost of collaboration and has empowered a qualitatively different "public" to think, express, and act without, or in spite of, central authority. These changes and advances in technology enabled interventions such as low-cost video cameras in the case of WITNESS; blogs (Global Voices); or open hardware and software used to build, distribute, collect and visualize data from geiger counters (Safecast). Ito will discuss how these trends relate to media, citizenship, academics, and conflicts. Joichi Ito was named Director of the MIT Media Lab in April 2011.
The Zones of Emergency: Artistic Interventions -- Creative Responses to Conflict & Crisis Fall 2011 lecture series investigates initiatives and modes of intervention in contested spaces, zones of conflict, or areas affected by environmental disasters. We will explore whether artistic interventions can transform, disrupt or subvert current environmental, urban, political and social conditions in critical ways. How can these interventions propose ideas, while at the same time respecting the local history and culture?
Web site: act.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to the public.
Sponsor(s): MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology, School of Architecture and Planning
For more information, contact:
Laura Anca Chichisan Pallone
617-253-5229
act@mit.edu
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Materials Day Symposium and Poster Session 2011
Time: 8:00a–6:00p
Location: MIT, Building W-16
Computational Materials will be the focus of this year's Materials Day. Computational methods have reached the point at which predictions of materials structures and properties can be made before they are demonstrated in the laboratory. This has led to new breakthroughs in materials design that have greatly accelerated the development of new materials and processes that are optimized for a wide range of applications. Materials Day activities will include a one-day conference featuring speakers from both inside and outside MIT. A student poster session will follow featuring 50 to 100 posters with up-to-the minute research results from the broad materials research communities in MIT's Schools of Engineering and Science.
Web site: http://mpc-web.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: 0
Sponsor(s): Materials Processing Center
For more information, contact:
Fran Page
617-253-5159
fmpage@mit.edu
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Webinar Kick-Off
Energy Efficiency: America's First Fuel
The Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY) is pleased to launch our fifth annual online webinar series. This year’s series will continue Blueprint for Efficiency, with an emphasis on the latest developments and opportunities for energy efficiency in the private sector. Through weekly presentations from leaders in the corporate, non-profit, and public-private arenas, we will explore a range of topics around energy efficiency.
This year’s series is a unique collaboration between the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE). Founded in 1977, the Alliance is a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit organization that works solely to promote energy efficiency worldwide through research, education, and advocacy. ASE encourage business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders to use energy efficiency as a means to achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment, and greater energy security.
Join Kateri Callahan, President of the Alliance to Save Energy, as she kicks-off this year's series by highlighting why energy efficiency is America's first fuel. Providing context, Kateri will discuss the changing landscape of the energy efficiency sector by highlighting the potential for energy efficiency legislation as well as the new opportunities emerging across the energy efficiency landscape. Kateri will explore the necessary tenants to deliver energy efficiency at scale, and showcase trends being deployed by private sector companies who are leading by example as they build their own energy efficiency portfolios.
Title: Energy Efficiency: America's First Fuel
Date and Time: Tuesday, October 18, from 12pm to 1pm (EST)
GotoWebinar URL: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/557211598
Speaker: Kateri Callahan, President, Alliance to Save Energy
Register at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/557211598
Kateri Callahan brings more than 20 years of experience in policy advocacy, fundraising, coalition building, and organizational management to her position as the president of the Alliance to Save Energy. Serving as president of the Alliance since January 2004, Kateri leads a staff of nearly 100, oversees a budget of approximately $15 million annually, and works with the Alliance Board of Directors, which includes Members of Congress, state and local officials and top corporate and NGO executives, to establish and oversee the core objectives and strategic plans for the organization. Prior to joining the Alliance, Kateri served for 11 years as the president/executive director of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, a nonprofit organization promoting battery, hybrid, and fuel cell transportation technologies. She also has served as a director of government relations for a nonprofit organization, as a non-lawyer professional at a Washington, D.C-based law firm, and as a legislative assistant to a U.S. senator.
Save the date for our upcoming webinars!
NRG Energy
Tuesday, October 25, 12-1pm EST
David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy (one of the nation's largest independent power producers), will discuss a variety of topics ranging from overcoming regulatory & policy uncertainty to how large utilities invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy. This will be a special live-broadcast event as part of CBEY's GE Sustainability Leaders Speaker Series.
Wal-Mart
Wednesday, November 2, 12-1pm EST
Jim Stanway (Senior Director, Global Supplier Initiatives) and Jim McClendon (Director of Engineering) will discuss what the world’s largest retailer is doing to improve energy management and supply chain efficiency.
Blueprint for Efficiency is supported by the Yale Center for Business & the Environment and theAlliance to Save Energy. The series will take place from October 2011 through May 2012. It will be free and open to the public through online webcasts that will be conducted on a weekly basis. Each presentation will be recorded and made available to the global community through Yale University's iTunesU channel.
Do you have an idea for a webinar, or know of someone that you’d like to hear present? Send us an email at cbey@yale.edu and let us know. We also welcome any additional feedback!
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The BSA Sustainability Education and COTE will be co-hosting a USGBC-produced webinar titled The Costs & Benefits of Green Buildings: Putting the Research into Practice. It offers 1.5 AIA, GBCI and CSI CE credits, but it requires persons to be present at the event. There is no charge for the event.
The event will be held on Tuesday, October 18, @ noon @ the BSA.
RSVP to Lauren Burn (LBurn@architects.org) by Monday, October 17, if you don't want to starve (the BSA generously feeds lunchtime attendees).
The course description:
Green buildings can cost less than conventional ones, but de pending on a number of factors it's not a guarantee. However, research on the costs and benefits of green buildings provides evidence suggesting that they yield a convincing return on investment in addition to other forms of value. In this session USGBC and three leading experts will give you the understanding you need to pres ent the business case for green buildings, including addressing questions about return on investment, project financing, cost planning, and value beyond cost savings. Real estate owners, investors, and other building professionals will leave this training with the knowledge they need to shape initial project planning and financing.
Learning Objectives
Summarize the current state of cost, benefit and finance research for new commercial and institutional green buildings.
Describe the various research methods that have been employed to measure the costs and benefits of green building
Gain practical insights and guidance that you can apply to your own building projects
Become conversant in the business case for green buildings and value beyond cost savings, and address questions about project underwriting and cost planning
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Tweeting the Revolution: agency, collective action, and the negotiation of risk in a networked ageBeth Coleman, MIT
Tuesday, October 18, 12:30 pm
Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/7000
This event will be webcast live at 12:30 pm ET and archived on our site shortly after.
This paper looks at the impact of social media platforms on collective action. In particular, it focuses on spheres of activism where personal risk (bodily or otherwise) is the condition of participation. For this analysis, I discuss interviews conducted with Egyptian activists around the events of Tahrir Square. Issues of copresence, witness, and visibility are central to my discussion. This talk is based on a research paper developed with my coauthor Dr. Mike Ananny.
About Beth
Dr. Beth Coleman’s work focuses on the role of human agency in the context of media and data engagement. She is currently a Harvard University Faculty Fellow at Berkman Center for Internet and Society and a visiting professor at the Institute of Network Cultures, Hogeschool van Amsterdam. From 2005-2011, Coleman has been an assistant professor of comparative media studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is the primary investigator of the Pervasive Media/City as Platform research and design lab. Her book Hello Avatar: Rise of the Networked Generation is published by the MIT Press. She received her B.A. in literature from Yale University and her Ph.D in comparative literature from New York University.
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From Neighborhood Watch to Neighborhood Development: Transforming Revolutionary Energy to Rebuild Egypt from the Ground Up
WHEN Tue., Oct. 18, 2011, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
WHERE Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 38 Kirkland St, Room 102, Cambridge, MA 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Center for Middle Eastern Studies
SPEAKER(S) Mona Mowafi, research fellow, HSPH; chair, NEGMA Conference
CONTACT INFO Liz Flanagan: elizabethflanagan@fas.harvard.edu
LINK http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/node/2833
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Debt Structure, Entrepreneurship and Risk: Evidence from Microfinance
Speaker: Rohini Pande (Harvard)
Time: 2:45p–4:00p
Location: at Harvard - Harvard Hall 104
Debt Structure, Entrepreneurship and Risk: Evidence from Microfinance
Web site: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k82766&pageid=icb.page450594
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT/Harvard Development Workshop
For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
theresa@mit.edu
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Convergence of Information Technology (IT) & Smart Energy Technology (ET)
Speaker: Ahmad Bahai, Texas Instruments
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: MIT, Building 34-101, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge
MTL Seminar Series
MTL hosts a series of talks each semester known as the MTL Seminar Series. Speakers for the series are selected on the basis of their knowledge and competence in the areas of microelectronics research, manufacturing, or policy. The series is held on the MIT Campus during the academic year on Tuesdays at 4:00 pm. The seminar series is open to the public. Refreshments are served at 3:45 p.m.
Convergence of Energy and Communication technologies has prompted many interesting research projects ranging from new power devices to signal processing and software. In this talk, we focus on opportunities for innovation in future energy management systems for mobile systems as well as high voltage smart grid applications.
Web site: http://www-mtl.mit.edu/seminars/fall2011.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Microsystems Technology Laboratories
For more information, contact:
Valerie Dinardo
253-9328
valeried@mit.edu
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Crystalline Microporous Metal-Organic Frameworks: Opportunities in Energy Research
Speaker: Mircea Dinca, MIT Department of Chemistry
Time: 4:15p–5:30p
Location: MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
MITEI Seminar Series
A year-long series of seminars given by leaders in the energy field sponsored by the MIT Energy Initiative.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline solids wherein inorganic nodes are connected by organic ligands to give rise to highly ordered and monodisperse micropores with diameters ranging from 0.5 to ~ 2 nanometers. The micropores are responsible for unprecedented surface areas occasionally exceeding 5000 m2/g, making MOFs popular choices for energy applications in gas storage or separation as well as potentially energy storage. The crystalline nature of these materials also makes them attractive candidates for studying photophysical phenomena in ordered and/or confined organic chromophore aggregates. The various applications of MOFs in energy research will be discussed.
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact:
Jameson Twomey
617-324-2408
jtwomey@mit.edu
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The Penguin and the Leviathan: How Cooperation Triumphs over Self-Interest
Yochai Benkler, Berkman Center Faculty Co-Director
Tuesday, October 18, 6:00 pm
Austin West Classroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School
Free and Open to the Public; RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/2011/10/benkler#RSVP
Co-hosted by the Harvard Law School Library
Reception to follow
Harvard Professor Yochai Benkler (The Wealth of Networks) is one of the world’s top thinkers on cooperative structures. In his new book, The Penguin and the Leviathan: How Cooperation Triumphs over Self-Interest, he uses evidence from neuroscience, economics, sociology, biology, and real-world examples to break down the myth of self-interest and replace it with a model of cooperation in our businesses, our government, and our lives.
About Yochai
Yochai Benkler is the Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard, and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Since the 1990s he has played a part in characterizing the role of information commons and decentralized collaboration to innovation, information production, and freedom in the networked economy and society. His work can be freely accessed athttp://benkler.org.
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GreenPort Forum: The State of the Birds
With distinguished ornithologist Christopher Leahy. Chris holds the Gerard A. Bertrand Chair of Natural History and Field Ornithology at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He has been a professional conservationist for more than thirty-five years, most recently as the Director of Massachusetts Audubon’s Center for Biological Conservation.
We all know that climate change is real and that weather patterns have been more unpredictable than ever. How has climate change and other environmental changes impacted the types and behaviors of local and migrating birds? What can we expect as temperatures continue to warm? The birdlife of Massachusetts is exceptionally rich, containing both a great diversity of species and several populations of global significance. However, it is also clear that in recent decades, many Massachusetts bird populations have decreased significantly and continue to decline. These declines are occurring not just among our rarest species, but affect a broad spectrum of bird families in many habitats and include some of the most familiar and beloved birds of our backyards and countryside –birds that we tend to think of as common. Please join us for a presentation and discussion by one of the key authors of the just issued Mass Audubon report “The State of the Birds” - http://www.massaudubon.org/StateoftheBirds/.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
7:00pm
Cambridgeport Baptist Church
459 Putnam Av, Cambrige
(corner of Magazine St. and Putnam Av)
GreenPort envisions and encourages a just and sustainable Cambridgeport neighborhood
For more information, contact Steve Morr-Wineman at swineman@gis.net
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Join us next Wednesday, October 19 at 11am EDT / 4pm PDT for an interactive webinar about organizing a Resilience Circle!
Register at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/128380358
We’ll talk about how to start a group for your community or congregation, including:
• finding an organizing partner
• finding participants through "base communities" and the "linking method"
• how to show the idea of a club or circle with others
• some notes on the curriculum
You will receive a confirmation email after registering with information about how to join the webinar. View system requirements below.
Before the webinar, please take 10 - 15 minutes to familiarize yourself with the Resilience Circle seven-session curriculum. Contact us (info@localcircles.org) for an electronic copy.
Register for the free webinar here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/128380358
Onward,
Sarah Byrnes
System Requirements:
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows(R) 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Macintosh(R)-based attendees
Required: Mac OS(R) X 10.4.11 (Tiger(R)) or newer
Resilience Circles (also called Common Security Clubs) strengthen communities, allowing neighbors to come together to get to know each another, find inspiration, and have fun while preparing for economic change. Our website is http://localcircles.org/.
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Disobedience Archive, a Talk by Marco Scotini
Speaker: Marco Scotini
Time: 4:00p–6:00p
Location: MIT, Building E15-001, ACT Cube, Wiesner Building, 20 Ames Street
At a time when many still consider the reterritorialisation of the classic Left as a possible response to the advancing neo-capitalistic cultural barbarism, Disobedience, an ongoing video archive aims to provide an alternative model of thought and action, which is wide-reaching, though the archive is limited in its space-time dimensions. It is an investigation into practices of artistic activism that emerged after the fall of the Soviet bloc, which paved the way for new ways of being, saying, and doing.
Marco Scotini is a curator and art critic based in Milan. He is the director of the BA and MA of Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies at NABA in Milan, curator of Gianni Colombo Archive and editor of the magazine No Order - Art in a Post-fordist Society.
Supported in part by the Council for the Arts at MIT, the Program in Art, Culture and Technology, and NABA - Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Milano.
Web site: act.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to the public.
Sponsor(s): MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology
For more information, contact:
Laura Anca Chichisan Pallone
617-253-5229
act@mit.edu
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Meet 2006 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Winner, Carl Dietrich
Speaker: Carl Dietrich Co-Founder of Terrafugia
Time: 4:00p–5:30p
Location: MIT, Building W20, Student Center Plaza
What: 2006 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Winner, Carl Dietrich Co-Founder of Terrafugia: http://www.terrafugia.com/
When: Wednesday, October 19th, 2011, 4-5:30 pm
Where: Student Center Plaza
Contact: Shannon O'Brien (617.258.5798)
Come see Terrafugia's "roadable aircraft," the Transition??
Learn about the L-MIT Student Prize: http://web.mit.edu/invent/a-student.html
Enjoy donuts and apple cider!
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Campus Events
For more information, contact:
MIT Energy Club energy-events@mit.edu
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Ice on a Slippery Slope: The Role of Meltwater Beneath Glaciers
Speaker: Dr. Ian Hewitt, Mathematics Department, University of British Columbia
Time: 4:00p–5:00p
Location: MIT, Building 54-915
EAPS Department Lecture Series
Web site: http://eapsweb.mit.edu/news/dls.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact:
Jacqui Taylor
617-253-2127
jtaylor@mit.edu
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Boston Quantitative Self Meet-Up #7: Measuring the Infinite (on meditation and the brain)
Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 7:30 PM
SELECTED BY: MICHAEL NAGLE
Sprout, 339R Summer St, Somerville, MA
Hi Boston QS! Our next meetup is scheduled for October 19th, at 7:30 p.m. It's entitled "Measuring the Infinite" -- and is looking at different ways people measure their meditation practices and broadly looking at neurofeedback. Speakers will include Rohan Dixit of http://www.brainbot.me, Cathy Kerr, a researcher at Harvard Medical who studies the neuroscience of meditation and touch (http://www.osher.hms.harvard.edu/kerrlab/index.htm), and others with personal meditation projects. If you have a data set of project you'd like to present, please let me know! There's still room, and I think some of the best talks are the ones that are simple & personal anecdotes. For people who are excited by the broader QS movement, QS co-founder & WIRED editor Gary Wolf'll be at the event. Note that we're starting a little later than usual. Feel free to drop in earlier, and people will also be welcome to hang out afterwards. See you there!
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/bostonQS/events/36541612/?a=ea1.2_grp&rv=ea1.2
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October 20, 2011
2:30 pm
Haller Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
"Arctic Armageddon? Can microbial methane oxidation prevent runaway methane release?" with William S. Reeburgh, Professor of Marine and Terrestrial Biogeochemistry, University of California Irvine.
Bill Reeburgh received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Oklahoma in 1961, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in oceanography from Johns Hopkins University in 1964 and 1967. Before joining the UCI faculty he was Professor of Marine Science at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He is the editor of the American Geophysical Union journal, Global Biogeochemical Cycles. His work is sponsored by NSF, EPA, NASA and DOE. Visit: http://www.ess.uci.edu/~reeburgh/
Contact Name: Lisa Matthews
lisa_matthews@harvard.edu
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
Starr Forum: Border Security in the 21st Century
Speaker: Alan Bersin, Chappell Lawson
Time: 4:30p–6:00p
Location: MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge
Alan Bersin and Chappell Lawson will speak on border security in the 21st century. Q&A will follow the discussion.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Alan Bersin, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection with the Obama Administration.
Chappell Lawson, Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT and Director of MISTI
(Professor Lawson served as Executive Director and Senior Advisor to the Commissioner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection from Sept 2009 - Feb 2011)
This event is Free and Open to the Public.
More details to come.
Web site:http://web.mit.edu/cis/eventposter_100611_bordersecurity.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Center for International Studies, MISTI, MIT-Mexico Program
For more information, contact:
starrforum@mit.edu
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
Earth's Surprising Climate History
Speaker: Paul Hoffman, Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology Emeritus at Harvard University
Time: 6:30p–8:00p
Location: MIT, Building 32-123
The Lorenz Center presents: The John Carlson Lecture Series
The John Carlson Lecture communicates exciting new results in climate science to the general public. Free of charge, the lecture is made possible by a generous gift from MIT alumnus John H. Carlson to the Lorenz Center at MIT.
6:30p.m. Community Reception
7:00p.m. Lecture
Lecture summary - The geological record shows that Earth's climate has changed in dramatic and surprising ways. Harvard geologist Paul Hoffman will share his fascination with the give and take between those who discovered the ancient changes and those struggling to develop theories of climate change. His story ranges from the beginnings of climate change as a science to his own involvement in the controversy over the ultimate climatic disturbance: snowball Earth.
Web site:http://web.mit.edu/science/events/john_carlson_lecture.pdf
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT School of Science
For more information, contact:
Shira Wieder
617-253-8055
swieder@mit.edu
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Writing for the Environment
WHEN Thu., Oct. 20, 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.
WHERE First Parish in Cambridge, Mass Ave at Church Street, Cambridge MA 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Award Ceremonies, Environmental Sciences, Humanities, Poetry/Prose, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Cambridge Forum, PEN-New England
SPEAKER(S) Renee Loth and a panel of environmental writers, including Bill McKibben
Wendell Barry, award recipient
COST Free
CONTACT INFO director@cambridgeforum.org
617.495.2727
NOTE PEN-New England presents its Howard Zinn Award and its Vasyl Stus Freedom to Write Award
LINK http://www.cambridgeforum.org
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Oct 21-23, 2011: Social Movements/Digital Revolutions - Conference for Organizers & Activists
SM/DR is being called to look at new developments in technology, social media, journalism and the creative world* from the perspective of grassroots movements for social justice. *We?re also interested to discuss and debate some of the key issues facing creators and progressive organizers today.
The conference will kick off on Friday Oct. 21st at MIT Room 10-250 with a Town Hall Meeting on Media and Democracy. The event will feature an expert panel - including New York Times' Brian Stelter and Free Press' Craig Aaron - that will reflect on the future of journalism, media and democracy through the lens of the new documentary Page One.
With the Internet surpassing print as our main news source and newspapers all over the country going bankrupt, Page One chronicles the transformation of the media industry at its time of greatest turmoil. A number of clips from the film will be shown, each will be discussed by the panel in turn, then the floor will be turned over to the audience to help determine what this development means for our democracy - and for grassroots social movements working to revive it.
The conference proper will begin on Saturday Oct. 22nd at Lesley University's Doble Campus, and will feature panels focusing on our Social Movements/Digital Revolutions theme. The rest of the weekend will be filled out with a number of workshops on related topics and practical tutorials on social media and digital media.
From activists looking for an introduction to our crucial technologies to experience electronic campaigners, the conference will have many opportunities to learn and grow. It will also feature plenaries involving activists from Madison, WI, from England's student movement and Egypt's democracy movement; among our workshops will be sessions on Wikileaks and its local implementations, the use of Facebook to challenge deportations, hands-on privacy exercises, and the like.
Join in on October 21, 22 and 23!
Conference website: http://digitalmediaconference.org
Download conference flyers here: http://bit.ly/oLQdOu
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Reimagining the City-University Connection: Integrating Research, Policy, and Practice
WHEN Fri., Oct. 21, 2011, 8:45 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.
WHERE Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Radcliffe Gymnasium, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Education, Ethics, Humanities, Law, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Sponsored by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in collaboration with the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, and the city of Boston
COST Free; registration is required: http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?424639
CONTACT INFO 617.495.8600
NOTE “Reimagining the City-University Connection” seeks to promote a new kind of partnership by stimulating mutually beneficial research and policy relationships involving Harvard and other universities with Boston and other cities and towns in greater Boston. Scholars and practitioners from a variety of fields and communities will explore accomplishments of—and lessons from—several notable university/city initiatives. The symposium will create novel opportunities to strengthen existing collaborations and to begin to develop new ones—particularly those that cross academic disciplines and bureaucratic boundaries.
Registration is required: http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?424639
LINK http://www.reimagining-the-city-university-connection.com
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Friday, October 21, 2011
Science Impact Collaborative Luncheon
Speaker: Lawrence Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and Danya Rumore, PHD Candidate, DUSP
Time: 12:00p–2:00p
Location: MIT, Building 7-338, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Science Impact Collaborative Luncheon
Sensitive Coastal Environments
There are seventeen National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs) in the United States. These are coastal areas where salt water and fresh water meet. The four New England Reserves are trying to figure out how to engage the public in figuring out the best way to respond to climate change risks. The Science Impact Collaborative is designing a supportive public educational program to accomplish this.
Web site: http://waterdiplomacy.org/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): EPP, DUSP
For more information, contact:
Nina Tamburello
617.253.1509
ninat@mit.edu
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Friday, October 21, 2011
MIT Energy Night
Time: 5:00p–8:30p
Location: MIT, Building N51, MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
The MIT Energy Night is one of the flagship events of the MIT Energy Club. The MIT Energy Night is hosted every year at the MIT Museum and 1000+ visitors come together to share their interest in energy. The purpose of the MIT Energy Night is to showcase the latest energy related research, technology innovation and entrepreneurship at MIT.
Web site: energynight.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Night, MIT Energy Club, MIT Energy Club- Energy Night Subgroup
For more information, contact:
Christina Karapataki
857-445-8553
ck333@mit.edu
---------------------------
Free Event - "A Robot Sent to Destroy Me": The New Media Invasion and the Future of News, 10/21, 7 p.m.
http://www.openmediaboston.org/node/2047
by Jason Pramas
*
So, ok, the official title of the event is the *Town Hall Meeting on Media and Democracy*
event co-sponsors - *Free Press*
*Participant Media*
The documentary *Page One: Inside the New York Times*
And how about those media experts? We'll have *Brian Stelter*
Incidentally, the quote in the title of this editorial refers to something that *David Carr*
Times media desk says about his colleague Brian Stelter in Page One. It's a funny scene that reflects the passing of the torch from older reporters like Carr to younger social media savvy ones like Stelter, and one of the big reasons we thought it would be a blast to build this event around the film.
This panel is also the opening event of the *Social Movements/Digital Revolutions conference*
Given the role that social media is playing in the rise of the #Occupy movement nationally, and in the global wave of uprisings from which it sprung, we think this conversation could hardly be more timely. So we strongly encourage *#OccupyBoston*
That's it for now. If anyone has any questions about either event, just email us at OMB ... info [at] openmediaboston [dot] org. And if you're coming on the 21st, we'd appreciate it if *you would RSVP*
/Jason Pramas is Editor/Publisher of Open Media Boston/
----------------------------
2011 Energy Symposium
WHEN Sat., Oct. 22, 2011, 8 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE Spangler & Aldrich, Harvard Business School campus
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Conferences, Environmental Sciences, Exhibitions
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR HBS Energy & Environment Club
SPEAKER(S) More than 30 panelists from a range of areas involved in the energy sector including: conventional, cleantech, investing, start-ups, consultancy & policy
COST Club members: $15; any students & Harvard affiliates: $25; industry professionals: $50
TICKET WEB LINK http://www.harvardenergyclub.org/symposium_tickets/
TICKET INFO Online purchase only
CONTACT INFO Lee Hodder: lhodder@mba2012.hbs.edu, Evan Hindman: ehindman@mba2012.hbs.edu
LINK http://www.harvardenergyclub.org/symposium_tickets/
Editorial Comment: Most of the events here are free. There are sometimes exceptions. A reasonably priced symposium on energy organized by students at Harvard Business School seems like a useful exception.
----------------------------
Saturday, October 22, 2011
MIT Press Bookstore Loading Dock Sale
Speaker: Huge Savings!
Time: 10:00a–6:00p
Location: MIT, Building E38, 292 Main Street, Kendall Sq., Cambridge
Literally *tons* of books will be on sale at drastically reduced prices--up to 90% off their original retail price. Come enjoy huge savings on slightly worn and overstock books from the MIT Press and other fine publishers. It's a feeding frenzy for the brain!
Saturday will again be the "no-book-dealers" day. MIT or other University id will be required for admittance. Please see the website for more information, or email us with questions.
Web site: http://web.mit.edu/bookstore/www/events/docksale.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): The MIT Press Bookstore
For more information, contact:
The MIT Press Bookstore
617-253-5249
books@mit.edu
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Monday, October 24, 2011
12 pm
Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
Energy Technology Innovation Policy/ Consortium for Energy Policy Research
Energy Policy Seminar Series:
Trevor Houser, Peterson Institute for International Economics, "China’s energy future"
Lunch with be provided.
http://environment.harvard.edu/events/2011-10-24/energy-policy-seminar
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A World Without Superpowers
WHEN Mon., Oct. 24, 2011, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Littauer 166, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR International Security Program
SPEAKER(S) Barry Buzan, Montague Burton Professor Emeritus, Department of International Relations, London School of Economics
CONTACT INFO susan_lynch@harvard.edu
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/5602/world_without_superpowers.html
-----------------------------
October 24, 2011
12 pm
Cabot 102, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford, MA
The Center for International Environment and Resource Policy’s Road to Durban Speaker Series presents:
Climate Governance at the Crossroads: Experimenting with a Global Response after Kyoto
A book talk with Matthew J. Hoffman, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto
RSVP required. Sign up at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2286262272
Description: The global response to climate change has reached a critical juncture. Since the 1992 signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the nations of the world have attempted to address climate change through large-scale multilateral treaty-making. These efforts have been heroic, but disappointing. As evidence for the quickening pace of climate change mounts, the treaty-making process has sputtered, and many are now skeptical about the prospect of an effective global response. Yet global treaty-making is not the only way that climate change can be addressed or, indeed, is being addressed. This book provides an exciting new perspective on the politics of climate change and the means to understand and influence how the global response to climate change will unfold in the coming years.
This is the first in a series of speakers discussing the climate negotiations that will take place November 28 to December 9 this year in Durban, South Africa.
Contact Name:
Miranda Fasulo
617.627.2778
------------------------------
Monday, October 24, 3–4:30 p.m.
"Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America's Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda."
Seminar with Eric Schmitt, terrorism correspondent for The New York Times, and Thom Shanker, Pentagon correspondent for The New York Times. Co-sponsored with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Moderators: Alex S. Jones, director, Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy and Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Belfer Center.
Bell Hall, Belfer Building, 5th floor, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
-----------------------------
What Can Cloud Do for You?
Monday, October 24, 2011, 7:00 PM
Microsoft NERD Center, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA (map)
The Topic: You’ve probably seen the “to the cloud” commercial and are aware of the hype that makes cloud computing sound like the next best thing since sliced bread, but do you really know what cloud computing is? And what it’s not? When does it make sense? And when doesn’t it? What does it mean to us as software developers, startup entrepreneurs, and end-users? And how do you sort through all of the vendors and offerings to determine whose cloud portfolio offers the most value to you? We’ll look at all of these questions and more as we spend the evening navigating through the cloudscape.
Meet the Presenter: Jim O’Neil is a Developer Evangelist for Microsoft covering New England and Upstate New York. For the past two years or so, he’s been focused on educating developers on the technologies, architectures, and value propositions of cloud computing. Most recently he’s presented on cloud computing and Windows Azure at Sybase TechWave, The Best of TechEd (Rochester), and MongoBoston.
Boston Tech Event Schedule:
6:30 - 7:15: Free pizza and networking
7:16- 8:00: Jim O'Neil's Presentation on What can Cloud Do for You?
8:01 - ?: Talking the Boston tech job market with experts fromWorkbridge Associates and Jobspring Partners
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/BostonTech/events/33357482/
-----------------------------
Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the International Atomic Energy Agency
WHEN Tue., Oct. 25, 2011, 10 – 11:30 a.m.
WHERE Belfer Center Library, Littauer-369, Harvard Kennedy School
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Project on Managing the Atom
SPEAKER(S) Trevor Findlay, research fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
CONTACT INFO susan_lynch@harvard.edu
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/5618/unleashing_the_nuclear_watchdog.html
-----------------------------
Tuesday, October 25, 12 p.m.
"From Uprisings in the Arab World to Social Unrest in London: The New Media Ecology and Citizen/State Dynamics in the 21st Century."
Speaker Series with Zeynep Tufekci, assistant professor at the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She blogs at technosociology.org.
Taubman 275, 5 Eliot Street, Cambridge
-----------------------------
Doing Science in the Open
Michael Nielsen, author and an advocate of open science
Tuesday, October 25, 12:30 pm
Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2011/10/nielsen#RSVP
This event will be webcast live at 12:30 pm ET and archived on our site shortly after.
From Michael: I'll start this talk by describing the Polymath Project, an ongoing experiment in "massively collaborative" mathematical problem solving. The idea is to use online tools -- things like blogs and wikis -- to collaboratively attack difficult mathematical problems. By combining the best ideas of many minds from all over the world, the Polymath Project has made breakthroughs on important mathematical problems.
What makes this an exciting story is that it's about much more than just solving some mathematical problems. Rather, the story suggests that online tools can be used to transform the way we humans work together to make scientific discoveries. We can use online tools to amplify our collective intelligence, in much the same way as for millenia we've used physical tools to amplify our strength. This has the potential to accelerate scientific discovery across all disciplines.
This is an optimistic story, but there's a major catch. Scientists have for the most part been extremely extremely conservative in how they use the net, often using it for little more than email and passive web browsing. Projects like Polymath are the exception not the rule. I'll discuss why this conservatism is so common, why it's so damaging, and how we can move to a more open scientific culture.
About Michael
Michael Nielsen is an author and an advocate of open science. His book about open science, Reinventing Discovery, will be published by Princeton University Press in October, 2011. Prior to his book, Michael was an internationally known scientist who helped pioneer the field of quantum computation. He co-authored the standard text in the field, and wrote more than 50 scientific papers, including invited contributions to Nature and Scientific American. His work on quantum teleportation was recognized in Science Magazine's list of the Top Ten Breakthroughs of 1998. Michael was educated at the University of Queensland, and as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of New Mexico. He worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as the Richard Chace Tolman Prize Fellow at Caltech, was Foundation Professor of Quantum Information Science and a Federation Fellow at the University of Queensland, and a Senior Faculty Member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. In 2008, he gave up his tenured position to work fulltime on open science.
-----------------------------
Civilian Deaths in War: Why They Matter
WHEN Tue., Oct. 25, 2011, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge, 502, Boston, MA 02115
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Health Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Injury Control Research Center
SPEAKER(S) John Tirman, executive director and principal research scientist of the MIT Center for International Studies; author of "The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America’s Wars"
COST Free
CONTACT INFO hicrc@hsph.harvard.edu
NOTE Open to the public.
Refreshments will be provided.
LINK http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research/hicrc/seminar-series/
------------------------------
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Spillover Effects of Organized Crime:Evidence from the Mexican Drug War
Speaker: Melissa Dell (MIT Ph.D.)
Time: 2:30p–4:00p
Location: MIT, Building E62-650, 100 Main Street, Cambridge
The Spillover Effects of Organized Crime:Evidence from the Mexican Drug War
Web site: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k82766&pageid=icb.page450594
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT/Harvard Development Workshop
For more information, contact:
Theresa Benevento
theresa@mit.edu
----------------------------
Tuesday, October 25, 4:30–6 p.m.
"Political Polarization and Ideas for Restoring Civility to Government in 2012."
Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on Negotiation, Conflict and the News Media with Jill Lepore, David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University, staff writer at The New Yorker and author of The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party's Revolution and the Battle over American History; and Mark McKinnon, Reidy Fellow at the Shorenstein Center and comunications strategist to President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, and Governor Ann Richards. Co-sponsored with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Nieman Foundation and the Shorenstein Center.
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, 1737 Cambridge Street, Room N-354
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***********
Upcoming
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***********
Boston World Partnerships Hosts:
The Innovation Express, a rolling networking event along the Red Line on Thursday, October 27th.
Join us in the last car of the Red Line as we travel from JFK/UMass to Davis and back to Kendall Square’s Cambridge Innovation Center, with stops along the way to hear from and meet Boston and Cambridge’s most innovative people.
Learn about the newest trends in our entrepreneurial community and plug in with the people behind them!
All you have to do is:
1. Head to your nearest Red Line T stop and look for Innovation Express signs
2. Hop on with us in the last car
AND
3. Come prepared to meet and connect with Boston and Cambridge’s finest!
The Innovation Express starts rolling at 1pm from JFK/UMass. Please keep an eye on your inbox for schedule of station visits.
When: Thursday, October 27th
Where: Event kicks off at the JFK/UMass platform and ends with a networking event at the Cambridge Innovation Center
Time: 1:00pm - Event begins at JFK/UMass platform
2:30pm - Networking finale at the Cambridge Innovation Center
Cost: Free
Follow this event on Twitter via our handle @ThinkingBoston or the event hashtag #InnoExpress
Pitch Your Company
We've partnered with Pixability to offer start-ups a chance to have their elevator pitches professionally video-taped at the event finale at the Cambridge Innovation Center. Each start-up will be given 3 takes on a 60-90 second pitch of their company. Space is limited, so reserve your spot by selecting "Yes" under the video option when you register for this event at http://innovationexpress.eventbrite.com/
-----------------------------
October 28, 2011
New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable Presents: The Promise and Reality of "Smart Grid" and "Dynamic Pricing"
Raab Associates presents:
The 125th NE Electricity Restructuring Roundtable
Date: Friday, October 28, 2011
Time: 9:00 am to 12:30 pm
Foley Hoag LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, 13th Floor, Boston, MA 02210
***Free and open to the public with no advanced registration***
October 28, 2011 Roundtable:
The Promise and Reality of
"Smart Grid" and "Dynamic Pricing"
"Smart Grid" and "Dynamic Pricing" are emerging nationally and locally here
in New England as "hot" topics. Smart grid at the distribution-to-customer interface promises a range of benefits, from better outage management, to energy savings from improved voltage modulation, to a variety of opportunities created by advanced metering. Dynamic pricing, which entails
a closer matching of rates to actual time-differentiated costs, runs the gamut from time-of-use rates to real-time pricing.
Our first panel is focused primarily on the broader smart grid issues. David O'Brien, former Commissioner of Vermont's Department of Public Service and current Director of Regulatory Strategy at BRIDGE Energy Group, will set the stage by defining smart grid and its various value propositions, and describing the mass deployment of advanced metering by utilities in Vermont. Arepresentative of Oklahoma Gas and Electric, recipient of one of the largest U.S. DOE Smart Grid Grants, will then describe its recent full-court press on installing a wide range of smart grid-related technologies and its pilot on dynamic pricing. Next, Doug Horton, Smart Grid Project Manager at NSTAR, and Cheri Warren,VP of Asset Management at National Grid, will describe theirrespective smart grid pilots. NSTAR's includes a program to integrate distributed resources into downtown networks, and another to test dynamic pricing using its existing AMR meters coupled with wireless communication. National Grid will share what it learned at its smart grid summit in Worcester in September, and provide a preview of its upcoming smart grid pilot.
Our second panel focuses in greater depth on national trends on dynamic pricing. Our lead off speaker, Ahmad Faruqui, a Principal at the Brattle Group and a national expert on dynamic pricing, will share his conclusions from analyzing all the dynamic pricing pilots nationwide. Commissioner Rick Morgan, of the Washington D.C. PUC and the author of a recent article, "Rethinking Dumb Rates," will discuss what he learned from D.C's PowerCentsDC™ pilot on dynamic pricing, and where D.C. plans to go next on advanced metering and dynamic pricing.Nancy Brockway, former NH PUC Commissioner, MA DPU General Counsel, and long-time low-income consumer advocate, will close the panel by sharing some of her concerns about various aspects of dynamic pricing.
September 16 Roundtable Presentations Online
Speakers' presentations from our September 16th Roundtable, FERC Order 1000 (Transmission Planning & Cost Allocation Requirements);and Future of Solar in New England, are available on our website: http://www.raabassociates.org/main/roundtable.asp?sel=108
-------------------------
Visit GlobeLab: The Boston Globe's take on the (near) future of news
Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 7:00 PM
Boston Globe, 135 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester, MA
Chris Marstall, the Boston Globe’s creative technologist, is throwing open the doors to GlobeLab, the news organization’s space for exploring how news is changing. In his words: “We're a space at the Boston Globe dedicated to understanding, imagining and demonstrating the (near) future of news & advertising.
“Current projects include wall-screen-sized instagram and twitter visualizations, a next-gen TV app, a device synchronizer and a newsroom information radiator. For more information, check out our recent Nieman Journalism Lab profile or follow us @GlobeLab.”
RSVP at http://meetupbos.hackshackers.com/events/35976432/?a=ea1.2_lnm&eventId=35976432&action=detail&rv=ea1.2&rv=ea1.2
------------------------------
TEDxCambridge Presents: Thrive
November 19, 2011, Harvard University
You have to apply to attend at http://www.tedxcambridge.com/thrive/
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Opportunity
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Free Solar Panels for Houses of Worship
From a recent Mass Interfaith Power & Light (http://mipandl.org/) email
"We've recently been talking with DCS Energy (http://www.dcsenergy.com/) who has an unbeatable offer: if your site qualifies, they design and install the panels at no cost, don't charge you for any electricity, and donate the system to your house of worship after five years. Your only costs will be for a building permit, possibly a structural engineer to verify that your roof can support their weight, and any preparatory work such as roof work or tree removal. If solar panels are so expensive how can anyone give them away for free? First, there is a federal grant program that is only available until November that pays for 30% of the cost of the system. Then there is an accelerated depreciation option that gives certain kinds of investors another tax advantage. Finally, the state awards a special allowance called a "Solar Renewal Energy Credit" (SRECs) to owners of solar electricity systems which are sold at auctions to utilities who buy them to meet their requirements under the Massachusetts' renewable portfolio standard. DCS is betting that the price of these SRECs will remain high. Jim Nail, president of MA IP&L, has talked to DCS Energy and is currently having them prepare a proposal for his church, St. Dunstan's Episcopal in Dover. Jim says, "The references I've talked to have been quite positive about the program and the company has been very responsive. "If you think your site might qualify, contact Peter Carli, pete@dcsenergy.com, with the address of your house of worship and your contact information. He'll take a preliminary look at your site and advise you if it meets their criteria."
----------------------------------------------------------
Young World Inventors Success!
Young World Inventors (http://yinventors.wordpress.com/) finished their Kickstarter campaign (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1036325713/youngworldinventorscom) to fund insider web stories of African and American innovators in collaboration successfully.
New contributions, however, will be accepted.
*********
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Resource
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Massachusetts Attitudes About Climate Change – An opinion survey of Massachusetts residents conducted by MassINC and sponsored by the Barr Foundation found that 77% of respondents believe that global warming has “probably been happening” and 59% of all respondents see see it as being at least partially caused by human pollution. Only 42% of the state’s residents say global warming will have very serious consequences for Massachusetts if left unaddressed. The 18 to 29 age group is more likely to believe global warming is appearing and caused by humans compared to the 60+ age group. African-American (56%) and Latino residents (69%) are more likely than white residents (40%) to believe global warming will be a very serious problem if left unaddressed. The MassINC report, titled The 80 Percent Challenge: What Massachusetts must do to meet targets and make headway on climate change (http://www.massinc.org/Research/The-80-percent-challenge.aspx), contains many other findings.
----------------------------------------------------
The presentations from the recent Affordable Comfort National Home Performance Conference are available online at
http://2011.acinational.org/downloadable_resources
Lots of good information from what some call the best energy conference in the USA on Deep Energy Retrofits to Community Energy Challenges with details on insulation, heat flow, energy metering, ducting, hot water, and many, many other topics. If you are a practical energy wonk, this should make your eyes light up.
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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/
---------------------------------------
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
----------------------
Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/
Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations http://thesprouts.org/studios
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@wellesley.edu
------------------------
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://fhapgood.fastmail.fm/site02.html
Boston Area Computer User Groups http://www.bugc.org/
http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template
http://sustainability.mit.edu/
http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/
http://green.harvard.edu/events
http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx
http://pechakuchaboston.org/blog/
http://boston.nerdnite.com/
http://www.meetup.com/
http://www.eventbrite.com/
