Here’s the New England portion of the Outryders 2010-2011 on-mountain schedule
Awesomeness
2010
TEDx Boston could have been a bit overwhelming. OK,it was a bit overwhelming. Luckily I have a trick up my sleeve for situations exactly like TEDx, where I’ll be bombarded by a large amount of data in a short amount of time. There is no way that I would be able to take standard, linear notes that would capture the richness of the experience. So, just as I did throughout undergrad part II and grad school, I mind mapped like crazy, prompting many an onlooker to comment.
Other folks have posted their own summaries of the day’s proceedings so I will not duplicate their work. I will link to them, though, at the bottom of this post. Please, take a look at the map I’ve created, and use it as I do, as a way to make concrete the shape and structure of the day, the interrelationships and resonances, the confirmations and contradictions between the ideas presented. So many of them are so compelling, I’m sure that many of these memes have infected my brain.
Please note, the mind map linked to is very, very large. Below the map is a translation of the map into a linear outline, all courtesy of Freeplane, an open source, java based mind mapping tool. I’m mostly happy with it, though it could stand some improving. For example, I could not find the spell check feature they swear is in there.
20140315 – The mind map is missing in action.
And now those Promised blog links.
- Ali Powell
- Bill Ives
- Kurt Eng
- Georgy Cohen
- The Twitter Feed
- The Facebook Page
- Flickr Photos
- HashAlbum
- Georgy Cohen
- Pete Bell
- Cesar Harada
More as I come across them.
I was not the only person drawing like mad during the presentations. Graphic Facilitators from Collective Next were busily illustrating the key ideas in each presentation. They were displayed en masse at the post-conference reception.
Today I spent all day at TEDx Boston. My brain is full of intriguing ideas; some I agree with, some of which I’m not too sure of, all of which have me thinking. Thinking more than usual.
If you know me, that’s a lot of thinking.
What is TEDx Boston? For that matter, what is TED? Well, you could just follow the link, but I’ll tell you. TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. TED originally stood for Technology, Entertainment, Design, but the conference has grown in scope far beyond that.
What then is TEDx? TEDxis a new program that enables local communities such as schools, businesses, libraries, neighborhoods or just groups of friends to organize, design and host their own independent, TED-like events.
If you know me, you know that I’m a mind mapper. For me it is the fastest way for me to record notes in high density, along with recording connections amongst and between ideas. Plus, the physical act of diagramming improves my recall. Re-drawing my notes improves my recall even more, in addition to allowing me to tease out even more connections / references / reflections / refractions / contradictions in the idea space presented and represented.
That’s why I’m not going to say anything more about TEDx Boston until this coming Sunday. The mind maps I generated are so huge, that it will take that long for me to straighten them out. They’ll be an integral part of my next post.
Until then, Keep Thinking. Share those Ideas.
The wheel of time has turned round once more and we’re hard upon Summer. The hands on the clock are difficult to read and overly complex, but that’s OK, it’s ticking in 13/8 time half of the time, the other half, it’s tocking in 7/3. Most people when asked what time it was would throw up their hands in disgust and confusion, then shuffle away mumbling to themselves.
Others, however know, or at least they pretend they know, while quaffing down a micro-brew or 10.
There’s a proggyness in the air. The thunderclouds overhead look surprisingly like floating islands upon which caribou lackadaisically graze. Look over there on Broadway, how did a lamb get downtown and why is it lying down in front of a theater where a passion play is being performed?
It’s time for NEARFest, the North East Art Rock Festival, and I’ll be hitting the road for Bethlehem, PA in just over 12 hours.
The line up this year, with their countries of origin:
- Eddie Jobson, The Ultimate Zero Project (ENG)
- Steve Hackett (ENG)
- Three Friends (ENG)
- The Enid (ENG)
- Iona (ENG)
- Riverside (POL)
- Forgas Band Phenomena (FRA)
- The Pineapple Thief (ENG)
- Astra (USA)
- Moraine (USA)
Damn, it will be good to hear Riverside live again after four years. They played NEARFest 2006. They were awesome then, I’m sure they’re even more awesome now. Then there is Three Friends. Who, you might ask? Start with Gary Green (guitar, vocals) and Malcolm Mortimore (drums) of Gentle Giant, mix in generous amounts of, Roger Carey (bass and vocals, from Liane Carroll’s band), John Donaldson (piano and keyboards), Andy Williams (guitar, collaborator with Carey in the Engine Clutch And Gearbox trio) and Mick Wilson (vocals, from 10cc). The result? All kinds of Gently Giant goodness plus tons of new stuff.
Of course, I’ve been saving up to attack the CD bins at the vendors.
This years prey:
- A Perfect Circle
- Gentle Giant
- Symphony X
- Rocket Scientists
- National Health
- Opeth
- Atlantis
- Amon Duul
- Kevin Gilbert
- Royskopp
- Three Friends
- Frogg Cafe
- Ayreon – Actual Fantasy
- Aryeon – The Final Experiment
- Guilt Machine
- Ambeon – Fate of a Dreamer
As usual, yes, I know I could pick up some of these at Amazon, but:
- What kind of fun is that?
- Besos has enough money.
- Oh, and… WHAT KIND OF FUN IS THAT?
I’ve gotta pack. Talk to you all in a few days.
Even as you’re reading this, Readercon is bearing down upon the world of F&SF literature like an express train. Is that the light at the end of the tunnel I see? Perhaps. It is definitely the light of sweet reason.
I’ve noticed that plenty of scientists and engineers do not like science fiction, even when they grew up on the genre and it was a major contributing factor to their chosen profession? Why? All too often, they find themselves unable to excuse the scientific and/or engineering inaccuracies in a text whose genre presupposes a basis in scientific fact. They end up reading fantasy instead, which is unhindered by claims of ties to the real.
Are there authors currently producing science fiction where the science is as rigorous as the prose in beautiful? I suggest the following and welcome suggestions for additions and subtractions, comments and criticisms.
- Rudy Rucker
- Ken MacLeod
- Charlie Stross
Who else would you suggest?
If you’ve been following the h+ summit, or even if you haven’t been, perhaps you have questions regarding transhumansim, human augmentation, radical life extension, germ line genetic engineering, etc, etc. I know I do.
So, I’ll be headed down to Sprout for the h+ beer meetup sponsored by DIYBio.
When? 6pm until 8ish.
Back in 2004, I lamented that no one was campaigning the then shiny and new Ford GT at Le Mans. Well, this year, there are three, count’em, 3 Ford GTs on the starting grid. Two from the Swiss team Matech. The other, and highest qualifying Ford GT is being campaigned by Belgian team MARC VDS.
I had given up on ever seeing Ford vs. Ferrari, but, perhaps good things to come to those who wait.
There will be a little bit more magic than usual on the Circuit de la Sarthe tomorrow morning.
This past Sunday, after an abbreviated visit to Boston Media Makers [http://bostonmediamakers.wordpress.com/], I made my way over to West Newton to attend a day long seminar on Wielding a Longsword (pics & vid to come), taught by Steven Hirsch (founder), Stuart Ferguson and Josh Watson of Kunstbruder – The Brotherhood of the Art.
This was a six hour long version of the 1 hour class I took part in at Arisia [http://www.arisia.org]. Whereas at the Arisia class we were quickly introduced to basic stances and footwork, this seminar proceeded as follows:
- 12:00 -12:25 Introduction to the Longsword
- 12:25 – 12:35 Warm-ups – Be prepared to sweat
- 12:35 – 12:50 The Basic attack – Oberhau
- 12:50 – 1:30 Footwork
- 1:40 – 2:30 Moulinet & Zornhau with Zorn-ort and Abnemen
- 2:30 – 3:00 Snack break
- 3:00 – 3:50 Unterhau and Combining it all
- 4:00 – 4:30 Absetzen – parry-riposte
- 4:30 – 5:00 Ringen am schwert – Wrestling at the sword
- 5:00 – 5:40 Coached free play
- 5:40 – 6:00 How to practice what you’ve learned
- 6:00- Dinner!
There were 6 students in attendance, including Marc Bernier [http://www.hickoryarmsonline.com], the swordsman and craftsman who created my brand new hickory waster, seen above and on the right.
By the end of the day, I was sweaty, tired, famished, and totally happy. Afterwards, we shared a well deserved beer and some much needed calories. Check these guys out. They’re great teachers. I’m definitely looking forwards to many, many, more lessons.
Thanks guys!
Follow #bostonchi on Twitter or me (http://www.twitter.com/zentinal) for live tweeting from Candy Sidner’s (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) presentation on The Recognition of Engagement in Human-Robot Dialogs.
On February 6, 2010, Ron Yeany, Alfio Raymond and I traveled way out West (Westfield MA, that is) to attend PodCamp WesternMass 2. Ron and Alfio were were attending because of my regular raving about how incredible the first PCWM had been, not quite a year earlier.
It occurs to me that you might not know what a PodCamp is. Well, PodCamps are a type of unconference. But What’s An UnConference? An unconference is a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered around a theme or purpose. PodCamp is NOT just about podcasting, but about all social media/networking, and its relevance and usefulness to community, business and otherwise. This PodCamp was all about blogging, content management systems like WordPress and Drupal, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, podcasting, videocasting/YouTube, and many other online community tools.
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Unconventionaut 