Metaboston

Happy Darwin Day!

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth with a lecture by Darwin biographer Janet Browne.

Darwin at 200: Rethinking the Revolution

On February 12, cities and universities around the world will celebrate “Darwin Day.” But what is being celebrated, the achievements of a single individual or the acceptance of his controversial theory of evolution? Harvard's Janet Browne, Aramont Professor of the History of Science, will explore Charles Darwin’s cultural significance and what he has come to represent over time: the idea of scientific progress.

Free and open to the public in the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street.
Thursday, February 12, 6:00 pm

Other events and exhibits will also be taking place at Harvard.  You can still participate in the marathon reading of The Origin of Species.

WBUR Social Media Meetup: Dec. 9th

 Another WBUR Social Media Meetup this evening.  WBUR has been innovative in using social media to develop a community around the station and consider what social media means for a traditional media producer.  An interesting opportunity to visit the station and meet some interesting people.

Let's all get in the holiday sprit of things at WBUR's final social media event of 2008!

This very loosely structured gathering will commence at 6:30ish. (PM) Expect a tour of the station followed by some free-flowing conversation about new media and public radio.

Bring: Please feel free to bring holiday cookies, your insights, cameras and laptops. You are invited to share some of your media/social media projects with the group.

Those not full of holiday snacks will head over to the Sunset aftwards for more eats and drinks.

And who knows? Maybe Hannukah Harry will make an appearance.

Questions? Tweet @WBUR or email Ken George: wburnewmedia@yahoo.com.

Info:
Time: 
Place:  WBUR, 890 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215
Cost:  Free

Watertown's Shakespeare Reading Group

The Watertown Public Library hosts a regular Shakespeare Reading Group.  The October play is The Merchant of Venice.  The discussions will take place on Oct. 21 and 28  with screenings and other discussion taking place on Nov. 20 and 25.

The SRG meets on the third and fourth Tuesdays of the month, 6:30-8:00 p.m., with a full reading of the play, in parts or round-robin style, in two or three sessions. Lively discussion follows each Scene and/or Act.  Followed the next month by a talk on the play by Dr. Charles Berney as well as a screening of a DVD of a famous stage or screen production of the play. No experience or knowledge needed - just curiosity and interest. Please bring your own copy of the play.

More info.

Internet Policy Discussion: October 9

 

Harvard's Berkman Center will be hosting a panel discussion on internet policy issues called:  The Uncertain Internet: Core Net Values for the [TBD] Administration.  The discussion will be on October 9.

Now is a critical moment for defining and reinforcing the best features of our communications platforms.  What do we value about the internet and what should be the focus of the next administration?  This event will be a discussion exploring the Net’s benefits and its increasing vulnerabilities.  How do we maintain the network we know, and anticipate the network it is becoming?  What issues emerge in the era of "cloud computing" and the mobile internet?  How do we ensure broadband for everyone?  What can be done to promote open networks and open devices?  Join us for a wide-ranging discussion with leaders from the legal, technical, and political fields.

The panel will include:

• Jonathan Zittrain (Professor, Harvard Law School)
• Susan Crawford (Professor, University of Michigan Law School)
• Alec Ross (Tech Policy Advisor to Obama)
  
• Rich Miner (Mobile Platforms, Google; co-Founder of Android)

More Information.

Info:
When:  Thursday, October 9, 6:00 PM
Where:  Austin East Classroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School
Cost:  Free and open to the public, no RSVP required.

Ig Nobel Prizes 2008

The IgNobel Prize 2008 Ceremony takes place tonight at 7:30pm at Sanders Theatre. 

The 18th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will announce and introduce the ten new Ig Nobel Prize winners. The winners are traveling to the ceremony, at their own expense, from several continents. The Prizes will be handed to them by a group of genuine, genuinely bemused Nobel Laureates, all before a standing-room only audience of 1200 people. Full details and action pictures will appear in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. The ceremony also includes other wonders.

Unfortunately, the tickets are a pricey $39.

Fortunately, there are two cheaper alternatives.

1. You can watch the webcast of the ceremony for free; and
2. If you want to see the winners in person for free you can attend the Ig Informal Lectures at MIT on Saturday.

Once again, The MIT Press Bookstore is proud to partner with some Improbable friends to bring you a half-afternoon of improbably funny, informative, brief (5 minutes each, plus a few questions & answers with the audience), high-spirited public lectures, in which the new Ig Nobel Prize winners will attempt to explain what they did, and why they did it.

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor people whose achievements have made people LAUGH, and then made them THINK. Ten prizes are given to people who have done remarkable things — some of them admirable, some perhaps otherwise. The Igs are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative - and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology.

Info:
THE IG INFORMAL LECTURES AT MIT
When:  Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Where:  MIT 10-250, 222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge
Cost:  Free

Boston Greenfest 2008

Boston will hold its Greenfest focusing on ways to increase sustainable efforts around the city with lectures on topics like green architecture and economics on the schedule.

Info:
Time:  September 26-27, 2008, 10 am - 5 pm
Location:  City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA
Cost:  Free

Boldcrits: Bike Racing in Boston

Dirt oval track bike racing will begin Sept. 15th at William E. Smith Field in Allston.  Should be fun to watch.  All for the glory of a six-pack.

Time:  Mondays (beginning Sept. 15) at 6:30pm
Location:  William E. Smith Field, 250 Western Ave., Boston, MA
Cost:  Free

Loren Coleman, Cryptozoologist, at Museum of Science

The Museum of Science ventures into the misty regions of cryptozoology with a lecture by Loren Coleman, the most famous researcher into bigfoot and other great folkloric creatures.

"Could hair samples be used to verify the existence of Bigfoot? Are unexplained animal droppings evidence of a new species? Do footprints hold the key to unlocking the mystery of the yeti? World-renowned cryptozoologist Loren Coleman has spent decades researching the existence of fantastical creatures and interviewing witnesses who have sighted sea serpents, lake monsters, Sasquatch, thunderbirds, and yet-to-be-verified animals.  Join us to explore the science behind these mythic beings.

Time:  Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008,  7:00 pm
Location:  Museum of Science, Boston/Cahners Theater
Cost:  Free  "Seating passes are available to the general public in the Museum lobby beginning at 5:45 pm the evening of the program.  First come, first served."

Winedown at Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store will be hosting the latest of its Winedown events on Friday Sept. 12.  They'll be serving free food and wine.  In the era of Amazon, this seems like a great way for a real-world store to distinguish itself - by positioning itself as a place where people can participate in a community.

"In support of fellow locally owned, independent businesses, Harvard Book Store is delighted to welcome representatives from a number of area shops, restaurants, and venues--along with a sampling of their wares--for the first Winedown of the fall. 

***
And, as always, wine will be served.  
Appetizers will be served courtesy of the fantastic Grafton Street Pub and Grill.

Info:
Time:  Friday, September 12th, 7:00pm
Location:  Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA
Cost:  Free

100 Second Film Festival

Jason Daniels and Medfield.TV are sponsoring the 2008 100 Second Film Festival.

“Our objective is to stimulate people to create, watch and share videos (that are 100 seconds or less in duration).

It a showcase for unique visions, exceptional creativity, and vibrant, authentic voices.  We are a grassroots, community spirited collaboration.

Naturally the festival has its own video blog.

You can also see past entries in their archives.  If you've been hesitating about putting a video together for a competition you can't use length as an excuse any longer.

Info:
Entry deadline: November 15
Cost: Free

Boston Zine Fair: Sept. 20 - 21

 

The Boston Zine Fair is being held at the Art Institute of Boston on September 20-21.  Zines, self-published journals, are another of the ancestors of community and social media, that are so prominent now.

“The Boston Zine Fair is a weekend-long event with the aim of bringing together zinesters, artists, small presses and other producers of independent media. The conference includes two full days of tabling, an opening night show with live bands and readers, as well as potluck meals throughout the weekend. There are also numerous hands-on workshops and discussion panels which give us the opportunity to learn new skills to use in our own creative enterprises, as well as to explore the importance of independent media in a corporate-owned world.

While zines have lost some luster with the rise of blogging and internet publishing in general it should be interesting to check out what local people are doing with this medium and the whole culture that surrounds it.

Info:
Time: Sept. 20 - 21
Location:  Art Institute of Boston, 601 Newbury Street, Boston, MA
Cost:  Free

Reminder: Ignite Boston 4: Sept. 11 (6pm - 10pm)

A reminder that Ignite Boston 4 is coming up on Thursday (Previously on Metaboston).

Info:
Time:  Thursday, September 11, 6 - 10pm
Location:  Hooley House, 25 Union Street, Boston, MA,

The list of speakers has been announced and Tim O'Reilly will be giving a presentation.

"Speakers:

• Mansour Raad - Disaster Routing Application in 24hours
  

•      Deconstructing the 24 hours to build a re-routing application for the Minneapolis I35 bridge collapse.
• Jon Radoff - Megatrends in Video Gaming
       A presentation on the who, what and where of current videogame market trends.

MIT Student Loan Art Program

 

MIT loans out art from its collection to students to live with while at school.

“The largest program of its kind in the country, the Student Loan Art Program at MIT loans out 400 prints each year, including pieces by renowned artists such as Andy Warhol and Berenice Abbott.
Students enter their top three choices into the lottery and receive their results Sept. 16, and pieces that are not claimed by September 18 are distributed on a first-come first-serve basis. The students are trusted to look after these pieces for a year and return them the week before Spring finals week. So far, none of the art has been damaged or destroyed. Usually around 1000 students enter the lottery.

Introduction to New Media Art at AXIOM on Sept. 9

AXIOM Gallery is holding a panel to help introduce people to new media art on Tuesday.

""What Is New Media?"
An open panel discussion constructed with the JP community in mind, featuring local professionals and artists from the field of new media. This talk is intended to help de-mystify the genre by furthering understanding and access.

Panelists include:
George Fifield - Director, Boston Cyberarts
Dana Moser - Director, MassArt SIM Program
Helen Thorington - Founder, Turbulence
Halsey Burgund - New Media Artist

Info:
Location: AXIOM Gallery, 141 Green Street, Jamaica Plain, MA
Time: September 9 at 7:00 P.M.
Cost: Free

Free Movie: Inman Square Science Fiction Mystery Film

Inman Square will also be hosting its own free movie night.  They claim to be keeping the title a secret but their wish  'May the Force' be with you should tell you all you what to expect.

"Although we cannot reveal the title of the movie, we can tell you that it's an inter-galactic adventure loved by all!

Let's just hope it's not one of the prequels.  There's also a performance by Improv Boston starting at 6:00pm

Info:
August 21 at 8:00pm
East Cambridge Savings Bank's parking lot
1310 Cambridge St., next to S&S Deli, between Hampshire and Cambridge Streets
(via Margaret)

Free Movie: Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' Under The Stars in Cambridge

See Alfred Hitchcock's great movie Vertigo at night in Cambridge's Raymond Park.

Info:
Time:  8:00pm
Raymond Park: corner of Upland and Raymond Street
Rain Date: Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 6:30 pm
(via Margaret )

Ignite Boston 4: Sept. 11 (6pm - 10pm)

The next Ignite Boston event will be September 11 (6pm - 10pm). It's a great free event where you can hear some interesting ideas in a short format. Unlike a lot of events like this, Ignite Boston also allows you to propose your own short (5 minutes max) presentation.

"The fourth Ignite Boston will be on Thursday, September 11, from 6 to 10pm at the  Hooley House, one block from Faneuil Hall in Boston, MA. THIS IS A LARGER VENUE. So the acoustics will be better than our last event and there will be room to sit, stand and mingle.

From 6-6:45 pm, mingle and talk tech with your fellow FOOs, alpha geeks, and techies from the greater Boston area. After the mingling and social stuff, we'll have a couple of special keynote presentations to kick off our Ignite talks. Then, onto guest speakers who'll catch you up on the cool, new, innovative stuff going on in technology today. Don’t blink or you’ll miss their lightning-fast, five-minute presentations. During intermissions, get a cold beer and chat with speakers, sponsors, and O’Reilly’s own editors. Join us Thursday, September 11th, for a fun, energetic evening of talking, learning, collaborating and drinking!

RSVP If you plan to attend, email IgniteBoston at oreilly dot com for the chance to win $300 worth of O'Reilly books of your choosing. You must be present to win. There will likely be other items like tee-shirts and other promo items for those who alert us ahead that they plan to attend. Presentation Guidelines

Ignite is a user-generated event. If you’re interested in speaking, then submit a proposal for consideration.

Presentations must:

* Be no longer than 5 minutes

* Be on an innovative topic (no sales pitches, please!)

* Be viewable on a PC [a MacBook Pro with Powerpoint and Keynote, and PDF] with standard AV equipment

* Did we mention, no Sales Pitches.

Geocaching Treasure Hunt: August 14th at 6:30pm

The Boston Social Media Club is sponsoring a geocaching treasure hunt.  If you want to try and use your GPS unit for something other than navigating Boston's confusing streets this could be a good free oppportunity.  And you don't need to have a GPS unit to participate.

"Geocaching, according to Wikipedia, is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called “geocaches” or “caches”) anywhere in the world. For the Social Media Geocaching Treasure Hunt, we’ll have three teams competing on three different geocache courses to get the ultimate and shared goal—but we’re not going to tell you what that is until you find it.

We’ll meet at the Leif Ericsson statue, located at Charlesgate East and Comm Ave or N 42 20 922 / W 071 05 488, at 6:30pm. From there, we’ll break into teams and depart from statue around 6:45pm. If you’re coming late to the hunt, shoot @skalik a DM or call her at 503-320-0048, and she’ll match you up with a team already on the road.

You don’t need to bring a GPS unit to play; however, if you have one, please bring it, because we still need one or two!

As usual, we’ll end things with a visit to a nearby pub."

Info:
Thursday, August 14, 2008
6:30pm – 9:30 pm and beyond
Charlesgate East and Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA

Copyright Nuttiness: Free Friday Flicks at the Hatch Shell Edition

WBZ says they can't publish the titles of the free movies shown on Friday nights at the Hatch Shell because of copyright issues.  While giving hints is cute and free is nice, what actual non-paranoid purpose is served by this?

Shakespeare in the Square: Free Shakespeare in Harvard Square

The Harvard Square Business Association is putting on a fun outdoor Shakespeare festival from August 1-3 in Winthrop Park.  The highlight is probably the Love's Labour's Lost production but there's other free events as well.

"Actors’ Shakespeare Project Presents Love’s Labour’s Lost:

Actors’ Shakespeare Project will present an encore presentation of their highly successful interpretation of Love’s Labour’s Lost in conjunction with the Harvard Square Business Associations’ Shakespeare in the Square.  This production is directed by Benjamin Evett and features Steven Berkhimer*, Marianna Bassham*, Jason Bowen, Khalil Flemming, Sarah Newhouse*, and Michael Forden Walker*

Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost is a sweet and hilarious dance of courtship.  Four young lords swear an oath to give up the company of women for three years and devote themselves to study.  Soon after, the Princess of France arrives with her three friends and the four lords are instantly smitten.  The women decide to torment the men, and boy, are they easy marks!  In ASP’s rendition of this classic comedy, six actors play sixteen roles—dancing back and forth between male and female, pursuer and pursued!

WHEN: Friday August 1st  at 7:15pm, Saturday 2nd at 7:30pm and Sunday 3rd at 3:00 pm
WHERE: Winthrop Park (corner of JFK and Mount Auburn Street).
PRICE: Free!"

(More after the break)

Yoga by the Charles River

You can do yoga by the Hatch Shell on Monday nights for free. 

"On Monday nights through Aug. 18, anyone who wants to stretch and pose under the summer sky can participate, courtesy of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.

The hourlong unwinding sessions were organized by Abigail Pick, a senior at New York University who got the idea in New York City, where classes were offered in parks.

"I just thought it was a great way to get people out and to see the city and the beautiful parks they can benefit from - not just from sitting there, but by doing something to help their health," said Pick, 21, a summer intern at the Department of Conservation and Recreation. "It's a beautiful sight at sunset, by the Hatch Shell.""

Registration for Banditos Misteriosos Water Gun Battle

You can now register for the latest Banditos Misteriosos interactive event a summer Water Gun Battle with Revolutionary War overtones.  The armies will assemble on Saturday, August 16 at 1.30pm on a field of battle yet to be named.  The deadline to register is Friday, August 15.

Whale Songs with Orchestra at the Hatch Shell

Stephen Feigenbaum's composition mixes whale songs with orchestra in tonight's free concert at the Hatch Shell put on by the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.

The orchestra will be conducting free concerts at the Hatch Shell each Wednesday at 7:00pm through September 10.

Two Bits: The People of Free Software

Chris Kelty will discuss his new book Two Bits, an examination of the people and cultures of the free software and free culture, at MIT on June 24.  The book is available as a free download too!

"In "Two Bits", Kelty investigates the history and cultural significance of Free Software, revealing the people and practices that have revolutionized not just the way software is created, but the way knowledge is produced and shared in fields including education, science, film, and music.

"I know of no other book that mixes so beautifully a deep theoretical understanding of social theory with a rich historical and contemporary ethnography of the Free Software and free culture movements. Christopher M. Kelty's book speaks to many audiences; his message should be understood by many more."--Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law School

Christopher M. Kelty is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Rice University and Visiting Assistant Professor in the History of Science at Harvard University ."

Info:
Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 5:30pm
MIT 32-144, Ray and Maria Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Free Tickets to Mission of Burma

For the shows at the Paradise on June 12-13.  How to get them?  Email Ryan's Smashing Life and ask for them.  Simple enough!

Ignite Boston 3 on May 29th

O'Reilly will be putting on another Ignite Boston on May 29th at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square (6pm to 10pm).

"This time, we're using two floors at Tommy Doyle's, so the acoustics will be better than our first event there. From 6-6:45 pm, mingle and talk tech with your fellow FOOs, alpha geeks, and techies from the greater Boston area. After the mingling and social stuff, we'll have a couple of special keynote presentations by Jonathan Zdziarski of iPhone notoriety and John Viega of Security notoriety to kick off our Ignite talks. Then, onto guest speakers who'll catch you up on the cool, new, innovative stuff going on in technology today. Don’t blink or you’ll miss their lightning-fast, five-minute presentations. During intermissions, get a cold beer and chat with speakers, sponsors, and O’Reilly’s own editors."

You can still propose your own short presentation if you stick to the ground rules:

"Presentations must:

• Be no longer than 5 minutes
• Be on an innovative topic (no sales pitches, please!)
• Be viewable on a PC [a MacBook Pro with Powerpoint and Keynote, and PDF] with standard AV equipment
• Did we mention, no Sales Pitches."

The short time limit makes the presentations you aren't interested in fairly painless.  The last Ignite Boston was a good fun mixed bag although quite hard to hear so hopefully Tommy Doyle's will have better acoustics. 

Boston and Cambridge Official Poets Meet: Populist and Laureate

Sam Cornish, Boston's first poet laureate, and Peter Payack, Cambridge's more democratically titled first poet populist (above), will meet up for a cross-Charles River poet-palooza.

"Spreading the word about poetry on both sides of the Charles River, Peter Payack and Sam Cornish will join together Tuesday, April 22, at 7 p.m. at the Central Square Library at 45 Pearl St. to read selections of their work.

This event is hosted by the New England Poetry Club, the oldest poetry reading series in the country, in partnership with the city of Cambridge, Cambridge Arts Council, and the Cambridge Public Library. Poet Charles Coe of the Massachusetts Cultural Council will introduce the poets. All are welcome to this free reading."

Lawrence Lessig to Speak in Cambridge: April 4

Lawrence Lessig, the founder of Creative Commons and author of books like Free Culture and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (both downloadable at those links) will be speaking at a free event  at Harvard on April 4th discussing his new project Change Congress.

"Change Congress is a movement to build support for basic reform in how our government functions. Using technological and internet tools, both candidates and citizens can pledge their support for basic changes to reduce the distorting influence of money in Washington. The Change Congress community will link candidates committed to a reform with volunteers and contributors who support it.

Change Congress organizes citizens to push candidates to make four simple commitments:

1. No money from lobbyists or PACs
2. Vote to end earmarks
3. Support publicly-financed campaigns
4. Support reform to increase Congressional transparency "

Important Info:
Friday, April 4, 2008
5:00 p.m.
Ames Courtroom, second floor of Austin Hall on the Harvard Law School Campus (map)
Free and Open to the Public

Brad Sucks, David Weinberger and Music on the Web

How does a musician get paid in a world where music is available for free online?   You can hear one musician's answers at a discussion between BradSucks/Brad Turcotte and David Weinberger on Feb. 11 in Cambridge (free).

"The traditional music industry is crumbling. From the dust comes … BradSucks. Brad Turcotte is the very paragon of a Webby, open source musician. At his site (http://www.bradsucks.net) you can download his music for free or pay him a little money. You can reuse his music as you’d like, subject to the Creative Commons license. Not only can you remix it, but Brad posts especially good remixes. He has even open sourced the paint job for one of his guitars. At this Web of Ideas, Brad will play some music and talk with David Weinberger of the Berkman Center about whether he’s the future of the music industry."

Above (a fan video of BradSucks' song "Fixing My Brain")

Info:
Monday, February 11, 7:00 PM
Griswold Hall Room 110 
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA

Free screening of Double Indemnity at the Brattle: 2/9

"How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"

The Brattle has a free screening and discussion of the great noir Double Indemnity.  If you're not looking forward to Valentine's Day then this might be the corrective you need. 

"Billy Wilder’s DOUBLE INDEMNITY is a classic film noir masterpiece derived from James M. Cain’s 1943 melodramatic novella Three of a Kind. It was adapted for the screen by Billy Wilder and detective novelist Raymond Chandler. Stanwyck is the femme fatale, a dissatisfied and predatory housewife who coaxes MacMurray, an unscrupulous car insurance salesman, into murdering her husband for the insurance money. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, DOUBLE INDEMNITY’S storyline of a deliberate and brutal crime was considered amoral and distasteful by the censorious Hays Office and the film ultimately had to be replaced with its present ending in which the murderer was justly punished for his crime."

Info:  February 9th at 11:00am.

Mixed Realities: Networked Art at Emerson

Mixed Realities is a networked art exhibit and symposium at Emerson this weekend that will map and explore interactions between real cities like Boston and online communities.

" Mixed Reality is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments where physical and digital objects can co-exist and interact in real-time.Mixed Realities is an exhibition and symposium that explores the convergence—through cyberspace—of real and synthetic places made possible by computers and networks. Mixed Realities links and overlays the Huret & Spector Gallery (Boston), Turbulence.org, and Ars Virtua (Second Life).  Audience members – who will be embodied as avatars in Second Life, browsing the works at turbulence.org,  and/or be physically present in the gallery – will interact with the works and with one another. Thus, Mixed Realities will enable people who are distributed across multiple physical and virtual spaces to communicate with one another and share experiences in real time. "

There will also be an exhibit of works like John Craig Freeman's Imagining Beijing (above) and a symposium discussing topics like the virtual economy and the nature of place in virtual worlds.

Details:
Opening and Performance: February 7, 2008; 5-7 pm
Symposium: February 8; 10 am - 5 pm
Workshop: February 9; 1-5 pm
Exhibition: February 7 - April 15, 2008
Free and Open to the Public

Boston Public Library to digitize government documents collection

The Boston Public Library will begin digitizing and making available online its collection of government records starting with documents relating to the House Committee on Un-American Activities:

"A digital library partnership, including two nonprofit organizations and the Boston Public Library, is preparing to begin making digital copies of the library's paper-based government documents collection, which will then be made available on the Internet.

The project, which will take two years and require the hand scanning of millions of pages of government hearings and related publications, will cost an estimated $6 million, according to the project's sponsors.

Boston Public Library librarians said they plan to begin by digitizing hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities from the 1950s, regularly sought by its patrons.

The project is being undertaken by Public.Resource.Org, a nonprofit group seeking to open public access to government records, and the Internet Archive, a San Francisco-based digital library."

It will be interesting to see how the demand for information spurred by projects like this will run up against the recent trend in the government toward increased secrecy.  Ideally projects like this will provide some of the necessary pushback as people/citizens become accustomed to ownership of information.

Inside MIT's screening of upcoming scifi movie Jumper with movie stars and physics professors

Inside MIT's screening of upcoming scifi movie Jumper with physics professors examining the plausibility of the movie's science.

"On one side of a vaunted cultural divide were Doug Liman, director of the coming movie “Jumper,” about a young man who discovers he can transport himself anywhere he wants just by thinking about it, and Hayden Christensen, the film’s star.

On the other were a pair of the institute’s physics professors, Edward Farhi and Max Tegmark, experts on the type of physics the movie was purporting to portray, who had been enlisted to view a few scenes from it and talk about science.

In the middle were hundreds of MIT students who had waited for hours to jam into a giant lecture hall known as Room 26-100 and who proved that future scientists and engineers could be just as rowdy and star-struck as the crowds outside the MTV studios in Times Square.”

Good listing of free films in Boston: Joe's Boston Free Films

Good listing of free films in Boston:  Joe's Boston Free Films with interesting upcoming events like the MIT Books into Movies Series.

MIT Sneak Preview of Jumper with Hayden Christiansen

Sneak Preview at MIT of upcoming science fiction movie Jumper with Hayden Christiansen.  Time and date:  Wednesday, January 16,  at 8:00pm in MIT building 26, Room 100,

There will be geekery and there will be science:

"The screening will be followed by a discussion panel about the film and the physics of teleportation featuring lead actor Hayden Christiansen, director Doug Liman, and MIT Physics Professors Max Tegmark and Edward Farhi."

One problem, if you're not at MIT or don't know anyone who is this might be a tough ticket to get:

"This is a FREE Sneak Preview, with preferred admission for members of the MIT Community with an MIT ID or brass rat. Tickets will be distributed in Lobby 16 at 6pm on January 16."

List of Free New Year's Events in Boston

A list of free New Year's activities  in Boston.

Joss Whedon to attend writers' strike rally in Harvard Square

Joss Whedon of Buffy and Firefly fame is to attend a writers' strike rally in Harvard Square on December 14th according to plans for the rally organized by fans4writers.  The plans so far:

"We are planning the event for Friday, December 14th from 12 noon - 3 pm. There will be an assembly of writers, fans (and potentially celebrity guests!) at the distinguished public affairs program Cambridge Forum in the Meeting House of the historic First Parish (Unitarian Universalist) Church, 3 Church St., Cambridge, MA 02138. There, guest speakers (which so far include Joss Whedon, Rob Kutner with a few of his Daily Show crew, and [Jaime (Eureka) Paglia]) will say a few words of thanks to our fans and talk about the cause they’re supporting. Once we are sufficiently pumped up, everyone will march with picket signs and pamphlets through Harvard Square to a rally outside of the famed Harvard Lampoon building, where so many great television comedy writers cut their teeth."

(via HubArts)

"Shooting War" Creators at Million Year Picnic, Harvard Square

"Shooting War" creators Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman celebrate the publication of the book version of their webcomic  at the Harvard Square comics store Million Year Picnic from 4pm - 6pm on Nov. 27th.

Wired described Shooting War by  saying:
'Calling Shooting War a web comic is like calling Crime and Punishment a mere tale of murder. The multichapter online graphic novel by Anthony Lappé and Dan Goldman is set in a disturbingly plausible 2011: After a suitcase nuke explodes in Bangalore, US president John McCain responds as a worldwide call-center disaster looms – HOMELAND SECURITY TO ANSWER AOL CUSTOMER SERVICE CALLS, reads the CNN crawl. Shooting War tracks hipster Jimmy Burns from the obscurity of video-blogging Brooklyn's anticorporate beat for his own site to his reluctant fame gained by vlogging an endlessly occupied Iraq for the Global News network."

Million Year Picnic information:
99 Mt. Auburn Street (downstairs)
Cambridge, MA 02138
671-492-6763

Co-Working: Betahouse and Jelly

What is Jelly? from Amit Gupta on Vimeo.

Co-Working in Boston:  Betahouse and Jelly.  Betahouse is a locally organized spot in Central Square charging $200 - $400 a month while Jelly is a free and more casual biweekly work-together that started in New York and has expanded to a number of other cities.  The Boston-area site is about to begin in Cambridge between Inman and Central Squares.  Good alternatives for the work-at-homer who's feeling a bit isolated.

Free Audio Tours of Boston Harbor and Fort Point Channel

Free audio tours of Boston Harbor and Fort Point Channel:  courtesy of the The Boston Harbor Association.  (via Beantown Bloggery)

Get: Free Tickets to Titus Andronicus

The Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club's production of Titus Andronicus will run Dec. 7 - 15 and up to 4 tickets a customer are available free at the American Repertory Theatre (via Bard in Boston)