Nerd Nite Boston

Author Archive

Join us for a Nerd Nite party like no other! Your curators of cool, masters of merriment, arbiters of awesome, purveyors of puns, and teaching fellows of funk are throwing what promises to be the most festive of festive evenings. We’re trading in the Venn diagrams and PowerPoint presentations for nerdy holiday programming full of cheer.

Nerd Nite Yankee Swap! Make many friends and perhaps a few enemies during our regionally-appropriate gift-giving game. This is going to be great! To participate, RSVP here. (No cover charge for swappers. Limited to a maximum of 20 players. The nerdier the gift the better! For more details, click here.)

Funkin’ A, folks! We couldn’t be happier to host this band of singing nerds. An irreverent 7-part vocal band covering an eclectic mix of pop tunes and deep cuts from the 50s to the present, Funkin’ A! will delight. They will entertain.

Cool Kids Club, kheds! Boston Free Radio‘s own Cool Kids Club keep the partay going and your bootays moving with a mixture of soul jams, Christmas cuts, and sweet surprises.

Wear your festive best! Monday, December 17, 2012 | Middlesex Lounge | 9PM | $5

It’s time for Nerd Nite November! Meet us at the Middlesex for two enlightening talks on technology of different types and in different times. Deb Nicholson speculates on technology’s role in our dystopian future. Sam Shupe takes us on a ride down memory lane, sharing his knowledge of New England’s rich cycling history.

Talk 1 -“Technology and Dystopia: Do you dream of angry android sheep? by Deb Nicholson

Humor will be employed to explore the possible enslavement or eradication of humanity in our future. Deb will discuss several popular fictional dystopias set in humanity’s future and what technologies are in play that could help or hinder each scenario. John Gaventa’s framework for social power will be used to discuss the political and economic factors that will shape the human race’s destiny. Lastly, she’ll identify some of the underlying freedoms and educational efforts that she believes can help us avoid (or at least ameliorate) a dystopic future. During Q&A, the audience is invited to share or comment on technologies that keep them up at night worrying about the fate of the world.

Deb Nicholson works at the intersection of technology and social justice. She has been a free speech advocate, economic justice organizer, and civil liberties defender. After working in Massachusetts politics for fifteen years, she became involved in the free software movement. She is the Community Outreach Director at the Open Invention Network and the Community Manager at Media Goblin, a GNU project dedicated to building decentralized media hosting. She also serves on the board at Open Hatch, a non-profit dedicated to matching prospective free software contributors with communities, tools, and education. You can find her on identi.ca at @eximious or on freenode as freedeb. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Talk 2 – “Bicycle History and Culture in Maine and New England 1880-1900” by Sam Shupe

Hello!

I am excited to announce our first collaboration with the Museum of Science! They’re starting a brand new program for adults called the Science Author Salon. This series of events occurs at a variety of venues around town and features bright minds from around the world who’ve recently put their ideas on paper. The evening kicks off with a social hour, allowing nerds to mix and mingle with one another. Immediately following are a few words from the guest of honor. Tuesday the 13th’s author, George Church, will read from and/or talk about his latest book, “Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves.” There will be time for Q+A with George after his talk.

Please join us on Tuesday, November 13, at Ole in Inman Square! Our gracious venue encourages you to snack on genetically perfected Mexican bites and sip a mutating margarita. The Museum of Science and Nerd Nite encourage you to stick around for revolutionary conversation and snag a signed copy of “Regenesis.”

Details
Who: Museum of Science & Nerd Nite Boston

What: Science Author Salon featuring George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of PersonalGenomes.org

Inside the laboratories of biotechnology, the science of synthetic biology is literally coming to life. When humans can control the genetic makeup of organisms, nature will no longer be the exclusive arbiter of life, death, and evolution. Join the conversation about how synthetic biology may hold the keys to improved health, increased longevity, halting global warming, and boosting genetic diversity.

Where: Ole Mexican Grill, 11 Springfield Street, Inman Square, Cambridge

When: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 @ 6PM $5

RSVP here.

Be there and be square!

It’s time for Nerd Nite October! Join us at the Middlesex for two delightfully informative talks. Anna Rothman brings us New England’s own tales of crypts. Alex Bloemendal is probably going to talk about probability. (The odds are in our favor.)

Talk 1: “Heads or Tails? Adventures in Coin Tossing” by Alex Bloemendal

The humble coin toss is the archetypal random phenomenon. Repeated tossing leads to all kinds of questions: How long can a run of heads go on? Is my coin fair or biased? Can you get a fair toss out of a biased coin? a specifically biased toss out of a fair coin? Find out answers to these questions and more! Expect to encounter randomness, certainty, Andrey Kolmogorov, John von Neumann, binary representation, the law of large numbers and — time permitting — the devil’s staircase.

More Info on Alex: Alex hails from Toronto where he recently did a PhD in mathematics, a slightly masochistic activity that entails banging your head against a blackboard several hours a day for several years. He is currently doing research on random matrices and teaching at Harvard.

Talk 2: “Here Lyes ye Body: a Field Guide to 18th- and 19th-Century Gravestones” by Anna Rothman

For Early Americans, a trip to the graveside of friends or family was a regular occurrence, but the modern American holds his breath as he passes by. How did we go from picnicking in graveyards to avoiding them at all costs? Decipher the historic clues hidden in every gravestone, with symbols, epitaphs, stone placement, and more. Pick up a few tricks and tips for your own graving expeditions!