TEDx Melbourne Schedule

The TEDx Melbourne schedule has been published:

Schedule

09:30 – Get checked off the list and get your name tags
10:00 – Introductions
10:30 – ‘Do schools kill creativity?’ – Ken Robinson (2006)
11:00 – ‘Why are we happy? Why aren’t we happy?’ – Dan Gilbert (2004)

11.30 – BREAK (30 minutes)

12:00 – ‘My stroke of insight’ – Jill Bolte Taylor (2008)
12:30 – ‘How ordinary people become monsters … or heroes’ – Philip Zimbardo (2008)
Bonus video: ‘A 3-minute story of mixed emoticons’ – Rives

13:00 LUNCH (1 hour)

14:00 – ‘Our priorities for saving the world’ – Bjorn Lomborg (2005)
14:30 – ‘The art of collecting stories’ – Jonathan Harris

15:00 BREAK (30 minutes)

15:30 – ‘Sliced bread and other marketing delights’ – Seth Godin (2003)
16:00 – GUEST SPEAKER: Ninian Peckitt – ‘Rebuilding the Face’ + Q&A

16:30 BREAK (30 minutes)

17:00 – ‘The mystery box’ – J.J. Abrams (2007)
17:30 – ‘Why we age and how we can avoid it’ – Aubrey de Grey
18:00 – Wrap-up + Bonus video: ‘How I built my family a windmill’- William Kamkwamba

Further details

More details on the TEDx Facebook Event page. Oh, and we’re up to 83 confirmed guests :)

Chay Magazine Issue 2

The second issue of Chay Magazine is now out. This seems to be a small edition – only five articles, all of which are listed on the front page – but that’s five more articles on this topic than would otherwise have been written. Good job, folks!

Meanwhile, they are now accepting submissions for Issue 3, which is on the topic of sexual diversity.

TEDx Melbourne Details

There are ten days to go to TEDx Melbourne marathon! Thanks to Monash University entry to the event is now free and there are already over sixty confirmed guests :)

Here are the basics:

Date: 17 January, 2008
Time: 10am to 7pm
Location: Lecture Theatre H1.25, Building H, Monash Caulfield campus

For more details visit:

There’s still time to nominate your favourite TED talk on the TED Facebook app (there’s a link on the Facebook group page) so make sure you do that soon.

See you there :)

End-of-Year Video Mash-ups

Two for movies (via /Film: here and here):

And one for music:

Good stuff…and here’s to an equally awesome 2009.

Biases in Communities – Even the Scientific One

Awesome blog post by Lee Kottner on the Cocktail Party Physics blog on the “old guard” or “old boys’ club” attitude that tends to permeate through religious or specialist knowledge communities. In this case, of course, she’s writing about the scientific community:

…Richard Dawkins’ selection of writers for the new Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing is damned odd, if not downright insulting. For one thing, there’s nary a mere science writer among them; they’re almost all scientists…

…And, of course, there are too few women, three, to be precise…

Make sure you check it out.

International Year of Astronomy 2009

I’m a day late in posting this but the International Year of Astronomy 2009 has begun!

Over 130 countries are participating and, indeed, 87 countries have their own IYA websites (including, of course, both Pakistan and Australia). Be sure to check those out so you can take part in the events being held in your area.