Here's Why

Octopus Walks on Land at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve - YouTube [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:24:45 PDT

RT @ososcience: Amazing Video. #Octopus walks on land! http://t.co/HQyyW3L9 http://t.co/3QSu8TbK

Germany Sets New Solar Record By Meeting Nearly Half of Countrys Weekend Power Demand | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building - StumbleUpon [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:00:01 PDT

New spray makes you ‘instantly drunk,’ and only lasts a few seconds | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:59:52 PDT

FDA to Review the Key to Partying All Night Long: AeroShot | BostInno [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:59:40 PDT

The New Four Loko? College Students Can Now Inhale Their Caffeine in Massachusetts | BostInno [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:59:01 PDT

Hiccup 'cure' devised by 13-year-old girl [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:58:48 PDT

A Spray That Gets You From Sober to Drunk in Seconds, Without the Hangover | BostInno [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:58:39 PDT

Barefoot running less energy efficient › News in Science (ABC Science) [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:58:24 PDT

Intel researching computers that mimic human brain [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:51:09 PDT

Carr defends Government's handling of Assange - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) [del.icio.us]

iwoolf — Wed, 30 May 2012 21:36:06 PDT

. @bobjcarr denies evidence of a US Indictment but doesn't say what he'd do if they charge #Assange with espionage http://t.co/ZbT1znAO

broken phone

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:40:26 +1100

Nokia N95 8GB (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have an old Nokia N95 8GB handed down to me when a friend updated her phone. Its worked really well and I downloaded all kinds of apps. It was ready for 3G when I signed up. However, now the screen either flickers or goes blank all the time. According to the web forums, its most likely a damaged cable from the keyboard half to the screen half of the phone. For the price of getting it repaired, I could buy a cheap Android phone.

My immediate concern is backing up my data. The phone's 8 gigabytes is visible as a flash drive when I plug it into my Ubuntu PC, but the phone numbers and sms messages and calendar are not. I've been searching for solutions. Wine on linux will run Nokia Suite but it doesn't work. I have XP on a vmware virtual PC on my linux box, but I upgraded the operating system to 12.04, and for now, vmplayer can't install the kernel modules it needs to work. I have an old installation of XP on a laptop partition, but the Windows Intaller is broken, and won't let a new version of installer install, much less any other software. It needs to be wiped.

I tried a lot of Nokia Symbian s60 apps for backing up or synchronising. None of them worked. I eventually found a reference to http://www.phonecopy.com. They have a web server set up that speaks the protocols of many types of phones. I didn't have to download an app, just use their settings in the Nokia sync tool, and register as a user on their site. The service is free, supported by advertising on the site. After much messing around, I managed to sync my phone number contacts to the web site, and export them to a comma separated file I can see in a spreadsheet, or maybe import into my next smartphone. (I have copied them to my SIM, but last time I lost numbers that way). The calendar synchronised as well, and phonecopy have an option for me to synchronise with my Google calendar, which I have wanted for a long time. Its just a shame I found it after my screen cable started dying.

I also want to back up my sms messages, but the phonecopy method just gives me a system error.

Update: Phonecopy emailed with advice, and my sms and mms messages are now backed up and safe!

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is supposed to be released later today, hopefully it won't be too long before unlocked models are on the Australian market.

Non-Newtonian liquid potato starch on a speaker

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:36:30 +1100

download mp4
Leigh Russell at Dorkbot Sydney demonstrated the behaviour of non-Newtonian liquids by putting a potato starch solution on a speaker and playing tones from his synthesizer through it, producing shoggoth-like effects. The stuff looks like its alive and trying to escape! This one is safe for the kids to try.

This video was broadcast (with my permission) on "Tokudane," which is a weekly morning show on the Fuji Television Network on Japanese TV.

The problem with Christianity part 2

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:45:19 +1100

The Ashfield Anglicans continue with their message.

wearable internet glasses

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 00:04:14 +1100

download MP3
From Mission: Impossible and Doctor Who, to Accelerando and Rainbow's End, we've been teased with gadgets just out of reach. The age of glasses with cameras and microphones and computers is upon us at last! I give an overview from $20 spy sunglasses on ebay to Project Glass from Google.

Not shopped

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:59:06 +1100

This is the actual sign at St John's Church in Ashfield, they're inviting doubters to engage over the next few weeks.

Robosapien

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:54:06 +1100

Robosapien at Questacon in Canberra.

Deregulation department

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:51:38 +1100

I didn't know we had a department for abolishing legislation! The minister should report more often on her successes.

Fairy shroom?

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:47:38 +1100

This looks like the hallucinogenic Fly Agaric mushroom depicted in all the Fairy illustrations. Can anyone confirm its identity?

World's smallest kite

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:45:37 +1100

This tiny kite was sold at Newtown festival as the world's smallest.

Beautiful plumage

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:38:19 +1100

This wild peacock pair showed up outside my window on my visit to Canberra

Kids say things a lot - t-shirts

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:50:54 +1100

I'm helping my mother babysit tweens this week, and the same phrases keep coming up so often they deserve to be on t-shirts, so here they are:

I know

stop it!

we always do

Melbourne sinking

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:35:33 +1100

Cool sculpture at the Library of Victoria

Finally back in Ashfield

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:35:22 +1100

Last night I went to add a bag to the garbage which had been taken out to the kerb by Pauline, the woman who cleans your garden whether you want her to or not. There was an elderly woman going through the recyclables bin, but it wasn't Pauline. She apologized and moved away. I told her she was OK to keep doing what she was doing, but she said "no, you have guns", and walked away.

I have been fenced away from the back yard and clothes line ahead of the new family moving into the house my flat is attached to. Somehow I don't think I should be their main concern.

At 7:30am I was woken by giants running around on my roof. By 8:30 the tradesmen (as it turned out) had stopped jumping on the roof, now a guy with a chainsaw is playing in the front garden.

I had to move out while my landlords renovated my kitchen. I spent 2 weeks staying with a friend in Dee Why (very long way outside of Sydney), and then a week running around Melbourne for the MEAA Freelancing as a Business Conference and training. I managed to catch up with seven friends and make some new ones, and see some of the Comedy Festival. The exhaustion has finally hit.

I'm still moving stuff filling my lounge room back into my newly renovated kitchen, and horrified that I can't simply plug in my old dishwasher to the new sink. It will take a while to make the new kitchen back-injury friendly.

Scenes from Melbourne

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:40:29 +1100

I attended the MEAA Freelancing as a Business conference and took some photos as part of professional photographic and videographioc training. Now I just need a DSLR!

Quiz master again!

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 14:31:15 +1100

I wrote questions and hosted a trivia game at Rowda Ya Habibi for a Mardi Gras fund-raiser dinner.

Ten interviews in 4 hours!

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:49:33 +1100

I recorded ten interviews at the NICTA techfest 2012 today. The National Information Communications Technology Australia is funded both by the State and Federal governments, and partners with industry. Today they showcased all their public research. I would have recorded more interviews, but some of the staff were shy, and didn't want their voices on radio.

Then I went straight to record a Diffusion episode at 2SER, and trained the volunteers, and then finally crept home. Here's some photos from the techfest:

EXposing Privacy leaks

Media drone

Adaptive mobile wireless meshing

Electronic Pain Management implant

The Bionic eye project

Minister Stephen Conroy

Ian Bryce investigates the E-Cat

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:04:24 +1100

Energy too cheap to meter! So claims Italian inventer and entrepreneur Andrea Rossi for his invention of the E-Cat Energy Catalyser power generator, which he claims combines hydrogen and nickel with a secret catalyst to make heat and copper.

Ian Bryce is an aerospace engineer, and Chief Investigator for the Australian Skeptics. I spoke with him about his experiences with the Australian investment agent for Rossi's "cold fusion power generator".

This is the full version of the interview broadcast on Diffusion Science Radio

Entangle by Rare - featuring samples of me!

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:55:40 +1100

Rare emailed me today to ask permission to use my voice in this demo song "Entangle". He searched on "Entangle" and "spoken word", found my Diffusion feature on entanglement, liked it and edited a snippet into his song. I've been mashed!

The Art of the Brick

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:32:29 +1100

by artist Nathan Sawaya, exhibited at Sydney Town Hall

Carnivorous plant garden tour by phone

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:46:15 +1100

download MP4

I'm researching live video streaming, so I tried out http://bambuser.com which has an app for my Nokia N95 phone as well as iPhones and Androids. I streamed my garden using my 3G phone connection, to test the quality. Streaming by 3G is slower than streaming by WiFI, so the quality has to be reduced. One and a half minutes of video streamed over 3G was 6 megabytes of blocky video, not too bad.

In my garden, I have venus flytraps, sundews, trumpet pitcher plants, and lots of nepenthes tropical pitcher plants.

Diffusion won Best Talk Show at the 2SER awards!

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:23:16 +1100

You can visit Diffusion's 2SER radio page, or the Diffusion podcast archive.

Molecular synthesis with Dr Andrew McDonagh

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:33:36 +1100

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Imagine designing molecules on paper and then making them in the lab. Dr Andrew McDonagh of the School of Chemistry and Forensic Sciences and the Institute of Nanoscale Technologies at the University of Technology, Sydney. He's been working on dye sensitised solar cells. I asked him what he's been synthesizing.

Subsoma at Dorkbot

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:20:12 +1100

download MP4

Michaela Davies demonstrates her Subsoma project for Dorkbot Sydney. She and volunteer Kate have wires connected that stimulate their muscles to move to the sound played. Their muscles move involuntarily to "Love Me Tender".

Check out her videos http://www.youtube.com/user/MissScissorBird/videos

Climate Fix Flicks

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:14:22 +1100

download MP3

As the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP17
finished this weekend, climate change is on everyone's mind.
Professor Ann Henderson-Sellers from Macquarie University wants you to show her what to do about it.
I asked her to explain about the Climate Fix Flicks.

More information on the competition to create a short video to show how we can all fix the climate

The Jedi Path opens

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:07:55 +1100

The Jedi Path is a new book for Star Wars fans that comes in an amazing box that opens with lights and sounds.

Penrith Sunset

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:00:15 +1100

Television from 1932

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:40:53 +1100

Here's some pictures of a television from the World's Fair of 1932 especially built in transparent lucite so we can see inside. The TV is at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne:

Buddha's fingers

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:38:32 +1100

Gnome Chomsky in Ashfield

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:31:25 +1100

Quiz Master!

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:52:10 +1100

I hosted the Freethinker comedy trivia showdown between the Western Sydney Freethinkers and In Vino Veritas on Sunday afternoon at the Penrith School of Arts.

Sculpture by the Sea 2011

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 10:27:22 +1100

Friday 19th November was a beautiful day to visit Sculpture By The Sea on the Bondi Beach to Tamarama beach walk.

Chocolate Science

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:17:17 +1100

Wednesday 16th November, just last week, , I helped organise a Chocolate night for the Australian Science Communicators. Our presenter Galit Segev took us through the Journey of Chocolate, from tree to table. Galit explained how chocolate gains its gloss and snap from the interlocking of the cocoa butter crystals using little plastic chairs. You can hear my interview with Galit here

Newtown Festival

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 10:48:59 +1100

Sunday I manned the Sydney Atheists/Western Sydney Freethinkers/Secular Party stall at the Newtown Festival. Newtown Festival is always awesome. There are friendly, curious people happy to talk, and lots of stalls of amazing stuff. I had to hold myself back from buying a contact-juggling crystal ball. Speaking of crystal balls, the Psychic healers had a stall immediately behind us, with regular queues for free healing sessions, and the Young Earth Creationists had their "Curious Earth" stall, not far away.

Vivid Sydney Opera House

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:27:57 +1100

download MP4

A colourful animated light show projected onto the Sydney Opera House for the Vivid Sydney festival 2011.

3D Zoetrope: Ty the Tasmanian Tiger

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:52:37 +1100

download MP4

This is a moving sculpture at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image titled: TY the Tasmanian Tiger™.
Its a 3D zoetrope with almost 200 characters. Starring Krome Studios' videogame superstar TY the Tasmanian Tiger(TM) and his friends. It was built using 3D full colour printing with plaster/epoxy characters by RapidPro. When the strobe flashes, the plastic characters come to life.

I took this video in August 2011 on my Nokia n95 8GB

Hugo De Garis speaking about the Singularity and the Artelect War

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:47:29 +1100

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Hugo De Garis speaking about the future of topological quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and a war over whether to build artificial intellects, at Melbourne University in August 2011. Will humans stay the dominant species?

Telephone box tweeting

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:11:32 +1100

Not so many public phone boxes left.

Vivid Sydney 2011 slideshow

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:21:38 +1100

Melbourne 2011 slideshow

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:19:21 +1100

Singularity Summit 2011 slideshow

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:17:11 +1100

Jack Reacher

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:08:25 +1100

Peter and I attended a book lanch for Lee Child's new Jack Reacher novel called "The Affair". At the Random House book launch, was Duncan who had last year won the Jack Reacher look-a-like competition. Duncan was written into the latest novel as a character, so he's both real and fictional. They offered door prizes, and Peter won the first prize, and posed for some pictures with Jack Reacher, and I joined in:

I'm now half way through "The Affair", the first Jack Reacher novel I've read. Good fun!

Galit Segev: The Secrets of Chocolate

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:28:34 +1100

download MP3
Galit Segev is a chef and biochemist, combining her love of food and science, in public talks on the science of food. Galit is a volunteer for Vision Australia creating recipes and cooking classes for people with vision impairment. At the Ultimo Science Festival she spoke to me about her love of food, her love of chocolate, and the science of making chocolate.

Galit Segev

The news nobody shows on TV: "Occupy Wall Street" Unaired Fox Footage

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:44:07 +1100

Exclusive: Occupy Wall Street Activist Slams Fox News Producer In Un-Aired Interview

This is a very clear and articulated explanation of what the protest is about.

Meadows under the Sea

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:08:08 +1100

download MP3

Meadows under the sea feed the world and clean the air. Marine Ecologist Dr Peter Macreadie is a Chancellor's post-doctoral research fellow in the School of the Environment in the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Dr Macreadie has been nominated for the 2011 Eureka Prize awarded each year by the Australian Museum, for his research into seagrass. Ian Woolf asked him to explain the role of seagrasses in marine ecology, and their role in preventing global warming.

You can vote for Dr Macreadie in the Eureka prizes here: http://eureka.australianmuseum.net.au/vote

Capital K Skepticism video

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:36:10 +1100

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I spoke at SkeptiCamp about how Skeptics should be sceptical of their own beliefs, as well as the beliefs of others.

How cells replicate

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:01:34 +1100

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PhD student Phobe Peters at the Institute for the Biotechnology of Infectious Diseases explores the role of proteins in the surprisingly complex mechanism of bacterial cell division.

ALTC Teaching Fellow Les Kirkup

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 15:32:26 +1100

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Les Kirkup is researching ways of making laboratory learning a better experience - using science. Associate Professor Les Kirkup from the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology, Sydney spoke to Ian Woolf about his being awarded the National Teaching Fellowship from the Australian Teaching and Learning Council. I began by asking him to explain what the National Teaching Fellowship is about.
Inquiry-oriented learning in science: transforming practice through forging new partnerships and perspectives

Hot leaves - an interview with Andy Leigh

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:32:47 +1100

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When leaves get hot Botanist Dr Andy Leigh gets interested. She spoke to Shannon Jones why she researches how leaves deal with heat as part of the Science Communications Education Project at UTS Science Faculty.

Rapture day

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 21 May 2011 13:42:18 +1100

I woke up with an absurdly deep voice again today, here's a recording MP3

Talking frogs

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:43:24 +1100

These are amazing value for very little dollars.
click to buy frogs

They record and store 30 seconds of sound when you press the left button. They play back the sound when you walk past them triggering the light sensor in the eye.

This has endless possibilities. Children talk to the frog and he talks back. Teenagers can set the frog up where it won't be noticed and play practical jokes when people trigger the phrase they've recorded. A friend and I set up several of these frogs in a big cloth pyramid in a shopping mall art exhibition of Interactive Sculptures, with a different sound for every direction. My favourite was "hey you!".

The insides come out easily to be made into a new talking object, whether you want your garden gnomes to talk, or a movie poster to be interactive - anything can talk!

I imported a whole bunch, and have sold or given away almost all of them. If I imported more of them, would you buy them?

Capital K Skepticism

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:54:32 +1100

download MP3
I gave a talk at SkeptiCamp Sydney on how being a Capital K Skeptic means being sceptical of your own beliefs as well as those of others.

Twoface

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:26:20 +1100

Terry Pratchett at the Sydney Opera House

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:40:03 +1100

Jurassic Lounge

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:32:20 +1100

The Australian Museum opened its doors from 5:30pm to 9:30pm during Summer for Jurassic Lounge. The museum became a nightclub with a bar, silent disco with live DJ, live bands, dancers, magicians, puppeteers, animal handlers, and a different view of the exhibits. They had a twitter treasure hunt, flashlight tours...Great fun!

#ProtectScience Protest rally

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:57:51 +1100

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On April 12th 2011 a rally to protest against proposed medical research budget cuts by the Australian government was held around the country. I attended the Sydney protest in Belmore Park and interviewed:
Bettina Arndt, Bill Ferris, Judy Black, and Andrea MacFarland.

Balint Seeber Mashed Up Radio

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:34:37 +1100

MP3 download

Balint Seeber is an inventor, innovator and maker. He's been mashing up radio frequency information with google maps. He spoke to Ian Woolf about his mash-ups. Check them out at http://spench.net

Spider

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:29:39 +1100

Spider

Originally uploaded by iwoolf.

From my garden.

Flat out

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:24:39 +1100

Flat out

Originally uploaded by iwoolf.

A lizard cooling off in a purple pitcher plant in my garden.

Kate Grimwood, Fire Investigator

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:06:20 +1100

MP3 download

Kate Grimwood is a PhD student researching the chemical forensics of fire in the Science faculty at the University of Technology, Sydney. She spoke to me about her research into flash-over, the source and nature of toxic fumes, and burning down houses for science.

Moon and mystery

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:54:21 +1100

IMGP2729

Originally uploaded by iwoolf.

Social Innovation

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 12:32:03 +1100

Last year I attended a Social Innovation un-conference organised by Social Innovation Sydney.

Social innovation is about inventing and implementing new ways of doing things in society. Its been happening since the Enlightenment, when we moved away from the Feudal system of Kings, aristocrats and peasants. Democracy was a social innovation. The abolition of slavery. The equality of women. Public education.

Over the last few hundred years, social innovations were only made by governments. Or by the introduction of new technology by aristocrats. So you had to be born in government, elected to government, or take government by force,, or be very wealthy. With the industrial and now information revolutions, individuals are becoming so empowered that they can make social improvements without the need to be in government or reply on aristocrat patrons. We can do it ourselves.

There are now social enterprises, that use the skills of entrepreneurs to raise funding and organise talented people, to pursue a triple bottom line. They can operate a business that is profitable and there fore self-sustaining, that also benefits society and also the environment we depend on. Ultimately social innovation is about empowering people and communities.

People can invent entire new business models and entirely new ways to do things. Micro-lending, and micro-credit. Open Source hardware and software. Wikipedia. Community gardens. The X-Prize. Wikileaks. There are all sorts of ways to apply intelligence to the ways we have always done things and find new ways to solve unmet needs. I think of social innovation as the application of new techniques to improve society. Thus its a form of new technology, in the same way that literacy was a new technology.

Social innovation is important because there is much suffering and injustice in the world that can be prevented. Starvation was due to there being not enough food for most of human history. Since the Green Revolution of last century this is no longer the case. There is more than enough food to feed everybody. Unfortunately most of it rots because the distribution of the food has fallen prey to political and financial interests. Starvation is no longer a scientific and engineering problem of how to grow more food, now its a social problem of how to use political and financial apparatus to distribute the food where its needed. Distribution has wars and corrupt regimes in the way, These are social problems that need innovation to solve. The Grameen Bank took people who were trapped in poverty by tiny debts that they needed to make a living. Grameen gives these people micro-loans and they are empowered to lift themselves out of debt and therefore out of poverty. Loans of tens of dollars instead of thousands.

Drought doesn't make people starve. Not being allowed to move away from a drought-stricken area to a fertile area makes people starve. What is stopping the movement of people is soldiers.

Human behaviour changes under the influence of new technology. Social innovators are giving old unsolved problems, clever, environmental and community friendly solutions.

Tsunami warnings

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:21:42 +1100

MP3 download
I interviewed Marianne Menictas about her Tsunami warning research. Marianne Menictas has been creating a mathematical model that shows how to save the lives of the most people possible from a Tsunami disaster for the least amount of money. Marianne is a final year student in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Technology, Sydney

Mathematical models can save lives! Marianne Menictas has just finished her degree in Mathematics and Statistics. She's 20 years old and is looking forward to doing new research in her honours year at the University of Technology, Sydney.

2010 Consensus Greentech Awards

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:43:56 +1100

MP3 download
I was a judge for the 2010 Consensus Greentech Awards on December 10th 2010. Listen for the 2010 winners and highly commended innovations.

2010 Judging Panel

Ian Woolf

Freelance Science Journalist

www.ianwoolf.com

With a degree in applied physics, Ian set out on a career as an astronomer until injuring his back while working at the Culgoora Solar Observatory in Narrabri. He worked his way up in IT support from St George Hospital to Sun Microsystems, and then to the University of Technology, Sydney as a Systems Programmer. At UTS he was lured into academia and coordinated Computing Theory, lectured in Computer Networking and tutored in Online Communities, before returning to the Physics department to teach physics laboratory classes.

Ian was then hired as Project Officer for the Science Communication Education Project run by the Science faculty to teach informal science communication to science students, conduct educational research, and promote research being conducted by the Faculty, by interviewing their scientists and packaging the interviews into podcasts.

He co-athoured a paper on using research to teach science and communication skills. For over ten years he has been a presenter and producer on 2SER-FM's weekly science program Diffusion, and reported science on ABC radio. He has built and exhibited interactive electronic sculptures,and given public talks to the Live Futures festival, Science On Tap, the Australian Science Communicators, and Sydney philosophy groups.

Ian is a member of the NSW Australian Science Communicators committee and has organised events such as "Successful Freelance Science Writing", and "Podcasting 101". He was one of two judges of the National Science Week Big Blog Theory Science Tweeting awards.

Janine Cahill

Director

Future Journeys

www.futurejourneys.com

Janine Cahill is a futurist and innovation and sustainability consultant specializing in giving clients an experience of the future so they can develop innovative strategy and new products and services.
Janine has worked with Sustainability as part of Strategy since 1990 when she completed cost-benefit analyses of change projects in Westpac. This included a state initiative on paper printing and transport reduction of over 20% which was then implemented nationally. She also completed some initial feasibility research into environmental cost reductions on $260m of discretionary expenditure.
Since then Janine has developed Sustainability and Climate Change as key elements of scenario planning and development, while also building them into Futures Simulations. These simulations require participants to develop strategy, products and services within carbon-constrained futures.
Janine designs and runs FISH@6 Foresight Innovation and Sustainability Hothouses which bring together designers, environmentalists, artists, engineers, lawyers, architects, bankers, accountants and others to work with innovation challenges, including an annual Climate Innovation Challenge.
Janine is co-founder and Designer of Live Futures 2020, an annual Futures Festival in its fourth year: a combined conference, workshops, ideas space and exploration of possible futures. College of Fine Arts (COFA- part of UNSW) is a major sponsor and partner.

James Cowie

Managing Director

JCI Business Services

www.jcibusinessservices.com

James is currently MD and Founder of JCI Business Services. He has extensive experience in Technology, Business and Sustainability and has worked with major organisations in a range of technical roles and in building systems to minimise business' impact on the environment. James has worked with clients in the waste, water, waste water, oil & gas, energy and industrial sectors assisting businesses in identifying and adopting processes, behaviours and technologies to improve their global footprint and adopt environmentally sustainable and socially responsible business approaches.
His experience in creating and growing profitable companies, and implementing continuous improvement, along with his understanding of the daily pressures in successfully managing businesses are now provided to businesses through his advisory, project, training and seminar activities. James shares his knowledge and breadth of industry experience with people at all levels and changes business cultures to establish long term environmental and business goals.
James full career includes experience with major global organisations in dynamic roles and under heavy commercial pressures. He has worked in technical, production, engineering, manufacturing commercial and retail environments and has achieved many significant breakthroughs for which he has received numerous awards.
Recently James has worked with organisations to reduce their energy consumption, reduce waste generation, reduce water consumption, and reduce consumption of resources. He has created a number of Environmental Management Systems and guided businesses in communicating their environmental activities to staff, the community and customers.
James is an experienced Business Director and Leader with a finely honed understanding of customers, technology, management and the environment. He is an environmental auditor and a past Director of the International Association for Services Management.

Ray David BSc. MCom.

Principal

Rycom Business Services

www.rycom.net.au

Ray has over 25 years of marketing and business management experience, working for a variety of major Australian private and public sector organisations. This includes over 10 years with telecommunication companies such as Optus and Telstra, in a variety of marketing and business development roles, including Group Product Manager.
Ray also has extensive experience in international marketing and business development though numerous projects for major Australian exporters and Austrade
As the Principal of Rycom Business Services, Ray provides business planning and strategy implementation assistance to growth companies.

Jenny Davis

Executive Policy Adviser

EnergyAustralia

www.energy.com.au

Jenny joined EnergyAustralia in 1992 after a career in the telecommunications and the public sectors. EnergyAustralia operates Australia's largest electricity distribution system and is the largest energy retailer in NSW. As the Executive Policy Advisor, a member of EnergyAustralia's executive team,

Jenny is involved in planning and policies for building strong stakeholder and community relationships, business development and innovations including the transformation of the network to a "smart grid", where the electricity network is integrated with digital and information technologies to support low carbon energy use.

She has experience in Australia and overseas and has had responsibilities in finance management, business development, IT projects and change management, business planning and policy and strategy development. In the past, Jenny has served as an Executive Council Member, Australia Indonesia Business Council, represented EnergyAustralia as an alternative director on AustEnergy Pty Ltd and was an Advisory Board Member for Project Humanity, the development arm of the Christian Children's Foundation.

Jenny holds a Bachelor Degree in Financial Administration, is a Certified Practicing Accountant and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Bert Franzen

Principal Consultant

electAssociates

www.electassociates.com.au

Bert Franzen is the founder and principal consultant of electAssociates, a boutique recruitment firm specialising in the information, technology and communications industry.
Bert is an accomplished IT professional with extensive experience in providing high quality services to local and international clients. He has been able to achieve great results by leveraging a broad network and adopting innovative strategies to identify and attract the ideal candidate. Bert has helped clients recruit in a range of sectors including software integration, banking, health, telecommunications and wholesale distribution.
Prior to establishing electAssociates, Bert worked for a variety of organisations including the global recruitment firm Adecco. As their NSW General Manager for the IT division, he successfully managed a $70M budget and more than 350 consultants. He also worked with Sienna Technologies as Australian Sales Manager promoting B2B solutions, SPL WorldGroup as Senior Sales Executive promoting system integration services, Technical Logistics International as Managing Director specialising in international recruitment, and Computer People as NSW Branch Manager.
Bert has also participated as a Judge with Austrade's IT Secrets Software Innovation Awards and facilitates workshops on how to use Emotional Intelligence in Effective Leadership.

Andrew Greatbatch

VP Corporate Development

Sapphicon Semiconductor

www.sapphicon.com.au

Andrew has been actively involved in the global high tech industry for 30 years having worked in the UK and Silicon Valley for a number of years. His roles have always involved engaging with some of the largest technology firms around the world.

Andrew currently works for Sapphicon Semiconductor the only manufacturer of integrated circuits in Australia where he is responsible for business development and marketing activities. The company designs and manufactures advanced RF chips based on Silicon-on-Sapphire process technology for communications and defence/aerospace applications.

Prior to working at Sapphicon Andrew was involved in the Contract Electronics Manufacturing industry with GPC Electronics one of the largest electronics manufacturing companies in Australia.
He also worked for CSIRO in technology commercialisation which involved the identification and analysis of target applications for CSIRO technology.

His work in the semiconductor industry began in 1989 with AWA MicroElectronics where he was Business Development Manager responsible for global sales and marketing. After graduating with a Degree in Applied Physics he was contracted by British Aerospace Dynamics Group to work in the UK on the aircraft integration of anti-ship missiles.

Andrew also holds a Diploma of Business Administration from the University of Technology, Sydney. He has been married to Heather for almost 20 years and holds a Private Pilots License, an Advanced Hang Gliding rating, and is involved in videography to support overseas aid work.

Richard Hayes MBA DipCM

Director

Carbon Free Solutions

www.carbonfreesolutions.com.au

Richard is the founder and CEO of Carbon Free Solutions Ltd, an unlisted public company with offices in China, America, UK and Sydney. He is the founder of Cleantech Sydney, a Clean Technology industry cluster with the assistance of the NSW Department of Industry & Investment (formally Dept of State and Regional Development).

Richard's primary interest is the simplification of environmental and business practices to achieve better business and environmental outcome. His latest project involves the use of the solar energy Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) to assist with low-cost housing and healthcare. By working with a wide range of stakeholders including the NSW Department of Housing, local governments, financial institutions and end users, this allows for the creation of a new type of 'sustainable regional development'.

Richard graduated with a Master of Business Administration from UTS and a Graduate Diploma in Law and Accounting through the Chartered Secretaries Australia. He has lectured at UNSW and UTS on Energy Policy and Financing Innovation.

Richard started programming in FORTRAN in 1976 and has been involved with computer and IT for over 30 years. He has also organised a number of conferences for both the NSW government and universities. These include LowCarbon07, Innovation08 and Asia's first conference on university spin-offs.

Bruce Hills

Director

Incept Labs

www.inceptlabs.com.au

Bruce is Co-founder of Incept Labs, a growth and sustainability focused advisory. He was formerly the Head of Organisational Innovation at Westpac Banking Corporation, an initiative that explored how to build an innovation capability that delivered superior long term growth to the Bank while helping Westpac win in the war for talent. Bruce is a director of Breakaway Investment Group, former director of Society of Knowledge Economics, and was a member of the BCA advisory board to their 2006 Innovation study.
Before this initiative Bruce was Head of Risk for the Business Technology Solutions and Services division of Westpac Banking Corporation. He was a member of the BTSS executive team, the Bank's Risk executive team and a member of the Bank's management committee. Bruce is a qualified accountant and a member of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and has over 25 years of experience in senior risk and audit roles.

Robert Iacopetta

Senior Software Specialist

IBM

www.ibm.com

Robert is a Senior Software Specialist at IBM working in their Sydney Support Centre and focusing on AIX, Linux & Virtualisation products. Robert has almost 20 years of problem solving experience that has required regular education and innovation during a time of rapid evolution of IT products.
Robert's career at IBM has included being one of the authors of IBM Redbooks (about IBM software innovations). He graduated with an Honours Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney where his major 4th year project investigated failures in the chemical industry.
Robert is passionately concerned about the possible 'failure' of the planet if people do not change how we interact with Earth. Robert's understanding of energy issues from his engineering degree has evolved into his current interest in virtualisation technology which enables a more efficient use of energy & other resources.
Robert carries this passion into other aspects of his life. Hence he is actively involved in the Faith Ecology Network and ARRCC (the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change), attends events of the Green ICT special interest group of the Australian Computer Society, and has provided feedback to Sydney's Public Transport, such as the Independent Public Inquiry chaired by Mr Ron Christie, AM.

Dr. Robert Kay

Director

Incept Labs

www.inceptlabs.com.au

Robert is a Co-founder of Incept Labs. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney. Robert was formerly the Head of Strategic Innovation at Westpac Banking Corporation, where he was responsible for the development of the methodological dimensions of the Westpac innovation framework.
Prior to his role in Westpac, Robert's career has moved between both industry and academia. He has held senior academic positions at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS); the International Graduate School of Management, University of South Australia. Has worked for Lend Lease Corporation in various research and analysis capacities related to organisational change.
Robert is also a member of the University of New South Wales, Department of Information Systems Industry Advisory Committee. Robert holds a 1st Class Honours Degree in systemic approaches to education, and a PhD on biological systems approaches to organisational sustainability and learning.

Matt Lohmeyer PhD

Principal Consultant

Streamwise

www.streamwise.com.au

Principal Consultant

Scotwork Australia

www.scotwork.com.au

Matt Lohmeyer is a Principal Consultant of Streamwise, a boutique a consulting firm specialising in business strategy and organisational development. As a business development specialist, Matt advises clients on business strategy, intellectual property, technology development as well as licence, fund-raising or M&A transactions. His background is in the life sciences and technology sectors (pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, biomedical devices, healthcare, agribiotech and diagnostics).
In addition to his years of practical experience in business, Matt has undertaken extensive training in advanced negotiating skills and is an accredited Principal Consultant for Scotwork Australia. Matt consults regularly to Scotwork, teaching executive programs in advanced negotiation skills and assisting clients with important commercial negotiations.
In previous roles, Matt was a member of CSIRO's Corporate Transactions Team, Associate Director of Unisearch at the University of New South Wales and Senior Business Manager at CRC Technology in London.
Matt is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Member of the Licensing Executives Society (LES Australia & NZ). He managed the activities of AusBiotech Ltd in NSW for 5 years, most recently as Vice-Chair, and he has served for 4 years on the NSW Committee of the LES. Matt received his Bachelor, Masters and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Cambridge, UK and has completed postgraduate executive programs at Macquarie Graduate School of Management. His research background is in drug development and protein engineering.

Prof. San Murugesan

Principal Consultant

BRITE Professional Services

san1@internode.net,

San Murugesan PhD, FACS, is a Principal consultant with BRITE Professional Services and adjunct Professor at the University of Western Sydney. He is also senior consultant with Cutter Consortium in the US.

He has over 30 years of professional experience and his areas of expertise include business intelligence, cloud computing, green IT, Web 2.0 and 3.0 and IT for emerging markets. He is Fellow of Australian Computer Society and Editor of IEEE IT Professional magazine. He has published widely, written several executive reports on hot topics in IT and offers executive seminars and short courses on emerging technologies and their business applications.

Sam edited the popular Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0 and X.0: Technologies, Business, and Social Applications, and his next book is Cloud Computing. He is guest editing the January/February 2011 issue of IEEE IT Professional on Green IT.

Melissa Neighbour

Sustainability Manager

L J Hooker

www.ljhooker.com.au

Melissa is currently employed by LJ Hooker as Sustainability Manager and is responsible for driving the LJ Hooker sustainability agenda. A key focus area is to build the Group's position as the leading eco-broker in Australia and as a leader in sustainable development and management.
Before joining LJ Hooker, she spent four years as an environmental town planner with Conics, where she worked on a number of sustainable developments which incorporated cutting edge eco-architecture and green design solutions. Melissa is experienced in dealing with a range of sustainability rating tools, indexes and environmental legislation.
Melissa has a variety of extra curricula interests which ensures she brings a wide sustainability perspective to her work. In particular, Melissa is a founding member of Project Survival Pacific which is a group dedicated to helping address the effects of climate change on the Pacific Islands. Last year Melissa was part of the delegation that attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen along with 11 young Pacific Islanders funded and arranged by the group.
A key area of interest for Melissa is the transition to a sustainable society and the innovative solutions required to facilitate the shift.
Melissa has completed a Bachelor of Environmental Planning with honours at Griffith University, Queensland.

Graeme Philipson

Research Director

Connection Research

www.connectionresearch.com.au

Graeme Philipson is founder and Research Director of Connection Research, a market analysis firm specialising in the convergence of digital and environmental technologies. He has been in the high tech industry for more than 30 years, most of that time as a market analyst and journalist.

He is author of Connection Research's innovative Green IT, Sustainable Home and Connected Home reports, and heads up the company's research activities in the sustainable technology, IT and home automation industries.

He was founding editor of MIS Magazine, Research Director for Gartner Asia Pacific, Editor of Computerworld Australia, and Research Manager for Yankee Group Australia.

Kevin Sansome

Director

Kreative Solutions

Kevin has had over 20 years of General Management experience in the gas industry working for Elgas Limited and Commonwealth Industrial Gases (now BOC) holding positions in Technology & Innovation, Strategic planning and Divisional Management.

Kevin is a Director & Owner of Kreative Solutions a boutique strategic energy consultancy advising overseas and local clients on Strategic Market analysis, potential for Merger & Acquisitions and assisting an Energy Investor Group with expansion capital opportunities in the gaseous and renewable sectors. He specialises with technology evaluations in clean energy.

Dr. Bhuvan Unhelkar

National Director

Australian Institute of Business Analysts

www.methodscience.com

Bhuvan Unhelkar (BE, MDBA, MSc, PhD; FACS) has spent more than two decades as a strategic as well as hands-on professional in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industry. As Founder and Consultant of MethodScience.com he has notable practical consulting and training expertise in business analysis, software engineering (modelling, processes and quality), enterprise architecture (including SOA), green IT and the environment, project management, collaborative web services and mobile business. His domain experience includes financial, insurance, government, banking, retail, as well as telecommunication organisations wherein he has created industry-specific service-oriented architectures, process maps, transformation maps, quality strategies and business transformation approaches.

Bhuvan's hands-on experience has lead to creation many seminars and industrial courses over past few years in the aforementioned areas, which have now been delivered to business executives and IT professionals globally (in Australia, USA, Canada, UK, China, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Singapore). Training courses delivered through MethodScience have been consistently ranked high and acclaimed by the participating professionals from the industry.

Dr. Unhelkar is a sought-after orator, a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society (elected to this prestigious membership grade in 2002 for distinguished contribution to the field of information and communications technology), Life member of Computer Society of India, Rotarian at St.Ives (Paul Harris Fellow), Discovery volunteer at NSW parks and wildlife, and a previous TIE mentor.

Khimji Vaghiani

CEO

Solar Gem

www.solar-gem.asia/solargem

Khimji represents a number of Indian investors to search and connect with Aussie business solutions organisations and is working with a number of SME's looking to develop new products. His strategic investment experience is married with the opportunity to explore how best to export innovative technologies into the vast and growing Indian domestic market.

Khimji is strategic advisor to many of these businesses with a view to helping them develop their growth strategies and has assisted SME's with various government grants in terms of articulating and clarifying business models and commercial planning, as well as conducting technology due diligence for these businesses.

He has spent a number of years, across banking/finance, telecommunication, and manufacturing in Strategic business planning and product development. As a Project Director, Khimji has managed large scale infrastructure and business process projects at Siemens, Telstra and Westpac.

Khimji has also been a judge with various prestigious Government and private technology awards, such as the ATS / Western Sydney Industry Awards, Yellow Pages, C9 Small Business Awards, Consensus Software Awards, and APC Technology Awards.

Khimji has a keen interest in technology in developing nations and is completing his PhD in innovation. His interest stems from the emergence of nations and the challenges faced with the introduction of new business solutions in the banking industry. He is currently writing for a number of journals on this topic.

Prof. Tony Vassallo

Institute for Sustainable Solutions

University of Sydney

www.usyd.edu.au/sustainable_solutions

Tony Vassallo is the Delta Professor in Sustainable Energy Development at Sydney University. Before joining the University in 2008, Tony held the position of Senior Principal Research Scientist in the CSIRO Division of Energy Technology, followed by a period of consultancy to industry and government in sustainable energy technology.

Tony led the CSIRO Carbon Supercapacitor Project from 1994 till 2001. His primary research interests concern clean energy technologies and their role in mitigating climate change, in particular the use of energy storage to facilitate the uptake of renewable energy technologies. Tony is also vice-president of the Australian Institute of Energy.

The State We're In

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:29:35 +1100

I was photographer and sound recordist for an interview by Radio Netherlands show The State We're In with Don Ritchie at The Gap in Watson's Bay, Sydney.

The pensioner who's prevented over 160 suicides

Captain Obvious

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:47:17 +1100

Captain Obvious
Originally uploaded by iwoolf.

One of my new favourite t-shirts.

The moon is beautiful

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:46:01 +1100

IMGP2688

Originally uploaded by iwoolf.

I'm very pleased with this shot! I took this with a compact Pentax Optio M60 camera.

Reactions more revealing than the leaks

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:04:49 +1100

Image via Wikipedia

Assange has beautifully drawn out the anti-democracy opinions of the world's elected leaders, and their willingness to pursue illegal means to continue their illegal activities without oversight. They are all now blatantly against free speech and a free press, and they do not respect the judicial system.

Its fascinating that they haven't yet accused or threatened any of the large newspapers or networks with terrorism for publishing the stories from the wikileaks website. Will their legal defense be blocked by the US and Australian and Swedish governments, too?

Wikileaks has tricked them into casting away their masks, to reveal the true ugliness we need to repair to gain the democracy we believed we had. There's a protest outtside Sydney Town Hall on Friday at 1pm, but I'll be judging the Consensus Greentech awards all day.

I do like that the Judge today reportedly talked about the "wikipedia leaks"! Its one thing for a journalist to make a typo, its a whole other thing for a judge to be so ignorant. Consensual "surprize sex" in Sweden, where the "victim" has a party in Assange's honour after the vent and bragged about him online.

If Australian governments can once again fail to protect Australian citizens from foreign government's illegal attacks, then the government should be prosecuted. Howard and Ruddock should be prosecuted for failing to protect Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks, both of whom committed no crimes in Australian, US or International law.

Julian Assange should be considered for a Nobel prize for Wikileaks contribution to genuine free speech and transparent democracy, but most of all for revealing the world's leaders as enemies of liberal democracy and human rights.
,

Freeline Christmas Drinks : November 30 - Lord Roberts Hotel

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:16:19 +1100

Image via Wikipedia

It's been suggested your volunteer Freeline Committee really has been doing its job in covering current freelance issues.

All Freeline members who can make it are still invited to the meeting, of course, but it will be a much less formal pre-Christmas get together. Perhaps we can even have a toast to fair contracts forever!

The MEAA officers who are working on freelance issues - Bede Payne and Sophie Miller - are still in the frame to join in, so if you can come, please let us know.

Details for your diaries are:

Location: The Lord Roberts Hotel, corner of Riley and Stanley streets, Darlinghurst.

Date and time: Tuesday, November 30, 6:30pm to about 8:30pm

RSVP: to peterwoods_worx@yahoo.com.au (so we have an idea of the numbers for catering).

There will again be a charge of $5 each, to cover the cost of snacks. Drinks will be at your discretion.

Living longer the Genescient way

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:59:59 +1100

MP3 download

This is my 10 minute report on Gregory Benford's hour-long talk and slide-show about his company Genescient's aquisition of the Methuselah flies, and how they are being used to show the networked interactions of drugs and foods with genes and how they express in the human body. He presented his talk at the Singularity Summit Australia. The Methuselah flies use experimental evolution to discover the genes that cause the diseases of aging. Their first product StemCell100 goes on dale in December 2010

Club Cosmos: Would the Earth be better off without us?

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:51:53 +1100

Image via Wikipedia

Controversy! Science! Beer! It's all there at Club Cosmos, their new 'science in the pub' event in Sydney where a panel of real live scientists debate the big issues. It's a night of humour, stimulating discussion and door prizes. It's the last one for the year, so don't miss it!

The topic: "Would the Earth be better off without us?"
The Panellists: Scott Rayburg, a fluvial geomorphologist and hydrologist at the University of Technology Sydney; Stephen Wroe, palaeontologist and palaeobiology expert at the University of UNSW; and David Warton, an ecological statistician also at University of UNSW. Chaired by Wilson da Silva, editor of COSMOS magazine.

24 November · 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Harlequin Inn, Top Floor bar, 152-156 Harris St, Pyrmont
Map: http://is.gd/hy56t
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=168540039840804
Website: http://www.asc.asn.au/2010/11/would-the-earth-be-better-off-without-us/
There are $400 in prizes to give away including free subscriptions to COSMOS, DVDs, books, backpacks, t-shirts, mugs and baseball caps!

Brought to you by COSMOS and the Royal Institution of Australia. Made possible by a grant from the Council of Australasian Museum Directors with funding from the Science Connections Program of the Federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Simon Taylor's Pieces of Mind magic show

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:18:12 +1100

Simon Taylor, master illusionist and mind reader, presents a special performance of Pieces of Mind in the Grand Lodge of the Sydney Masonic Centre on Friday, November 26, from 8:00 - 9:00PM.

Tickets are $15 each. from the Australian Skeptics. You don't have to be part of the TAMOZ convention to attend.

"The concept behind Pieces of Mind centres on my approach to solving life's little puzzles. Having had a background in studying psychology, working with children with autism and speaking on the science of magic, the show demonstrates my journey that entails collecting pieces to the puzzle of the human mind. How well can we read other people? What can I know about how people think? What are some of the subtle parts of human interaction that shape how we perceive each other? These questions and many others form the content and feats featured in my show.

However, it took a lot of development to reach this final premise. So I'd like to share some of the process with you here.

Being all about the mind, it was necessary that audience participation became a core element of the show. However, I had to draw on all the performance resources I could to ensure I learned how to provide a non-confrontational yet engaging experience. In addition to that, I needed to learn how to communicate my ideas without making it feel like a lecture. I needed narrative, comedy, magic and a true portrayal of my earnestness.

It started with consultations with prodigy playwright, Matt Ziccone. After seeing his theatre productions, and the accolades that followed them, I was fortunate enough to become friends with him, which as a bonus gave me his insight into story formation and scripting.

From there I continued to do my regular stand-up comedy spots around the Melbourne circuit, trying edgier and longer-form material. A few preview shows and some invaluable feedback from more accomplished friends (I'm so tempted to name drop, but I'd rather uphold my own), the show felt much clearer and nearly ready for a full season.

Even with the material I had becoming stronger and more refined, I felt somewhat lacking in spontaneity on stage. Out of pure coincidence, I discovered an improvisation workshop that has turned out to be the regular highlight of my week. Learning to be more receptive to the ideas other people offer me has changed the way I engage my audience.

There came a point, as my knowledge from these different worlds amalgamated, where I decided to delete my initial stage show script and start over under the new title and premise: Pieces of Mind."

Circuit bending workshop by Toydeath

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:46:48 +1100

Image via Wikipedia

Toydeath are running a Circuit Bending workshop at the end of January 2011

It will help Toydeath get to the USA and we will be presenting at Dorkbot NYC!

This workshop is for artists and musicians or anyone who would
like to get into electronics. It will suit musicians who are
interested in making unique and cheap electronic instruments and
microphones. Installation Artists will find the skills to make
interactive circuits etc the workshop will cover

· Soldering
· Construction of audio cables.
· Assembling electronic circuits
· Circuit bending and toy modification. Modify an electronic toy to
create your own instrument!

Hands on and great fun, students would walk away with a basic
understanding of electronics and your own electronic instrument
and/or kit! All equipment and components provided.

It will take place on 29 and 30 of Jan 2011
11am to 4pm both days

This is a special workshop to help Toydeath get to the USA for a tour and cultural exchange. Please book at our Fundbreak page
http://www.fundbreak.com.au/beta/index.php/archive/index/108/description/0/1385

Silicon Beach

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:42:24 +1100

Image by iwoolf via Flickr

Worked hard all week and time to wind down with a drink and some like-minded company? Time for Silicon Beach Drinks!

This is an open networking/social drinks group with a tech/entrepreneurial flavor. Tech freelancers and entrepreneurs often don't have colleagues, but still would like to have Friday drinks after a long week of work... no program or presentations...

Everyone is always welcome, so no need to know anyone there.

6pm every Friday at

Bar 77, Grace Hotel

77 York Street
Sydney

How to find us
"Find the group that seems to have fun and extremely good looking, that must be us... Or ask the barstaff."

Silicon Beach meetup page

Making Science As Pervasive As Sports

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:38:17 +1100

Image by iwoolf via Flickr

MAKING SCIENCE AS PERVASIVE AS SPORTS IN TODAY'S SOCIETY

Presented by
Australian Science Communicators

Dennis Schatz, Pacific Science Center,
Seattle, Washington State, USA

Tuesday 30TH NOV, 6.30 - 8 PM
Clarendon Hotel - Upstairs
156 Devonshire St, Surry Hills 5 minutes walk from Central Railway

RSVP: ascnsw@gmail.com

Light catering provided free drink for ASC members.

Bar menu and drinks available.

If we want a STEM literate public, then we need to focus on more than what happens in primary and secondary education where people spend only 3% of their lives. This means making STEM a lifelong, life-wide and life-deep activity just like sports. Come hear Dennis Schatz, Senior Vice President at Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington, describe his institution's activities that seek to attain this dream.

Some of Dennis's interests include:

Co-directing Washington State LASER (Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform), Washington state¹s science education reform effort. More information is at www.WaStateLASER.org Portal to the Public program that works with scientists from universities, government agencies and industries to help them effectively communicate with public audiences. More information is at www.pacsci.org/portal/

US National Research Council¹s development of Surrounded by Science http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12614). This book and its companion book (Learning Science in Informal Environments -- http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12190) provide a theoretical framework for how people learn science in informal settings.

Agora 18th-24th November

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:13:50 +1100

Image via Wikipedia

This movie is about the tragic loss of the Library of Alexandria. Starting from tomorrow 18th of November until the 24th of November. You will be able to see this movie at Chauvel Palace Cinemas. It deals with sensitive issues, so be prepared.

Release Date: 18 November, 2010
4th century A.D. Egypt under the Roman Empire... Violent religious upheaval in the streets of Alexandria spills over into the city's famous Library. Trapped inside its walls, the brilliant astronomer Hypatia and her disciples fight to save the wisdom of the Ancient World... Among them, the two men competing for her heart: the witty, privileged Orestes and Davus, Hypatia's young slave, who is torn between his secret love for her and the freedom he knows can be his if he chooses to join the unstoppable surge of the Christians.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar Cast: Rachel Weisz , Max Minghella, Oscar Isaac, Ashraf Barhom, Michael Lonsdale, Rupert Evans Duration: 127 mins Rating: MA15+ - Strong violence

Chauvel cinema cnr Oxford and Oatley Rd, Paddington NSW. Tel (02) 93615398

Speculative Fiction discussion group

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:42:07 +1100

The last Wednesday of every month, people meet up at Sappho's bookshop to discuss science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal stories in books, graphic novels, movies or TV. The next meeting is 24th November.

Time: 7pm

Place: Sappho's bookshop 51 Glebe Pt Rd Glebe

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Speculative-fiction-discusssion-group/160862764853

Killing Skippy

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:21:44 +1100

This month UTSpeaks free public lecture asks the question - how did kangaroos stop being wonders of the Australian bush, becoming only good for food or sport?

Download your invitation to UTSpeaks: Killing Skippy (pdf 299kb)

Based on cutting-edge UTS research, this public lecture addresses the contentious issues of harvesting and eating kangaroos as a means to protect the environment and examines the laws and regulations that govern the well-being of one of our national icons.

Date: Tuesday 30 November, 6pm drinks for 6.30pm start (concludes 7.45pm)
Venue: UTS City campus, University Hall, UTS Science Building 4, 745 Harris St Ultimo - please see the map
Cost: Free for alumni and friends
RSVP: By Monday 29 November by email to Robert.Button@uts.edu.au or phone (02) 9514 1734

Alumni are welcome to bring partners, friends and colleagues free of charge. If you know someone who has an interest in animal welfare, sustainability or the environment, please forward this invitation on to them.

Parking is available for those with a disability or special need in the Peter Johnson Building basement car park, 702-730 Harris St, Ultimo. To subscribe to the UTSpeaks public lecture series, register here.

Hugo De Garis interview part 3

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:04:06 +1100

download MP3

Are you a Cosmist or a Terran? Beware the anti-robot-overlord future and listen to the 3rd and final part of my interview with Hugo De Garis about the implications of being able to build god-like massively super-intelligent machines at the Singularity Summit Australia in Melbourne, 2010.

Robot floor duster for under $20!

Hugo De Garis interview part 2

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:03:31 +1100

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This is part 2 of my interview with Hugo De Garis about the implications of being able to build god-like massively super-intelligent machines at the Singularity Summit Australia in Melbourne, 2010. He predicts a massive pogrom and witch-hunt as those against the building of god-like machines attempt to wipe out everyone who wants to build them, and all of the people who might be even faintly of use to them - all in the interests of preserving the human species at all costs. This is part 2 of a 3 part interview.

Robot floor duster for under $20!

Hugo De Garis interview part 1

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:06:54 +1100

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I spoke to Hugo De Garis about the implications of being able to build god-like massively super-intelligent machines at the Singularity Summit Australia in Melbourne, 2010. This is part 1 of a 3 part interview.

Robot floor duster for under $20!

Shuttle Cola

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:58:42 +1100

Shuttle Cola
Originally uploaded by iwoolf.

The zero-gravity cola dispensing machine developed by Coca Cola for the Space Shuttle. Snapped on my trip to NASA in Florida in September 2000.

Latest Coke in Space information Zero-Gravity Coke Packaging

Interactive sculpture exhibition youtube video

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:22:20 +1100

An overview of the Interactive Sculpture exhibition in Ashfield Mall. Ian Burns ran a workshop sponsored by AShfield council where he taught and facilitated the building of interactive sculptures from found objects by local residents www.ianburns.net
You can see other videos and the photo gallery, and hear the interviews.

Zero Carbon Australia

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 23:45:36 +1100

Beyond Zero Emissions plan to Repower Australia with 100% Renewable Energy. I've seen their figures, they've done the sums and actually have a real plan we could follow.

Michael Georgeff interview

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 22:00:49 +1100

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Dr Michael Georgeff spoke to Ian Woolf about how Rational Artificial Intelligence relies on using one's own Beliefs, Desires and Intent, and being able to understand the Beliefs, Desires and Intent of others. He spoke at the Singularity Summit Australia.

updating the blog

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 23:45:50 +1100

Its time to update to the latest version of Movable Type. Things may be a little wonky here until its finished.

Gregory Benford- Genescient anti-aging talk

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:34:45 +1100

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This recording was made in large echoing room, from the audience. Its less than ideal. I'll be posting a studio quality recording of me presenting a script based on this talk, very soon.

Gregory Benford spoke about his company Genescient's aquisition of the Methuselah flies and how they are being used to show the networked interactions of drugs and foods with genes and how they express in the human body. He presented his talk at the Singularity Summit Australia.

Here's my photos of his presentation as a slideshow or click on the thumbnails below:

Stelarc explains his art

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:09:22 +1100

MP3 download (1 hour 18 minutes - 72 megabytes)

Stelarc opened the Singularity Summit Australia in Melbourne on 7th September 2010 with a Second Life avatar driven by a collaborator and voiced by Stelarc on a short delay. He showed us his art history in a gallery in Second Life.

Photos below from Matthew Hall

Fake Barry

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:15:52 +1100

My larynx is swollen, so I'm recording funny stuff before it heals. Here's fake Barry White:
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Here's Why podcast promo - Old Spice style

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:48:26 +1100

Here's a bit of fun to promote my podcast, taking advantage of the change in my voice this weekend. download MP3

In case you haven't seen it, here's the ad that inspired me:

Nikki's box of wonder close-up

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:40:14 +1100

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Here's a close up view of the ice cream van and the scenery going past it on Nikki's box of wonder at the Interactive sculpture exhibition in Ashfield Mall.

Nikki's box of wonder

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:25:50 +1100

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Nikki built a box that did amazing things for the interactive sculpture workshop run by Ian Burns http://www.ianburns.net and exhibited at Ashfield Mall. Nikki's box emitted a stream of bubbles while the scenery of Sydney rolled past a toy ice cream van. She has a peep-hole that revealed a miniature celebrity disco, and a marble run that opened a draw to reveal a fortune card. There's even a water feature on the side.

Neil's Aliens

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:17:59 +1100

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Neil built a group of things from another world for the interactive sculpture workshop run by Ian Burns http://www.ianburns.net and exhibited at Ashfield Mall.The aliens sensed a shadow from the wands and then vibrated around the table
You can hear Neil describing the workshop and his sculptures in this interview.

Liz's Self-playing Foosball table 4

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:37:29 +1100

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Final videoof how Liz built a self-playing foosball table from found objects for the interactive sculpture workshop run by Ian Burns http://www.ianburns.net and exhibited at Ashfield Mall.
You can hear Liz describe the workshop and her sculpture in the interview.

Liz's Self-playing Foosball table 3

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:34:57 +1100

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Liz built a self-playing foosball table from found objects for the interactive sculpture workshop run by Ian Burns http://www.ianburns.net and exhibited at Ashfield Mall.

Liz's Self-playing Foosball table 2

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:20:04 +1100

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Liz built a self-playing foosball table from found objects for the interactive sculpture workshop run by Ian Burns http://www.ianburns.net and exhibited at Ashfield Mall.

Liz's Self-playing Foosball table 1

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:06:29 +1100

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Liz built a self-playing foosball table for the interactive sculpture workshop run by Ian Burns http://www.ianburns.net and exhibited at Ashfield mall during the World Cup soccer tournament.

You can hear Liz talking about her sculpture in the interview.

Julie's doll with a heart

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:04:18 +1100

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Julie created a sculpture of a doll that breathes through a diaphragm as its heart visibly beats faster and faster, as part of the Interactive sculpture workshop run by Ian Burns with Ashfield Council. The video shows her sculpture being exhibited in Ashfield Mall.

Julie's breathing doll

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:02:14 +1100

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Julie created from an old waving Santa, a doll who breathes and has a bright beating heart that you can hear and see. The interaction has a surprise ending.

Bharti's interactive quilt 2

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:57:22 +1100

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Bharti combined electronic interaction with her love of quilting for an interactive quilt. Light sensors made from light dependent resistors trigger LEDs and birdsong. From the Interactive Sculpture workshop exhibition in Ashfield mall.You can hear her interviewed about her quilt and the workshop.

Bharti's interactive quilt 1

iwoolf@gmail.com (Ian Woolf) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:41:53 +1100

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Bharti created an interactive electronic quilt at the Interactive sculpture workshop and showed it at the exhibition in Ashfield mall. You can hear her interviewed about her quilt and the workshop.