Got a question for Cambridge Councillor Cheung?

Frances Yun, founder of a Harvard/MIT startup called “Six Questions” invites Cantabrigians to suggest queries for ” the fantastically accomplished” third-term Cambridge City Councillor Leland Cheung (left)

Cheung. the first Asian-American to serve on the Council, will answer six questions–submitted by Friday, January 16 and selected by a variety of methods– on video. The video will be posted at “Six Questions” within three days.

According to its Website, Six Questions was founded in 2013 to provide “a platform for community-driven Q&A events that allows individuals to engage the public and connect in an authentic, personal way. Every week, Six Questions features a different expert and crowd-source questions from the public.”

For more information or to submit questions, please go to:

http://www.sixquestions.co/i/leland-cheung-cambridge-city-councillor.

–Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA. New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and digital marketing firm.

Cambridge’s VKW Co. exchanges work for donations to Philippine storm relief

Very pleased to spread the word that Leo von Wendorff, a colleague of ours at the Cambridge Innovation Center whose business is largely based in the Philippines.will, for one month, donate all proceeds from his Virtual Knowledge Worker (VKW) business to victims of Super-Typhoon Haiya.

Leo Von Wendorff, CEO, VKW

Leo writes:

Dear Friends of VKW-

Cities and Towns were destroyed.

Lives were lost.

Thousands may still be missing.

Together with you

We want to help

Recreate Communities

Let’s rebuild their Lives!

For one month, VKW will offer services in return for donations to the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan via the Philippine Red Cross. The company will give 100 percent of the proceeds to the relief effort. “Let us take on your time-consuming and mundane tasks, knowing that your donation will help rebuild the lives of those affected by this terrible tragedy,” Wendorff says.

Projects, work orders or task requests should be submitted to Typhoon@VKWinc.com or (617) 299-1176 by December 7, 2013.

Typical tasks might include:

Data Entry, such as data entry of all your business cards
Appointment settings for your business or personal event
Execute a social media and telemarketing campaign
Lead mining
Internet research

All task and pledges are subject to review are available depending on available, according to Wendorff.

–Anita Harris
Anita M. Harris is managing director of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and marketing firm based at the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA. HarrisCom specializes in media relations and content services for clients in health, science, technology, energy and education, worldwide.

Benefit featuring tech ed experts, honoring visionary Seymour Papert to be held Dec 4, in Kendall Square, Cambridge

Learning to Change the World© &
Honoring the Legacy of Seymour Papert
December 4, 2013
6 – 9 PM
Cambridge Innovation Center 5th Floor
1 Broadway Street, Cambridge, MA

Small Solutions, Big Ideas (SSBI) and One Planet Education Network (OPEN) will hold a panel discussion, demos, celebration, and fundraiser will be held at the Cambridge Innovation Center December 4th 6-9 PM 5th floor, featuring leading education experts and technology and education: innovators Brian Silverman, Artemis Papert, Gary Stager, Mitch Resnick, Walter Bender, Cynthia Solomon and others.

They’ll share their experiences and insights about the latest developments in educational games and other related technology-based learning programs.

The panel discussion will be followed by nibbles, networking and demos of the latest learning software and games by the Small Solutions, Big Ideas and One Planet Education Network. (Scroll down to view program)

The event will also honor constructivism pioneer and MIT Professor Seymour Papert for his contributions to education, including his promotion of technology use in classrooms.

The program will benefit OPEN, a leading provider of online multiplayer adventure learning games that engage and inspire kids to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. OPEN’s mission is to transform teaching and learning by combining the power of 3D virtual video games with educationally rich storylines that challenge children and inspire a 24×7 passion for learning.

More Information: http://smallsolutionsbigideas.wordpress.comRegistration Links: http://bit.ly/19h8kOQ

Small Solutions (www.smallsolutionsbigideas.org) and OPEN (www.oneplaneteducationnetwork.com)

Panel Topics & Presenters

Legacy of Seymour Papert

Speakers: Cynthiia, Solomon: Brian Silverman, Artemis Papert, Gary Stager.
Presentation of a Tribute to Seymour Papert to Alan and Artemis Papert

Learning to Change to World

Claudia Urrea and Walter Bender, OLPC movement, its impact and lessons

The Changing World of Learning

Evolving Learning : Gary Stager, Mitch Resnick and Meredith Hamilton

The Role of Games andOnline Communities

George Newman, Danny Fain and Johnny Ronelus (One Planet Education Network) and Sandra Thaxter (Small Solutions Big Ideas)

Demos & Break Out Meetings

Small Solutions Education Program in Kenya: Sandra Thaxter and Alan Papert
One Planet Education Network Game Demos: George Newman, Danny Fain and Johnny Ronelus
BumpBump Books: Meredith Hamilton

–Anita Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group–an award-winning PR and marketing firm specializing in media relations, content marketing for clients in health, science, biotechnology, technology, education and energy, worldwide.

Three Boston Startups Win Biotech Tuesday Innovation Awards

Boston area startups Cocoon Biotech, Riparian Pharmaceuticals, Cellanyx Diagnostics, and DavosPharma were awarded$22K in funds and in-kind services at an innovation competition held by Biotech Tuesday, a Cambridge-based networking organization for life science professionals.

left-to-right : Execs from EMD Serono, Novartis and Lab Central

At an event on November 19th event, executives from EMD Serono, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and LabCentral chose the winning startup pitches from among five finalists’ presentations. The finalists were selected from an initial field of thirteen online entries based, in part, on online feedback from BiotechTuesday members. The three winners were all therapeutics and diagnostics startups proposing solutions to challenging medical problems.

Cocoon Biotech, Inc., led by CEO and founder Ailis Tweed-Kent, a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital won the $5000 EMD Serono Innovation Award. Cocoon Biotech is developing a silk-based gel for injection into the joint to provide long lasting joint support and lubrication in patients with osteoarthritis. EMD Serono is the biopharmaceutical subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a global pharmaceutical and chemical group.

Riparian Pharmaceuticals, led by Will Adam, Chief Scientific Officer and President, won both the $10,000 in-kind Novartis Innovation Award and the $3000 in-kind Pharmatek Innovation Award. Riparian Pharmaceuticals is focused on therapeutics that induce an anti-inflammatory response in cells to address diseases such as atherosclerosis. Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. discovers and develops new and innovative medicines. Pharmatek Laboratories, Inc. is a premier pharmaceutical chemistry development and manufacturing organization supporting the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industries.

Cellanyx Diagnostics, led by Co-Founder and CEO Ashok Chander, won the $4000 in-kind LabCentral Innovation Award. Cellanyx is developing a prostate cancer diagnostic based on culturing tumor biopsy cells that promises to be much more accurate than current diagnostics. LabCentral provides fully functional lab space, permits, waste handling, plus all reasonably common lab equipment for bioresearch.

In addition to awarding startups, the event also acknowledged the contribution of life science products and services in enabling cutting edge research for new therapeutics. DavosPharma won the Most Innovative Product or Service Award in recognition of its Anthem-GenTox product. This product offers scientists a high throughput genotoxicity assay based on human cells with greatly improved accuracy over conventional methods.

“This was Biotech Tuesday’s first innovation competition–but by no means its last, “said BioTechTuesday Co-Founder Seth Taylor, who organizes BiotechTuesday and served as master of ceremonies for the event.” The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly in favor of the competition,” Taylor said. “We look forward to continuing our efforts to engage our broad community of life science professionals in supporting innovators.”

The competition took place at District Hall, a new event space at 75 Northern Avenue in the Boston Seaport District.

–Anita Harris

Anita Harris is a writer and content expert based in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is published by the Harris Communications Group, a PR and marketing firm based at the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Kendall Square. HarrisCom offers writing and content services for clients in healthcare, life sciences, biotech, energy and the environment. Full disclosure: HarrisCom handled media outreach for the event as a probono sponsor.

J. Montgomery to headline blues benefit for film about 1960s WBCN-radio

Will play at West End Johnnie, Boston, on Wednesday, November 20 Limited tickets now available through Eventbrite.com

James Montgomery to lead at acoustic blues benefit Nov. 20

November 11, 2013 [Boston, MA] — Boston music legends led by bluesman James Montgomery will perform an evening of rare, unplugged acoustic blues at Boston’s West End Johnnie’s on November 20.The event will benefit the documentary film “The American Revolution,” which tells the story of the early days of WBCN-FM, as well as a recently established archives at UMass Amherst that is preserving and organizing the more than 100,000 archival items from the era shared for the film.

“In its early days, WBCN was the hub of enormous musical, social and political activity in Boston much of which had a national impact,” says Montgomery. “The blues were at the heart of it, and we’ll celebrate the roots of blues in this special evening of music.”

The benefit is at West End Johnnie’s, 138 Portland St. Boston, MA (phone: 617-227-1588) the cornerstone of Boston’s renewed West End that features an expansive collection of sports and music memorabilia.

Tickets are available online at KickstartWBCN.com for a suggested tax-deductible donation of $25. Donations to the non-profit production can also be made at the website.

“The American Revolution” tells the story of WBCN and Boston’s underground music, political and media scene during the late-1960s and early-1970s. WBCN began broadcasting as a free-form station in Boston on March 15, 1968 and soon became a powerful and groundbreaking media platform for a young generation driven to challenge social, cultural and political norms.

“WBCN broke the mold among radio stations playing the recordings of great blues artists like B.B. King, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf,” says film producer Bill Lichtenstein, who worked at WBCN starting while in junior high school in 1970 when he was just 14 years old. “Their music influenced emerging bands that were heavily blues-oriented, such as Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck and Led Zeppelin. This evening of music is a celebration of this important musical history.”

The benefit is also supporting the newly-launched “The American Revolution Documentary Archive Collection,” a collaborative project between the film’s producer, Lichtenstein Creative Media, and UMass Amherst Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives.

The archive makes accessible to the public and scholars hundreds of hours of rare audio and video recordings and films; tens of thousands of photographs; letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral histories; posters; memorabilia; artwork; and other materials gathered from the public and then digitized and cataloged by the film’s Peabody Award-winning producer Lichtenstein Creative Media with UMass Amherst for use in the film.“The value of the American Revolution archives lies in the fact that WBCN was more than just a radio station; it was a voice for a community of young people dedicated to changing the world,” says Rob Cox, head of UMass Special Collections and University Archives. “It is difficult to imagine a more creative array of writers, artists, musicians, and photographers than those who worked for, and were connected by, the radio station. Their contributions will make a important addition to our collections on social change.”

For more information on the benefit contact: Bill Lichtenstein, Lichtenstein Creative Media, cell: 917-635-2538, Bill@LCMedia.com

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a PR and market development firm based in Kendall Square, Cambridge.

–Anita Harris

Cambridge’s Luke Farrar Kickstarts fundraising for Aussie Claustral Canyon 3-D Film

With 17 days to go, and at 37% of his target, 3-d filmmaker Luke Farrar says things are going quite well for his Kickstarter campaign to fund an amazing filmmaking project–using a novel, 3-D camera–to bring a beautiful Australian canyon to your computer Screen.

Luke says Claustral Canyon is one of the world’s most ancient and beautiful slot canyons. Fifty million years old, it is ten times older than the Grand Canyon. There is no record of the Aboriginals ever having been there, which only adds to the mystery of the place. The canyon was only explored for the first time in the 1960s.

Here’s a link to Luke’s Kickstarter page, which includes a video explanation and demonstration of the project. Luke is based at the CIC, where I work; great if you could help him out with a few bucks.

Journey To A Lost Canyon .

–Anita Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR and digital marketing firm working with health, science, technology, energy and the environmental clients, worldwide.

CIC welcomes new (old) client…

Warm welcome to one of the newest (oldest?) clients at the Cambridge Innovation Center…My favorite entrant in the Halloween Competition, so far. It’s by Mike Burtov, CEO at Cangrade, which offers hiring automation/psychological testing. Back story is that this guy or gal is still waiting for Netscape to load…from 5 1/4 inch floppy disks. Pleased that s/he’s in C3 (shared space on the 5th floor) rather than on another floor, where I often work, which we’ve dubbed “elderhostel” for reasons you might be able to guess.

–Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning PR, social media and content marketing firm based in the Cambridge Innovation Center, in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA.

Guest Post: Mark Orton on Metadata, the Government and You

Mark Orton, our friend and former Cantabridgian, now living in Hudson, NY (aka Cambridge on the Hudson), suggests that the government is not being straightforward about how the multitude of data it is collecting is being used. He recommends a new tool called “Immersion” with which you can check out just how easy it is to compile and understand your own metadata.

Mark first posted the following on July 9 at Current Matters as “The uses of metadata: an experiment you can conduct with your own life.”

—AMH

With the recent revelations of the NSA vacuum cleaner collecting metadata about every aspect of our lives1 we have been subjected to calming incantations, “We are only collecting metadata, we aren’t looking at the content”. As I (and many others) have pointed out earlier, this is complete nonsense.

Now three fellows at MIT have provided us with a web tool to visualize metadata from our own lives. If you have a Gmail account, you should trundle over to Immersion and take a look at your own metadata.

I have been using my Gmail account as my main email system for a number of years. There are four other email addresses connected to it so the graphic below presents much more than just my Gmail email address’s activity.

(click on the graphic to see it full size)

Immersion: a people-centric view of your email life

Keep in mind that the Immersion site offers a great deal of interactivity. You set sliders to see different chunks of time, pick out particular people and see how they connect to others, and much more. There are three mysterious sliders on the left, “charge”, “node”, and “link” that change the organization of the chart. I have been unable to determine exactly what they do and the MIT guys have, to my knowledge, provided no explanation. Perhaps in their cocoon on Mass Ave, they assume that everyone will know or immediately intuit the uses of these sliders.

In my case it was very easy to identify the basic clumps of my life: family and friends, Hudson business community, and the library. Then you might notice floating around the periphery are a lot of nodes without links (or only occasional ones) to anyone else. These are my clients. I don’t email most of them very often. And, excepting a referral by me for some specific business purpose they never know about the existence of others amongst my client base, therefore no links between them.

Now, having played with this a bit one gets a much more visceral sense of how important and useful metadata is. And, imagining a pool of metadata that adds telephone contacts, location data from cellphones, text messages, Facebook, LinkedIn, and financial transactions, it is easy to see how fine grained and comprehensive a picture could be constructed.

So, as noted in an earlier post, NSA Vacuuming, Meta Data, Mistaken Misleading Metaphors, the government is being disengenuous, to be mild, to describe metadata as only metadata.

Here is a view of my data for just the last year. Some people have disappeared, new ones added, and the shape of the intensity of the interactions changed. Immersion: a people-centric view of your email life=last year

We are forced to assume that they are collecting everything, emails, telephone calls, financial transactions, text messages, anything digital which is virtually every aspect of life unless you took to the woods before 2000 and have been subsisting in an entirely cash economy without any communications that re not face to face. The tangle of lies by every government official involved will not support any other sensible interpretation. [↩]

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and marketing firm located in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA.