I am hopping on a plane to Scifoo in a few hours.
What is this?
Scifoo is an “un-conference” put on by Nature, O’Reilly Media, Digital Science, and Google. They invite between 200-300 people every year to the Googleplex and talk about everything.
No. Really. Everything. There are proposed sessions on astronomy, politics, engineering, economics, ethics, art, education, computer theory, disease, maths, lobbying, and magic. That’s just scratching the surface.
The format?
We show up at Google. Talk about what we intend to talk about. Talk about it. Talk about the process of talking about it. Talk about it some more. Then talk about all the things we just talked about.
I think I have died and gone to heaven.
What’s the point?
The top minds on the planet all in one place having an intellectual orgy? If you have to ask stop reading right now and go drag your knuckles through the cave back to your uncooked protein lying bludgeoned on the floor.
What’s my plan?
Meet everyone. I want to learn about the most esoteric subjects, I want to really understand if calcium had a role in the development of macroeconomic theory in the 16th century. I want to introduce the world to StretchSense and our vision of the future. I want to leverage minds wiser than mine to learn how to truly promote scientific and technological concepts into the classroom, the media, and the marketplace.
Blog. Scifoo runs for 19 hours a day but I am going to valiantly try to keep a diary and communicate my experiences. I think people will be interested and it will help consolidate my thoughts. Maybe I need to take a breathalyser and chart my blood alcohol content next to each post….
Am I excited?
Yes I am excited.
http://www.digital-science.com/sciencefoo/
StretchSense 