Lineup for Ignite Sebastopol

We have a great--and eclectic--lineup of speakers for Ignite Sebastopol (hey, this *is* West Sonoma County). Check out the almost-final list of talks below. Tim O'Reilly has also promised to do a talk, topic TBA but bound to be interesting!

A recap of the details: Ignite Sebastopol is on Wednesday, June 10 at the Hop Monk Tavern. Doors open at 6:00pm, MAKE contest is at 6:30pm and talks start at 7:15pm. Reserve your spot, it's filling up fast.

A sampling of our illustrious speakers:

* Nathan Halverson(@ewords) How remote-controlled helicopters, etc. will save my job: An economic argument to rescue regional journalism
Local ace tech reporter re-thinks the news from the ground up. Way up.

* Rich Gibson (@RichGibson) -- Gigapixel images for everyone
Tired of your 10 or 12 megapixel camera? How about 1,000, 2,000, or more megapixels? You can create massive explorable images!

* Dylan Field (@dylanjfield) -- How to Win Board Games Using Math
Everyone likes to win. However, some games combine chance with strategy, making victory uncertain. This talk will explore strategies to increase the chances of winning three popular board games with probabilistic elements.

* Alexis Bauer -- How to Work a Crowd
Wouldn't it be nice to always have something to say? To be perceived as witty and clever? To subtly control conversation in order to win favors and good reputation? Training people to expect a great time whenever you are around is a skill, learned just like any other with a few basic steps and a load of practice. Transform from bumbling geek to fun stranger! Easier than algebra, kayaking or chess, people will soon be eating right out of your hand!

* Collen Wheeler (@akacolleen) -- Travels Beyond Colleen-O-Vision. (Or How I Learned to Occaisionally Shut Up and Draw a Picture Instead)

Self-proclaimed wordygirl says, "Recent exposure to a group of folk who call themselves Visual Thinkers has made me appreciate the value of the picture in communication, and they even encouraged me to shut up and draw on occasion as well." You can do it, too.

* Michael Slater (@mzslater) -- A brief history of the web and a glimpse of its future

The web has become so pervasive that it's tempting to think of it as something established and stable. Yet a quick look back shows how dramatically the web has changed during its short history, and recent developments in social media, streams, web applications, and mobile devices give a hint of where it's headed--at least in the near term. Like all technologies, the way people use the web will eventually settle into a stable pattern, but that's well in the future: We're still in a phase of rapid evolution, making for lots of opportunity and a fun but challenging ride.

* Alexis Persinger -- Das Energie, free yourself from energy oppression.

Modern life needs power to run. To run our cars, our dishwashers, our laptops our I-Phones. The way power is produced and distributed has made us slaves to multinational corporations, to governments that don't represent us and to destruction of our environment. Wars are fought in the middle east for oil. Vast areas of the continent are polluted to mine and burn coal.

Making power at home whether with photovoltaics, wind generators, etc.. is a radical act. The hardest part is to take the red pill. Stop being an energy sheep waiting for the government or big business to take care of you and take charge of your own energy reality.

* Peter van Gorder (@GrooveFarm) -- Advanced Worm Composting

You've heard of "composting". You may have heard of "worm composting" aka "Vermiculture". Easy as it can be, composting takes a while, has some minor complications, and worms are expensive: $25 a pound - so making mistakes is costly. The advanced worm composting station solves many problems while also accelerating the composting process by a factor of 10. This "advanced worm composting station" is something anyone can build and is an amazing addition to any serious gardener's tool set.