serendipityoucity

Imagine consulting on some of the most important matters, and having a team of philosophers and ethicists out doing the work. Applied philosophy? Academics at work in the world!

Finally! Involving the public in decisions on core human issues. We really can do this, and we need to do it.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has launched a consultation. … For the next three months the council will be taking soundings from the public on whether it would be ethical for the state to use financial incentives to deal with the shortfall in public donations of sperm, eggs and organs.

If the council is going to investigate the manner in which other countries do things, it will have to analyse the system of “presumed consent”, whereby the public is required to “opt-out” rather than “opt-in” to the donor register. Whenever this idea is raised in Britain, it tends to provoke public hostility, as was the case when the Royal College of Physicians recommended it last year.

For you geeks, nerds, data, librarians and related enthusiasts!

Date: Saturday, April 24th, 2010.

Time: 13:00 to 17:00.

Cost: FREE

Location: Ottawa City Hall ( in the Champlain Room )

           110 Laurier Avenue West
           Ottawa, Ontario
           K1P 1J1 (<a href="http://bit.ly/cbKPag">gmap</a>)

What to Bring: Gadgets! Bring you laptops, mobile phones, phasers set to stun, etc…

About: www.opendataottawa.ca & Video.

Twitter: @opendataottawa.

What others have been saying: Apartment 613 -Open Data Ottawa Hackfest wants to make you appy

Registration: just so the organizers have a better idea of who’s going to show up.

Looks like Friday’s the GOSLING gaggle included some ta’kin’ about women & open source on and Mike at OpenConcept followed up with some URLs to some pretty cool material on the list this morning that I am posting here:

Standing out in the crowd: my OSCON keynote, by Kirrily Robert Video/Slides from Women in Open Source talk at Open Web Vancouver 09, by Angela Byron (aka WebChick) Ada Lovelace Day: celebration of Angie Byron’s conributions to open source, by Mike Gifford

sweet!

Australopithecus sediba

Last week I had a great tavern conversation with Paul after TEDx at Carleton. It was initiated by reliability, accuracy and authenticity and then went beyond to Joseph Campbell, the importance of story telling and living a life that makes stories to tell, how some things change us in profound ways, like the first images of the planet. That was when Carl Segan came up! Paul, went and found the Pale Blue Dot transcript on his iPhone, and he read aloud the teensy weensy script over a meatball sandwich and square pizza! Life is just like that sometimes.

I really need to read Apollo’s Eye by the late Denis Cosgrove!