Dogmom's Dish

Girl Geek Dinner @ Facebook: Ladies Rule

This week's party @ the mother ship couldn't have gone any better. 

Girl Geeks, including proud member & FB COO Cheryl Sandberg (check out her awesome video), celebrated progress and strategized on ways to keep moving forward...especially encouraging our little sisters in STEM fields.  Check out her awesome video--she couldn't make the dinner b/c she was giving the commencement address @ Harvard Business School.  We'll let it slide this time...(-:

Loved the other FB leaders who kept it real...smack in the middle of one of the most stressful weeks of their lives.  Not only did they show up, when they had every right to bail, they were honest and genuine. 

Yes, there were the usual work-life balance how-to questions ("You can't, so make sure you're doing something you love!") Super refreshing to hear candid opinions on crying @ work ("I did today--with someone who's worked w/me for 8 years") and technology intimidation ("Stop putting engineers on a pedestal.  You can learn this, too...besides, every 3 years or so, their knowledge is obsolete.")

My favorite, though, was about what women should stop doing in the workplace--adding qualifiers like, "You've probably already thought of this" and "It's a stupid idea, but..."  This was the perfect addendum to Fast Company's great piece last week on 3 Things Professional Women Should Stop Doing.

Kudos & love to the FB team for celebrating the true spirit of Girl Geeks--getting it done & supporting each other, 24/7...intelligently.

Special thanks to:

Cipora Herman, Treasurer & Vice President of Investor Relations
Jocelyn Goldfein, Director of Engineering
Robyn Reiss, Head of Internal Communications
Yvette Lui, Director of Global Marketing Solutions
Kerrie Ashley, Client Platform Engineering Team
Aidymar Bigio (Release to Production Manager)

 

Whose Data Is It Anyway? Patient Rights for Implantable Devices

Grateful every day for my amazing friends...heard one today on NPR!

My dear pal Hugo Campos has an implantable defibrillator and no one (manufacturers, providers/payors, clinicians, etc.) will give him access to his own data. I've heard him ask (on stages and in person) the "powers that be", from HHS heads to CEOs of device manufacturers.

Their answers range from "of course you have the right" to "I don't know how we'd do that".  Bottom line is that until there's $$ attached to doing the right thing, it won't get done.

Thank goodness Hugo is of the nicest guys on the planet.  I would have gone postal long ago.

Watch Hugo's TedX Cambridge talk here.

Robot Love: It's Not Just For Manufacturing Anymore

From coffee machines on wheels (a la R2D2) to a skeletal looking “super compliant “robot named Ecce, robots have come a long way.

According to a recent forum at Swissnex San Francisco, even further improvements are close to fruition.

Rolf Pfeifer, director of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the University of Zurich
detailed the importance of soft robotics in increasing their physical functionality. 

He showed the example of an octopus robot constructed of materials that demonstrate a greater understanding of soft materials that take advantage of passive dynamics. 

Pascal Kaufmann (University of Zurich and CEO of Starmind) highlighted the example of Cronos, the first humanoid robot in Playboy Ukraine.  He also invited the gathering to an upcoming robotics conference in Switzerland, promising to reveal some additional, um, advancement enhancements in the world of sex toy robots.

More Bots For Your Holiday Pleasure: From TV To The Table

Robots are tres popular this season...from Progressive Insurance's FloBot to Old Navy's knit-crazed grandma bot. 

Indulge the trend with these cute salt and pepper shakers...wind 'em up and they'll bring it.  ($14.99 on eBay)

'Tis the Season for Science: Cal Academy of Sciences

Once again, there is an alternative to the Nutcracker.

Cal Academy is hosting a number of after-hours events this season...if you're lucky enough to get an invite or ticket, just say "heck yes"!

Our very cool benefit involved the main floor and entire aquarium.  As you can see, I shared a tender moment (and a hot toddy) with one of the resident catfish.  Awesome!

The rainforest exihibit was visible, but not walkable...no biggie, since the lobby had blackjack (where DogDad got held up for 99% of the party) and flower/spice smelling exhibits.

 

 

Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em: DIY Robots

Sweet!  You can create your own 2" - 6" robot ($17.99 to 169.99) or gift your genius to someone else.

Check out Robot Nation's DIY robots + their cool blog.  Geeks rule.

Will We Ever Understand The Brain: Raising Consciousness

That lump of gray matter that you hang your hat on has been described as the ultimate social networking tool.  Why?  Because it contains 10 billion+ neurons and each has thousands of connections.

Two of the world’s top neuroscientists duked it out @ the California Academy of Sciences…without disturbing the ancient gazelles in the lecture hall.  The evening’s talk was part of the Bay Area Science Festival and focused on discussing what we know, as well as what’s missing.

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Baylor College of Medicine.   He’s also the author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain.   Henry Markram is director of the Blue Brain Project at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) as well as a coordinator of the Human Brain Project. 

Eagleman kicked off the discussion by saying that most of cognition happens under the hood and away from our general awareness.  Like worker bees in the background, he explained, there is a big gap between what our brain have access to and our experience of consciousness. 

He also talked about how competing networks of neurons battle to drive behavior .  Heads nodded throughout the audience when he offered the example of that old internal argument over having that delicious piece of chocolate cake…or not.

With regard to the evening’s central question, Eagleman offered a conditional “yes”.   While he believes that we’ll understand pieces and parts of the brain.  What’s missing for him, though, is a theory about consciousness.  He stressed that even if we understand the brain’s components and connections, we can’t currently turn it into an algorithm that replicates the experience of consciousness across different people.

Markram agreed with Eagleman that there is a more important question than understanding the brain.

He says that the right question is what is it going to take to make it possible, since 1 in 4 persons will suffer from brain diseases and the number of patents and solutions for treating brain diseases is dropping. His Human Brain project explores computationally growing neuronal geometries similar to the computational synthesis of the internal organs of cells. His work has built on the principle of expounding on the fundamental rules that allow neurons to connect. He and his team have developed new methods to simulate neuronal interactions while recreating their emergent properties…such as consciousness

Markram says that the major unsolved challenge of understanding the brain is to understand the eye, since the eye is only a “little filter that sends in some clues…the brain creates the representation”.

During the Q&A, the two discussed consciousness as well as simulation.  Eagleman posed several questions about the possibility of consciousness arising as a meta phenomenon and byproduct of a well-designed simulation. He even went to far as to ponder the ethical implications of simulating consciousness and then turning it off. Would that be considered murder?

Markram said that simulating consciousness was a possibility, but there’s no way to know until it’s actually tried. He added that we are still a long way from understanding the physics of consciousness, but that simulations are a great tool to explore this uncharted territory. Both agreed that there is a raging debate in neuroscience communities about the utility and validity of simulations. Ultimately, the evening raised more questions than it answered.

Given neuroscience’s infancy, that be the conscientious answer of all.

Hey, Haters: Crap Technology Rules

On a continuum between full Luddite and the dude in the Samsung commercial (who can't use
the brand because he's creative), I'm smack in the middle.

Flip phone, 4 year old laptop (ancient!) and a well-worn library card for real books...my Silicon Valley friends tease me endlessly.

Thanks to Thomas Hayden, I've been redeemed. 

Check out his interview and essay on why crap (not crappy) technology is green, good and never lost.  Take it from me--my Kia never gets broken into...even when my cell phone is in plain sight.

 

Cool Nerd Gadget Of The Week: Mr. Roboto USB Hub

His eyes light up when plugged in and stomps around when not fed...you know you want one.

Get on the waitlist and hear more about Mr. Roboto ($24)  here.

The Disappearing Spoon: A Heaping Helping of Nerd Delight

If you don't understand this comic or if the word chemistry sends shivers down your spine, there's a book you need to read!

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements...long title, awesome stories. 

Author Sam Kean has performed the impossible feat of making chemistry fascinating, by telling the tales behind the periodic table. 

Who knew that there was such drama behind every discovery?  I promise, the NJ Housewives, The Good Wife and CSI: Miami rolled together have nothing on back stabbing scientists in hot pursuit of Nobel Prize glory.  I listened to this on audio book, but the short story format works equally well for reading.

Get your daily dose of drama and pick up some serious knowledge...gratis.