Google Tech Talks
May 22, 2007

ABSTRACT

One of the main goals of astrobiology is the search for another type of life in our solar system. The planet Mars, Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, and Enceladus one of the moons of Saturn, are the most likely targets for this search. With only one example of life on Earth it is not too surprising that we lack a precise definition of life or a clear strategy for how to search for it on other worlds. Studies of the limits of life and life in extreme environment may help us develop a search strategy for life on other worlds. Fossils are not enough. We will want to determine if life on elsewhere was a separate genesis from life on Earth. For this…

Google Tech Talks
May 1, 2007

ABSTRACT

Introducing New Zealand’s Geospatial Research Centre
Based in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Geospatial Research Centre (GRC) is a University-based group providing research and consultancy services in the fields of positioning and orientation, with particular expertise in sensor integration, image analysis, data visualisation and electronics.

GRC has a small team of experienced research scientists and engineers, as well as PhD and graduate students, able to support a range of geospatial technologies and disciplines including: * Positioning and Orientation * Imaging and Image Analysis * Communications * Sensor Integration * Unmanned Aerial…

Google Tech Talks
May 30, 2007

ABSTRACT

Dr. Ben Goertzel – Artificial General Intelligence: Now Is the Time Essay: www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0701.html Abstract: When the AI field was founded over 50 years ago, it was squarely focused on the grand dream of creating software displaying general intelligence at the human level or beyond. Since that time the field has drifted in a direction Ray Kurzweil has called “Narrow AI”: the creation of intelligent software applications carrying out highly particular functions. The relationship between this sort of narrow AI and “artificial general intelligence” (AGI) as in the original dreams of the AI field, is an issue of dispute among experts. Some…

Google Tech Talks
February 28, 2007

ABSTRACT

Among America’s most serious concerns are (i) national security, which is intimately tied to energy security, (ii) economic competitiveness, and (iii) the environment. These issues transcend our national boundaries and have serious implications for the world. At the core of these problems is need to secure clean, affordable and sustainable sources of energy. Solutions must come from a combination of improvements on both the demand and supply side, and science and technology will be an essential part of the solution. After briefly describing the energy problem, the remainder of the talk will describe areas of research that may lead to transforming…

Google Tech Talks
May 11, 2005

ABSTRACT

Did we learn anything through the massive growth in Internet software development from 1995-2000? Scott Berkun did. He was an original member of the small and initially ignored Internet Explorer team of 15 people that grew into a 200+ person organization by version 5.0. He went on to manage teams in Windows and MSN, and is here to talk about what he learned during and since those wild chaotic times. To illustrate tough lessons of software development, this talk incorporates stories from the browser wars and Berkun’s research into other projects. These lessons address issues such as small vs. large team engineering, business vs. customer tradeoffs, how to be…

Google Tech Talks
March 8, 2007

ABSTRACT

Jon will describe the revolution in medicine that has occurred over the past 30 years that has integrated the mind back into the body and developed a remarkable range of practices for integrating one’s experience, reducing stress, healing the body, coping more effectively with emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression, and cultivating greater well-being and happiness. His work has been instrumental in bringing Buddhist meditative practices, as he likes to say, “without the Buddhism” to full acceptance within the mainstream of medicine, psychology, and health care, and has shown them to be effective in people suffering from a wide range of medical…

Google Tech Talks
February 13, 2007

ABSTRACT

This is an introduction to Haiku, an open source operating system designed from the ground up for the desktop, inspired in the concepts and technologies of BeOS. The presentation will cover the concepts and features that make Haiku unique, as well as a hands on demo. Credits: Speaker:Bruno Albuquerque, Speaker:Axel Dörfler, Speaker:Jorge Mare, Speaker:Michael Phipps

Google Tech Talks
March 5, 2007

ABSTRACT

Alternate Reality Games not only exist on the web – they call you up, invade your TV show and fly helicopters outside of your house. This talk will provide a quick introduction in ARGs, and focus on how we’re using lessons learned from Perplex City Season 1 to make Season 2 a much more fun, more accessible and more immersive experience. Credits: Speaker:Adrian Hon

Google Tech Talks
March 6, 2007

ABSTRACT

Jeff “Yak” Minter has been developing video games from the Sinclair Spectrum era on up through the present day. If you were alive in the 8-bit years, you’ve probably played one of his games: Llamatron, Attack of the Mutant Camels, Gridrunner and Idris Alpha were among the better-known ones. If you were one of the 30 people to buy an Atari Jaguar, you probably bought his “Tempest 2000” and “Defender 2000” cartridges. And if you own an Xbox 360, you’ve also seen his work: the builtin music visualizer is his creation. His current project is an XBox Live Arcade game temporarily titled “Space Giraffe”, which is an attempt to bring the classic Atari game Tempest…