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Programming
Email Matt Arnold, our Head of Programming, at: matt dot mattarn at gmail dot com. Further changes will be tallied and put in a Change Sheet in the pocket program.
Click here to view the schedule in spreadsheet grid form. |
| You can see the rooms in the Hotel's photo tour. |
| The Gaming track is not recorded in detail here, but click here to go to its schedule. |
Friday
10 AM to 3 PM Assembly Geeks With Guns Eric Raymond, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette Geeks meet in Assembly to leave for an off-site shooting range.
3 PM Ballroom B Computer Lounge Opens
3 – 3:45 PM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc's staff members
4 - 7:30 PM Ballroom C Paint and Take' Miniatures Workshop Linda Martelle Learn how to paint a gaming miniature and take it with you! There is no charge for this event. Hey, thanks, Black Lightning Inc!
NEW: Friday 5:30-6:30PM Northfield B
Introduction To Penguicon Eric S. Raymond, Steve
Gutterman, Shay VanZwoll, Aaron Thul, Rob Landley. You don't
have to be familiar with our communities before you arrive! Penguicon
welcomes those from many interests and specializes in introducing them to
each other for the first time. If you've never been to an all-volunteer
not-for-profit science fiction and fantasy convention, or if you don't know
the traditions of the software hacker culture, genre fiction
readers, parody musicians, Anime "otaku", board gamers, roleplayers,
futurists, foodies, folksingers-- our friendly guides will describe the
world of geek terminology, answer your questions, and take you on a walking tour.
5-5:30PM Maple B Intro to Anime Morgan Kollin
5:30 – 6:30 PM Ballroom A Security and Psychology Bruce Schneier Our Software GoH examines particular brain heuristics, how they work and how they fail, in an attempt to explain why our feeling of security so often diverges from reality.
5:30-6:30PM Ballroom B Livejournal / Social Networking Sites Etc. Meet & Greet In past years this event was just a Livejournal meetup, but why limit it? If you're on any web service that offers networking, come share it with everyone. See who else uses that service as well, and exchange usernames.
5:30-6:30PM Ballroom C 'Munchkin' Preview Steve Jackson
5:30-7:30PM Maple B Busou Renkin / Arms Alchemist 1-6
5:30-6:30PM Promenade East Developing Characters, One Strip At A Time Randy Milholland, The Ferrett, Benjamin Rodriguez, Megan Gedris A few panels a day or a week is almost a snapshot-sized glimpse into the lives and personalities of characters. What can the webcomic writer do to provide backstory ... give each character a blog?
6:30-7:30PM Ballroom A Opening Ceremonies Bruce Schneier, Christine Peterson, Charlie Stross, Randy Milholland, Steve Jackson
6:30-7:30PM Northfield A Introduction to OpenAFS Marcus Watts, Matt Benjamin
6:30-8:30PM Oak Screening of "Revolution OS"
6:30-7:30PM Promenade East Costuming 101 Freon, "Red" Kendra Duane, Cathy Raymond First-time costumers and those who have never costumed - but are interested - are welcome. All basic ideas of getting started in making and wearing costumes are discussed.
6:30-7:15PM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc's staff members
7:30-8:30PM Ballroom A Science Guest Of Honor Speech Christine Peterson Our Science Guest speaks on “Life Extension: Good News, Bad News, Weird News”
7:30-8:30PM Northfield A Routers and OpenWRT John Marrett Proud parent of a home router and ready to fly fast and loose in the face of warranties? Come get introduced to the wide and wonderful world of open source routers. We'll cover hardware and software hacks, and with some luck, a virgin router will be sacrificed unto the dark powers of open source. Bring the kids!
7:30-8:30PM Northfield B Introduction to Python Catherine Devlin Python, the easy, elegant, and powerful dynamic programming language, is spreading everywhere. Stop feeling lame for not knowing it! I'll give you an introduction to Python while whipping up a graphical simulator of solar system dynamics before your very eyes. Suitable as your first programming language, or your twentieth. Come, learn Python, and hurl planets into the Sun!
7:30-8:30PM Maple A Lovecraft's Legacy Today Charlie Stross, Sarah Monette, William Jones, Sarah Shefferly, Jeff DeLuzio We examine H.P. Lovecraft's influence upon contemporary horror and science fiction, how the Call of Cthulhu RPG shaped the present concepts behind the "mythos," and how popular culture has assimilated Lovecraft's writings, bringing his creations into the public sphere - our social history. This is best exemplified by the common belief that the Necronomicon was an actual book, when in reality it was a fabrication of Lovecraft's imagination.
7:30-9PM Maple B Air Gear 1-4
7:30-8:30PM Promenade East Discussion Of Sculpting and Painting Miniatures Linda Martelle, Andrew Barlow Fans of gaming miniatures don't want to miss this one.
7:30-8:30PM Birch Worm Quartet Concert ShoEboX This Rochester, NY-based band forcibly staples punk and electronica together and throws them into a blender with hysterically twisted lyrics. They have been featured repeatedly on the Dr. Demento show, with many “Funny Top Five” appearances! The sole member of Worm Quartet is a 6’4” 300-lb. bemulleted manic who insists on being called “Shoebox" and who poses by day as a mild-mannered software engineer.
8:30-9 PM Break
8:30 – 11 PM Oak "Starship Tea Drinkers" Heckled MST3K Style Nick Sagan, John Scalzi In the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, our two expert class clowns will provide a hilarious sendup of a film, which (by all reports) the director sincerely thought he was basing on a Heinlein novel of the same name. Whether the director ever read the book is an open question. ;)
9-10 PM Ballroom B Order Out of Chaos: Presentation on the Chaos Machine Steve Jackson, Malcolm Kudra, Jimmie Bragdon The giant customizable marble roller coaster returns for 2007, once again courtesy of Steve Jackson Games. This contraption is open all weekend for Penguicon attendees to tinker with, but this will be a special presentation time. This year the conchaos.com organizers are not content to rest on their laurels. With CM-Net, the Chaos Machine is no longer purely mechanical. It now has the potential for input and output to and from computation and wireless broadcast! Lights, sounds, the motion of the ball lifts, and other effects can now be triggered wirelessly by ball passages, LED ball counters, infrared detection of nearby humans, or remote computers. As with all Chaos Machines, some assembly is required. But that's the point.
9 PM-midnight Assembly Black Sweater Party Aegis Sword Academy SWAT team building clearing and hostage rescue hands-on simulations. This year we have activities for newbies, and more challenging activities for those who have participated before!
9 PM – dawn Northfield A ARS 'Till Dawn Ars Technica ArsTechnica.com gets a room all night to do whatever tech presentations they want. Whose room is Northfield A? Ars.
9 – 10 PM Northfield B Moodle, Free Software Web Portal For On-Line Education Matt Benjamin Moodle, an open-source (GPL) web content management system for on-line education, has become a very high-profile software product in its category, and has become a significant focus of open-source development activity in higher education. Moodle as received steadily increasing mainstream attention from high-profile deployments, most recently UCLA. This panel will introduce the Moodle system, focusing primarily use of Moodle to develop and deliver on-line courses. We will also discuss Moodle's collaborative development model, which has allowed the software to evolve in a few years into a potent competitor to commercial course delivery systems.
9 – 10 PM Northfield C Securing Linux to DoD Specifications Clif Flynt
9 – 10 PM ConSuite Wine with Bruce Schneier Bruce Schneier will provide wine from his own cellar in the room next to ConSuite, for an informal freeform chat with a small group of you. Sign up in advance at Ops. (TEINAWE: This Event Is Not About Windows Emulators.)
9 – 10 PM Maple A Chocolate Ritual Lady Sarah, Randy MiIlholland, Bill "Narf" Albin, Shay VanZwoll, Paula, with special assistance from Goth Bunny
9 PM - midnight Maple B Akihabara@DEEP 1-3
9 – 10 PM Promenade East Writing Workshop, Part 1, Intro A Zanoni, Michael "Freon" Andaluz, Karl Schroeder, Sarah Shetterly This session is primarily a meet-and-greet for the workshop attendees and an overview of the workshop process.
9 – 10 PM Birch MarsDust.com Video Show Taping Jason Ahlquist, Davroz, MarsDust crew, Elizabeth Bear MarsDust.com is transforming itself into The MarsDust Channel, a fannish television channel for the internet. One of the first shows is being produced here at Penguicon. "MarsDust Magazine" is part talk show, part video fanzine, part fake reality show. This episode's guest will include Elizabeth Bear. What other surprises await? You can find out. Sign up at Ops to be a part of the studio audience. Only those who are not disoriented by quantum co-location devices need apply. All studio audience members will get a free souvinier magazine. MarsDust Magazine will also be out and about at the convention, reporting on all that Penguicon has to offer. If you have something special at the con that you thing the fannish/Linux community would like to learn about, please contact them through Ops.
9 – 9:45 PM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc's staff members
10 PM – late Ballroom A DJ Brick Dance
10 PM – midnight Ballroom B Celebrity Munchkin GM Bill Korsak. Steve Jackson, Randy Milholland
10 – 11 PM Northfield B Introduction to Open Source Embedded Systems Rob Landley In a world with more cell phones than laptops, it's important that Linux runs on more than just PC hardware. But how do you program a machine with no monitor or keyboard? How do you make a battery last 2 weeks, and squeeze the entire system into less space than Gnome uses for the login prompt?
10 – 11 PM Northfield C PostgreSQL & Explaining Explain Aaron Thul Tuning SQL queries is one of the facts of life for anyone working with databases, and in PostgreSQL? the key to doing this well is the mysterious explain command. In this talk, Aaron demystifies this handy tool so that you'll be able to spot trouble faster and know when you're making improvements.
10 – 11 PM Maple A Life-Hacks for the Writing Process Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, M. Keaton, David Crampton A "life-hack" is web lingo for a productivity tip or trick we can apply to our own behavior. What life-hacks can get you to apply pants to chair and bang out words, or for that matter, to get the brain into a state where the words are better? Which low-tech life-hacks have withstood the test of time? Also, how do our tools shape the mind that writes the words?
10 – 11 PM Promenade East Blogging Your Life Without Losing Job, Or Your Mind Sarah Elkins, Cathy Raymond Strategies for keeping your two worlds separate, or at least compatible. Multiple blogging, work blogging, identity, information overload, and more.
10 – 11 PM Birch The Great Luke Ski Concert The Great Luke Ski The ever-popular parody musician performs a concert which, if the green screen is still set up, will look on video like it took place on Mars.
11 PM - midnight Oak Screening of 'InZer0'
11 PM – 6 AM Birch Open Singing Circle Gather around, bring a guitar if you have one, or your voice, or just listen.
11 – 11:45 PM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc's staff members
Saturday
midnight – 3:30 AM Oak Screening of “Blake's Seven” Created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer best known for creating the popular Dalek monsters for the television series Doctor Who, Blake's Seven ran for four seasons between 1978 and 1981. Popular from the time it was first broadcast, it remains well regarded on account of its dark tone, moral ambiguity and strong characterisation. It is often remembered for the shock ending that concluded the series.
12:30 – 2 AM Maple B Godannar 1-4
2 - 5AM Maple B Death Note 1-10
CANCELLED: 9:30-10:30AM
Northfield B Django the Python framework for rapid web app
development Dan Scott
10 – 11 AM NorthfieldC Coffee Ritual Matt Arnold Congregational Litany, led by the Barista: It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of java that the mind acquires speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
10 – 11 AM Boardroom Christine Peterson Kaffeeklatch Questions about nanotech, futures studies, or the origin of the term “open source”? Sign up at Ops for this small informal freeform chat over coffee with our Science Guest.
9:30-10:30AM Maple A Masquerade Q&A Freon, "Red" Kendra Duane, Paul BART Stevens This year's masquerade is run by budget costuming gurus from the Great Pinata Riders Costuming Guild, www.pinatariders.org Where do you start? What are the rules? What the heck is this enrollment thing? Find out what's it all about, and how to get involved but still have fun. Prepare to take notes - especially if you plan on walking the walk tonight onstage.
9:30-11AM Maple B Gear Fighter Dendoh 1-5
9:30-10:30AM Promenade East Writing, Where Do You Start? M. Keaton, David Crampton, David Klecha, Sarah Shefferly Everyone wants to write a book, but which comes first, the characters or the world? Plot or theme? Panelists discuss how they begin their creative process, long before they begin to put words on paper.
9:30-10:30AM Birch The Time Traveler Vintage SF Podcast, Live Your host, a mystery man known only as “The Time Traveler”, records a live episode of complete unabridged vintage short stories from the past, and interviews special guest author Tobias Buckell.
10:30-11AM Break
11AM - noon Ballroom A The Future Of Spyware Bruce Schneier, Charlie Stross
11AM – noon Ballroom B Livejournal / Social Networking Sites Etcetera Meet & Greet In past years this event was just a Livejournal meetup, but why limit it? If you're on any web service that offers networking, come share it with everyone. See who else uses that service as well, and exchange usernames.
11AM – 1 PM Assembly Junk Pile Wars TomSkelton, DanSkelton We provide a pile of antique computer parts of dubious reliability, and a set of judging criteria. Who can build a computer and get the best services running on the network?
11AM – noon Northfield A Intro to Podcasts, How to Listen, Find, Create The Time Traveler, Dr. Jonathon “Sullydog” Sullivan, Matthew Stewart-Fulton, Tim Ryan From the most slickly-produced internet audio magazine, to music shows, to a simple but fascinating audio blog, podcasts are hours of free entertainment in your car or going for a jog. Dr. Jonathan "Sullydog" Sullivan of EscapePod.com, Matthew Stuart-Fulton of OffTopicTalk.blogspot.com, Tim Ryan of This Mad Music Archive.com (guest host of its music podcast "Mad Music Show"), and the enigmatic host of TheTimeTravelerShow.com will get you started with an overview of how to listen to or subscribe to an internet audio feed so that it loads directly onto your MP3 player when published. They'll also outline the basic steps to record and publish your own podcast. Then they'll list of some of the best podcasts for you to sample.
CANCELLED: 11AM
– noon Northfield B LiveCD How To Mass Deploy Standardized
Linux Images Dan Scott Learn how to create your own
customized Linux LiveCD. Starting with the Slax Linux distribution,
you will learn how to add applications, change default behaviours,
create your own modules, write a CD image, and burn that CD image to
a disk or USB key.
11AM – noon Northfield C How to Throw a Room Party Joe Saul, Moonbeam Nance, Tammy Coxen, Rachel Weisenfeld Is there more to a convention room party than chips, dip, cheap beer, and people? Unquestionably yes. How do you throw the room party people will talk about all con? Ask our panel of experienced party hosts.
11AM – noon Oak Author Social Michael A Andaluz, David Louis Edelman, Dave Crampton. Moderator: Sarah Shefferly Penguicon presents a groundbreaking experiment--authors in the wild. An open forum for a group of authors to read, sign, answer fan questions, and generally be available to convention attendees without the stress and pressures of a 'formal' structure.
11AM – noon Boardroom Elizabeth Bear Kaffeeklatch Sign up at Ops for an informal freeform chat over coffee with Guest of Honor Elizabeth Bear, author of the Hammered/Scardown/Worldwired SF trilogy and The Promethean Age.
11–noon Maple A How Do You Measure Webcomic Success? Randy Milholland, Eric Millikin, Rob Balder, Megan Gedris Alexis rating. Ad revenue. Fan mail. Catharsis. The creators of SomethingPositive, FetusX, Partially Clips, and YU+ME discuss – or confess -- the rewards of putting it online for free and not answering to a boss for their performance metrics.
11AM–2PM Maple B Utawarerumono 1-8
11AM–noon Promenade East How to Write RPG Fiction Steve Jackson, William Jones
11AM–noon Promenade West Asian Pantry Lisa Leutheuser, Molly de Blanc One of the most intimidating things about cooking Asian food at home is finding the ingredients. Here we will talk about different ingredients, what they're used for, where to get them, and we will have a selection of ingredients on hand for people be able to see, smell, handle, and taste (if appropriate).
11–1 PM Birch Bring On Da Noise, Bring On Da FuMP Tom Smith, Rob Balder, Worm Quartet, Luke Ski A gigantic shared two-hour concert with artists from the Funny Music Project, better known as the FuMP! These artists have committed to releasing new or unreleased recordings of their music to the public under a Creative Commons License at www.thefump.com. This means we promise not to be upset when a video of you lip-synching to our song in your underwear appears on YouTube.
11-11:45 AM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc's staff members
noon to 1 PM Ballroom What's New at SJ Games Steve Jackson, Jimmie Bragdon Steve Jackson and Jimmie Bragdon talk about new and upcoming releases at SJ Games, including the Big New Munchkin Project, the computer game UltraCorps, new GURPS projects, and, of course, FNORD. Steve will sign games, answer questions (often truthfully), and show off at least one new prototype.
noon to 5:30 PM Ballroom B Installfest GLLUGBring your computer to the computer lounge and put it to good use. The Lounge will be providing CD's and technical assistance to help you install Linux or BSD on your computer. Also feel free to stop in to share knowledge, pick up a few tips and tricks, or possibly walk away with your own copy of Linux from The Burn Unit, our open source CD/DVD burning station.
noon to 1 PM Ballroom C Prep for Live Action Customizable Meta-Chess Matt Arnold Contestants will be taught the rules. This variant is not official FIDE chess, by a long shot! Spend a predetermined number of points, RPG-style, to design a custom chess piece movement on a sandwich sign to wear in the game that starts at 1 PM.
noon to 1 PM Northfield A Principles of Debugging Marshal Newrock Whether you're a programmer, maintainer, or end-user, it's important to know how to debug when something goes wrong. In addition, knowing what each of the other levels expect helps get problems fixed faster. This panel will offer some methods for keeping debugging simple and easy.
noon to 1 PM Northfield B Posthuman, A Lousy Marketing Concept Christine Peterson, Jason Ahlquist, Karl Schroeder, Ron Hale-Evans The term 'posthuman' seems to indicate a lack of humans. This is not what is meant, but it's really bad marketing, and scares people. Even transhumanism is not a very friendly term. Names are important; perhaps it needs a new name the same way Free Software came to be known as Open Source Software?
noon to 1 PM Northfield C This Topic Intentionally Left Blank Eric Raymond, Howard Tayler Eric Raymond and Howard Tayler talk about whatever they want.
noon to 1PM Oak Elizabeth Bear Reading
noon to 1PM Boardroom Paint and Take Miniatures Workshop Linda Martelle Learn how to paint a gaming miniature and take it with you!. There is no charge for this event. Hey, thanks, Black Lightning Inc!
noon to 1PM Promenade East Worldbuilding M. Keaton, David Crampton, David Klecha, Sarah Monette This popular panel from Penguicon 4 is reprised by request. Panelists speak on the difficult tricks and traps of building a world both consistent, plausible, and still uniquely interesting in both SF and Fantasy.
noon to 1 PM Promenade West Rip It And Stick It: Instant Costuming FREON, "Red" Kendra Duane, Paul "Bart" Stevens A lively general instant costuming info session for the non-seamstress. The PinataRiders.org folks shoot the wind about Liquid Nails, hotmelt glue, duct tape and Great Stuff. Yes, the foam.
noon to 12:30 PM Lobby Balcony Randy Milholland Signing
1 to 2 PM Ballroom A Open Source-style Security for the Whole Physical World Christine Peterson, Bruce Schneier One of the biggest problems society faces this century is the security/privacy/freedom issue. It's already being screwed up in DC, and nanotech will make this worse. The answer may be "Open Source Physical Security", that is, open-source style security principles extended to physical space. How do we do this? It's up to us to figure this out and then implement. (Who else could?)
1 to 2 PM Ballroom C Live Action Customizable Meta-Chess Matt Arnold Gird yourself with a sandwich sign, take up your polearm, and sally forth onto the checkerboard taped on the floor, in search of gold and glory! The object of this human-sized chesslike game is to capture the crowns of the Kings of both parties of chess pieces. It can be won with chess tactics, or resource management, or diplomacy. Work together to capture whoever is the current King of the opposing party. But only do that in such a way that you are set up to backstab each other for one individual to wear both crowns! Watch out, the surviving members of the other party of adventurers can take their crown back! Will the two parties of adventurers work as a team to protect their crown, or will they munchkin in an attempt to keep it for themselves? Google “chesslarp” for full instructions.
1 to 2 PM Northfield A RepRap.org, the 3D printer that prints another one Sebastien Bailard RepRap, short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper, has been called the invention that will bring down global capitalism, start a second industrial revolution and save the environment. It will make plastic, ceramic, or metal parts, and is itself made from plastic parts, so it will be able to make copies of itself like John Von Neumann's concept of a Universal Constructor. It is a three-axis robot that moves several material extruders. The RepRap build cost will be less than $400 US for the bought-in materials, all of which have been selected to be as widely available everywhere in the world as possible. Also, the RepRap software will work on all computer platforms for free. A project leader from Toronto will give an overview of the goals and the 2008 replication target.
1 to 2 PM Northfield B Terse Languages Matt Benjamin, Seth Breidbart The word "terse" does not appear in the blog article "Succintness is Power," by Paul Graham, but the article does speculate on what language designers can do to make programs shorter, as an intrinsic property of their language. What languages have this property? Is terseness difficult to read? Are Ruby or Perl terse or verbose? Is Haskell more terse than OCAML? Is Erlang more terse than OCAML, and less than SML--or the reverse? What makes a given language productive for which users, solving which kinds of problems?
1 to 2 PM Northfield C Organization for the Overwhelmed: Getting Things Done Joe Saul, Anne KG Murphy Getting Things Done, commonly abbreviated as GTD, rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them somewhere. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks.
1 to 2 PM Oak Charlie Stross Reading and Author Social Charlie Stross, M Keaton, M.Z. Williamson. Moderator: Anne Zanoni Penguicon presents a groundbreaking experiment--authors in the wild. An open forum for a group of authors to read, sign, answer fan questions, and generally be available to convention attendees without the stress and pressures of a 'formal' structure.
1 to 2 PM Maple A Works and Influence of SF Grandmaster Godfrey L. Winton John Scalzi, Nick Sagan, Sarah Monette Winton. A dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. Some say he was an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru. Our panelists may disagree on the details. Did he really tour New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration, or is that just legend? Prove how familiar you are with the works and influence of 11 time Nebula winning, 26 time Hugo winning Grandmaster Godfrey L. Winton.
1 to 2 PM Promenade East What's the difference between Near Future SF and the Techno Thriller? Elizabeth Bear, David Louis Edelman When do works with a crunchy technological coating also have a chewy philosophical center?
1 to 2 PM Birch Frank Hayes Concert You've read his technology column. Now come hear his music!
1 to 1:45 PM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc's staff members
2-2:30PM Break
2 -2:30PM Maple B Kamen Rider: The First
2:30 to 4PM Ballroom Tom Smith Concert It's Tom Smith, for ghod's sake! He's funny! He's fast! He's witty! He's poignant! Go, listen, and have fun.
2:30 to 3PM Assembly Tai Chi Demo Sifu Genie Parker Sifu Genie Parker, disciple of Grandmaster Eddie Wu Kwong Yu will lead a demonstration of Wu style tai chi chuan, including a hand form, a weapons form and pushing hands techniques. Sifu Parker will conduct a class in the basic Wu style tai chi form and technique following immediately after. All are invited to learn about the health and relaxation benefits of this style of martial art. Demo in Assembly will be followed by a class in Northfield C.
2:30 to 4PM Northfield A Godzilla Presentation Tony Wendel
2:30 to 4 PM Northfield B Alternative OS Gaming Jeff Hanson Presentation and discussion of the issues surrounding Linux gaming including emulation, DRM, intellectual property, and business opportunities.
2:30 to 4 PM Oak Screening of "Rogue Farm" Machinima by Charlie Stross Charlie Stross' excellent science fiction short story "Rogue Farm" has been adapted to a visually-stunning animated film using techniques so sophisticated, you can't tell it's produced with a Machinima process.
2:30 to 4 PM Maple A Brain-As-Computer Metaphor Karl Schroeder, Ron Hale-Evans, Dr. Jonathan "Sullydog" Sullivan Cutting-edge SF author Karl Schroeder joins Ron Hale-Evans, author of Mind Performance Hacks, and Dr. Jonathon Sullivan MD PhD in neurology, to consider "The brain is a computer, the mind is software." That's been the ruling metaphor of cognitive science, neurology and AI studies for decades. The software of thought is supposed to operate much like that of a computer, going from discrete state to discrete state. However a new study from Cornell shows that our thoughts change continuously; the brain works "in shades of grey". And there are good reasons to think that the mind is not an artifact of the brain alone, but is extended into the environment as well
2:30 to 4PM Maple B Guyver 1-4
2:30 to 4PM Promenade East Writing Workshop, Part 2: Critique A Zanoni, Michael "Freon" Andaluz, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Shefferly An open panel to discuss the author and criticism. How to give it, how to take it, how to use it, what influence it has on their work, etc. This is an open discussion and everyone is welcome to attend.
2:30 to 4PM Promenade West Bellydance Class Shetan Noir Belly Dance by Shetan Noir - Belly dancing is one of the oldest forms of dance. Originally created by women for women, it was a way to prepare their bodies for childbirth. Now it is an exciting art form and popular dance. This class will teach you belly dance basics: including hip work, isolations, veils, stomach rolls and shimmies. All body types welcome. [email protected] or www.myspace.com/ShetanNoir
3 to 4 PM Northfield C Tai Chi instructional class Sifu Genie Parker The demo from 2:30 to 3 in Assembly adjourns to this room for an instructional class.
3:30 to 4PM Lobby Balcony Nick Sagan, John Scalzi signing
4-5:30PM Ballroom A Centralized System Management With Puppet Jorge Castro Learn to pull the strings on all your servers from a centralized location. Dwell at the heart of your web, from whence your very whim causes servers to conquer the forces of complacency and inefficiency ... or, how you learned to stop doing "ssh in a for loop" and love the bomb.
4-5:30PM Assembly Mad Doc Geon's RoboSapien Review George Andaluz Ever wanted to take a Robosapien apart, but were afraid to void the warranty? Or just curious on how the things work? Wanna watch two Robosapiens duke it out? Or even better - drive the Robosapien youself and do the dukin'? Come on down and "Let's get ready to rumble!" (Competitors must bring their own fresh batteries.)
4-5:30PM Northfield A Taking The Tricks Out Of TrixBox Jeff Lawton idealso.com We'll be discussing how to set up a basic Trixbox, and how to manage and troubleshoot issues once you have it. We will discuss interfacing with the analog world, and how VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and QOS (Quality of Service) make all the difference. A Q&A session will follow.
4-5:30PM Northfield B Knowledge Gardening Sarah Elkins How innovators can use open source social software to nurture knowledgeand collaboration within an organization. Wikis, blogs, tagging and RSS feeds will be covered, along with reasons why you might choose to setup behind your organization’s firewall (at least initially). No special tech knowledge is needed to attend.
4-5:30PM Northfield C Asian Ball-Jointed Dolls Juana Overmyer, Francine Rossi The robots from Ghost In The Shell 2 were inspired by this popular type of realistically proportioned, fully-articulated doll.
4-5:30PM Oak Screen Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning
4-5:30PM Private Wedding of Rob Landley to Fade Manley Steve Jackson Officiating. Witnesses, Eric S Raymond, Cathy Raymond
4-5:30PM Maple B Cromartie High School 1-4
4-5:30PM Promenade East How To Offend An Audience Randy Milholland, The Ferrett, Eric Millikin, Rob Balder Where is the line between amusing and offending your readers? Web comics artists will tell us why some of them cross it (or dance joyfully OVER the line) and why some don't... and amusing stories.
4-9PM Outdoor Patio Tommy and Jesse Show DJ Tommytooney and Jesse will be spinning tunes and doing what they do best.
4-5:30PM Birch Fencing Demo Bob Scheltema, Brandon Scheltema Witness some non-choreographed, steel sword combat and you might just learn what Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black were talking about in The Princess Bride. The fencing demonstration (fencing, the art of defense, or from the German Fechten, to fight) will include discussions about the growing Western Marital Arts combat movement. Learn the fighting styles of the Italian Masters of Defense (Bonetti, Capo Ferro, Agrippa), along with the combat philosophies of the Spanish (Thibault), German and English schools. Western Marital Arts combat includes rapier, longsword, basket hilt and good old wrestling and kicking.
4-5:30PM ConSuite Chupaquesos Jay Maynard, Howard Tayler A cheese crisp folded around melted cheese.
4-4:30PM Lobby Balcony Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette signing
5-5:30PM Lobby Balcony Charlie Stross & Bruce Schneier signing
5-5:30PM Break
5:30-7PM Oak “TR0N” Heckled MST3K-Style Jay Maynard, Tom Smith In the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, comedy musician Tom Smith joins Jay Maynard (“The TRON guy” featured on The Jimmy Kimmel Show) to provide a commentary track to the movie.
5:30-8PM Maple B The Third 1-6
6-7PM Ballroom A Technological Singularity? Or Technological Maximum? Charlie Stross, Christine Peterson, Karl Schroeder, Eric Raymond If the acceleration of progress results in a black hole for human history, the concept of Technological Singularity cannot be ignored by science fiction. Everybody is skeptical of the Singularity, no one more so than the foremost minds identified with the term. The notion is often conflated with an idea of infinitely open-ended acceleration. Karl Schroeder recently coined an alternative term, Technological Maximum, describing a vision in which the practice of science becomes obsolete when it is essentially completed, and the practice of technology becomes obsolete because of simulation AI that can evolve a custom invention for each situation. If improvement hits a ceiling and ends forever, does that qualify as a Singularity?
6-9PM Ballroom B GURPS Bunnies & Burrows Randy Milholland
6-7PM Northfield A Apt-Get You Up-N-Running Aaron Thul
6-7PM Northfield B Patterns of Data Access implemented in SQLAlchemy Mark Ramm
NEW: 6-7PM Promenade West Ham Radio - Digital Communications and More Mark Szlaga What are we? Who are we? What is this callsign thingy? Come experiment with us in the vast technology that is Amateur Radio. Talk around the world with nothing more than your computer, a radio, and a long piece of wire! Send pictures, read mail, talk to a satellite, chat using the original radio text communications to anywhere in the world! Experience this and more with our live demos.
ROOM CHANGE: 6-7PM Northfield CAuthor Social William Jones, Steven Climer, Sarah Zettel and more! Penguicon presents a groundbreaking experiment--authors in the wild. An open forum for a group of authors to read, sign, answer fan questions, and generally be available to convention attendees without the stress and pressures of a 'formal' structure.
6-7PM Promenade East Limited Female Roles In Fantasy, Comics, and SF TheFerrett, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, Sarah Monette, M. Keaton Why is it that a female character will either be raped or lose her child? Do TV writers have difficulty coming up with a motivation for women that isn't vagina-related? We rarely see every man's worst fear: castration. For equal rights, what if every time a woman gets raped on a show, they also neuter a male on the cast? The panelists will evaluate the causes and discuss this and other solutions.
6-7PM Birch Principles of Swordsmanship Aegis Sword Academy Come hear the Top Ten Rules for a Swordfight… and a ton of funny stories of what happens when the rules are broken!
6-6:45PM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc's staff members
7-8PM Assembly Masquerade Muster Setup "Red" Kendra Duane Judges: Elizabeth Bear, Cathy Raymond, XainaFairy All enrolled Costumers report promptly here to be directed to our muster for preliminary judging for the Masquerade Costume Contest. Don't be late. NO FOOD OR DRINK.
7-8PM Northfield A Subversion and CVS Clay Dowling, W. Craig Trader
7-8PM Northfield B The History of DEC Marcus Watts DEC made machines from the early 60's until 1998. Early machines were important at research institutions such as MIT. By 1965, DEC got into the timesharing world, and of course in the 70's (actually starting 1969), bell labs developed Unix on DEC hardware. Another major step in Unix came when DEC introduced the vax & unix was ported and then adapted to do demand paging on that hardware. The final chapters of DEC history are in the 90's where DEC comes out with the Alpha chip, a considerable technical advance, but the company isn't able to make a success of it and ends up being bought up by Compaq.
7-8PM Northfield C So You Think You're A Geek? Ann Marie Steichmann After traveling across country (or at least SE Michigan) interviewing random people on whether they considered themselves geeks and why, I will be presenting my findings and giving out prizes to panel attendees who are willing to subject themselves to ruthless probing and prodding in my quest to find the ultimate geek.
7-8PM Oak Screening Of Nanotech Comedy Documentary, When Things Get Small A comedic documentary about nanotechnology.
7-8PM Boardroom Birds of a Feather Session You This is led by TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year. You! Sign up on the dry-erase board in advance for the topics to discuss in this open slot.
7-8PM Maple A Technology As Legislation Karl Schroeder, Charlie Stross This can be seen in as simple a case as a change to a piece of messageboard software. But on a larger scale, technologies come with a particular way of life, a set of social relationships, an end run around existing political and social systems. We have to adopt them to keep up, so are we really free? Are those ways of life being established by wizards behind the scenes?
7-8PM Promenade East Promoting Your Webcomic On A Budget Carl Ray, Megan Gedris, TheFerrett How should someone lay the groundwork for promoting their webcomic? What strategies have worked for me, what didn't work? Which sites' ads gave me the best "bang for the buck"? Which ones are worth "breaking the bank" for?
DIFFERENT ROOM: 7-8PM Birch Self-Defense Through Prevention Aegis Sword Academy A fight avoided is a fight won. Discuss and practice the skills and mindset that communicate confidence and awareness – and prevent assailants from identifying you as a victim.
NEW: 7-8PM Promenade West Ham Radio - Digital Communications and More, With Satellites! Mark Szlaga, Mike Steele, Steve Andre What are we? Who are we? What is this callsign thingy? Come experiment with us in the vast technology that is Amateur Radio. Talk around the world with nothing more than your computer, a radio, and a long piece of wire! Send pictures, read mail, talk to a satellite, chat using the original radio text communications to anywhere in the world! Experience this and more with our live demos.
7-8PM Ballroom A Open Masquerade Setup FREON, GEON Local writer and volunteer-to-the-death FREON and his master tinker brother MAD DOC GEON help a hand-picked crew to set up for the Masquerade and a halftime Robosapien performance. Drop in. It'll be more improv than actual work.
8-9PM Ballroom A Masquerade: “Tour de Nocturne” RED Kendra Duane, FREON, Mad Doc GEON Andaluz, Paul BART Stevens, Judges: Elizabeth Bear, Cathy Raymond, XainaFairy Pinata Riders Return to Troy - and where the hell's this Helen chick? Welcome the Great Pinata! “Costuming Guest Of Honor” FREON parades our Original and Fan-Recreation costume entries, who will be judged and awarded on Originality/Accuracy, Theme, and Presentation. Come see the fun - we always have door prizes. Remember, all Costumers are welcome to compete at our Masquerade, but preparation is necessary. See Convention Operations for your Masquerade Costumer's Packet, which has all the info you'll need. Jury and lightning-round judging happens right away! Stick around and help break down for the dance.
8-9PM Northfield A Distributed Version Control With Git Ken Simon How distributed is your version control system? Find out why git is more than just a "Stupid Content Tracker", and why projects like X.org, Wine, OLPC and the Linux Kernel have all made it their SCM of choice. Topics include the fundamentals of Distributed Version control, the secrets behind git's incredible performance, and the everyday use of git, from beginning to advanced usage. Git on the Distributed revolution!
8-9PM Northfield B Tux on a Diet: Thin Clients and Terminal Services Jeff Lawton Getting started; Setting up LTFP with Ubuntu; The pieces that make LTFP work; Maintaining and troubleshooting an LTFP system; Customizing (for example, dual monitors); Common dos and don'ts; A brief discussion about no machine in nx protocol.
8-9PM Northfield C Intro to Tcl Clyf Flint
8-9PM Oak Screening of 'Cellular Visions: The Inner Life of a Cell', With Expert Commentary Jonathan Sullivan, Rachel Weisenfeld What you are about to see is not science fiction. It appears to depict an alien civilization grander than the planet Coruscant of George Lucas' Star Wars prequels, but make no mistake, it's happening in every cell of your body right now. Real data from the sequencing of nucei, proteins and lipids was used in this animation, to create computer-simulated molecules in which every atom is in the same place as in one of your actual molecules. Medical scientists will have their finger on the pause button of this eight-minute film, to explain what you're seeing.
8-9PM Boardroom Birds of a Feather Session You This is led by TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year. You! Sign up on the dry-erase board in advance for the topics to discuss in this open slot.
8-9PM Maple A The Matrix: Deconstructing Reality William Jones There is more to The Matrix than computers and kung fu. Beneath its cyberpunk attitude and slick Hollywood façade is a philosophy that questions "who we are." Explore the cinematic tricks and secrets that challenge us to reconsider the rules that are hidden in cultural coding. If you had to choose, which pill would you take? The Red or the Blue?
8-9:30PM
NEW: 8-9PM Promenade West Let's Play Radio Mark Szlaga, Mike Steele, Steve Andre So you think Ham radio is neat and want to find out more. Now let's get Radio Active! We have the hardware to play with almost any mode on any band. Please feel free to join us! You too can talk around the world if conditions are right!
8:30-9:30PM Birch Sword Demo: "Florentino: Case of Blades" Aegis Sword Academy The grace of fantasy's double swords began as short sword and long knife – the weapons of a back alley fight in sixteenth century Florence.
9-9:30PM Break
9-11PM Oak Screening of 'InZer0'
9:30-10:15PM Boardroom Birds of a Feather Session You This is led by TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year. You! Sign up on the dry-erase board in advance for the topics to discuss in this open slot.
9:30-late Ballroom A DJ Tommytooney Dance
9:30-11PM Morton's List: 988th Ninja Clan Showdown
9:30-11PM History of Linux. Rob Landley In 1991, a teenager in Finland did something in his bedroom for which he will be remembered for the rest of his life. Since then, he's spread it to everyone he's come in contact with. This reprise of the popular presentation from the first Penguicon will lead up to the talk on future of Linux in the Ballroom on Sunday.
9:30-10:30PM All Hail Gail Gail Christopherson Gail Christopherson does something secret again.
9:30-11PM Maple B Le Chevalier D'Eon 1-4
9:30-11PM Drumming Class Ryan Edwards Like Water Drumworks offers classes, instruments and performances which celebrate the joys of music and movement, with an emphasis on West African culture. For the past five years, Ryan has led groups to Guinea to study West African drum and dance. This event will be a fun and ego free hand drum class, in which Ryan will teach a traditional rhythm from West Africa. No prior experience is needed. Bring your drum if you have one; some drums will be available.
9:30-11PM Pirates, Ninjas, Jedi, Dwarves: Hero Archetypes in the Modern Day Aegis Sword Academy Elves, Vikings, Geeks… Whichever you are, come and discuss what makes modern archetypes so compelling, and why we identify with them.
9:30-10:15PM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc's staff members
10-11PM Boardroom Birds of a Feather Session You This is led by TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year. You! Sign up on the dry-erase board in advance for the topics to discuss in this open slot.
10:15-11PM ConSuite Drinking Chocolate Ron Blanchett
11PM–dawn Northfield A ARS 'Till Dawn Ars Technica ArsTechnica.com gets a room all night to do whatever tech presentations they want. Whose room is Northfield A? Ars.
11PM–dawn Oak Open Singing Circle Gather around, bring a guitar if you have one, or your voice, or just listen.
11PM-11:45PM Boardroom Birds of a Feather Session You This is led by TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year. You! Sign up on the dry-erase board in advance for the topics to discuss in this open slot.
11PM-12:30AM Maple B Samurai Gun 1-4
11-11:45PM Boardroom Birds of a Feather Session You This is led by TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year. You! Sign up on the dry-erase board in advance for the topics to discuss in this open slot.
11 PM - late Promenade West Drum Jam Steve Gutterman
11 PM - midnight Lobby Blasted Bill Holds Court Bill Putt Blasted Bill Putt describes how to suddenly gather a crowd at a convention and make your own unscheduled fun.
11:45PM-12:30PM Boardroom Birds of a Feather Session You This is led by TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year. You! Sign up on the dry-erase board in advance for the topics to discuss in this open slot.
Sunday
12-12:45AM Birch Viking Sword Tournament Aegis Sword Academy Ten foot circle, two swords… don't cross the line.
12:30-2AM Maple B Dai Mahou Touge 1-6
12:45-1:30AM Birch The Duel Aegis Sword Academy The grace of light saber battles, the precision of classic fencing, the (rum) violent glee of pirate duels… Aegis's most advanced fighters demonstrate expert performance with sword.
1:30-2AM Birch The Hero's Stand Aegis Sword Academy Everybody loves the hero. Except, of course, the bad guys…
8-9:30 AM Verdi's Breakfast with Sarah Zettel Special event for morning people is done on the Kaffeeklatch model, at the hotel restauraunt. Sign up in advance so Sarah can warn Verdi's about what size table we'll need. All attendees will be responsible for their own bill.
9-11AM Blake's Seven
9-11AM Gear Figher Dendoh 6-10
9-10AM Promenade East Characters, Villains, & the Art of Dialogue M. Keaton, David Crampton, Sarah Monette, Jeff DeLuzio Writers speak about the tools they use to present their characters to their readers. While the discussion is slated to begin with examining the use of dialogue, our presenters are sure to expand the discussion to include all aspects of writing good characters, from physical description to nervous tics.
9:30 AM Lobby Music in the Morning Sarah Zettel Why should the night owls and insomniacs have all the fun? Sarah Zettel will be there with her fiddle, and anybody else who shows up. Let's make a joyful noise unto the morning.
10-11AM Coffee Ritual Matt Arnold It is by caffiene alone I set my mind in motion.It is by the beans of java that the mind aquires speed, the hands aquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffiene alone I set my mind in motion.
10-11AM Maple A Creative Commons and Internet Marketing Charlie Stross, John Scalzi, Tobias Buckell, Sylvia Hubbard Building a fanbase online. First hit's free!
10-11AM Promenade East In Search of Adventure (aka We Might Need a Plot) Elizabeth Bear, M. Keaton, David Crampton, Sarah Monette How do these guys come up with it, book after book--the thrills, the mistakes, the challenges and triumphs of our favorite heroes? Where do writers get their plots? What about themes? There's rumored to be a shop in Indiana that sells them but... Our panelists attempt and probably fail to answer these questions as they discuss the backbone of every book--the plot. Where does it come from? Does it change before you can nail it down? Do you even need one?
11-11:30AM Break
11:30AM-1PM Ballroom C Speed Painting Workshop Linda Martelle Learn how to paint a gaming miniature and take it with you!. There is no charge for this event. Hey, thanks, Black Lightning Inc!
11-AM-1PM Maple B Coyote Ragtime Show 1-4
11:30AM-1PM Ballroom A Women In Technology Christine Peterson, Rennie Wasielewski, Anne Murphy. Moderator: Cathy Raymond Why are there still fewer women than men in tech? How can we address the disparity, or should we? What specific issues do 'girl geeks' face in their field?
11:30AM-1PM Northfield A Getting The Most Out Of The Web David Klecha What's a "web feed"? Or "greasemonkey"? Or "del.icio.us"? Learn the ease and convenience of a whole new internet experience.
11:30AM-1PM Northfield B Intro to Blender and 3D Graphics Greg Barker (novice level) Ever wonder how companies like Pixar and DreamWorks create all those cool, computer-generated movies? Using Blender, the free, open-source, cross-platform, 3D modeling and animation program, You'll get a taste of what it takes to create such works, as well as how to get started using Blender itself.
11:30AM-1PM Northfield C Author Social Karl Schroeder, Tobias Buckell, Sarah Monette. Moderator: Sarah Shefferly Penguicon presents a groundbreaking experiment--authors in the wild. An open forum for a group of authors to read, sign, answer fan questions, and generally be available to convention attendees without the stress and pressures of a 'formal' structure.
11:30AM-1PM Oak Screening of “Saving Star Wars”
11:30AM-1PM Maple A Comics That Would Make Good Movies Gini Judd, TheFerrett, Juana Overmyer, Dean Stahl Transmetropolitan, Y: The Last Man, Sandman? What comic series should be the source for movies, and can Hollywood make them without making a mess?
11:30AM-1PM Promenade East Published: the Vaguest Frontier M. Keaton, David Crampton, Anne Zanoni Everyone secretly believes that there is some hidden magic formula for selling their work and seeing it in print. Unfortunately, even our panelists don't know what it is. Instead, our writers offer their own experiences and advice on treading the winding road toward publication.
11:30AM-1PM Birch Frank Hayes Concert Frank Hayes You've read his column. Now come hear his music!
1-2:30PM Ballroom A The 64-bit Transition: Taking Advantage Of The End Of 32-Bit Windows Eric Raymond, Rob Landley Just as the 386 spelled the end of 16-bit DOS, new 64-bit processors spell the end of 32-bit Windows. A 30-year timeline based on Moore's Law predicted that the new hardware platform would arrive in 2005 (it did), and the new software platform will become entrenched in 2008. Why is this so, what are the three current contenders for the throne, and what properties will determine the new operating system standard?
1-2:30PM Ballroom C Minis Sculpting Demonstration and Requests Andrew Barlow
1-2:30PM Northfield A Eleven Ways to Keep your Data Forever Jeff Lawton, idealso.com We will be discussing 11 ways to keep your data safe, a discussion of on-site vs. off-site, configurations vs. data, archiving e-mail, and the downfall of the mac tape.
1-2:30PM Northfield B Animation using Eclipse and Draw2D Ann Marie Steichmann Forget UML diagrams. Eclipse's Draw2D can be used to create fun little useless cartoons. I know because I've done it and I'm willing to show you how.
1-2:30PM Northfield C Counterfactual Universes Elizabeth Bear, Tobias Buckell Sarah Zettel Did you read that work of fiction about an "attractive force" called "gravity"? As a result, planets were spherical instead of the normal donut or mobius strip. What if our world only had one sun and one moon? What if humans had evolved only two eyes and had to settle for binocular vision, and our skin was smooth instead of crennelated? Wouldn't that be wierd?
1-2:30PM Oak Screening of Maybe Logic, The Lives and Idea of Robert Anton Wilson
1-2:30PM Maple A Nanotech Safety Christine Peterson, Dr. Jonathan "Sullydog" Sullivan, Karl Schroeder, Tihamer Toth-Fejel Drawing a distinction between near and long term forms of nanotechnology, between a dumb and sessile (but nevertheless vastly productive) molecular factory, and the myth of the autonomous free-ranging universal assembler/disassembler nanobot. What are the real benefits and risks? What is the best trade-off between risk and reward? Can institutions self-regulate themselves to follow rules like requiring nanosystems to be powered by a rare substance or energy so that they can't forage in the wild?
1-2:30PM Promenade East What Went Wrong With Buffy Season 6 and 7? Gini Judd, TheFerrett, Jeff DeLuzio
1-2:30PM Promenade West Writing Workshop, Part 3: Endgame A Zanoni, Michael "Freon" Andaluz, David Louis Edelman A discussion of where we go from here. Workshop attendees, along with attending guests, will discuss the current state of the industry and market conditions with an eye toward what their own plans are for the coming year and their own future works.
1-2:30PM Birch The Filking Style of Rob Balder We shall be regaled by the music of self-described renaissance geek Rob Balder, who is also the author of the webcomic PartiallyClips.
1-1:45PM ConSuite Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Molly J. de Blanc
2:30-3PM Lobby Balcony Christine Peterson, Karl Schroeder signing
3-4PM Ballroom A Closing Ceremonies, Feedback Session
New Website and Podcasts