The Goa Project

Fringe and Geekery

Fringe Topics and Geekery Track of The Goa Project 2016

The Fringe: Live on the Edge

This is where you have no limits. This is the part of TGP 2016 where you can truly be what you want to be and express yourself about anything. This is where the rebels and nonconformists gather and talk about anything and everything.

Fringe/Geekery is the track which hosts the content that doesn’t fit anywhere else. If your talk is the square peg and the other tracks are round, come to Fringe and find your place - we’ll talk about anything that you’re passionate about and want to tell us about. The zanier and more offbeat the better - we don’t have guidelines for Fringe, because there aren’t any - there is no content limitation and no restriction - come and tell us about your passion (except for the overall restrictions placed on politics and religion).

In particular, the geekery aspect of this track is unique: While modern civilisation may exist purely due to technology and the inventions of the gifted geeks among us, there are few platforms where geeks get to communicate and discuss their vision of what can be, and what must be.

This year, we hope to touch upon forward-looking sessions, participate in sessions that bridge the gap between where we are today and the fantastic future that geekdom is envisioning and creating: Renewable energy and the end of the oil economy, Elon Musk, Artificial Intelligence and interplanetary diaspora, and perhaps the end of electronic privacy as a concept.

Proposals with a flavor of futurism, rather than a rehashing of the present, are especially welcome for this track. Promote geekdom, adopt a babygeek today!

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#The Goa Project Funnel The Goa Project is an unconference - where unlike a typical conference, the talks are not put together by a panel or knowledge partner - but is proposed by the attendees themselves. You propose a session or talk that might be of interest to the audience at the unconference, … more
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Anindo Ghosh

@anindo

Science (no longer) Fiction

Submitted Dec 21, 2015

Technical level: Beginner

A set of discussions on various “science fiction” scenarios which sound futuristic, but are (close to) reality today: Each discussion will be headlined by a simplistic scifi short story, putting technology hot topics into plainspeak context, and thereby provoke relevant debate.

Outline

Let me tell you a crazy science fiction story.
Then let me tell you why it isn’t that crazy.
After that, we’ll debate how realistic the story’s premise is.

Rinse, repeat, have lots of fun.

For those who want more details:

Every week some new technology buzz phrase goes viral. The nerd subspecies of human debates its risks and returns, while the rest of humanity, including most policy makers, blissfully ignores all but the dumbed down headlines on the topic.

Many of these seemingly innocuous or esoteric technological advances, individually or in conjunction with other developments, present disruptive opportunities for improving humanity’s quality of life - or threaten our familiar way of life. By translating science and tech into real-world contexts, it is possible to identify such potential opportunities better, or perhaps mitigate some of the risks.

The format of this session uses storytelling, in the form of ostensibly futuristic science fiction short stories, to remove the veil of technological obscurantism from selected scientific jargon. In the process, those of us who ignore various developments as “too technical for me”, can instead participate in useful dialogue on those subjects and how they can or should impact our near future.

The session will consist of 3 brief science fiction stories, with related technology URLs for those who want them, each followed by 10-odd minutes of audience debate on the technological developments thus touched upon. Prior knowledge of hard science or technology is not required or expected from the audience.

Requirements

A general awareness of science and technology headlines over the last few years, or even just an interest in science fiction!

Speaker bio

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/anindo-ghosh/6/3a1/a82

The speaker has credentials in a diverse range of disciplines spanning corporate strategy consulting, electronics design, project management, CAD, corporate governance, product engineering, software development, photography and teaching. It is hoped that this diversity will significantly enhance the experience for every participant.

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Hosted by

TP
The Goa Project
#The Goa Project Funnel The Goa Project is an unconference - where unlike a typical conference, the talks are not put together by a panel or knowledge partner - but is proposed by the attendees themselves. You propose a session or talk that might be of interest to the audience at the unconference, … more