TEDx talks turned to self-help

I’ve always loved TED talks. When TED started the TEDx events initiative, by which independent groups could use the TED brand to organise local events under specific agreements with TED, I was especially glad, since this meant that talks would likely be made available to a much wider community.

Sadly, TEDxGalicia 2011 disillusioned me when they included a Catholic monk amongst their speakers, who used his time to preach about how Catholic values made you a better person. I was baffled. I wrote to TEDxGalicia through Twitter about this, and they answered that this was OK because “all perspectives have equal right to be listened to”, despite TED policies explicitly state that “TEDx events may not be used to promote spiritual or religious beliefs”.

Postgrad course on conceptual modelling for cultural heritage, 2012 edition

Last year we launched a postgrad course on conceptual modelling for cultural heritage at Incipit. It was a great success, so we decided to run it again this year with extended contents. Actually, we are offering an introductory module plus an advanced one, which can be done as separate courses or as a whole.

Like last year, we will be using ConML as a foundation and, also like last year, Charlotte Hug will be helping us a lot!

More information, here (in Spanish).

Would you like to work as a software developer in a research environment?

At Incipit we are seeking the best candidates to incorporate to our scientific software development team.

The top applicants will be guided through a selection process that will conclude with an offer of a 1-year contract, hopefully to be extended depending on results. Benefits will be around 26.700 € per annum. The position will be based on Incipit’s headquarters in beautiful Santiago de Compostela.

More information here in English or Spanish.

Incipit group on LinkedIn

We have created a LinkedIn group for Incipit. Feel free to join if you are interested in keeping up to date about events and ennouncements related to Incipit, or if you would like to discuss about cultural heritage research issues.

Cobase is on YouTube

Cobase is on YouTube!

At Cobase we are launching a series of videos to promote Concept, our online service for construction projects. This is the first one.

London on Sep 17th

I wish I were in London on September 17th. The Secular Europe Campaign is exactly what I feel like doing after so much pope fandom enthusiasm. I’m supporting them spiritually, though.

LaPa is dead, long live Incipit

I don’t discuss this often in here, but I used to work for The Heritage Laboratory (LaPa), a medium-sized research lab in Santiago de Compostela that was part of a larger institute that, in turn, belongs to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Yes, that is right, I used to. As of today, The Heritage Laboratory exists no more.

The good news is that The Heritage Laboratory has been transformed into a full-fledged institute with its own identity. We have outgrown ourselves out of being a lab within an institute, and we have become one. We are now the Institute of Heritage Sciences, usually abbreviated as Incipit.

This is a time of fast and exciting change with lots of opportunities. If you are interested in knowing more, visit our web site on www.incipit.csic.es or drop me an email anytime.

Enjoy!

ConML on the web

At work we have just launched a web site for ConML, a simple conceptual modelling language for non-experts in information technologies.

Drop by and let us know what you think. Thanks.

Get to philosophy

Try the following:

1. Open up Wikipedia.
2. Go to a random article.
3. Click on the first link on the article. This will take you to another article.
4. Keep clicking on the first link of the new article each time.

So what, you’ll ask. Well, according to this, 93% of all starting point articles will eventually lead you to the article Philosophy. And, I quote:

The question of why everything goes to philosophy is probably very deep.

My brain hurts.

Short course on conceptual modelling for cultural heritage

Next May we will be running the first edition of the short course Conceptual Modelling for Cultural Heritage. This is a postgraduate course organised by us at LaPa – CSIC and offered as part of the 2011 higher education programme of the CSIC.

More information here (in Spanish).