Ignite Seattle is Next Thursday (4/5)

Ignite Seattle is next Thursday night. It starts at 6:30 with a Make contest; we had an Egg Slam at the last one. The Ask Later talks will begin at 8:30. We're going to change things up a little and only have 2 batchs of talks - for 16 talks in total. Here are some of the talks that have been announced so far. I hope to see you there!

1. Alex Hopmann (Launch21 LLC, FastCarrot LLC) - Maximizing performance in aircraft engines
Aircraft engines are basically the same as they were 60 years ago but pilots have recently rediscovered how to squeeze extra performance with advanced engine monitors and adjusting air/oxygen mixture. A five-minute talk on how engines actually work, how they compare to car engines and how knowing what's actually happening can squeeze extra efficiency out of this system, with a bias towards non-pilots who care about knowing the details of how everything in the world works.
2. Brian McConnell (Worldwide Lexicon, Radio Handi) - Worldwide Lexicon - Participatory Translation For The Web
The Worldwide Lexicon enables website and blog authors to translate their sites through a combination of automated and human translation. The service, which is in internal testing, and will go to public beta shortly.
3. Mark Novak (Microsoft, University of Washington) - Security Guarantees
The topic is "security guarantees" - a way for the uninitiated to dissect security of systems (including software systems) and demand more secure solutions. I will use my 5 minutes to illustrate the concept by breaking security of OpenID - twice! - using nothing but common sense and a little bit of common knowledge.
4. Shelly Farnham (Waggle Labs ) - Why Social Tagging Really Matters (to me): Semantic Overlays on Social Networks
Social tagging has revolutioned how we organize and retrieve online resources in systems such as Delicio.us, Flickr, and BlueDot. Yet, they have been incorporated into social networking systems in only rudimentary forms. I will talk about the potential for social tags to provide a semantic overlay to social networks, and illustrate how we used them to develop a social map of Seattle Mind Camp, and are incorporating them into our Pathable project.
5. Candace McNaughton, ND (Crescent Natural Health ) - Health Hacks
Natural medicine quick fixes. Eight simple solves for common issues. Candace McNaughton is a naturopath who specializes in diabetes and practices in Capitol Hill.
6. Bruce Leban (Google, National Puzzlers' League) - What I Learned in Prison
Yes, I spent time in not one but two Massachusetts prisons and it was an educational experience in many ways. Find out why I went to prison and if I would do it again. Learn about the differences between "minimum" and "medium" security and how this applies to computer security. Learn what "good time," "man trap" and "code 100" mean, why khaki pants were the required dress code, and other equally practical information. Don't ask about the dogs.
7. Keith Schorsch (PeerWisdom, ex-Amazon) - Making Sweet Lemonade
How do find the idea that you are passionate about? How do you integrate your life and work experiences, both good and bad? I'll share how my experiences at Amazon, McCaw, and with some personal health issues inspired the idea for our new venture, PeerWisdom, a social network for health.

Ignite Seattle is a geek event that combines on-site geekery, sharing, and innovation (and drinking). The THIRD one will be held upstairs at the CHAC on Thursday, April 5th. The Make Contest will begin at 6:30; the Ask Later talks will begin at 8:30. Videos and photos from the previous Ignite are available. Admission is free.