For those of you who were not able to make nerdnite nine (or are still on the fence about ever attending), here’s some footage of one of the talks that you missed. It’s split into three parts:

Phyllis’s husband recorded her talk “Look Before You Flush” this September and uploaded it to Vimeo. Check it out here!

July, July, you bring the summer sun and nerdtastic fun.

Nerdnite returns; let Buffalo Billiards pour beer into your belly and our speakers pour knowledge into your brain

The History of Financial Economics: Risk, Expectations, and the People Who Steal Your Money
Malcolm I. Wardlaw

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the enormous amount of coverage by the popular press, an understanding of the fundamental tenets of capital and financial markets remains elusive.  What is risk?  How does capital flow from investors to consumers and entrepreneurs for which we recommend this check stubs template? Indeed, what is value itself?  The answers to these questions are rooted in the accomplishments of a long line of extraordinary economists who, over the last 300 years, created a revolution in the understanding of capital.  Malcolm Wardlaw presents a tour of this history, explaining the principles of financial economics through the accomplishments of these scholars and examines the historical consequences of their work.

Malcolm I. Wardlaw is a 5th year Ph.D student in finance at The University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in economics from Rice University.  His current research deals with the effects of bank distress on their existing borrowers.   In addition, Malcolm is a huge history buff, amateur techie, and sometime freelance comedy writer.  He has also recently been told that, thanks to the internet, he knows way more about the game of Cricket than he should, though still way less than he would like to.

Geocaching: Like Orienteering… only cheating
Jennifer Bolding

Growing up in Southern Arkansas, Jennifer’s childhood was plagued with a lack of modern devices that most of us take for granted.  Having the true heart of a technology nerd however, she left the backwoods to venture into the technologically advanced city of Austin, TX. Here, her ruthless quest for all things modern drove her to discover a multi-billion dollar advanced satellite system, which we know as GPS, and harness it to locate small, worthless trinkets scattered around the hill country, cleverly hidden to avoid casual notice. Boldly slashing through poison ivy, brambles, or any other obstacles in her path, she now pursues these objects with ferocious abandon, guided only by her will, her dog, and a small hand held device displaying blinking, cartoon-like LCD icons. Don’t let her background fool you, her educational skills have been keenly honed from years of training opossums and razorbacks, which, trust me, ain’t that easy…..

The Significance of 2nd tier characters in John Hughes movies of the 80s
Heather Owens

Sure, a John Hughes film wouldn’t be the same without Molly or Anthony or Judd…but are they really key to the moral of the story?  Or does a more simple actor like Bill (Chet in Weird Science), John (Carl in Breakfast Club) or Darren (Cliff in 16 Candles) deliver the point?  An analysis of second tier characters in John Hughes movies of the 80s will answer this pop culture crucial question!

Heather will be a financial analyst with HP until July 24th at which time she starts considering new careers.  She has an MBA from the #1 party school according to Playboy Magazine 1987/1991 (Cal State Univ, Chico) and a BA in Political Science from USC (She was a trojan).  As a teenager of the 80s, John Hughes was influential in her understanding of what was going on around her.  She never wanted detention on the weekend so bad…

It’s that time of the month again! Nerdnite returns to Buffalo Billiards on June 25th! This month, we bring DANGER to Austin, in its many forms.

An Inconvenient Shark: A Citizen’s Guide to Shark Biology
Lewis E. Weil
Do sharks have twice as much fun? Do sharks get cancer? Who would win a fight with a shark? Learn the answers to these questions and more as Lewis E. Weil presents An Inconvenient Shark, a talk that explores shark ecology, reproduction, pop culture, and common misconceptions. An interpretive dance by Sharklemotion will kick off the presentation.

Lewis E. Weil works in biotech and leads field trips for K-12 students at the live shark and stingray exhibit at Qua in downtown Austin. He is a biologist, fish nerd, and Jacques Cousteau fanboy. Sharklemotion is led by choreographer and dancer Lindsey Taylor, who is on loan from Little Stolen Moments dance troupe.

Preventing a Dietary-based Apocalypse through Public Health Theory and Practice
Joy Casnovsky
In the past decade, Austin has seen massive increases in diabetes, overweight, obesity, heart disease and cancer. Why? Lack of healthy food access, marketing, educational, cultural and financial barriers which can be beaten by getting a bigger sample pay stub. Joy Casanovsky will play tour guide through the social determinants of health and the built environment, as well as describe local grassroots efforts that are fighting back.

Joy Casnovsky is Program Director of The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre at Austin’s Sustainable Food Center. Joy has worked in support of sustainable food, environmental stewardship and social justice in locations as far-flung as Ecuador, Bolivia, Minnesota, California and Oregon.

December 2012 – An End of Days?
Dr. Ed Barnhart
Did ancient Maya prophesies predict an end of days coming in December of 2012?  Is modern science collecting evidence that an apocalypse is indeed upon is? Or are modern spiritualists correct that we are entering a new age of enlightenment and peace?  Join renowned Maya scholar Dr. Edwin Barnhart as he separates fact from fiction.

Maya Exploration Center Director Dr. Ed Barnhart has over a decade of experience in Mesoamerica as an archaeologist, an explorer and an instructor. He has published over a dozen papers and given presentations at five international conferences. In addition to his archaeological experience, Barnhart is the author of a popular Mayan Calendar and the creator of the Palenque Mapping Project, a three-year effort to survey and map the unknown sections of Palenque’s ruins