X-Received: by 10.152.3.134 with SMTP id c6mr805184lac.5.1412007023212; Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:23 -0700 (PDT) X-BeenThere: la-biohackers@googlegroups.com Received: by 10.152.7.141 with SMTP id j13ls651742laa.5.gmail; Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:21 -0700 (PDT) X-Received: by 10.112.76.229 with SMTP id n5mr732099lbw.8.1412007021109; Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:21 -0700 (PDT) Return-Path: Received: from mail-wg0-x233.google.com (mail-wg0-x233.google.com [2a00:1450:400c:c00::233]) by gmr-mx.google.com with ESMTPS id i6si618783wiy.0.2014.09.29.09.10.20 for (version=TLSv1 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:20 -0700 (PDT) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of fraz...@gmail.com designates 2a00:1450:400c:c00::233 as permitted sender) client-ip=2a00:1450:400c:c00::233; Authentication-Results: gmr-mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of fraz...@gmail.com designates 2a00:1450:400c:c00::233 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=fraz...@gmail.com; dkim=pass head...@gmail.com Received: by mail-wg0-x233.google.com with SMTP id b13so4588494wgh.10 for ; Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:20 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:sender:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject :from:to:content-type; bh=QLRTg5MWDLolVqzlr69G03P0Msq9Z/IKYcJ6FNkf9as=; b=ZTVKUzFwbL4yt5XZeAd/dMXE73nGrPDemS49SsS1k+dhVEESxk7m+vxk9whoCtub4Z dIxi5ngR5WU3XPWUwewK7T6zXr5SqVe/jLP31Uj6PwXARj36vXPL7sVmqeaeNfdIvka8 UOAoeeHu+gABv7QhKiPpdTtVoClXtHYGDLPME7FECLrAr5n833q2IVmsACmgiyIsKSTX sq0sioGBuLaL7Gik/2IpyvojX92K6q6GrJ2NUW7lGu2vPYgKQIqN+iFSX3Rbf21oHwMA 1tElyho61mHINNIkO+TI/yEk9FNMGo1dZElJX+yZBmSg+Mf/REdHhkWE1iIF9sOTWeM/ 4Zeg== MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Received: by 10.195.13.14 with SMTP id eu14mr16454446wjd.22.1412007020804; Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:20 -0700 (PDT) Sender: fraz...@gmail.com Received: by 10.217.114.133 with HTTP; Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:20 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.217.114.133 with HTTP; Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:20 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: References: Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:10:20 -0700 Message-ID: Subject: Re: [diybio] Re: Biohacking Conference in LA From: Frazier Cunningham To: LA-biohackers@googlegroups.com Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=047d7bd92026e53efb050436808b --047d7bd92026e53efb050436808b Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 TL;DR version is that it was mostly a conference about selling stuff to people who are attempting life extension (and/or have plenty money to waste) or are otherwise on the quite extreme ketone diet. Nobody from serious life extension groups (SENS) or Singularity University was there, as I would imagine some of them are actually scientists. For some funny/juicy details, read below... otherwise I would suggest ignoring them, unless one of the presentation on their site (i have no idea when they will be posted) interests you enough to put up with potential BS. All the video & text transcripts will be made available to all online for free. Not all presentations & vendors were their products, but it seemed like they all fit in the same demographic. One of my InfoSec industry friends went as this diet works for him (started gluten free, ended up bulletproof) & gave me a great overview which I will summarize below. Bulletproof is indeed some kind of brand that seems to sell lots of shit. However, some of the talks had nuggets of useful information. The most interesting thing according to my friend were these portable hyperbaric oxygen chambers a company was demoing there. Imagine some kind of naturopathic medicine conference, but they tried very hard to brand themselves as "bulletproof executives" or some such crap. Lots of people there do the low carb high fat diet to get their body in ketosis, whether they are athletes or just consumer level types. So ya, basically, none of it seemed directly harmful or dangerous, but they're definitely using the term BioHacking to mean alternative medicine to the extreme. Some things mentioned in talks or products are clinical and/or being researched thru typical channels, but most of it has no peer review and ya, basically consider this an extreme health conference. I have nothing against them as long as nobody gets hurt, but it is definitely a brand, they have lots of supplements and products, and apparently Rick Ross & some other celebrities showed up. Some were there only for weight loss. The "Pavlock" (as seen on Colbert in the last few weeks) guy was there. Most hilarious & perhaps dangerous of all, some "naturopathic doctor clinic" had setup an infusion center with 4 chairs and they were giving IV pushes and bags of various vitamins or amino acids, for hundreds of dollars of course. From what I heard, I kinda felt bad for anyone there who is actually ill & looking for answers/solutions. It seemed like a brand that draws people that are super health conscious & buy into this (because it works for them I guess....?) And/or people who have wayyy too much disposable income. Honestly, from what I heard, the conference made most sense for performance athletes who might want to learn about new extreme diet/supplement stuff they can try... This is the type of crowd that might be anti-SynBio as they seemed anti-GMO (for direct effects, not secondary like environmental reasons), so I would just steer clear of them. It does kind of annoy me that they call it BioHacking, but it seems their demographic and DIY-biotech people have virtually no overlap. Nonetheless, I heard CBS Sunday Morning was there, so you can all expect that this may indeed warp the public perception of what BioHacking is... Then again, the average American is probably more afraid of iGEM than yuppie idiot types selling "health" stuff, as surveys show that many are fearful of SynBio or genetic engineering at all, while the bullet proof thing seems very self-absorbed and not altruistic or science minded (like most DIYbio/SynBio people) Anyhow, enough time wasted. I doubt they are going to drop the BioHacking conference as they are a growing company and I believe there is no enforceable trademark. This reminds me of people who implant an RFID chip or magnet & call it BioHacking, as in "okay, that is neat, but it is kind of a gimmick) Except Bulletproof is trying to profit immensely, so they bother me much more than cyberpunk-style " grinder" biohackers who are trying to them themselves to cyborgs with today's consumer level technology. Not very exciting, somewhat frustrating, best to ignore them than get upset. -Frazier On Sep 28, 2014 8:00 PM, "Luis Goncalves" wrote: > You guys had the wrong website, the right one is: > > https://bulletproofconference.com > > I was biking by (at the Pasadena convention center) and saw the tear-down. > It's over now. > > Tried to talk to some people leaving, didn't get a very good response as > to what it was about .. > > So maybe not much better than the website you found anyway :) > > Luis. > On Sep 5, 2014 4:31 PM, "David McDuffee" wrote: > >> Dave Asprey and "Bulletproof" advocate low-carb high-fat diets and have >> created a business to sell packaged food to people. It has nothing to do >> with us, except I guess those who want to eat LCHF and can't decide how >> much butter to put in their coffee. >> >> I expect the conference is mostly for marketing. >> >> >> On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 1:14 PM, Cory Tobin wrote: >> >>> Hi Bulletproof People (I'm cc'ing everyone from bulletproof.com that >>> emailed me this morning just to consolidate everything), >>> >>> I'm not exactly sure what this conference is or what is has to do with >>> us. LA Biohackers is basically a molecular biology / biochemistry lab >>> in LA. We work on science projects. Maybe one of you can explain >>> what this conference is or what bulletproof.com is. All I can gather >>> is you sell some sort of nutritional supplements. >>> >>> -cory >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "LA Biohackers" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to LA-biohacker...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "LA Biohackers" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to LA-biohacker...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "LA Biohackers" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to LA-biohacker...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > --047d7bd92026e53efb050436808b Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

TL;DR version is that it was mostly a conference about selli= ng stuff to people who are attempting life extension (and/or have plenty mo= ney to waste) or are otherwise on the quite extreme ketone diet. Nobody fro= m serious life extension groups (SENS) or Singularity University was there,= as I would imagine some of them are actually scientists. For some funny/ju= icy details, read below... otherwise I would suggest ignoring them, unless = one of the presentation on their site (i have no idea when they will be pos= ted) interests you enough to put up with potential BS.

All the video & text transcripts will be made available = to all online for free. Not all presentations & vendors were their prod= ucts, but it seemed like they all fit in the same demographic. One of my In= foSec industry friends went as this diet works for him (started gluten free= , ended up bulletproof) & gave me a great overview which I will summari= ze below.

Bulletproof is indeed some kind of brand that seems to sell = lots of shit. However, some of the talks had nuggets of useful information.= The most interesting thing according to my friend were these portable hype= rbaric oxygen chambers a company was demoing there.

Imagine some kind of naturopathic medicine conference, but t= hey tried very hard to brand themselves as "bulletproof executives&quo= t; or some such crap. Lots of people there do the low carb high fat diet to= get their body in ketosis, whether they are athletes or just consumer leve= l types.

So ya, basically, none of it seemed directly harmful or dang= erous, but they're definitely using the term BioHacking to mean alterna= tive medicine to the extreme. Some things mentioned in talks or products ar= e clinical and/or being researched thru typical channels, but most of it ha= s no peer review and ya, basically consider this an extreme health conferen= ce. I have nothing against them as long as nobody gets hurt, but it is defi= nitely a brand, they have lots of supplements and products, and apparently = Rick Ross & some other celebrities showed up. Some were there only for = weight loss. The "Pavlock" (as seen on Colbert in the last few we= eks) guy was there. Most hilarious & perhaps dangerous of all, some &qu= ot;naturopathic doctor clinic" had setup an infusion center with 4 cha= irs and they were giving IV pushes and bags of various vitamins or amino ac= ids, for hundreds of dollars of course.

From what I heard, I kinda felt bad for anyone there who is = actually ill & looking for answers/solutions. It seemed like a brand th= at draws people that are super health conscious & buy into this (becaus= e it works for them I guess....?) And/or people who have wayyy too much dis= posable income.

Honestly, from what I heard, the conference made most sense = for performance athletes who might want to learn about new extreme diet/sup= plement stuff they can try...

This is the type of crowd that might be anti-SynBio as they = seemed anti-GMO (for direct effects, not secondary like environmental reaso= ns), so I would just steer clear of them. It does kind of annoy me that the= y call it BioHacking, but it seems their demographic and DIY-biotech people= have virtually no overlap. Nonetheless, I heard CBS Sunday Morning was the= re, so you can all expect that this may indeed warp the public perception o= f what BioHacking is... Then again, the average American is probably more a= fraid of iGEM than yuppie idiot types selling "health" stuff, as = surveys show that many are fearful of SynBio or genetic engineering at all,= while the bullet proof thing seems very self-absorbed and not altruistic o= r science minded (like most DIYbio/SynBio people)

Anyhow, enough time wasted. I doubt they are going to drop t= he BioHacking conference as they are a growing company and I believe there = is no enforceable trademark. This reminds me of people who implant an RFID = chip or magnet & call it BioHacking, as in "okay, that is neat, bu= t it is kind of a gimmick) Except Bulletproof is trying to profit immensely= , so they bother me much more than cyberpunk-style " grinder" bio= hackers who are trying to them themselves to cyborgs with today's consu= mer level technology. Not very exciting, somewhat frustrating, best to igno= re them than get upset.

-Frazier

On Sep 28, 2014 8:00 PM, "Luis Goncalves&qu= ot; <lu...@vision.caltech.ed= u> wrote:

You guys had the wrong website, the right one is:

https://bulletproofconference.com

I was biking by (at the Pasadena convention center) and saw = the tear-down. It's over now.=A0

Tried to talk to some people leaving, didn't get a very = good response as to what it was about ..

So maybe not much better than the website you found anyway := )

Luis.

On Sep 5, 2014 4:31 PM, "David McDuffee&quo= t; <spams...@gma= il.com> wrote:
Dave Asprey and "Bulletproof" advocate lo= w-carb high-fat diets and have created a business to sell packaged food to = people. It has nothing to do with us, except I guess those who want to eat = LCHF and can't decide how much butter to put in their coffee.

I expect the conference is mostly for marketing.


On Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 1:1= 4 PM, Cory Tobin <cory....@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Bulletproof People (I'm cc'ing everyone from= bulletproof.com t= hat
emailed me this morning just to consolidate everything),

I'm not exactly sure what this conference is or what is has to do with<= br> us.=A0 LA Biohackers is basically a molecular biology / biochemistry lab in LA.=A0 We work on science projects.=A0 Maybe one of you can explain
what this conference is or what bulletproof.com is.=A0 All I can gather
is you sell some sort of nutritional supplements.

-cory

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You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups &= quot;LA Biohackers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an e= mail to LA-biohacker...@googlegroups.com.
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You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups &= quot;LA Biohackers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an e= mail to LA-biohacker...@googlegroups.com.
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