[live stream] Watch TEDxBoston 2011 now

It's Boston.  We know a little bit about revolution here.  We've also got a pretty good handle on innovation, meaning we know that whole "tea-in-the-harbor" thing probably won't work more than once.  So how can you get people talking?

Enter TEDxBoston, a conference that brings local luminaries to the stage for a chance to share their revolutionary ideas and inspire others.  An independently organized event following the spirit of "Ideas Worth Spreading" espoused by the broader TED (technology, entertainment and design) conference, TEDxBoston 2011 runs until 6 p.m. today in the Seaport World Trade Center.

From the city that brought you the smallpox vaccine, the telephone, the first email message--not to mention the first public school in America--you can expect some groundbreaking concepts.  Architect and MIT lecturer Skylar Tibbits shares prototypes to show that some "manmade" objects can actually assemble themselves.  Christina Xu, founding director of the Institute on Higher Awesome Studies, explains how a playful spirit and disregard for convention can both make you more awesome and the world suck less.  Joe Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, wants you to consider growing old to be an extreme sport, and Solar Decathlon competitors let you take a look at their plans for a completely sun-powered home.  There's also musical performances and more presentations on everything from penguins to prisons.

And you can hear it all without having to sneak out of the office:  Check out the livestream above, or follow the conversation (and jump in yourself!) via Twitter, with the hashtag #tedxboston.