Blogging
clock | April 22, 2008The second science blogging anthology, the Open Laboratory 2007 is now up for sale on Amazon.com. As the profits will go towards the organization of ScienceOnline'09, it is the best if you guide your readers to buy it directly from Lulu.com. However, it would be really nice if some of the readers wrote reviews on the Amazon.com page.
Also, do not forget to keep submitting new entries for the OpenLab'08.
clock | April 22, 2008I think I have a profile on Friendster - I don't know, I haven't checked since 2003. I have bare-bones profiles on MySpace, LinkedIn and Change.Org and I will get an e-mail if you "friend" me (and will friend you back), but I do not have time to spend on there. I refuse to even look at all the other social networking sites like Twitter - there are only so many hours in the day.
But I am interested in possible ways of making science communication more interactive and more Webby 2.0, beyond just blogs. Pedro, Carl and Phillip have recently written thoughtful posts about this topic as well.…
sciencewoman | April 22, 2008Three years ago today I started blogging at On Being A Scientist and a Woman. I was a PhD student engrossed in field work and lab work and thinking about when to start a family. Fast forward three years and I am on the tenure-track with my own graduate students and I have a toddler. My how time flies!
The last year has seen big changes on this blog too. In September, I moved from Blogger to Scienceblogs, and while endeavoring keeping my old network of wonderful readers and commenters, I've gained a new family of Sciblings and hopefully brought my words to new audiences. An even bigger change…
laelaps | April 21, 2008The newest edition of The Boneyard went up this past Saturday at Archaeozoology. It's a good one, so make sure you check out what's been going on in the paleo subsection of the blogosphere. The 19th edition will go up at Familiarity Breeds Content on May 3rd.
laelaps | April 18, 2008The next edition of the paleo-carnival The Boneyard is going to be up at Archaezoology tomorrow, so send in your entries there or to me a.s.a.p.! I'm also in need of a host for the following edition on May 3rd, so please let me know if you're interested in hosting.
skookumchick | April 17, 2008... as I'm sick. And swamped. And sick. And traveling again both this weekend, and next weekend. And last weekend. Did I mention I'm sick?
In better news, the bobcat guy flattened our backyard, so it's flat now from the geothermal installation, and looks like it has potential for gardening. A cheering thought. My good friend and colleague Donna Riley is visiting Purdue today (and giving this seminar), and dinner with her and a group of other folks is promised on another colleague's porch (it's going to be 70ºF!).
So that counterbalances a bit the sickness and swampedness. A little…
aardvarchaeology | April 12, 2008
The thirty-eighth Four Stone Hearth blog carnival is on-line at A Very Remote Period Indeed. Archaeology and anthropology, and all seen in relation to the the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The next open hosting slot is on 4 June. All bloggers with an interest in the subject are welcome to volunteer to me. No need to be an anthro pro. But you must be a trustee of the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium, like me.
And check out the new Skeptics' Circle!
sciencewoman | April 12, 2008on the birth of her big baby boy. It sounds like she is recovering well from her c-section and is already getting the hang of sneaking work in during nap periods.
clock | April 11, 2008A rare blogging event that I will miss, but you should come and meet the local political bloggers and candidates.
awild | April 10, 2008Not much posting this week. I've been busy getting genetic data from a new batch of specimens for the Beetle Tree of Life project, a process that's always slower than I expect.
Fortunately it turns out that the internet has sites other than mine, and some of those even have interesting things to read and pretty pictures to look at. Here's what I recommend:
Christopher Taylor discusses the follicle mites that live in your skin.
Ajay Narendra has added some new Meranoplus photos to his ant gallery.
Aydin Ãrstan writes that the Nautilus is still evolving.
Mike Kaspari asks about books that…
laelaps | April 9, 2008If you enjoyed this week's interview with paleontologist Robert Bakker, then you'll definitely want to stop by the new blog of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Beyond Bones. In addition to posts from people covering all aspects of the museum, Bakker will contribute to the blog as well, so I definitely would encourage you to keep your eye on it.
Speaking of blogging paleontologists, the Museum of the Rockies has its own Bone Blog where you can learn about what Jack Horner and his students have been studying lately. I definitely want to try and feature an interview with Horner here in the…
clock | April 7, 2008Bee and Michael and Chad and Eva and Timo and Cameron will be there. And so will I. And many other interesting people. Where? At the Science in the 21st Century conference at the Perimeter Institute (Waterloo, Ontario) on Sep. 8th-12th 2008. And it will be fun. This is the blurb of the meeting:
Times are changing. In the earlier days, we used to go to the library, today we search and archive our papers online. We have collaborations per email, hold telephone seminars, organize virtual networks, write blogs, and make our seminars available on the internet. Without any doubt, these…
clock | April 7, 2008ConvergeSouth 2008 is ready to roll:
The Web site is online and registration is open: http://2008.convergesouth.com/
We're calling for presentations - see the schedule and apply to present.
There's a brand-new Video Walking Tour on Thursday, October 16, with Robert Scoble and Tom Lassiter leading two groups around Greensboro.
Lots more new stuff is happening. Keep up with ConvergeSouth on the blog: http://2008.convergesouth.com/blog/
See you in October!
purepedantry | April 7, 2008Methinks this article from the NYTimes is a tad hysterical:
They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece -- not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.
A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.
Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the…
laelaps | April 7, 2008The latest edition of The Boneyard is up at Greg Laden's blog. The next edition will be at Archaezoology on April 19.
[Thanks to Will for the correction]
laelaps | April 6, 2008The New York Times has a new article out looking at stress and bloggers, particularly in the case of professional bloggers who pull down five and six figure salaries. When you're publishing things yourself, it's hard work to provide high-quality content quick enough so that you're first to a story. Otherwise, you'll just have to hope for some link love and try to be the first on the scene the next time.
I assume that professional political and technology bloggers are the most stressed, but as far as my own habits go I don't feel particularly strung out or under pressure. If anything, I find…
clock | April 6, 2008All humans, at some point in their lives, go ahead and die. Ages and causes of death vary widely.
Bloggers are humans.
All bloggers, at some point in their lives, go ahead and die. Ages and causes of death vary widely.
But, if you are a journalist with a dry spell in your inspiration, and if you feel threatened by bloggers, and if you already used all the cliches about bloggers being unruly, unwashed, untrustworthy Martians who lie (and point at Powerline, Instapundit or Little Green Footballs as if they were examples of the best of blogging, instead of the cesspools of racist, mysogynist…
clock | April 5, 2008You must have noticed that there wasn't too much effort on this blog over the past couple of weeks (except for the elaborate and too successful April Fools hoax). I've just been so busy lately. So, here is a quick recap, and some pictures.
Back on March 21, I went to Duke University to participate in a panel called Shaping the world, one job at a time: An altruistic/alternative career panel. From education, to public health in the developing world, to science journalism, writing, blogging and publishing. The room was full (80 people? Perhaps 100?!). I am not sure one hour was enough for…
clock | April 4, 2008Last week, Sheril, Abel and I went to Duke's Terry Sanford Institute on Public Policy to talk about science blogging and other aspects of Science 2.0 to a graduate class on science policy communication taught by Misha Angrist, who dubbed the three of us the Beacons of the Bloggerati! Sheril has an interesting picture, taken during lunch, in the balmy NC weather outside. Under the fold is an indoors picture taken by Misha, using Abel's camera (I forgot to bring mine):