November 29, 2010
Via Bora Zivkovic, I see that there's a new blog in town -- this one devoted to the joys of scientists blogging to advance their work.
It's called Science of Blogging and it's by Peter Janiszewski and Travis Saunders who blog at Obesity Panacea.
I'll let them explain their mission:
Social media…
November 28, 2010
I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll…
November 27, 2010
If The New York Times list is the big one in the US and probably over all, then the Globe list is the big one in Canada. Interestingly, it's another list that's been a bit spotty on science coverage in the past but that seems to have reformed it's ways.
The Mind's Eye by Oliver Sacks
The Immortal…
November 27, 2010
I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll…
November 26, 2010
Whenever I'm feeling lazy about digging up something for these weekly (yes, I did just type weakly and then correct myself) posts, I always know that The Onion will save my bacon. And who knows, maybe one day The Bacon will save my onion.
In any case, submitted for your approval, Pop Culture…
November 26, 2010
Another list, this time from the Chapters.Indigo.ca site.
The Tiger: A True Story Of Vengeance And Survival by John Vaillant
The Wave: In The Pursuit Of The Rogues, Freaks And Giants Of The Ocean by Susan Casey
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr
The Emperor…
November 25, 2010
It's the big one, probably the most important "best of" list of the year -- The New York Times. Often a bit spotty on it's science-y coverage, let's see how they fare this year:
Common as Air: Revolution, Art, and Ownership by Lewis Hyde
Country Driving: A Journey Through China From Farm to…
November 24, 2010
A couple more shorts lists.
HistoryNet
Rival Rails: The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad by Walter Borneman
DC-3: A Legend In Her Time-A 75th Anniversary Photographic Tribute by Bruce McAllister
Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas that Revolutionized War, from Kitty…
November 24, 2010
A portentous-sounding title for a not-so-portentous post, full of half-baked thoughts and idle musings.
I was just thinking about the recent Jounal of Electronic Publishing issue on Reimagining the University Press and without actually reading very much of the issue in question (ignorance is so…
November 23, 2010
A terrific new edition of The Journal of Electronic Publishing (v13i2), focusing on the future of university presses and, by extension, of scholarly publishing as a whole.
A lot of terrific-looking articles:
Editor's Note for Reimagining the University Press by Phil Pochoda
Reimagining the…
November 22, 2010
A few lists with only a few relevant items each.
Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant
The Telegraph (History)
Engines of War: How Wars Were Won and Lost on the Railways by…
November 22, 2010
The Story of Electronics: Food for Thought for Gadget Geeks (Story of Electronics video here)
Reclaim our Scientific Scholarship (Beyond the PDF)
The future of libraries is what we create in the present
In praise of scholarships for foreign students
Science communication: Scientist as star…
November 21, 2010
I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll…
November 20, 2010
I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll…
November 19, 2010
Yeah, this one's true. *shudder*
From the science fiction news site blastr, Scientists discover unknown lizard species ... at lunch buffet.
We can only imagine how thrilling it must be for a scientist to discover a previously unknown species. But for a scientist to discover a previously unknown…
November 19, 2010
Another list for your reading and collection development pleasure. This one concentrates on more business-y books so I've only chosen the ones that relate more to social media/technology. It's 10 Business Books In 2010 from Cloud Computing.
Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a…
November 18, 2010
Another list for your reading and collection development pleasure, drawn from Amazon UK Business, Amazon UK History and Amazon UK Science & Nature.
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey by Rachel Hewitt
The Secret Life…
November 18, 2010
Via my York University Computer Science & Engineering colleague Andrew Eckford, two contrasting blog posts by two different Harvard computer science profs. One has decided to leave academia for greener pastures at Google and the other has decided to stay.
First, Matt Welsh on leaving.
There is…
November 16, 2010
The Future and/of the Research Library
The real reason (climate) scientists don't want to release their code
Scientific Data Consulting Group
Preserving science: what to do with raw research material?
What are libraries for and are they worth it?
An Open Letter to Wired Magazine (Criticism of…
November 14, 2010
I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll…
November 13, 2010
I have a whole pile of science-y book reviews on two of my older blogs, here and here. Both of those blogs have now been largely superseded by or merged into this one. So I'm going to be slowly moving the relevant reviews over here. I'll mostly be doing the posts one or two per weekend and I'll…
November 12, 2010
Ah, The Cronk. The higher ed gift that just keeps on giving.
Here it is: Student Found Assessed to Death in Campus Bathroom Stall.
The University of West Kansas has prided itself on its excessive commitment to outcomes assessment. Chang's parents have accused the college of going too far with its…
November 12, 2010
Selling ourselves (short) (attracting students to CS)
Online Behavior Tracking and Privacy: 7 Worst Case Scenarios
Feedback loops in eBook success
Is Twitter Killing You?
The Rise of the 'Edupunk'
When Social Media Is Irrelevant
The Digital Natives / Digital Immigrants Distinction Is Dead, Or At…
November 11, 2010
Another list for your reading and collection development perusal, this time from Publisher's Weekly:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
About a Mountain by John D'Agata
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Yellow Dirt: An American Story of…
November 10, 2010
It has begun. The annual year's best science books posting orgy!
Every year for the past 4 or 5 years I've been linking to and posting about all the "year's best books" lists that appear in various media outlets and highlighting the science books that are mentioned. From the beginning it's been a…
November 8, 2010
Warning: I generally don't post about religion/atheism/new atheism or any of those similar topics. I also don't generally post about my own views on such subjects. This post clearly will be breaking those habits. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Now on to the review proper...
First of all, let's get…
November 5, 2010
York University Computer Science & Engineering professor Anestis Toptsis was kind enough recently to invite me to speak to his CSE 3000 Professional Practice in Computing class.
He gave me two lecture sessions this term, one to talk about library-ish stuff. In other words, what third year…
November 5, 2010
The Cronk News is an endless supply of silly, higher ed-mocking fun. I just can't get enough: Hoarders Ruins Doctoral Student's Life.
"She's been working so hard on her dissertation," said Dowling. "Her office wasn't fit for human consumption. I don't know how she could focus or get any work done…
November 4, 2010
More for your reading and collection development pleasure.
The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires by Tim Wu (ISBN-13: 978-0307269935)
As Wu's sweeping history shows, each of the new media of the twentieth century--radio, telephone, television, and film--was born free and open.…
November 3, 2010
Self-motivated vs. mandated archiving
Why the Simple "Me" Beats the Royal "We"
Why Are We Assessing?
Digital Solution for Sacramento
5 Things Netflix Streaming Can Teach Higher Ed
How to Write a Research Poster
A trip through the peer review sausage grinder
What Happened to Downtime? The…
