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Picking at the Bones of a Dying Bookstore

It's no secret bookstores have been in trouble for some time now. Small independent bookstores have been dropping like flies left and right. One of the oldest and best loved independent bookstores in Philadelphia, Robin's, recently closed, reinvented itself, and reopened in new space above its old location. It now sells mostly used books, along with some new books, and focuses on events as well. People are just dang glad to have some piece of the old store, opened in 1936 (in the middle of a depression!), in existence. But hey, at least we have the big chain stores, right? Maybe not.…

Step Outside Yourself: See Yourself as the Internet Does

tags: Personas, Online Personality, Online Information, technology, art GrrlScientist Personas [larger view] Personas is an interesting program that searches for online references to you and uses it to create a piece of art that describes you. To do this, it analyzes these references for repeated words and phrases and builds a graphic (like the one you see above) that "describes" you. It's really interesting because you can watch the process as it builds this picture and gives you some food for thought regarding the sorts of information that is "out there" about you. It's almost as…

Around the Web: The ugly underbelly of coder culture, Used-book stores in the digital age and more

The ugly underbelly of coder culture Used-Book Stores in the Digital Age The Massive Open Online Professor Leave only footprints: how Google's ethical ignorance gets it in trouble The Arrogance of Publishers vs. Academic Culture - Why the Outcome Is Virtually Certain Becoming Prof 2.0 Library Journal Design Institute, Denver The New York Public Library Central Library Plan and its Critics The academic ethics of open access to research and scholarship You have to share Has Second Life Lived up to Expectations? Communications, Social Media, and Technology Are Not Synonyms If online education…

ConvergeSouth05 - International Coverage

I understand that this year's ConvergeSouth will be different in theme and format from last year's, but that does not mean it is not going to be full of interesting people and conversations... Here's a little bit more about ConvergeSouth, session by session: Friday morning: Michael Moran started off the Friday morning with a session on the effect bloggers have around the world, particularly in countries where freedom of speech and freedom of press do not exist even on paper. The prime example, of course, was Hoder, a blogger who started the Iranian blogging revolution, keeping the Iranian…

Call for Posts and Papers: Librarianship by Walking Around

A project I heartily endorse on a topic near and dear to my heart, launched by the Library Society of the World, Librarianship by Walking Around: The Library Society of the World is putting together an online and print-on-demand anthology of weblog posts, essays, articles, and other material entitled Librarianship by Walking Around, patterned after the successful Hacking the Academy project. Librarianship doesn't just happen in the library! Librarianship happens wherever information exchange happens--that is, just about everywhere. Librarianship by Walking Around celebrates librarians who…

Possummomma has gone silent

Many of us were fans of Possummomma and her blog, Atheist in a Mini-van. She was a passionate writer, struggling to make ends meet with her family, coping with lupus, and also having to deal with a lot of anti-atheist-bigotry in her community and online. Well, they finally got to her: she's gone offline and has put her blog under password protection, all because of some extreme harassment and accusations from, believe it or not, Christian fans of a dopey reality TV show. It's a long, sordid, complicated, ugly story which I'm not going to repeat here, sinc The Calladus Blog has covered it…

Ken Ham: still whining, but an online poll supports him

Yeah, poor Ken — he's still distressed that his attempt to prop up his credibility with the Cincinnati Zoo's was foiled. He's also complaining about an "atheist (a professor from the University of Minnesota-Morris)" who engineered his defeat. I wonder who that might be? Even more foolishly, though, he cites an online poll to back up his claims. The news website NKY.com (http://nky.cincinnati.com/) ran an online poll on the controversy. They gave the following options: YES--The museum promotes a religious point of view that conflicts with the zoo's scientific mission. NO--The promotion does…

Last Newspaper Standing

There is much blogospheric chatter right now about how newspapers will survive the combination of recession, with associated collapse in advertising revenue; the maturing of the internet as multi-media; and the obsolete business model of most newspapers. kos and atrios are, rightly, much disdainful of the "Morton Plan" "The Morton Plan" for saving newspapers. I call on all you publishers to decide individually (to ward off the antitrust folks) to charge for Internet access to your newspaper content: Offer your readers the choice of getting their paper online, with the advantages of expanded…

The Scientific Paper: past, present and probable future

Communication Communication of any kind, including communication of empirical information about the world (which includes scientific information), is constrained by three factors: technology, social factors, and, as a special case of social factors - official conventions. The term "constrained" I used above has two meanings - one negative, one positive. In a negative meaning, a constraint imposes limits and makes certain directions less likely, more difficult or impossible. In its positive meaning, constraint means that some directions are easy and obvious and thus much more likely for…

Linkzzz:Neuron Extension Cable,Ethics,Star Child

So... is the next step wireless neurons? just sayin... A "data cable" made from stretched nerve cells could someday help connect computers to the human nervous system. The modified cells should form better connections with human tissue than the metal electrodes currently used for purposes such as remotely controlling prosthetics (see Brain implant enables mind over matter). Here's the original article And here's some more randomness: As I'm sure those of you who work for the government (or a public university in my case) know - you often have to take these ridiculous ethics training…

Blog Suspended

Until Science Blogs decides whether it wants to be a platform for science writers or a platform for corporations to buy credibility, this blog is on hiatus. You can find my work at Ye Olde Blogge aka www.sharonastyk.com. Updates as events warrant - or rather, if events warrant. If you'd like to find out the secret evil backstory of my defection, you can read it here. Sharon

Darwin Quotes

It has been a bitter mortification for me to digest the conclusion that the 'race is for the strong' and that I shall probably do little more but be content to admire the strides others made in science. - Charles R. Darwin Support The Beagle Project Read the Beagle Project Blog Buy the Beagle Project swag Celebrate Darwin Day Prepare ahead for the Darwin Bicentennial Read Darwin for yourself.

The Beagle Board

The beagle board, which costs only about 150 bucks, is a full blown Linux-capable computer that is so simplified and low powered that it does not need a fan. Its main method of communication (other than video output) is via USB (no ethernet). But that can work. For a write-up about this cutie, go here. To just get it over with and buy one, go here.

Tobias Buckell Is Outnumbered...

...what with his wife, Emily, giving birth to twins. It sounds like he's pretty happy with this state of affairs, though. Go leave him a congratulatory comment. Or, better yet, go buy one of his books-- they're great fun for you to read, and will help keep Toby supplied with the vast number of diapers he'll need in the next several months...

Virginia is for (Straight, White, and Christian) Lovers

Ah, how exciting it is for Democrats. So much so that they forgive and/or forget moral lapses elsewhere, such as that old Virginia trick of state-sponsored discrimination. To avoid such easy ignorance, The World's Fair's Gift Shop and Haberdashery proudly links to the next great T-Shirt, available here (and courtesy of J.L.). Go wild, buy a dozen. They make a great holiday gift.

Bhut Jolokia Update

src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_VbG-d6SeGuA/RePVVb_nxrI/AAAAAAAAAD8/6QbLROwzDEk/s400/anandita-tamuly-eats-bhut-jolokia.jpg" align="left" height="344" width="238"> face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">I had not seen this when I first posted about the href="http://spectre.nmsu.edu/dept/academic.html?i=1251" rel="tag">bhut jolokia -- the world's hottest chile pepper.  There is a woman, Annindita Tamuly, in India who can eat 60 of them in two minutes.  And she smiles while doing it ( href="http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videos.aspx?id=5897">video).  There is also a 17-month-…

Quote of the day

Each lab is like a tribe, it has its own particular traditions and rituals. X is stored here, Y is stored there and Z is made up fresh. We share reagent A, we make our own reagent B, we buy a kit for reagent C. It's hard when you enter the tribe, you have to learn all of these unwritten rules. - A good friend (who just started working in a new lab).

Sex-toy study at Duke raises some eyebrows

A campus religious leader is unhappy about a study at Duke University that invites female students to attend parties where they can buy sex toys....the director of the Duke Catholic Center has lodged a complaint with researchers. The study has of age female students attend "tupperware style" sex toy parties, and complete a survey before and after. They have IRB approval. source Note: Abel Pharmboy has blogged about this here.

What is Windows 7, really?

It's not Linux, that's for sure... Lest we forget: Windows 7 is just like Vista, folks. "Windows 7" is Microsoft's attempt to re-brand the damaged "Windows" name after the extremely poor "Windows Vista" release. I love that you can still buy systems with Windows XP "downgrade" because Windows Vista still isn't trusted 3 years after it was released.... Check out this commentary by Linux in Exile.

Finally, your jet pack is ready.

It's been a long time coming. While Arthur C. Clarke's satellites have taken to space, and James Bond's futuristic mobile technology has become common place, still the dream of sustained personal flight has eluded us. But the future is here! Finally we can all take flight as Martin Aircraft in New Zealand releases the first commercially-available jet pack! Click here to buy your jetpack!

ScienceOnline2010 - interview with Alex, Staten Island Academy student

Continuing with the tradition from last two years, I will occasionally post interviews with some of the participants of the ScienceOnline2010 conference that was held in the Research Triangle Park, NC back in January. See all the interviews in this series here. You can check out previous years' interviews as well: 2008 and 2009. Today, I asked Alex from Miss Baker's Biology class at Staten Island Academy to answer a few questions. You can read about Alex's experience at ScienceOnline2010 here. Welcome to A Blog Around The Clock. Would you, please, tell my readers a little bit more about…

ScienceOnline2010 - interview with Sabine Vollmer

Continuing with the tradition from last two years, I will occasionally post interviews with some of the participants of the ScienceOnline2010 conference that was held in the Research Triangle Park, NC back in January. See all the interviews in this series here. You can check out previous years' interviews as well: 2008 and 2009. Today, I asked Sabine Vollmer to answer a few questions. Welcome to A Blog Around The Clock. Would you, please, tell my readers a little bit more about yourself? Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your (scientific) background…

Online Status Anxiety

Now that the social web is maturing - the platforms have been winnowed down to a select few (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) - some interesting commonalities are emerging. The one shared feature that I'm most interested in is also a little disturbing: the tendency of the social software to quantify our social life. Facebook doesn't just let us connect with our friends: it counts our friends. Twitter doesn't just allow us to aggregate a stream of chatter: it measures our social reach. LinkedIn has too many damn hierarchies to count. Even the staid blog is all about the metrics, from page…

Insurance for children: Medicaid, CHIP, and the "family glitch"

The latest issue of the journal Health Affairs focuses on children's health, and one of the major topics is health insurance for children. A look at the Kaiser Family Foundation's coverage statistics shows that in 2013, 49% of children ages 0 - 18 had employer-sponsored coverage, 39% were covered by Medicaid or another public program, 5% had other private coverage, and 8% were uninsured. There are three main ways US children get health insurance coverage: Medicaid: The federal government pays a portion of healthcare costs for Medicaid beneficiaries, and in exchange requires that states extend…

An abortion debate…with a poll!

Read an online debate between Troy Newman, stooge from Operation Rescue, and Cristina Page, a legitimate advocate for reproductive rights, and then vote on who made the best case. Newman made the same hypocritical arguments the anti-abortionists always make, so I know where my vote went. But of course the knee-jerk goons from Operation Rescue have already hit the poll, and Newman is claiming to have won. Well, sure, the poll shows Newman leading Page 54:46 right now, but that might just change soon. You think?

More word games: etymology

My friend Rhett alerted me to this little word game, which is kind of like Balderdash: you pick the correct etymology or definition from a group of fakes created by tricky readers. I did quibble with a couple of mistakes (one definition was off, one word was misspelled) but I tried three times and couldn't beat it. Can you? Other wordy recreations: this is my all-time favorite hard online word quiz. . . I scored 183 and broke a sweat doing it. this is an addictive Boggle-style game from Flash By Night.

KITP: log(normal)

Globular Clusters - what drives the evolution of the mass function? Mark Gieles take is online here Mike Fall's preceding talk on the subject is not available online. Should have been there...

Perversion of good science

More Canadian press leads me to put up another post on dichloroacetate (DCA), the inhibitor of mitochondrial aerobic glycolysis that is being promoted as a freely-available cancer "cure." Like many compounds tested in animal models of human cancer, DCA treatment reduces the size of human lung tumors grown in rats, but is far from a cure. Any other similar drug would be just one of hundreds jockeying for investment by drug companies large and small and might not even be competitive enough for entry into clinical trials. However, DCA is a bulk chemical that is largely available freely and is…

Essential Science Fiction

What is your list of essential science-fiction books? I composed mine back on December 27, 2005 and I still agree with myself on it. Click on the spider-clock icon to see the comments on the original post. A couple of months ago, Brandon (of Siris) wrote a post in which he listed twenty must-read science fiction novels. Please read the comments where many people add their own suggestions. I am not exactly sure what the criterion was - the best ever, Brandon's personal favourites, or something else - but ever since, I wanted to write a similar post. Not that I disagree much with his…

Fermentation: To Infinity and Beyond!

I get a lot of books for review, and for the most part, they are wonderful surprises. Because I receive and read so many books, I rarely sit around saying "Hey, where's my review copy of...X?" Generally I've got a giant pile of books that I need to get to anyway, so I'm much more likely to say "Oh, I didn't realize X was out." So let us first note that I was so anxious for my review copy of Sandor Katz's _The Art of Fermentation_ that I actually sent emails to beg for a copy - only to find that UPS had stuffed this book and another in a really weird place and it had been waiting for me…

Pepsi Ethics

It's taken me a few hours to cool off enough to write coherently and without using (too much) profanity after I learned that ScienceBlogs added a corporate PR "blog" about nutrition written by PepsiCo. I think I've learned all I care to know about corporate "food" giants' definition of what is "nutrition" by being confronted daily by a flock of hugely protruding bellies and jiggling posteriors everywhere I go (yes, even here in Germany). I would link to that "blog" so you can see what I am talking about but quite frankly, I don't want to send any traffic to them. I think you can find them…

My picks from ScienceDaily

Voracious Sponges In Underwater Caves Save Reefs: Tropical oceans are known as the deserts of the sea. And yet this unlikely environment is the very place where the rich and fertile coral reef grows. Dutch researcher Jasper de Goeij investigated how caves in the coral reef ensure the reef's continued existence. Although sponges in these coral caves take up a lot of dissolved organic material, they scarcely grow. However, they do discard a lot of cells that in turn provide food for the organisms on the reef. Tiny Insect Develops Long-term Memory: If a specific butterfly anti-sex scent is…

Online assignments and the digital divide

I've recently taken to using the magic of the internet to give my students access to readings, assignments, and images outside of class. It's great - if my sophomores lose their map, they can print another one. If a student misses class, there's no excuse not to do the homework anyway. If students can't draw their own pictures, they can print out images and study them on their own. And it's possible to go even further with online teaching materials - to have students prepare for class by doing online readings, or watching a video, or listening to a podcast, and then responding to online…

Fornvännen's Autumn Issue On-line

The Archangel Raphael. Recently uncovered mural in Kil church, Närke. C. 1250. Today's my 16th anniversary as editor of Fornvännen! Issue 2014:3 is now on-line on Open Access. Ole Thirup Kastholm on dugout canoes from before AD 1 on the Scandinavian peninsula. Ole Stilborg on Late Bronze Age pottery from Östergötland. Peter Tångeberg on recently uncovered Medieval murals in Kil church, Närke. Påvel Nicklasson on early 19th century archaeological innovator Sven Nilsson’s female correspondents and on hints that Nilsson may have turned to folk magic when seasick. Olof Holm on Iron Age metal…

ASME debacle: unfortunate mis-steps and misunderstandings all around

ASME- the American Society of Mechanical Engineers - has a series of journals that are heavily used by mechanical, aerospace, and even civil engineers. Most engineering schools have these all the way back.  So in the past couple of weeks libraries all over the country have realized that, all of a sudden they don't have access to a decade of the journal 1990-1999.  I have no direct experience with this but have been following the discussion and dismay on ASEE's ELD list. What actually happened is that ASME sold a digital backfile that ended at 1989, they sold current access to the digital…

Grades for sale?

Steinn apparently knows how to get me riled about wrong-headed middle school fundraising initiatives, since he nearly derailed my efforts to push through my stack of grading with his recent post about one such initiative. He quotes from a Raleigh News & Observer story: Rosewood Middle School in Goldsboro... will sell 20 test points to students in exchange for a $20-dollar donation. Students can add 10 extra points to each of two tests of their choosing. The extra points could take a student from a "B" to an "A" on a test or from a failing grade to a passing grade. Rosewood's principal…

Alpha poll…already demolished

Remember that ridiculous pro-faith Alpha Course that had the transit ads that looked like a poll? Now they've actually put up an online poll. Best thing about it: look at the results already. Does God exist? Yes 20%No 74%Probably 6% Heh. How about making it look even worse? Hey, they locked out votes from Pharyngula! Try this link instead.

Wildlife of Serbia

Wild-Serbia.com looks like an excellent site: Wild-Serbia.com represents the largest on-line wildlife photo collection from Serbia. All photos on this site are made according [to] wildlife code of ethics. The basic aim of this site is to illustrate Serbian wildlife and biodiversity, current needs for nature conservation as well as possibilities for sustainable development of tourism.

No more Exploding Spaceship Bikini Babes with Large Guns

Jim Baen died. He was publisher of Baen Books, the primary source of libertarian and military oriented science fiction, with emphasis on the above. He discovered and promoted some excellent authors, and kept teenage boys everywhere amused for hours. He also premiered online fan discussion with authors, electronic publishing and distribution of free electronic books from the Baen books archives.

Tokyo and its Parasites Beckon...

Science Made Cool writes from Tokyo, describing the world's only parasite museum. Someday I'll get there... Sadly, the keychain with the sushi worm embedded inside is not for sale online... Update: Mark asks whether there's an American museum in Maryland. It's a collection, not a museum. I write about my visit there in Parasite Rex. A wonderfully creepy place, but no parasite-entombing keychains for sale.

Welcome to Science Class

At the beginning of each semester I give my new students what I've come to call "the metric lecture". Since we do everything in metric units and many of the freshmen have only a vague knowledge of the topic, I tend to go on a tear. Many years ago I put this all down in an essay for them to peruse (and hopefully, gain a little insight along with some humor). I recently updated it and present it for your own use or amusement. Thoughts on the Metric and English Systems Consider the following: The United States of America is the only country of any economic consequence on the planet that still…

It Begins!

Obama's honeymoon is over, and so is my intermittent blogging, because business groups have finally started their machines! Christopher Conkey reports in the Journal: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will spend $100 million in an effort to stem the "rapidly growing influence of government over private-sector activity," in a major new move by the powerful business group to counter the Obama administration's regulatory agenda. [...] Chamber president Thomas Donohue said his organization is launching its "Campaign for Free Enterprise" because an "avalanche of new rules, restrictions,…

Could Gambling Bill Swing the Election?

Some say it could. The Las Vegas Sun reports that conservative scholar Charles Murray is warning the Republican party about the political damage the bill is going to do to them: That's the prognosis of poker-playing scholar Charles Murray, who warned in a recent newspaper opinion piece of the political damage Republicans may face from the nation's poker-playing masses this fall. An estimated 8 million Americans gamble online. "We are talking about a lot of people ... who are angry enough to vote on the basis of this one issue, and they blame Republicans," said Murray, a scholar at the…

Another conundrum: whether to engage with the Huffington Post.

It occurs to me that there might be an interesting parallel to the conundrum we discussed about whether it's better to engage with a scientist giving off a shady vibe or to back away with all due haste. It's not a perfect parallel, but there are some similar issues at work. Should scientists and physicians engage with the Huffington Post? If you follow the ScienceBlogs frontpage, you will have gathered by now that the view in these parts is that HuffPo's science-fu is not strong. Folks like PalMD and Mike the Mad Biologist and Orac have detailed some of the ways the "health and wellness"…

JoVE hits Big Time

Journal of Visualized Experiments signed a deal with Wiley-Blackwell to provide videos for Current Protocols: Wiley-Blackwell and JoVE Unveil Groundbreaking Online Video Publications Online methods videos go mainstream Visual journal partners with Wiley Related...

The Horrors of U.S. Healthcare

At some point, the debate over healthcare is really going to heat up. Sure as shit, we'll start hearing about long waits in other countries, 'rationing', and other tales (I put rationing in scare quotes because the U.S. rations healthcare: if you're lower-middle class, you don't have it). With that, I bring you this post by John Aravosis, who recounts his experience--and why, I think, we need a public option for healthcare: As I've written before, in detail, my prescription drug coverage is a joke. Blue Cross hasn't increased my drug coverage in 14 years - I have the same $1500 limit I had…

Eating Well on Food Stamps Holds a Lens Up to Our Own Attitudes About Poverty

It is interesting that young and unemployed (two words that are now virtually synonymous) and highly educated folks are using food stamps to buy high quality food - and taking a lot of heat for it. I can understand the visceral reaction that people have, but I also think it is fascinatingly difficult to try and figure out what we think poor people should eat - we criticize them freely for buying junk, and then we criticize them for buying high quality food. Where is the space that the poor are free to choose in? Controversy about how they use food stamps marks an interesting shift from the…

Too Much Time on Their Hands

I found out last night that the Michigan State Police are investigating a local VFW hall for having poker games on the weekends. I've played in said game a few times and know many of the players. It's a group of mostly Vietnam and even Korean war vets who sit in the back room a couple nights a week and play poker instead of playing pool out front. Someone apparently decided to call the police and report it, with the speculation being that it's someone who wants the post commander's job. The State Police have apparently been investing a lot of time and money in busting up this obvious threat…

Spending on discovery vs. spending on content

Libraries and librarians connect people to information. That's what we do. So there's the information part and there's the connecting part. Librarians gather, collect, license, and purchase information in the form of books, scrolls, artifacts, journals, web pages. And there's a lot to selecting what to gather and keep and balancing competing demands to get ready for the connecting.  The connecting part has everything in it from organizing the information and listing it in a catalog, to negotiating the information need, to training users.. Libraries in the modern era have balanced spending on…

Prius owners: Just like Mac owners but less attractive?

Last week we sought to uncover the truth behind the stereotype: Are Prius owners really just like Mac owners? In a non-scientific fashion, we quizzed our readers about several of the most common stereotypes that seem to follow these two trendy groups: They're arrogant, they think they're better informed than the rest of us, not to mention smarter, more attractive, and more concerned about the environment. They're Obama-supporting, latte-drinking, iPhone-toting snobs who always favor style over substance. Or are they? Over 1,600 readers responded to our survey -- the most responses to a Casual…