Bloggity Blog
mikethemadbiologist | July 7, 2007Susan Madrak is dead on target: if the rightwing is willing to give its wingnuts cushy jobs (also known as 'wingnut welfare'), why can't the left provide its own moonbat welfare for leftwing moonbats? As Madrak writes:
Someone from either the Democratic party or some liberal organization showed up a few years back at the Philadelphia chapter of Drinking Liberally to ask the question, "What do bloggers want? How can we help?" She had, of course, already answered the question: Free Lexis-Nexis access! One account to be shared by I don't know how many bloggers!
I looked at her. I cleared my…
mikethemadbiologist | July 5, 2007The FTC has released a report calling for the end of net neutrality (FTC's pdf report here*). What does that mean? Well:
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to abandon net neutrality and allow telecoms companies to charge websites for access.
The FTC said in a report that, despite popular support for net neutrality, it was minded to let the market sort out the issue.
This means that the organisation will not stand in the way of companies using differential pricing to make sure that some websites can be viewed more quickly than others. The report also counsels against net…
mikethemadbiologist | July 2, 2007Our Benevolent Seed Overlords have devised a survey about your ScienceBlogs consumptive habitats. Please take it. Thanks.
mikethemadbiologist | June 25, 2007The feminist blog, Shakesville (formerly Shakespeare's Sister), has been hit with a denial of service attack. Oddly enough, it happened right after she criticized Scientology (on the other hand, lots of people have been gunning for Shakes for some time). The site is moving to a dedicated server, but that costs money, so, if you can, help Shakes out.
mikethemadbiologist | June 10, 2007Lotsa links for ya. First, the science:
Republican evolution-deniers: it's about the science.
Mark H tells us about ascidians, my first study organism.
ScienceBlogling Rob sets us straight on what stochastic means.
Sadly, No! comments on some AEI faithtank ponderings about evolution.
If you haven't seen them already, here's a photo gallery of the Creationist Museum.
ScienceBlogling Josh interprets some polling data about evolution.
I don't think it's a good idea that internet service providers plan to start charging for guaranteed delivery of emails.
Other stuff:
The must-read of the week…
mikethemadbiologist | June 3, 2007Lotsa links. First, the science:
Senator Brownback is a moron. But you probably already knew that...
I argue that the reason global warming hasn't caught fire (so to speak) is that problems without clear solutions aren't popular, although here's one thing we shouldn't be doing to combat global warming.
Five new species of sea slugs have been discovered.
Revere reports that when children get influenza-associated bacterial infections, they're usually staph, not strep.
Instead of using antibiotics as growth promoters in agriculture, European farmers are using other methods.
Revere has an…
mikethemadbiologist | June 2, 2007Awful news for the blogosphere: Steve Gilliard of the News Blog died today. During the last few weeks, he had been fighting multiple medical problems including a nosocomial infection. I didn't know him personally, but in his writing, he was passionate and a defender of the proverbial little guy. In a his own way, he reminded me of his fellow New Yorker, Jimmy Breslin.
He will be missed.
mikethemadbiologist | June 2, 2007Our Benevolent Seed Overlords have published an article by ScienceBlogling Chris Mooney about the need to reframe the global warming debate in language that non-scientists are more likely to respond to positively. While I don't disagree (who would argue that scientists should intentionally alienate people?), I wonder if that's the real problem. I would argue the problem is that the solution to the problem hasn't been clearly defined.
I've learned from my work on antibiotic resistance that if you simply state a problem and don't provide an answer to the problem, people get frustrated. After…
mikethemadbiologist | May 27, 2007I was away this week, and it's a holiday, so the links are kinda light. Here's some science stuff.
Here's how not to manage a KPC infection.
Here's some stuff I learned at the ASM 2007 meeting.
We don't need no stinkin' food safety.
Probiotic bacteria might prevent amphibian extinctions.
Here's a cool post about moon jelly life history.
The other stuff:
Our schools might not suck, but our healthcare system does.
If you care about civil liberties, you'll want to read about this expansion of presidential authority.
Tristero asks how Iran became classified as an "intractable foe committed to…
mikethemadbiologist | May 27, 2007From Monday to Friday, I attended the American Society for Microbiology meeting held in Toronto. Before I get to some of the interesting science, my apologies to all of the people who suggested we meet up. Unfortunately, I never look at the blog (or almost never) while I'm on the road, so I missed your messages (it's best to email me directly). Anyway, here's the list of random things:
The E. coli responsible for the spinach outbreak is found in many feral swine. Hence, feral swine are a possible reservoir of E. coli O157:H7. Of course, feral pigs roaming around California in significant…
mikethemadbiologist | May 22, 2007I'm giving a presentation today while I'm at ASM, and I'm using a picture of a wombat (one of the topics in the talk is E. coli from Australian mammals). So I have a question for you:
Which critter is cuter:
Pandas:
or Wombats:
Discuss. Inflammatory rhetoric is encouraged.
mikethemadbiologist | May 20, 2007First, a programming note; I'll be at the ASM meeting next week. I'll have some posted cued up, but I'll probably not have time to respond to comments (which shouldn't stop you from making them anyway). Here's a list o'links for you. Science first:
Maha probably understands the psychology of the Republican base as well as anyone. You read this post. Now.
Some thoughts on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's views about evolution.
I argue that Harvard's new teaching initiative won't amount to anything.
A Pondering Fool discusses the job crunch for young academic scientists (…
mikethemadbiologist | May 17, 2007Researchers at the University of Tennessee have an online survey about blogging and political information. Help these good people out and take the survey.
mikethemadbiologist | May 14, 2007Well, that isn't what Ezra Klein titled his post about blogospheric venom, but he should have. Klein writes (italics mine):
...part of the problem with blogospheric civility is that bloggers aren't addressing their posts to folks like Hiatt. They're writing for an imagined audience composed mainly of liberals who are shut-out of Washington Post editorial meetings but appalled by what emerges from them. The tone such an audience demands is not terrifically genteel. That said, these posts get back to -- or are sought out by -- their ostensible targets, who confuse a critique written for them…
mikethemadbiologist | May 13, 2007A special edition of Sunday links. Last week, I asked non-science bloggers to post five links that had something to do with science. So, I'll start by returning the linky love:
(The list is in no particular order. Wouldn't want to play favorites...):
Tai Haku has a list.
The Ridger has a list.
This View of Life has a list.
The Argo has a list.
Evil Mommy has a list.
The Decrepit Old Fool has a list.
It's never too late to start posting your list. Now, onto my list o'sciency stuff:
Some public health from the Mad Biologist: a hepatitis C outbreak, and fluoroquinolone abuse.
Keeping with…
mikethemadbiologist | May 12, 2007I'm limiting this to the U.S. (my apologies). Do you think one time zone has an advantage in blogging over another? Is there an advantage to 'getting off the mark early' (i.e., Eastern Standard Time) or getting 'last licks' (PST)? What do you think?
mikethemadbiologist | May 6, 2007Lots of links clogging up the internet tubes. First, the science:
If you're not a science blogger, I have a simple suggestion for how you can help fight the anti-science stupidity.
Here's why I think vaccination shouldn't be employed against E. coli O157:H7.
Here is a bacterial threat we can do something about: KPC.
I have some thoughts about that Cell article on blogging.
IDist George Gilder isn't a visionary: he's just very good at confusing things biologists successfully teach to 15-20 year olds.
Speaking of the 'information precedes matter' bullshit, PZ takes down Roy Varghese.
Lawyers…
mikethemadbiologist | May 6, 2007At the recent Republican debate, three out of ten Republican candidates stated that they did not believe in evolution. This reflects a larger ignorance of science. I have a very simple idea to combat the Stoopid for bloggers who don't think of themselves as 'science' bloggers:
Once per week, link to five 'science' posts that you found interesting.
I've actually asked a couple of the 'big-league' bloggers whose blogrolls I'm on if they read my more technical posts. They do, but they usually add that they don't have anything to else to say, other than, "Yep. Interesting", so they don't blog…
mikethemadbiologist | May 3, 2007The Blog Reader Project Survey is conducting an online survey. It doesn't take much time, and it's oriented towards smaller blogs. Find it here.