Latest posts

Pippa Middleton’s Guide to Sex and Cooking

Posted on 27 April 2012 by Henry Gee

I’ve finished the draft of ‘The Beowulf Effect: Fossils, Evolution and the Human Condition’ and I have packed it off to the publisher. If you’d like a sneak preview, let me know and I’ll send you a pdf.

Posted in Beowulf Effect, cooking, pippa middleton, sex, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Pippa Middleton’s Guide to Sex and Cooking

Wordy, wooden, weak-verbed

Posted on 26 April 2012 by Frank Norman

A piece in today’s Times Higher, on the flaws of academic writing styles, struck a chord with me.  It says:

If you have ever needlessly added the term “Foucauldian” to a journal article or bludgeoned readers by starting an epic sentence with reference to the “post-Mendel application of Lamarck’s apparently superseded s Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Comments Off on Wordy, wooden, weak-verbed

In which we’d like to acknowledge what’s-his-name

Posted on 25 April 2012 by Jennifer Rohn

It is human nature to feel that you’re at the center of the universe, with all of life and experience revolving around your fixed point of view like a lazy orbit of galaxies. On a larger scale, this biased perspective can influence groups of people, and indeed entire countries. Most of you are probably familiar with the light-hearted maps of Daniel Continue reading →

Posted in careers, Nostalgia, Scientific thinking, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which we’d like to acknowledge what’s-his-name

Why does PLoS hate openness?

Posted on 25 April 2012 by Bob O'H

My frustrations for the day – I’m co-author on a manuscript submitted to PLoS. We’re now trying to upload the final version but we’re hitting silly problems that are caused by PLoS seemingly being beholden to Microsoft.


The originate because I use Linux whilst my colleagues use Macs and Windows, so I use OpenOffice, rather Continue reading →

Posted in Aaaaaagh, science publishing | Comments Off on Why does PLoS hate openness?

Please tell me this isn’t really a frequently asked question

Posted on 23 April 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

FAQ

(from the Canadian Common CV FAQ page)

Posted in screenshots, Silliness, technology | Comments Off on Please tell me this isn’t really a frequently asked question

Harvard: we have a problem

Posted on 23 April 2012 by Stephen

This is astonishing. Harvard is one of the best and one of the wealthiest universities in the world but last week its Faculty Advisory Council* announced that it can no longer afford to maintain its subscriptions to academic journals.

The announcement was made online by the Council as a message to the academic staff at the university. I have taken Continue reading →

Posted in Harvard, journal subscriptions, Open Access, science, Scientific Life | Comments Off on Harvard: we have a problem

Eyes on the prize are blind to reality

Posted on 22 April 2012 by Stephen

Scientists’ quest for publication in journals with high impact factors is widely perceived as one of the more refractory barriers to the fuller adoption of open access, which I believe to be in the best interests of science.

But the barrier problem is complicated. Some of its dimensions were teased out in a debate on ‘Open Science and Continue reading →

Posted in Impact Factors, nature, Open Access, Prizes, Scientific Life, Vanity | Comments Off on Eyes on the prize are blind to reality

The Hunger Games: educational assessment

Posted on 22 April 2012 by Steve Caplan

It seems that these past few weeks have been insanely packed with travel, and some of it not particularly fun. As I await boarding of a flight to an editorial board meeting, I recall that a week ago I drove 200 miles to (and 200 miles home from) Grinnell College in Iowa (directly east of Omaha) for an invited talk and pleasant meetings with faculty Continue reading →

Posted in education, films, hedonism, movies, reality, The Hunger Games, violence, war | Comments Off on The Hunger Games: educational assessment

Hither and Yon

Posted on 21 April 2012 by Richard Wintle

Things have been a bit quiet around this blog lately, largely due to a major infrastructure grant application (now nearly, but not totally, finished), as well as a number of side trips, and Easter weekend. Not that I’ve really been too busy to post anything – I just haven’t been using my available time for writing blogposts, inste Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Kingston, Kitchener, Ontario, Peterborough, Photography, Teaching, travel, Waterloo, Winnipeg | Comments Off on Hither and Yon

New Bragging Rights Central Post

Posted on 20 April 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Comments and posts archived April 2012 – September 2012

(I missed the last two weeks due to Good Friday and then a day off last week. Oops – bad blogger!)

Comment(s) of the Week

Continue reading →
Posted in Meta | Comments Off on New Bragging Rights Central Post