Difference between revisions of "The Reluctant Geek"

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(MiniBlog on the Blogosphere and Internet)
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'''Meets:''' Thursdays, 2-3 pm in 3rd floor PharmBio Fishbowl
 
'''Meets:''' Thursdays, 2-3 pm in 3rd floor PharmBio Fishbowl
  
'''Who's Involved:''' [http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/people/birdlab/ Dr. Margaret Rubega] , [http://darwin.eeb.uconn.edu/holsinger.html Dr. Kent Holsinger], [[Amy Weiss]], [[Em Komiskey]], ADD YOURSELF HERE.
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'''Who's Involved:''' [http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/people/birdlab/ Dr. Margaret Rubega] , [http://darwin.eeb.uconn.edu/holsinger.html Dr. Kent Holsinger], [[Amy Weiss]], [[Em Komiskey]], [[Suegene Noh]], ADD YOURSELF HERE.
  
 
'''Why Are We Doing This?''' To communicate with each other about electronic science communication; to get into the habit of posting frequently; because Margaret says we have to.  
 
'''Why Are We Doing This?''' To communicate with each other about electronic science communication; to get into the habit of posting frequently; because Margaret says we have to.  

Revision as of 14:31, 18 September 2007

The Class Page of the Science Communication Seminar

Fall 2007

Meets: Thursdays, 2-3 pm in 3rd floor PharmBio Fishbowl

Who's Involved: Dr. Margaret Rubega , Dr. Kent Holsinger, Amy Weiss, Em Komiskey, Suegene Noh, ADD YOURSELF HERE.

Why Are We Doing This? To communicate with each other about electronic science communication; to get into the habit of posting frequently; because Margaret says we have to.

Why Do We Have To Practice Science Communication?

"The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animals. Some of their most esteemed inventions have no other apparent purpose, for example, the dinner party of more than two, the epic poem, and the science of metaphysics." -- H.L. Mencken.

Thank heavens he cited metaphysics and not evolution or ecology.

"One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid." -- James D. Watson

I guess we better work on communicating that we are open-minded, exciting, and intelligent.



Anybody Got a Blogging Idea?

  • The recent (imminent?) demise of The Weekly World News foiled my secret plan for a blog that consisted entirely of explanations for why stories therein were completely impossible on the basis of what we know about anatomy.


It is my observation that the most successful blogs seem to range very widely in a very flat universe --- they are tightly themed, but the blogger looks at the subject from many angles. So we should be striving for blog themes that will appeal to a well-defined audience.


MiniBlog on the Blogosphere and Internet

  • 9/18/07 (MR) -- Cottleston Pie is a Biology Song!! I have just realized this morning that the great Song of Confusion from the Pooh Bear books is a ballad of biological investigation:

Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie, A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly. Ask me a riddle and I reply Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie.

Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie, Why does a chicken? I don't know why. Ask me a riddle and I reply Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie.

Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie, A fish can't whistle and neither can I. Ask me a riddle and I reply Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie. (-- A. A. Milne)


  • 9/17/07 (MR) -- That NRME Guy is already coming here Em, you will find if you look at the dept'l. seminar list, that Jon Volin is the Thurs afternoon EEB seminar speaker on Oct. 11. So be sure to sign up to meet with him on the 11th. I met him last week; I got the impression he is likely to charge things up in NRME quite a bit.
  • 14 September 2007 (Amy) - Em, you said you uploaded it to EEBedia, so that's the first step. The next step is to copy and paste the page name of your file, then insert it onto EEBedia using the code...

right]100px
You of course can add right, left, or none of that to change the position, and the px is just to change the size.

  • 14 September 2007 (Em) -- Okay, seriously, how do you put a picture on a page? I uploaded a picture. It looks like it was here, but when I try and put it one my page, no dice. Boo.
  • 14 September 2007 (Em) -- I learned today that the new head of NRME is a guy by the name of John C. Volin. Apparently, he joins us from Florida Atlantic University where he was the director of the Environmental Science Department. He studies plant physiology and invasive ecology. Even cooler, when I looked at his publication, I realized he has collaborated on a couple papers I have already read. I think I will have to speak with him.
  • 13 Sept 2007 (Margaret) -- Well, I must spurn Amy's science song link as shamefully incomplete, as it lacks any reference to the Amphioxus song (or It's A Long Way to Amphioxus). Here's a link to a performance of the song by folksinger Sam Hinton, and another to a page with a (purported) history of the song, and complete lyrics. You all ought to know that I regularly sing this song, with all the gusto of which I am capable, to my Biology of the Vertebrates classes. That they are always stunned goes without saying.
  • 13 Sept 2007 (Amy) -- As mentioned in class, here's the link to the webpage full of science songs. I highly recommend "Eohippus" (I think the passing of all evolutionary time should just be sung as lalalalalalala) and for fans of They Might Be Giants, "Why Does The Sun Shine". And here's my EEBedia page, Songs about Plants, which is a listing of non-educational songs that mention plants.



Class Schedule

To upload a pdf use this form (username/password required)

Date Speaker Topic Check Before Class
Aug 28 Organizational meeting
Sept 6 No Meeting
Sept 13 Margaret Rubega Introduction to the basics of blogging as a form of science communication
Sept 20
Sept. 27 NO MEETING
Oct 4
Oct 11
Oct 18
Oct 25
Nov 1
Nov 8
Nov 15
Nov 22 NO MEETING THANKSGIVING
Nov 29
Dec 6