Social or semantic connections? Tell me, infofriend!

Clive Thompson – undoubtedly a good journalist – has a piece, entitled Information Overlord in May Wired issue (not online yet, but already problematic) on his experience with semantic Web app Twine. Clive also formulates a provocative though about the value of information modulated social connections. “But the truth is, sometimes social connections are less…

Building a critical mass: social networking for scientists in Nature

Just a paragraph from Virginia Gewin: The new networking nexus Nature 451, 1024-1025 (20 February 2008) | doi:10.1038/nj7181-1024a

SciFoo Camp, 2007: words and recommendations

The Sci Foo check-in process is a happy one, unlike other check-ins: when you are in, the organizers give you gifts, take a photo on you (to put it on a board) and you are asked to fill in a short intro paper with 2 points: 5 words or phrases that describe your interests and…

SciFoo Camp, 2007: data (Google) publishing (Nature) geeks (O’Reilly)

SciFoo is over, and I’ve just arrived back to New Orleans from SF. First of all: a big thanks for the organizers (Chris DiBona, Timo Hannay, Tim O’Reilly, Google, Nature, O’Reilly) and campers, it was really the highest end. Here is a quick SciFoo key terms summary (photos, detailed accounts later): “scientific data” One of…

Fast networking with Apple gadgets at a Harry Potter party

On Friday we went to a Harry Potter Midnight Magic party at the Uptown Tulane Campus. There I met Noah from Michigan, who was videoskyping on his MacBook Pro with his brother in Los Angeles. Our 3 minutes talk was an excellent exemplar of what I call “fast networking”: Facebook confirmation, iPhone presentation, blog introduction,…

Science Hacker: my Nature Network miniblog

I started Science Hacker (sometimes I rename it to Biotech Geek depending on the post) on Nature Network in May and at the present moment you can find there post excerpts out of Pimm. But I plan to fill it with an original content too and my first de novo post there is: Would you…

Nature Network Global Beta and social networking 2.0 for scientists

If you are busy building a professional career and want things to get done, it’s time to forget MySpace, Facebook or any other social networking 1.0 sites, that are focusing on friendship, love, spam whatever with a general membership. What you need is social networking 2.0, which is based on the special profession you’re in,…