Friday, December 16, 2005

Chemistry Blog Recommendations


A week or so ago, I asked for recommendations for chemistry blogs people thought worth reading from CHMINF-L. I was surprised by how few I received. Perhaps the holidays and end-of-term pressures kept people from replying. However, here is the summary:


From one person I received:

http://cultureofchemistry.blogspot.com/ - "Chemistry is not a world unto itself. It is woven firmly into the fabric of the rest of the world, and various fields, from literature to archeology, thread their way through the chemist's text."

http://www.pontotriplo.org/quickpicks/ - From my Aggregator: mainly Chemistry but also other branches of Science, Education and Technology



From a second this:

http://significant-figures.blogspot.com
http://www.sciencebase.com/SciObs.html
http://www.sciscoop.com
http://usefulchem.blogspot.com


That is all. Can I assume chemistry is not as prolific in the blogosphere as librarianship? If anyone knows of other recommended chemistry (organic and polymer in particular), send them along.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

CBC - Canada Votes 2006 - Quizzes, Games and Cartoons


CBC - Canada Votes 2006 - Quizzes, Games and Cartoons: "CBC.ca has partnered with 80Soft to bring you a free, limited edition version of Prime Minister Forever - Canada 2006. It's a sophisticated strategy game that simulates all aspects of a federal election. Rebuilt from the 2004 edition, the goal is simple for major parties like the Liberals and Conservatives: win enough seats to form the next government. The latest release for 2006 also allows candidates from smaller parties, such as the Bloc Qu?b?cois and the Green party, to achieve specific goals without winning the election. As a player, you are responsible for all aspects of your candidate's election strategy, including advertising, fundraising, speeches, spinning the news and recruiting supporters. Players select their party of choice. Each candidate has varying levels of experience and familiarity with the issues. These can impact their performance and how voters perceive them."

Holmes On Homes -- the contractors


Not library related, but definately a reference source.



Since I own a home in the area Mike Holmes works in (Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto Ontario) this show scares me to death. I have been keeping a list of contractors he uses and was thrilled to see this page added to his web site.



If you are not aware of the show, Mike Holmes fixes the messes made by other contractors. Scary messes, terrifying messes, unsafe and stupid messes.





Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Well wadda ya know -- Canadian Intellectual Property Office will send speakers


The Bank of Speakers initiative was launched on April 26, 2004, as part of World Intellectual Property Day. It is a collaborative effort of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, the association of professionals concerned with patents, trade-marks, copyrights and industrial designs.

Both organizations have joined forces to work on cross-marketing endeavours and to deliver educational IP presentations.

More precisely, to whom is this initiative targeted?

This initiative is targeted to public and private sector organizations, including business service centres, professional associations, colleges, universities and libraries, who would like to organize workshops

Blogging Section of SLA-IT has a blog


The Information Technology Division of SLA created the Blogging Section in June 2005. Its purpose is to provide a forum for members to exchange information on the technologies and applications of blogs and RSS. Central to this section is the development of blogs by and for information professionals and their customers, including design, development, structure, delivery, and promotion. This section monitors and reports on emerging new technologies and offers education and training on their effective use, implementation and management. ">Blogging Section of SLA-IT

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

Patent sanity is pending - Los Angeles Times


Patent sanity is pending - Los Angeles Times: "Patent sanity is pending





PATENT LAWS MAY BE AN inventor's best friend, giving someone with a groundbreaking idea the means to capitalize on it. But on many levels, the U.S. patent system is profoundly flawed. Too many patents are issued for 'innovations' that are obvious, vague or already in wide use. Too many patent holders try to extend their claims to devices and services that weren't even contemplated when the patents were granted. And it's a difficult, costly exercise to overturn a questionable patent after it has been awarded."

To catch a spy: Anti-spyware tools reviewed


To catch a spy: Anti-spyware tools reviewed: ZDNet Australia: Reviews: Software: Security/Antivirus: "To catch a spy: Anti-spyware tools reviewed"





Since I seem to have WinFixer on my machine at home, I am trying any and all spyware, malware, etc. removers. It is annoying to say the least. Anyone know how to remove WinFixer forever, please let me know.

Nascent -- the newest addition to my BlogRoll


It has been going for a month:





Kicking off

Welcome to Nascent, a blog from Nature Publishing Group's Web Publishing team.



Our mission is to apply web technologies in new ways that promote the discovery and dissemination of scientific knowledge. Along with colleagues from other parts of Nature (some of whom will also be blogging here from time to time), we are the people who brought you Connotea and the Nature Podcast. We also work on several scientific database-oriented services such as the Signaling Gateway and the Cell Migration Gateway.



But those are just the beginning, and we will be writing here about further projects as they progress. We will also be commenting on various other things at the interface between web technology and science that happen to capture our interest.



As each member of the team makes his or her first post, we will try to introduce ourselves, so let me kick off. I'm Timo Hannay and I manage Nature's Web Publishing department. I'm a neurophysiologist by training, and now a web geek and publisher by profession. I'm currently based in London and have previously worked in Japan and the US. I'm into the films of Hayao Miyazaki and the music of Shiina Ringo. You can find out more about me from this list of links in Connotea.



We look forward to sharing our thoughts, and hearing back from you, either in comments left on this blog or by email (to nascent at nature.com). Let the fun begin...



Thursday, December 1, 2005

New Data Mining and Visualization tool from Thomson Scientific


New Data Mining and Visualization tool from Thomson Scientific Answers the Problem of Information Overload - Thomson Scientific: "Thomson Data Analyzer provides an easy way to analyze trends, profile competitors, avoid or uncover patent and copyright infringement, and identify strategic development opportunities in information from a wide variety of Thomson Scientific databases including:

value-added patent records from Derwent World Patents Index? and Patents Citation Index?

full-text patent documents from Delphion?, MicroPatent PatentWeb? and Aureka?

current and retrospective multidisciplinary journal information from Web of Science? and INSPEC, via ISI Web of KnowledgeSM "