Archive for April, 2004

Federal budgets for science criticized

Friday, April 23rd, 2004

AAAS says research programs are at risk as federal government tries to
get deficits under control.  (Source: Science in the News)

EFF launches project to contest dubious patents

Wednesday, April 21st, 2004

Mirroring much public skepticism on patents for one-click shopping and
internet credit card processing, the Electronic Frontier Foundation
remarks: “The harm these patents cause the public is profound,” and
thus they launch a campaign to contest the validity of such patents and
unearth prior art where it may be found. (Sources: Boing Boing,
Slashdot)

Resistance to the USA PATRIOT Act

Wednesday, April 21st, 2004

An article by Elaine Scarry documents how local governments have passed
resolutions protesting provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, defending
people’s rights “where they live;”  how the legislation encourages
secrecy and challenges the notion of an open, democratic government;
and even how the use of “USA” and “PATRIOT” in this context confounds
the meanings of these words.  Excerpted in the May 2004 Harper’s
magazine, it was originally published in the Feb/Mar issue of Boston
Review.  

New National Academy Members announced

Wednesday, April 21st, 2004

The National Academies announced election of 72 new members and 18
foreign associates on Tuesday.  (Source: Chronicle of Higher
Education Daily Update)  Some familiar names include Philip
Bucksbaum of Michigan (cold atoms;) Nancy Hopkins (biology/MIT, who
also urged MIT to see its discrimination against female scientists;)
Charles Lieber of Harvard University; George Oster of Berkeley, who has
studied molecular motors, among other phenomena; and Maria Zuber of
MIT, earth and planetary sciences, whose rise has been meteoric to say
the least. 

How to search blogs

Tuesday, April 20th, 2004

It ain’t easy, but Christina Pikas of Johns Hopkins offers several
precise tips, whether using Google or Yahoo or one of multiple services
specializing in blog searching.  (Source: beSpacific)

What editors look for in journal articles

Friday, April 16th, 2004

a checklist …

Library weblog directory

Friday, April 16th, 2004

Peter Scott has compiled an excellent directory of library weblogs and a bibliography on blogging for libraries.  (Source: Tame the Web via Library Stuff)

A 3D-search engine?

Friday, April 16th, 2004

Would only a CAD suggest it?  Wired News investigates. 

Price of memory…

Friday, April 16th, 2004

Cheap RAM not persistent (Source MacMerc)

Amazon unveils A9 …

Thursday, April 15th, 2004

which searches the web, Amazon’s Search Inside the Book and the Amazon
site.  Also features a toolbar for Windows IE users.  Still
in beta.