nodalpoint.org - Ten Simple Rules - Comments

The webolution is here ... and on TV

mndoci — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:11:23 -0500

I am obviously biased, but I am in love with video. The tools have become very convenient and the ubiquity of Flash only make video that much more appealing.

What would I call my video blurbs ... I guess videocast is as good a term as any.

Adding YouTube channels to Miro

pansapiens — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:45:15 -0400

You can add "channels" (ie videos of a particular YouTube user) to Miro by getting RSS feeds like this:

http://www.youtube.com/rss/user/[insert username here]/videos.rss

You can also get RSS feeds for all videos with a particular tag, like:

http://www.youtube.com/rss/tag/science.rss

Where this would be all the videos tagged science.

Google Video search results also have an associated RSS feed. In fact, in more recent versions of Miro (mine is 0.9.8.1) you can use the in-built video search to find Google Video, YouTube, Revver, blip.tv etc videos and click "Save this Search as a Channel" at the top of the results.

It looks to me like JoVE doesn't provide any type of RSS/ATOM feed, which is a shame. I might just have to get busy with Dapper or openKapow and help the JoVE team out by making one :).

scivee - miro support

dalloliogm — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:58:02 -0400

ok, now you can watch videos from scivee in miro:

I'm not sure what to make of

Greg — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:54:28 -0400

I'm not sure what to make of all this yet. I did notice that Depak has a video blog (videocast ?).

The Webolution Will Not Be Televised

Duncan — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:25:35 -0400

I'm never quite sure wether to love or hate flash technology, its good and bad all at the same time. Since writing this, I remembered the Royal Society also have some good scientific video streams currently only in Windows Media Player / Real player though.

Adding to Miro

dean — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:19:53 -0400

This would be difficult -- one of the downsides of flash players is that they obfuscate the video file and make it difficult to video podcast (or use in Miro). Flash does the same thing to text -- it hides the text from search engines.

--Dean

miro - democracy player

dalloliogm — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:37:34 -0400

Do you know how to add these sources to Miro [1] (ex democracy player) ?

[1] http://www.getmiro.com

Who to collaborate with?

Duncan — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:00:46 -0400

Well it just goes prove Bournes rule 1: Do Not Be Lured into Just Any Collaboration. Even if they are a powerful collaborator... you might regret it later :)

Dont trust Tony

Animesh — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 09:43:45 -0400

>Tony Bliar once said “Ask me my three main priorities for government, and
>I tell you: education, education, education.”
Hey Duncan glad you spelled Tony correctly. He was Being Liar, his actual priority is to 'collaborate' with Bush and nothing else.

How To Do PostDocs

Duncan — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:50:54 -0500

John Bothwell, who wrote the article about PostDoccery, has written about this post in his article How To Do PostDocs. John is busy setting up a PostDoc association in the UK, because unlike the USA, we don't yet have one. Also, since writing this, my colleagues have pointed out that mobility is favoured more highly in Biology than in Engineering/Computer Science. Since bioinformatics combines both these, it isn't clear how important mobility is in this area. Finally, the advice given by Phil Bourne is very US-centric. If you're not based in the US, then not all of the ten simple rules will apply to you.

PostDoc Heaven

Duncan — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:12:10 -0500

Thanks Neil and Chris for your advice, it is always useful to get a second opinion from outside the lab. People working in the same lab don't always give the most objective careers advice...

Moving on

chris — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:51:00 -0500

My own feeling is that you should move after the PhD. It's tempting to stay in your old lab, where you finally feel you understand the work, you have a routine, and that big paper is just round the corner. And, let's face it, being top dog is kind of cool, too.

You have to balance this against over-specialization, and narrow mentorship. The chances are you will continue to work on approximately the same problems if you stay. Although it's efficient, it's not necessarily in your best interest to become so one-sided immediately. A move to a different lab will broaden your horizons and get you thinking about another set of problems. Just as importantly, it will expose you to a new set of people, with different attitudes, skill sets, and priorities. Although initially daunting, this cosmopolitanism has been, for me, invaluable in shaping the way I think about science.

There is also the danger of becoming too similar to your supervisor. If people look at you and see Mini-Me, you will have a tough time convincing people of your independence. You may also have a harder time finding a position later if you're trying to set up a carbon copy of someone else's research program.

You should also consider that your first post-doc is possibly the only time in your research career when the slate can be wiped clean and you can start again, choosing any (sub)field you want. It's almost certainly the only time you will be able to do so under the mentorship of someone, rather than bumbling round by yourself.

Neil is absolutely right about career paths, too. If you don't see yourself as a lab head fairly soon (ie within a decade), you'll want to research alternative paths asap. Staff scientist positions, rather than perpetual post-doc fellowships, are great - but few academic institutions have them, although they are common in industry. The commercial sector is also becoming more plastic than before, with many companies encouraging quasi-academic atmospheres to attract researchers (think Rosetta and Genentech).

all good advice

Neil — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:51:48 -0500

The "rules" are good, simple common-sense advice, I think. Moving labs is a personal decision. I think it's good to move on after the PhD. You may like where you are but you have to plan ahead - what are the odds that you'll gain permanent employment and be able to set up a group in your current workplace at some future point? Mobility is also viewed positively by many employers and funding agencies.

I'd add to the list: if you don't have a clear career plan 5 years out from the PhD, consider whether academic research is for you. I know a lot of postdocs who are 10 or more years out, enjoy research but are basically "stuck" when it comes to career advancement. If running a group and constantly applying for grants doesn't appeal, think about other avenues - sooner rather than later.