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Welcome renaissance geeks!

18:42 / 15.04.05

For those of you who haven't noticed yet, I've been putting out an appeal for Renaissance geeks to help us get the Laboratory forum up to its best. I really strongly believe that it should be as interesting and as vibrant as the Head Shop, Switchboard and Temple, and hopefully some of the new people (climatologists, space scientists, physicists, journalists, environmentalists, cryptographers and psychologists) will help us re-energise that part of the board as well as give the rest of the place a fresh perspective. In return, I'm hoping we can blow at least some of their brains out across the rest of the site.

So I thought I'd ask the rest of the board to welcome them in, and encourage our newcomers from the world of science and technology to introduce themselves. This might also be a good time for the technologists among us to say hello themselves. Hello everyone, my name is Tom Coates and I do rapid prototyping and R&D work for BBC Radio and Music Interactive. I'm particularly interested in social software, social media consumption and distribution and the things that happen when you join the world together with big bits of cable and beams of information through the air. And robots.

09:14 / 16.04.05

Technologists assemble?

11:34 / 16.04.05

Well, I suppose I count as something of a technologist. Hello everyone, I'm fridgemagnet. I've got a background in computers and artificial intelligence (though that was some time ago now) and I currently work as a database programmer on... er, actually, maybe I won't go too far into that but it's to do with vast quantities of non-commercial data about people which have a lot of potentially fascinating uses for Good. I've only just started there anyway so I'm mostly code-monkeying.

Anyway, having been something of a teenage cyberpunk I still have a lot of interest in the sociopolitical aspects of technology rather than the hardcore geekery; some of the most significant technologies in this area to my mind are ones dealing with information, so that's where I mostly concentrate. Privacy, IP and copyright, new and/or different social networking caused by technology, internet social phenomena, control of information by powerful groups, that sort of thing.

I also know a bit about the drug industry.

I'm finding it a bit hard to differentiate between techie interests, sociological interests and political interests here, let alone everything else I'm interested in, because it's all the same to me. Anyway. Hello.

subcultureofone

12:18 / 16.04.05

hi. my name is virginia and my background is in biology/biochem and clinical psychology. i’ve worked mainly in the areas of psych,environmental science, and reproductive health for large organizations like psych hospitals, planned parenthood and the cdc as well as small local nonprofits/ngo’s. some of it has been more administrative such as social marketing, grant writing, research, developing/directing educational programs and of course writing lots of reports. i like providing direct patient care and running labs or doing wet chem; fortunately i have been able to find jobs where i can work with both people and papers. i also enjoy volunteering for the health department to provide free, anonymous hiv testing and working with the ‘home van’, a local grassroots organization that helps the homeless. other interests include genetics, physiological psych, psychopharmacology, sustainable development, solar power, remodeling my house and apparently zombies. i don’t have a lot of free time so i don’t post much.

13:40 / 16.04.05

I am not a scientist, nor do I play one on tv, in the theater, or on a street corner. My specialty is literature and philosophy. However, my sub-specialty in those fields is the philosophy of science. So while I can't tell a muon from a quark, or a mole from mitochondria, I am down to debate some of the issues that surround scientific discourse. I shall begin by starting a thread that attempts to debate the nature of scientific debate itself.

12:59 / 17.04.05

I'm not sure if I fall under the heading of "technologist", but I have provided technical support professionally for all (five years) of my adult life. Over the last few years, I have added professional technical writing and amature web design and web application development to the mix.

I have a strong interests in computer technology, including scripting on Mac OS X and Linux, interface design, and the impacts of open standards.

Non-computer interests include, but are not limited to, theoretical physics, movies, and music.

For a sense of what things I like, my favorite bands (at the moment) are: Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, The Decemberists, The Postal Service, and British Sea Power. My favorite film-makers are: David Mamet, Robert Rodriguez, Peter Jackson, and Sam Raimi.

16:20 / 17.04.05

Um...

5004: Delta hyperactive technophilic enviro-ninja
European climatology PhD, working with nonlinear neural nets and heavy weather. MSci and previous work in Earth & Space Science. First Time on Barbelith. My Greatest achievement so far is... maintaining a sense of wonder. 25 years ago I was... nestled in the womb. The best advice I've been given is... keep your options open. My greatest hope for the next 25 years is... perspective. Nobody knows I... can put all my toes in my mouth. I move my feet when i hear... electroclash. I love the smell of... petrichor. My favourite drink is... mango lassi. I had the time of my life when I... travelled across America for a month.

22:16 / 17.04.05

bit like alterity, my training is in philosophy and literature - with emphasis on phil of mind - but i work now for a marconi prize winning scientist who has crossed fields and is now studying the mind. so i don't do the research, but i do have a strong role in discussions about it and, basically, market it (so i guess i need to know the 'product') i have always kept an neuron or two for science and tech advances...

the centre looks at nonconscious processes in the mind and uses tms and eeg, etc to investigate its hypotheses.

where's grant?

01:24 / 18.04.05

I'm here. I write about science for tabloids, but nearly became a real biologist. The damnable DNA replication messed me up. I also know subcultureofone in real life, if that counts for anything.

I suppose I'm sort of a science fan. I'm not really new to the board, though.

nedrichards is confused

09:02 / 18.04.05

Oh yes, I work in User Experience/Information Architechture/That sort of thing. Mostly in the mobile industry. Also, I love the Linux.

Psi-L is working in hell

09:51 / 18.04.05

I've not done any technical science for almost a decade, but since then have studied, and now teach the history and sociology of science and technology at university. I've also worked in science policy and science communication for a few different charities and institutions, mainly concerned with science in the public sphere and issues of expertise and risk, so have been involved with recent national debates around GM technologies and now nanotechnology in the UK. I'm also starting to become more interested in the representations of science in popular culture (film, comics, books) and particularly in the mass media.

15:04 / 18.04.05

I write about developments in computer technology and electronics, mainly, as a freelance journalist – and I studied engineering for a few years. I pretty much cover the new innovations that professional scientists and engineers need to stay on top of, but have also done stories on brain implants and the weirder areas of research. My most recent story: could a computer hacker break into a nuclear plant or an industrial power facility and fuck shit up (yes, they could, it seems).

I guess, on a personal level, I’m really interested in the sort of stuff that (sometimes) gets talked about on barbelith – the collision between psychology, science, spirituality, futurism – things that really blow your mind... But then I don't really read Wired or anything like that anymore. Maybe it's time to move on from futurism - that's a 90s thing (?)

13:02 / 19.04.05

I lurk more than I post these days, but I have a bachelor's degree in geology and am just about to start a PhD in computer science. I work at the National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, CO and thus spend most of my days fooling around with all sorts of scientific data (although I'm a code monkey and DBA, so I don't do much actual science.) Still a neat setting to work in, though.

13:56 / 19.04.05

Hey everyone.

I joined juuuust before the last wave of folks arrived but haven't posted a vast amount so here goes. I'm currently studying for a PhD into the biochemical action of antidepressants and other psychotropics, and doing a BA in PPE on the side part-time. Other interests: fringe science (biophotonics, ESP, hallucinogens and entheogens, psi research, orgone therapy, etc.); along with more reputable topics such as (amongst other things) evolutionary biology, bioethics, consciousness, quantum stuff, cognitive liberty, and systems theory; plus a fair few bits from the temple as well. I'm a fan of trying to make things from the lab and the temple match.

I'm also looking to start doing some work in science journalism, and hopefully getting some articles published, so if anyone's got any tips on the best way to go about doing that, that'd be grand. I'm also pretty militant about the need to communicate both real science and how the scientific method works to the public, and am vaguely horrified by the inroads the religious right is making against research and debate in the U.S.

Scrubb is on a downward spiral

17:15 / 19.04.05

I've been here for a while but I think I fit into this catagory.

I'm doing a PhD on how the adult entertainment industry develops, innovates and appropriates new technologies (particularly online ones). I'm currently in the middle of my fieldwork; I've moved from lovely Sussex to sunny LA and have spent the past 3 months chasing and interviewing members of the industry.

I'm really interested in how social networks of indviduals can form to share information and create new, um, things - technologies (ie. open-source) are one, but also collective art projects (eg. Jenny Everywhere); and how creation of these networks can be facilitated by the likes of social software.

Other interests - corporate social responsibility (which I teach to undergrads), bioethics, science and technology communication, interdisciplinarity (ie. breaking down the boundaries between science, economics, philosophy etc), queer theory/gender wotsits, dinosaurs, comics.

Background is biochemistry and science/technology policy; then science communication, GM crops, history of radio, new media communities. Plus I work part-time in a comic shop.

18:47 / 19.04.05

Mirror -- do you use any GIS mapping software in your work? I have a friend who helped invent a bunch of that. I may have asked you that before, actually.

toast -- check out my last post in the "Science Heroes" thread in the Laboratory. It links to an essay by a really good science writer. About science writing.

20:09 / 19.04.05

I too have been here a while; in fact, this topic has made me commit myself to 'checking out the Lab more often'. I often want to discuss stuff and don't really have a place to do so.

Anyhow, I work in online production for a political magazine; design, editing, and development. I also tend to hack around when not doing so. I'm interested in social applications of technology - have written about this - and also things to do with videogames, the nature of play, and new methods of interaction. I'm very interested in Internet technologies - new, emerging frameworks and ways of pumping information around.

I'm interested broadly in lots, and still working out the few things I specifically like. I'm a new media person, and getting more and more into development as I study things. My degree is in English Literature, for reference. I'm one of those tech-geeks with an arts degree.

nedrichards is confused

20:54 / 19.04.05

Good point paleface forgot to say that, yes, I did history at university but that signally failed to conceal my geeky nature.

23:27 / 19.04.05

I'm afraid I count as a technologist, also in the broader reach of the user-experience field. Though I SWEAR TO GAWD I can't name Chewbacca's home planet or anything like that.

14:59 / 20.04.05

Actually, I was wondering if some of you Real Live Scientists would care to drop some science in this Temple thread on Evolution-as-metaphor.

There seem to be a lot of different readings of what "evolution" actually is, and I'm not sure I've got exactly the right end of the stick when I try to clarify things.

Because even when being obviously irrational, using terms precisely and correctly matters.

00:19 / 21.04.05

i'm not quite sure why i'm here, or how i ended up registered, but i have a degree in physics/maths and a phd in astronomy. these days, however, i'm more interested in the science of computing. but i can still recall the odd snippet of science related info if necessary.