Why do we blog?

Don’t usually do memes, but this one ain’t half bad

1. What is your blog about?

It’s a moving target. The general theme is how we can bring the worlds of information technology and the life sciences together. Favorite themes include big data, open data, the networked future of science, “bursty work”, etc

2. What will you never write about?

Never is a word most people regret, but there are some topics that are unlikely to make their way here

Evolution. It’s not a debate in my mind and I am not going to dignify making it one

Religion. It’s a personal subject and I don’t plan to impose or discuss my views in public

Personal stuff. I have a friends and family blog for that.

3. Have you ever considered leaving science?

Done that at many levels. First left active research and moved to the business side of science, and then moved out of the sciences a few months ago. Someone once told me that once a scientist, always a scientist, so while I am no longer actively working in the science business, leaving science is not really something I can imagine at this point of time, even if involvement is as an advocate and communicator.

4. What would you do instead?

If science was love #1, computing is love #2, which is why I am currently at Amazon Web Services. I have always wanted to stretch out into new directions, try things I might not exactly be trained to do, which is why a combination of business development and cloud computing was so tempting.

5. What do you think will science blogging be like in 5 years?

No idea. Blogging, science or otherwise, is an ever moving target, and as long as it does not become a shameless marketing vehicle, then it will be an interesting evolution to follow and track. I do suspect that you will start seeing a greater number of blog posts that actually discuss research projects.

6. What is the most extraordinary thing that happened to you because of blogging?

Long long list. It’s definitely brought me more attention than I would have otherwise. At a conference last year, as much people knew me professionally as for my blog. I have had the opportunity to meet some of the brightest, smartest people out there, and take part in some wonderful discussions. Specific events to point to include being invited to Scifoo and other events around the future of science and science communication, getting interviewed by Jon Udell, and getting invited to speak VA Tech. There are many other things that I can attribute to being online, the blog being at the center of it all, so could go on and on.

7. Did you write a blog post or comment you later regretted?

Not really.

8. When did you first learn about science blogging?

Curiously, I have never considered myself a “science blogger” per se. This blog is very personal, and covers topics that I care about. They happen to be about science, technology and general geekiness. I became aware of a blogosphere around science, especially bioinformatics sometime in 2005, just before I started blogging, when I got addicted to my feed reader.

9. What do your colleagues at work say about your blogging?

Good question. Some of my new colleagues have been tracking my blog for a while. I am sure others are amused to have such a science geek in their midst. My previous colleagues were definitely intrigued and amused by my passion for blogging. Haven’t yet heard a “you’re nuts” or “what is blogging” from anyone really.

10. Extra credit: are you able to write an entry to your blog that takes the form of a poem about your research?

Prose, not poetry, AKA I am a terrible poet