ryanburnslabdata-blog

[ryanburnslabdata-blog]

I joined Mendeley as head of R&D at the start in early 2009 and left end of 2011. Here are my thoughts about my time there and why I eventually left to start PeerJ.

First, in terms of business success, regardless of your stance on Elsevier acquiring Mendeley, this was a win for the...

[ryanburnslabdata-blog]

Last week's post, Lab Notebooks & The Strange Tale of Amr Mohsen, Part I, began a tale of bad patent litigation, forensic ink testing, mysteriously disappearing/reappearing lab notebooks and en...

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[Writing in 1988 of a mill soon to be automated]: "The workers [...] knew that the so-called technological choices we face are really much more than that. Their consternation puts us on alert. There is a world to be lost and a world to be gained. Choices that appear to be merely technical will redefine our lives together at work. This means more than simply contemplating the implications or consequences of a new technology. It means that a powerful new technology, such as that represented by the computer, fundamentally reorganizes the infrastructure of our material world. It eliminates former alternatives. It creates new possibilities. It necessitates fresh choices"

Zuboff. In the age of the smart machine: the future of work and power

Zuboff, Shoshana

Oxford : Heinemann 1988

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For me this is a nice illustration of how this tech is always an 'assemblage' (or agencement if you prefer that translation).  It's impossible to draw a strict boundary around a single technology and say 'this does X'.  

X always relies on a whole series of other technologies, people, processes...

[ryanburnslabdata-blog]

My personal blog.  I use it to gather information and discussion about lab apps, LIMS, tablet computers etc.  

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“...not all pieces of equipment condition the existence of phenomena and the production of papers in the same way.  Taking away the trash can, for example, would be unlikely to harm the main research process; similarly, withdrawal of the automatic pipette would not prevent pipetting by hand, even though this takes longer.  By contrast, if the gamma counter breaks down, it is difficult to measure amounts of radioactivity by mere sight!”

Bruno Latour (Laboratory Life. 1979: p.64)

[ryanburnslabdata-blog]

A wiki with information about loads of LIMS, ELNs and lab informatics - very useful resource

[ryanburnslabdata-blog]

Lab Apps

Do you work in a lab doing scientific research?

Do you use a tablet computer? (iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Kindle Fire, Google Nexus etc.)

I want to speak to you! 

http://thisisnotascienceproject.wordpress.com/