Forgot your password?

Comment: Re:Bad news for ecologists--new license needed (Score 4, Insightful) 136

by JanneM (#46339669) Attached to: Major Scientific Journal Publisher Requires Public Access To Data

On the other hand, if I don't have your data I can't check your results. If you want to keep your data secret for a decade, you really should plan to not publish anything relying on it for that time either. Release all the papers when you release the data.

Also, who gets to decide when a study is a replication and when it is a new result? Few replication attempts are doing exactly the same thing as the original paper, for good reason. If you want to see if it holds up you want to use different analysis or similar anyway. And "use" data? What if another group produces their own data and compares with yours? Is that "using" the data? What if they compare your published results? Is that using it?

A partial solution, I think, is for a group such as yours to pre-plan the data use already when collecting it. So you decide from start to publish a subset of that data early and publish papers based on that. Then publish another subset for further results and so on.

But what we really need is for data to be fully citeable. A way to publish the data as a reserach result by itself - perhaps the data, together with a paper describing it (but not any analysis). ANyone is free to use the data for their own research, but will of course cite you when they do. A good, serious data set can probably rack up more citations than just about any paper out there. That will give the producers the scientific credit it deserves.

Comment: Re:Robots are incapable of evil (Score 1) 176

by JanneM (#46328273) Attached to: Apocalypse NAO: College Studies the Theological Ramifications of Robotics


Comment: Re:So a fake pub with drinks and a place to sit (Score 3, Informative) 118

by JanneM (#46281943) Attached to: Fake Pub Studies Drinking Habits

Note, the subjects do not need to know (and shouldn't know) the actual research being done, just that they're part of a research project. Usually they're told that the researchers are testing one thing, while it's something entirely different that's really being tested.

That generally needs specific approval, though, and normally always requirs that the subject gets briefed about the real intention of the research afterwards. Also, I'm not at all certain that serving alcohol does not constitute medicating the subjects; that would mean a still tougher IRB review and approval process.

Comment: Re:I gave up and used a tablet (Score 1) 134

by JanneM (#46254081) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: E-ink Reader For Academic Papers?

I have a Nexus 7, but I found the screen just too small for double-column papers. I now use a Sony Tablet Z and it's nearly perfect. It's still light enough to easily hold in one hand, and I can easily read a single-column paper in portrait format, or a double-column paper either in portrait or landscape, depending on how tired my eyes are at the time.

I use "PDF Viewer", actually "EBook Droid" for PDFs, and it's OK for papers. I'll try ezPDF as well. I also use Sony's "small app" notes application to take notes which works fairly well.

The one thing I miss is Zotero integration. I don't really need Zotero on my tablet, but I would like to take notes and get the notes automagically imported to Zotero.

Comment: Re:The problem is MUCH, much wider ... (Score 1) 473

by JanneM (#46217129) Attached to: Ugly Trends Threaten Aviation Industry

A bike is not really practical in places with snow or ice in winter; or when part of your daily routine involves bringing family members to school or work.

In my case, though, I use public transportation nowadays; I drive neither car nor bike, and keep my license only because it's a convenient form of ID.

Comment: Re:The problem is MUCH, much wider ... (Score 2) 473

by JanneM (#46214803) Attached to: Ugly Trends Threaten Aviation Industry

Motorcycles and aviation catered to a certain demographic of people looking to get out there and do something interesting, something crazy. Perhaps they were the adrenaline junkies of their time.

I have a bike license. Haven't owned or driven a bike in ten years, and by now I probably never will again.

Part of it is simply growing up. It's just not as much fun any longer as it was in my 20's. And with work and other committments I have little time left to ride, never mind maintenance and other chores.

Why young people don't ride, though, has - I guess - nothing to do with risk. Driving is simply not fashionable, and not cool. A generation earlier than me, getting your license (and a bike license especially) was a badge of honour, and a symbol of adulthood. It isn't any longer. Many hobbies rise, flourish and die over time. Once, wood lathing was a major, very popular hobby across Europe and the US; today it's a tiny niche. That's probably where these things are heading as well.

Car ownership has suffered the same decline in cool, but as cars are utilitarian they don't see as large a drop in usage. Young people still drive, but see cars more akin to owning a washer and dryer, not a status symbol. Necessary but boring. Bikes and private airplanes don't have the same level of utility in general, so they suffer more when interest wanes.

Comment: Re:Asahi Shimbun (Score 1) 361

by JanneM (#46167287) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Online News Is Worth Paying For?

Ah, I was too brief. They have an iOS and Android app - effectively a specialized browser with controls for navigating a paper - and the main format is made for the app, working like a proper mobile reader. All the different parts of the paper (Sunday magazines and so on) are available for up to a month or so, and the web site keeps indefinite archives.

But in addition, you have PDF facsimiles of all the regional editions as well, for those that prefer the "real" paper experience. And some people evidently do, especially on large computer screens.

We could add a paper subscription as well if we want, for a fairly modest sum. Effectively the added cost of getting both is not much more than having only the paper edition used to cost us. But one reason we went digital only is to avoid the piles of paper garbage that results :)

Comment: Asahi Shimbun (Score 2) 361

by JanneM (#46161031) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Online News Is Worth Paying For?

We get the digital Asahi Shimbun. It gets us all editions of the full paper, including a browsable, zoomable PDF copy of the morning paper edition, at a price slightly lower than the paper edition cost us earlier.

The reason is mostly convenience: I and my wife can both access the website and the iPad and Android apps at the same time, through the same subscription. With the paper we'd get only a single copy, so I'd end up bringing yesterdays evening paper on the train in the mornings while she'd read the morning edition.

Comment: Re:oh well (Score 4, Funny) 385

by JanneM (#46160057) Attached to: HP To Charge For Service Packs and Firmware For Out-of-Warranty Customers

We recently had an issue with HP servers showing temperatures of 255C on motherboard sensors...
They said this was a firmware issue and told us to flash the bios to fix this. We did... the sensor now shows -127C. Big help.

"Big help" - Why are you complaining? This is great! Think of the electricity savings! Not only can you stop cooling these servers, you can actually use them to cool your other hardware!

You're not thinking outside the box, that's the problem with you young people.
