As I said, yesterday I went to the Science Online London 2009 conference at the Royal Institution. Last year it was called Science Blogging, and the decision had been made to push the boundaries a bit further.
And it was bloomin' brilliant. The full programme is available online, and for me, the highlights were very much Blogging For Impact, Legal And Ethical Aspects Of Science Blogging and the live demo of Google Wave.
For starters, I was almost paralysed with awe as the blogging powerhouses Dr Petra and Jack Of Kent guided us through the legal and moral maze that is the blogosphere. Most of what they said would be applicable to any sort of blog, not just a science blog, but of course as it's legally sensitive information, if I told you what was discussed I would have to kill you.
Blogging For Impact swapped places with the legal talk, and the voice of Dave Munger, speaking through Second Life, boomed through the speakers - quite a religious experience. I hadn't really experienced the power of Second Life before, and found the fact that the slides advanced for us on the projector and for the Second Life "attendees" within the Second Life meeting place at the same time totally astonishing.
My dad said he realised a few years ago that he was getting old because he was starting to be bewildered by technology and fail to understand it. I feel exactly the same way about Google Wave, so I think this makes me officially old. But who knows - it might take off in such a way that in five years' time I'm using it like it's second nature. I know if, five years ago, you'd told me I would be using HTML tags seamlessly in my text I'd have laughed at you and attempted to get you to buy me a drink while you were clearly not in your right mind.
After a marathon booze-up with Chris and less than four hours' sleep the night before the conference, I didn't feel particularly perky by the time it had finished, so retreated home for a balti. By the looks of things the party continued for quite some time!
I won't be able to make it over to North Carolina for ScienceOnline 2010, but maybe given how easy it looks, I'll be able to join in via Second Life. My gratitude goes to the organisers - it was an excellent conference and the content and discussions more than made up for the surprise absence of breakfast...
And it was bloomin' brilliant. The full programme is available online, and for me, the highlights were very much Blogging For Impact, Legal And Ethical Aspects Of Science Blogging and the live demo of Google Wave.
For starters, I was almost paralysed with awe as the blogging powerhouses Dr Petra and Jack Of Kent guided us through the legal and moral maze that is the blogosphere. Most of what they said would be applicable to any sort of blog, not just a science blog, but of course as it's legally sensitive information, if I told you what was discussed I would have to kill you.
Blogging For Impact swapped places with the legal talk, and the voice of Dave Munger, speaking through Second Life, boomed through the speakers - quite a religious experience. I hadn't really experienced the power of Second Life before, and found the fact that the slides advanced for us on the projector and for the Second Life "attendees" within the Second Life meeting place at the same time totally astonishing.
My dad said he realised a few years ago that he was getting old because he was starting to be bewildered by technology and fail to understand it. I feel exactly the same way about Google Wave, so I think this makes me officially old. But who knows - it might take off in such a way that in five years' time I'm using it like it's second nature. I know if, five years ago, you'd told me I would be using HTML tags seamlessly in my text I'd have laughed at you and attempted to get you to buy me a drink while you were clearly not in your right mind.
After a marathon booze-up with Chris and less than four hours' sleep the night before the conference, I didn't feel particularly perky by the time it had finished, so retreated home for a balti. By the looks of things the party continued for quite some time!
I won't be able to make it over to North Carolina for ScienceOnline 2010, but maybe given how easy it looks, I'll be able to join in via Second Life. My gratitude goes to the organisers - it was an excellent conference and the content and discussions more than made up for the surprise absence of breakfast...
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