Citizen Science Quarterly: CC-licensed journal for citizen science

Cory Doctorow 8:45 am Sun May 29, 2011

I've finally gotten around to reading the inaugural edition of the Citizen Science Quarterly, a reader-support, Creative Commons licensed journal devoted to nonexpert experimentation and discovery. It's an extremely eclectic read, with a good mix of editorial, experimental writeups, polemics, practical HOWTOs and miscellania. I really enjoyed Andrew Hessel's op-ed on bioinformatics and fabrication, which explored the idea that cells can be thought of as bio-fabricators, 3D printers whose operating system we have yet to master. I was also engrossed by a brief "molecular gastronomy" HOWTO, a piece on culturing yeast, information on sourcing supplies for DIY bioscience, and a manifesto for involving patients' experiments and input in medical research. The copyediting and writing are a little uneven, but that just lends CSQ a nice, homespun feeling. All in all, this is an exciting new journal and a treat to read.

Citizen Science Quarterly

Eric Trump claims his social media 'likes' are being throttled (reader, he is lying)

President Donald Trump's lesser failson Eric Trump claims his social media likes are being throttled and he thinks that's become the number one issue in politics over the past few weeks. READ THE REST
Women harassed at surveillance camera startup

Welcome to the latest Silicon Valley sexism scandal: Verkada, a face-recognition startup where the men used the company's own cameras to harass women co-workers and received trivial discipline when caught. a sales director on the company's sales team abused their access to these cameras to take and post photos of colleagues in a Slack channel… READ THE REST
How to remove ham from your disk drive

It's a few years old and I no longer have a computer with a CD tray, but I enjoyed this guide to removing ham from optical drives all the same. I might have to head up to the attic to find my old machine, as a large cotto salami is in its Blu-Ray player and… READ THE REST
The PowerUp 4.0 attaches a computer brain to your paper plane

If you want to engage in some joy this holiday season, we have the perfect gift for your fun-loving family member, or even for yourself…you can now effectively turn paper airplanes into drones. For those who have spent countless hours meticulously folding aerodynamically pure paper planes that can slice through the air like a real… READ THE REST
StartMail privatizes your email with a level of security you might not have known you needed

For years, you've heard experts talk about having a solid VPN service to safeguard everything you do online. It's sound advice, especially when you consider what can happen if someone gains access to sensitive information, like your bank access details or online account logins. Yet, too often, we overlook the fragile state of our own… READ THE REST
The Levo II makes creating oil infusions from your favorite botanicals brilliantly simple

While it's a process that's been used for centuries, you'd be surprised by the way infusion has taken cooking and medicine by storm. For those not as familiar, infusion is sort of like seasoning on steroids, extracting all components of an herb–including its flavor, scent, color, and nutrients–and transferring those properties into another carrier, like… READ THE REST