Category: Research
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The Scientific Method: Cultivating Thoroughly Conscious Ignorance
Stuart Firestein brilliantly captures the positive influence of ignorance as an often unacknowledged guiding principle in the fits and starts that typically characterize the progression of real science. His book, Ignorance: How It Drives Science, grew out of a course on Ignorance he teaches at Columbia University, where he chairs the department of Biological Sciences…
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PRP, Regenokine & other biologic medicine treatments for joint & tendon problems
Science journalist Jonah Lehrer posted an interesting article last week about aging star athletes' embrace of biologic medicine, "Why Did Kobe Go to Germany? An aging star and the new procedure that could revolutionize sports medicine". The article describes Regenokine, a relatively new procedure for treating joint and tendon problems that sounds similar to the…
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Design for Health: Notes from a Multidisciplinary CSCW 2012 Workshop
I participated in an incredibly well organized and facilitated workshop on Brainstorming Design for Health: Helping Patients Utilize Patient-Generated Data on the Web on Saturday. The participants represented a diverse range of backgrounds and interests – even for a workshop at a Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) conference, already a particularly diverse community. Our workshop…
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Airborne telepresence robots: 1995 & 2011
In introducing a short Marketplace Tech Report story about a floating blimp telepresence avatar this morning, host John Moe somewhat sarcastically said "Oh, no: not another floating blimp telepresence avatar story!", highlighting the rather unusual nature of a story about a "blimp-based boss". The story, reported by producer Larissa Anderson starting at the 3:08 mark,…
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Irritation Based Innovation
If necessity is the mother of invention, irritation is the father. People can be motivated to make changes based on so-called positive emotions, but I would argue that anger is more often the spark for fueling innovation. Some people live by the credo Don't get mad, get even. But as Mohandas Gandhi so adroitly observed,…
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Innovation, Research & Reviewing: Revise & Resubmit vs. Rebut for CSCW 2012
Research is about innovation, and yet many aspects of the research process often seem steeped in tradition. Many conference program committees and journal editorial boards – the traditional gatekeepers in research communities – are composed primarily of people with a long history of contributions and/or other well-established credentials, who typically share a collective understanding of…
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Reflections on Reviews, Rebuttals and Respect
Having recently served as associate chair for both the CSCW 2011 and CHI 2011 Papers & Notes Committees, I've read a large number of papers, an even larger number of reviews, and a slightly smaller number of rebuttals. In participating in back-to-back committees, a few perspectives and practices that impact the process of scientific peer…