This is not the latest from XKCD, but it is one of the best.

(See also: XKCD: Fields arranged by Purity)

Stumbled across this article promoting Norwegian for English language speakers this evening.

Funny to me for three reasons: first, I married a Norwegian who delights in her heritage and regales us with traditional tales from the homeland. Second, our daughter has just returned from two weeks of Norwegian language camp ready to practice her new skills. Third, my spouse and my daughter now have their own private language.

My linguistic tricks include German, Modern and Classical Greek, and this article, I’m optimistic.

(See also: Why Norwegian is Easiest Language for English Speakers to Learn)

(Created by: http://www.xkcd.com/c256.html)

Social networking and online environments are communities unto themselves. Neighborhoods and topologies are beginning to form.

While this illustration is a cartoon, it would be interesting to become aware of my neighbors and map the context of our interactions. Where am I on the map? Where are my collaborators? Where are potential collaborators? Where and what are the gulfs between our work and experiences? Can these gulfs be bridged?

Let me work on this.

(See also: http://www.xkcd.com/c256.html A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. )

Drew Berry, from The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Victoria, Australia, has tied for first prize in the 2006 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge conducted by the journal Science and the US National Science Foundation.

The prize was announced in September 2006 but the animation and supporting paper “Molecular Animation of Cell Death Mediated by the Fas Pathway” are now available on the web and in the April 2007 issue of Science. The description reads:

The movie shows the events from activation of the death receptor through degradation of the actin cytoskeleton using molecular representations based on the known crystal structures of the proteins or macromolecular structures involved in the process. The magnification at each stage is provided and represents cellular views at 5,000 and 8,000 and an intracellular or molecular view at 10,000,000 to visualize the proteins and molecular complexes. Readers are referred to the suggested reading list in the full text for the articles used to create the movie.

This movie would be useful in the context of a cell biology course, developmental biology course, or immunology course to illustrate the process of death receptor-mediated apoptosis. In addition, this movie could be used in a biochemistry course or structural biology course to illustrate the formation of macromolecular complexes involved in enzyme activation or signal transduction.

The biology is fascinating and Berry offers support for the biology in the ‘Suggested Reading’. I would also like to learn about his animation tools and computational methods for rendering the videos.

I may appear relaxed, though on the cellular level I’m quite busy.

Citation: D. Berry, Molecular Animation of Cell Death Mediated by the Fas Pathway. Sci. STKE 2007, tr1 (2007).

( Click here to access the paper. | Click here to play the movie.)

This book has been recommended by friends. By association, I have recommended it to others. Now, I own it and as I read I am beginning to appreciate just how good it is.

The author provides a pragmatic approach for managers of software projects. He takes great care to highlight business, customer, and technology perspectives and then provides a framework for building a balance of power. This work does not exist in a vacuum. Chapters include quotes from Fred Brooks, Pablo Picasso, and Zen parables; what I consider a Californian’s perspective. Though there appears to be no mention of W. Edwards Deming, several elements appear to align.

The table of contents includes:

1. A brief history of project management (and why you should care)

I. Plans
2. The truth about schedules
3. How to figure out what to do
4. Writing the good vision
5. Where ideas come from
6. What to do with ideas once you have them

II. Skills
7. Writing good specifications
8. How to make good decisions
9. Communication and relationships
10. How not to annoy people: process, email, and meetings
11. What to do when things go wrong

III. Management
12. Why leadership is based on trust
13. How to make things happen
14. Middle-game strategy
15. End-game strategy
16. Power and politics

I’m presently completing ‘Plans’. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

(See also: Project Management Certificate at the University of Minnesota)
(See also: The Top Ten Things Ten Years of Software Development has Taught Me)