Dear Francis, could you elaborate how something like Quora (what is it) would save you time compared to en email based? From what I gathered at wikipedia, Quora is web based, and in my experience web based services usually follow Wirth's law: they are slooooow.
Cheers,
Tim
On 02/13/2014 05:47 PM, Francis Reyes wrote:
> The CCP4bb is great.. it truly is.
>
> The access to experts and their experience (probably the most valuable) is
> unparalleled.
>
> However, mailing lists to organize discussions and disseminate new ideas is
> just so ... 90s.
>
> Wikis? maybe you've just crossed into the new millenium.
>
> These days, if the questions/answers of the ccp4bb moved into something like
> Quora,
> It would save me a lot of time.
>
> F
>
>
>
> On Feb 13, 2014, at 10:21 AM, Nat Echols <nathaniel.ech...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> One comment (not a complaint) on all this: it seems like the same questions
>> get asked over and over again. If there is a good place for a general
>> crystallography FAQ list it is well past time for one to be put together -
>> or maybe it just needs to be better advertised? At a minimum, for instance:
>>
>> - what cryoprotectant should I use?
>> - how do I get big single crystals?
>> - how do I improve diffraction?
>> - how can I tell if I've solved my structure?
>> - why is my R-free stuck?
>> - is <pick random statistic> suitable for publication?
>>
>> Some of the other common queries ("name my blob!") still need to be handled
>> on a case-by-case basis, but it would be much more efficient for everyone if
>> the standard answers were collected somewhere permanent.
>>
>> -Nat
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 7:05 AM, Eugene Valkov <eugene.val...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> I absolutely agree with Juergen.
>>
>> Leaving aside methods developers, who are a completely different breed,
>> there is no such thing as a "crystallographer" sitting in a dark room
>> solving structures all day. If there are, these are anachronisms destined
>> for evolutionary demise.
>>
>> More and more cell biologists, immunologists and all other kinds of
>> biologists are having a go at doing structural work with their molecules of
>> interest themselves without involving the "professionals". Typically, they
>> learn on the job and they need advice with all kinds of things ranging from
>> cloning and protein preps through to issues with tetartohedrally-twinned
>> data and interpreting their structures.
>>
>> So, a modern structural biologist is one who is equipped for the wet lab and
>> has some idea of how to go about solving structures. CCP4BB is a wonderful
>> resource that is great for both the quality of the advice offered to those
>> that seek it and for the variety of topics that are addressed in the scope
>> of structural biology. I have learnt greatly from reading posts from very
>> skilled and knowledgeable scientists at this forum and then implemented
>> these insights into my own research. I am very grateful for this.
>>
>> In short, please do not discourage your colleagues, particularly very junior
>> ones, from posting to the CCP4BB. Some of the questions may appear quaint or
>> irrelevant but it is easy to simply ignore topics that are of no interest!
>>
>> Eugene
>>
>>
>> On 13 February 2014 14:41, Bosch, Juergen <jubo...@jhsph.edu> wrote:
>> Let me pick up Eleanor’s comment:
>> is there something like a crystallographer today ? I mean in the true sense ?
>> I think as a “crystallographer” you won’t be able to survive the next
>> decade, you need to diversify your toolset of techniques as pointed out in
>> this article
>> http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7485-711a
>>
>> And I’m not quite sure how software developers see themselves, as I would
>> argue they are typically maybe not doing so much wet lab stuff related to
>> crystallography (I may be wrong here) but rather code these days.
>>
>> What “type” of crystallographer is a software developer ?
>>
>> I think like our beloved crystals “we” come in different flavors. And we
>> need to train the next generation of students with that perspective in mind.
>>
>> Just my two cents on a snowy day (>30cm over night)
>>
>> Jürgen
>> ......................
>> Jürgen Bosch
>> Johns Hopkins University
>> Bloomberg School of Public Health
>> Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
>> Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
>> 615 North Wolfe Street, W8708
>> Baltimore, MD 21205
>> Office: +1-410-614-4742
>> Lab: +1-410-614-4894
>> Fax: +1-410-955-2926
>> http://lupo.jhsph.edu
>>
>> On Feb 13, 2014, at 6:41 AM, Eleanor Dodson <eleanor.dod...@york.ac.uk>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I agree with Frank - it keeps crystallographers modest to know how
>>> challenging wet lab stuff still is..
>>> Eleanor
>>>
>>> On 12 February 2014 19:23, Robbie Joosten <robbie_joos...@hotmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> It's not an e-mail bulletin board, but Researchgate seems to be quite
>>>> popular for wet lab questions. IMO the Q&A section of the social network is
>>>> a bit messy. That said, the quality seems to improve gradually.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Robbie
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my Windows Phone
>>>> ________________________________
>>>> Van: Paul Emsley
>>>> Verzonden: 12-2-2014 19:23
>>>> Aan: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
>>>> Onderwerp: Re: [ccp4bb] Sister CCPs
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 12/02/14 15:59, George Sheldrick wrote:
>>>>> It would be so nice to have a 'sister CCP' for questions aboud wet-lab
>>>>> problems that have nothing to do with CCP4 or crystallographic
>>>>> computing, The is clearly a big need for it, and those of us who try
>>>>> to keep out of wet-labs would not have to wade though it all.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> FWIW, the remit of CCP4BB, held at jiscmail-central, is describes as:
>>>>
>>>> /The CCP4BB mailing list is for discussions on the use of the CCP4
>>>> suite, and macromolecular crystallography in general./
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thus wet-lab questions are not off-topic (not that anyone recently
>>>> described them as such).
>>>>
>>>> Having said that, Jiscmail mailing lists are easy to set-up (providing
>>>> that you can reasonably expect that the mailing list will improve
>>>> knowledge sharing within the UK centered academic community) and
>>>> relatively low maintenance. I, for one, would not be entirely unhappy to
>>>> miss out on questions about lysis.
>>>>
>>>> Paul.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dr Eugene Valkov
>>
>> Room 3N049
>> Division of Structural Studies
>>
>> MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
>> Francis Crick Avenue
>> Cambridge Biomedical Campus
>> Cambridge CB2 0QH, U.K.
>>
>> Email: eval...@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk
>> Tel: +44 (0) 1223 267358
>>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
> Francis E. Reyes PhD
> 215 UCB
> University of Colorado at Boulder
> ----------------------------------------------
>
--
Dr Tim Gruene
Institut fuer anorganische Chemie
Tammannstr. 4
D-37077 Goettingen
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