Consider Bookhling

I just wanted to take the time to remind everyone that the io9 synthetic biology contest will be over at midnight tonight.

That is it, folks. The deadline is only about five or so hours away. I hope those of you thinking of participating already have a good thing going. It had been two months since the contest was announced, now that I think about it. I am glad to say that my entry is ready to be submitted within few minutes as well.

Now I can only wait and see. I just hope lots of people came up with very unusual ideas. Give a breadth of fresh air to the field, so to speak.

A little update on the state of my life first. I have been working on something that might be awesome for the io9 madscience contest. Although I am approaching the contest through a sort of team-based brainstorming and responsibility sharing method, I have become increasingly aware of my limited understanding of the molecular biology and genomics, so there are a whole lot of things I need to brush up on before the contest deadline of August 25 midnight PST. So no blog posts about nothing for a while, folks.  I would like to take advantage of this moment to urge anyone still not aware of the awesome coolness that is the io9 madscience contest on synthetic biology to get cracking for that secret mad science idea you have been hoarding to yourself, and drag all your friends and families with you into participating.

Despite the busy lifestyle I lead between the study for all the crazy exams and the field of synthetic biology, I also manage to surf the web and fish out interesting websites… Which might suggest that I am not actually busy but I assure you that I am nearly numb from all the busy-ness that is my life. Eating fast and sleeping less does wonders for time micromanagement-on-the-go. Anyway, I came across this website, wordie during one of my excursion around the Internet. It is one of the many web 2.0 based sites we see popping up all around these days, with emphasis on entering and making lists of words, while sharing those lists and favoriting other peoples lists and words… Basically a web 2.0 community website devoted to the pursuit of lexicographical side of the world. The feeling and layout of the website reminded me of the eponymous everything2 for some odd reason… And I believe that the spirit and purpose of the website is not very far from some of the more obvious characteristics of the everything2 as well. Which is a good thing.

I was rather surprised to find out that the *words* I could enter into the website database were not necessarily limited to words in dictionaries, or words in any form, actually. One of the most commented on words at the wordie website at the moment is *shaken baby syndrome* which is quite clearly something you will not find in any dictionary that came off the printing press. There are a number of words in foreign language, like Chinese (though such are few at the moment, who knows what will happen in the future?), with the function to make diverse lists and being able to favorite words I especially like being some of the more notable, and welcomed features.

What I especially love about the wordie webpage is its design. Just white background and black letters, with the fonts I find attractive for some odd reason. I think the wordie blog Errata is especially representative of the minimalist aesthetics underlying the design of the main wordie webpage. It is simple, it gets the point across, it is easy to access using variety of Internet-enabled devices, and the service as a whole seem to integrate well with other Internet/communication services, which I admit is a work-in-progress but shows great potential nonetheless. Sometimes people underestimate what can be done with simple arrangement of black things on white spaces and certain choices of fonts.

I like what I have seen so far of the wordie. I think this is a service I see myself using frequently for a long time, whether it be entering an interesting word I found, or tagging and commenting numerous words already present in the webpage. If you have a minute or two to spare, maybe you might want to give it s try as well. Who knows, maybe it will even increase your vocabulary.

Who in their right mind does not want to become a mad scientist? Underneath the prim and proper veneer of sanity and polite gestures, I know that there is a darker longing gravitating us toward the callings of mad science.

Yet the fact of life is, there are usually few opportunities, if any, to pursue and perfect the dream of mad science in this world, whether it be societal taboo or physical restraints. In the light of the scared world we live in, I am very happy to announce the contest for mad scientists, aimed primarily at the emerging field of synthetic biology.

There are two categories of the contest, and each category offers a delicious prize for the taking. The category one is the more realistic mad scientists in all of us. You are supposed to work with the real BioBrick parts and form an artificial synthetic organism/something to sate the mad genius inside you and possibly even help the world in the process. The prize for the category one winner is an all-expense paid trip to Hong Kong for the upcoming Synthetic Biology 4.0 conference and a chance to present your work before the whos who of the synthetic biology scene today.

The category two is the one for the imaginative madhouses in all of us. While scientific reasoning behind your creation must be present to certain plausible extent, the second category does not force you to figure out real PCR amplification rates or the roles of each specific BioBrick parts, something you should be proficient with should you decide to compete in the first category of the contest. Instead, category two seem to be leaning toward discovering truly imaginative applications of the tenets of synthetic biology and possible social/industrial implications of such a noble craft.

This is not a contest cooked up by bunch of enthusiastic crackpots either. Some of the judges are full-time professional devotees/founders of the very field of synthetic biology itself, like Drew Andy.

So spread the news, and get all of your families and friends involved. This is a contest for the mad scientists of the world, and we really need diverse and crazy ideas that deserve the mantle.