@zhang
Could you tell me what problem you’re having. I haven’t had any RSS problems recently, though in past there were problems with FeedBurner.

@Mr. Gunn
I enjoyed reading your article, I look forward to the next entries.
I added a link to the original article.

@Dave Crotty
Thanks for that link Dave.
The only I think I can say is check out Zoho, or as Jake suggested ThinkFree.com.
Competition is always good.

http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2007/10/simplicity-of-black.html

“I’ve been using Google Documents to share ODD AND THE FROST GIANTS with people who needed to see it… and just realised that none of the little corrections and fixes I’ve been entering — and dutifully saving — have been saved. Instead it seems to have taken a version of the document open in Google Documents on another computer somewhere in the house as its master text, which means the saves I’ve done on the downstairs computer I’m on have apparently not taken. (I’ve sat there going through all the old saved versions it’s kept — 121 of them and they only seem to go back and forwards between a couple of versions in which a But changes to a Still, because at a guess it’s open in two different tabs somewhere on whichever computer it’s on that Google is paying attention to…) Between the people who can’t get in to see it and write me grumbly emails, and the way Google Documents sometimes fails to send the letters inviting people to look at it (but still lists them as now having access to the document), I think I should have paid a bit more attention to the word BETA underneath the words Google and Documents.”

One of the concerns I heard about using Google Docs for collaboration on the scientific paper was privacy issue. Google’s privacy agreement is not the best available and my colleagues were worried about showing their work to Google (and risk a leak to the public via search engine). While I don’t see a possible data leak as an issue (we are about the open science, aren’t we?), other people still do. This is somehow complementary to the issues Jacob raised - it’s all about trust in externally/privately hosted services (yes, in this light, Facebook is also not-good).

@Deepak
That is a great point, so many “walled gardens” are a hindrance especially when switching to a new and better tool, and you have to create a username and id. However, I’d say that OpenID is still somewhat esoteric to use, but once it becomes easier, I think I will be using it more.

@Jacob
What I have always wanted to see is some kind of svn-google docs-wiki standard interface, so people can use which ever type they prefer, but all the changes are sent to the same document repository.
For example I use Google Docs to edit the document, but you prefer LaTeX and svn, so when you update the repository my Google Docs changes are translated into the LaTeX in the svn repository you are using, and vice versa.

@Jake
I’ve never heard of that, but it looks good. Thank you pointing it out.

@Jean-Claude
Easy and free are definitely important considerations. Both equally important, but ease of use it what is going to attract the non computer based biologists to using these technologies.

The point of publishing is to communicate research and network. In addition to journal articles we now have Web2.0 tools that will give those who choose to use them a competitive advantage.

Mike … fabulous post. Technologies like Google Docs are still very young, but are already getting very advanced. In a year or two, I can’t think of too many reasons not to collaborate over the web.

You are already seeing efforts that integrate services. It is also another reason why open APIs are required allowing people to mash up services.

Collaborating on the same document

- the interfaces of google/docs and even zoho are very uncomfortable to use. They lack various options compared to openoffice and other word processors.
For example, you can’t re-define your own styles; you can’t create automatically indexes and more other things; they are slower; and many other things.

- it is very difficult to persuade other lab members to create their own account on zoho or google/docs if they’re not ‘web 2.0 nerds’ :).
Most of the professors, are accustomed to work by printing the documents on paper and annotating it with a pen; and I believe, it is very difficult to persuade them of learning other methods.
Most of the professors use old things like word editors and sheets, but they are very experienced at using them.

However, I’ll stop moaning… because I think it is worth trying to persuade other scientists and show them these cool web 2.0 ideas. I really hope the science of the future will be like you have described in this post.

I have learned very much by using Internet and participating to forums and blogs on biology, and I think I will continue in this way.

It is a sad day when I realise I am living vicariously through fictional characters written on a bioinformatics blog.

I have updated the last story.