Merge branch 'master' into feature/resources

content/about.md

@@ -2,16 +2,14 @@
 title: About me
 ---
 
-I help people in Higher Education communicate and collaborate more effectively
-using technology.
+I help people in Higher Education communicate and collaborate more effectively using technology.  I currently work at the [University of Sheffield][] focusing on [research data management][] policy, practice, training and advocacy.
 
-In my free time, I like to:
+In my free time, I like to: run; play the accordion; [morris dance][]; climb; cook; read (fiction and non-fiction); write.
+
+[Morris dance]: http://www.fiveriversmorris.org.uk/
+
+[University of Sheffield]: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/
+
+[research data management]: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/library/rdm
 
-* Climb;
-* Play the accordion;
-* [Morris dance][];
-* Cook;
-* Read (fiction and non-fiction);
-* Run.
 
-[Morris dance]: http://www.bathampton-morris-men.org.uk/

content/articles/2015/08/crackpot-argument-against-data-sharing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+---
+title: 'Why not to share your data: the "crackpot" argument'
+kind: article
+created_at: Tue 25 Aug 2015 17:53:00 BST
+tags:
+- Data sharing
+- Open data
+- Research data management
+- Barriers
+---
+
+*Funders, publishers, research institutions and many other groups are increasingly keen that researchers make more of their data more open.  There are some very good reasons for doing this, but many researchers have legitimate concerns that must be dealt with before they can be convinced. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of posts exploring arguments against sharing data.*
+
+> "We really want to share our data more widely, but we're worried that it's going to give the crackpots more opportunity to pick holes in our findings."
+
+A PhD student asked me something like this recently, and it's representative of some very real concerns for a lot of researchers.  While I answered the question, I didn't feel satisfied with my response, so I wanted to unpack it a bit more in preparation for next time.
+
+It seems to me that there are three parts to this. No-one likes to:
+
+- Have their time wasted
+- Be wrongfully and unfairly discredited
+- Have genuine flaws found in their work
+
+Having genuine errors challenged is a very useful thing, but spurious challenges (i.e. those with no valid basis) can be a stressful time-sink.  Such challenges may be made by someone with an interest in seeing you (or your results) discredited; they may also be made by someone who simply fails to understand a key concept of your research[^1].  Either way, they're a nuisance and rightly to be avoided.
+
+[^1]: Don't forget [Hanlon's razor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor): "Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence."
+
+Perhaps the scariest aspect of this is the possibility that your critics might actually be on to something.  No-one really enjoys finding out that they've made a mistake, and we naturally tend to avoid situations where an error we didn't know was there might be brought to light.
+
+If all this is so, why should you share your data?  Ultimately, there will always be crackpots, or at least people with an ax to grind.  Publishing your data won't change this, but it will add weight to your own arguments.  Firstly it says that you're confident enough in your work to put it out there.  But secondly it gives impartial readers the opportunity to verify your claims independently and come to their own judgement about any potential criticism.  It's much harder for the "crackpots" to pick holes in your work when your supporting evidence is available and the validity of your argument can be easily demonstrated.
+
+There's also a need to accept, and indeed seek out, valid criticism.  None of us is perfect and everyone makes mistakes from time to time.  When that happens it's important to find out sooner rather than later and be ready to make corrections, learn and move on.

content/articles/2015/08/new-job-2015.md

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+---
+title: "Heading north from London to Sheffield"
+kind: article
+created_at: Wed 05 Aug 2015 20:42:21 BST
+tags:
+- Imperial College
+- University of Sheffield
+- Jobs
+---
+
+It's been a bit hectic lately because I've been finishing up my old job (at Imperial College) and getting started on my new one (Research Data Manager at the University of Sheffield), with a bit of a holiday in between. Hopefully things will calm down a bit now and get back to normal (whatever *that* looks like...).
+
+In the meantime here are three things I will miss from Imperial:
+
+- Lovely, friendly, supportive, competent and professional colleagues
+- Lunchtime walks in Hyde Park
+- Imperial College Scifi & Fantasy library (part of the Students' Union)
+
+And three things I *won't* miss:
+
+- Rude people & overcrowding on the tube/bus/etc
+- Masses of air and noise pollution
+- Travelling between Leeds & London all the time
+
+And finally, three things I'm looking forward to in Sheffield:
+
+- Taking up a new challenge with a new set of disciplines to work with
+- Catching up with old friends and making a few new ones
+- Lunchtime walks in Weston Park, Crookes Valley Park & the Ponderosa

lib/tagging.rb

@@ -68,5 +68,5 @@ class TagIndex
 end
 
 def tags_for(item)
-  ((item[:tags] || []) + (item[:categories] || [])).uniq
+  ((item[:tags] || []) + (item[:categories] || [])).compact.uniq
 end

tasks/tagging.thor

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ module Blogging
     end
 
     def process_alphabetically(hash)
-      hash.keys.sort{|a,b| a.casecmp(b)}.each do |key|
+      hash.keys.compact.sort{|a,b| a.casecmp(b)}.each do |key|
         yield key, hash[key]
       end
     end